Epi-Classic Cultural Dynamics in the Mezquital Valley

Garments and Ritual Paraphernalia

If it is true that the deceased were buried with their belongings, it is possible that during their lifetime they were the representatives of some religion and that the greenstone plaques were an insignia of that status. When referring to the ones he found, Jorge Acosta notes that they are all images of priests, because they are not carrying weapons (1954:113; 1956-57:100). In fact, it is not possible to tell for sure if there were any "weapons" in the archaeological contexts described, moreover if they were made of perishable materials, but in iconographic contexts where we believe the jade figurines were represented while being used, those who are wearing them do not carry weapons but on the contrary, are showing a ceremonial attitude (see Figure 6 and Figure 7; see also McVicker and Palka 2001, fig. 10 (Late Classic polychrome Maya vessel) and fig. 11 [engraved panel from Bonampak, Late Classic]).²⁹  Besides, they are often wearing headdresses with serpentine attributes, which in turn are seen in sculptures and mural paintings mostly in representations of priests or rulers.³⁰

It has been often stated that the religious and political functions in several pre-hispanic societies were the responsibility of just one person (Jiménez Moreno, 1959:1057, 1064; Millon 1988a:205; Florescano, 1995:17-18) or group of persons (Earle, 1990:76. To this author, this is an indication of complex chiefdomships). In fact, establishing an overall rule to explain the character of all individuals meant to wear the plaques (or either the ophidian headdresses) is not possible. This is because the pre-hispanic ruling system was heterogeneous in nature, maybe as a consequence of the level of complexity and degree of hierarchism achieved by each society. But this is due also to the fact that the traits chosen to represent the image of prominent individuals are consistent, not only with the political situation of the era, but mainly with the type of proselytizing message they attempted to convey, and therefore sometimes the warrior attributes were highlighted, while in other cases the priestly qualities were emphasized. As said, it is in this latter category that the use of most of these jade figures has been integrated.³¹

Regarding Teotihuacán, Linda Manzanilla suggests that: "[…] the Teotihuacán government lay in the hands of priests, who not only organized the state and the local religion, but also watched over economic circuits of different kinds" (1995:167-168). Monte Albán seems to feature a similar case.

As previously stated, we are concerned for our lack of knowledge regarding the finding of these greenstone figures in the burial contexts of Monte Albán. We are concerned because it is precisely in this city where we think we have found a good example of its use. We are referring to the widely known urns, whose presence in tombs is almost a rule. Alfonso Caso and Ignacio Bernal have analyzed almost three hundred pieces of this type and in regard to their possible meaning, they have stated: "Undoubtedly, most urns are representations of gods, or either of priests wearing the outfits of gods […]" (Caso and Bernal, 1952:10; Paddock 1972b:253). We shall focus our attention on a feature present only in four of them, all corresponding to the IIIb period.

During the decoration of Tomb 104, the image of an individual whom Caso and Bernal defined like a "God with Cocijo Head in the Headdress" was infixed in the tomb. The individual is extending one of his hands with his palm upwards, while with the other he is holding a bag. He is wearing, together with a glamorous headdress with the image of the rain god, a "[…] pectoral formed by a little mask which probably represents a little jade mask, and a topknot from which three rattles hang […] formed by some cutout snails of the olivella genus" (1952:52, fig. 72). At the entrance of that tomb another urn was found, this time baptized as "God with a Topknot in the Headdress", one of the presumable avocations of Pitao Cozobi, a maize deity. The image also features "[…] a necklace with a pectoral formed by a little mask, probably of jade, from which three snail rattles hang" (ibid., 1952:101-104, figs. 168 and 168 bis). Besides, it carries in the mouth a "typical serpentine little mask, with the nose turned upwards", a feature that appears once more in the north mural of the burial as the headdress of an individual, and on the burial slab that sealed the entrance (ibid.:104, 107).

The two remaining samples, originated in Xoxocotlán, are wearing necklaces with similar characteristics, presumably insinuating jade and shell ornaments. The Cocijo mask is covering the face of one of the characters (ibid.:20, fig. 2), while the other one, unmasked, has been associated with Pitao Cozobi (ibid.:46, fig. 63).

We concur with Joyce Marcus’ statement (1983b) that the majority of the urns are representing human beings and not gods. The author argues that deities are not given calendrical names like the ones seen in several urns, and she notices the frequency with which features initially assumed as belonging to different deities, are combined. This latter phenomenon posed Caso and Bernal some problems, as each time new elements appeared, or were recombined, they gave the new representation a new name, in a way that when their classification was completed, one was led to think that the Zapotec pantheon had been incredibly vast, a polytheistic religion in the full extent of the word. Marcus suggested: "[…] perhaps what we have here is merely a system that comprises one human figure and a set of attributes (for example water, maize, lightning), that define the supernatural force or the series of supernatural forces present in the headdress" (1983b:146).

