THE RIDDLE OF THE MANY HEADS: TEOTIHUÁCAN FIGURINE FRAGMENTS AT THE HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE

The purpose of this study is to examine a collection of 128 terracotta figurine fragments presently housed at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. These terracotta figurine fragments are believed to have originated at Teotihuacán, Mexico and if so, were produced between 200 B.C. and 700 A.D. A visual analysis of the collection was conducted using the organizational system designed by Dr. Sue Scott as part of her work with the figurine fragments from the Sigvald Linné excavations at Teotihuacán. In addition to the visual analysis, archival research was done to determine the provenance of these objects. The thesis also investigates the broader issue of provenance in relation to how museum collections of pre-Columbian artifacts are formed. By adding these figurines to the documented corpus of Teotihuacán artifacts, their existence has been established for further comparative research.