Landscape, settlement patterns and rain and fertility symbolism in rock art: a comparative analysis between Chalcatzingo and Cerros de Trincheras in Mexico

Summary

Abstract

In this paper we present a systematic comparative analysis of the most characteristic cultural traits of sites, apparently distant in time and space, that share fundamental aspects, concerning basic geomorphological and landscape features, settlement patterns, and rain and fertility symbolism depicted in rock art. The direct association between political power and religious authority, social prestige and the privilege of presiding ritual performances appears to be evident. While in Mesoamerica this historical and cultural processes took place from about 1500 B.C. In northwestern Mexico they began to occur around A.D. 800.

Nonetheless, as we will try to show, similarities are surprising.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Methodology and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14593