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Painting on Bones and Other Unusual Media in the Lower and Trans-Pecos Region of Texas and Coahuila

Bibliographic Data

ID9217911
AuthorsSolveig A Turpin (Institute of Latin Ameriam Studies, University or Texas at Austin. Austin. TX 78712-1100, corresponding author)
Year1996
Volume41
Issue157
Pages261-272
Publication date1996-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePlains Anthropologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-0447 • E-ISSN: 2052-546X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/2052546.1996.11931785
OpenAlexW2478969182
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited3

Poorly provenienced painted deer scapulae from three or four rock shelters in the mountainous region south and north of the Big Bend of the Rio Grande bear a strong resemblance to ethnographically documented musical instruments. Ethnohistoric and modern analogs suggest that these specimens combine four sacred qualities--bone, deer, paint, and music. Shamans who experience symbolic death during their trance states are reborn from their bones, the most durable element of the body. This belief is manifested in modern and ancient Native American art as well as in European and Asian folk myths. The reverence accorded to deer is evidenced in the folk stories, rock art, burial customs, and performances of the modern Native American population of northern Mexico. Paint, esp cially red ocher, is clearly associated with ritual in funerary contexts, in ceremonia rock art, and as body paint or tattoo. Finally, scapulae are still used in rituals as percussion instruments, either paired with rasps or strung togetheras rattles. These four sacred elements conjoin to grant ritual importance to archaeological objects that would otherwise be considered utilitarian or dietary refuse

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Ethnology · Geography · Literature · Mythology · Native american · Painting · Population · Reverence · Shamanism · Sociology · Visual arts · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Natural History · Demography · History · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

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  • An Inscribed Native American Battle Image From The Little Bighorn Battlefield

    Douglas D Scott, Peter Bleed et al.•Plains Anthropologist•1997

  • A Reassessment of Red Linear Pictographs in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas

    Open Access•Colleen E Boyd, Carolyn E Boyd et al.•American Antiquity•2013

  • Imaging coprolite taphonomy and preservation

    Open Access•K Reinhard, Morgana Camacho et al.•Archaeological and Anthropological…•2019

  • “The American Indiants and Music”

    Open Access•Frances Densmore•Music Supervisors Journal•1927

  • A Survey of Musical Instruments

    Open Access•Sibyl Marcuse•Journal of Research in Music…•1976

Unique citing works4
Citations per year0,14
Citation span1997 - 2019 (23)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 4
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