Embodying the Sun. Pyrotechniques as Part of Human Sacrifice in Ancient Mesoamerica

Summary

In Mesoamerica, sacrificial ceremonies for the sake of religious merit-making tended to bridge polarities between action and symbols. Some of the ritual practices were mediated by mythical narratives surrounding domestic hearths, divine fire, and the sun itself. Among ancient Mesoamericans with their hierophagic cosmic understanding, the fiery protagonists to which sacrifices were destined to were deemed necessary complements of all life and had to be fed. This talk combines graphic and textual information with new findings of heat-exposed skeletal remains from Central and Eastern Mesoamerica to discuss different choreographies of sacrificial fire consumption of human bodies and their associated meanings in religion and political transaction.

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): 22037