Brazier in the Form of the Old God

With sunken, wrinkled cheeks and snaggled teeth, this object depicts a character known as Huehueteotl or the Old God, one of the oldest deities of central Mexico. The basin on top of the head may have been used for keeping coals or incense hot. Roughly carved from local igneous rock, the figure and basin symbolically and materially compressed the fearsome power of the volcanoes that ring the Valley of Mexico into the thin, hunched body of an old man. Objects such as this one are found in large numbers at the site, indicating that the Old God was very important to all members of Teotihuacan society, from the rulers to the ruled. Often found on patios, braziers may also have been used in rituals when residents renovated their living quarters.