Pre-Hispanic Seals

The Museum of the Alhondiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato has one of the richest collections of Pre-Colombian seals in Mexico. They have graciously lent this collection to the Regional Museum of Anthropology of Yucatan so that the Yucatecan people and visitors can enjoy this exhibition.

This collection has more than 3,000 pieces was donated to the Guanajuanto museum by the American archaeologist Frederick Field. These seals and stamps came from different areas of the Mesoamerican universe and show great variety of shapes and ornamental motifs. The Pre-Colombian seals, even when they appeared to be simple, are really a showing of great artistry, imagination, talent and the high level of aesthetics of the artisans of ancient Mexico.

Seals were used for printing color on different surfaces: the human body, textiles, ceramics, paper, leather or stucco; and for printing in relief on pottery. The seals principal purpose was ornamental even when they were used as distinguishing marks – like logos and labels are used nowadays. Their utilization in magic-religious practices with mythical and symbolic shapes was also important.

These Pre-Colombian seals that have lasted until present days are made out of baked clay. However, some are also made of bone, wood and precious metals. The seals were baked in firewood burning kilns.
Most of the seals are smallish and their different shapes (cylindrical, flat, concave or convex) suggest the use they would have or the kind of surface onto which they would be stamped.

Cylindrical seals have handgrips at their ends. The flat, concave and convex seals almost always show a conic or flat handgrip at the face of the design. They are handled in the same manner we handle seals today.