<html>Landa’s <i>auto de fe</i> and the destruction of the “idols” of Maní: Petrographic and Chemical Analysis of Incensarios from Maní, Mexico</html>
Author(s): George Bey
Year: 2025
Summary
This is an abstract from the "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
In 2015, an archaeological rescue program was carried out in Maní, Yucatán, related to improvements in the main square with the aim of designating Mani as a "magical town". The excavations produced numerous fragments of the “idols” destroyed during the so-called auto de fe organized by Diego de Landa in Mani (1562) punishing the Maya population for continued “pagan” practices. This presentation presents details of this uniquely important historic event and provides an analysis for the first time of the archaeological evidence of what happened at Mani. Landa gathered the idols from the entire region (Yucatán); in fact, Scholes and Adams noted (1938) that he gathered both local idols and those from as far away as the Coba region. The incensarios identified in the excavations are of the Late Postclassic and Contact Period type (AD 1000-1500) classified at Chen Mul modeled. Forty Chen Mul fragments were analyzed by INAA and petrographic analysis and the different chemical groups are compared to similar Postclassic pottery and clays from Mayapán, Santa Rita Corozal, Laguna de On, and the Petén Lakes region to determine from where the destroyed incensarios came. The petrographic analysis will help test the historical hypothesis regarding the various incensarios collected.
Cite this Record
Landa’s auto de fe and the destruction of the “idols” of Maní: Petrographic and Chemical Analysis of Incensarios from Maní, Mexico. George Bey. Presented at The 90th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. 2025 ( tDAR id: 509271)
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Abstract Id(s): 50636