Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Clay figurines are very common artifacts in Mesoamerica, present in all cultures from Preclassic to Postclassic times. Depicting miniature anthropomorphic and zoomorphic beings, they have been studied in multiple ways, as they reveal the ways of life of ancient cultures. As images, they support iconographic studies and considerations on socio-political and ritual organization. As portable objects, they refer to their own specific uses and functions. As pottery productions, to techniques and craft organization. However, and despite the fact that many studies still rely on artifacts that do not come from controlled excavations, knowing the context of their last deposit is an essential key to understand their meanings and uses. This symposium has the goal of gathering papers that will allow to compare archaeological contexts in which figurines were found, to try to isolate constants or, on the contrary, regional and temporal particularities.
Other Keywords
Ceramic Analysis •
Formative •
Maya: Classic •
Ritual and Symbolism •
Iconography and Art •
Material Culture and Technology •
Household Archaeology •
Materiality •
Iconography and epigraphy •
ceramic figurines
Geographic Keywords
United Mexican States (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
Colima (State / Territory) •
Michoacan (State / Territory) •
Jalisco (State / Territory) •
Nayarit (State / Territory) •
Aguascalientes (State / Territory) •
Guanajuato (State / Territory) •
Belize (Country) •
Tlaxcala (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)
- Documents (10)
-
The Context of Tlatilco Figurines (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Analysis around anthropomorphic figurines found in prehispanic sites have been diverse, nevertheless the intrigue and confusion among their interpretations are still remaining. Fortunately figurines typologies for the Mesoamerican Formative are useful to locate them chronologically,...
-
Contextos y Narraciones del Clásico: Las Figurillas de Tabasco, México (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. En territorio tabasqueño se han identificado tres tradiciones de figurillas desarrolladas a lo largo del período prehispánico. A partir de las colecciones de sitios excavados en las llanuras aluviales tales como Jonuta o Comalcalco y sus alrededores, la evidencia sugiere que durante el...
-
Digging the Scene: More on the El Perú-Waka’ Burial 39 Figurines (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ancient Maya resurrection ritual depicted by the 23 ceramic figurines methodically arranged by mourners at the feet of the deceased ruler interred in El Perú-Waka’ Burial 39 continues to be a source of intriguing information about the Classic Maya. More recently, extensive examination...
-
Early Formative Figurines from Tlatilco - Understanding the Diversity and Individuality (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Early Formative site of Tlatilco, has like so many other ancient sites, been covered by modern-day urbanization. Many of these sites suffered a fate of early exploitation and looting leaving the archaeologists with puzzles that often lack many pieces. With resilience and patience, and...
-
Female Figurines of the Greater Nicoya Region 500 BCE – 1250 CE (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Female figurines of the Greater Nicoya region feature a 2000-year history of thematic continuity. During the Formative and Classic periods (locally Tempisque and Bagaces periods), figurines were often red-slipped, nude females in a seated, kneeling or standing position with hands on hips;...
-
The Intersection of Late Classic Figurines at a Crossroads of the Maya World (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation explores how miniature ceramic figurines were incorporated into the daily lives, rituals and intentions of the Late Classic period Maya of the Alta Verapaz region. Ceramic figurines are also the remnants of Maya musical instrumentation and have been recovered from...
-
Las Figurillas "Cerro de García": Usos y Significación (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Las figurillas conocidas originalmente con el término genérico de "Cerro de García", se ubican cronológicamente entre los años 600 a 900 d.C. y son consideradas como una evidencia de interacción intra e interregional por su amplia distribución en el Occidente de México. Sin embargo, a...
-
Mazapan Style Figurines at El Palacio: What Significance for The Early Postclassic Interregional Interactions in Northern Michoacán? (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent work conducted in Northern Michoacán by the CEMCA in the Zacapu Basin, 30 km North of the Tarascan core-region, shed light on a specific and poorly defined time period at the region before the Tarascan kingdom: The Early Postclassic. The local phase Palacio ranges from A.D. 900 to...
-
The Sets of Figurines in Western Mesoamerica: Contexts and Possible Interpretations During the Formative (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In Western Mexico, as in Mesoamerica generally, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines are rather often found in groups, either in caches or in funerary context. These particular contexts allow substantial advances in our understanding of their uses and possible meanings, in particular...
-
Where the Laugh Died: The Archaeological Contexts of the Smiling Figurines, a Comparative Analysis (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The smiling figurines found more than half a century ago in Mexico's Gulf Coast, have always captured researchers through their enigmatic smile. Through these scholars' work, we know they were possibly related to deities like Xochipilli or Quetzalcoatl, linked to the main city of El Tajin...