Epi-Classic Cultural Dynamics in the Mezquital Valley

The Figures

What do they look like? And what are the traits they share that make it possible to include them in a same style? As seen in the illustrations exhibited in this text, they are greenstone plaques, ¹   often with perforations that turn them into pendants, and which, through bas-relief techniques, portrait the front image of an anthropomorphic character.

The individual has protruding eyes ²   and mouth, and wears earflares, in addition to a headdress that varies in complexity. Frequently, around the neck hangs a string of circular beads. When the figure is fully represented, it shows a standing or kneeling individual "[…] with his hands on his chest in a ritual attitude […]" (Sáenz, 1963a:21, see also Hirth, 2000:203). Sometimes, he holds in his hands a circular object.

As stated by William Ringle, Tomás Gallareta and George Bey, these jades show a surprisingly restricted set of attributes (1998:203), the headdresses being the most significant ones. These authors have designed a preliminary classification in four major groups, after the plaques originated in Chichén Itzá, Xochicalco, Monte Albán and Tula, that include: "Males with a circular mirror or ornament centered in their hairdress", "Males with headdresses holding a pair of human faces or serpents that look in opposite directions", "Males with headdresses in the shape of ’monster muzzles’ ", and "Lords in a seated position leaning to one side or the other" (Ringle et al., ibid.: 203, fig. 20, see also McVicker and Palka, 2001).

In the first and simpler of such cases, the headdress features a detail in the mid-forehead with two or more bands emanating from it, occasionally curled, which run down around the head to rest on the earflares, or at that same level as the earflares. In the second, the profile of serpents or of anthropomorphic heads at each side of the headdress may be appreciated. In the third case, the individual is frontally represented while his head "[…] emerges from a headpiece with the effigy of a serpent […]." (Winter, 1994:165). In the latter case, real scenes are illustrated, with the leading character sitting in the oriental fashion and wearing a headdress with serpentine features, shown from one side.

The diverse complexities of the headdress that make these figures look radically different from one another, is thought to be a consequence of the varied levels of abstraction that range from an almost baroque-like precision and realism, to a remarkable degree of simplification that merely reproduces the minimum essential features. We consider, like Ringle, Gallareta and Bey do (regarding the plaques from Chichén, 1998:203), that most headdresses show characteristics that refer to a serpentine allusion (see also McVicker and Palka, 2001:183).

Notwithstanding the amazing geographical extension involved in the distribution of these plaques, it has not been determined so far which is the place or places of provenience, largely as a result of our ignorance regarding the total number of greenstone deposits existing in México and their particular characteristics. ³   Thus, they are customarily interpreted as allochthonous objects and are only stylistically related to a particular region (Hirth, 2000:203).

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Endnotes

1. Often, greenstone is referred to as "jade", but in fact, the varieties are numerous depending on their structure and chemical composition: "jadeite", "nephrite", "actinolite", "chloromelanite"… at first sight they may all seem very similar, and the fact that the aspect of the material varies even within one same deposit (Easby, 1961:79), makes it even more difficult to identify the place of provenience.

2. They often give the impression of being closed, making several authors think it may be the representation of a deceased human being (Acosta, 1955:153; Zeitlin, 1993:134). This is not final, as individuals generally are shown in dynamic positions, standing or sitting in the "lotus flower" position, with their hands resting at the chest level (i.e. pieces illustrated by Rands, 1965:571-573).

3. About nephrite, Ramón Mena has referred to its existence in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Zacatecas, Morelos and Hidalgo (Mena, 1990 [1927]:1, 76-77). As to jadeite, this author refers it is present in the Mixteca and the State of Morelos, close to Xochicalco (ibid.:5). Tatiana Proskouriakoff, in turn, states that nephrite is not found in Middle America, and that the mineral so highly appreciated in pre-hispanic times, was jadeite. Quoting different authors, she says "[…] William Niven has found jadeite cores in the Río del Oro and Río de las Balsas, in Guerrero […]", and "Servin Palencia referred to a mine in Zacatecas and noted that jade was obtained from the states of Querétaro and San Luis Potosí. In the Maya area, only one jade deposit has been reported […] discovered by Robert Leslie at El Manzanal, in the Motagua Valley". Regarding Mena’s work, she ads that perhaps the existence of the deposits proposed by him has not yet been confirmed, and finally, referring to serpentine, she states that it may be obtained in Guatemala and Belize, among many other places in México (Proskouriakoff, 1974:1-2). For additional information on this material and the carvings, I recommend: Easby and Easby, 1956; Foshag, W.F., 1957; Rands, 1965; Digby, 1972; and Pastrana, 1991.

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