The Pre-Hispanic Mezcala culture held the powers of the axe, man's first all-purpose tool, in high esteem. Over time, the axe was attributed with supernatural qualities and came to be a symbol of the kinship bonds between generations. The carving of figures from these axes arose as a means of expressing the power embodied in the tool. Though later examples were carved directly from raw stone, the earlier examples (such as this piece) were fashioned out of actual axe blades. The area on top of the figure's head was always left rough and unfinished so as not to eliminate the axe's original power. The Mezcala eventually developed productive lapidaries, but the earliest styles were probably hand carved by the group's spiritual leaders, or shamans.