Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:20:55.696Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

West Mexican Stelae from Jalisco and Nayarit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Joseph B. Mountjoy
Joseph B. Mountjoy
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC 27412-5001, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The process of Mesoamerican cultural expansion into western and northwestern Mexico has been a subject of speculation and investigation for over three centuries. Although many cultural traits have been “implicated” in this process, the practice of erecting stelae has not been one of them. Fieldwork by the author in Jalisco and Nayarit over the past 14 years has resulted in the discovery of 48 stone monuments which are proposed to be rustic versions of the usually more sophisticated stelae associated with cultures of central Mesoamerica. These west Mexican stelae are described and discussed in terms of their context, date, and possible function. Similar stone monuments from other sites in western and northwestern Mexico are also described, and relevant ethnohistoric data are presented. Finally, the diffusion of the practice of erecting stelae is discussed in relation to the process of mesoamericanization in western and northwestern Mexico.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , Spring 1991 , pp. 21 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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

Arias de Sabedra, Antonio 1899 Informatión rendida por el P. Antonio Arias y Saavedra, acerca del estado de la sierra del Nayarit, en el sigio XVII. In Nayarit: Colección de documentas inédites, historiées y etno-gráficos, acerca de la sierra de ese nombre, edited by Santoscoy, Alberto, pp. 7–35. Guadalajara.Google Scholar
Armillas, Pedro 1964 Condiciones ambientales y movimientos de pueblos en la frontera septentrional de Mesoamérica. In Homenaje a Fernando Márquez-Miranda, pp. 62–82. Publicaciones del Seminario de Estudios Americanistas y Seminario de Antropología Americana, Universidades de Madrid y Sevilla, Madrid.Google Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F. 1977 Concepts of Positional Astronomy Employed in Ancient Mesoamerican Architecture. In Native American Astronomy, edited by Aveni, A., pp. 3–19. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F., Hartung, H., and Kelley, J.C. 1982 Alta Vista (Chalchihuites): Astronomical Implications of a Mesoamerican Ceremonial Outpost at the Tropic of Cancer. American Antiquity 47:316–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batres, Leopold 1903 Visita a los monumentos arqueológicos de “La Quemada,” Zacatecas. Viuda de Francisco Díaz de León, Mexico.Google Scholar
Beals, Ralph L. 1933 The Acaxee: A Mountain Tribe of Durango and Sinaloa. Ibero-Americana 6. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Brand, Donald D. 1939 Notes on the Geography and Archaeology of Zape, Durango. In So Live the Works of Men, edited by Brand, D. and Harvey, F.E., pp. 75–105. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Brockington, Donald L. 1957 Piedra Parada: A Comparative Study of a Site in Jamiltepec, Oaxaca. M.A. thesis, Mexico City College, Mexico.Google Scholar
Bullard, William R. Jr. 1970 Topoxte, A Postclassic Site in Peten, Guatemala. In Monographs, and Papers in Maya Archaeology, edited by Bullard, W.R., Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 61. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Cabrero, G. María Teresa 1984 Civilizatión en el norie de México. Institute de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Serie Antropológica, 103. Universidad Autónoma de México.Google Scholar
Cervantes, María Antonieta 1976 La estela de Alvardo. Actas del XLI Congreso Internacional de Americanistas 2:309–322.Google Scholar
Chadwick, Robert 1971 Archaeological Synthesis of Michoacan and Adjacent Regions. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 11, edited by Ekholm, G. and Bernal, I., pp. 657–693. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Corona Núñez, José 1946 La religión de los tarascos. In Anales del Museo Michoacano, Número 4, Segunda Epoca, pp. 13–38. Morelia.Google Scholar
Corona S., Eduardo 1970 Hallazgo arqueológico en Tiristarán. I.N.A.H. Boletín 42:31–33, México.Google Scholar
Diguet, León 1903 Contribution á l'ethnographie précolombienne du Méxique. Le Chimalhuacan et ses populations avant la conquête espagnole. Journal Société des Américanistes de Paris 1–57.Google Scholar