But, what is the meaning of a character displaying these traits in his face or headdress? Marcus thinks that the first case might have something to do with the ancestors of the buried individual having adopted supernatural attributes, and the second, with contemporary individuals that were honoring such ancestors and the supernatural forces present in their ornaments (ibid.:144, 146, 148). The second observation resembles that of Caso and Bernal, not in the sense that they were deities, but rather, that they might have been priest images of some specific religion (or religions) expressing this status through their garments (which include, in all four cases outlined, necklaces with a jade figure).

Marcus’ initial proposal presents some obstacles, as not always are urns associated with burials; besides, many pieces have been mass produced and used in different contexts (Caso and Bernal, 1952:10). For this reason, they may hardly be considered ’portraits’ of particular characters or ’true’ ancestors; however, they may well be expressing a sense of belonging to some particular lineage, although perhaps, the lineage was of a fictitious or mythical nature, or in other words, that it represented some ’kinship’ line that the individual was able to exhibit not through a direct blood inheritance but rather through his social status.³²

Referring once more to the overall contexts, we shall finally say that the majority of the Oaxacan urns were found empty, though in the rare occasions they contained something "[…] there are obsidian blades, greenstone beads, snails used like rattles, and occasionally, small animal bones" (Caso and Bernal, 1952:10).

Prismatic blades, a common element in the offerings described so far, may be a symbol of self sacrifice.³³  Making an analogy with the practices observed by the conquerors at the time of their arrival, the use of blades for self sacrifice has been recorded by Bernardino de Sahagún and Francisco López de Gómara, as a part of the preparation of a number of parties celebrated by the Mexica.³⁴

This may not apply in all cases, but in the contexts of Sabina Grande and San Juan del Río, specifically, there are additional elements that lead to consider that offerings were the result of the burial ritual of an individual together with the arrangement of his possessions, and that this practice was related to the activities that the individual accomplished in his lifetime. As already seen, the adult from Barrio de la Cruz was accompanied by infant remains (their skulls had been peculiarly placed), and a possible canine. Referring once again to the XVIth Century sources, the chroniclers describe infant sacrifices (Gómara specifically uses the word "skinning") as offerings to the water gods,³⁵  together with the habit of burying the dogs together with their masters so that they would be of help during their transit through the underworld.³⁶

One distinctive characteristic of the priests is that they carry censers when they are at work, as seen in countless buildings, mural paintings, stelae…and as it has also been pointed out in the sources.³⁷  One such censer was found in the offering of the buried individual from Sabina, together with a clay pipe (Carrasco et al., 2001:61, 68, 70). Pipes are objects present with a remarkable frequency in the region, and may also be considered to be ritual in nature.

Another element typical of the Sabina Grande context is the perforated shell ring mentioned above, which greatly resembles those illustrated by Séjourné for her excavations in Teotihuacán (1996 [1969]: 254). These are features that were originally united in pairs and used by male individuals like eyeglasses, tied with a band at the back of the head. The use of eye patches is a feature present in mural paintings to distinguish humans from mythological beings, because while human figures wear them as masks to cover their eyes, in the case of deities the rings are a "monstruous", organic component of the creature’s face (Pasztory, 1974:13). It is possible that this object in Sabina served a similar function.³⁸

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Endnotes

29. McVicker and Palka consider that the jade plaques were not designed to be used as a part of an outfit, as cases where individuals are shown exhibiting them are not known (2001:190). We disagree, as in fact there are examples where these figures are present in necklaces, belts or chest protectors being worn by persons, in sculptures (stelae, mainly), paintings and in the plaques themselves, whenever the images are richly elaborated. The authors claim that they have not been recovered in tombs and that they were not associated with particular individuals in the burials (ibid.:192), something that, in our view, did happen in a number of cases we have described above. The fact that some of these pieces were deposited in votive offerings does not exclude the other possibility.

30. Serpent headdresses are often associated with images carrying incense bags, which is considered a priestly attribute (Rands, 1955:286, 288; Coggins, 1980:62; Von Winning, 1987:I:79; Millon, 1988a; Manzanilla, 1995:163; Taube, 2000a:15). In mural paintings from Teotihuacán, the characters wearing such headdresses frequently carry "pulque irrigating" bowls (Rivas, 1993), bags (probably containing copal), usually a stream of water or blood emanates from their hands, and a virgule comes out of their mouths displaying marine and "precious" elements (such as shell and chalchihuites, or trinkets) (Millon, 1988a:196). In the reliefs of the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpents in Xochicalco, the individuals that alternate with the serpent undulations represent "[…] several human figures seated in the oriental fashion: for a headdress, they wear a serpent head and long feathers turned downwards […]. Some of these characters exhibit the word virgula, and because of their venerable gesture and attitude they are probably priests, although they have also been identified as great lords or chiefs. They wear five large beads on their necks, wide earflares hang from their ears […]" (Noguera, 1960:45). In Oaxaca, the frescos in Tomb 104 show several individuals, and one of them greatly resembles the ones that appear in the Teotihuacán murals, with a serpentine headdress of the type that features an elongated muzzle turned upwards. In one hand he carries a bag, while the other is extended front (Caso and Marcus’ interpretations regarding the figures in these frescos are the same as those concerning the urns, see below) (Caso, 1965b:867, fig. 28; Marcus, 1983a:137, 140, fig. 5.9). The urn decorating the façade in Tomb 104 presents identical features (Caso, 1965b:867; Caso and Bernal, 1952:52, fig. 72).

