From Flesh to Clay: Formative Period Iconography from Oaxaca’s Lower Río Verde Valley

Hepp, Guy David; Joyce, Arthur A.

doi:10.5876/9781607322023.c09

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…In addition, the contextual data across Mesoamerica indicate that these specialized objects were not exclusively used in domestic spaces, as they have been occasionally recovered from public structures and burials (Awe 2013;Blomster 2017;Garber and Awe 2008;Rice 2015), raising the possibility that they had different uses and meanings. We do accept, however, that figurines were used in domestic and public rituals that tied people together on a public scale of interaction (Hepp and Joyce 2013) and that these practices may have been tied to the political dynamics of ancient communities (Halperin 2017:535).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…through the Postclassic, although their frequency decreases significantly between 400 b.c. and a.d. 600 (Blomster 2017;Clark and Colman 2014;Coe and Diehl 1980;Cyphers Guillén 1993;Derilo Tway 2004;Drucker 1943;Follensbee 2013;Grove and Gillespie 1992;Halperin 2017;Hepp and Joyce 2013;Lesure 1999;Marcus 1998Marcus , 2009Niederberger 1976;Porter 1953;Rands and Rands 1965;Vaillant 1930;Weiant 1943;Zweig 2010). The use of Preclassic figurines by Mesoamerican people has been a topic of research for quite some time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Middle Preclassic Figurines From Cahal Pech, Belize Valley

2018

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Ceramic figurines are ubiquitous throughout the archaeological record of Mesoamerica. These small, handheld objects continue to fascinate archaeologists, and their role in the daily lives of the people who created and used them remains a point of debate in some academic circles. The figurines have been interpreted variously as children's toys, fertility fetish tools, and ritual objects. At the site of Cahal Pech, located in the Belize Valley of west-central Belize, a large assemblage of figurines has been recovered from construction fill dating to the Cunil (1200–900 b.c.) and Kanluk ceramic phases (900–350 b.c.) of the Preclassic period. In this article, we analyzed the temporal and spatial distribution of these objects in the settlement and conclude that these objects were used in a variety of ritual events. Although they mainly served as venues for invoking ancestors in domestic rituals, their discovery in public spaces suggests diverse social uses. Most importantly, their limited presence in residential and public spaces outside the Plaza B section of the site core during the late facet of the Kanluk phase may indicate that certain rituals were not performed by the entire community.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Middle Preclassic Figurines From Cahal Pech, Belize Valley

2018

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“…People and objects often merged to form 'hybrid' entities with abilities and properties beyond those of their constituent parts. In Mesoamerica, masks constituted part of the nahual, a cosmologically powerful hybrid that entailed the merging of essences among ritual specialists, animals, ancestors, or deities (Foster 1944;Gutiérrez & Pye 2010;Hepp & Joyce 2013;Kaplan 1956;Rojas 1947;Taube 1993). Transformation into a nahual by donning a mask permitted communication with the divine using an alternative 'face' (Monaghan 1995, 99) or 'skin' (Galinier 1990, 619) of a deity or ancestor.…”

Section: Masking and Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Terminal Formative period saw major political and economic transformations in the lower Río Verde region. The area experienced significant population growth accompanied by increased reliance on maize, widespread construction of monumental architecture, growing status inequality, a brief and tenuous period of political centralization and more numerous and diverse figural representations of people, animals and divinities (Barber & Joyce 2007;Brzezinski et al 2017;Hepp & Joyce 2013;Joyce & Barber 2015). The six Terminal Formative period artefacts in our sample derive mostly from public ceremonial contexts dating between 100 and 250 AD.…”

Section: Late and Terminal Formative Masksmentioning

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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Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica

Guernsey¹

2020

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From Flesh to Clay: Formative Period Iconography from Oaxaca’s Lower Río Verde Valley

Cited by 17 publications

References 4 publications

The Middle Preclassic Figurines From Cahal Pech, Belize Valley

The Middle Preclassic Figurines From Cahal Pech, Belize Valley

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

Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica

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