The Afterlife in Exile: Butterfly Imagery on Teotihuacan-style Censers from the Pacific Coast of Guatemala

Summary

The Teotihuacan-style censers from Guatemala have received relatively little attention since the 1980s. Following upon earlier suggestions for a merchant-warrior presence in the Escuintla region, this study examines the butterfly imagery on a group of Teotihuacan-style censers in the national collections of Guatemala. This group of unprovenanced artifacts has research value because (1) its original imagery is intact, and (2) all have been sampled for paste analysis (instrumental neutron activation analysis–INAA). The paste chemistry, combined with archaeological data and stylistic analyses, allow us to re-contextualize the censers in terms of interaction among the Pacific Coast sites as well as their external connections. Focused analyses of their intact imagery seek to better understand their social and funerary functions. The censers’ emphasis on Teotihuacan warrior and afterlife rituals suggest Teotihuacanos living far from home. Yet their prominent three-mountain motif intimates a connection to mythologized landscapes of both the southern Guatemalan Mayas and their Teotihuacan homeland.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Butterflies Take Wing: Ritual and Symbolism in Precolumbian Mesoamerica   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14395