31. The only exceptions of individuals carrying jade plaques and weapons that we know of, are those found in column 10W of the Temple of the Warriors, in Chichén Itzá (in McVicker and Palka, 2001, fig. 12c), and in two sculptures from Tula (Acosta, 1955, illus. 2; Jiménez, 1998, figs. 22 and 59). In one of them, Mastache and Cobean have identified, in addition to the weapons, a number of possible "symbols of royalty" (2001:119, fig. 23).

32. As to Marcus annotation regarding the fact that deities are not given calendrical names, Judith Zeitlin claims that in the Popol Vuh such names are in fact given to supernatural protagonists of mythical events (Zeitlin, 1993:133).

33. Andrew Darling mentions that the abundance of prismatic obsidian blades in a number of Mesoamerican areas has motivated that they were taken for utilitarian objects (1998:383); however, their importation as a finished product, the remote provenience of the material (in spite of the possibility of obtaining the resource from nearby deposits) and its occurrence in specific contexts, enables the author to suggest that the distribution of prismatic blades may have derived from "[…] an exchange of ’prestige goods’ among elites or authorities" (Darling, ibid.:382-383, 392, see also Jiménez and Darling 2000:175-177). These objects were important ritual tools, including their use as personal blood-letters. Darling adds that the blades were probably used for dismembering and cleaning the bones, further to the completion of a sacrificial act or as a part of a sophisticated ritual for burying prominent individuals (ibid.:384-388, 391): "[…] prismatic blades have not been an essential element, but probably they were desirable in the execution of such rituals for their effectiveness as a tool and their potential significance as sacred objects of power, associated with long distance contacts […]" (Darling, ibid.:391).

34. "[…] they cut their ears with small stone blades, and with the blood that emanated from them they stained with blood the maguey points that had previously cut, and they also stained their faces with blood." (Sahagún, Book II, Chapter XXV, 1982:114). "Priests would perfume those new blades and would put them under the sun on the same cotton cloths. They used to sing joyful songs to the sound of a few small drums. The drums went silent, and they sang a different sad song, and then they would cry out loud. Then they walked, one after the other, as if they had taken ashes, towards a priest who stood one step higher; and he perforated, as the man skilled in the task he was, the tongue of each one of them with his blade, as for this reason they manufactured such large quantities of them." (López de Gómara, 1985:325).

35. "[…] During this month they killed many infants; they sacrificed them in different places and on the top of the mountains, tearing their hearts out to honor the gods of water, so that they would grant upon them water or rains" (Sahagún, Book II, Chapter I, 1982:77); "[…] they would celebrate a god known as Tláloc, who is the god of rains. During this celebrations they killed many children on the hills, they were offered in sacrifice to this god and his partners so that they would be granted water" (Sahagún, Book II, Chapter III, ibid.:79); "[…] they made important celebrations to honor the gods of water or rain known as Tlaloque. For this celebration they searched for numerous infants who still nursed from their mothers and they would buy them from these women; they would choose those showing two whirls in their heads […]. These children were taken and killed on the high hills […]" (Sahagún, Book II, Chapter XX, ibid.:98). "Once the bread was one palm high, they would walk to a hill they used for this purpose and sacrifice a three-year-old boy and girl, to honor Tlaloc, the god of water […] they would not rip their hearts off but instead they cut their throats. They were wrapped in fresh cotton cloths and buried inside a stone box. For the Tozoztli celebration, when the maize fields were already knee-high, they distributed a certain tribute among the neighbors by which four little slaves were bought, infants five to seven years old and from a different nation. They were sacrificed to Tlaloc, so that it would rain frequently […]" (López de Gómara, 1985:319-20).

36. "[…] they forced the deceased to carry with them a small red-haired dog, with a loose cotton yarn around the neck; they said that the deceased would swim on top of the little dog whenever they crossed a river from hell […]" (Sahagún, Appendix to Book III, Chapter I, 1982:205); "[…] a dog to guide him wherever he was bound to" (López de Gómara, 1985:302).

37. "[The "sátraps" or "idol ministers"] went out to the cu patio, and once in its center they took coals from the censers and poured copal on top of them and censed towards the four parts of the world […]" (Sahagún, Book II, Chapter XXV, 1982:113).

38. In the Sabina context, only one such element could be recovered, so whether that was its real function or not, is uncertain. However, at the time of reporting some burials associated with Mazapa pottery from Atetelco, Pedro Armillas also refers to the finding of one single "annular, shell plaque […] with tiny holes that most probably were used to insert a string so that it could be hung", arranged before the left eye socket of one of the skulls (1950:56).

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