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Landscape and Power in
ANCIENT.
MesoamerIca
REX KOONTZ, KATHRYN REESE-TAYLOR and ANNABETH HEADRICK
IN
LAN DSCAPE AN D POWER ANC IE NT MESOAMERICA
IN
LAN DSCAPE AND POWER ANCIENT MESOAMER ICA
/
Rex Koontz Kathryn Reese-Taylor Annabeth Headrick
~es~m •
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights ~I'\ t'ese-Taylor, Kathryn. 11 1. Headrick, Allnabeth. FI219.3.M 1...36 972·.OI-dc21
2001 O()-05497Y
The pllJX'r used in this publication llll..>('ts thl" II.'quir=wnts of the American Nation.11 Standar(1 fur r('rmllnCllce ",( Pnper for Printed Librilr~ Malerinls ZJ9.4!1-1%4.
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CONTENTS
MAPS, TABLES, AND IL LUSTRATIONS
XI
FOREWORD, DAVID FREIDEL.
umdscape all(i Pvwer in J\llciell/ Mesoalllerica PREFACE
1
XVII
xxiii
KATHRYN REESE-TAYLOR AND REX KOONTZ.
TI,e Cllltural Poetics of Power Qlld Space;lI
Allcicnt Mesoamerica
1
Defining Cultural Poetics, Aesthetics, 3 SIyle,6
1
The Structure of Power, 7 The Cultura l Poetics of Space, 10 • Space, Power, and Poetics in Practice, 12 EI Tajin, 1J • The Ritud as an "areal co-tradition," never constrained the tangled branching of the regional cultures of Mesoamerica into a wonderful and nuanced flowering of expression. 111e pyramids and concourses mapping out the creation across the Tcotihuacan landscape, the circle dance of great stones dcclaring the creation at Quirigua, the resurrection path in Building A at EI Tajin, resonate but remain distinctly localized and historically particular express ions of bro..'ldly shared and enduring tropes. The writers dealing with these subjects expertly break out the local from the Mesoa merican in ways that enrich our understanding of both. Within the context of cosmic aesthetics as a means to legitimate power, I see two greilt themes in this book. First, there are explorntions of the meaning of places on the landscape, both humanmade and natur,d, as conveyed through symbols, signs, and images-and writing in the case of the Classic Maya. Second, there are efforts to interpret places, or monuments, by means of ritual performances on or around them as these can be inferred through displayed symbolism. These two themes intertwine conceptually, and so the authors detail them to varying degrees in each chapter. Here is an example from my own experience of how this thematic synergy can work. In late December last year, I visited the I'ostclassic Maya capital of Mayapan in Yucatan. Passing through the bougainvillea-laced lane to the new ly cleared and consolidated buildings of the center, I faced the Temple of Kukulcan, the Feathered Scrpent. By reputation, this radial pyramid is an ceho of Chichen ltza's original Castillo in north-centml Yucatan. As I drew closer to the pyramid, I could see fragments of recently exposed and conserved brightly painted murals along one basal wall. An enthroned and armed god, strikingly reminiscent of one found pervasively at Chichen Hza depicted ins ide an ancestor cartouche (and dubbed "Captain Sun Disk" there by Arthur Miller), was here framed by warriors lowering battle standards toward the god's celestial portal. Captain Sun Disk occurs carved on i\ wooden lintel in the temple on top of the Castillo at Chichen Itza, but here at Mayapan he was prominently displayed on il version of the radial temple ethnoh istorically documented as dedicated to Kukulcan. To be sure, another such scene depicted a "diving god" in the cartouche, but I saw in the sea ted-god mural reinforcement of the idea that Kukulcan, as the title of a legendary ruler of Chichcn itza, might be pictured as the enthroned warrior in the ancestor cartouche.
xx
Forei:lI(mt
My interest piqued, I rounded the py ramid and then rega rded, up on a low corner terrace, a striding modeled stucco figu re b randishing a fiapstaff battle banner. Now the building came alive for me with the pageants of the month of Xu l that I remembefl-od described by Diego de Landa for the Temple of Kukulcan at Mayapan (and later at Mani): On the evening of that day they went forth with a great procession of people, an d they went very q u ietly to the temple of Kukulcan, which they had p reviously properly adorned, and having a rrived there, and ma king their prayers, they pl'-Ked the banners on top of the temple, and they nil spread out their idols below in the cou rtym d, etlch for himself, on leaves of trees, which he had for this p u rpose, and having kindled new fire, they began to burn their incense in many places and to make offerings of food cooked withou t salt or pepper and of drinks made of their beans and the seeds of squashes (Tozzer 1941:158). TIle battle banners of Mayapan resonated for me with those inferred for Classic EI Tajin in Veracruz, as described by Kathryn Reese-Taylor and Rex Koontz in their introd uction. I found my mind's eye following battle banne rs from Chichen Itza to battle banne rs flutte ring over the bundled and seated remains of revered lords in Aztec picture books like the Magliabechano (Boone 1983) to the battle banner depicted over the bundled remains of the sacrificed Maya Maize God, Firs t Father, on a beautiful Midd le Classic vase (MS 1126, Reents-Budet 1994:14-15). My mind's eye observed the banners adorning bound sacrificial victims displayed before Quetz.:'lko.:'lil-Kuku lcan and also decorating a tree behind the enthroned image o f that god, as illustrated in the Postclassic Mexican Codex Borgia (plate 19). So this Mesoamerican trope blazes trai ls through the cuHura l history of the region and urges me to see in them connected understanding. Such religiolls conventions and symbols served to integrate Mesoamerican states not only historically into areal co-traditions but also polit ically, commercially, and ritually in any given period of time. The cult of Kukulcan at Mayapan was, as seen in its successor cult at Mani, designed to solid ify the elite of the Mayapan confederacy through identity with a fo reign god. 111al same e lite was committed to long-distance trade in Mex ico and Cent ral America. The trading city of Cholula in Puebla, described by Geoffrey McCafferty in this volume, housed an important cult of Quetzalcoa tl, and this god's temple stood before the Temp ia Mayor in Tenochtith'm, the Aztec capital. How far back in time this Feathered Scrpent god leitmotif can be traced is an open matter, but certainly both Mexican-sty le feathered serpent gods and Mexican-sty le bat-
Fon'1oord
xxi
tie banners are in the Maya lowlands by the fo urth century AD. As it hap pen s, the bundle burial of high lords (such as pictured on the M iddle Classic vase describdlock 1983:53). In tightly parallel verse, the cadence and a lliteration established in one phrase mus t be s usta ined
Cuiturni Poetics of Power alld Space
7
(with slight variation) in the next. At the same time, the semantic content must also be duplicated . Meaning shifts eithe r positively or negati vely using synonym s and antonyms but without disrupting completely the established mete r and sound . These formal stylistics dearly organize the compositiona l structure and thus the content of the text. In a similar manner, Kathryn Reese (1996) has argued that the overall design of sacred space at the Late Formative site of CerfC>s in northern Belize parall eled the poct ic properties of formal Maya verse. She has identified structures such as episodic cycles, metaphorical stacking, formal coupletry, and triadic parallelism in the architectural program. These formal elements of style were used to convey meaning by the Late Formative architects of Cerros. Without the proper use of such form al elements, the landsca pe would be less intelligible to the local population, much as music composed on an octave scale is famiJiar or i.n digenolls whereas mu sic composed on il scale o ther than the Western odave is marked as strange or foreign, Style is not a by-product of behavior but is firm ly grounded in practice and is culturally constitutive. 'n,erefore, the principles of an aesthetics together with its materialization through sty le is crucial in establ ishing the syntax that makes any communication ultelligible with a cohesive social group. However, what is critical to understand is the interrelatedness o f the two concepts. Styles are founded upon aesthetic principles, and aest hetic principk"S are dependent upon styk'S for their expression . It is the aesthetic struc· turing of communicative acts and their attendant social relations and the sty le in which these structu res are exp ressed that cu ltural poetics attempts to d iscenl.
The Structure of Power Based upon the studies of such social scientists as Michel f oucault (1973, 1977, 1981), Clifford Gee rtz (1973), Pierre Bourdieu (1977, 1984), and Mikhail Bakhtin (1986), recent scholars have proposed that one of the principle structural problems posed by cultural poetics is the relation ship between power ilnd the manner in wh ich it is represented (Dougherty and Kurkc 1993). "Culture here is not cults and customs but the structures of meaning through which people give shape to their experience. Politics is not coups and constitutions but one of the principle arenas in wh ich such structures unfold, The two being thus reframed, determining the co\1JlI.'Ction between them becomes a practicable en terprise, although hardly a modest one" (Geertz 1973:312).
