Reconsidering the Feathered Serpent in Mesoamerica’s Formative Period

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Tales of the Feathered Serpent: Refining Our Understanding of an Enigmatic Mesoamerican Being" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Studies of feathered serpent imagery during Mesoamerica's Formative Period range widely in their conclusions, with little agreement about the parameters of inquiry, associated iconographic conventions, or even what constitutes a "feathered" serpent. Images of serpentine creatures have been alternately described as Avian Serpents, Sky Serpents, Winged Serpents, and Plumed or Feathered Serpents. Some scholars would equate the feathered serpent with the crocodilian Olmec Dragon, while others view them as two separate entities. Confusion and disagreement regarding definitions and iconographic categories have resulted in a lack of consensus over whether feathered serpents appeared at all during the Formative period. Additionally, the presence or absence of feathered serpents during this period has been variously used to argue for greater or lesser continuities of political and religious ideology between Formative peoples and their Classic and Postclassic successors, as well as greater or lesser levels of cross-cultural connection between contemporaneous Formative societies. In light of these wide-ranging disparities, this paper will examine what we are truly asking (and assuming) when we search for feathered serpents in Formative iconography. How might a reconsideration of the purpose, scope, and limitations of such inquiries bring the beliefs and practices of the Formative period into clearer focus?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Tales of the Feathered Serpent: Refining Our Understanding of an Enigmatic Mesoamerican Being   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25221