Myth and History Reconsidered

Archaeological Implications of Tzotzil-Maya Mythology

Bibliographic Data

ID2575456
AuthorsJerome M Levi (Harvard University, corresponding author)
Year1988
Volume53
Issue3
Pages605-619
Publication date1988-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/281221
OpenAlexW2331642064
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited39

This paper traces changing perspectives in archaeology and ethnology regarding the historical content of myth and demonstrates a method whereby mythological data are used to generate hypotheses amenable to falsification when integrated with other data sets. Based on a myth collected among the Tzotzil of San Pablo Chalchihuitan, Chiapas, Mexico, the presentation offers predictions regarding the location, contents, interpretation, and age of an unreported prehistoric burial site. It also sheds light on some currently unexplained aspects of an associated site in a neighboring community, and amplifies other ethnohistorical discussions relating archaeology to contemporary Indian mythology elsewhere in Mesoamerica. By showing how a modern Maya myth reveals significant information about an ancient Maya site, the study illustrates the complementarity of archaeology and ethnography through a suggested relation between myth and history

Archaeology · Complementarity (molecular biology · Ethnography · Interpretation (philosophy) · Maya · Mesoamerica · Mythology · Prehistory · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Classics · History · Indigenous Cultures and History · Latin American history and culture · Philosophy

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