Teotihuacan culture emerged from the late preclassic (c 600-200 b. C.) and protoclassic (c 200 B. C.-A. D. 200) cultural matrix of the central valleys of Mexico, the homeland of the Otopameans. To understand the origins of Teotihuacan, as manifested in the visual language found in its material culture, it is essential to look at objects found at late preclassic and protoclassic sites like Cuicuilco, Tlapacoya, and Tlalancaleca, without overlooking related cultural traditions in neighboring regions like Tlaxcala, the Valley of Toluca, the Mezquital Valley, the southeastern Bajío, etc.

Thank you David for your answer. This Teotihuacan style figurine carved on a green rock (chrysoprase) was discovered during our last archaeological operation (2013) in Monte Alban Southside. Efectively 2 others Teotihucan figurines were discovered at the foot of Cuicuilco pyramid under the lava flow. Always can we call "Teotihuacan style" these figurines because this style had existed before Teotihuacan ?

The way I see it, Francois, there is a central Mexican regional style with gradual changes through time and space. The ancient Otopamean population of this region formed urban centers, abandoned them, and formed others, in a process I call "intraregional micromigrations", interacting with their neighbors and at times receiving immigrants from other regions, notable the Nahuas during the Postclassic (A. D. 900-1520) and maybe since the Epiclassic (A. D. 600-900).

As for the late preclassic-protoclassic transition, The site of Tlalancaleca, on the eastern slope of the Iztaccihuatl volcano, has an early stuccoed talud and tablero, as well as a stone Old God brazier; both have been dated to the late preclassic, before Teotihuacan's protoclassic development. Cuicuilco also has a smaller ceramic Old God brazier, discovered by Byron Cummings around 1920 and illustrated in a National Geographic article from that period, if my memory serves me.

For a discussion of these processes, with bibliographical references, please see chapter 2 of my PhD thesis on my main page at ResearchGate.

Your date of 200 B. C. would therefore seem to be on the blurry stylistic border between the late preclassic style of the central valleys of Mexico and the incipient Teotihuacan style, which had not yet had time to evolve into something distinct.

Francois, you may find these articles by David Carballo useful:

Carballo, David M., “Effigy vessels, religious integration, and the origins of the central Mexican pantheon,” in Ancient Mesoamerica (Cambridge Journals), vol. 18, no. 1, spring 2007, pp. 53-67 (https://www.academia.edu/203341/Effigy_Vessels_Religious_Integration_and_the_Origins_of_the_Central_Mexican_Pantheon, access: August 1, 2014).

Carballo, David M.; Aveni, Anthoni F., “Los vecinos del Preclásico en Xochitécatl y la institucionalización de la religión," in Arqueología Mexicana (Editorial Raíces/Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia), vol. 19 [sic pro 20], no. 117, September-October 2012, pp. 52-57.

Dear David and Francois,

Sorry I am late to answer.  I am new to Research Gate and do not know all of its functions yet.

Francois, I second David WC's thoughts that there was a developing central Mexican regional style in the Late/Terminal Formative, so Teotihuacan may have not been the stylistic core, especially if the stone figure dates to 200 BC, before any major occupation at the site.  The inventories of places like Cuicuilco, Tlalancaleca, and Xochitecatl are all good places to look.  Another possibility is that is could be an early incarnation of the Mezcala style, from Guerrero, as this style transfers to Teotihuacan (likely because finished pieces in non-jadeite greenstone are moving from there).

For Teo greenstone figures from the Moon Pyramid you could see publications by Sugiyama and colleagues I cite in the first article David WC mentions, such as this one: Sugiyama, Saburo, and Leonardo López Luján (editors)

2006 Sacrificios de consagración en la Pirámide de la Luna. INAH, México, D.F.

There is also ongoing work by Sergio Gomez at the Ciudadela and by Alejandro Sarabia and Sugiyama at the Sun Pyramid that have produced early (i.e. Tzacualli phase) lapidary styles.  Some publications have appeared in Arqueologia Mexicana, but I do not think with many images.

Saludos,

David