Cosmogenesis in the Mixtec Codices: Visual Narratives of Place, Emergence, and Movement

Summary

In the Postclassic Mixtec codices, the integral and integrative themes of place, emergence, and movement converge. Neglected in much of the scholarly literature on the sacred books of the Mixtec, the visual representation of supernatural and historical figures’ emergence and movement from place to place is an integral component of the codical narratives. Emergence and movement are tethered to and integrative with Mixtec portrayals of place, of various kingdoms through a standardized glyphic sign called a ‘toponym’. The significance of emergence and movement or travel underscores Mixtec conceptions of space and directionality, of certain human actions that mirror specific supernatural, generative actions. Such emergence and movement, as visualized in the codices, are tied to primordial cosmogenesis and to the origins of Mixtec ethnogeography.

In this presentation I will connect visual narratives from the Mixtec codices with archaeological and anthropological lines of inquiry in order to demonstrate how the Mixtec conceptualized, and therefore visualized, their autochthonous identity in the Mixteca, the region of myriad Postclassic kingdoms. I will also examine and question why place, emergence, and movement were aspects of cultural and historical significance for Mesoamericans in general and for the Mixtec gods and human rulers in particular.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15530