Díaz O., Clara 1986 La presencia teotihuacana en las estelas de Tepecuacuilco. In Arqueología y etnohistoria del estado de Guerrero, pp. 203–208. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia y Gobierno del Estado de Guerrero.Google Scholar
Ekholm, Gordon F. 1940 The Archaeology of Northwestern and Western Mexico. In The Maya and Their Neighbors, edited by Hay, C.L., Linton, R.L., Lothrop, S.K., Shapiro, H.L., and Vaillant, G., pp. 320–330. Appleton-Century, New York and London.Google Scholar
Ekholm, Gordon F. 1941 Tula and Northwestern Mexico. Revista Mexicona de Estudios Antropológicos 5:5–193.Google Scholar
Ekholm, Gordon F. 1942 Excavations at Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 38:23–139.Google Scholar
Gamio, Lorenzo 1963 Estela de Yaguila. I.N.A.H. Boletín 12:11–13.Google Scholar
Gamio, Manuel 1910 Los monumentos arqueológicos de los immediaciones de Chalchihuites, Zacatecas. Anales del Museo Nacional de México.Google Scholar
Jaime, Ganot R., and Peschard F., A. 1985 La cultura Aztatlán: Frontera del occidente y none de mesoamérica en el postclásico. Paper presented at the XIX Mesa Redonda of the Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, Querétaro, Mexico.Google Scholar
Grove, David C. 1989 Chalcatzingo and Its Olmec Connection. In Regional Perspectives on the Olmec, edited by Sharer, R. and Grove, D., pp. 122–147. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Grove, David C., and Paradis, L.I. 1971 An Olmec Stela from San Miguel Amuco, Guerrero. American Antiquity 36:95–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1982 A Late Formative Period Stela in the Maya Lowlands. American Antiquity 47:396–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hewett, Edgar L. 1936 Ancient Life in Mexico and Central America. Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis and New York.Google Scholar
Hrdlička, Aléš 1903 The Region of the Ancient “Chichimecs,” with Notes on the Tepecanos and the Ruins of La Quemada, Mexico. American Anthropologist 5:385–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jorrín, María 1974 Stone Monuments. In The Oaxacan Coastal Project, part 1, edited by Brockington, D.L., Jorrín, M., and Long, J.R.. Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology 8, pp. 23–81. Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Kelley, J. Charles 1974 Speculations on the Culture History of Northwestern Mesoamerica. In The Archaeology of West Mexico, edited by Bell, B., pp. 19–39. Sociedad de Estudios Avanzados del Occidente de México, Ajijic, Jalisco.Google Scholar
Kelley, J. Charles, and Abbott, E. 1966 The Cultural Sequence on the North Central Frontier of Mesoamerica. Actas y memorias, 36avo Congreso Internacional de Americanistas 1:325–344.Google Scholar
Kelley, J. Charles, and Kelley, E.A. 1976 Alta Vista: Outpost of Mesoamerican Empire on the Tropic of Cancer. Lasfronteras de Mesoamérica 1:21–40. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, Tegucigalpa.Google Scholar
Kelly, Isabel T. 1941 The Relationship Between Tula and Sinaloa. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 5:199–207.Google Scholar
Kelly, Isabel T. 1985 Some Gold and Silver Artifacts from Colima. In The Archaeology of West and Northwest Mexico, edited by Foster, M.S. and Weigand, P.C., pp. 153–179. Westview Press, Boulder and London.Google Scholar
Kelly, Isabel T., and de Torres, B. Braniff 1966 Una relación cerámica entre Occidente y la Mesa Central. I.N.A.H. Boletín 23:26–27.Google Scholar
Kelly, Joyce 1982 The Complete Visitor's Guide to Mesoamerican Ruins. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Kirchhoff, Paul 1943 Mesoamérica: sus límites geográficos, composición étnica y caracteres culturales. Acta Americana 1:92–107.Google Scholar
Kirchhoff, Paul 1948 Etnografía antigua. In El Occidente de México, pp. 134–136. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, Mexico.Google Scholar
Lister, Robert H. 1949 Excavations at Cojumatlan, Michoacan, Mexico. University of New Mexico Publications in Anthropology 5. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Lister, Robert H. 1971 Archaeological Synthesis of Guerrero. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 11, edited by Elkholm, G. and Bernal, I., pp. 619–631. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Lowe, Gareth W. 1989 The Heartland Olmec: Evolution of Material Culture. In Regional Perspectives on the Olmec, edited by Sharer, R. and Grove, D, pp. 33–67.Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Lumholtz, Carl 1902 Unknown Mexico: A Record of Five Years' Exploration among the Tribes of the Western Sierra Madre in the Tierra Caliente of Tepic and Jalisco; and among the Tarascans of Michoacan, II. Rio Grande Press (1973 edition), Glorieta, New Mexico.Google Scholar