8
Kathryll Reese-Taylor nlld Rex Kool1tz
Geertz clearly relates poli tics and cultu re-the latter being a constitutive element of the former. Thus culture and power a re not d isjunctive, but instead power is expressed and manipulah..ood through cu ltural categories ilnd discoUTSL'S. At this juncture one mus t interrogate the con nection between cu lture and politics with a view to\vard constructing a fie ld in which cultural man ifesta tions may be read as constitutive of political power. We wou ld argue that onc of the chief loci for this expression and manipulation of power is in representa tion, which provides a fertile fie ld for the exploration of the connection bet\'\'een cu lture and politics. Bu t how does representation cons titute itself as an analy tical fie ld , and wh at are the elements that go into its an alysis? In his study of the Paris Arcades, Walter Beniamin part icularly d ra ws upon images of power arising from dialectical structures that actualize the tensions between oppos· ing cu ltu ral forces: Where thought comes to a standstill in a constellation satu rated with tensions, there appears the d ialectical image. It is the caesura in the movement of thought .. . it is to be sought a t the poin t where the ten sion between the dialectica l oppositions is the greatest (Benjamin as quoted in Buck-Morss 1989:219) The tension of the dialectica l image is an integra l construct in the d ynamic nature of the cultu ral poetic. However, in our use of the diak'Ctical image, we ex pand upon 8eniamin 's speci fic definition and embrace a m ore encompassing ('xegcsis.~ We interpret the tension of the dialectic image as embody ing the disiunction between that which is represented and that which represents-in o ther words, the signified and the Signifier (Sa ussure 1913). The repreS€ntation is intrin sically dialectic because it en· codes an interior s truggle between concept and conceptualiza tion. Th is cHort creates a rift in the image, which Ka thleen Stewart has called "a space on the side of the road" (1996). This space is fu ll of potential in that it allows for a mu ltitude of interpretations, depending upon the aud ience (d. Bri(fll1 f.l.'gfley_ Edi ted by Andrea Stonlc'. Tusci'lIOl~l , Alil.; Univt"r-
sity of Alabama Press. in p ress. Ms. 1999. Kubler, C"-"Ol'ge. 1',173
Iconogr;tphic Aspects of Architectural Profiles al Tt.'Olinu(lCM and in Tile lcul/ography "f Middle Americllll Swlpfllft·. N~w York:
Ml'~mlmericil.
Metropolitan MU$Cum of Art. 24-39. Edmund. 1977 Politicnl Systems of High/1U1I1 81mI/o: A Sl lIdy of Knclli'l Social $trucllirt'. Monographs on Social Anthropology 44. London: Athlone Pr~s. I..Cvi-Strss. Tedlock, Barbarn . 1984 The Beautiful and the Dnngerous: Zuni Ritual and C()::.molngy as an A(.'Slhetic System. Conjunc tiolls 6:246-265. 1986 Crossing the Sensory Domains of Na tive American A~thet ics. Exploratio/ls ill [1I111olflllsicofogy il/ HOllOr of Dauid P. McAl/I'slt", Edilt."troit MonographS in MU Sicology, Nu mber 9. Detroit: Info rmation Coordinators. 187-198. 1992 TlJ[' H(!(IulifuIlllld tilt' Dallgerous: rileD/wier willI ZUlli il/dimls. New York: Viking Prt:!:>:>.
Kathryll Reese-Taylor nlld Rex Kool1tz Tedlock. Dennis. 1983 TIlt' Spokl'II Word IJlld tile Work of fJllrrprt'latioll. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Pres!>. 1985 Popol Villi: Tlw Mayall Book of IIII' DaWII of Life. New York: Simon and Schu~t~ r.
Turner, Victor. 1967
Till!
rom/ of Symbols. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Urban, Greg. A Disrorlrse-Cell/t'rt'd Approacll to CUI/lift:: Nati1't' SOlllh Amrrican Myths find RitrllJ/s. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press. Volosinov, V. N. 1973 MarxiSIII nmf lilt' PhilQ50plry of LarW'lIJgt'. Tran~tat~ by l..tld i~lav Matejka and J. R. Titunik. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 199 1
Ludwig. Tmcla/IIS LaSico-PlrilosophicIIS. London: Ro ut lcdge;md Kegan I'aul. Artid", in fill! New YOfk Tim/'s.
Wi tt gcn st(~in,
1922 1966
Notes I. "chaque methode peu t Hre choisie en fonction des cirCf the Building Columns Sculptures 5 and 8 (Koontz 199"). For regional depiction:>, see Ihe conlempor"ry mural program found al L.1S Higucras (sanchez Bo nilla 1993). 11 . See Schele and Kappclm" n, cha pter 2 in this volume, for a discussion of the time d"'pth {I f Ihe mllunliJin/biJnner tro~. A~ thest.' authors point ('ut, the foundatio nal myth (If the Late Postclassic Mexica, which centen..od around a Sn"ke Mountain with b;mner (u..'on-Portill,l 1987; Ma tos Moctezu ma 1987), has analogs that reach at least to the Late Pn'classic period in the Maya arca (RI..'eSC ltJ%). rhis suggests that the tropto' is a widespread template for creating leg itimate Mesoamerican urb" n space.
2
What the Heck's Coatepec? The Formative Roots of an Enduring Mythologtj LI N DA SCHELE
J U Ll A GUERNSEY KAPPELMAN L
Myth and Context Mesoamerican peoples th roughout time viewed the shape and rhythm of the uni verse through the narrative of creation, p layed out in the movements of the s un, constellations, and planets in the sky. As a reflection back to the heavens from the Earth, they also structured the s hape of the ir cities-and the very patterns o f their civilized life-according to speci fi c myt holog ical narrati ves of primordial power. This chapter explores how one of these myths, that of Tallan, or "place of the reeds," was used to st ructure the aesthetics of space and form from the Format ive through the Postclassic periods. TIuough this mythic framework, each site defi ned itself i'l5 a place of great civil ization where the arts and good government flourished and where the right to rule and perform acts of warfare and sacrifice were divinely 5.:"1nctioned.2 In order 10 understand the nature and time depth of these s tructuring mythologies, one must first tum to the great Aztec creation and m igration stories in which these narr.ltives are most fully elabora ted. In particuinr, the legend of Coatepec, or "Snake Mountai.n," was interwoven wi th the myth of Tollan into the migration epic of the Aztecs. Although identified in the mig rat ion story as two stops along the journey, the locations of TolIan and Coa tepec were more than just that. As Elizabeth l300ne (1991) demonstrated, these locations and the movement of pt.."Ople through them were part of a ritual performance that not only transformed space and
29
30
Lbtdn Schelf! and JI/lin GlIcmsey Kilppc1/1/fll1
charged it with social and ideological significance but legitimi7..ed the ru le of those who structured their sacred spaces according to its design)t As with the myth of Tollan, that of Coatcpds and Ru~hes: From Survival to Sovereigns. Floro lind flllmo Im agery ill Precolumbiof/ C/lltl/res, Icollography tlnd FIII/clioll. Edited by jt'ant'lte F. Pt'terson. BAR Inlt'rnational St'ries 171. Oxford: Britbh Archaeological Reports. 93-112. Jimenez Morenl), Wigherlo. 19~ 1 El pl'Oblema dt:! Tula. / M,'sa Relfondl/, Boletin 1:2--8. Klein, Cecelia F. 1':188 Rethinking Cihuacoatl: Aztec Political Imagery of thc Conquered Woman. Smokl.' allli Mist: M"SMllleril.'oll Stlldil$ ill Memory of TI,e/ma D. SIIIIi/'lI/1. Edited by j. Kathryn Jo~st'rand and Karin Dankin. BAR International Serit.'S 402. Oxford: British Archacological Repurts. 237- 278. Koontz, Rex A. 1994 The Iconography of [/ Tajbl, Vaacruz, Mexico. Ph.D. disscrtalion, University of Texas at Austin. lc6n-Portilla, Migul"1. lY78 Mexico-7r llochlilltill, 511 espada y tiempo sngmdos. Mexico, D.E: Pla za y Valdt'~.
50
Lbtdn Schelf! and JI/lin GlIcmsey Kilppc1/1/fll1
L6pez Luj6n, Leonardo.
lAs a/reI/lias drl1clI1p/o Mnyor de Tt'IIOClllithill. Mexico, D.E: Institulo Nacion,,1 de Antropologia c His lori,l. Miltos Moclezuma, Eduardo. )984 Tnl" Tt'mpiu Milyor ofTt.'n(Jchtitliin: Economics and Idooit'gy. Rilual Ht/man Sacrifice ill MC5c){IlIIt'rica Edited by Elizabeth Ii. Boone. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarlon Oaks. 133-164. 1987 The 'Iemplo ~1ilyor nf lenochlitlfin: History and Interpretatio n. Tllc Great Trill/,ll! of TI'lIoclltitltin: Cellter (lnd Pcripht'ry ill the Aztec lVorld. Edited by Johanna Broda, David Carrasco, find EduMdo Matos Moclezuma. Bt-rkdey: University ofCaJifornin Press. 15-60. 1988 Tnt' Great Tt'mple of the Aztec!>: Trl'asures of Ten{>chtiiloln. Lvndon: Thnmes and Hudson. 1991 Las seis Coyohmuhqui: VMi.lciones sobre un mismo tema. E.~/!ldio.~ (ie 1993
Cullum NnlwnI/21: 1S-3O.
