[Aztlan] Follow up on Zapotec use of human femurs

[Jerry Offner]

Sahagun, Dibble and Anderson 1969, VIII, 75--

"thus was the division of their captive:  in six parts it came.  the first,
who was the real captor, took his body and one of his thighs--the one with
the right foot.  And the second who took part (in the capture) took the
left thigh.  And the third took the right upper arm.  The fourth took the
left upper arm.  The fifth took the right forearm. And as for the sixth, he
took the left forearm."

See Offner Journal of Latin American Lore, 6:2 (1980):205-15) "Aztec
Poltical Numerology and Human Sacrifice" for the interdigitation of
prisoner capture, captive division and organization of political units,
including cities and six "barrios" serving Hutizilopochtli in Tenochtitlan
(van Zantwijk wrote an article on these in ECN 6:177-185. 

Forearms had distinctive uses among the Nahua also.   

On a somewhat related note, the Totonac are notable for reburial practices
and Krickeberg mentions burial in pottery vessels by them.  With regard to
reburial, they buried relatives in the back yard and dug them up for
reburial after they had been defleshed.  With regard to the pottery
burials, I can't remember if these were burials or reburials.  I have been
trying to find out what the shape of these vessels were becuase I don't
have a copy of Krickeberg. 

People were probably by far the largest land animal commonly observed by
the Nahua (or Totonac), unless I am missing something obvious.  The
societal accomplishment, especially in that time and in that difficult
environment, of having produced a human body was not insignificant.  The
result and product of such a concentration of resources was not to be
wasted and found many uses throughout society. At the same time, many of
these practices regarding the dead have parallels in many other societies.
I am reminded of saintly relics throughout the history of Western
civilization. Some of my friends and neighbors undoubtedly have ancestors
on their mantlepieces in nice funerary urns and I keep the bones of  a
favorite pet cat in a wooden box on my desk... 

Jerry Offner    

  






> [Original Message]
> From: Matthew H. Robb <mhrobb at yahoo.com>
> To: <aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
> Date: 7/16/2009 11:17:53 AM
> Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Follow up on Zapotec use of human femurs
>
> Of course there is also the free-floating femur in the Cacaxtla battle
mural, and the Florentine Codex describes extensive rituals surrounding
specific body parts from captives; the femur was reserved for the
victorious warrior (book 2, if memory serves). 
>
> Matthew Robb
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Justin Kerr <mayavase at verizon.net>
> To: michael ruggeri <michaelruggeri at mac.com>; aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 6:48:27 AM
> Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Follow up on Zapotec use of human femurs
>
> Listeros,
> The Zapotec people may not have been the only culture to deal with bones.
In
> a least one example the Maya used bones as weapons of combat. 
> Please visit http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=7749
for a
> vessel with a scene of two individuals locked in combat using bones as
> weapons. There is a link to discussion of the text as well. If the above
> link doesn't work the Enter 7749 on the search page of the Maya Vase
> database. www.mayavase.com/kerrmaya.html. 
> Justin Kerr
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org
[mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
> On Behalf Of michael ruggeri
> Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:53 PM
> To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> Subject: [Aztlan] Follow up on Zapotec use of human femurs
>
>
> Listeros,
>
> National Geographic has a follow-up article on the practice of Zapotec  
> males carrying human femurs as status symbols. There are a few new  
> details in this article. A photo of a bas relief of a Zapotec carrying  
> a human femur is posted. Joyce Marcus of the University of Michigan  
> believes that this was a way to display dynastic continuity since  
> relatives of the deceased carried these femurs. Each first born son  
> was expected to brandish the femur of his father.
>
> The National Geographic article is here;
>
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090715-zapotec-thighbones-fe
> murs.html
>
> A tiny URL;
> http://tinyurl.com/nwl28j
>
> Mike Ruggeri
>
> Mike Ruggeri's Zapotec World
> http://tinyurl.com/37huyl
>
> Mike Ruggeri's Zapotec Art Portfolio
> http://tinyurl.com/lu36ac
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Aztlan mailing list
> http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/aztlan
> Click here to post a message Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> Click to view Calendar of Events
http://research.famsi.org/events/events.php
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Aztlan mailing list
> http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/aztlan
> Click here to post a message Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> Click to view Calendar of Events
http://research.famsi.org/events/events.php
> _______________________________________________
> Aztlan mailing list
> http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/aztlan
> Click here to post a message Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> Click to view Calendar of Events
http://research.famsi.org/events/events.php
>