Mesoamerican Art for NGV Educators. Education Handbook.

Educational

Handbook Ximena Jordan

Master in Art Curatorship

The University of Melbourne

Edited by: Emanda Percival

Javier Silva-Zurita

Published in Mexico, 2014.

Not for commercial use.

ISBN: 978-607-00-8040-1

MESOAMERICAN ART FOR NGV EDUCATORS

This handbook is an educational resource designed for the Department of Education of

the National Gallery of Victoria. It intends to facilitate the teaching and understanding

of the NGV collection of Mesoamerican art. It comprises the main Mesoamerican socio-

cultural topics depicted in the artworks of this collection. In addition, it recommends

optional sources of information as a complement to this manual.

Ximena Jordan Pre-Columbian Art for NGV Educators

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 3

The Pre-Columbian Concept .............................................................................................. 3

The Pre-Columbian Map .................................................................................................... 5

Pre-Columbian Art .............................................................................................................. 5

Mesoamerica ........................................................................................................................ 8

THE NGV COLLECTION OF MESOAMERICAN PRE-COLUMBIAN ART .......... 9

Mesoamerican Masks .......................................................................................................... 9

Mesoamerican Ballgame ................................................................................................... 10

Mesoamerican Ballplayers ............................................................................................ 12

The Ballgame and the Popol Vuh ................................................................................. 13

The Ballgame’s Creational Myth ................................................................................. 15

Mesoamerican Writing System ........................................................................................ 16

Mesoamerican Body Ornamentation ............................................................................... 18

1. Body Modification...................................................................................................... 18

2. Body Decoration ........................................................................................................ 20

3. Body Accessories ........................................................................................................ 20

Body Representacion: Prominent Genital Depiction ..................................................... 21

Mesoamerican Pantheon ................................................................................................... 23

Mesoamerican Decapitation ............................................................................................. 24

Mesoamerican Human Sacrifice: a Sensitive Matter .................................................. 25

The Jaguar in Mesoamerica. ............................................................................................ 27

The Dog in Mesoamerica .................................................................................................. 29

Mesoamerican Products .................................................................................................... 31

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 34

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INTRODUCTION

The Pre-Columbian Concept

Pre-Columbian is the term that denominates the historical period prior to the arrival of the Spanish

people to Latin America. In this case, it is correct to say ‘Latin America’ and not ‘South America’

because the Spanish colonization expanded from the current territory of Northern Mexico to the

South of Chile, comprising a portion of North America, the whole of Central America and the entire

South American continent.

Latin America is an accepted geographical and cultural denomination. It corresponds to the

section of the American continent that from the 16th century to the beginning of the 18th century was

dominated by Latin European countries: Spain, Portugal (in the case of Brazil) and France (in the

case of Haiti and Guyana). Spanish and Portuguese domains were organized in viceroyalties, an

administrative system that preserved the economic, political and religious control over the Latin

American territories. According to this historic fact, it is incorrect to refer to any sort of colonization

in the Latin American area. There were never colonies in the entire Latin American region, but

viceroyalties linked to the Spanish and Portuguese Crown. Besides, viceroyalty economic and

political administration is quite different from the colonization system.

The languages imposed to the Latin American population during the three centuries of the

viceroyalty period were Latin languages, particularly Spanish, Portuguese and French. After Latin

American nations attained independence from the European nations, these languages remained as the

“mother tongues” of most of Latin American countries. Paraguay is the only Latin-American nation

that in 1990, proclaimed Guarani (their indigenous original tongue) and Spanish as the two

obligatory languages for all citizens. The rest of Latin-American countries have Latin languages as

their mandatory tongues and some indigenous languages remained as optional ones.

The term ‘pre-Columbian’ literally means ‘before Christopher Columbus’. In 1492,

Columbus arrived in the Caribbean territory now known as Las Bahamas Archipelago. Since this

historic event, the end of the pre-Columbian period varies among the different areas of the Latin

American region, because it depends on the year when Europeans reached each one of the areas. If

referring to Las Bahamas, the appellative pre-Columbian refers to the years prior to 1492; in the case

of Chile, before 1520; in the case of Mexico, before 1521, etc.

To classify an object as pre-Columbian, the certainty about the geographical provenance of

the piece is needed, along with the approximated year of production of the object (normally obtained

by Carbon-14 dating test) and the year of European settlement in the specific location where the

piece was found. Characteristics of the object itself also give crucial clues regarding whether it was

produced after or before the Europeans became in contact with the indigenous people who made it.


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Figure 1 Map of pre-Columbian cultures.

Image source: http://www.amauta.info/indiancontributions.htm


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The Pre-Columbian Map

In pre-Columbian times, the political boundaries that nowadays organize the continent did not exist.

Indigenous tribal groups, societies and civilizations populated the continent. Contemporary scholars1

divide the pre-Columbian map into six cultural areas:

Mesoamerica : from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua

Caribbean : current Caribbean territory (1st Spanish arrival)

Intermediate : Central America, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Venezuela

Amazonian : Amazonian jungle in Peru, Brazil, Uruguay and Ecuador

Central Andes : Peru, Bolivia and a part of Ecuador.

Southern Andes : Northern Chile, Southern Peru and North-Eastern Argentina

Check an interactive pre-Columbian map at: http://www.precolombino.cl/mods/culturas/. This

map is a public educational resource provided by the Chilean pre-Columbian Art Museum

(www.precolombino.cl). It explains in a clear and interactive way the geographical distribution of

the pre-Columbian cultural areas. Additionally, a chronological time line below the map indicates

the periods through which the pre-Columbian history extended.

The three main factors that defined the pre-Columbian map are material evidence left by pre-

Columbian indigenous people, chronicles of the first Europeans in the continent and narrations of

contemporary indigenous peoples.

Political and cultural pre-Columbian supremacies changed periodically. This fact led scholars

to create a pre-Columbian chronological line, illustrating the consecutive cultures that follow one

another. Pre-Columbian political dominances consisted mainly in the obedience to a common chief

and in the observance of a strict taxation system. In general, dominant cultures did not impose their

rituals upon the submitted ones, at least not in a coercive manner. It was mainly during their

interaction, that dominant and submissive groups exchanged traditions and cultural features. The

aesthetic outcomes of this cultural interchanges characterize most of their art objects.

This cultural preservation throughout successive pre-Columbian chiefdoms, explains why

different cultures that developed in the same geographical region but not necessarily during the same

chronological period, produced art objects that showed common aesthetic features. The end of the

domination of a particular pre-Columbian group did not mean the extinction of its whole worldview

but only its integration into a new cultural formation, which normally continued developing part of

the cultural legacy left by the group that was previously dominating that area.

Pre-Columbian Art

Pre-Columbian art is art created by Latin American indigenous people, during the pre-Columbian

period. Material culture left by these numerous indigenous groups comprises of a wide range of

utensils, tools, body accessories and ceremonial objects, among other items. Within this extended

legacy, pre-Columbian art only includes those objects that were impregnated by their creators with

an aesthetic, cultural and/or ceremonial significance that was primary to their ‘practical’ function.