Milbrath,Su:.an. IY80 Star Gods and Astronomy of the Azh..'I!Opll!, which desc ribe. tht' migratiun of the Aztee!> into the Valle)' of Mexico and the f well as uther l>iJCteentht(Jry o f this debate, sec Davies (1977) and Schde and M.lthews (199839, 198-199). 10. &"t! Umberger (19873:69), who quotes 5.1hagun (1950-1982, Book 10:165-160): "Their name is taken from-it comes from- their manner of life, t.heir works. rhe Tolleca were wise. Their works were all good, all perfect, all wonderful, "II rn.1TVclous .... " 11. As Schele and Mathews (1998:337, n.28) noted, during this period at Tikal there wal> an unobstructed view of Structure 5D--33-2nd from the balkllurt in the East Plaza. This fact offers fu rther support for the suggestion that basic structuring principles or mythic p"rildigms-such as a balkourt at the ba~ of Sn:lke Mountain-wcl'e well in place by thisca rly dale. This same fusion of the two fundamen!;ll creation locatiuns abo ilppeilrs ilt C(Jptin on Rnsalila, whell:' bright yellow kerr'leJs (If corn emerge From the cldt of their ver~illn of Sustenance Mountain, whereas above an enormous s(>(pent undula tes, marking the structure as Snake ~1ountain (Khristaan Villela, personal communication 1997). 12. Schele and Mathews (1998:217) fu rthe r noted that the snakes' mouths \1pen at thc top of the column and emit tiny scenl>S uf the Milizc God's rt!!>urret:tiun from the Cosmic Turtle. In cach of the four registers at the top, a rcsur(('Cted Maize God ri:.e!> from the turtle shell and gra"p~ ~ua!>h vinl':. growing from the heads (1f gods who are themselvl'S emerging from the ends of the turtle carapace. A:, they wrute, "Farm('rs plant maj:z:e, squash, and bean St,.·(·ds together in their miipn, or cornfields. The squilsh spreads out along the ground to preserve moisture, while the beans climb the stalk of maize. Here both ma ize and squash come together inlo the world at the moment uf First Father's Tl·birth in the cnmp.1ny of his parents, who stand on Snake Mountain" (Schele and Mathews 1998). 13. According to Ree:.e (1996:53-54), the bilnner stone is a large, rectangular monolith with wunded corners thill measures approximately 1.4 x 1.4 meters. Thc nurtheast corner of the stone is crushL>d and falls off the platform, ilnd several Iilrge cracks run through the surface. I his condition led Reese to conclude that tht! monolith was t'ithi:!r inlenti(mally del>troyed at some time in the history (,f the center or suffe red postdepos itional weathering of a nature not noted on other stone surfaces or in other structu res. Insel40 centimeters fmm tht! wt:'st edge and (,() centimetel'S from the south edge of the banner stone is a circular htJle that appears t(l have bt't'n cut. Tht' hole is apprnximatt:'ly 15 centimeters in diameter and between 10 and 15 centimciers deep. Twenty centimeters to the cast lJf the hole and inset 60 centimeters From the south edge is another carved hole of the same appruxim,lte dimen!>i(lOS. The spacing of the two holes implie!o that third hole should have been pll.'SCnt, L'Stablishing " triildic p.lttern. No third hole was deIl'clL'd on the surface, but the Mea where the thi rd hole should havc becn is heavily damaged. 14. Also see Ret"5(' (1996) for a discussion of the ilrchite-cturill organizati('!n of Glmplcx 0, as well "s complexes at Waxaktun and Tikal, in terms of the Mil)'il creation story.
,I
Procession Rituals and Shrine Sites: The Politics of Sacred Space In the Late Formative Valley of Oaxaca HEATHER
S.
ORR
The stud y of processionals, like the study of pilgriiTIi.lges, can enable penetrat ing insights into po litical. socia l, and cu ltural processes. In Ihis chapter, I discu ss the Va lley of Oaxaca sites of Dainzu and Monte Alban in their capacity as hilltop sh rines and sacred places that were the focu s of procession ceremonies. I suggest that the power of these shrine sites was w ielded as a political tool. This study is intended to contextual i7.e the Late Formative sculptural/arch itectu ral programs at Montc Alban an d Dainzu. The chapter opens with a framework for the d iscussion of procession rituals in the Valley of Oax",ca region. The relationship between processiona ls and petitions for rainfall is next considered, followed by a discussion of shrine sites, and finally an examinat ion of sacred space and politics at Dainzu and Monte Alban.
Rituals of Procession Several manners of organization are possible ill procession rituals. Because "processions trMsform movement from a functionaL phys iological act into a cultural performMce," forma l organization in a process ion "depicts socio-cu ltur
velops il body of legend and lore to account for its distinctive character and capability. Pre~ ston stressed that it is uncommon for all variables to appear at any given single shrine site (1992:38). The spiritual mngnctism of a sac red place can decline or intensify over time, depending upon sociocultural factors and changes: Pilgrimage sites strongly associated with sacred geography may di~ minish in importance as civilizat ions decline. Many of the great places of pilg rimage of antiquity ha ve faded away after periodic episodes of stella r florescence (Preston 1992:35). Conversely: ... (lhe) intensity of spiritual magnetism may increase as a shrine becomes better known for miracles or when it develops a focus of i n~ tensifying cultural activity ... during certain historical periods some sacred centers become increasingly associated with supernatural ef~ ficacy (Preston 1992:37). Preston also identified a principle that he termed "spiritual syn thesis" to describe temporal and cultural continuity nnd syncretism in the s piri ~ tual magnetism of a shrinc sitc. Places that undergo spiritual synthesis are transformed repeatedly under new or imposed cultural and religious circumst,lIlces, principally because they are "focal points for movem~nts of large numbers of peop le toward centers of civilization" (Pres ton 1992035). These principles may be applied to ancient sacred p laces in the Valley of Oaxaca. For example, the Xoo Phase-Monte Alban V decline in impor~ tancc of Cerro Dainzu corresponds dir-368. DurCMCh ln~tilutc. 313-31.6.
Loopt'r, Matthew. 1991 Tile Dlll/ces (If the Classic Maya Dt'ilifS Chak il/ld HUll Nal Yt'. M.A. UnivcI'sily o f Texas at Austin.
th~i~,
MOIrcus, Joyce. 1'J73 rhe Iconography of Power Among the Classic Maya. World ArcllL'Ology 6(1):83-94.
1976
1980 1983
The Iconography of Militjero. Mexico, D.E: Sodedad Mexicana de Antropologia. 161 - 178.
Masson, Marilyn.
1m
euciio, Ancestors, and the Annual Cycle: Reflections of St.ocular and RL.... Jigious Divisions of Power Among the Classic Period Zlpotec. Paper
presentf'd al the 57th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Anilheim, Califomia. Masson, Marilyn, and Heather Orr. 1998 The Writing in the Wall: Political Repre~ntation and Sacred Gwgraphy at Monte Alban in Programs of Building Dedication, Nahual Transform;ltiol), and Captive 5..1crificc. TIle Sowillg (Iud Ihe DmlJuillif Tamil/filial/ PmCl~ss ill O,e Archlleo/(lSiml (lnd Ellmo/agicill R('cvrd of Mesoallll'riea. Editt>d by Shirley Boteler Mston, James. 1992 Spirit ual Magnetism : An Organizing Principle for the Study of Pilgrimage. Sacn'd jOl/rIIcys: The Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Edill.>d by A. :\10rinis. Contributions to the Study of Anthropology 7. WestPNt, C{lOn.: Greenwood Prt.'Ss. 31-46. Rappaport, It A. 1971 Ecology, Mrllllillg, 11IId Rt'ligioll. Richmond, Va.: North Atlantic Book:., Reilly, Kent E, Ill . 1994
Visilms fo AI/oIlier World: Arf, Shamallism, Ilnd Poli/ical POlL't'T jll Midd/t' Forll/otiV!' Ml'sOIIlIIt'rica. Ph.D. dissertation, Uni versity of rexas at
Austin. 5.1Ilnow. M. J. 1987 Pi/grillls oflllt· AI/des. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institute Press. 1990 Cotlli'S/jllK tile Sacred: TIll" Antlrropology afChristiall Pi/griIllIlK". London, Routledge. S.lnders, W. T., imd O. 1.. Nichols. 1'>188 Ecological "lh.'Ory and Cultu ral Evolution in the Valley (If Oaxaca. Ctlrrenl Anthropology 29( I ):33-80.
S.lntley, R. S, 1980 Discmbeddcd Cnpitals I~econsidered. American Antiqllily 45(1 ):132- 145. Schele, Linda. 1996 The 01ml..~ Mounlnin and the Tree of Creation in MI..'SoamcTica n CO!;mology. Olml'c World: IWIIIl/ and RulerS/lip. Princeton: 111C Art Museum, Princeton Univer.;ity. 105-119. Schcle Linda, and David Freidel. 1990 A rOr£'sl of Killg,~: Tile Unill/d Story of /III' AI/drill Maya. New York : William Morrow. Schele, linda, and Mary Ellen Miller. 11J86 Blood of Ki,ISS: Dynllsfyalld Rilual ill Mnya Arl. Fort Worth, Tex.: Kimbell Art Museum.
