The Couple in the Cave

Origin Iconography on a Ceramic Vessel from Los Naranjos, Honduras

Bibliographic Data

ID6034360
AuthorsJesper Nielsen (0000-0002-5764-5462, University of Copenhagen, corresponding author), James E Brady (0000-0002-5223-6694, California State University Los Angeles)
Year2006
Volume17
Issue2
Pages203-217
Publication date2006-07-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAncient Mesoamerica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0956-5361 • E-ISSN: 1469-1787
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0956536106060123
OpenAlexW2114750770
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited11

This article analyzes the iconography on a ceramic vessel collected from the site of Los Naranjos, Honduras, over 70 years ago by Danish archaeologist Jens Yde. The relatively more naturalistic representation of the scene on the vessel allows us to interpret the motifs called “dancing figures” as relating to a well-documented corpus of Mesoamerican origin mythology. We then turn our attention to the site of Los Naranjos and document the fact that the area of Lake Yojoa closely mirrors the idealized Mesoamerican landscape associated with the place of the earth's creation. Combining this insight with the depiction on the Yde vessel, we suggest that the Cave of Tauleve may have been considered the place of human creation or human emergence

Archaeology · Art · Cave · Depiction · Iconography · Literature · Mythology · Naturalism · Political science · Visual arts · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Latin American history and culture · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Philosophy

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