Looters have found large hollow ceramic figures in West Mexican shaft tombs for more than a century. The hundreds of well-preserved figures, with their colorful surfaces and bold styling, have attracted collectors and museums around the world. Until recently, archaeologists did little work in the region. They had excavated very few unlooted tombs and could describe little of the figures’ original context, including when they were made. Now this is changing and archaeologists know most tomb figures date to between 200 B.C. and A.D. 300.

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