Processioll Rifrmls alld Shrilll' Sitrs
77
Scott,John. 1978 Tllf Dallzalll..s 01 MOIIII' Alball. Dumbarton Oaks Studies in PreColumbian Art and Archat."OIogy 19. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks. 5ilwrman, H. 19'J1 The EthMgraphy and Archat.'OII)gy of Two Andean Pilgrimagc Centers. Pilgrillla~1,"' il/LAlill Alllfrica. Edih_>d by N. R. C rumrine and A. Morinis. Contributions tn the Stud y of Anthropology 4. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Pres:>. 215-228. Spencer, C. s. 1982 nle Cuicallall Guiada allif MOille Alball. New York: Academic Press. Spen. J. 1987 Light/lillS MI'II nnd Walrr Sapents: A CompariSQII of Mayn al/d Mixl'-ZoqMn,1 Bdif/s. M.A. thesis, University of Tcx.,s at Austin. ·'~lube, Karl. 1992 Tlu' Major Gods of Allcit'llt Yucntnll. Dumbarton O.,k!o Studies in PreColumbian Art and Arch,leology 32. W.lShington, D.C.: Dumbarlon Oaks. 19% ·1hl' R.,inmukers: The Olmec and TheiI Ccmtributitln to Mesoamerican l3elief and Ritual. Tltl' Olllll'c World: Rill/III (md Rulrrship. Princeton: The Art Mu!>Cum, Princeton University. 83-104. Tozzer, Alfrtc'd. 194J wilda's Rdaci6n de las Cosas dl' YI/cnld,,: A Tral/slation. rilper.. of the Pcabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnolog)', Volumc XV II I. Cambridge, Ma!>s.: Harvard University. Rcprintl.>d New York: Kraus Reprint Corporation. 1%6. Turner, V. 1974 from Umil/al to Umilloid ill Play, flow, alld Rilutll: All Essay ill Compara1i1'C Symbology. Princcton, N.J.: Humanities Press. Turnl'r, V., and E. Turner. 1978 III/nRC: alld Pi/grill/tlgl' ill Christillll Crlitl/ft·: Alllhrop%girni Pi'rSllfctit't"S. New York: Columbia Univer!>ity Press. Urbano, H. 1991 Mythic Andt'an Di~(.ul"!>l' and Pilgrima~e:;. Pilgrimagl' illi.JIlill AllwriOl. Edited by N. R. Crumrine and A. Morinis. Coniriblilions 10 the Study of Anthropology 4. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Prl!Ss. Urcid Serrano, Jilvil'r. 1992 ZnllOtc:C Hil'Toglyp/ric WriliIiR. Ph.D. dissertation, Yale Univl'rsity. 1994 Monte Alban y la eS(rittlra Zapokca. MOIlle A/bnll: Eslr/dirlS Rt!cielllignificanlly found at sites wn.'>idered to be foci of emerging and paramount chiefdoms (Freidel, Schde, and Parker 1993; Rl:'illy 1994; Blake et al. 19%; ct. also P01.orski and Pm:ur..ki 1995). Howeve r, the ftlrm and situation nf these early structures can likewise be considen.-d to conform with the functionill rcquircmenb {If proc~i{>nal way.'>. The archi tectural type is typically locatoo at (Ir nt'ar the site centcr t·, or ritual, ballcourt and as a prnce5.'>ional way htading t(1 the North Court (personal communication 1996; see Orr 1997). Ind~, Kubler made some notable inSights along these lines:
... At tht' ballcourl, a .'>mall-.'>Cope pilgrim content (1985:315).
3. At Leas t six t0ponymsassocialcd with carved ballplayers survive at D!linzu, indicating an idt'ntification with difft'Tt'nt Il!Cales or ({Immunity ::.ecto~ (Orr 1997; SCd to f(.'Strict general accCN>. Although some degn.>e of fl'Striction is evident, ft.'Cent findings. in particular those of the l'roYl'Cto Espl.'Cial Monte Alban, 1992-199-1, suggest the city center had formal access-ways (e.g., Joyce and Winter 19%). Indct.'CI. the summit may be breached from several approaches. 5. Danzantes ("dancers") is employed here as the commonly used term becauM' early research at Mont ... Alban I"l'f... rred to the well-known Mon te Alban I and II slcme slabs carved with human figures considered by many researchers to represent SOlcrificiilt victims (e.g., Coc 1962; Marcus 1973, 1976, 1983; Scott 1978). The Danz;lntcs WillI is thc only remilining portion of a facade revetment wall bt~1(lnging hI the I!ilrliest known phm;e of Building L This structure was a large pyramidal platform with high talud-sloping walls formed of monumental slones. Howcver, I bl!liev(' that iconogr,'phic inconsistencies here suggest that the carvings arc in reused contcxt although the wall su pplies the earliest in si lu dille (Monte Alban la) for this class of carved monument (see Orr 1997). Cerilmic and sma 11 gfl'Cnstonc depictions of thl."SC figurt.'S are also known from thc period (see Caso 1~47:Figu res 39, 40a and 4Ob; Caso et al. 1967; $cott 1978:Figure 11 and 28;). 6. &''C.l USC this monument WilS not discovered in primary contcxt (see Urcid Serra no 1992; Cal\n and Winter 1993; cf. al-.o Flannery and Man.:u~ 1983:57, 1990), bul was used for a bui ld ing dedication event (c.g., Masson ilnd Orr 1'J'J8), the date of its execution has been a point o f contention-with argu ments ranging from the Rosario Philse (Aanncry and Marcus 1983:57) to Monic Alban I (Urcid Serrano 1992) and Period II (Cahn find Winter 1993). The mon u ml'nt i::. located between two principal structu rl!::' a t the top of Mound 1. Th is l5-meter-h igh pyramid became the focus of civic/ceremonial life at San Jose M('gole during the ROSOlrio Phase (ca. 700-500 Be). A remarkable PL"nod 11 cilche of refilmic effigies cxcavated at this mound exhibit rilual impersonation of CociY(I; thl:' principal actor ties on his bd ly in Sl.lme replication l.f thilt deity's traits (sec MasSI.)ft lW4; Taube 19')6; Orr 19'17). 7. [ have suggested !hilt these stylistic variiltions are not IHbitrary, but refer to specific moments or events (Orr 191f7).
4 Sacred Geography at Izapa and the Performance of RIdership J ULIA GUERNSEY KAPPELMAN
Char.lcterized by monuments that unravel rich narratives throughou t
carefully delineated ceremonial spaces, the site of Izapa offers a unique glimpse inlo the organ ization of sacred space during the Late Formative period (300 BC-200 AD).I The carved monuments reveal the ritua ls performed by Late Formati ve rulers, whereas the architectural s pace in which they are contained manifests the primord ial landscape of crea tion. A veritable web of pol itics and cosmogenesis was woven th rough the sculptural and architectura l prog rams at Izapa, and Late Formati ve ru lers inserted themselves and the ir actions into this s pace, crea ting a conjunction between myth, poli tical narrative, and ind ividua l acti on . This conjunction between actor and structuring narrative, as discussed in the firs t chap te r of this vol ume, is at the heart of Sa hi ins's (1985:xiv) concept of the "structure o f conjuncture," which seeks to revcalthe nature o f power through d the central axis of the site at 21 degrees east of north . Group H is bordered to the north by Mound 25 and to the south by Mound 60, the la rgest pyramid at the site and the highest in the region.J On a clear day, the rat iona le for this orie.ntation of the site's axis is, quite literally, visible: If one stands on the s ummit of Mound 60 and looks to the north, Mound 25 is framed against the volcano Tacana that looms dramatically on the horizon.~ In fa ct, Mound 25 appears to have been a two-t iered pyramid that echoed the contours of Tacana (Lowe et al. 1982:262). Mounds 25 and 60 thus form not only a central backbone of sorts for the site, bu t they also repl icate landmarks of the sacred natural geography on a human sca le. Group H, w ith its quad rilateral arrangement o f mounds around a centml plaza, prov ided an idea l space fo r pe rformance, and it typifies the organization of space at lzapa . nle significa nce of the Group H plaza, not only as an axia lly a ligned microcosm of the natural world but as a performance space, is inferred through the presence of Mound 46 at the center of the plaza. Such a low mound may have served as a dance platform and stage for public rituals. Standing upon the low platform, a ruler
Julin GlIern5e1j Knppelmfln
,
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Figure 4.2
Map of centra l b :apa. After map and topographie survey by Eduardo Ma rtin ez E. in L.OWI.' 1.'1 011. (1982:l.'nd m.p)
wou ld also have tx:c n aligned on a horizontal plane wi lh the centra l axis of the site and to Tacana in the distance. The Group H plaza and its enormous Mound 60 were also nea tly woven into a broader conceptual program that sought to define 17..apa as th(' center of the world. The s pace immediately surrounding Mound 60 con· tained a series of reservoirs, dams, and aqueducts that channeled water to the Rio Izapa, which for ms the eastern boundary of the site (Figure 4.3) (Lowe et al. 1982:263). When Mound 60 was enla rged du ring the Llte Formative period, its fill was taken from areas surrounding the mound, which created a reservoir on its north side. This northem reservoir was aligned on the same ax is with Ts. Flort'SCano, Enrique. 1994 Memoria Meximlla. Mexico, D. E : Fondn dt! Cu\tura Econ6mica. Foucault, M. 1972 'JJtc Arclll1t~)I~y of KllowlNlge al/d tire DisctJllrsc 011 U11I81111gC. New York: PanthL'On. Freidel, David A., Linda Schell', and joy Parker. 199) Mnyn COSIIIUS: Tlm'e TllOuSic Maya Temple. Fllllclioll aud Mrnnillg ill Classic Mi1ya Arc{Iilrcluf('. Edited by Stephen D. H ou~t on. Washi ngton, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks. 427-478. TI..-dlock, Dennis. 1985 POJlol Vill,: Tilt' Drjillitil'f' Edition (If lilt' NJnyall Brok of tire [)Qwn of Lift' fllltf IIII' Gloril'SofGods and Killgs. New York: Simon and Schuster. Te:lOzomoc, Alva rado. 1975 Crol/ica M,'.ricflllII. Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Porn'm. 1980 CroniC'll Mrxiroyotl. Mexico, D.E: Editorial Porrua. Wheatley, ",lUI. 1971 1111' Pitoo/ of 1/11' f 'OItr Corners. Chicago: Aldinc.
