Transformation of the Gods: Symmetry and the Construction of Mesoamerican Deity Systems in the Middle Formative

Summary

This paper explores theoretical and methodological issues associated with the etic conceptualization of Mesoamerican deity systems and the identification of individual supernaturals in cross–cultural contexts. It critically focuses on previous classificatory systems of Olmec deities. Iconographers often identify individual deities on the basis of defining attributes or material accoutrements, frequently extending these identifications across contexts (as in Covarrubias’ famous "evolution of the Mesoamerican rain god"). However, building in part on Eva Hunt’s work, we find that the conflation or sharing of attributes among Formative period entities casts doubt on the validity of classificatory schemes that fail to adequately consider the fluidity of deities or their relationship to that which they personify. This "conceptual overlap" in Olmec art may lead to confusion, misidentification, or overly simplistic interpretations. It is argued that the construction of deity systems should consider such conceptual overlaps in representational art, in order to more fully unpack the multiple, non–hierarchical levels of significance imbricated in images of gods and supernaturals, as well as the dynamism of such representations within larger symbolic complexes. A range of data from various contexts are considered in an effort to evaluate the utility of cross–cultural analogies in comparative iconography.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 19891