Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:14:05.519Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Politics of Classic-Period Ritual Interaction

Iconography of the ballgame cult in coastal Oaxaca

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Judith Francis Zeitlin
Judith Francis Zeitlin
Affiliation:
Center for Latin American Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Classic period along the Oaxaca Coast was a time of population growth and increased sociopolitical complexity, as marked by the prominence of hierarchical settlement systems, large regional centers, and the proliferation of monumental artworks. An iconographic examination of standing stone sculpture from six archaeological sites between the Rio Verde and the Río de los Perros indicates that these later Classic societies were concerned with the same religious themes that prevailed at that time throughout the Peripheral Coastal Lowlands: the Underworld death and rebirth of the celestial deities in mythical events reenacted in the ritual ballgame. With no single dominant power dictating cult orthodoxy, independent political leaders interpreted these rituals freely. As permanent public expressions of the polity's stature, the sculptures and the religious message they encoded appear to have both enhanced a leader's prestige in intergroup social competition and helped foster internal social differentiation.

Type
Special Section: The Coast Beyond the Clouds: Coastal Highland Interaction in Pre-Hispanic Oaxaca
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Spring 1993 , pp. 121 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agrinier, Pierre 1975 Mounds 9 and 10 at Mirador, Chiapas, Mexico. Paper No. 39. New World Archaeological Foundation. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Berlo, Janet C. 1984 Teotihuacan Art Abroad: A Study of Metropolitan Style and Provincial Transformation in Incensario Workshops. BAR International Series 199. British Archeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Bernal, Ignacio, and Oliveros, Arturo 1988 Exploraciones arqueológicas en Dainzú, Oaxaca. Colección Científica. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Blanton, Richard E., Appel, Jill, Finsten, Laura, Kowalewski, Stephen, Feinman, Gary, and Fisch, Eva 1979 Regional Evolution in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 6: 369–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borhegyi, Stephan F. de 1965 Archaeological Synthesis of the Guatamalan Highlands. In Archaeology of Southern Mesoamerica, pt. 1, edited by Willey, Gordon R., pp. 3–58. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 2, Robert Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Bové, Frederick J. 1989 Reporte preliminar de las investigaciones en las regiones de Tiquisate y La Gomera/Sipicate, costa sur de Guatemala. In Investigaciones arqueológicas en la costa sur de Guatemala, edited by Whitley, David S. and Beaudry, Marilyn P., pp. 38–81. Monograph No. 31. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Brockington, Donald L. 1966 The Archaeological Sequence from Sipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico. Archives of Archaeology No. 28. Society for American Archaeology, Madison.Google Scholar
Brockington, Donald L. 1974 Introduction. In The Oaxaca Coast Project Reports: Part I, edited by Brockington, Donald L., Jorrín, María, and Long, J. Robert, pp. 3–21. Publications in Anthropology No. 8. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.Google Scholar
Brockington, Donald L., and Long, J. Robert (editors) 1974 The Oaxaca Coast Project Reports, Part II. Publications in Anthropology No. 9. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.Google Scholar
Brüggemann, Juergan K., and Guevara, René Ortega 1989 El proyecto Tajín. Arqueología 5:153–174.Google Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1928 Las estelas zapotecas. Monografías del Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Historia y Etnografía. Secretaría de Educatión, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1965a Lapidary Work, Goldwork, and Copperwork from Oaxaca. In Archaeology of Southern Mesoamerica, pt. 2, edited by Willey, Gordon R., pp. 896–930. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 3, Robert Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1965b Zapotec Writing and Calendar. In Archaeology of Southern Mesoamerica, pt. 2, edited by Willey, Gordon R., pp. 931–946. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 3, Robert Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1973 The Maya Scribe and His World. The Grolier Club, New York.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1978 Lords of the Underworld: Masterpieces of Classic Maya Ceramics. The Art Museum and Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.Google Scholar