1 Mainly anthropologists, archaeologists and ethnographers.

http://www.precolombino.cl/mods/culturas/

http://www.precolombino.cl/


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Pre-Columbian art is not a Western contemporary categorization of indigenous archaeological

objects as art. Indeed, original manufacturers and owners of pre-Columbian artworks, considered

these objects as art. There is evidence demonstrating that these objects were made according to the

aesthetic patterns and trends of their period. They were treated with similar care and respect as we

treat our art objects today. Secular art objects were traded in indigenous markets or through

commercial caravans. People who had the wealth and social rank to possess these pieces appeared to

be more prestigious than people who could not afford them. Religious art was not for commercial

trade but reserved to devotion and contemplation. Certainly, pre-Columbian art was not exhibited in

museums nor given an intellectual classification of art. In the same way, European art was not valued

as pure art and was not shown in exhibition rooms before the 16th century, since museums did not yet

exist. Still, we do classify Middle Age European art as art. The same singularity is presented by pre-

Columbian art. As with Middle Age European art, pre-Columbian art was an essential component in

the religious, political and social life of the indigenous cultures where it belonged. It connected

humans with the deities, it indicated political power, social rank and obviously, aesthetic preferences.

Figure 2 Effigy vessel of monkey. Mixtec-Veracruz. (1200AD-1400AD) Figure 3: (right) Tripod bowl with step fret

motif, Mixtec-Oaxaca. The aesthetic priority in the design of these post-Classic art pieces is evident. Mesoamerican Art

Collection, National Gallery of Victoria. Image source: National Gallery of Victoria.

In addition, pre-Columbian art was an expression of cultural identity in a multilingual world,

in which pictures and designs were a more efficient method of communication than the verbalization

of ideas. Majority of pre-Columbian social groups did not command the official writing system. As

in the European Middle Age, reading and writing was a privilege reserved to priests and scribes of

high dignitaries. Consequently, art representations were the recurring documentation system for the

main myths and events that concerned the rest of the society.

In the present-day pre-Columbian art is particularly crucial for the contemporary world.

Cultural distinctions and geographical delineations of the pre-Columbian world that are known today

have mainly been established based on the information found from the interpretation of art objects.

By studying these pre-Columbian art objects, experts are able to determine the location and evolution

of the different indigenous peoples that inhabited the continent through each pre-Columbian period.

For example, due to the comparative analysis of art pieces found in the locations the Olmec and the


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Maya people inhabited, we know today characteristics of these societies, such as where they lived

and when the topmost period of their development was.

Figure 4 Seated figure. Olmec (1200BC-200BC). Figure 5: (right) Seated female figure. Maya (300AD-900AD).

Human representations showing aesthetic distinctions associated with the cultures that created them. Mesoamerican Art


Chronicles of Spanish priests and testimony of contemporary indigenous people comprise the

other two informative resources that assist the reconstitution of pre-Columbian history. Among these

three resources, art is recognized as outstandingly helpful evidence. This is due to the high level of

expressiveness that pre-Columbian masters developed in their artworks, which shows the cultural

peculiarities of each one of their language groups, facilitating their identification.

Figure 6 Standing figure. Mezcala culture. Figure 7: (right) Kneeling woman. Jalisco culture. Both Pre-classic (400BC-

200AD) artworks from West Mexico. Mezcala figure enjoys abstract style while the style of Jalisco is naturalistic and

highly expressive. Mesoamerican Art Collection, National Gallery of Victoria. Image source: National Gallery of

Victoria.


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Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica (Greek word for ‘middle America’) is a cultural area that extended approximately from

central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua. It included the contemporary territories of southern

Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, western Honduras and a portion of Nicaragua and Costa

Rica. Many art pieces created by different Mesoamerican cultures exhibit aesthetic similarities that

are the result of centuries of multicultural interaction.

A number of Mesoamerican cultures evolved into complex societies and civilizations, such as

the Olmec, the Maya and the Mexica. The only cultural area of the pre-Columbian region that is

comparable to Mesoamerica in terms of the complexity of its development is the Central Andes

(Peru and the North of Chile), where cultures also reached high levels of technological and economic

growth.

By the time of the Spanish arrival at the continent, a great part of Mesoamerica was under the

domination of the Mexica Empire. Erroneously, this empire is commonly called ‘the Aztec empire’.

The historical name of this empire as well as of their inhabitants is Mexica. Aztecs were northern

Mesoamerican peoples living in Aztlan. In the beginning of the 14th century and with six other

cultural groups, they migrated south. After decades of migration, they reached the valley where they

founded the city of Tenochtitlan. Due to the various cultural groups that intermingled in this

migration process, by the time they settled to be sedentary again, they had become a new cultural

group: the Mexica people of the Mexica Empire. Nahuatl was the lingua franca throughout all the

Mexica Empire. Nahuatl is nowadays the predominant indigenous language spoken in Mexico.

By the time of the Mexica domination, in the Central Andes region the political situation was

similar to that of the Mesoamerican. The Inca Empire held control over most of the Central Andean

zone prior to the European conquest from the 14th century until the Spaniards’ arrival.

Mesoamerica ceased to be a pre-Columbian cultural zone in 1519 with the arrival of Hernan

Cortes to the port of Veracruz, who began the annexation of this region to the Spanish crown and the

subsequent foundation of the viceroyalty of Nueva España [New Spain]. Nueva España was the

name of this vast and rich cultural area until 1821, when the independence revolution finally

succeeded and Mexico became the republican nation that we currently know.

Figure 8 Mesoamerica in the American Map. Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/


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THE NGV COLLECTION OF MESOAMERICAN PRE-COLUMBIAN ART

Mesoamerican Masks

Mesoamerican masks were objects of privilege. This artistic tradition began in the pre-Classic period

(approximately 1000-200 BC). There were two kinds of Mesoamerican masks: funerary masks and

performing masks.

Funerary masks are mostly weighty as they are made of enduring materials such as stone and

ceramic. Most of funerary masks have covered eyes, which suggests they were specifically made to

be placed in tombs, covering the face of those who were buried. Funerary masks were supposed to

preserve the face of the honored deceased by displaying a lively presentation of him/her. The

intention was to conceal the physical deterioration of the face, reminding the living of the eternity of

the soul. As funerary offerings, funerary masks were supposed to have a function in front of the

ghostly beings that the deceased was going to meet in the underworld; possibly an identification role.

Certain cultures also used funerary masks in post-mortem rituals performed by the living relatives of

the deceased.

On the other hand, performing masks do have uncovered eyes. People used them during

public ceremonies, religious festivals and sometimes during battles. On occasions masks were

offered to the deities after being used. The Colima performing mask at the NGV Mesoamerican art

collection was probably used in the ceremonial incarnation of a deity (similar to the Greek ancient

theatre). Because the mouth is covered, it is likely to have represented a character that was not

supposed to speak.

Figure 9 Funerary Mask. Ameca-Jalisco culture. Figure 10 (left): Performing mask. Colima culture. Both masks are

from the Pre-Classic period (1500BC-300AD). Mesoamerican Art Collection, NGV. Image source: National Gallery of

Victoria.


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Mesoamerican Ballgame

The Mesoamerican ballgame was a traditional, ceremonial and public activity, performed by several

Mesoamerican cultures, including the Olmec, Veracruz, Zapotec, Maya, Toltec, Aztec and Mexica,

among others. Its origins are not known with exactitude but material evidence has proven that it was

played at least as early as the 1200 BC in the current area of Southern Mexico, which at that time

corresponded to Olmec territory. The ballgame continue developing throughout most of the

Mesoamerican area from this time until the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century.

The Nahuatl name for this ballgame is Ulamalixtli, a word derived from Ulla, meaning

‘rubber’. This rubber comes from the Panama Rubber tree (Castilla elastica), which is native to the

Olmec area. The word Olmec —name of the first culture associated with the origin of the game—

means ‘rubber people’ and is also a derivation from the word Ulla.

Figure 11 Panama Rubber tree (Castilla elastica). Image source: Wikipedia. Figure 12 Ball player holding rubber ball.

