A person in West Mexico was born with a certain social standing, or status, related to gender and family. People achieved other statuses during life because of increasing age or skills. Tomb figures commemorate rites of passage people went through and social statuses they enjoyed while alive. The figures acted as passports, allowing the dead to take their statuses into the realm of death. Changes in the character of ceramic figures reflect social changes accompanying the rise of the Teuchitlán tradition after A.D. 200. Earlier figures have portrait-like qualities and may be representations of actual people. Later figures, such as those of the Late Comala phase, are more rigid and formalized symbols of the roles people played in society, such as ruler or priest.

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