Cohodas, Marvin 1975 The Symbolism and Ritual Function of the Middle Classic Ball Game in Mesoamerica. American Indian Quarterly 2:99–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohodas, Marvin 1991 Ballgame Imagery of the Maya Lowlands: History and Iconography. In The Mesoamerican Ballgame, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L. and Wilcox, David R., pp. 251–288. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
DeCicco, Gabriel, and Brockington, Donald L. 1956 Reconocimiento arqueológico en el suroeste de Oaxaca. Informe No. 6. Directión de Monumentos Prehispánicos, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Delgado, Agustín 1961 La secuencia arqueológica en el istmo de Tehuantepec. In Los mayas del sur y sus relaciones con los nahuas meridionales, pp. 93–104. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, Mexico.Google Scholar
Delgado, Agustín 1965 Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Region of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Paper No. 18. New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Du Solier, Wilfrido 1945 La cerámica arqueológica de El Tajín. Anales del Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, época 5a 3:147–191. Mexico.Google Scholar
Ekholm, Susanna M. 1991 Ceramic Figurines and the Mesoamerican Ballgame. In The Mesoamerican Ballgame, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L. and Wilcox, David R., pp. 241–249. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Feinman, Gary 1985 Investigations in a Near-Periphery: Regional Settlement Pattern Survey in the Ejutla Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico. Mexican 7:60–68.Google Scholar
Ferdon, Edwin N. Jr. 1953 Tonalá, Mexico: An Archaeological Survey. Monographs of the School of American Research No. 16. Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Fernández Dávila, Enrique, and Serafín, Susana Gómez 1990 Arqueologia de Huatulco. In Epoca prehispánica, edited by Winter, Marcus C., pp. 489–508. Lecturas históricas del estado de Oaxaca, vol. 1. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Forster, James R. 1955 Notas sobre la arqueología de Tehuantepec. Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia 7:77–100. Mexico.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A. 1986 Maya Warfare: An Example of Peer Polity Interaction. In Peer Polity Interaction and Socio-political Change, edited by Renfrew, Colin and Cherry, John F., pp. 93–108. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Furst, Peter T. 1968 The Olmec Were-Jaguar Motif in the Light of Ethnographic Reality. In Dumbarton Oaks Conference on the Olmec, edited by Benson, Elizabeth P., pp. 143–174. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
García Payón, José 1971 Archaeology of Central Veracruz. In Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, pt. 1, edited by Ekholm, Gordon F. and Bernal, Ignacio, pp. 376–394. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, Robert Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Gutiérrez, Mary Ellen 1990 The Maya Ballgame as a Metaphor for Warfare. Mexican 12:105–108.Google Scholar
Hatch, Marion P. 1989 Observaciones sobre el desarrollo cultural prehistórico en la costa sur de Guatemala. In Investigaciones arqueológicas en la costa sur de Guatemala, edited by Whitley, David S. and Beaudry, Marilyn P., pp. 4–37. Monograph No. 31. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Hellmuth, Nicholas 1978 Teotihuacan Art in the Escuintla, Guatemala Region. In Middle Classic Mesoamerica: a.d. 400–700, edited by Pasztory, Esther, pp. 71–85. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Jiménez Lara, Pedro 1992 Tajín y su periferia. Paper presented at the Congreso Internacional de Antropología e Historia, Veracruz, Mexico.Google Scholar
Jorrín, María 1974 Stone Monuments. In The Oaxaca Coast Project Reports: Part 1, edited by Brockington, Donald L., and Jorrín, María, and Long, J. Robert, pp. 23–81. Publications in Anthropology No. 8. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.Google Scholar
Joyce, Arthur A. 1991 Formative Period Occupation in the Lower Río Verde Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico: Interregional Interaction and Social Change. Ph.D. dissertation, Rutgers University. University Microfilms. Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, Arthur A. 1993 Interregional Interaction and Social Development on the Oaxaca Coast. Ancient Mesoamerica 4:67–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, Arthur A., and Winter, Marcus C. 1989 Investigaciones arqueológicas en la cuenca del Río Verde inferior, 1988. Notas Mesoamericanas 11:249–262. Mexico.Google Scholar
Kelley, David H., and Kerr, K. Ann 1973 Mayan Astronomy and Astronomical Glyphs. In Mesoamerican Writing Systems, edited by Benson, Elizabeth P., pp. 179–215. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Knauth, Lothar 1961 El juego de pelota y el rito de la decapitación. Estudios de Cultura Maya 1:183–198. Mexico.Google Scholar