N otes I. The p moveml'nt:> of th ... Milky Way, con~t ... llatilms, and plan... b in th ... night sky. One of the critical conformations of the Mil ky Way, known as the "Crocodile TT(.'C," rtderences th"t portion of the creation story in which the Principal Bird JA'ity was dcf... a t~d by the !-Iem Twin. 20. For a discllssilm of th ... m... tilphllrical toy mbolism of Sl;'rp{'nl cords and urn· bi liei, see Miller (1 974); Freidel et .11. (1 993); Taube (19(4); LMpcr (1995); Kappelman (1997); and LOOpt!f and Kappelman (n.d.). 21. The word keno!', "seen, visibllo', in plain Sight," is included in the lexl, ind icating the public nature of this t!vent Ousleson and Kaufman, personal communication 1997). 22. It is important to noll' here Ih,ll there is Lat ... Formative period archaeological evid ... rKe for bird em.tuming. In the Tomb II royal buriill in KamiMljuyu Mound E-1Il-3 W,1S a bird mask. that had been assembled from thirty-one greenstone pieco..'S Iha t were attac/u..>d to an organic backing of some sort (Sh(ltlk and Kidder 1952: 115). A ruler wcars a bird mask much like that found in tht! lomb IJ burial on Kaminaljuy u Stela 11, which confirms Ihal these masks were actually worn by rulers during ritual performances n..'Corded on sida monuments. 23. For instance. Stela 6, located at the b is represented by boulder Altar 2. Furst (1981 ) and Reilly (1989) discussed Ihe hallucinogenic prtlpertic~ of the venom of the Blltv marillllS and ih association wilh the iconography of transfnrm Projt"C1 ;md the Instituto Hondurci'lo de Antropologia c Historia. Schortman, E. M. 1993 Arcfll1t!olo~iCIJI I'Hlr!sli~a/ious ill /hl.' Lowr MO/Ilgun Vnlh!y, Iznblll, GUIl/rlllnln: A Study ill MOII/IIII{,Il/al Sik fUllction and lu/tractiol/. Quirigllli Rl'por/s, VO/lllllt' 3. Edited by R. J. Sharer. PhiladeJphien stonc and were in the north relative to the mountain / pyra-
Poetics of Power and Kllowledge at L1 Veil In
'5 1
mid . In a previous paper (Tate 2000), I presented a rguments that Jora leman's (1976:37) Olmec Dragon or God I and the four-nub headband worn by humans and the almond-eyed s upernatural arc zoomorphic and regalia versions, res)X'Ctivcly, of the bar-and-four-dots carth surface des ign and are related to the Mixe's Na swi II. The other Mixc female s upematural, Higiny, is the water goddess. She presides over human birth and fishing. She reigns OVCf s prings, rivers, and strea ms and is p resent in the veins of the male member. She has a strong rela tionship with the day sign HllgillY, meaning "Fon tane lle" (Lipp 1991:68). I proposed that the La Venta Olmec conceived of springs, rivers, streams, and the like as female and represented this concept with the deft, the opening between the human and supernatural realms, that can appear on any supernatural being or important parts of the human body.? Whereas No swi /I embodies the terrestrial aspects of carth, HiXilly rules over the bodies o f wate r. If a dual concept of feminine supermHuml reality configuralions (>xisled a t La Venta, then the massive offerings of tons of green serpentine dug into pits as large as 20-by-20 meters were probably related to a water goddess s uch as l-lisiny who controlled the riverine and marine resources on which they depended heavily. The massive offerings may have symbolized the generation of human life attributed to I-ligi/ly whereas the mosaic pavements represented an carth-surface female, from whom came all vegetation. Mound C, the mountain effigy, probably rcpn.>scntt.od the abode of 'Elle. Four s telae depicting him s tood al the southem foot of Mound C, fa cing what may have been the actual 'Elle moun tain on the horizon to the south (Figure 6.6).
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Carolyll E. Tale
Figure 6.7 Fi gurine from Arroyo Pesquero (Dumbarton Oaks; height =16.3 centimeters)
Among the contem porary Mixe, No swi !Z is the source o f shamanic healing powe r who calls men iUld women to serve as shamans. Being called by No swi /I while under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms is one of two patterns of shamanic initiation among the Mixe. A shaman ca lled by Nfl swi 'I excels in know ledge of medicinal plants and clairvoyance. Because the four-seed headband is a wearable version of the bar-and-four-dots d esign, figures wearing either symbol probably proclaimed their affiliation with Na swi /I as a source of shamanic power (Figure 6.7). The princi pal figure on La Venia Stela 2 exhibited a bar-andfour-do ts design in his headdress. The other general type of shamanic initiation comes through a series of dreams ,md involves interactions w ith 'file, the thunder-rain deity. 111is sh..'m,l11 literally travels to other Villages to learn curing rituals and also trave ls in dream s and visions to other shamanic cosm ic levels (Lipp 1991:150-154). Did the O lmec conceive of a thundeNain s upernatural? Most scholars (Reilly 1994:147; Joralcmon 1996:56) think that the almondeyed s upernatur.d with the four-seed headband represented a th underrain d eity except K. Taube (1996), wh o interprets it as maize. Furthermore, Reilly (1994) proposed that the almond-eyed supernatural had a shamanic function as a conduit for power, its image controlled by shamans. I have p roposed that the a l mond~e yed supernatural corresponds to 'Elle as a pat ron of shamanic power. Many Olmec personages weM a headdress plaque dep icting 'Elle, such as the frontal figure on La Venta Altar 5 and Mon ument I of San Ma rtin Pajapan, a sculpture nearly iden-
Poetics of Power and Knowledge at L1 Veil In
'53
tical to La Venta Monument 44, which also d isplays this plaque as an ~m b lem of the personage's s hamanic patron . 'Elle himsel f can wear the Na swi /I headband , which s uggests to me that thc earth was seen as the greatest power, sought as a patron evell by 'E/lc. Some La Venta sculptures exh ibited emblems of both Na Stu; II a nd 'Ellc. Of the four stelae dL'picting the almond-eyed s upernatural a t the southern foot of Mound C, assembled by Gonza lez-Lauck (1997), two of the 'Elle figures wore thc earth-powe r head band. The othe r two probably di d also, but we cannot be certain until the upper portions of those broken stelae a re located. The jade figurin e from Arroyo Pesque ro, which I th ink was La Ve nt a's sacred spring, wears his own No stu; /I headband, plus a headd ress plaque depicting 'Elle wearing the same headband. On the back of thc figure's head is a bar-and- four-dots Na sw; II design as well (Figure 6.8) .
