Jaina island is located in Hopelchén municipality on the Northeast of Campeche State. It is separated from the coast by a narrow channel of 60 meters broad, and a part of its surface was artificially made with limestone carried out be Mayan people, aproximately in AD 350.

Jaina means "The place of the house on the water" (in Mayan language há-water, il-place, ná-house), name which refers to its insular location. The first evidence of human occupation goes back to the Early Classic period (AD 250 –600) and its climax, reflected on its architecture and its pottery production dates from the Late Classic (AD 600-800).

The population on the island was once integrated in a hierarchical organization devoted to war, justice, political affairs, management, religion and commerce, meanwhie the rest of the population developed activities such as agriculture on the land near the coast, hunting, fishing and some other day work. All these social roles are reflected on the small anthropomorphic clay figures found on the Jaina burials.

The most important architectural elements of the site are the Zayosal, to the northeast, and the Zacpool to the southeast which limit a long plaza located on the nucleus of this ancient city. There also exist several platforms with rooms on their North and South sides of the plaza, a ball game and some other residential elements; nevertheless the architecture of the site hasn´t been defined yet.

Jaina is characterized by the excelent quality of its pottery production particulary the figures which reflect part of the daily life, denoting characters, attitudes, customs and apparel. There is a great amount of whistles and rattles used as offerings in the burial found on the site. Infants were set in vases and buried, meanwhile adults were set directly on the ground shrouded in woollen blankets, with a jade stone in their mouth and spreaded with cinnabar.

Now a days, Jaina has no access to people due to the archaeological activities which are being held, and the prehispanic settlement has been a problem to design the paths to visit the site.

The figures found in jaina´s burials are the most faithful expression of the realistic talent of the island´s potters. It is in these figures where ceramics reach its real sculpture rank, were imagination switches places with the analythical, were plastic manifestation rises to its first levels.

The figures were made to accompany the dead people through their hard journey to the outer world, their significance goes further than delicate realistic clay statues. By them, we can understand symbols of the society who created them, their apparel and the beauty sense which impounded the human beings who embodied the frozen grimaces in such beautiful achievement.

They are amazing because of its resemblance of the human model and its perfect performance; they are portraits of people on the Jaina island society.

Piña Chan, Román. "Arte funerario. Las figurillas de Jaina".

Arqueología Mexicana. 18 (1996): 52-59

Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto La Costa de Campeche en los Tiempos