Ameca-Jalisco culture. Mesoamerican Art Collection, NGV. Image source: National Gallery of Victoria.

The game was played in specifically designed and built ball courts. Huge stone structures

comprised the two inclined walls ran on opposite sides of the courts, of which the ball could bounce.

Two round goals (one per team) were placed opposite each other in a high position in both walls.

Victory was recognized to the team that was able to get the ball through these stone rings, but this

rarely happened because the goals were placed so high. Instead, hitting the opposite end wall with

the ball was the most common way to gain points. The sun casting a shadow in a particular way

signalled the end of the game, when the team with the highest score was declared the winner.

Archaeologists agree that in the most widespread Mesoamerican ballgame the ball would be

hit mainly with the hips, and sometimes with the shoulders and chest, until one team failed to return

it or the ball left the court. There exists evidence of Mesoamerican ballgames that were played


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differently, which are likely to have been variations of the traditional hip-ball game that were not as

popular or significant.

Spanish colonizers were the first to describe the Ulamalixtli (ballgame) when they observed it

being played by the Mexica people. It did not take them long to prohibit this ballgame when they

noticed the political and religious significance that the ballgame had for the empire, making it a

threat to the early Spanish domination.

However, due to the high popularity and expansion of the ballgame, there were so many pre-

Columbian ball courts distributed along the Mesoamerican territory that the Europeans could not

destroy them all. Consequently, some of them are available to be visited nowadays. A modern

version of the game called ulama is still played in a few places in Mexico by local indigenous

populations.

Figure 13 Ball court scene. Nayarit

culture, pre-Classic period. The structure

of this game court suggests that it is a

representation of a recreational ballgame

in a training ground. Mesoamerican Art

Collection, NGV. Image source:

National Gallery of Victoria.

Figure 14 Original Ulamalixtli goal exhibited in the National Anthropology Museum, Mexico. Figure 15 (right)

original ball court in the archeological site of Monte Alban, state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Photos: Ximena Jordan.


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Mesoamerican Ballplayers

According to traditional versions, two teams composed only of men, played Ulamalixtli. They were

chosen to become players in their early teens. Ballplayers were prepared both physically and

psychologically to earn this role that was considered a social privilege.

The gear of pre-Columbian ballplayers consisted of an animal yoke, a loincloth that could be

augmented with hip guards and occasionally a type of t to protect the chest. Depictions that are more

specific have shown kneepads, gloves, girdles, capes, masks and headdresses. Ballplayers’

implements varied between cultures but in general, they were made of light, organic materials such

as wood, vegetable fibre, cotton, leather and gum.

The gear was meant to optimize the ballplayer’s performance, allowing the players to hit the

ball strongly and more frequently, or even allowing them to hit the ball with alternative parts of the

body such as the chest or the head when necessary.

Because of their organic materials, most of the Mesoamerican ballgame implements have

disintegrated. Fortunately, some Mesoamerican artistic representations of them have subsisted until

present times, such as the ones in the Mesoamerican art collection of the NGV. Stone or ceramic

sculptures representing the yoke, ball and ballplayers themselves, are works of pre-Columbian art

that show us today how a ballplayer dressed and looked like.

In order to protect their spirit, Mesoamerican ballplayers also furnished themselves with a

spiritual armour. This consisted in body ornamentation that was associated with the deities and

spirits that could give them protection and assistance during the ballgame. Tattoo, scarification,

piercing, body painting and body accessories made of metal, wood or bone constituted this allegoric

spiritual protection. This symbolic system of body ornamentation can be appreciated nowadays in

ballplayers drawings in Mesoamerican codex, as well as in three-dimensional artistic representations

of ballplayers left by the Mesoamericans.

Figure 16: Ball player. Face painting, hairdressing, scarification

and earrings comprise this Ameca-Jalisco ballplayer’s spiritual

armour. Mesoamerican Art Collection, National Gallery of

Victoria. Image source: National Gallery of Victoria.


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The Ballgame and the Popol Vuh

For the pre-Columbians, Ulamalixtli was not a human creation. Quite the opposite, creational deities

arranged it while organizing the world in times immemorial. The first ball game is recorded in the

myth of origin of the Mesoamerican peoples that is preserved in a corpus of mythological narratives

called the Popol Vuh. The Popol Vuh is for the pre-Columbian Mesoamericans what the Dreamtime

Stories are for the Aboriginal Australians and what the Bible is for Christians.

The Popul Vuh gathers the principal mythological events and beliefs from where the

complete Mesoamerican worldview derives. Its prominent features are its creation myth, its diluvium

suggestion, its epic tales of the Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque (who played the original

ballgame) and its genealogies.

The Mesoamerican peoples that encountered the first Spaniards knew oral narrations of the

Popol Vuh. Nevertheless, oral narration is always susceptible to alterations and lost content.

Fortunately, the Popol Vuh stories were mostly preserved because they also were written on walls,

ceremonial objects, wood and stone boards.

In 1715, a Dominican friar Francisco Ximenez reconstituted the Popol Vuh. Thanks to him

and to the followers of his work, the Popol Vuh is available in the present-day in printed and digital

versions, as well as in different languages. Like most mythical ancestral narrations, it is very difficult

to understand. For this reason, it is preferable to approach the Popol Vuh stories through

Mesoamerican art and accessible documentation about it.

Check the variety of written and audio-visual work of the Popol Vuh available in the

Internet. For example, a Popol Vuh animation included on the website of the Chilean Pre-

Columbian Art Museum (www.precolombino.cl) which displays in 12 minutes the creation of the

world and the origin of the ballgame according to the Popol Vuh, by means of animated

Mesoamerican iconography.

According to the creational myth narrated in the Popol Vuh, the creator deities of the world

played the first Ulamalixtli with the Lords of the Underworld Xibalba. The winners were going to

rule the world during the following era. The creators of the world lost the game, so the Lords of

Xibalba decapitated them and began their leading period. Later, the sons of the creators, the Hero

Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque, played against the Lords of Xibalba. The Hero Twins won,

decapitating the Xibalba Lords’ heads in revenge of their parents’ deaths. In this way, the

cosmological equilibrium was recovered. The sons of the world’s creators were ruling the world

again with light, not with darkness as the Xibalba Lords did before. Since then, each time the

Mesoamericans played the ballgame this mythical episode is re-enacted during the game. This is the

reason why, when played in a ceremonial context, the Mesoamerican game concluded with the

decapitation of the loser team.

Alternative accounts tell that the decapitated team was the winning one, or that the leaders of

both teams were the only ones to be decapitated. Even so, the version in which the losing team is

decapitated is still the prevalent one. In the context of the Mesoamerican ballgame, decapitation was

done in order to re-establish an order that had been lost.

http://www.precolombino.cl/


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When Ulamalixtli was played for political reasons, governmental conflicts were solved by

means of a ballgame. Instead of fight or a war, a ball game was played, each one of the teams

representing a possible solution of the conflict. On other occasions, Ulamalixtli was played as a

religious ceremony. In both cases, the game was remembering the first ballgame. Hence, it was

conceived as a ritual to venerate the deities involved in the first ballgame who were meant to be

pleased with the representation of their origin. To gratify these deities was crucial to Mesoamericans

because they determined the seasons and consequently, agriculture.

In these two types of ballgames (political and ceremonial) Mesoamerican ballplayers are

comparable to Western soldiers, trained to die for something that they believed to be far more

important and transcendent than their individual, temporary existences. Interpreting the sacrifice as a

punishment for having lost the game is a Western perspective. Mesoamerican ball players believed

that it was an honour to die for the continuation of their culture and their people.

