[Aztlan] Nicaraguan columns

[mccaffer at ucalgary.ca]

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