Communing with nature, the ancestors and the neighbors: ancient ceramic musical instruments from coastal Oaxaca, Mexico

Hepp, Guy David; Barber, Sarah B.; Joyce, Arthur A.

doi:10.1080/00438243.2014.909100

Cited by 25 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Fig. 3.C) from La Consentida further supports this interpretation (Hepp et al 2014). Several additional artefacts from La Consentida demonstrate an emphasis on costume, public performance and the human face.…”

Section: Early Formative Maskssupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Materiality studies in archaeology have increasingly benefited from an acknowledgement of the sensorial implications of things and events involving relationships between humans and things (e.g. Hamilakis 2014; Hepp et al 2014; Houston & Taube 2000). For Howes (2006, 169), ‘to truly access the materiality of an object … it is precisely those qualities which cannot be reproduced in photographs—the feel, the weight, the smell, the sound—which are essential to consider’.…”

Section: Masking and Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Symbolism, Use, and Archaeological Context of Masks in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico

Hepp

Barber

Brzezinski

et al. 2019

CAJ

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The production and use of masks at multiple scales and in diverse contexts is a millennia-long tradition in Mesoamerica. In this paper, we explore some implications of Mesoamerican masking practices in light of materiality studies and the archaeology of the senses. We also discuss a collection of 22 masks, miniature masks and representations of masks from the lower Río Verde valley of coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. The iconography of these artefacts as well as their recovery from well-documented archaeological contexts inform our interpretations of masking practices during an approximately 2000-year span of the Formative period (2000 bc–ad 250). Specifically, we argue that these masking-related artefacts index sociocultural changes in the region, from the first villages and the advent of ceramic technology during the Early Formative period (2000–1000 bc) to a time of increasing consolidation of iconographic influence in the hands of the elite in the final centuries before the Classic period. As indicated by their continued use today, masks have long been intimates of communal activities in Oaxaca.

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Section: Early Formative Maskssupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Masking and Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Symbolism, Use, and Archaeological Context of Masks in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico

Hepp

Barber

Brzezinski

et al. 2019

CAJ

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…The inclusion of a chin rest, strapping holes and holes for the eyes, nose and mouth suggests that the mask was worn in rituals that allowed the wearer to engage with human and other-than-human audiences in a variety of ways such as dancing, singing and oration. Though we lack direct evidence to reconstruct the larger 'costume' of a lower Verde ritual specialist, archaeological evidence from the Formative to the Postclassic in the region indicates that ritual performances involved a range of sensory engagements that included musical instruments and ornamentation (Hepp et al 2014). Hepp and colleagues (2014) argue that ceramic aerophones such as whistles, flutes and ocarinas were used in a variety of social settings during the Formative period, including public performances.…”

Section: Bundling and Animacymentioning

confidence: 93%

Constituting Animacy and Community in a Terminal Formative Bundled Offering from the Coast of Oaxaca, Mexico

Brzezinski¹,

Joyce²,

Barber³

2017

CAJ

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In this paper, we examine a Terminal Formative-period (150 bc–ad 250) bundled offering from the site of Cerro de la Virgen, located on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. The offering was emplaced below a prominent public building in the site's ceremonial centre and contained five stone objects, including a rain deity mask, a fragment of a second mask, a figurine of a deceased ancestor and two miniature table altars, as well as nine small ceramic vessels. Considered together as a ‘sacred bundle’, the stone objects collectively reference agricultural fertility, rulership and ancestor veneration, which we interpret to be a metaphorical invocation of a fundamental tenet of prehispanic Mesoamerican religious belief—the sacred covenant. The offering also played an active part in founding the community of Cerro de la Virgen, connecting its residents with the divine, the ancestors and the outside world and constituting differences in status among its members.

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“…En algunos sitios del Valle del Bajo Río Verde se han hallado evidencias arqueológicas que denotan la existencia de una cultura musical distintiva en la Costa de Oaxaca durante el Preclásico tardío y el Preclásico terminal, posiblemente relacionada con grupos hablantes de chatino, una lengua de la familia oto-mangue (Barber y Hepp, 2012, pp. 259-270;Hepp. Barber y Joyce, 2014).…”

Section: Ocarina Del Preclásico Temprano Del Valle Del Bajo Río Verdeunclassified

Las evidencias arqueomusicológicas durante la Etapa de las Aldeas en el Valle de Oaxaca, México (1400-500 a.C.)

Santiago

2022

rearam

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La etapa aldeana tiene un interés particular para la arqueología porque representa el fin de una forma de vida basada principalmente en la caza, la recolección, el nomadismo, el inicio de la agricultura y el establecimiento de las primeras aldeas. En este periodo inició la cerámica, representada en objetos utilitarios para la preparación y consumo de alimentos, pero también en otros artefactos como las figurillas e instrumentos musicales. En este trabajo se presentan datos sobre las evidencias de instrumentos musicales provenientes de sitios aldeanos en el Valle de Oaxaca, México, correspondientes al Preclásico temprano.

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Communing with nature, the ancestors and the neighbors: ancient ceramic musical instruments from coastal Oaxaca, Mexico

Cited by 25 publications

References 36 publications

The Symbolism, Use, and Archaeological Context of Masks in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico

The Symbolism, Use, and Archaeological Context of Masks in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico

Constituting Animacy and Community in a Terminal Formative Bundled Offering from the Coast of Oaxaca, Mexico

Las evidencias arqueomusicológicas durante la Etapa de las Aldeas en el Valle de Oaxaca, México (1400-500 a.C.)

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