In later periods Ulamalixtli would also be played for mere entertainment purposes. This

recreational ballgame is the direct antecedent of the current Ulama. Obviously, it did not involve any

form of human sacrifice because of its final score.

Soon after their arrival, Spanish conquerors prohibited the ballgame, supposedly, for

humanitarian reasons. Nonetheless, the most accepted theory regarding the Mesoamerican ballgame

banning is that the Spanish realized that the ballgame symbolized the Mesoamerican political

powers, religious beliefs and cultural values. Accordingly, prohibiting the ballgame was necessary to

the success of their cultural domination, which involves nullifying as much of the Mesoamerican

culture as possible.

Fortunately, the Spanish could not destroy all the stone and ceramic representations that

Mesoamericans made about their ballgame; neither could they fully destroy the hundreds of ball

courts that Mesoamericans built. These treasures tell us today about the magnificence of the ancient

Mesoamerican ballgame.

Figure 17 Frog yoke. Veracruz culture. Classic (500AD-800AD). Stone replicas of ballplayers’ yokes were placed as

funerary offerings after being used for devotional rituals. Mesoamerican Art Collection, National Gallery of Victoria.

Image source: National Gallery of Victoria.


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The Ballgame’s Creational Myth

The following is a summary of the myth regarding the Mesoamerican ballgame; the whole version is

in the book ‘Popol Vuh, the ancient stories of the Quiche’.2

A long time ago, the Lords of Xibalba (Lords of the Underworld) played the first ballgame with the

Hurricane and Urmax (Creation Deities). The Creational Deities lost this first ballgame, and the

Lords of Xibalba cut their heads off.

Time after, the semi-gods Hunahpu and Xbalanque played a ballgame with the Lords of Xibalba.

They were identical twins and sons of the Creation Deities. Hunahpu and Xbalanque won this

ballgame, and this time they cut the heads off the Lords of Xibalba and condemned them to live

forever in the underworld. Then, Hunahpu transformed into the moon and Xbalanque transformed

into the sun.

In this way, the twin heroes avenged their parents’ death and reestablished the cosmological order

that was lost in the first ballgame. They also became the sun and the moon, deities that rule the

seasons and agriculture.

Since then, each time the Mesoamericans played a ceremonial ballgame the heroic triumph of

Hunahpu and Xbalanque over the Lords of Xibalba was commemorated with the decapitation of the

losing team. Together with this, the deities of agriculture, sun and moon, were venerated through the

offering of the heads of the decapitated team to ensure the continuity of prolific agriculture.

Figure 18: Diagram of a Mesoamerican ball court, two goals and two players, found in a Mexica Codex.

Player who is holding the rubber ball looks afraid, while the other one looks defiant.

Image source: http://new.inventions.org/resources/ancient/mexican.html

2 A 2007 English translation of this book is available online. Please check References section for details and URL.


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Mesoamerican Writing System

Mesoamerica is the only pre-Columbian cultural zone where a complete writing system was

developed prior to Western European influence. Logographic documentation systems (based on

groups of illustrations) were created by various Mesoamerican cultures such as Olmec, Teotihuacan

and Mexica. Nonetheless, it is undoubtable that the most highly developed and improved was the

created by the Maya (300 - 900 AD).

Reportedly, Maya people inherited basic writing elements from the Olmec culture and

improved them outstandingly. By the time of the Spanish arrival, the Maya writing system was

widespread in the pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, notwithstanding Maya cultural hegemony in this

area had already concluded. Some other pre-Columbian societies developed effective documentation

and data recording systems, but did not develop proper writing systems. For example, the Incas

created an effective calculating and recounting devise named Quipu. At present, it is accepted as

true that the Maya were the only pre-Columbian civilization that could write everything they could

say.

Figure 19 Carved bowl with glyph. Figure 20: (right) Vessel with seated ruler and two glyph bands. The depicted scene

is described by the carved glyphs. Both vessels are Maya. Classic (500AD-800AD). Both pieces from the Mesoamerican

Art Collection, National Gallery of Victoria. Image source: National Gallery of Victoria.

Writing was an activity that required a high level of education and a certain social rank.

Accordingly, professional scribes who were mostly priests exclusively performed it. Named tlacuilos

in Nahuatl language and ba-cheb in Maya language, they were functionaries holding of the highest

trust of the authorities. Scribes using glyphs documented religious beliefs and socio-political events

considered pivotal for Mesoamerican peoples. Glyphs were painted and/or carved in ceramics, walls,

boards and stone monuments. Then, in the 5th century the Maya developed paper bark (huun paper)

with which they produced many folding books or ‘Maya codex’. Later, other Mesoamerican cultures

also wrote their own codex.

In order to expand their level of control over the Mesoamericans, the Spanish learned to

decipher the Maya script. Principally Spanish priests and friars studied it because they needed to


17

understand the Mesoamerican myths and religion with the aim of imposing Christian beliefs over the

indigenous population.

Shortly after the beginning of the Spanish domination, Catholic authorities in Mesoamerica

considered the ‘Maya script’ an obstacle for the indigenous’ conversion and ordered the destruction

of all the written Maya works they found. Only four books were saved from this codex burning

enterprise. Together with the written texts on pottery that were buried or left in abandoned sites, they

compile the most faithful documentation that current scholars have about Mesoamerican pre-

Columbian history and culture. In spite of this destructive attempt, nowadays the ‘Maya glyphs’ is

the Mesoamerican writing system that has been mostly deciphered.

‘Maya glyphs’ comprised a logographic system that used two kinds of glyphs: ‘logograms’

that represent concepts, and ‘syllabic glyphs’, which represent syllables. Both sorts of glyphs

complement each other to achieve the desired meaning. The Maya also developed a numeric

vigesimal system that combined three symbols: zero (shell shape), one (dot) and five (bar). Maya

numerals and glyphs are distinguishable in some of the Maya pieces of the NGV Mesoamerican

collection.

Figure 21 Lord of the Jaguar pelt throne vase. Maya. Late Classic (700AD-900AD). On the upper left, numerals and

logo-syllabic glyphs narrate the depicted scene. Mesoamerican Art Collection, NGV. Image source: National Gallery of

Victoria.


18

Mesoamerican Body Ornamentation

Body ornamentation was common in the Mesoamerican world among all social classes including

nobles, priests, warriors, merchants, artisans and peasants. Mesoamerican peoples ornamented their

bodies to signify cultural identity, social rank, social function, political authority, religious devotion

and even for mere aesthetics intentions. Different designs and materials used on the body were

chosen according to the social status represented by the individual. In this respect, body

ornamentation worked as a strict visual language and was not allowed to be misused. For example, a

priest could not ornament himself as a ballplayer and a peasant girl could not characterise herself as a

noble woman; if they did, they would receive social rejection. It is similar to what currently happens

in most of Western societies. Just imagine if a woman wears a bride veil to go to work or any other

equivalent situation.

Once they passed their puberty with the corresponding rite, women and men practiced the

body ornamentation methods that were allowed (or sometimes mandatory) in their cultural group and

social strata. Generally, aesthetic patterns of body ornamentation techniques varied between men and

women. For example, when an adolescent couple got tattoos, she would get the feminine patterns and

he the masculine ones, according to the trend of their time, social class and cultural group.

Occasionally, what would vary between men and women was the technique of body ornamentation,

for example, he would get necklaces and she would get earrings.

Respect to body ornamentation codes was crucial for the organization and interaction of the

diverse Mesoamerican cultural groups. Due to the constant changes in the political domination,

cultural groups that did not necessarily speak the same language could share a common leader and

live in the same geographical area. In this multicultural context, body ornamentation worked as an

effective shared language to identify the provenance of each other.