McCarty, Kieran, and Matson, D. 1975 Franciscan Report on the Indians of Nayarit, 1673. Ethnohistory 22(3): 193–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1973 Territorial Organization of the Lowland Classic Maya. Science 180:911–916.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marcus, Joyce 1976 Emblem and State in the Classic Maya Lowlands. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Marquina, Ignacio 1970 Proyecto Cholula. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Número 19. Mexico.Google Scholar
Martínez D., Guadalupe 1986 Teopantecuanitlán. In Arqueología y etnohistoria del estado de Guerrero. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Gobierno del Estado de Guerrero.Google Scholar
Mason, J. Alden 1937 Late Archaeological Sites in Durango, Mexico, from Chalchihuites to Zape. Publications of the Philadelphia Anthropological Society 1:127–146.Google Scholar
Matos M., Eduardo, and Kelly, I. 1974 Una vasija que sugiere relaciones entre Teotihuacán y Colima. In The Archaeology of West Mexico, edited by Bell, B., pp. 202–205. Sociedad de Estudios Avanzados del Occidente de México, Ajijic, Jalisco.Google Scholar
Meighan, Clement W. 1976 The Archaeology of Amapa, Nayarit. Monumenta Archaeologica 2. The Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Morley, Sylvanus G. 1956 The Ancient Maya. Third edition, revised by Brainerd, G.W.. Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Mountjoy, Joseph B. 1970 Prehispanic Culture History, and Cultural Contact on the Southern Coast of Nayarit, Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, Southern Illinois University. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Mountjoy, Joseph B. 1974 Some Hypotheses Regarding the Petroglyphs of West Mexico. Mesoamerican Studies 9. Research Records of the University Museum, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Mountjoy, Joseph B. 1982 El proyecto Tomatlán de salvamento arqueológico: fondo etnohislórico y arqueológico, desarrollo del proyecto, estudios de la superficie. I.N.A.H. Colección Científica: Arqueología 122. Mexico.Google Scholar
Mountjoy, Joseph B. 1983 Investigaciones arqueológicas en la cuenca del río Tomatlán, Jalisco: 1975–1977. Pantoc 5:21–50. Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara.Google Scholar
Mountjoy, Joseph B. 1984 Significado de dos documentes del sigio XVII en la interpretación de petroglifos encontrados en la cuenca del río Tomatlán, Jalisco. Investigaciones Recientes En El Area Maya 4:487–494. Proceedings of the Mesa Redonda of the Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas.Google Scholar
Mountjoy, Joseph B. 1987a Antiquity, Interpretation, and Stylistic Evolution of Petroglyphs in West Mexico. American Antiquity 52:161–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mountjoy, Joseph B. 1987b El proyecto Tomatlán de salvamento arqueológico: el arte rupestre. I.N.A.H. Colección Científica: Arqueología 163. Mexico.Google Scholar
Mountjoy, Joseph B. 1989 Proyecto arqueológico Valle de Banderas: segunda temporada. Report on file in the technical archives of the Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Mountjoy, Joseph B. 1990 El desarrollo de la cultura Aztatlán visto desde su frontera suroeste. In Mesoamérica y norte de México: siglo IX-XII, vol. 2, edited by Sodi M., Federica, pp. 541–564.Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico.Google Scholar
Muller, Florencia 1966 La estela del Coracero, Guerrero. In Summa antropológica en homenaje a Roberto J. Weitlander, pp. 91–98. I.N.A.H., Mexico.Google Scholar
Noguera, Eduardo 1942 Exploraciones en El Opeño, Michoacán. Proceedings of the 27avo Congreso Internacional de Americanistas 1:574–586.Google Scholar
Oliveros, Arturo 1974 Nuevas exploraciones en El Opeño Michoacán. In The Archaeology of West Mexico, edited by Bell, B., pp. 182–201. Sociedad de Estudios Avanzados del Occidente de México. Ajijic, Jalisco.Google Scholar
Ortega, José 1944 Apostólicos afanes de la compañia de Jesús en su provincia de México, libro I: Maravillosa reducción y conquista de la provincia de San Joseph del Gran Nayar, nuevo reino de Toledo. Editorial Layac, Mexico.Google Scholar
Ortiz de Zárate, Gonzálo 1976 Petroglifos de Sinaloa. Fomento Cultural Banamex, Mexico.Google Scholar
Osborne, Douglas 1943 An Archaeological Reconnaissance in Southeastern Michoacan, Mexico. American Antiquity 9:59–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pares Arias, José 1963 Esculturas y estelas líticas prehispánicas del sur del estado de Jalisco. Eco, Revista del Instituto Jalisciense de Antropología e Historia 16:3–4.Google Scholar