Kowalewski, Stephen A., Feinman, Gary M., Finsten, Laura, and Blanton, Richard E. 1991 Pre-Hispanic Ballcourts from the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. In The Mesoamerican Ballgame, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L. and Wilcox, David R., pp. 25–44. University of Arizona Press, Tuscon.Google Scholar
Krickeberg, Walter 1966 El juego de pelota mesoamericano y su simbolismo religiose. In Traducciones mesoamericanistas, pp. 191–313. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, Mexico.Google Scholar
Krotser, G. Raymond, and Krotser, Paula H. 1973 Topografía y cerámica de El Tajín, Veracruz. Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, época 7a 3:177–221.Google Scholar
Leyenaar, Ted. J.J., and Parsons, Lee A. 1988 Ulama, the Ballgame of the Mayas and Aztecs: From Human Sacrifice to Sport. Spruyt, Van Mantegm and De Does, Leiden.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1983a Stone Monuments and Tomb Murals of Monte Albán IIIa. In The Cloud People: Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations, edited by Flannery, Kent V. and Marcus, Joyce, pp. 137–143. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1983b Rethinking the Zapotec Urn. In The Cloud People: Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations, edited by Flannery, Kent V. and Marcus, Joyce, pp. 144–148. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1983c Changing Patterns of Stone Monuments After the Fall of Monte Albán, a.d. 600–900. In The Cloud People: Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations, edited by Flannery, Kent V. and Marcus, Joyce, pp. 191–197. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Medellín Zenil, Alfonso 1960 Cerámicas del Totonícapan. Exploraciones arqueológicas en el centra de Veracruz. Institute de Antropología, Universidad Veracruzana, Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.Google Scholar
Miller, Mary Ellen 1991 Rethinking the Classic Sculptures of Cerro de las Mesas, Veracruz. In Settlement Archaeology of Cerro de las Mesas, Veracruz, Mexico, edited by Stark, Barbara L., pp. 26–38. Monograph No. 34. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Navarrete, Carlos 1973 El sistema prehispánico de comunicaciones entre Chiapas y Tabasco. Anales de Antropología No. 10. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Nuttall, Zelia 1903 The Book of the Life of the Ancient Mexicans, pt. I, introduction and facsimile. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Paddock, John 1978 The Middle Classic Period in Oaxaca. In Middle Classic Mesoamerica: a.d. 400–700, edited by Pasztory, Esther, pp. 45–62. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Parsons, Lee A. 1969 Bilbao, Guatemala: An Archaeological Study of the Pacific Coast Cotzumalhuapa Region, vol. 2. Publications in Anthropology No. 12. Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee.Google Scholar
Parsons, Lee A. 1978 The Peripheral Coastal Lowlands and the Middle Classic Period. In Middle Classic Mesoamerica: a.d. 400–700, edited by Pasztory, Esther, pp. 25–34. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Parsons, Lee A. 1986 The Origins of Maya Art: Monumental Stone Sculpture of Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala and the Southern Pacific Coast. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Parsons, Lee A. 1991 The Ballgame in the Southern Pacific Coast Cotzumalhuapa Region and Its Impact on Kaminaljuyu During the Middle Classic. In The Mesoamerican Ballgame, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L. and Wilcox, David R., pp. 195–221. University of Arizona Press, Tuscon.Google Scholar
Pasztory, Esther 1972 The Historical and Religious Significance of the Middle Classic Ball Game. Religión en Mesoamérica: XII Mesa Redonda de la Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, pp. 441–455. Mexico.Google Scholar
Pasztory, Esther 1976 The Xochicalco Stelae and a Middle Classic Deity Triad in Mesoamerica. XXIII International Congress of the History of Art, vol. 1, pp. 185–215. Granada.Google Scholar
Pasztory, Esther 1978 Artistic Traditions of the Middle Classic Period. In Middle Classic Mesoamerica: a.d. 400–700, edited by Pasztory, Esther, pp. 108–142. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Piña Chan, Román 1960 Algunos sitios arqueológicos de Oaxaca y Guerrero. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 16:65–76. Mexico.Google Scholar
Raesfeld, Lydia 1990 New discoveries at El Tajín, Veracruz. Mexican 12:92–95.Google Scholar
