Ideology, Identity, and Icons: A Study of Mixtec Polychrome

Pottery from Late Postclassic Yucu Dzaa (Tututepec), Oaxaca,

Mexico

by

Jamie E. Forde

B.A., University of California Santa Cruz, 2002

A thesis submitted to the

Faculty of the Graduate School of the

University of Colorado in partial fulfillment

of the requirement for the degree of

Master of Arts

Department of Anthropology

2006

i
 UMI Number: 1439456

UMI Microform 1439456

Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.

ProQuest Information and Learning Company

300 North Zeeb Road
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346
The thesis entitled:

Ideology, Identity, and Icons: A Study of Mixtec Polychrome Pottery from

Late Postclassic Yucu Dzaa (Tututepec), Oaxaca, Mexico

written by Jamie E. Forde

has been approved for the Department of Anthropology

Arthur A. Joyce (Committee Chair)

Catherine M. Cameron

Date_____________

The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signators and we find that both
the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in
the above mentioned discipline

ii
Forde, Jamie E. (M.A., Anthropology)

Ideology, Identity, and Icons: A Study of Mixtec Polychrome Pottery from Late

Postclassic Yucu Dzaa (Tututepec), Oaxaca, Mexico

Thesis directed by Associate Professor Arthur A. Joyce

This thesis presents an analysis of polychrome pottery from the Late

Postclassic period (AD 1100-1521) archaeological site of Yucu Dzaaalso known as

Tututepeclocated in the Lower Ro Verde region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Yucu Dzaa

was the capital of an expansive Mixtec empire in the coastal region of Oaxaca during

this period. Mixtec polychrome ceramics were recovered in high numbers through

archaeological excavations of two residences within the urban core of the site,

inhabited by non-elites. The iconography of these elaborately painted ceramics

shares much in common with that found in the few surviving Mixtec pictographic

manuscriptsreferred to as the Mixtec codicesfrom the Late Postclassic. The

codices were a medium restricted more closely to the elite in Mixtec society than

polychrome pottery, and were used predominantly to chart genealogical histories of

ruling dynasties. The codices and ethnohistoric data from the Early Colonial period

are used in this thesis as an interpretive base to help infer which themes of ideology

were most salient among common people, as expressed through polychrome

ceramics. Analysis of the ceramic imagery indicates that while commoner ideologies

shared many general themes in common with that of the ruling state, they were

conveyed in much more immediate and accessible ways, in contrast to more esoteric

elite media such as codices and mural paintings.

iii
 I conclude in arguing that the similarities and differences between commoner

and elite ideologies at Yucu Dzaa should not be seen as reflecting relationships of

power in the polarized terms of domination and resistance. Instead, the polychrome

ceramics suggest that members of diverse groups and social classes were able to

actively negotiate these power relationships, in part through visual expressions of

ideology and identity. As such, the formation and perpetuation of the Yucu Dzaa

empire is viewed as the composite outcome of these complex social dynamics, rather

than spurred solely by the actions of elites.

iv
Acknowledgements

This thesis owes its existence in tremendous part to a number of institutions,

mentors, colleagues, friends, and family members who provided me with support

throughout both the research and writing processes.

Traveling to Oaxaca and carrying out the ceramic analysis would not have

been possible without financial support provided by two research grants. These were

the Walker Van Riper Grant from the CU Museum of Natural History, and the

Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grant from the CU Graduate School.

The members of my thesis committee, Art Joyce, Cathy Cameron, and Payson

Sheets offered invaluable constructive criticism, advice, and support during the

writing process. Linda Cordell also provided excellent critical feedback and

encouragement as I incorporated aspects of the analysis into my coursework at CU.

Additionally, I was fortunate enough to receive a great deal of guidance and

encouragement from a number of expert scholars in the field working outside of CU.

Mickey Lind was incredibly helpful in offering advice on the design of the initial

research strategy and feedback on the results. Gilda Hernandez Sanchez provided

great encouragement, as well as invaluable advice regarding the iconographic

analysis. I also received a number of suggestions and much support from John Pohl,

Byron Hamann, Geoffrey McCafferty, and Marcus Winter. Furthermore, the Mixtec

Gateway Foundation, headed by Nancy Troike, provided me a unique opportunity to

present the initial results of my work to interested scholars and to receive insightful

feedback at their annual conference.

v
 South of the border in Oaxaca, thanks must go to the residents of San Pedro

Tututepec, who made my stay in the town incredibly enjoyable while carrying out the

ceramic analysis. In particular, the members of Tututepecs local museum committee

were tremendously supportive and gracious, and provided me the opportunity to

inspect the ceramic collections curated in the Museo Yucusaa.

Special gratitude must go to my advisor, Art Joyce, and my colleague at CU,

Marc Levine. It was Art who steered me into studying the Postclassic Mixteca to

begin with, and who first proposed this project to me. He has been a constant source

of guidance and encouragement, from the designing of the research project to its final

write-up, and throughout my graduate career on the whole. As an advisor, Art has

continually spurred me to do my best work and to take it in exciting directions. Marc,

meanwhile, was gracious enough to invite me to participate on his dissertation

research project, and the materials analyzed for this thesis came from his excavations.

He provided indispensable advice, support, and camaraderie, both in the field during

analysis, and while back in the U.S. as the data were sorted through and the writing

was carried out.

