3 x 3.5 inches

Clay Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden with a serpent.

The image depicted in these sculptures originally was for the teaching of the biblical story of creation to natives in the early colonial period. in Mexico, the tree that is the physical representation of the tree of life for pre- Hispanic cultures, like the Mayas and the Aztecs, is the tree called Ceiba. among the ancient Mayan, La Ceiba, was considered a sacred tree. The Tree of Life depiction shows their ancestors converted into certain trees with fruits as a symbol of the possibility of living after death. Finally, it is interesting to know, thanks to recent studies by Yale University archeologist Mary Miller, there are Tree of Life images carved on tombstone pf Pakala in Palenque, Chiapas, Confirming its cultural and religious role in Mexico’s history.