The Reality of Casas Grandes Potters: Realistic Portraits of Spirits and Shamans

Abstract

Most Native American groups believed in a form of animism in which spirit essence(s) infused forces of nature (e.g., the wind and thunder), many living plants and creatures, and many inanimate objects. This animism created other-than-human persons in which spirits were fused with matter that allowed them to interact with and even influence humans. Art in Western culture tends to denote “imagination”, and many scholars studying Native American art bring a similar perspective to their analyses. However, many Native Americans do not equate art with imagination in the same way, but instead use art to realistically portray these other-than-human persons, even when they are not typically visible in the natural world (e.g., the Southwestern horned-plumed serpent). Here, we apply a cognitive framework to evaluate the interplay of spirits at various levels that were created as Casas Grandes artisans used art as a means of depicting the inherent structure of the Casas Grandes spirit world. In doing so, they created links between ceremonially important objects such as pots and spirits that transformed these objects into newly created animated beings. The art thus simultaneously reflected the structure of the unseen world while also helping to determine the characteristics of these newly created other-than-human persons. One technique commonly used was to decorate objects with literal depictions of spirit beings (e.g., horned-plumed serpents) that would produce a natural affinity among the ceremonial objects and the spirit creatures. This affinity in turn allowed the animated ceremonial objects to mediate the interaction between humans and spirits. This approach transcends a view in which Casas Grandes art is considered symbolically significant and instead emphasizes the art as a component that literally helped create other-than-human collaborators that aided Casas Grandes people as they navigate ontologically significant relationships.

Trance, posture, and tobacco in the Casas Grandes shamanic tradition: Altered states of consciousness and the interaction effects of behavioral variables

“…The Medio period shamanic tradition provides an excellent case study illustrating the potential of cognitive archaeology and the use of multiple lines of evidence to understand the behavior reflected in the archeological record. Our knowledge of Medio period ritual is derived primarily from the shamanic iconography and ritual architecture (see VanPool & VanPool, 2016, 2021). We have previously discussed the influence exerted by tobacco intoxication and cultural emphasis on water availability tied to interacting with the horned/plumed serpent (VanPool & VanPool, 2007, 2021).…”

“…This distinctive bird does not correspond to any species native to the North American Southwest. Further, animals and humans that exist in the physical world of the here and now are depicted in effigy in Casas Grandes pottery (e.g., macaw effigies, human effigies, and turtle effigies) whereas denizens of the spirit world are depicted on pottery only as two‐dimensional painted images (e.g., horned/plumed serpents and transformed shaman are depicted in painting on Chihuahuan polychromes, but never as pottery effigies to our knowledge; VanPool & VanPool, 2012, 2021). This tutelary bird is always painted and is primarily associated with transformed shamans (Figures 2A and 4), likely a helper spirit that accompanied Medio period shamans on their spirit flights (VanPool & VanPool, 2006, 2021).…”

“…The first slice we consider is the difference associated with entheogens, which is also the most widely studied factor causing variation in trance experiences (Metzner, 2013; Schultes et al., 2001; VanPool, 2009). What people see in trance impacts their views of the spirit world (Glass‐Coffin, 2010; VanPool & VanPool, 2021). Each entheogen (e.g., peyote, datura, and ayahuasca) impacts human cognition and physiology in specific ways and as a result produces broadly similar experiences (VanPool, 2009; Whitley, 2001).…”

“…Figure 2B reflects the brilliant “dayglow” colors associated with peyote‐derived visions of the West Mexican Wixárika (Huichol) shamans (Neurath, 2021). Trance initiated with these entheogens corresponds to distinct experiences, which in turn creates different conceptions of the spirit world (VanPool & VanPool, 2021). Wixárika shamans describe their deities as “speaking in color” (reflecting synesthesia, a neurological condition in which two or more senses are entwined) and emphasize the visual components of their visions (Furst, 2007; MacLean, 2001; Neurath, 2021).…”

“…In previous research, the VanPools have used the general understanding of shamanic trance experiences and the specific understanding of the characteristics of tobacco shamanism to study the iconography of the Medio period Casas Grandes culture (VanPool, 2003; VanPool & VanPool, 2007, 2021). We now use Goodman's work and additional research conducted by Robear and Lee to gain insight based on the influence of posture on the Casas Grandes shamanic tradition.…”