Body ornamentation practices included:

1. Body Modification

These were permanent body decorations techniques such as tattoos, scarification, teeth indentation

and artificial cranial deformation. Generally, body modifications denoted an everlasting condition of

the individual. This condition could be inherent to the social origin of the person, as his or her social

status, or acquired in the course of life, such as the initiation into adulthood. Some practices of body

modification depicted in Mesoamerican artworks at the National Gallery of Victoria are:

Cranial Deformation: artificial cranial deformation was a well-defined sign of aristocracy in

Mesoamerica. Interestingly, Central Andean societies also practiced this body modification

extensively and gave to it the same significance that the Mesoamericans did. Aside from the pre-

Columbian zone, ancestral cultures such as the Huns (Europe) and the Egyptians (with their

classical depiction of Queen Nefertiti with an elongated skull), among others, have left evidence

of cranial deformation.

Commonly, the process to deform the head started soon after the baby was born. Expert

masters placed a wooden board on each side of the baby’s skull and then secured them tightly

with a rope. In less than two years the pressure exerted on the baby’s skull caused its consequent


19

deformation. The aesthetic results of this process are illustrated in several art pieces of the NGV

collection.

Figure 22 Seated female dignitary. Maya culture. Late Classic (700AD-900AD). Evident signs of cranial deformation

are noticeable in the forehead and eyes of this Maya noble woman. Mesoamerican Art Collection, National Gallery of

Victoria. Image source: National Gallery of Victoria.

Tattoo: tattoos are commonly represented in pre-Columbian art through incisions or painted

illustrations in the material of diverse anthropomorphic representations made of stone,

ceramic, wood, etc. For this reason, we cannot know exactly when a figurine is representing

body painting or tattoo. Nevertheless, there is certainty about a wide spread tattoo practice in

the Mesoamerican world thanks to the description of the tattoo process in Spanish chronicles,

such as the ones written by Spanish Bishop Diego de Landa (Spain, 1524 - Mexico, 1579).

Cactus thorns, stones and vegetable ink were tools used during the tattoo making process.

Tattoos generally signified a function or a condition that marked each individual as being a

warrior, a ballplayer or any particular affiliation within the group. Together with

scarification, these were the marks inflicted in the rites of passage of boys into adulthood.

Tattoo processes were painful and lasted long hours and even days. It was also considerably

social. When the tattoo was completed, the receiver felt proud of his/her body ornamentation

and showed it to the others, motivating them to tattoo their bodies as well.

Scarification: This practice consisted of cutting or branding the skin to imprint on it

permanent designs. Mesoamericans also created another version of scarification; they

embedded seeds or small stones underneath the skin, which produced the aesthetic effect


20

observable in some pieces of the NGV collection. Reasons to apply scarification to the body

of a person were of the same sort as the ones for tattoo. Scarification process was even more

painful than tattooing. For that reason, it is highly probable that physical strength and courage

were among the attributes associated with this painful practice.

Figure 23 Kneeling woman with headdress. Ameca-Jalisco. Pre-Classic female sculpture depicting scarification in the

shoulder as well as tattoo or body painting, earrings and hairdressing. Mesoamerican Art Collection, National Gallery of

Victoria. Image Source: National Gallery of Victoria.

2. Body Decoration

Body ornamentation practices were ephemeral body changes and included body painting and

hairdressing, among others. Normally, body decoration was part of ‘dressing up’ for the

commemoration of special dates, ceremonies and events, as well as for mere aesthetic amusement. In

pre-Columbian artworks, body painting is represented generally through painted designs in the

artwork’s material (ceramic, stone, wood, etc.). Frequently, hairdressings are depicted in such a

prominent way that they can be easily confused with cranial deformation.

3. Body Accessories

Generally, Mesoamerican women and men used a variety of body accessories such as necklaces,

belts, bracelets, earrings, lip rings, nose rings, pendants, etc. Jewellery materials varied extensively

from jade, gold and silver - which were used mostly among the high social classes - to organic

materials such as textiles, feathers, paper bark, wood and bones that were utilized throughout all the

social ranks. Together with body painting and hairdressing, these decorative accessories were

fundamental for the personification that priests made of deities or mythical heroes. These sorts of

incarnations were recurrent in ceremonies in which the performer invocated attributes of the


21

represented personage. Additionally, symbolic animals such as jaguars, eagles and bats could be

impersonated by anyone for recreational activities, as well as by warriors and ballplayers as

encouragement for their next challenge.

Figure 24 Head of Tlaloc impersonator. Veracruz, Early Classic (300AD-600AD). Eyes rings, head ornament, earrings,

nose rings and face painting are part of the ornamentation disguising this performer. Mesoamerican Art Collection,

National Gallery of Victoria. Image Source: National Gallery of Victoria.

Body Representation: Prominent Genital Depiction

Pre-Columbian peoples believed in physical and spiritual powers. Physical powers were perceivable

by human senses whereas spiritual powers could be noticed only through faith and intuition. Among

the physical forces that Mesoamericans venerated, reproductive power was considered the principal.

Reproduction keeps the creatures of the living world, including human beings, alive and in constant

renewal. For this reason, Mesoamericans considered the reproductive centre as the main energetic

midpoint in the human anatomy and the genital organs the most powerful organs of the body.

In this context, it is easy to understand the role of prominent genitals in multiple pre-

Columbian human representations. Comparatively, in Western symbolism that derives from the

Greek ideal of body beauty, high stature and developed muscles are signs of physical strength,

political power and social recognition. Quite differently, in pre-Columbian imagery enlarged and

activated genital organs are features representing these desired attributes. Genital organs were

included in representations of personages that enjoyed social or physical superiority so observers

could easily identify and remember their supremacy. Two art pieces of the NGV collection show this


22

symbolism in men’s figures. The fact that these are only male representations is purely coincidental,

prominent vaginas were equally employed as a symbol of power in Mesoamerican female

representation.

Figure 25 Chacmool. Tarascan culture. Post-Classic period (1200AD-1400AD). The erected penis of this personage, his

facial tattoos and leg accessories denote his supremacy, together with being an allusion to fecundity. Mesoamerican Art

Collection, National Gallery of Victoria. Image Source: National Gallery of Victoria.

To understand when prominent genitals are a

manifestation of authority or purely a

representation of fertility power (without

symbolizing any other alternative meaning) it is

necessary to check the rest of the attributes of

the particular figurine such as its body shape and

the body ornamentation depicted. Figures that

include noticeable body ornamentation are

normally depicting enlarged genitals as an

expression of other powers (social status,

political influence, etc.) along with the reference

to fertility. Contrarily, figures that do not have

much body ornamentation but do show

prominent genitals are merely expressing an

allusion to fertility.

Figure 26: Anthropomorphic female figurine Chupicuaro culture (500BC-200AD). Prominent vagina, ear piercings,

necklace and hairdressing ornament this woman. Mesoamerican Art Collection, Chilean pre-Columbian Art Museum.

Image source: Chilean pre-Columbian Art Museum website. © 2007 Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino.


23

Mesoamerican Pantheon

There are numerous Mesoamerican deities and Mesoamericans changed the ways in which they

represented them throughout different cultures and periods. Notwithstanding this diversity, a

common feature between most of the Mesoamerican gods was their dualism. Divine entities

represent the confrontation between the opposite poles. For example, Tlaloc the Mexica god of the

rain was a beneficent divinity who gave life in the form of rain and fertility. However, he was also

feared for sending hail, thunder and lighting. Tlaloc is depicted commonly with goggle eyes.

