Veracruz Mural Traditions: Las Higueras, México

Introduction

The proposal for the research project, "Veracruz Mural Traditions: Las Higueras," was to document and study the Late Classic murals of Las Higueras, Veracruz, México. The funding provided by this FAMSI research grant allowed for the documentation of 182 fragments removed from the superstructure of Mound 1 that comprise the surviving corpus of possibly nineteen original mural layers. Other than a select few, these mural fragments had been in storage crates inaccessible for research for decades at the Xalapa Museum of Anthropology. During the first part of 2001 the museum built a reconstruction of the Mound 1 superstructure in order to display a portion of the mural fragments, many for the first time. This renewed interest in the murals by the museum has opened up new possibilities for scholars to access and study the fragments first hand.

The site of Las Higueras is loosely dated to the Late Classic period (c. 600-900 CE) and is located on the Gulf coast of Veracruz near the Colipa River. Little is known of the site outside of an assortment of archaeological reports from the late 1960s and early 1970s, one unpublished archaeological thesis at the University of Veracruz by Ramon Arellanos Melgarejo (1985), and the occasional article that includes several out of context mural fragments in a general discussion of Veracruz art. These mostly unpublished mural fragments comprise the largest percentage of the iconographic data available for study from the ancient site.

The documentation of these fragments created with the aid of the FAMSI research grant has become the central iconographic corpus of my dissertation in pre-Columbian art history at the University of Texas at Austin. The main objectives of the dissertation, The Murals of Las Higueras, Veracruz, México, are to: (1) document, identify and analyze the iconography used in the narrative programs portrayed on the murals of Mound 1 at Las Higueras; (2) consider these findings in a regional comparative analysis of Central Veracruz visual art; and (3) develop a methodology that allows a synchronic and diachronic study of the role that this culture region had in influencing the creation of visual art and ideology in Mesoamerica.

Over the summer of 2001 I was able to complete photographic documentation of the Las Higueras archaeological site, the mural fragments on the Xalapa Museum’s reconstruction of Mound 1, and the fragments remaining in the museum’s storage area. Preliminary sketches of the more intricate aspects of the murals that are somewhat diminished in photographs were also created. Using a combination of drawings from direct observation and photographs, which may be enlarged for greater detail and used for later color comparison, greatly enhances the ability to create quality reconstruction drawings.

During this stay in Xalapa I was fortunate enough to consult with Ruben Morante, director of the Xalapa Museum of Anthropology, Gilberto Bermúdez Gorrochotegui, director of the University of Veracruz Institute of Anthropology, and the late Ramón Arellanos Melgarejo, an archaeologist of the original Las Higueras excavation project begun in 1968. These gentlemen were very generous with their time and resources throughout my study. They assisted me with both their personal knowledge and the researching of the resources and archives of the University of Veracruz.

The collecting of documents pertaining to the Las Higueras murals has been lucrative in general. Although I have been successful in acquiring many unpublished reports and archives on aspects of the Las Higueras excavation, the main problem arising is the apparent lack of specific documentation of the excavation of the murals. Juan Sanchez Bonilla, a now retired archaeologist from the University of Veracruz Institute of Anthropology, conducted the final phase of the excavation and removal of the Las Higueras murals from Mound 1. Due to improper recording or actual loss the notes from this portion of the excavation are currently unaccounted for. Sanchez Bonilla has stated that he does not have a copy of these reports in his possession (personal communication, Bermúdez Gorrochotegui 2001). The Institute of Anthropology also does not have these records in its archives. Ramon Arellano informed me that he believed the reports were in a box that remained in storage from when the Institute relocated to its current site. I was granted access to this storage room. A student assistant and I opened hundreds of dust-covered boxes in search of the illusive reports. We were unsuccessful in our efforts. During the summer of 2002 I returned to Xalapa once more to follow up on the status of these excavation reports. As of the date of this final report the documents remain unaccounted for.

Due to this situation the original ordering and placement of the fragments is largely unknown. In addition, the numbers used to catalogue the fragments do not seem to have been applied in a systematic manner. Fragments with sequential numbers rarely share physical or stylistic similarities and are often likely from different layers or even portions of the structure. I have found that because of this lacking information the Xalapa Museum’s reconstruction should be viewed largely for its didactic applications and not for its historical accuracy. For one reason, their reconstruction depicts murals positioned in southern portions of the structure that had actually been destroyed prior to modern times (personal communication, Arellanos Melgarejo 2001). The reconstruction of the murals is now contingent upon attributes of style, fracture lines, potential chemical analysis, and the memories of the archaeologists.

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