A Symbolic Consideration of Birds in Teotihuacan and Mexico-Tenochtitlan

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Pre-Columbian material and visual culture encapsulate ideologies and symbolism of the Mesoamerican past. Birds play important roles in Mesoamerican societies, both as daily sources of food and in symbolic and ideological contexts found in ceramic and sculptural iterations combined with archaeological and zooarchaeological contexts. This paper will examine the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic transliterations viewed through the art historical and archaeological records of the people of Teotihuacan (150/50BCE-550CE) and Mexico-Tenochtitlan (1325-1521CE). Birds, in part and in whole, are part of the symbolic languages of both cultures. Broadly speaking, birds are associated with a number of themes including war, sacrifice, death, water, fertility, and wealth. Birds are integrated into themes of Mesoamerican worldviews and rituals throughout contexts in Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, and in historical sources in 16th century in Mexico. The ritual and symbolic meaning behind the manipulation of birds in ceramics, imagery, and sculpture are an intersection of daily life and ritual activity of the ancient Mesoamerican past.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36874.0