Fire and Death in the Great Platform of Tzintzuntzan, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Tzintzuntzan, Capital of the Tarascan Empire: New Perspectives" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Just as fire and firewood were considered very important elements in the cosmovision of the Tarascan culture, so were war and sacrificial practices. Prisoners of war were sacrificed to two types of deities, the first linked to the celestial bodies and the second linked to the earth and water. Historical sources mention that these sacrifices and their subsequent treatment were carried out in different places within the Great Platform of Tzintzuntzan such as the Yácatas, the so-called grasslands and Edificio B, which also has archaeological evidence; as for the different postmortem treatments, we have the cremation, boiling, and fleshing of the skeletal remains. Using macroscopic studies and from a taphonomic perspective and using different optical techniques, a sample that is part of the skeletal bone remains recovered during the 2022 season was analyzed. This poster seeks to corroborate the existence of treatment sites prior to final deposition in the ossuary and the link between fire and his postmortem practices.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Tzintzuntzan, Capital of the Tarascan Empire: New Perspectives   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37471.0