Danzantes of Building L at Monte Albán

The Danzantes of Monte Albán and the Ballplayers sculptures of Mound A, Dainzú

The Danzantes potentially represent select moments from the sequential narrative of captive-taking and sacrifice. Furthermore, they are rendered entirely within the conventions of pan-Mesoamerican iconography for the depiction of prisoners and sacrificial victims (Coe, 1964; Marcus, 1974; 1976; 1983; Flannery and Marcus, 1991; Scott, 1978; cf. Schele and Miller, 1986; refer also to more recent discussions in Joyce and Winter, 1996; Joyce, 2000; Orr, 1997).

I believe that the stylistic categories of Danzante carvings are not arbitrary, but rather, that they indicate different events within the entire warfare-sacrifice ritual (Orr, 2001b). For example, Marcus has argued convincingly that Danzantes used as stairway risers are permanent representations of humiliated captives, being physically and conceptually trodden upon by their victors (1974; 1976; Flannery and Marcus, 1991).

Masson and I (1992; 1998) have suggested that many horizontal Danzante carvings are analogous in posture and symbolism to the so-called "flyers" found especially in Olmec and Late Formative Maya iconography. These latter are interpreted as depictions of individuals undertaking ritual shamanic passage into the Otherworld, or represent Otherworldly beings and ancestors (see Reilly, 1989; 1990). The sensation of flying or swimming is experienced during ritually induced shamanic trance. The shaman crosses the threshold to the supernatural realm while in trance; non-specialists are only able to enter this realm through their death (Eliade, 1974). Danzantes in the flying pose may be symbolically making this journey following death, as sacrifices to the Otherworld (Masson and Orr, 1992; 1998). Karl Taube compares these Danzantes with Maya iconography, particularly an Early Classic Maya monument, Tikal Stela 29, which explicitly shows the captive beneath the feet of Great Jaguar Paw in the flyers pose (personal communication, 1992; see Schele and Freidel, 1990:Fig. 4:14).

The Dainzú ball players are characteristic of Zapotec architectural sculpture. Bernal (1968) and Scott (1978) have both compared the Dainzú program to the Danzantes of Monte Albán. The carvings are pecked onto the surface of flat monolithic slabs which essentially face the rubble core of the structure. The sculptures of Mound A are in secondary or tertiary context, however, probably were originally intended for this structure. Like the Danzantes "programs" and the Monte Albán South Platform sculptures (as hypothetically reconstructed in their secondary context by Urcid, 1992; 1994a), the ball players represent specific moments from a ritual sequence, frozen as a didactic billboard, ¹   in this case, a fixed ball game with human sacrifice as the final outcome (Orr, 1997; 2001a and b; n.d.). As Joyce Marcus has pointed out, this type of architectural programming relies upon staged, ritual interaction by religious practitioners with the structures themselves to reveal the full significance of the imagery (Marcus, 1974; Flannery and Marcus, 1983; 1991; see also Scott, 1978; Schele and Freidel, 1990). The physical ascent of structures such as Building L (in its earliest Phase I configuration) and the practice of ritual sacrifice in relation to such structures with Danzantes carvings, would both elucidate and enhance the meaning of these contorted, humiliated, and mutilated victims.

To view additional information please visit the Kerr PreColumbian Portfolio: "Rubbings from the site of Dainzú" by Ruth Hardinger.

Endnote

1. "Didactic substitute images, reproductions made to teach…tell no stories as such. Rather, they are tableaux, frozen moments in time and space, like waxworks, which instruct by their existence." (Gowans, 1981:70)

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