Pérez de Ribas, Andrés 1645 Historia de los triunfos de nuestra santa fe entre las gentes las más barbaras y fieras del Nuevo Orbe. Madrid.Google Scholar
Pickering, Robert B. 1974 A Preliminary Report on the Osteological Remains from Alta Vista, Zacatecas. In The Archaeology of West Mexico, edited by Bell, B., pp. 240–248. Sociedad de Estudios Avanzados del Occidente de México. Ajijic, Jalisco.Google Scholar
Pickering, Robert B. 1985 Human Osteological Remains from Alta Vista, Zacatecas: An Analysis of the Isolated Bone. In The Archaeology of West and Northwest Mexico, edited by Foster, M.S. and Weigand, P.C., pp. 289–325. Westview Press, Boulder and London.Google Scholar
Porter, Muriel 1956 Excavations at Chupícuaro, Guanajuato, Mexico. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (new series) 46(5).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Proskouriakoff, Tatiana 1950 A Study of Classic Maya Sculpture. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 593. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Random House Dictionary of the English Language 1966 Random House, New York.Google Scholar
Sáenz, César A. 1966a Exploraciones en El Ixtepete, Jalisco. I.N.A.H. Boletín 23:14–18.Google Scholar
Sáenz, César A. 1966b Cabecitas y figurillas de barro del Ixtepete, Jalisco. I.N.A.H. Boletín 24:47–49.Google Scholar
Sáenz, César A. 1966c Exploraciones en Xochicalco. I.N.A.H. Boletín 26: 24–34.Google Scholar
Sauer, Carol O., and Brand, D.D. 1932 Aztatlan: Prehistoric Mexican Frontier on the Pacific Coast. Ibero-Americana 1. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Schöndube B., Otto 1972 La religión en el occidente de México. In Religión en Mesoamérica, XII Mesa Redonda de la Sociedad Mexicana de Antropologiá, pp. 357–363. Mexico.Google Scholar
Schöndube B., Otto 1973–1974 Tamazula-Tuxpan-Zapotlán: Pueblos de la frontera septentrional de la antigua Colima. Professional thesis, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Schöndube B., Otto 1974 Deidades prehispánicas en el area de Tamazula-Tuxpan Zapotlán en el estado de Jalisco. In The Archaeology of West Mexico, edited by Bell, B., pp. 168–181. Sociedad de Estudios Avanzados del Occidente de México, Ajijic, Jalisco.Google Scholar
Schöndube B., Otto 1980 Epoca prehispánica. In Historia de Jalisco, edited by María Muría, José, pp. 111–258. Gobierno de Jalisco Secretaría General Unidad Editorial, Guadalajara.Google Scholar
Spícer, Edward H. 1969 Northwest Mexico: Introduction. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 8, edited by Vogt, Evon G., pp. 777–791. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Tello, Antonio 1891 Crónica miscelánea en que se trota de la conquista espiritual y temporal de la Santa Provincia de Xalisco en el Nuevo Reino de Galicia y Vizcaya y descubrimientos de Nuevo México. Imprenta La República Literaria, Guadalajara.Google Scholar
Tello, Antonio 1968 Crónica miscelánea de la Sancta Provincia de Xalisco, Libro II, vol. 1. Instituto Jalisciense de Antropología e Historia, Guadalajara.Google Scholar
Trombold, Charles D. 1985 A Summary of the Archaeology in the La Quemada Region. In The Archaeology of West and Northwest Mexico, edited by Foster, M.S. and Weigand, P.C., pp. 237–267. Westview Press, Boulder and London.Google Scholar
Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language (unabridged) 1966 G.C. Merriam, Springfield, MA.Google Scholar
Weigand, Phil C. 1974 The Ahualulco Site and the Shaft-Tomb Complex of the Etzatlán Area. In The Archaeology of West Mexico, edited by Bell, B., pp. 120–131. Sociedad de Estudios Avanzados del Occidente de México, Ajijic, Jalisco.Google Scholar
Weigand, Phil C. 1978 The Prehistory of the State of Zacatecas: An Interpretation, Part 1 and Part 2. Anthropology 2(1):67–87; 1(2)103–117.Google Scholar
Weigand, Phil C. 1985 Evidence for Complex Societies during the Western Mesoamerican Classic Period. In The Archaeology of West and Northwest Mexico, edited by Foster, M.S. and Weigand, P.C., pp. 47–91. West-view Press, Boulder and London.Google Scholar
Williams, Eduardo 1988 The Stone Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico: Analysis and Classification. Ph.D. dissertation, University of London.Google Scholar
von Winning, Hasso 1979 Dos estelas en la Mixteca Baja del sur de Puebla. Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas 13(4):13–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar