Pib Naah y la Partería: Birth Rituals and Midwifery at Río Amarillo, Copan, Honduras

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Role of Women in Mesoamerican Ritual" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper explores evidence of women’s ritual practice at Río Amarillo, a site located 20 km from the Classic period center of Copan. While the ritual activities of royal women are largely hidden from view in Copan’s Acropolis, excavations at the site of Río Amarillo and in the groups surrounding it uncovered two contexts that were particularly revealing, a shrine and a group containing a pib naah (sweat bath). The shrine in Río Amarillo’s East Group held more spindle whorls than found elsewhere at the site, a pattern also noted at Cerén in El Salvador, possibly indicating they were offerings. Group 29, the “Midwife’s Neighborhood,” includes the pib naah and served as a locus for female ritual activities celebrating and promoting fecundity. A high concentration of manos and metates in this area suggests that women ground maize while awaiting the arrival of new members of the community. The presence of a goddess figurine holding a child (or spirit being), and sculpted toad imagery mirrors ritual deposits found in other Maya sweatbaths.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Role of Women in Mesoamerican Ritual   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37477.0