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Carolyll E. Tale
'54
The Mixe call their vast assemblage of ritual procedures Nfl5willmiflllli or "work of the earth," The rules governing s p ehington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Eck, D. L. lY82 Bmrams, City of LiSilJ. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Foucau lt, Michel. 19n Disciplinc /111.1 Pllnish: TIiI' Birth of Orr PriSOIl. Translated by Alan Sheridan. N~w Yurk: Pantheon Books. Frt'idel, D. A., L. Schele, and j. Parker. 191)3 Ma ya Cosmos: Tlncc rliOlls(md Yrors OIl tilt' Shamall's PallJ. New York: William Morrow. Gonzd by Cha rles }. Adams. New York: Macmillan. Pa~!rlS,
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Milia: TOWII of Souls alld Qlllt'r Zapolec-Sprllkillg Pueblos of Oaxaca, A..lex· im. Chicago: Uni versity of Chicago Pres~. Reilly, F. K., Il l. 1989 The Shaman in Transformation Pose: A Study ('If the Theme of Rult'rJ'hip in OlmL'C Art. Record of lilt: A rl MIISt' IIIII, PrillCI'/oll Llllil.lfrsity 48(2):4-21. 1m Endost"CI Ritual Spact>;, and the \Votery Underworld in Formative PI:!riod Architf.'Cture: New Observations on the Function of La Venta C(lrnplex A. $ev('//Ih Plllfllqlll' R(I1l11d Tllbll', 1989. Edited by M. C. RobertStln and V. M. Fields. San Francisco: Pre-Columbian Ar t Rl>St:'arch In!'ttitutc. 125-136. Rodrig uez E., M. a. L B. R. 1974 Lt cullllm Mixe: silllbdogia dl' /111 IWlllr1l1ismo. Mexico, D.E: Editoria! Ju s, S. A. Sheets-J(lhns to ne, M. 1994 Tlu' ROllls of POU!!'r: Anima/e Form al1d Gcnderl'd Bodies. Chicago: Open Court. Stirling, Miltthew W. 1943 La Venia's G reen SlIme Tigers. Na/ional Geographic 84(3): 321 -332. 1936
Tatc,C. 19'12
Yn:cchilflll: TIre iksig'l of a Mnya Ccrt'lfIollial City. A ustin, Tex.: Universily of Texas Press.
Poetics of Power (lnd Kllowledge at L1 Veil In Art in Olm..."C Culture. Til!' Olma: World: Rilrlllj and Rllirrsirip. Edill.'d by J. Guthrie. Princeton: Art Museum, Princeton Uni\'ersity I HfHry N. Abram~. 47-68. 1998 La Venta's Stone Figu rines and the Olmcc Body Politic. Memoria.. del Tt'rca Simposio /lftl.'ruaciolm/ de Mayistas. Mexico, D.E: Instituto de In· vestigaciones Filo l6gieas, Universid.,d Nadona l Auton6ma de Mexico. 335-358. 200Cl I'atrons of Shamanic Power: Ll Venta's Supernatural Entities in Light of Mixe Beliefs. Ancit'ul Mrsoallll!r;cn 10(2):169-188). Tt's ill Biology al1d Mrdi· ciul! (Spring). Taube, K. 1996 The D im.....:: Maize God: The Faer.:- of Corn in Formative Meso.l mcriea . 1995
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1976
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Gods: A Symbolit Analysis of Zirwcarrh'to Rituals. Cam·
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Williams, 1-1 ., and It R. Hei 7..er. 1965 Sources of Rocks U~ in Olmcc Monuments. SOllm~ of 5/0111'5 Usaf ill Pll'his foric Mes.onmcrica. Contributions of the Un i\'ersity of C" lifornia Arch;wological Rl.'S(',uch Facility I. Berk~ lcy: Univcrsity of Cty, Philip II, and the ClJuncil of the Indies in 1580. Papl"rs of 11,1' Pt'tlbody MllSClim of Arc/IDl'Ology and E/hnology 11 (2): 45-84. Pasztory, E.m somt'what bUJiltt'd from their sUpJXISt'd barrio. Ukl'wi~, ht' to m· phasized that they d o n(ll fit the expe
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glyph was fou nd next to its companion mat design. Again, th ro ugh carefu l plotting. excavation. and extens ive search through the piles of sculpture at the site, a tola\ of nine hieroglyphs were found to have adomed the struclu re-one on the west facade, two on the north, two on sou th, and one glyph on each corner (Figure 8.4).
Associa ted with each of these nine hieroglyphs were parts of sculpted bod ies and henddresscs (Figure 8.5). Although n o complete figure was excavated, the nu merous fmgmen ls of limbs, loincloths, and h('nddr('ss feathers were mnlched with bodies fo und sCcriplio/ls Of Tika!: Till' Carl'cd ,,·lmlllmcl1/s. Museum Monogr. 409-448. Roofield, R., and A. Vitia Rojas. 1962 (Ium Kalil: A Maya Villa~". Chicago: University of Chicilgo Pn..~. Roys, R. l., (.'(!ito r find trans lator. 1933 Tilt, &1Ok of tile Cili/am Ballllll ofC/nll/myel. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 438. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institute. Ruppt'rt, K. 1952 (I,ic/,':II 11;:ti: Arcilitrc/ufQ/ Notes IIIId Plans. Carnegie In!>titution of Wat:.hington Publication 595. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institute. Sablnff, J. A., .. nd D. A. Freidel. 1',175 A M(ldel of a Pre-Columbian Trading Center. Anciell/ CiI1i1jzlltiol1 alld Tmde. Edi t(.'(/ by J. A. S.. bloff and C. C. Lilmberg-Kilrlovt:.ky. Albuquerque, N.Mex.: University (If New Mexico Press. 369-408. Sabloff, J. A., and W. L. Rathje. 1975 A SIIId.'! ofC/wIIgillg I'rc-CollIIl/liian Commercial Systems: Tl1l'1972- 1973 S('l1SOllS III COZllllle!, Mexico. Monographs of the Peabody Museum of Ame rican Archaeology and Ethnology No.3. Ce: Natal Imilgt'ry in Anci.. nt Md beneath the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan (Heyden 1981; Manzanilla ct al. 1996) provides further eviden ce of a geomantic phenomenon used in site organization. Based on Linda Manzanilla ct al.'s recent reinterpretation, the cave beneath the Pyramid was originally a mi· neshaft for procuring bu ild ing materials for pyramid construction. It was culturally mod ified into the shape of a four- petaled flower with a long tunnel leading to the west at the smne orienta tion as the Teotihuacan u rbal' grid . The chamber is re markably simi lar to colonial depictions o f the Nahua origin myth for Chicomoztoc (Kirchoff et al. 1976:Fol io 16r), and it has been s uggested that Teotihuacan may have served as a prototype for a related origi.n myth. 1 While the cave and associated tunnel may have been abandoned at the end of the Classic period, Teotihuacan remained an im· portant ritual site throughout the Postdassic period, and Aztec artifacts were discovered within the twulel (Heyden 1981), suggL'Sting that it may have been used for oracles or other ceremonies (Manzanilla et al. 1996). Complementary processes are found at the other great ceremonial cen· ter of the central highlands: the Great Pyramid of C holula. In some ways the history o f Cholula is si milar to that of Teotihuaca n, although in others it is quite distinct. Unfortunately, the histories of the two centers have oc'Cn so closely link(>d that the unique characteristics of Cholu la have of-
MOlil/tnin of Heaven, MOlllltniH of Enrlh ten been lost in the shadows of its neighbor. Tlael/ilwaltepetl, or "manmade mountain" as the Great Pyramid was known at the time of the Span ish Conquest, is by volume the largest construction from preColumbian Mesoamerica (Marqu ina 1970a; McCafferty 1996a). It is also the oldest continuously used ceremonial structure in the Americas, and as such can be viewro as a palimpsest of iconographic information accumulated during a period of 2,500 years. This paper peels back the layers of meaning in order to reveal the dynamics of socioreligious connota tions that have been proclaimed (d. Nagao 1989) from the Great Pyramid by different peoples and for different purposes. Here I summtlri ze iconographic evidence from the Great Pyramid to interpret the symbolic content of the pyramid and its surrou nding ceremonial precinct. Implicit is an assumption that styl istic manipu lations were purposeful and re late directly to identity strategies of the elites who directed the monumental construction efforts that resulted in the changing face of the pyramid. These transformations reflect political, edUlic, nnd religious affili,ltions, including Cholula's wavering relationship with Teotihuaca n, the arrival of ethnic Olmeca-Xicallanca from the Gulf Coast, and the rise of the cult of Quetza1coatl.
