Cords of Restraint and Authority: Teotihuacan’s Net Jaguars and Technologies of Ensnarement

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Ties That Bind: Cordage, Its Sources, and the Artifacts of Its Creation and Use" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent excavations at the Moon Pyramid in Teotihuacan, Mexico, have uncovered fierce predators—including eagles, pumas, wolves, and rattlesnakes—buried inside. Analysis indicates that many were alive at the time of sacrifice: some in cages, and others bound. Some show evidence of long captivity, including bone deformation from tethers. Many beasts were probably captured and controlled with cords: first hunted with remote-capture snares and nets, and then restrained with rope fetters. Though widely used globally, fiber restraints and string traps are often overlooked, because of their material perishability and physical mutability. Most snares collapse into a limp, amorphous bundle for storage or transport, but stretch into a taut openwork structure when deployed: one that must precisely match the dimensions and strength of the intended target. Western cultural bias favors “hard” weapons over “soft.” But at Teotihuacan, the archaeological record has preserved bindings on both human and animal sacrifice victims, and iconography features knots, interlinked cords, and webs in conjunction with apex predators and paramount figures, signaling the symbolic weight of fiber weapons as powerful instruments. One motif in particular, Teotihuacan’s famous Net-Jaguar, faithfully depicts a corded snare, set to entrap this fearsome, exotic, and nocturnal feline.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Ties That Bind: Cordage, Its Sources, and the Artifacts of Its Creation and Use   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38367.0