Lastly, I would not be doing archaeology at all, much less pursuing a graduate

career in the field, without the constant support of my family. My parents, Jeff and

Valerie Forde, and my brother, Adam, have been there for me every step of the way,

and Im incredibly fortunate in knowing that this will always be the case down the

road.

vi
Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction and Background1

1.1 Yucu Dzaa: Background and History of Research.3

1.2 Mixteca-Puebla Iconography and Polychrome Pottery..9

1.3 Summary...13

Chapter 2: Research Questions and Theoretical Underpinnings.16

2.1 Ideology, Identity, and Material Culture...16

2.2 Semiotic Approaches to Visual Media.23

2.3 Iconicity....26

2.4 Iconicity in Mixteca-Puebla Visual Media...31

2.5 Material Culture and Figured Worlds...33

2.6 Summary...37

Chapter 3: The Ceramic Sample and Methods of analysis...39

3.1 Archaeological Context of the Sample.40

3.2 Methods: Material/Formal Analysis.48

3.3 Methods: Iconographic Analysis..52

3.4 Summary...55

Chapter 4: Material and Formal Analysis..56

4.1 Surface Treatment, Ceramic Pastes, and Characterization Data...57

4.2 Paint Colors on Yucu Dzaa Polychromes.60

4.3 Vessel Supports.64

4.4 Vessel Forms.77

4.5 Codical Depictions of Mixteca-Puebla Polychrome Vessels87

vii
 4.6 Summary...89

Chapter 5: Iconographic Analysis...90

5.1 Catalog of Common Design Motifs in the Yucu Dzaa Sample91

5.2 Other Codical Motifs from the Yucu Dzaa Sample and the Tututepec
Community Museum .125

5.3 Patterning in the Iconography of Yucu Dzaa Polychromes133

5.4 Summary.140

Chapter 6: Discussion and Conclusions142

6.1 Yucu Dzaa Polychromes and Commoner Feasting144

6.2 The Medium and the Message: Meaning in Mixtec Polychromes and
Codices149

6.3 Figured Worlds and Identity in Yucu Dzaa Domestic Ritual.157

6.4 Conclusion and Future Directions..163

Works Cited..166

viii
List of Tables

3-1: Frequencies of Mixteca-Puebla Polychrome Pottery from Excavated Postclassic

Residences in Oaxaca..41

3-2: Frequencies of Polychrome Sherds Analyzed for Yucu Dzaa Residences..45

4-1: Percentages of Colors Present on Yucu Dzaa Polychromes vs. Percentages from
Chachoapan and Yucuita.....61

4-2: Yucu Dzaa Support Forms.......65

4-3: Regional Comparison of Support Forms..76

4-4: Yucu Dzaa Vessel Form Frequencies...77

4-5: Mean orifice diameter figures for Yucu Dzaa vessel forms.83

4-6: Comparison of vessel form frequencies between Yucu Dzaa and the Mixteca
Alta (Lind 1987: 15)84

4-7: Frequencies of vessel forms for Oaxaca and Cholula polychromes, based upon
museum collections (Lind 1994: 87)...85

5-1: Frequencies of most common design motifs in the Yucu Dzaa polychrome
sample..92

6-1: Summary of Dominant Themes in Yucu Dzaa Polychrome Iconography.155

ix
List of Figures

1-1: Map of Oaxaca with location of Yucu Dzaa (from Levine 2004).4

1-2: The place glyph for Yucu Dzaa in the codex Nuttall.5

3-1: Overview Map of Residence A........44

3-2: Overview Map of Residence B....46

4-1: Blue paint on headdress feathers and smoke volutes...64

4-2: Blue paint on eagle heads.64

4-3: Serpent head support from Residence A..66

4-4: Vessel with serpent head supports from the codex Nuttall......67

4-5: Conical support from Residence A...68

4-6: Deer hoof support from Residence A...69

4-7: Opossum support from Residence A70

4-8: Unidentified mammal support from Residence A71

4-9: Fragment of eagle support from Residence A..72

4-10: Depiction of eagle with flint knives from the codex Nuttall......73

4-11: Mushroom/phallic support from Residence B74

4-12: Depiction of ritual use of mushrooms from the codex Vindobonensis..74

4-13: Over-head view of a reconstructed tripod cajete from Residence A..78

4-14: Profile drawings of Yucu Dzaa cajetes..79

4-15: Frontal view of a reconstructed tripod olla recovered from Residence A..80

4-16: Profile drawing of ollas from Yucu Dzaa...81

4-17: Profile drawings of super-hemispherical bowls from Yucu Dzaa..81

4-18: Profile drawing of a platter fragment from collections of the Museo Yucusaa
(Tututepec Community Museum)82

x
4-19: Depiction of sahumador use in the codex Nuttall..88

5-1: Narrow feathers, smoke volutes, orange bars, and orange hooks/volutes from the
Yucu Dzaa assemblage93

5-2: Narrow feathers seen on headdresses in the codex Vindobonensis..94

5-3: Narrow feathers seen on place glyphs and a rubber ball in the codex
Vindobonensis..94

5-4: Multicolored circles with dots or precious stones from the Yucu Dzaa
assemblage...96

5-5: Eagle head motif in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..97

5-6: Depiction of the eagle in the codex Selden..98

5-7: Serpent skin motif in the Yucu Dzaa sample.101

5-8: Cloud motifs in the Yucu Dzaa sample..102

5-9: Cloud representations in the codex Vaticanus B103

5-10: Broad feather motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage.105

5-11: Xicalcoliuqui motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage.106

5-12: Red spot with concentric ring motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage...108

5-13: Feather/down ball motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..109

5-14: Stellar eye with smoke volutes motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage.111

5-15: Stellar eye with smoke volutes motif in a sky band from codex Nuttall..111

5-16: Flower motif with four petals from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..112

5-17: Flower motif resembling hearts from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage...113

5-18: Example of abstract geometry motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage...113

5-19: Orange fan motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..114

5-20: Chevron motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..115

5-21: Multicolored diagonal band motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage...116

xi
5-22: Human figure with ear spools from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..118

5-23: Human figure with speech scrolls from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage...118

5-24: Human hand holding feather fan from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage.119

5-25: Anthropomorphic figure from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..120

5-26: Anthropomorphic figure from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..121

5-27: Anthropomorphic figure from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..121

5-28: Crocodile/serpent motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage...123

5-29: Floral staff motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..125

5-30: Skull and crossed bones motif from the Yucu Dzaa sample127

5-31: Solar disk motif from the Tututepec Community Museum..128

5-32: Lunar disk motif from the Tututepec Community Museum128

5-33: Palace motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage.129

5-34: Palace motif from the Tututepec Community Museum...130

5-35: Scene in olla fragment from the Tututepec Community Museum...132

5-36: Person showed seated within conquered place glyph in the codex Nuttall..133

5-37: Cajete base with earth monster motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage..135

5-38: Olla with black-on-orange color scheme from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage.138

