Mexica (Other Keyword)
1-8 (8 Records)
This paper examines a well-known Mexica chimalli (shield), possibly from the sixteenth century, currently found among the holdings of the National Museum of History, Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City. The importance of this study lies in three fundamental aspects: 1) very few Mexica shields have survived; 2) the examples found outside of Mexico have not been fully analyzed; and 3) the chimalli now residing at Chapultepec Castle was originally taken from the Basin of Mexico to Europe during the...
Cincalco: Origin and Kingship in Mexica Cosmology (2016)
In prehispanic times, caves signified the place of origin, the underworld, or where Tlacamecayotl kingship was claimed. Cincalco, a cave located on Chapoltepēc Mountain, was first recorded in the 16th century Historia Toltec-Chichimeca (1550-1560) as being appropriated during 1156 or 1168 after the fall of Tollan. Toltec legend tells that the last king of Tollan, Huemac (Big Hand), committed suicide at the cave after failing to receive help from the gods. At the approach of the Spanish,...
Clothing for the mexica gods: shell garments from the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan (2015)
El presente trabajo aborda el estudio integral de los restos de prendas rituales elaboradas con textiles y elementos laminares de conchas nacaradas, que se depositaron en cuatro ofrendas del sitio arqueológico del Templo Mayor. A pesar del mal estado de conservación que actualmente se observa en la mayor parte de estos objetos, fue posible identificar cuatro prendas rituales, a través de una investigación que observa varios aspectos relevantes y complementarios. Así, el estudio comprende: la...
Consumption and Construction: Art, Sacra, and the Place of Empire in Postclassic Mexico (2017)
In the pre-Columbian era of Mexico, devotional objects served to reinforce existing cultural systems while simultaneously shaping the overarching aesthetic narrative. This presentation will explore the manner by which ixiptla (lit. representation), a type of central Mexican cult effigy, functioned to form the visual rhetoric that is illustrative and formative of conceptions of space, place, and cultural identity in the late Postclassic Period. Within the category of devotional images, ixiptla...
Fabricating Political Constituencies, Artistic Production at the Templo Mayor (2015)
The excavation of the Templo Mayor yielded a plethora of objects that testify to the supreme ideological importance this edifice held for the Mexica confederacy. While the offerings unearthed within the foundations of this structure comprised a variety of portable objects placed in intimate settings, larger sculptures seem to have articulated more public iconographic programs. My analysis of both portable and monumental sculptures shows these works emphasized the bricolage of incorporated and...
New 3D Map of the Templo Mayor Architecture, a Symbol of Mexica Cosmology and Political Power with Teotihuacan Tradition (2015)
The 3D map of the Great Temple complex has been elaborated in 2007-2014 with detailed features of thirteen overlapping architectural stages. We first analyze and describe visually each stage calculating dimensions and orientation of the main pyramid complex. Enlarging process gradually changing the spatial distribution and orientations of the temple complex will be discussed in terms of native perspective of cosmology and expanding political power. The E-W orientation and symbolic architecture...
Peces de las ofrendas asociadas a Tlaltecuhtli (2015)
Se describe el contenido ictiológico de tres ofrendas asociadas al monolito de Tlaltecuhtli (1486-1502 d. C.). y se dimensionan los resultados comparándolos con otras ofrendas del mismo sitio (Complejo A: 1440-1469 d. C.). La Ofrenda 120 contenía escasos elementos de siete taxa; la Ofrenda 125, ocho taxa con un individuo cada uno (excepto un caso), con ejemplares completos y taxidérmicos; y la Ofrenda 126, siete taxa con uno a dos ejemplares, tanto completos como taxidérmicos. Las ofrendas a...
The roseate spoonbills of Tenochtitlan’s Great Temple and their relation to deceased warriors, nobles, and kings (2015)
During recent excavations conducted in the Urban Archaeology Program (PAU) and the Templo Mayor Project of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), six offerings containing roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) skeletal remains were found at the foot of Tenochtitlan’s main pyramid. A careful analysis of these bones reveals that the Mexica buried not only complete individual birds in this important ritual scenario, but also their multicolor feathered skins. Although the...