[Aztlan] ME,AR: Nicaraguan columns/large statues; Transport speculations

[kevin farley]

Hi!  Geoff,
             Thanks for getting back to me.
             The cultural differences you describe between East and West are convincing.
             But having grown up on the adventures of Thor Heyerdol , I'm tempted to imagine the use of water transport as a means of moving large stone blocks.  (...also Stonehenge ?...& Egyptian obelisks?).
             Nicaragra was ,I think, once considered as an alternate route to the Panama Canal!
  Lake Nicaragua is right there where the Statues (& and "pre-statues?) are found, and the river in the S.W. courner of it is all "downhill" to the Atlantic side.
             Is there any indication of reed boat or barge building in these regions? Perhaps a petroglyph somewhere of a boat design? Anything that looks like more than a dugout??       
             That (sparce!) BBC story mentions "what appears to be a center" for columns, but doesn't say "quarry". The site is on the coast ( on the web-map ), it seems. Could it be a "warehouse" for trans-shipping?
              Are there any favorable currents to assist costal shipping and trading?..perhaps evin skirt the Mosquito Coast to the north?
             Is the Lake Nicaragua "tuff" :1.easier to sculpt, 2.lighter to transport, 3."sacred ", because it comes shooting out from the underworld?
                                                                        Speculatively yours,   Kevin Farley
                    
            

mccaffer at ucalgary.ca wrote:
  Hi Kevin,

I'm glad that my comments were of interest. Regarding the provenience of
the stone sculpture, I don't know of anyone who has paid much attention to
it as a problem. Due to the tropical conditions on the Atlantic
watershed, transportation is still a major problem, so I would assume that
the prospect of carting massive stone monuments in prehispanic times would
have been a huge undertaking. Since there is relatively little stylistic
similarity between the Atlantic coast and the Pacific Greater Nicoya
region in more portable material culture, and significant linguistic and
ethnic distinctions, pronounced contacts would be a long shot. That said,
however, this is an under-explored subject and surprises are always
interesting. I have a doctoral student who is beginning to investigate
possible east/west contacts.

I attach a copy of a recent article that will give you more background
into our project, and thinking on the Mixteca-Puebla connection.

Cheers,
Geoff McCafferty

> Dear Geoff,
> Many thanks for your germain response to my Query about the
> Nicaraguan Statues. Your reference to Mixteca-Puebla
> stylestic elements explains my (vague) impression of
> "Aztec-looking" on the one that had zoomorphic headress
> imagery, in Granada.
> [But most were less defined , as though only "sketched
> out", perhaps for later finishing.(!??)]
> Please check Bruce Rogers' observations on geology and
> provinence,... viz the BBC articule.
>
>
> { ie.:>Can the mineral composition of the statues and columns made
> in
>>Nicaragua be traced to sites in other places?
>
> ---- Yes, one can "provinence" the building stone to areas with close
> study. Many archaeological projects, however, lack the funds for
> this. Ceramics can also be provinenced by their trace elements found
> in the clays used for their manufacture - usually there is at least
> a little money set aside for this sort of work.}
>
>
> Mineral analysis would determine if the Carrabean
> discoveries are of the same stone, I think.
> I would like to know more about your thesis.
> Is ocean travel involved?...in the migrations?
> Best
> wishes,
>
>
>
>
> Kevin
> mccaffer at ucalgary.ca wrote:
> In response to recent queries about carved stone columns on display at
> the
> museum in Granada, Nicaragua, these were discovered in the 19th century
> by
> Ephraim Squier on the island of Zapatera, in Lake Nicaragua (also known
> as
> Cocibolca). A description of their discovery can be found in publications
> by Squier, which have recently been republished. He notes that other
> sculptures were found on other islands in central Nicaragua, including
> Ometepe. They range about 2-3 m in height, and generally represent seated
> individuals with elaborate headdresses featuring zoomorphic imagery. Many
> of the individuals are likely female, based on evidence of small breasts.
> The most accessible publication on these statues is by Karen Bruhns, in a
> compilation edited by William Fowler (I think) published by Dumbarton
> Oaks
> (I'm working from memory on that reference, so feel free to correct me if
> I am mistaken). Rigoberto Navarro recently completed a PhD dissertation
> at the Sorbonne in Paris on the subject of these statues, and an issue of
> Huellas (journal of the National Museum of Nicaragua) was dedicated to
> them in 2001.
>
> The best guess is that these sculptures were produced by the Chorotega
> group, an Oto-Manguean speaking culture during the Postclassic period.
> Ethnohistorical sources suggest that the Chorotega (and the Nahua
> speaking
> Nicarao) migrated to Pacific Nicaragua and northwest Costa Rica from
> Mexico. Beginning about 800 AD there are stylistic elements that tie
> Pacific Nicaragua with the Mixteca-Puebla tradition of central Mexico. I
> am unconvinced by attempts to relate the Granada statues to Atlantic
> Nicaragua, as suggested in the BBC report.
>
> Evaluating the relationship between the Chorotega and Nicarao colonies in
> Nicaragua with their purported homeland in central Mexico is the focus of
> my current research, and beginning in July I will begin a new project
> outside of Granada itself. Some preliminary results of this work is in
> print in Ancient Mesoamerica (2005) and forthcoming in Latin American
> Antiquity
>
> Geoff McCafferty
>
> _______________________________________________
> Aztlan mailing list
> Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/aztlan
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!
> Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo!
> Games.


       
---------------------------------
Shape Yahoo! in your own image.  Join our Network Research Panel today!