vessel appliques from the lower Rio Verde Valley of coastal Oaxaca,. Mexico (Barber 2005 ..... gendered demographics of the figurine collection. Artifacts ...
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ARTHUR A. JOYCE
ECOLOGY COASTAL
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ECOLOGY COASTAL
ED IT ED BY
ARTHUR A. JOYCE
UNIVER S IT Y PRE SS OF COLORADO
Boulder
OAXACA
To Donald Brockington,
: 2013 hy Universit y Press of ColorJdo
pio neer of Oaxaca coast archaeology
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prim ary or secondary sexual cha racteristics, such as breasts tor women and beard s for men , serve as ev idence for the classification of a figurine's intended •x." For example, the artifact in Figure 9.1a is sexed female, as indicated by a pregna nt belly. This body shape differs from an overweight male in the high angle of the stomach and in the shape of the hips and buttocks. We classify the artifact in Figure 9.1b as sexed fema le based on the presence of breasts. This figurine's exaggerated belly button fits with an artistic convention for feminine representation elsewhere in Formative Mesoamerica (Joyce 2000, 29-34; Marcus 1998). In many cases determination of sex is not possible. Ancient Oaxacans may have conceived of more than two biological sexes, and sex may have bee n downplayed or not signified in sexually neutral human representations (Blomster 2009, 121 ; Joyce 2003). We milize documented Mesoamerican artistic conventions as indications of gender. The depiction of exaggerated belly buttons, certain h airstyles, traditions of body position, clothing, and certain torms of ornamentation, tor example, have all been linked to feminine representation (Joyce 2000, 29-34; 2002, 81- 83; Marcus 1998, 4; Nelson 1997). While imperfect (see Lesure 2011, 29- 32), this method allows the fullest interpretation of demographic patterns among the figurines. We interpret the artifacts in Figures 9.1c and 9.1d as gendered feminine based on an apparent skirt and an elaborately ornamented hairstyle, respectively. We support this interpretation with ethnohistoric evidence regarding indigenou s Oaxacan bodily adornment , as well as conventions noted in other figurin e studies (Joyce 2000, 28- 33; Marcus 1998, 31--38, 58, 59). Rosemary Joyce (2000, 30; 2002, 82-83) has identified certain forms of loinclo ths and lip plugs as possible indicators of masculinity. Some figurines from our own study (e.g. , Figure 9.2) may fit this pattern and depict what we interpret as masculine characters with lip plugs or labrets. Some figurines may have been anthropomorphic 't e mplates," upon which various identities could be mapped by use of different accoutre ments (Joyce 2000: Figure 9.3). Such artifacts have an androgynous form when preserved in the a rch aeological record, but cou ld have been dressed, painted, or decorated
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Female and feminin e figurin es. A, Miniyua phase figurin e from Yugiie (aftt:r I krr 2009: Figure 6.2). B, C, Chacah ua phase figurines from elite residence at Cerro de Ia II);. 1 (after Hepp 2009: Illustration I , Photo 1148) . D, Chacahua phase figurine at Corozo (all Hepp 2009: Figure 6.1 ). FIGURE 9.1.
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A in antiquity to rake on specific but modifiable identities. Figure 9.3a depi t J unique anthropomorph from Yugtie. Note the unusual head, neck, and h ul der pattern that may be hair, clothing, or even tattoos. Holes through the ea and a gap in the lower lip permit this figurine to wear detachable earrin and a lip plug or labret. The item may also have been clothed with pel; habl· garments when in use (see Coe and Diehl 1980, 260). The addition of cloth in · and ornaments may have allowed the figurine to take on a variety of identillt: related to gender, status, and age. In our sample, we recognize an unusual head fragment as a possible import from the Valley of Oaxaca (Figure 9.4a; the figurine in Figure 9.4b may be imt lar, though the he ad is u nfortunately broken). T his artifact resembles Lal · Formative period figurine from the Valley of Oaxaca (Figure 9.4c) that \\a previously discussed by Marcus (1998, 305; see also Whalen 1981). Marcus J 2) interpreted the highland artifact as indicative of tabular cranial deform ali n. A similar figurine depicted in Figure 9.4d is from a Terminal Formative n text in the Valley of Oaxaca (Bernal1946, 125). The Valley of Oaxaca figurin .
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Anthropomorphic musical instrumenr s interpreted as masculine based on presence of lip jewelry A, Flute from Chacahu a phase elite residence at Cerro de la Virgen (alter l lepp 2009: Illustra tion 16). B, Flute fragm ent from Miniyua phase do mestic midden at Yuglie ·J iier Hepp 2009: Fig ure 13). FIGURE 9.2.
