Constituting Animacy and Community in a Terminal Formative Bundled Offering from the Coast of Oaxaca, Mexico

Bibliographic Data

ID6044883
AuthorsJeffrey S Brzezinski (0000-0001-9350-5531, University of Colorado Boulder, corresponding author), Arthur A Joyce (0000-0002-6769-3900, University of Colorado Boulder), Sarah B Barber (University of Central Florida)
Year2017
Volume27
Issue3
Pages511-531
Publication date2017-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0959774317000245
OpenAlexW2734653428
LanguageEN
Citations received10

In this paper, we examine a Terminal Formative-period (150 bc–ad 250) bundled offering from the site of Cerro de la Virgen, located on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. The offering was emplaced below a prominent public building in the site's ceremonial centre and contained five stone objects, including a rain deity mask, a fragment of a second mask, a figurine of a deceased ancestor and two miniature table altars, as well as nine small ceramic vessels. Considered together as a ‘sacred bundle’, the stone objects collectively reference agricultural fertility, rulership and ancestor veneration, which we interpret to be a metaphorical invocation of a fundamental tenet of prehispanic Mesoamerican religious belief—the sacred covenant. The offering also played an active part in founding the community of Cerro de la Virgen, connecting its residents with the divine, the ancestors and the outside world and constituting differences in status among its members

Ancestor · Ancient history · Archaeology · Formative assessment · Genealogy · Geography · Invocation · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Natural History · History · Latin American history and culture

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access