"Mimbres Corn Maidens" A.D. 1100

Site: Mimbres Valley, New Mexico

Collection: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology UNM  

Classic Limited Edition of 10. Issue Price $850.00
Size: 12.0" x  5.5" 

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Historical Note:  The five nude female figures in this bowl may well represent the Corn Maidens of pueblo mythology.  The headbands worn by the Corn Maidens include the life cycle of the corn, form the ear of corn first appearing that followed by the grid of dots representing the kernels of corn to finally the center maiden with the corn eaten as seen with no kernels represented. 

Today each year at Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico during the Molawia ritual the Corn Maidens appear acting out their return to the pueblo.  After the corn harvest the Maidens depart but their spirit remains. The mythology of the Corn Maidens may have evolved due to soil depletion that eventually led to depleted crop yields.  A poor crop could have been attributed to an angry Corn Maiden.

The "Kill Hole" in the bowl was a ritual practiced by the Mimbres when they buried their bowls with the dead.  Most researchers explain the ritual breaking of the kill hole releases the spirit of the bowl so it may travel with the deceased to the next world.