hare with the lower Rio Verde Valley artifact (Fig ure 9.4a) an exaggerated head shape that, assuming some degree of realism in representation, seems to surpass the possibilities that cranial deformation , hairstyle, or headgear .1lone could afford. One possible interpretation of these figurines is that they represent the Mesoamerican maize god (Taube 1993). Taube has argued (1993, 66-67; 2000, 297) that in various iconographic traditions, the maize god has been depicted with an elongated head topped with a small tuft reminiscent llf the silky top of a maize cob and sometimes with maize ears in his headdress. Because of this god 's role as progenitor to humanity in Aztec and Maya
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FIGURE 9.5. Two views of a possible infant figurine from a domestic midden at Minizuml
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(Terraciano 1994, 176-177), and Zapotec ethnography (Stephen 2002, 41-SSI , we might expect to find items depicting amplified "maleness" as complem n tary to "femaleness" (though see Stephen's [2002] warning against facile and gender dichotomies). Depictions of male reproductive anatomy are not unknown in Mesoamerica, as stone sculptures from the Banderas Valley o Jalisco and Nayarit have shown. These sculptures also demonstrate, however, that depictions of both male and female anatomy may occur on a single ani fact (Mountjoy and Beltran 2005; see also Lesure 2011, 29-32). The clas i t ation of the figurine from our study as male is supported by the depiction of beard. The striking similarities between the Valley of Oaxaca figurines and Lh coastal examples suggest contact between the two regions. As Rosemary Joyce (2000, 35-37) has argued, age in ancient Mesoamerii."J was often a more important social variable than gender, and these two a pe I of identity were closely interrelated. Some coastal figurines, such as the one represented in Figure 9.5, may depict human infants. Note that this figu rin was constructed so it could not stand. The back has been flattened (perhap indicating that the artifact was intended to lie on its back), and all four limb are lifted off the ground when the figure is supine. In addition, the disproportionate size of the head is consistent with those of human infants. The object might have represented a child during events focused on motherhooJ female maturity, or the early stages of the human life cycle (Mary Pohl, per· sonal conversation, 2007; Tedlock 2005; Winter 1992). Joyce (2000, 30) ha u gested, however, that loincloths often depict adult males. Marcus (1998, IS interpreted a figurine with a loincloth similar to the one shown in Figur
FIGURE 9.6. A possible Miniyua/ Chacahua phase acrobat figurine fi·om a public building at Yuguc (after f kpp 2009: Figure 4.2).
as a possible acrobat, a conclusion that fits with evidence of acrobat depiction at Tlatilco (Coe 1965: Figure 75). Given these various conclusions, the figurine in Figure 9.5 may represent an infant, an adult male, or perhaps an acrobat. Another figurine from the lower Rio Verde collection (Figure 9.6) appears to bend backward in an "acrobatic" posture, although it lacks a loincloth. Acrobat figurines seem to imply public ritual performances that may have incorporated members ofthe community as spectators or participants.
ANTHROPOMORPHIC VESSEL APPLIQUES One notable artifact type in our study consists of vessel appliques bearing depictions of human faces (Figure 9.7). The anthropomorphic appliques occurred in domestic middens, a possible feasting deposit, public ceremonial structures, an elite residence, and construction fill (Barber 2005; Hepp 2007, 180-224; 2009; Joyce 1991, 2006). Chipping at the facial margins supports the interpretation that the appliques were intentionally removed from the vessels on which they were originally located. The exaggerated size of the closed eyes and open mouths draws attention to these features and suggests that the appliques were images of the deceased, serving as "death masks" of revered ancestors, either specific or generalized. Accoutrements depicted on several of their foreheads are similar to both actual and iconographic mirrors found throughout much of Formative Mesoamerica, which have been interpreted as symbolic of elite
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eral appliques from Minizundo deposits may have been imported Uoyce 1991, 147). The applique in Fig ure 9.7a, fo r example, is a grayware from a Min iz undo phase midden at Cerro de la Cru z, which also contained ceramics imported from the Valley of O axaca (joyce 1991 , 264--265).
ZOOMORPHIC FIGURINES
FIGURE 9.7. Anthropomo rphic vessel appliqu es from the lower Rio Verde Valley. N IJtc th dosed or drooping eyes and open mouths. A, Minizundo phase feasting or high-status miU.Sl'Tl at Cerro de Ia Cruz (after Hepp 2009: Photo 548). B, Miniyua or Chacahua phase public bui!Jing at Yugiie (after Hepp 2009: Photo 938). C, Miniyua phase at Yugiie (after Hepp 2009: Phutu 772). D, Miniyua phase domestic midden at Yugiie (after Hepp 2009: Photo 782). E, Chacahw phase public building at Yuglie (after Hcpp 2009: Photo 992). F, G, Possible Coyuch e ph llo· mestic midden at Rio Viejo (after Hepp 2009: Figure I, Photo 262). H, Minizundo phase l Rio Viejo: inset indicates possible mirror accoutrement (after Hepp 2009: Figure J). 1, Ch.t ahw phase elite residence at Ce rro de Ia Virgen (after Hepp 2009: Photo 979).
status (e.g., Ashmore 2004, 184-185; Blomster 2004, 85, 186; Heyden 1991, 19S; Saunders 2001; Winter 1992 , 30). Mirrors may have been used in divinati n. likely as symbolic of water, caves, and a connection between planes of existe.n e. (Ashmore 2004, 184- 185; Taube 1992). On the Oaxaca coast, Barber (2005, 107. 226-227; Barber et al. , Chapter 4) discovered an iron ore mirror in a high-statu Chacahua phase burial that also contained an elaborate bone flute (Figure 1.10 If mirrors were the headgear of elites, then perhaps figures wearing mirr represent elite ancestors remembered on curated ceramic appliques . Hu man faces on ceramic vessels from the Oaxaca coast also somewhat resemble th imagery on Preclassic Maya anthropomorphic spouted cacao vessels, which are often found in burial contexts (Culbert 1993; Powis eta!. 2002). Most of the anthropomorphic appliques in the lower Rio Verde Va11 were discovered in Late or Terminal Formative contexts. The observation th l many appliques were curated indicates that they may have been manufactu red long before their time of deposition. Because lower Rio Verde Valley popula· tions produced no local graywares before the Miniyua phase, we infer that S
