Costume Analysis and the Provenience of the Borgia Group Codices

Bibliographic Data

ID2571369
AuthorsPatricia Rieff Anawalt (University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author), Patricia Anawalt
Year1981
Volume46
Issue4
Pages837-852
Publication date1981-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/280110
OpenAlexW2014405919
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited2

There are indications that future archaeological investigations of the Late Postclassic horizon of the central and eastern Gulf Coast will reveal the existence of several regional artistic subtraditions of the prevailing Mixteca-Puebla horizon style. This would discourage the current pan-'Mixtec' approach to the interpretation of Postclassic Mesoamerican culture. A consequence of this presently confusing practice is the provenience debate concerning the religious Borgia Group codices. An abstract method of costume analysis indicates that these pictorial manuscripts did not originate in the Mixteca because they do not display Mixtec ritual clothing patterns. Data from the costume analysis, together with internal clues from the codices and archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence, demonstrate that the Borgia Group codices had diverse origins. The general Puebla-Tlaxcala region is suggested as the probable homeland for codices Borgia, Cospi, and Vaticanus B. The stylistic twins, Fejervary-Mayer and Laud, are assigned to the eastern Gulf Coast

Ancient history · Archaeology · Clothing · Geography · Horizon · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Style (visual arts) · History · Latin American history and culture

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