It is assumed that the god Tlaloc demanded children to be sacrificed, though there is not clear

information regarding the extent of this practice. For this reason, it is preferable not to communicate

this to students. This aspect of this deity is not illustrated by the Mesoamerican sculpture that

represents Tlaloc in the Mesoamerican Art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. In fact, it is

not illustrated by any Tlaloc representation at all, which does not necessarily mean it is not true but it

does indicate us that is not an essential attribute of Tlaloc and therefore is not necessary to be

communicated to a non-specialized audience.3

Xiuhtecuhtli [Lord of fire] was the god of fire, day and heat. He was represented generally as

a young deity. According to the Florentine Codex,4 he was the mother and father of all the gods. In

spite of being the god of day, he resided in the centre of the earth and his hour was the first of the

night. Stone sculptures of this god were ritually buried as funerary offerings and a sacred fire was

always kept burning inside his temples. It was believed that the Mexica emperor was his living form.

Figure 27 Tlaloc, god of the rain. Post-Classic (1300AD-1521AD). Mexica culture, Central Mexico. Mesoamerican Art

Collection, National Gallery of Victoria. Image source: National Gallery of Victoria. Figure 28 (right) Warrior priest

impersonating Xiuhtecuhtli. Veracruz culture. Early Classic (300AD-500AD) How many ornamentation signs we see

here? Mesoamerican Art Collection, National Gallery of Victoria. Image source: National Gallery of Victoria.

3 See section: Mesoamerican Human Sacrifice: a Sensitive Matter on page 28 for more information regarding this issue. 4 Named after Florence, the Italian city that holds this written work until the day, this codex is a 16th century

ethnographic research project in Mesoamerica by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Its original title is: La Historia

Universal de las Cosas de Nueva España (in English: the Universal History of the Things of New Spain)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerica

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciscan_friar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardino_de_Sahag%C3%BAn


24

Mesoamerican Decapitation

Decapitation was a common method of human sacrifice throughout a big portion of the pre-

Columbian America. Abundant material evidence regarding decapitation practices has been found in

both Mesoamerica (now Mexico) and the Central Andes cultural areas (currently Peru). This

demonstrates that, in these zones, decapitation was probably the most significant sacrificial method,

involving a complex symbolism.

Interestingly, the choice of decapitation as a form of human sacrifice was not incidental but

had a direct association with agricultural phenomena. Several mythical stories related to agriculture

include events of decapitation, such as in the Popol Vuh. It is accepted that this connection comes

from a religious metaphor based on the observation of nature. If ‘heads’ of some vegetables are

planted in fertile soil, a whole new vegetable sprouts, therefore, if the heads of sacrificial victims are

offered to the deities and afterwards buried, the honoured divinities will repay not only with fruitful

crops, but also with social, political and economic prosperity.

Figure 29 Human Head, hacha. Maya culture. 600 AD-900 AD. Mesoamerican Art Collection, National Gallery of

Victoria. Due to the mythical symbolism embraced in decapitation practices, decapitated heads, as this one, became a

symbol themselves, probably associated with war triumph and agricultural prosperity. Image source: National Gallery of

Victoria.

According to existing evidence, victims of decapitation in the pre-Columbian world were

only young men in their reproductive age —approximately 20 to 30 years old— such as ballgame

players and prisoners of war. Arguably, yet quite accepted among contemporary scholars, there was

a peculiar reason to prefer this demographic group for such a practice: decapitation produces a reflex

erection of the victims’ penis, commonly known as death erection.5 The observation of this

phenomenon is likely to have led the pre-Columbian people to believe that decapitation was a

sacrifice that offered fertile energy from the humans to the deities. Bearing in mind that fertile

energy was the primary human vigour for the Mesoamericans, divinities would consequently reward

this sort of human sacrifice with an equivalent retribution such as a good harvest, numerous

descendants, battle triumphs, etc.

5 Scientific name for this particular erection is priapism and is associated with painless and instant death.


25

Mesoamerican Human Sacrifice: a Sensitive Matter

When explaining Mesoamerican decapitation, it is critical to clarify that practices of this kind were

restricted to ceremonial instances. Any kind of human sacrifice did not take place on a regular basis.

It was only performed under exceptional circumstances relating to religious commemorations and

politically critical events.

The majority of Mesoamerican cultures possessed limited bloodthirsty attributes. Except for

the Mexica, Mesoamericans were not inclined to fight big battles frequently. Instead, after

concluding an invasion over other cultural groups, they opted for political and economic forms of

agreements, such as obedience to a common leader and tax payments. Consequently, it is illogical to

think of decapitation as a part of the ‘Mesoamerican popular traditions’. It is, more realistic to see it

as a ceremonial practice involving significant reasoning and considerable social grieving.

Due to the unfortunate fact that Spanish missionaries burnt most of the Mesoamerican codex,

a great part of the written information that we enjoy today about the Mesoamericans comes from

chronicles written by Spaniards. Catholic priests and missionaries who had the time, the skills and

the interest to describe the main events that took place during the Spanish domination, were the

authors of most of these documents. The function of these chronicles was not only to provide to the

European world with evidence of the Mesoamerican occupation but also to convince the Spanish

Crown about its viability. Fundamentally, chronicle writers had to justify the domination processes

before the Spanish monarchs and the Catholic Church. Consequently, Spanish chroniclers described

only the aspects of the Mesoamerican cultures that were horrendous to the Western-European

morality of the 17th century. The intention was to show their ongoing dominance as something noble

and necessary.

Figure 30 Maya ceramic vase. The logographic glyph is illustrating a decapitated head. Figure 31 (right) Head with life

and death aspects. Both pieces from the Mesoamerican Art Collection, NGV. Images source: National Gallery of

Victoria.


26

For the reasons described above, we should be skeptical of Western accounts that present pre-

Columbian sacrificial practices as frequent and socially promoted. That one is the point of view

impregnated more than four hundred years ago by Spanish intruders in Mesoamerica. Instead, in

order to obtain trustworthy information, it is better to consult specialized sources of documentation,

including the ones created by Latin American scholars and indigenous authors. It is critical that we

learn and teach pre-Columbian traditions with a non-ethnocentric attitude and with the sensibility

that we apply to the study of our own culture.

When placed in a global historical context, the practice of human decapitation as a method to

resettle a disturbed superior order is not an isolated feature of the Mesoamericans. In the post-

colonial Mexico of 1811, four Mexican independent precursors were executed and decapitated for

treason. Their heads were on display on the four corners of the main square of city of Guanajuato

until birds had completely eaten their eyes and flesh. Perpetrators of these assassinations belonged to

the same Spanish society who two hundred years before qualified Mesoamerican decapitation as

barbarism.

In the year 1540, at the Pucara de Quitor (currently the Atacama Desert, Chile) the Spaniards

decapitated three hundred indigenous people who had retreated to their Pucara (indigenous fortress).

This massacre is still remembered today with a monument in the location where it took place. There

is no recorded evidence of a massive human massacre of those dimensions during the comprehensive

pre-Columbian period.

Historically in the Western world, decapitation episodes are multiple. To mention just a few:

during the Third Reich, Nazis used decapitation as a means of execution against their opponents.