5-39: Olla with alternating color schemes from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage139

xii
Chapter 1

Introduction and Background

In the 17th century, the Spanish friar Francisco de Burgoa compiled an

invaluable corpus of information regarding life in Late Prehispanic and Early

Colonial Oaxaca, drawing from personal observation and oral histories of indigenous

peoples he encountered. Among his accounts is found a most fascinating story

involving what was once an expansive empire on the Oaxaca Coast know as

Tututepec in the Nahuatl language, or Yucu Dzaa in Mixtec. To begin by

paraphrasing, Burgoa (Smith 1973: 85) writes of a king of Tututepec who once

insisted that residents of the distant city-state of Achiutla, in highland Oaxaca, bring

the crafts of their town to another town located between the two polities, now known

as Putla, for the holding of a grand fair and market. Complying with the kings

request would have been a highly arduous task, as Putla was located over 150km

from Achiutla, across very daunting terrain. Given the circumstances, Achiutlas

people attempted to decline the kings invitation. Burgoa then describes the events

that ensued as follows:

When the people of Achiutla did not arrive, the king of Tututepec first sent ambassadors to
threaten them. Then he sent valiant captains accompanied by a great number of people, which
made it necessary for the citizens of Achiutla to climb to the impregnable castle with
sufficient supplies, and enough easily rolled stones and rocks so that they could defend
themselves from assault by flinging the enemy off the mountain. The enemy arrived and
besieged the mountain, and looked for a route by which to scale it and come within fighting
distance; and the battle was so bloody that afterward they counted the dead of both sides, and
more than 22,000 bodies were found. (Smith 1973: 85)

Burgoas account may very well be exaggerated, perhaps even fabricated.

However, the fact that such an event was imaginable suggests not only that Tututepec

was remembered for over a century after the Spanish conquest as an exceptionally

1
fierce polity, but attests to the plausibility that great numberspossibly thousands

of its ordinary citizens could be so moved as to travel great distances and potentially

risk their lives on the politys behalf. What could have compelled people to do so?

Given the great unlikelihood that a small handful of elites could have physically

coerced hundreds and/or thousands of persons into carrying out these acts, we must

consider participation as willful to a considerable extent. In asking how this was

possible, we therefore are required to turn our attention to the lives of ordinary

people, rather than the exploits of kings and queenspeople who have little or no

voice in ethnohistoric accounts such as Burgoas.

In this thesis I examine archaeological materials from commoner households

at Late Postclassic period (AD 1100-1521) Tututepechenceforth referred to by its

indigenous Mixtec name of Yucu Dzaain an effort to shed light on questions such

as those posed above. Specifically, I carry out an analysis of elaborately painted

polychrome pottery from residential contexts at Yucu Dzaa in order to glean how

views of ideology and identity were expressed in the iconography of these materials.

These materials were used by commoners in ritual activities and other social

interactions. By developing better understandings of these phenomena, it is possible

to gain insights as to how ordinary people related to the ideologies and actions of the

state, and thus how events such as that described by Burgoa could have been brought

about. More broadly, I aim to address the roles of non-elites in shaping ideologies

and identities, and how these practices affect power-relationships in general, allowing

for more detailed considerations of past socio-political dynamics and developments.

As will be discussed in more depth below, I argue that the case of the Yucu Dzaa

2
empire is particularly well-suited for addressing these questions, and that polychrome

pottery constitutes an invaluable source of material data through which to examine

them.

1.1 Yucu Dzaa: Background and History of Research

Yucu Dzaa is located in the lower Ro Verde region of the Oaxaca Coast,

situated above the rivers floodplain in the piedmont of the Sierra Madre (Fig. 1-1).

Understandings of Yucu Dzaas history have until recently been based almost

exclusively on two lines of data: the Mixtec codices and Contact Era historical

records. The Mixtec codiceseight of which have survived into the modern day

are pictographic manuscripts painted by indigenous peoples, predominantly during

the Late Postclassic period, though several documents of this style were produced

during the Early Colonial period as well. Painted over long strips of deer hide or fig-

bark paper, which were then folded over in accordion or screen-fold fashion,

these manuscripts primarily document dynastic histories, but also depict, to a limited

extent, other events such as wars and acts of creation. The use of indigenous

calendrical dates in the manuscripts indicates that the events they record extend well

back into prehispanic times, as early as the 10th century (Smith 1973).

3
Fig. 1-1: Map of Oaxaca with location of Yucu Dzaa (from Levine 2004)

The name Yucu Dzaa translates into English literally as Hill of the Bird, as

does that of Tututepec in Nahuatl. The site is represented in three different codices

the Nuttall, the Bodley, and the Colombino-Beckeras a hill made of stone, from the

base of which emanates the head of a bird (Fig. 1-2). Yucu Dzaa is shown in the

codices as having been founded in the year A.D. 1083 by a Mixtec noble named Lord

8 Deer Jaguar Claw, who is seen migrating to the coast from his home of

Tilantongo in the Mixteca Alta (labeled Highland Mixtec Area in Fig. 1-1) and

establishing it as a new kingdom.

4
Fig. 1-2: The place glyph for Yucu Dzaa in the codex Nuttall

Several lines of evidence corroborate the general narrative depicted in the

codices, suggesting that a migration of Mixtec speaking peoples from the highlands to

the coast occurred near the onset of the Late Postclassic period (Joyce et al. 2004).

According to linguistic research by Josserand and her colleagues (1984: 154), the

dialect of Mixtec spoken on the Oaxaca Coast today likely derived from an earlier

dialect from the Mixteca Alta, glottochronological estimates placing this divergence

at approximately A.D. 900-1000. Joyce and Winter (1989) have suggested that,

before this Mixtec intrusion, the Lower Verde region may have been inhabited

predominantly by peoples who were ethnically Chatino, as speakers of this language

continue to live in parts of the region today. Archaeological investigations in

numerous parts of the Lower Ro Verde provide further evidence of a Mixtec

migration to the coast. A marked increase in similarities between the Oaxaca Coast

5
and the Mixteca Alta is seen during the Late Postclassic period, in categories of

material culture such as architecture, ceramics, and mortuary practices (Joyce et al.

2004: 280). Lastly, recent full-coverage archaeological survey and surface collection

carried out by Arthur Joyce and his colleagues (2004) lend support to the notion that

Yucu Dzaa was founded in the Late Postclassic as a new polity. While human

occupation at the site extends as far back as the Late Formative (400-150 B.C.), there

is a clear hiatus in settlement during the Early Postclassic (A.D. 800-1100), indicating

that the far more extensive settlement which dates to the Late Postclassic is

representative of the formation of a new political center, rather than the growth of an

existing polity (Joyce et al. 2004: 276). In sum, the codices, linguistic data, and

archaeological evidence, all suggest that Yucu Dzaa was founded as a new center by

migrant Mixtec-speaking peoples near the beginning of the Late Postclassic.

Based on data from the codices and ethnohistorical records, scholars have

long understood Yucu Dzaa to have once been a tribute empire. In the codices

Nuttall and Colombino-Becker, the aforementioned Lord 8 Deer is shown conquering

a host of other polities, a number of which have been identified by Smith (1973) as

having been located in the coastal region of Oaxaca. Yucu Dzaa is also mentioned in

the letters of the conquistador Hernn Corts (Cortes and Pagden 1971), who

described it as a powerful tribute empire, and upon hearing of this, sent his lieutenant

Pedro de Alvarado to conquer the city in AD 1522. Over the last several decades,

ethnohistoric data related to Yucu Dzaa has been studied in more depth by Smith

(1973) and Spores (1993). Though early colonial documentation from the town itself

is rather rare, documents from various other polities, such as the Relaciones

6
Geograficas (Geographic Relations) 1 , report these polities having paid tribute to

and/or engaged in warfare with Yucu Dzaa. As a result of this research, it has been

possible to estimate that the empire extended over 25,000 km (Spores 1993: 67) and

incorporated at least five different ethnolinguistic groups (Joyce et al. 2004: 274).

The empires boundaries likely extended from the modern day border between the

states of Oaxaca and Guerrero on the west to Huamelula on the east. Documentation

further suggests that, unlike a great many Oaxacan polities of the Late Postclassic,

Yucu Dzaa never came under the control of the Aztec empire (Spores 1993).

Despite a rather developed understanding of Yucu Dzaa and its importance

having been gleaned from the codices and ethnohistoric sources, the site has only

relatively recently become the subject of focused archaeological inquiry. In fact, for

decades the size of the center itself, and even its very location, have been subject to

debate (Joyce et al. 2004: 274). DeCicco and Brockington (1956), in their brief

reconnaissance of a great span of the Oaxaca coast, found no compelling evidence of

the existence of a large political center, and argued that prehispanic Yucu Dzaa was

likely not located in the modern town known as Tututepec, but rather at site nearby

named Cerro de los Pajaros. Scott OMack (1990) later conducted a survey focused

on modern Tututepec and argued to the contrary, that it was indeed the location of

Late Postclassic Yucu Dzaa, and that DeCicco and Brockingtons identification was

incorrect. Due to logistical constraints, OMacks survey extended little beyond the

bounds of the modern town, and as such, he was unable to determine the extent of the

archaeological site, though he suggested it may have been much larger than was

1
These documents were compiled as the result of a census ordered by the king of Spain in the years
1579 and 1580, providing descriptions of Spanish colonies and their resources.

7
commonly thought. Without further data, however, the site continued to be

considered by some scholars to have been relatively small and lacking in

complexity (Spores 1993: 167).

As noted previously, a full-coverage survey of Yucu Dzaa has recently been

carried out by Joyce and his colleagues (2004). Their findings have confirmed those

of OMack concerning the location of the prehispanic site, and clarified issues of its

size as well. These scholars have shown that the Late Postclassic site of Yucu Dzaa

was indeed quite large, covering approximately 22km (Joyce et al. 2004: 273).

Settlement is relatively dispersed, considerably less dense than comparable sites such

as the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (ibid. 287). Reliable population estimates are

difficult to garner, though Joyce and his colleagues cautiously place it between

10,925 and 21,850 (ibid. 288). These data suggest that Yucu Dzaa was a substantially

large center, and distribution of mounded architecture may suggest that it was divided

into particular barrios, as were many Mixtec communities of the Early Colonial

period (ibid. 288).

Most recently, Marc Levine (2006) has carried out intensive excavations at

three groups of residential buildings at Yucu Dzaa. The materials analyzed for the

present study were recovered from these excavations, and the specific archaeological

contexts will be discussed in depth in Chapter 3. Levines research is shedding light

on both the political and domestic economy of the site, as well as issues of social

organization and other aspects of daily life.

In sum, it is now clear that the codices, ethnohistoric literature, and the

archaeological record all suggest that Yucu Dzaa was the center of a sizeable and

8
autonomous empire that developed during the Late Postclassic period in the wake of a

migration of Mixtec-speaking peoples to the coastal region of Oaxaca. This

phenomenon raises pertinent questions related to issues of ideology and identity.

How did such an empire arise and how was it maintained amidst a diverse and

potentially fragmented populace? How were relationships of power developed,

understood, and negotiated in light of these circumstances? In order to explain how

such questions might be addressed through polychrome pottery, it is first necessary to

provide a discussion of Mixteca-Puebla iconography generally.

1.2 Mixteca-Puebla Iconography and Polychrome Pottery

The term Mixteca-Pueblareferring to the Mixtec regions of Oaxaca and

the region of Cholula in the southern portion of the Mexican state of Pueblawas

first coined by Vaillant (1938) and used to refer to a widely distributed culture group

thought to have occupied this region during the Late Postclassic. The term is

misleading insofar as 1) artifacts that may be categorized as Mixteca-Puebla in style

are also known to occur with frequency in other areas, such as the Basin of Mexico

and the state of Veracruz, and have been argued by some to be found as far south as

Costa Rica (see reviews in Sanchez 2005, Nicholson and Keber 1994); 2) a great

many different languages continue to the spoken in these areas today, thus the

Mixteca-Puebla region was unlikely to have corresponded to a homogeneous

culture. At the same time, there is considerable similarity in material culture

throughout these regions, leading Nicholson (Nicholson and Keber 1994) to refine the

concept as a shared iconographic traditionreferring to both the style in which

images were rendered, as well as a suite of specific images that were used. The

9
Mixteca-Puebla concept thus is predominantly used to categorize visual media,

particularly those of manuscripts, mural paintings, and polychrome pottery, but also

includes what are at times termed minor arts (Ramsey 1982), including bone, metal,

and stone carving.

The Mixteca-Puebla concept has been severely critiqued, most notably by

Michael Smith and Cynthia Heath-Smith (1982), who argue that the term conflates a

set of symbols popular throughout Mesoamerica during the Postclassic period

dubbed Postclassic religious style or the Postclassic symbol setwith the more

geographically circumscribed styles of the Mixtec codices, and those of polychrome

ceramics from the general Mixteca-Puebla region. Smith and Heath-Smith propose

that archaeologists would be better served to view these as distinct and separate

phenomena. Their critique is problematic for a number of reasons, outlined by

Nicholson and Keber (1994). Symbols argued to have corresponded to a pan-

Mesoamerican Postclassic religious style were few, and their manifestations at times

predate the Postclassic period. Furthermore, the other phenomena Smith and Heath-

Smith argue to be conflated in the concept are quite difficult to uncouple. While the

codices and polychrome pottery are two very different forms of visual media, both

share a great deal in common in terms of specific iconography, and neither can be

confined solely to either the Mixtec or Puebla regions. Recent finds have indicated

that the codices often linked together as part of the Borgia group likely originated in

the region of Cholula rather than the Mixteca (Nicholson and Keber 1994: xii). Both

media exhibit regional variability (Lind 1994), thus while the iconography proper to

10
different media cannot be readily distinguished, differences may be identified as

resulting from more localized traditions.

This latter point relates to the second of the Smiths critiques: that the wide

distribution of what is considered Mixteca-Puebla style should not be accounted for

by waves of influence from a primary center, was as argued earlier by Nicholson

(Smith and Heath-Smith 1982). Instead, the wide distribution of Mixteca-Puebla

style likely resulted from the considerable increase in interregional interaction and

exchange characteristic of the Late Postclassic, which cannot be ascribed only to a

singular group or geographic center. This increase facilitated extensive sharing of

information and influenced local production in a wide variety of loci. In this respect

the Smiths critique is important to bear in mind, and I argue that specific

manifestations of Mixteca-Puebla style, while employing widely understood images

and styles of rendering, were produced in diverse loci. Variability is thus liable to

reflect not only widely shared sensibilities, but also more localized concerns. More

recently, Michael Smith (Smith and Boone 2003) has refined his categories of

Postclassic iconography, and what he terms the Late Postclassic International

Symbol Set largely accords with what will continue to be referred to here, for the

sake of coherence, as Mixteca-Puebla style, while taking issues of interregional

interaction and local developments into account.

Polychrome ceramics of the Mixteca-Puebla tradition have often been termed

codex style, due to the great similarity of their iconography to that found in the

prehispanic manuscripts (see review in Keber 1994). While the degree of accord

between these media is considerable, and the codices are used as an interpretive tool

11
in the iconographic analysis presented in this thesis, I eschew using the term in light

of Kebers (1994: 148) critique that doing so implicitly gives primacy to the

manuscripts. It is not at all clear whether these traditions developed conjointly or

independently, nor whether one preceded the other. These ceramics are often roughly

assigned to the Late Postclassic period, however, the more elaborate polychromes

with codex-style imagery may not appear until at least A.D. 1300, as indicated

through studies by Lind (1994: 81), and radiocarbon dating of materials from the

midden deposits that contained the ceramics studied in this thesis. The ceramic

tradition continues, in modified form, into the Early Colonial period (Lind 1987),

though colonial polychromes were not evident at Yucu Dzaa in the excavation

assemblage, nor in local museum collections.

The Mixtec and Borgia group codices have been studied extensively and have

provided a great deal of insight into Late Postclassic belief, cosmology, history, and

ideology. Because polychrome ceramics exhibit so much in common with the

manuscripts, it is rather surprising that the ceramics have received relatively little

careful analysis over the years. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, Eduard

Seler (1990) discussed several elaborate polychromes from the Mixteca and related

their imagery to depictions of deities found in the codices. A systematic analysis of

excavated polychromes from known archaeological contexts, however, was not

carried out until Michael Linds (1987) study of materials from the sites of

Chachoapan and Yucuita. Lind (1994) has also discerned regional differences in

polychrome ceramics from Oaxaca and Cholula, through a comparative analysis

including both archaeological collections and museum pieces with general

12
provenience data. McCafferty (2001) has refined the chronology of polychrome

ceramics at the site of Cholula and has provided functional analysis. John Pohl

(2003) has examined museum pieces from a variety of regions and discussed

iconographic variability and ideological themes. Most recently, Gilda Hernandez

Sanchez (2005) has carried out an extensive and in-depth analysis of the iconography

of polychrome vessels from museum collections extending from Oaxaca to Veracruz,

and has focused on tracing out iconographic themes related to ritual uses of the

vessels.

These studies of Mixteca-Puebla polychrome ceramics have all provided

substantial insights and have greatly informed the study presented here. A continued

difficulty, however, is that aside from Linds (1987) work at Chachoapan and

Yucuita, iconography of these materials has received little consideration with respect

to specific archaeological contexts. Mixtec polychromes have often been assumed to

represent high-status goods restricted to elites, yet current data are demonstrating that,

at least at Cholula (Sanchez 2005) and Yucu Dzaa, non-elites had considerable access

to these materials as well. Because the iconography of the polychromes is so rich in

ideological content, and because the codices provide such a rich interpretive base

from which to interpret it, polychrome ceramics therefore stand to provide great

insight into production of popular ideologies and identities at the level of the

household.

1.3 Summary

Yucu Dzaa was a rather unique political entity, having been the only extensive

tribute empire to emerge within Oaxaca during the Late Postclassic period. In order

13
to shed light on how such a phenomenon came about, I argue that it is necessary to

examine the engagement of non-elites in broader socio-political dynamics, and how

popular notions of ideology and identity articulated with the political projects of the

state. Polychrome ceramics recovered from domestic contexts can potentially reveal

how these ideas were expressed and circulated visually, and thus how power

relationships and notions of polity were understood and negotiated at large. In the

following chapter, I elaborate the theoretical concerns which frame this line of

questioning, arguing that non-elites should be seen as playing active roles in the

construction of ideologies, and that corporate understandings of identity are integral

to these ideologies. Attention to the interplay between such multiple ideologies and

identities is crucial if we are to better understand how power relationships were

negotiated and how broader socio-political relationships were manifested and

maintained. A semiotic approach is taken in examining polychrome pottery used by

commoners, then comparing and contrasting the iconography of this pottery to that of

other mediaparticularly the Mixtec codicesas a means to reveal potential social

tensions and articulations. The methods of analysis are presented in Chapter 3,

followed by a presentation of the results of a formal analysis of the materials in

Chapter 4, which shed light on issues of local production and use of polychrome

pottery. Chapter 5 provides a detailed consideration of polychrome images in the

Yucu Dzaa pottery, drawing extensively from codical and ethnohistoric

documentation to infer ideological meanings of the imagery. From this analysis, the

most predominant and salient ideological themes represented in the pottery are

inferred. These themes are then related to social practices and power relationships at

14
Yucu Dzaa in Chapter 6. It is discussed how commoner ritual practices, in shaping

corporate identities and popular understandings of ideology, had implications for

broader social phenomena. Rather than couching commoner relations to ideology in

terms of the binary poles of domination and resistance, I argue that understandings of

polity and identity were actively negotiatedin part through visual mediaand that

points of articulation between multiple ideologies at Yucu Dzaa may shed light on the

formation and perpetuation of this unique Late Postclassic polity.

15
Chapter 2

Research Questions and Theoretical Underpinnings

The analysis presented in this thesis was designed principally to explore how

notions of ideology and identity were manifested in, and produced through, material

culture at Late Postclassic Yucu Dzaa, and the potential implications such phenomena

had for broader socio-political relations and developments. In this chapter, the

theoretical concepts and assumptions underlying these questions are explicated, and

an approach is offered as to how these questions may be addressed through an

analysis of polychrome pottery. I begin by first articulating how the concepts of

ideology and identity are theorized in this thesis, their relationship to one another, and

how they are considered to have relevance for socio-political processes. Drawing in

large part from theories of semiotics, I then discuss how we may infer meanings from

images found in visual media, which we may then link to popular expressions of

ideology and identity. Lastly, I outline how the above materials, meanings, and

concepts are implicated in social practices, and how these practices may have thence

played a role in shaping polity and power relations at Yucu Dzaa.

2.1 Ideology, Identity, and Material Culture

Ideology has been an explicit topic and focus of archaeological inquiry at least

since theoretical approaches influenced by structural Marxism (e.g. Kohl 1981, Leone

1982, Gilman 1989) gained popularity, beginning in the 1970s. The topic came

further into the intellectual fore amidst the postprocessual critiques of the early

1980s (e.g. Miller and Tilley 1984, Hodder 1982, Shanks and Tilley 1988). In recent

decades it has come to be seen as an important area of inquiry for archaeologists

16
working within more processualist frameworks as well (e.g. Demarest and Conrad

1992, Blanton et al. 1996, Hegmon 2003). For scholars working in Mesoamerica,

ideology has long been viewed as a factor that must be addressed to understand past

historical developments (Willey 1957, Flannery 1972).

Despite the current widespread interest in ideology, the concept is rarely

defined in the archaeological literature, and if so, often vaguely. Demarest and

Conrad (1992) define ideology broadly as a shared worldview, largely synonymous

with religion. This general view has appeared to have held sway, although in most

cases implicitly, throughout much of Mesoamerican archaeology. Because religious

practices and structures of power (i.e. rulership, forms of governance, etc.) are known

to have been greatly intertwined in prehispanic Mesoamerica, ideology is often

employed as a means of explaining both phenomena; religion and cosmology are seen

as mechanisms for legitimizing relations of power and inequality. Ideology is thus

largely viewed as produced by, and operating in service of, the ruling state apparatus.

Implicitly or explicitly, the latter views are closely bound up with Marxist

thought. As early as 1846, Marx and Engels (1976: 67) wrote in The German

Ideology that:

The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, consequently also
controls the means of mental production, so that the ideas of those who lack the means of
mental production are on the whole subject to it. [Marx and Engels 1976: 67]

These ideas presaged Engels later description of ideology as false consciousness.

In the 1970s, under the theoretical umbrella of structural Marxism largely shaped by

the writings of Louis Althusser (2001), ideology continued to be seen as controlled by

the state apparatus, but rather than predicated upon a false consciousness, acceptance

17
of a dominant ideology was seen largely as unconscious. For Althusser, ideology was

not an outright illusion of reality, but was constituted by certain representations of

social relations that served to mask or naturalize inequalities and contradictions

inherent in these relations. Influenced by psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud

and Jacques Lacan, Althusser saw human subjects as immersed in these

representations perhaps even before birth (2001: 119), and ideology thus operated in

large part on an unconscious level. In many respects Althussers line of thought was

highly productive and could be argued in some respects to have anticipated and

influenced the theory of practice and concept of habitus developed by Pierre Bordieu.

The structural Marxist view of ideology, however, implies that it is the sole creation

of the dominant classes and, furthermore, acceptance of a dominant ideology is

virtually inescapable, and hence taken for granted. Concomitantly, the degree to

which dominant ideologies actually penetrate popular understandings of social

relationships is not problematized. This view is prevalent not only in explicitly

structural Marxist archaeological thought, but in many considerations of ideology in

Mesoamerican archaeology generally. While many have theorized how elites employ

ideology as a means of gaining power (e.g. Blanton et al. 1996, Clarke and Blake

1994), how or why other members of society come to accept this is not commonly

interrogated.

Reacting against such problematic formulations, a growing number of

researchers in recent years have turned their attention to how evidence of resistance to

dominant ideologies may be examined in the archaeological record. Informed by

theories of power and agency such as those articulated by James C. Scott (1985) and

18
Anthony Giddens (1979), Mesoamerican archaeologists have investigated how

resistance may be exercised subtly, in the form of hidden transcripts (Scott 1985) in

daily practices of non-elites (e.g. Brumfiel 1996, Joyce et al. 2001, Hutson 2002).

While these studies have been invaluable in calling greater attention to how

archaeologists may examine deviance from, or resistance to, dominant ideologies,

ideology itself still often appears as exclusively produced by dominant classes. In

this sense, ideology is seen as manifested in the form of an either-or proposition

that is, as something to be either accepted or resisted.

Oaxacan archaeologists have recently gone further in problematizing

dominant ideologies in arguing that elite constructions of such ideologies were

largely constrained by, and shaped in accord with popular beliefs, and necessitated

engagement with commoners (Winter 2002, Joyce 2004, Barber 2005, Barber and

Joyce n.d.). In these cases, acceptance of a dominant ideology does not entail simply

a mere duping of the masses, nor is ideology habituated into a collective

unconscious, but is instead to one degree or another in a constant state of

tenuousness: it is the negotiated outcome of ongoing social practice. In further

considering the active role non-elites may have played in shaping ideology, a growing

number of researchers have come to see ideology as multiple: that is, different

ideologies are theorized to be formed by different collective groups with a society.

Focusing on practices of domestic ritualan issue that will be discussed in more

depth later in this chapterPatricia McAnany (2002: 119) writes that, the so-called

popular religion of domestic ritual often co-exists, either in cooperation or conflict,

with institutionalized religions that serve the interests of the state, resulting in

19
multiple ideologies. Ideology can thus be seen as a substantially more diffuse and

diverse phenomenon. Hodder and Hutson (2003: 88) define it as that component of

symbol-systems most closely involved in the negotiation of power from varying

points of interest within society.

The view adopted in this thesis largely accords with that proposed by

McAnany, and that by and Hodder and Hutson, in that all members of society are

seen as potentially active in the construction of multiple ideologies. The question for

us becomes, how to untangle these different ideologies, how to locate the varying

points of interest that Hodder and Hutson allude to? I argue that virtually any inquiry

into ideology of this sort is intrinsically bound up with notions of identity. This point

is well articulated by Stuart Hall (1996: 5-6) who, defines identity as:

the meeting pointbetween on the one hand the discourses and practices which attempt to
interpellate, speak to us or hail us into place as the social subjects of particular discourses, and
on the other hand, the processes which produce subjectivities, which construct us as subjects that
can be spoken.
The point here is that while dominant discourses and ideologiesor ideological state

apparatuses, as Althusser would have itplay substantial roles in marking out the

potential subject positions or identities that persons may conceivably take up, persons

do not merely occupy these positions passively or blindly. In lived practice, there is

considerable performative space for these positions to be negotiated and resisted, and

these are the spaces in which identities are crafted. As such, attention to issues of

identity stands to counter many of the problems noted in Althussers formulation of

ideology, elucidating the nuance and contingency of power relationships; provided

that we consider the construction of identity an articulation, rather than a one-sided

process (Hall 1996: 6, emphasis original).

20
 While we may speak of identity at a multitude of nested scales, from that of

the individual to those as inclusive as concepts such as race or nation, I am

particularly concerned here with corporate identities as well, but those localized to the

extent that they are liable to correspond to multiple points of interest within a single

polity. From this analytical starting point, the aim is to then examine how these

localized identities articulate with broader formations, such as the polity at large.

John Janusek (2004: 16) has recently given explicit archaeological consideration to

the role of identity at similar scales, arguing that identity is a potent medium through

which humans apprehend, navigate, and transform the social and cultural world. In

this thesis I follow at a base level Januseks (2004: 16) definition of collective social

identity as subjective affiliation with certain people in relation to (or in contrast

with) others based on shared memory, place, ancestry, activities, gender, occupation,

ritual practice, or cultural expressions.

Mesoamerican scholars have increasingly paid analytical attention to how

identities may be expressed through material culture in recent decades, framed

variably in perspectives such as those labeled social identity theory (Schortman

1989, Joyce 1993), and those focused on house societies (Joyce and Gillespie 2000,

Gillespie 2000, Hutson et al. 2004). Issues of identity have been most recently

considered in substantial depth by Barber (2005) in Oaxacan archaeology. What

these approaches share in common is a concern with how points of division and unity

in past societies may be revealed through understandings of corporate identities.

Concerned primarily with issues of gender, Rosemary Joyce (2000) has

perhaps been most explicit amongst Mesoamerican archaeologists in linking the

21
concepts of ideology and identity. Analyzing representational media, particularly

representations of human beings, Joyce investigates how gendered identities were

constructed and idealized in Mesoamerican societies and how these representations

articulated with ideologies of social roles, etc. Drawing from Michael Herzfeld

(1992), she argues that by contrasting different kinds of representations or imagery,

archaeologists can come to identify what are termed points of disemia within societies

(Joyce 2000: 16). Herzfeld (1992: 79) describes this concept of disemia in writing

that:

At each level of social organization, the relations between insiders and outsiders are ordered
according to topically distinctive principles, but they always remain predicated on the
distinction between the inside and the outside of whatever social group is in question.

In first locating these divisions or points of disemia, it is then possible to

investigate how larger social formations are produced by way of examining the

articulations between the various sides of such divisions. The aim in this thesis is to

take a similar contrastive approach, examining how expressions of both elite and

popular ideologies were variously inclusive or exclusive, and how they articulated

with and/or diverged from one another. Focused on visual media, the task here is to

understand the extent to which the voices that attempted to hail subjects into position,

or dominant ideologiesi.e., those propagated by Mixtec eliteswere or were not

prevalent in the domestic sphere, in the visual medium of polychrome pottery found

in commoner households. I argue in Chapter 6 that the surviving Mixtec codices

were likely a medium restricted to a very exclusive few, and were further highly

exclusionary in their subject matter: in the codices, virtually all persons, save for

elites and nobles, may be considered outsiders. Were the notions of ideology and

identity salient in these manuscripts also prevalent in the much more widely

22
distributed medium of polychrome pottery? Where are the points of convergence,

and how do the contents of these media differ? I argue that such a line of questioning

stands to better inform our understandings of the relations between state ideologies

and popular notions of ideology and identity. By seeing these relations as a dynamic

process of negotiation, we may arrive at more detailed understandings of broader

socio-political developments.