Cholula and th e Great Pyramid Cholula is loca ted in the Puebla/Tlaxcala Valley, east of the Va lley of Mexico and about 100 kilometers southeast of Tootihuacan (Figu re 11.1). Cholula was famous at the time of the Span ish Conquest as the center for the cult of Ehccatl-QuetzalcoOlti (Rojas 1927:160--161; Duran 1971:131; Torquem,lda 1975-1983, Volume 1:385-387), the Feathered Se rpent god associated with the wind; the planet Venus; priestly knowledge; and pocllteca, long-distance me rchants. Dua l high priests of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (the Aquiach and Tlakhiach) presided over a vast religious empire while representing celestial and earthly domains (Rojas 1927; P. Carrasco 1971 :21-22). Nobles from central Mexico came to Cholula to offer tribute to these priests and in exchange received legitimation of their authority. Poclltcca merchants traveled throughout Mesoamerica, making the Cholu la marketplace a center for exotic goods (Duran 1971:129) and distributing elaborately decorated and symbolically charged objects in the Mixteca-Puebla stylist ic traditiun (Nicholson 1982; McCafferty and McCafferty 1994). The Puebla va lley around Cholula was noted as among the most fertile agricultural land in Mexico during the Colonial period, producing boun-
Geoffrey G. McCafferty
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·----------------- --------- - ------- _____ .1 Figure 11.1 Map of Central Mexico, showing Cho lula tiful h a rvests of corn, beans, maguey, and ch ilies before the Conquest (Rojas 1927; Bonfil Bata lla 1973; Super 1988). Surrounded by snow-covered volcanoes, t he alluvial valley enjoys an abundance of water resourcC
;1.1 !.'t
I Figure 11.3
I
-
Plan of the construction sequence of the Great Pyramid
Archaeologic,ll investigations have concentrated on the Creal Py ramid since 1931, w ith several intensive periods of explomtion as well as shortterm sa lvage work (Nog uera 1937, 1954; Marquina 1939, 1951, 1970b, 1975; Mcssmacher 1967; Mulle r 1978; Sua rez C. 1985; Paddock 1987; Suarez C. and Ma rtinez A. 1993; summarized in McCafferty 1996a). Because of the enormous size of the pyrnmid, early phases of construction were explored llsi.ng tW1nels-more than eight kilometers of tunnels expose building fac,ldes and follow stairways relating 10 the major stages of construction and subsequent modification (figure 11.3). Additional excavations exposed and reconstructed platforms and plazas on the south ,md west sides of the p yramid , including the Patio of the Altars. As a result of these extensive archaeolog ical investigations, a wide range of information has been recovered. The objl'Ctive of this stud y is to weave togethe r archaeological. architectural, art historical, and ethnohistorical data to inter-
MOlil/tnin of Heaven, MOlllltniH of Enrlh pret the meaning content of the Great Py ramid at differen t stages in its history. Because the existing information is often fragmentary, this chapter ca n only be a preli minary reading, and as new information becomes available, these interpretations shou ld be critically reeva luated.
Artisti c Program of th e G reat Pyramid Middle and La te FormCltive settlemen t pCltterns for the Ch olula region consisted of a mosClic of small mounded sites at intervals of 5-10 kilomete rs, includ ing Ac.ltepec, Coronango, Coapan, and Cholu la itself (CardCl Cook and Me rino Ca rri6 n 1987). A settlement sur vey of formativ e Cho lula indicated that it may ha ve covered an area of about 2 square kilometers, w ith monumental architecture in at least three separate areas (McCafferty 1984, 1996b). Eduardo Noguera (1956) discovered Late Formative (EI Arboli llo l /Zacatenco I phase) ceramics in the construction fiII of the earliest level of the Edific io Raja, located to the northeast of the Great Py ramid, represen ting perhaps the earliest construction at the ceremonial center. In fact, the original ground surface beneath the pyramid was littered with Formative period pottery (Noguera 1954:199-200). Mound building ceased at other sites in the immediate vicini ty during the Terminal Formative period, suggesting that by about 200 Be Cholula was the predominant center in the v,ll1ey (Garda Cook 1981; Garda Cook and Merino Carrion 1987). At about this time, the fi rst phase o f the Creat Pyramid was built. What factors conspired to promote Cholula to preem inence over th is nascent kingdom? Why was the Grea t Pyramid begun at a time \.... hen other pyramid mounds were abandoned? Certainly Cholula had a fa· vorable loca tion relative to en vironmen tal resources (Mountjoy and Peterson 1973), but o ther sites had comparable access to fertil e farmland and water resources. Instead, Cholula was apparently able to establish the Great Pyra mid as an axis /llI/lldi, a cosmo-magical center conn ecting the Underworld to the heavens. It was this symbolic resource that distingui shed Chalula from its neighbors and eventually enabled it to d ominate the region. The Grea t Pyramid is located over a spring, which flow s from benea th the mound east into the forme r lake. Thus the Pyramid embodies the concept of Ilitepetl, literally a water-mountain, that for later Nah tlas was the metaphoric term for "kingdom" (Lockhart 1992).l The spring is clea rly dL'" picted in the lIistoria Tbltf'Ca-CllichimeCQ (1976:folio 7v) where it is shown
Geoffrey G. McCafferty
Figure 11 .4
The T lachihualtepetl mo und with spri ng (Ki rc hoff tot a l. 1976:Folio 7v)
emerging from ~ cave beneath the pyramid (Figure 11.4). A modem shrine on the cast side o f the Pyramid covers a decp weU leading down to the' spring. which is still a prom inent feature of the symbolic landscape. No actual cave is known from beneath th e Great Pyramid, but Berna rd ino Sahaglln (1950-1982, In troductory Volume:48) mentioned caves and tunnels witi,i n the Great Pyram id in the Colonial period, and a network of tunnels connec ting the p yramid wi th other pre-Columbian build ings remains pari of local oral tradition. Architectural remains of a pre·Columbian corbeled arch were visible until recently in a road·cu! on the northeast side of the py ramid as possible evidence fo r or iginal tunnel construction. The symbolic center of the py ramid may have been disco\'· ered du ring archaeological tunneling in the 1970s (Ed u ard o Merlo, per· sonal communication ]999). 'Illis chamber is now referred to by Cholula residents as the ene rgy center of the pyramid. One clear distinction between the Great Pyramid and the monumental architecture of Teot ih uacan is the orienta tion. In contrast to the grid align ment of Teotihuacan at 16" east of north, urban Cholu la and the
MOlil/tnin of Heaven, MOlllltniH of Enrlh Great Pyramid a re o riented at 26" north of west (Ma rquina 1970a; Tichy 1981:221), where the pyramid faces the sunset on the summer solstice. The distinction in site o rien tation betw(.'Cn the two urban cen ters suggests that they were not organized around shared cosmological princip lcs. In fa ct, a geographic boundary based on these si tc orientations distinguishes Tcotihuacan-rclated sites from what would have been the Cholula kingd om (lichy 1981). The cont rast between the two sites is more profound than simp le o rientat ion, howeve r. Severill theories have been proposed to account for the orientation of Teotihuacan, includ ing astronomical observations relating to the Pleiades (Carlson 1981:188; Heyden 1981). With the Great Pyramid of Cholula facing the setting sun on the longest day of the yeM, the shrine atop the mound wou ld be the last spot illuminated by the dying sun. It is likely, therefore, that the Greal Pyramid of Cholula was related to the s upernatural sun as well as the calendrical cycle. The first COilst ruction of the Great Pyramid (Stage 1mt'/// 1: ArdJat'Q/IIgy. Edited by V. R. Bricker i1nd J. A. Sabloff. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press. 244-276. CMdn Cook, Angel, and Bcatriz Lconor Merino Carrion. 1987 Condicion~ t'xbtenles en la regi6n Poblanu-Tlaxcalleca al ~urgimienlll de Cholu] .. , Notas
M.'500llh'ricIlIIIlS
10: 153-178.
El "Epicla~ico" en la region Poblrmu-Tlaxcaltccn. M~'SOI1l11erim y Norte de Mexico: Sigle Ix -xn Edittc..-d by F. Sodi Miranda. Mexico, D.F.: Mu~'o Nacional dO! Antropologfa, !nsti t ut(' Nacional dO! Antroplliogia t'! listoria. 257- 280. Gillespie, Susan D. 1989 The Az/ec Killgs: Tile COIli'lrucfiOIl of R.ui!>rslli,l ill Mt'xica History. ·1ucson, Ariz.: Univt'rsity (If Arizd by 1. Mar~ quina. Serie Investigaciones 19. Mexico, D.E: Ins tituto :'\j'acional de AntI1Jpd by E.. H. Boone l1nd W. D. Mignolo. Durh"m, N.C.: Duke University Pros. 137- 160. Quinones Kebtor, Eloi::.e. 1995 Codex TelluinmJ -Rerrrl!llsis: Rilulll, Oivil1aliOIl, QIJd His/ory ill n Piclol'illl Aztec MIlIl1/script. Austin, Tex .: University of Texas Press.. Rojas, Cabl'id do:!. 1927 Dcscripci6n de Cholula. R,'pislll Ml'xinll1l1 de Esllulios Hi5toricos 1(6):158-170. Sahagun, Bernardino de. 1950--1982 FlC/rell/ille Clldex: Gmalll History of the Things of M'w Spain. Translatlc'CI by C. E. Dibble and A. J. D. Anderson. Salt Llkc Cit)': University of Utah Pres:. and School of American Rl.'SCd by F. And~rs). Norman, Okla.: University of Ok Ian om a Press.
c.