From the 12th to the 17th century, alleged conspirators against England were customarily decapitated

and their heads spiked on London Bridge or on other noticeable public edifications. The list of Great

Britain’s famously decapitated traitors is very long, including a Queen of England, Anne Boleyn

(1501-1536) and King Charles the 1st of England and Scotland (1600-1649). In the Nordic countries,

decapitation was the most common means of carrying out capital punishment until the end of the 19th

century. Noblemen were decapitated with a sword and peasants with an axe. During and after the

French Revolution, decapitation by guillotine continued as the standard method of judicial execution

in both peacetime and wartime until the 1970s. All of these cases are examples of a much wider

universal history of decapitation.

In the context of an educational activity regarding the Mesoamerican art collection of the

NGV, there is not sufficient time to get into an historic comparative analysis of decapitation, given

that the narration must be kept centred in Mesoamerican cultural attributes that are depicted in the

exhibited artworks. Even so, when teaching about pre-Columbian cultures, it is advisable to have in

mind some of these historic associations between behaviours that have proven to be similar in pre-

Columbian and Western-European societies in order to be able to respond to students’ queries or

commentaries regarding this subject. Certainly, these sorts of propositions will facilitate the art

educator to build an educative response to the possible cultural prejudice that sensitive topics may

arouse in the corresponding audience.


27

Human sacrifice is considered a sensitive matter when discussing pre-Columbian art.6

Information regarding these sorts of matters should not be communicated in an educational session

within the museum. This is the general rule, which has it exceptions in the following three situations:

a) The sensitive knowledge is strictly necessary to be taught considering the students’ field.

Example: scholars from areas such as anthropology, archaeology, theology, etc.

b) The sensitive matter is expressly asked by one of the students or

c) The sensitive subject is manifestly shown by the exhibited art object.

Bearing in mind these three exceptions to the general rule, we are not hiding information or

misinterpreting Mesoamerican art but we are excluding from the educational session data that is not

necessary for students/visitors to know since it may lead to an erroneous understanding of the

principal attributes of Mesoamerican culture.

The Jaguar in Mesoamerica

The jaguar (Panthera onca) was the most venerated terrestrial animal in the majority of pre-

Columbian cultural groups across the Latin-American continent. The jaguar is the third largest of all

felines, after the tiger and the lion. It possesses physical attributes that were admired and desired by

the pre-Columbian people, specifically by the men. The jaguar body’s qualities are particularly

useful for hunting and fighting. With its striking night-sight, the jaguar is able to overcome one of

the hardest obstacles of the pre-Columbian hunter; darkness. The jaguar is an exceptionally fast

runner, it is able to jump surprisingly high, it can climb trees without losing its perfect body balance

and it is even a notable swimmer (a rare attribute among felines). Thus, the jaguar enjoyed the best

combination of physical powers amongst all living creatures comprising the pre-Columbian natural

environment.

The deification of this mammal was particularly widespread in the Mesoamerican and Central

Andean pre-Columbian areas. In Mesoamerica, due to its evident physical competencies, the jaguar

was considered the patron deity of warriors, ballplayers and even of the noblemen during battle time.

The skin of this animal was precious attire worn by these men while preparing their respective

challenges such as hunting trips, ballgames or battles. Covered by a jaguar’s skin, warriors implored

protection of the jaguar deity and felt impregnated by jaguar’s physical attributes. Mesoamerican

priests and shamans also wore a jaguar’s skin when incarnating jaguar deities in several rituals.

Jaguar skins were rare and non-commercial goods, hence, carefully taken care of. A jaguar hunt is

likely to have being infrequent and even forbidden for most of the social strata due to religious

beliefs as well as for safety reasons.

In the present-day jaguar populations have dramatically diminished due to ecological damage

such as habitat loss and conflicts with farmers. Notwithstanding its endangered situation, the jaguar’s

present range in the American continent still extends between Mexico and Central America, to South

of Paraguay and Northern Argentina.

6 See chapter ‘Mesoamerican human sacrifice: a sensitive knowledge’ for a deeper reflection about these matters.


28

Figure 32 Jaguar-effigy lid bowl. Maya culture, Early Classic. A hole in the jaguar’s mouth indicates that incense was

burnt inside the vessel and smoke came out through the hole to purify the air. Mesoamerican Art Collection, National

Gallery of Victoria. Image source: National Gallery of Victoria.

The presence of the jaguar in Mesoamerican mythology is recognized in various jaguar

deities. One of the most recognized is the Maya ‘Jaguar God of the Underworld’ that is traditionally

assumed to be the nocturnal Sun. The Sun god Kinich Ahau each night descended to the underworld

Xibalba, which is dark and full of dangerous creatures. There, the Sun (whose Maya name is Kinich

Ahau) spends the whole night on a hazardous journey. With the purpose of successfully crossing the

night, the Sun assumes the shape of a jaguar. Once victorious on its journey, the ‘Jaguar God of the

Underworld’ becomes Sun again and arises to generate the day to the living world. Due to this

religious belief, the Jaguar God was considered a deity capable of facilitating the communication

between both the under and the living worlds. Given that the shaman is the only person competent to

act as mediator between these two worlds, the jaguar was often an integral part of shamanistic rituals

in Mesoamerica.

Scholars believe that there are common ancestral

origins for the ‘Jaguar God of the Underworld’ between

Mesoamerica and the Central Andean pre-Columbian

zones. After emerging in Mesoamerica, the concept of this

divinity gradually spread throughout a wider area of pre-

Columbian locations. This theory is based on the fact that

representations of the jaguar deity have been found in

regions where this feline never inhabited, such as the

North of Chile.

Figure 33 Crawling baby. Olmec culture. Pre-Classic (900BC-

600BC). Combining baby face and were jaguar styles, jaguar features

in this anthropomorphic representation are the almond-shaped eyes,

down-turned open mouth and cleft head. Mesoamerican Art

Collection, National Gallery of Victoria. Image source: National

Gallery of Victoria.


29

The Dog in Mesoamerica

The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) was a valuable domestic animal for the Mesoamerican people, who

used it as a source of food, as an alarm system against predators and as a hunting aide. In later

periods dogs were also employed, among other functions, as daily life companions. In some

Mesoamerican cultures dogs were offered in specific ritual sacrifices. Mesoamericans did not need to

domesticate the dog, since this animal was already domesticated before arriving on the American

continent. It is believed that dog domestication occurred around 30.000 years ago and that this

animal got to Mesoamerica 10.000 years ago.7

Current studies suggest that the dog was domesticated in East Central Asia, most probably as

an aide to hunting and as a guard to nomadic groups that were following game herds from Siberia.

Approximately 13.000 years ago, these people, together with their dogs, migrated to the American

continent through Beringia, an ice-bridge that is now the Bering Strait. Advancing southwards, they

populated the continent progressively. This theory is based on recent research that demonstrated that

the mitochondrial DNA shared by all dogs corresponds to that of the East Asian wolf. Accordingly,

dogs are assumed to have originated in this part of the world. Hypothetically, some wolves that were

sick or particularly weak could have split from their packs. Then, human groups sheltered them in

exchange of their ability to detect predators, fire and climatological or geological phenomena.

During the course of centuries these wolves, supported by human groups (and their subsequent

descendants), modified their diet, anatomy and behaviour, until they became dogs. Thus, the dog was

a result of the interaction between humans’ nomadic groups and East Asian wolves. Nowadays, these

dogs can be domestic dogs or wild dogs.

Mesoamerican peoples reared

three breeds of dog: the medium-

sized furred dog (itzcuintli), the

short-legged furred dog

(tlalchichi) and the medium-sized

hairless dog (xoloitzcuintli).

Mesoamericans bred the

xoloitzcuintli for its edible meat.

Dog meat constituted one of the

occasional sources of animal

protein enjoyed by the

Mesoamericans; others included

turkey, deer and duck, which were

domesticated for the purpose of

food provision, together with the

medium-sized hairless dog.

