All in Good Time: the "New Highland Chronology" and the Sculptures of Kaminaljuyú, Guatemala
Author(s): Lucia Henderson
Year: 2015
Summary
This paper considers the impact of the new highland chronology proposed by Dr. Inomata on prevailing interpretations of the stone sculptures of Kaminaljuyú. The revised chronology moves the archaeological record of Kaminaljuyú approximately 300 years forward, shifting the site’s sculptures to a wholly new cultural and chronological framework. This paper begins the process of re-contextualizing the art of Kaminaljuyú by investigating the ways in which the new chronology disrupts and/or supports prior interpretations and analyses of sculpture from the site. It focuses on two major sculptural styles: full-round sculptures known as "potbellies" and bas-relief sculptures carved in a Maya style. The former, now dated to ca. 400BC-100AD, appear to reflect localized belief systems about sacred landscape and power, while the latter, now dated to ca. 100BC-250AD reveal new and evolving concepts about kingship that crossed broad cultural and regional divides. By re-positioning these two sculptural traditions in time, the paper serves as a preliminary consideration of the ways in which the new highland chronology forces us to reframe our interpretations of art and ideology at ancient Kaminaljuyú.
SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.
Cite this Record
All in Good Time: the "New Highland Chronology" and the Sculptures of Kaminaljuyú, Guatemala. Lucia Henderson. Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 397094)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
General
Guatemala
•
Mesoamerica
•
Sculpture
Geographic Keywords
Central America
Spatial Coverage
min long: -94.702; min lat: 6.665 ; max long: -76.685; max lat: 18.813 ;