Female Figure with Skirt, 1000-500 B.C. Tlatilco Culture, Valley of Mexico, Mexico. Earthenware: 4" x 2". Purchased with Endowment Funds Aztec Calendar Stone.. Photo courtesy of Media for the Arts.		THE RELIGIOUS ENVIRONMENT				1 of 2   Religious
		eligion in Mesoamerica centered on the seasonal cycles of agriculture. Clay objects from early village cultures depict the female figure and probably represent the Earth Mother or Fertility Goddess. Placed in graves, these objects may have represented prayers for the deceased to be reborn through the regenerative powers of the Earth Mother. Tlaloc, the rain god, was one of the earliest gods to take form and in various guises always retained central importance in Mesoamerican religion. Complex hierarchies of gods developed in urban cultures that used calendar systems to map the spiritual and material cosmos. Ceremonial centers served as sites of pilgrimage where priests reenacted the gods’ first deeds of creation, sacrifice, and warfare. All of life was seen as a ritual. By imitating the acts of the gods, humans helped maintain the fertility of the earth and universal balance.