Figure 34 Zoomorphic figure representing a tlalchichi (short-legged furred dog). This naturalistic style piece was found

as dead companion (funerary offering) in the Colima region. Its prominent belly is probably symbolizing abundance.

Image source: Chilean pre-Columbian Art Museum website. © 2007 Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino.

7 Details of this process are matter of current research.


30

The dog represented in the Standing Man sculpture of the Mesoamerican Art collection of the

NGV is clearly not an edible dog. The fact that is depicted as part of the decoration of the skirt of an

important man (we know this because of his ornamentation), tells us that this dog is representing a

companion of the personage during his life or a desirable companion for his afterlife. Mesoamericans

believed that some dogs were efficient guides, companions and protectors in the journey of the

human soul to the underworld. Accordingly, dog representations and dog corpses have been broadly

found as death companions in Mesoamericans tombs. This belief is based on a mythic episode of the

Popul Vuh, in which the Hero Twins kill a dog that belonged to the Lords of Xibalba (or Lords of the

Underworld) and then resurrect it. Amazed, the Lords of Xibalba asked the Hero Twins to do the

same with them. The Twins killed the Lords but they did not resurrect the Lords of Xibalba. With

this trick, the Hero Twins recovered the world from the dominance of the Lords of Xibalba.

Figure 35 Standing figure. Mexica culture. Post-Classic (1300AD). The dog depicted on the skirt of this personage is

presumably a sign of his special affiliation with this animal, whereas during his lifetime or after death. Mesoamerican Art



31

Mesoamerican Products

Several agricultural products that are currently central in the Western European diet and cuisine are

originally from Mesoamerica. Spaniards returning from Latin America introduced them to the

European continent. Chili, chocolate, maize (corn), tomatoes, beans, vanilla and many others are in

this group of Mesoamerican harvest.

Chili

The word chili is actually the Nahuatl word chilli, the word that the Mesoamericans used to

denominate this spicy vegetable. According to its botanical classification, chili pepper is a berry, yet

it is accepted to call it a ‘spicy vegetable’ for common usage. The chili pepper plant, a Solanaceae

from the genus Capsicum, is a native of Mesoamerica. By the time of the Spaniards arrival, the chili

plant was already domesticated in several parts of the pre-Columbian America. In Mesoamerica its

use was culturally more extensive than in other areas. Chili was not only an essential part of the

Mesoamerican diet but also of the Mesoamerican sophisticated cuisine that was prepared exclusively

for the nobles, the emperor and other members of the social elite. In advanced periods of cultural

development, chilies became objects of trade and gift giving. Additionally, Mesoamericans used

chili’s capsaicin component as a preservative since it helped to keep the bacterial load low in food,

which (obviously), could not be refrigerated. Chili also served as a medicinal plant used to relieve

joint pain and to stimulate the intestines. Nowadays, in Mexico both of these chili benefits are still

enjoyed in food practices, together with multiple gastronomic uses that are considered essential to

Mexican cuisine.

Figure 36 Cayenne chilli pepper. Image source: http://geminiindustries.com/catalog/


32

Maize

Mesoamerican people domesticated maize (also known as corn in English speaking countries) in

prehistoric times; at least by 4000 BC. Maize is a derivation of the Teosinte grass that is native to the

south of Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua. This grass developed its ‘maize form’ due to its

domestication by indigenous farmers. By the time of European conquest, maize was highly

cultivated and consumed in most of pre-Columbian societies and indigenous communities of both the

Mesoamerican and the Central Andean zone. For the Mesoamericans, maize was the crop that

brought about their civilization, being their staple diet and a fundamental element in diverse

Mesoamerican religious myths. The etymology of the word maize (maíz in Spanish tongue) is a

derivation from the Taino8 word mahiz. The Tainos were the indigenous people who Christopher

Columbus encountered on his first voyage to America in 1492. They inhabited the current territories

of Las Bahamas, Haiti and Dominican Republic. Accordingly, it is likely that maize crop was

primarily brought to Spain during the first period of the Spanish domination in America,

approximately between 1495 and 1550.

Figure 37 Maize diversity line-up.

Image source: http://seedsofdiscovery.org/seed/maize/maize-seed-catalog/

8 Tainos were the indigenous peoples from Las Bahamas, Haiti and Dominican Republic.


33

Chocolate

As well as chili, chocolate is a derivation from a Nahuatl word xocolatl. This word means ‘bitter

water’ and it was the name for the chocolate beverages made by the Mesoamericans from cacao

seeds9. Cacao seeds have a strong bitter flavour; they were left to ferment in order to develop the

characteristic chocolate taste. Commonly, xocolatl was drunk hot, flavored with local spices such as

vanilla, achiote, chili pepper and honey. This beverage was supposed to wake up the body and the

spirit. During pre-Columbian times, xocolatl was consumed purely as a beverage. Evidence also

indicates that it was drunk as part of ceremonies as well as in daily life. Alternative pre-Columbian

uses for cacao beans were as a currency, as a medicine for diarrhea and fatigue, as a luxury good or

gift, as a tax payment for the Mexica Empire and even as a source of fermentable sugar for an

alcoholic drink similar to a beer. The cacao tree Theobroma cacao is native to South and Central

America and was cultivated in Mesoamerica areas from at least 1100 BC. First evidence of the

human use of this plant is originally from Mesoamerica. Differently to the rapid proliferation of chili

and maize among various American areas, the cultivation and consumption of cacao during the pre-

Columbian period seems not to have extended much further than the Mesoamerican zone.

Figure 38 Representation of two Mixtec kings sharing a chocolate drink. Nuttall Codex.

Source of the image: http://abakmatematicamaya.blogspot.mx/

9 According to a popular belief, Xocolatl means ‘food for the gods’. This is ‘literally’ incorrect, yet is a concept that

probably originated in the ceremonial use of Xocolatl.


34

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WEBSITES

http://www.museoprecolombino.cl Chilean Pre-Columbian Art Museum

http://www.famsi.org/maps/index.html Foundation for the Advancement of

Mesoamerican Studies

http://mayercenter.denverartmuseum.org/ Frederick and Jan Mayer Centre for Pre-

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http://www.xmission.com/~amauta/index.htm The Amauta series: Native American History.

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FRONT COVER IMAGE: Seated figure. Olmec (1200BC-200BC). Mesoamerican Art Collection,

National Gallery of Victoria. Image source: National Gallery of Victoria.

Published in Mexico, 2014.

Not for commercial use.

ISBN: 978-607-00-8040-1

http://cat.lib.unimelb.edu.au/search~S30/aSchwartz%2C+Marion./aschwartz+marion/-3,-1,0,B/browse

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http://www.museoprecolombino.cl/

http://www.famsi.org/maps/index.html

http://mayercenter.denverartmuseum.org/

http://cat.lib.unimelb.edu.au/search~S30/aFrederick+and+Jan+Mayer+Center+for+Pre-Columbian+a/afrederick+and+jan+mayer+center+for+pre+columbian+and+spanish+colonial+art/-3,-1,0,B/browse

http://cat.lib.unimelb.edu.au/search~S30/aFrederick+and+Jan+Mayer+Center+for+Pre-Columbian+a/afrederick+and+jan+mayer+center+for+pre+columbian+and+spanish+colonial+art/-3,-1,0,B/browse

http://www.xmission.com/~amauta/index.htm

http://www.wikipedia.com/

Mesoamerican Art for NGV Educators. Education Handbook.

Documents

Transcript of Mesoamerican Art for NGV Educators. Education Handbook.