Ritual termination and rejection of the status quo in Mesoamerica.

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ritual Closure: A Global Perspective" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ritual termination events are a routine religious practice throughout much Mesoamerica. As part of the world renewing religious perspective, they can involve a wide range of objects from the smallest incensarios to large, monumental structures such as pyramids. However, an important distinction remains to be analyzed, terminations that are part of the regular cycle of renewing versus terminations that are an act of defiance against the status quo. This paper examines how the routine becomes the extreme as seen throughout the Maya Lowlands, the Olmec Heartlands, and Teotihuacan.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Ritual Closure: A Global Perspective

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51431