Geoffrey G. McCafferty Sharp, RtlSemary. 1978 Archi tecture as Interelite Communication in Preconquest Oaxaca, Veracruz, and YUC, 340- 34-*, 368n.1'I
kin:.hip sr.-tern, 346-348 logographs, 350 Lower Tl!mpll! of thl! Jaguars, 44, 44fig.2. 15,269 Mayan-Tolh..'C influences (10, 327 Mercado (palace), 332, 338, 338fig.12 .7 multepal (joint rule) :.y:.tem of governance,328,333,342 name glyphs, 341'1- 350, 34Mig.12.12 0s.1riO (High Priest's Grilli..,), 332, 333 plan of Central Chichen ltz", 331 fig. I 2.5 politicil] histor y, 321 - 322 political importance of, 257, 2W-262,2f>8 politics 1Ind poetics of SP"c(', 318-321 Sacn.-d Cenote, 262- 263, 33(}, 331, 336 SIlk bdl (white to..1d), 332, 333 sak brob (ro.1d n('twork), 351-354 settlement of, 329-339 site pl1ln, 32512.1 Temple of the Three Linteb, 32-*, 326fig.I2..2 Temple of thc Wall Pilnels, 237- 2h7, 2.58fig.1O.1,2.fiOfig.1O.2 Templt' of tht' WMri~)r.. Complex, 32.4,32612..3,332,334-337, 33-Hig.12.6, 347fig.12.13, 354- 359, 356fig.12.14, 36'Jnn.7, 'J Temples of the Dnt', Two, imd Thret' Lintels, 340, 341, 351 Toltec invilsion/scquence deba te, 32.-*,326,32.7 trade affililltions, 257, 261 - 262, 32.2, 323 Upper Tcmplt' of the Jaguilf:', 26-*,
266 women's role, 2.68- 2n writing systems, 339-351
373
El Chich6n (llolcllno), 1-*4, Un ChjC(lmoztoc myth, 280 Chocayan (place of tears), 31 Cholula, xxv, 37, 279-316 altars and !;>tela, 293fig.l1.IO, 2~fig.ll.1l
Atamollcuali.ltli ceremony, .303-~, 305fig.1l.2.1 BebedQre5 (drinkers) murals, 2.99-300, 299fig.ll .18 conlrilsted wi th Teotihuacan site ori('ntation, 286-287 as a cosmo-magical center, 285-280 Great Pyramid, 281 - 285, 28.3fig.II.2, 306-3()8
arti:.tic p rogram of, 285-292 con::;truction plan, 284 11 .3 descri ptions of, 301, 303-304 during Lilte Postdassic period, 300-305 history of, 280-281 murals, 288-289, 288fig.11.6 pa::.:.ag~way to the Undenvorld, 307-308 rituallhcmt'S,306 as symbol for Mexican national unity,
305 Patio of the Allars Complex, 292.- 3OO,302fig.1I .19 solstitial orientation, 286-287, 2'J3 chronotrope,I I cll'//iel (inner vital energy), 163 Cihuaco.1tl (AJ.:It'C goddess), 269, 2.71 cleft mountain, 38, I 68n.7, 2.48 Coatt~pec my th, 2'J-37, 279 ballcourt al base of mountain, 31, 33,34,30 battle banners and banner stone, 36,
46 and coflcept ofTollan, 52n.3 d bcussions of, 52-53n.8 Well of Water for ft'rtilily, 31, 33, 42, 86 cootepd/ (sclpi!nt hill), 27l:1-280 Co.1 tlicue, giving bi rlh to:.on Huitzilopochtli, 33-3-*, 3-Ifig.2..6 Cobos, Rafael, 333
Il1dex
374 Codex Azcol ifl/ll/, Co.1Wpt..'C myth, 31 - 36
Codrx Bvrgin, battle banners illustrated in, xx Codex Boillrilli, Aztec Co.1tepec migration ~tory. 30-31, 3Ofig.2 .l,
31fig2.2,32fig.2.3 Codl'x ChimnlpopoOJ, IhrlX ston(.'S of creation my th, 171
Codl']: 1000r, Coatepec myth, 31 Coe, Michael, xviii-xix, 202, 207- 209, 214 aifmrlin !>y:;tt'm, 5 Coggins, Clemency. 42 Cohodorge, 181 , 195n.5 Coyolxauhqui (goddess) deilth of, 33-.34, 180, 280 depictions of with scvered head, 35, 520.6 creation s tories astronomical !>ymbolism, 1100.19 Chich!!n Itzti as place of cO!>mic creation, 262 cosmic/ sky umbilicus, 9-1,124- 125 Dance of Creation, 123 flower cords or t'arfliU~, 124-126 Flowering Mountain EMth, 4-5 jilgullr symbols in, 265 landscape of crcation, 83-88 primordial acts of crt'ation, 39 Thn.'C Stones of Creation, 170-173 Sf(' also primordial scas crocodilian eilrth dragon, 142, 167n.3 crocodiliiln World Tree, 94, 9-1fig.4.10 CulhuaCiln, Aztec migration to, 30 culluml materials, communicative component of, 26n.2 cultural poetics, xvii. 1- 27 defining. 1- 3 and the dialectical image, 8-9 of El Tajin, 13-21 and myth, 26n.l of space, 10- 12
milp t.lf Coptin Valley, 212fig.8.8
map of, 199fig.8.1 mat mutifs, 198, 200fig.8.2, 202, 215 Popal Na (mat house), 198, 2{)9, 215, 219,220-225 public v!>. private ritual space, 238 residence types, 211 fig.B.7 rlller~of, 220-225 site typology, 2lOtable 8.1
Structure 10L- 22A, 200fig.8.2, 20Ifigs.B.3, B.4, 214--225, 221 fig.8.13 toponyms and glyphs, 201 fig.8.4, 215-220, 21 6fig.8.10, 217fig.8.11, 219fig.8.12 Cortez, Constanct', 93 cosmogenesis. Sri' creation stories Costrumbrista religion, 4--5
Dainzu (Oaxaca Vallt'y) hilndbalJ gilmc rituals, 60-62, 67- 71 processional rituals, xxiv, 55, 57, 60-63 Dance of Creation, 12.1 dance pcrformances ancient Mayan, 11 5-120 at Quirigu:l, 113-135 circular pn>ccssions, 119- 120 costumC$, 122- 123 dance plaif(lrmS at Yax\ma, 249-250 of elitt' ensembles, 117 implements for d.lnce, 122 sandals worn in, 122- 123 shdJ tinkler.> a~ pt>rcul>!>ive instruments, 122 s pinning dances, 120
Illdex Seca/5(J pmces~jon rituals; ritual
performances Danzanh.:s carvings (Monte Alban), 67-71, 79n.5, 368n.7 death and rebirth cyclt.~, xvii-xviii, 5,
287 diagonal band:. wi th stars motif, 2\J7-2Y8, 2g]frg.ll.16 dial~lical image, 8, 2&-27n.4 Dlaz del Castillo, Bernal, 301 Diehl, Richard, 327 Duran, Di",£o, 30, 3 1, 35fig.2.7, 36, 303-304 Dzibilcha1tun Ilous.: of the Seven Dolls, 42- 43 thrw concentric area:., 203-207, 2Q..lfig.8.6, 214
Early Pnstclassic periods Chnlula, 283 EI Tajin, 231 - 2:l2 Earth Goddess, 263, 263fig.l 0.5, 266 SCI' a/5(J TlaJttc'Cuhtili (Aztec l'arlh goddess) Edm undson, Munr\), 6 'EIII! (thunder-rain god), 1.50-153, 162 Epiclassic period ceremonial ccoters, 13 talud/tablero architt.'Cture of. 16 expre~iVl' ell'~nt~ of s tyle, 6 Fash, Barbar.l, 198 FilSh, Wi ll iam, 202, 210, 212- 214 Feathert'd Serpent d",ity, )(ix-)(x, 258--259, 258fig. 10.1, 280, 281,
2'18 Feil thcl"oo Serpent. ·' en1p)'" of, 37-38, 38fig.2.9, 242, 280, 287, 288 Flannery, Kent, 184 F/orell/illc COtffX, 1/:17
FlulVl'ring Muunta in Earth, 4-6 formal elements of style, 6, 7 Foucault, Michel, 7, 9, 160, 16.1, 319-320 Four Hundred Scouthl!rners, 32-34, 36 Freidel, D.wid, xvii-)(x i, 45, 61, 92, 171 , 249,327
375
frog motifs, 262-263, 301-302, 303fig.l1.20 galactic polity concept, 333-334 Gamio, Manuel, 174 Garcia de Palacio, Diego, 113 Garcia Payon, Jgl yphic It'xt~, 95-97, 96fig.-l.ll, 97fig..U2, l09n.13 Monaghan, john, 56 Monle Alban (Oa)(aca Valley) Danzantes carving, 67-7\, 368n.7 handball game rituals, 60 proCl..>ssion rituals, xxiv, 55 a:. a regi(l(lill t"Conomic and mili ta ry centt'r, 6-l as shrine site il nd sacn..od place, 60,
'3-67 spi ritu(ll magni!tbm of, 66 Moon Pyramid (Teotihuacan), 175--176, 175fig.7.5, 180, 181
Il1dex Moran, Pedro, 198 Morelos Paxil (Veracruz), 249-250 Moreno, Jimenez, 37 Mori nis, A., 55, 61 MotuJinia, Fray Toribio de Benavt>nte, 301,303 Muller, Florcncia, 300 myth and cultural poetics, 260.1 SlructUl'C$llf,37-48 timl' depth of structuring, 29 51'1' nlso CU