Mirrors of Time: Figurines in the New World Order

Summary

This is an abstract from the "After Cortés: Archaeological Legacies of the European Invasion in Mesoamerica" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Small ceramic figurines are ubiquitous in the preconquest central highlands of Mexico and are seemingly tied to household ritual. The arrival of the Spanish caused immense change at some levels, some reflected in these small objects. Archaeological evidence shows figurines briefly transitioning, but their reappearance is as decorative objects reflecting consumption of new, sometimes hybrid style. We examine this transformation through collections of excavated figurines from Mexico City, Otumba, and Patzcuaro (Michoacan), among others, with comparisons to such sources as Christoph Weiditz’s Trachtenbuch (1529) to present some reflections of new order in the post-conquest sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• After Cortés: Archaeological Legacies of the European Invasion in Mesoamerica   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23233