Iconography and epigraphy (Other Keyword)
401-414 (414 Records)
In this paper, we address the role of leaders and their communities during the performance of ceremonies associated with rain petition in a network of caves located in the Mixtec-Tlapanec-Nahua region of Eastern Guerrero. We present newly discovered archaeological evidence in the caves of Pozo de Muerto, Casa de la Lluvia, Cauadzidziqui, Juxtlahuaca and Gobernadores de Techan, as well as ethnographic analogy to shed new light on the use of caves as arenas of ritual and political performance from...
Whirlwind of Power: Mississippian Tornado Iconography and Mythology (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Dancing through Iconographic Corpora: A Symposium in Honor of F. Kent Reilly III" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Mississippian cosmologies were inextricably entangled with the sacred environment and landscape, often materialized through iconographic imagery and motifs. One example of such interwoven relationships may be seen in the imagery of other-than human beings; that is, preternaturals who control and often...
Why Do Pictures Speak? Orality in Maya Hieroglyphic Writing (2024)
This is an abstract from the "The Rollout Keepers: Papers on Maya Ceramic Texts, Scenes, and Styles in Honor of Justin and Barbara Kerr" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper investigates the relationship between Classic Maya text, imagery, and genre when quoted speech is introduced. Quotes can be attributed to speakers through “speech scrolls,” the quotative evidential particle, or the verb meaning “say.” When the latter two are used, they...
Women and Ritual at Teotihuacan, Mexico (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Role of Women in Mesoamerican Ritual" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Teotihuacan is a complex multiethnic urban metropolis whose history is slowly becoming more nuanced after more than 100 years of research. Despite the recent attention that this Mesoamerican city has received, we still have many questions, among them, about the role of women, their life histories, their identities, and their role in the ritual...
Women Elites in the Royal Court of Tonina, Chiapas (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Archaeological Investigations in Chiapas, Mexico" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. New hieroglyphic and iconographic evidence allows us to preliminary reconstruct women’s political hierarchy inside Tonina’s royal court during the Late Classic period. As it is well known, parentage statements are very scarce in the inscriptions of Tonina and limited to maternal ancestry. Aside from the importance of local female...
Women in the Monumental Sculpture of Tula: Are They Deities or Rulers? Is the Answer “Yes?” (2025)
This is an abstract from the "The Mexica Royal Court: A Symposium in Honour of Alfredo López Austin" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Women in the Monumental Sculpture of Tula: Are They Deities or Rulers? Is the Answer “Yes?” Keith Jordan Department of Art and Design, California State University, Fresno The study of Tula's Early Postclassic sculpture historically focused on the numerous male figures depicted, consistent with the alleged...
Women, Sex and Sacrifice in Moche Iconography (2018)
Moche iconography depicts women in ritual roles as priestesses, objects of sacrifice, and possibly as deities; however, the roles of ordinary women have received much less attention from archaeologists. This paper explores the nature of women’s power in Moche society as represented in iconography and as inferred from bioarchaeological data, contrasting the roles of women in elite and non-elite contexts. With the exception of elite women performing rituals, Moche ideology inextricably linked...
Women’s Dress in Ritual and Non-ritual Contexts (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Role of Women in Mesoamerican Ritual" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Dress is an important way people interact with others. Modern concepts of dress include the entire body and how people adorn or change it. Maya rituals use specific sets of dress elements to convey not only what is happening but also to ensure the ritual was done correctly. After a brief review of women’s dress, I identify dress in ritual and...
Work Is the Curse of the Drinking Class: Beer, Labor, and Class in the Ancient Near East (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Raise Your Glass to the Past: An Exploration of the Archaeology of Beer" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The archaeology of beer has received significant attention in the last three decades. However, many studies focus on the special role that beer played in sumptuous prestige feasts and for conducting commensal politics with an emphasis on elite motivations. In this paper, I view the production of beer as a...
Xibalba in Technicolor: The Popol Wuj and the Interpretation of Ancient Maya Art (2023)
This is an abstract from the "A Celebration and Critical Assessment of "The Maya Scribe and His World" on its Fiftieth Anniversary" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. An enduring contribution of “The Maya Scribe and His World” was Michael Coe’s call for attention to the Popol Wuj as a source for the interpretation of ancient Maya deities. Developed in subsequent works, this approach has yielded important insights on ancient Maya art and religion, and...
Ychsma Cultural Identity in Armatambo during Inca's Occupation, Peruvian Central Coast (2018)
This paper presents the results of a typology and iconographic analysis made on ceramic and textiles artifacts recovered at the Ychsma settlement of Armatambo. The Ychsma cultural affiliation of this archaeological site, which is located on a dense urban area south of Lima, is recognized in the literature (especially with the aerial photographs published by Kosok in 1965) but little detail has been published on the evidence of its affiliation and character of occupation. We can confirm that...
Yucatecan and Mesoamerican Influences on Taino Ceremonial Iconography (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The iconographic corpus of the Taino cultures has been the focus of recent scholarship, yet as a whole remains understudied within Caribbean archaeology. Scholars in the past attempted to demonstrably link the Taino to the Late Postclassic Maya with limited success. However, Yucatecan influences are evident within the spatial layout of Taino ceremonial...
Zapotec Funerary Rites as Documented by Alfonso Caso: Mining Archival Materials to Understand Ancient Ritual Behavior at Monte Albán (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The precolumbian site of Monte Albán in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, presents a continuing challenge for scholars because the earliest scientific excavations at the site, conducted in the 1930s by noted archaeologist Alfonso Caso and his collaborators, were only partially published. This is particularly disappointing since many of the tombs of Monte Alban were...
Zooanthropomorph Iconography in the Gran Coclé, Gran Chiriqui and Tairona areas (2018)
The Zooanthropomorphic beings present on some artifacts of the cultural areas Tairona (Colombia), Gran Coclé (Panama) and Gran Chiriqui (Costa Rica) dating back to pre-Columbian times have often been identified as shamans. But what are the iconographic elements that are in favor of such a precise interpretation? To begin with, we did a thorough iconographical analysis aiming to determine taxonomically the animal component, the ratio between human and animal, and the precise anatomical elements...