Inscription, Replication, and Production of Olmec Imagery and Regional Identities

Summary

The Early Formative period exhibits dramatic transformations in imagery and identity throughout Mesoamerica. Focusing on a time period before techniques for mold made and mass produced objects had been achieved, this paper explores replications that involved copies, iterations, and emulations of designs and imagery. At select sites in Mesoamerica, objects have been documented with Olmec-style imagery, some of which have been linked to the Gulf Coast Olmec society; in most cases, the Olmec imagery forms a minor component within a larger panorama of regional design systems. Excavation data from Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, contribute to understanding the cultural impact of the replication of imagery by looking at four classes of ceramic data: vessels, figurines, masks, and cylinder seals. Focusing on contrasts between imported originals and locally-made replicas revealed through chemical compositional data, this paper explores the various techniques deployed to craft imagery and the media through which different designs were inscribed on objects and bodies, exploring the salient impacts on social identities. While some objects could have been employed for the mass replication of imagery, in other cases, imagery and identity were constructed and negotiated through more variable and contested means and techniques.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Molding Matter: Technologies of Reproduction in the Precolumbian Americas   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16492