Redmond, Elsa M. 1983 A Fuego y Sangre: Early Zapotec Imperialism in the Cuicatlán Cañada, Oaxaca. Memoirs No. 16. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renfrew, Colin 1986 Introduction. Peer Polity Interaction and Socio-political Change, edited by Renfrew, Colin and Cherry, John F., pp. 1–18. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Renfrew, Colin, and Cherry, John F. (editors) 1986 Peer Polity Interaction and Socio-political Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1969 La costa de Campeche en los tiempos prehispánicos. Investigaciones del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia No. 18. Mexico.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A. 1986 Interaction among Classic Maya Polities: A Preliminary Examination. In Peer Polity Interaction and Socio-political Change, edited by Renfrew, Colin and Cherry, John F., pp. 109–116. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Scarborough, Vernon L., and Wilcox, David R. (editors) 1991 The Mesoamerican Ballgame. University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Freidel, David A. 1990 A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. Quill/William Morrow, New York.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Freidel, David A. 1991 The Courts of Creation: Ballcourts, Ballgames, and Portals to the Maya Otherworld. In The Mesoamerican Ballgame, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L. and Wilcox, David R., pp. 289–316. University of Arizona Press, Tuscon.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1987 Mesoamerican Gulf and Caribbean Coastal Adaptations. In Coasts, Plains, and Deserts: Essays in Honor of Reynold J. Ruppé, edited by Gaines, Sylvia W., pp. 239–257. Anthropological Research Papers No. 38. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1989 Patarata Pottery: Classic Period Ceramics of the South-Central Gulf Coast, Veracruz, Mexico. Anthropological Papers No. 51. University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1991 Settlement A rchaeology of Cerro de las Mesas Veracruz, Mexico. Monograph 34. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L., Heller, Lynette, Glascock, Michael D., Elam, J. Michael, and Neff, Hector 1992 Obsidian-Artifact Source Analysis for the Mixtequilla Region, South-Central Veracruz, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 3:221–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tedlock, Dennis (translator) 1985 Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life. Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1948 An Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Cotzumalhuapa Region, Escuintla, Guatemala. Publication No. 574, Contribution No. 44. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1962 A Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1970 Maya History and Religion. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1971 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Torres Guzmán, Manuel 1972 Hallazgos en El Zapotal, Ver. Boletin del Intituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, época 2(2):3–8.Google Scholar
Wallrath, Matthew 1967 Excavations in the Tehuantepec Region. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (n.s.) 57(2). Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Weaver, Muriel Porter 1981 The Aztecs, Mayas and Their Predecessors. 2nd ed.Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Wilkerson, S. Jeffrey K. 1991 And Then They Were Sacrificed: The Ritual Ballgame of Northeastern Mesoamerica Through Time and Space. In The Mesoamerican Ballgame, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L. and Wilcox, David R., pp. 45–71. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Winter, Marcus C. 1986 Algunos monumentos escultóricos del Río Verde inferior: Informe preliminar, temporada 1986. Ms. on file, Centro Regional de Oaxaca, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Oaxaca, Mexico.Google Scholar
Winter, Marcus C. 1991 Exploraciones arqueológicas en Cerro de las Minas, Mixteca Baja, Oaxaca, Temporadas 1987–1990. 2 vols. Ms. on file, Centro Regional de Oaxaca, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Oaxaca, Mexico.Google Scholar
Zeitlin, Judith Francis 1978a Community Distribution and Local Economy on the Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec: An Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Investigation. Ph. D. dissertation, Yale University. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Zeitlin, Judith Francis 1978b Changing Patterns of Resource Exploitation, Settlement Distribution, and Demography on the Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. In Prehistoric Coastal Adaptations: The Economy and Ecology of Maritime Middle America, edited by Stark, B.L. and Voorhies, B., pp. 151–177. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeitlin, Judith Francis, and Zeitlin, Robert N. 1990 Arqueología y época prehispánica en el sur del Istmo de Tehuantepec. In Epoca prehispánica, edited by Winter, Marcus C., pp. 393–454. Lecturas históricas del estado de Oaxaca, vol. I. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Zeitlin, Robert N. 1979 Prehistoric Long-Distance Exchange on the Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. Ph. D. dissertation, Yale University. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Zeitlin, Robert N. 1982 Toward a More Comprehensive Model of Interregional Commodity Distribution: Political Variables and Prehistoric Obsidian Procurement in Mesoamerica. American Antiquity 47:260–275.Google Scholar