2.2 Semiotic Approaches to Visual Media

Of utmost importance in pursuing the line of inquiry proposed above is an

ability to gain some sense of the meanings that images found on polychrome pottery

held for users of these objects. Semiotics 2 defined most simply as the study of

signspresents a potentially powerful body of theory from which we can

investigate the possible meanings of visual images and symbols with scrutiny and

rigor, as it takes these phenomena specifically as its analytical focus. The field of

semiotics is best known from the work of Ferdinand Saussure (1983) through his

pioneering work in structural linguistics. Saussures ideas came to have great

influence in anthropology, perhaps most notably in the work of Claude Levi-Strauss,

and have been influential in archaeology since the 1960s (see review in Preucel and

Bauer 2001), in work by scholars such as Andre Leroi-Gourhan (1993), James Deetz

(1967), and Ian Hodder (1982). Focused on human language, Saussure developed a

two-part model of the sign, seeing words as linguistic signs that were dubbed

signifiers, which functioned to represent concepts in the mind. These represented

concepts, independent of or divorced from their signs, are termed signifieds. In large

part due to the fact that he was almost exclusively concerned with linguistic signs,
2
Also termed semiology in the work of Saussure (1983).

23
Saussure asserted that the relationship between the signifier and the signified was

arbitrary: for example there is no property inherent to the animal we call a cat that

dictates we assign this word to it, and in other languages radically different words can

be used to denote a concept of the cat that is relatively equivalent. The sign is

therefore arbitrary in that its form is in no way dependent on or influenced by the

signified concept to which it is tied. Signs only come to have meaning due to their

differences from other signs and to culturally and historically established

conventions.

Because the form of the sign was conceived of as entirely arbitrary, in

structuralist approaches there was little analytic focus paid to the contents of

individual signs. Instead, different types of signs, from linguistic ones found in myth

to elements of architecture, were related to others in terms of binary oppositions,

which were then seen as reflecting deeper structures, related to features of the

unconscious or core cultural concepts (e.g. Levi-Strauss 1963, Deetz 1967, Hodder

1982). While such analyses often drew intriguing connections between different

types of cultural and archaeological phenomena and provided for more detailed

examinations of signs than were hitherto common, the linguistic model was in many

cases not appropriate for many of the kinds of signs that archaeologists wished to

study.

The problems in applying a linguistic model of the sign to material culture

were explicitly recognized in archaeology in later work by Hodder (1989), who

pointed out that the forms taken by items of material culture are often affected and

constrained by the physical world, and that many of the visual images we come

24
across in material culture are not arbitrarily related to the meanings underlying them.

As Preucel and Bauer (2001) elaborate, these problems do not warrant an

abandonment of a semiotic approach outright, but the use of a more appropriate

model: specifically, that proposed by Charles S. Peirce (1991) may be particularly

well suited to archaeological inquiry.

Though he was writing at virtually the same time as Saussure in the early

1900s, the semiotic theories of the American philosopher and logician Charles S.

Peirce have only received considerable attention from social scientists in recent

decades, and have been most closely engaged in archaeology by Preucel (Preucel and

Bauer 2001, Capone and Preucel 2002). In contrast to Saussure, Peirces model of

the sign is triadic rather than dyadic, consisting of a sign, interpretant, and object.

The sign in this case can be considered as effectively the same as Saussures

concept of signifier, while the interpretant largely resembles the idea of the signified.

The object, on the other hand, has no equivalent in Saussurian semiotics, and is used

to designate that actual entity, located outside the individual human mind, to which

the signifier refers. From here forward, this object will be referred to as the referent

in keeping with more contemporary terminology in semiotic theory.

It should be made clear that the inclusion of the referent in Saussures model

does not necessarily imply a nave realism. As Chandler (2002: 34-35) notes,

Saussure saw all human thought and experience as mediated by signs, and the

referents of these signs could include not only physical objects, but abstract concepts

and fictional entities as well. What the inclusion of the referent implies is that not all

signs can be considered arbitrary with respect to that which they signify. The

25
referent, in certain cases, can be seen as in part affecting the form taken by some

types of signs. Taking this into account, Peirce (1991: 30-31) thus conceived of three

different types of signs:

1) Symbols: signs whose relationships to their referents (and signifieds) are

purely arbitrary and established by convention, in much the same fashion as

conceived of by Saussure.

2) Icons 3 : signs whose relationships to there referents are not arbitrary, but

instead the sign and the referent bear some degree of sensory resemblance to

one another (for example, photographs, cartoons).

3) Indices: signs which are in some way directly connected to their referents,

and whose form is thus concomitantly effected directly by reality (One of

Peirces frequent examples was the weathervane; the direction in which it

points dictated by the wind).

The utility in archaeology of an approach that takes into account these

different modes of significationsymbols, icons, and indiceshas been discussed in

depth by Preucel and Bauer (2001). Because signs are not all arbitrary, their signified

concepts and meaning are not merely locked within the minds of long-deceased

prehistoric persons, but were instead expressed outwardly in ways that archaeologists

may potentially interpret in the present. Meanings, rather than being solely the

outcomes of structured systems of differences, instead articulate with a broad array of

social and material phenomena, allowing semiotic analyses to employ multiple lines

of evidence in their pursuits (Bauer and Preucel 2001: 94). I argue that this is

especially the case for signs defined above as icons, and that it is this iconic mode of
3
Also termed likenesses in Peirces earlier work.

26
signification that is most predominant in Mixteca-Puebla iconography, hence of

particular relevance for our current considerations. It is therefore worth considering

in more depth how icons produce meaning and how such meanings may be studied.

2.3 Iconicity

As a number of authors have noted (Pelc 1986, Wilden 1986, Chandler 2002),

icons do not consist exclusively of visual images, however, visual icons are perhaps

the most common and most frequently discussed in the literature, and they are of

greatest relevance for this study. An icon is effectively a visual representation of that

which it signifies. Such representations can range from those that are quite realistic

to those that are highly abstracted or stylized. It is thus possible for us to speak of

visual images in terms of varying degrees of iconicity (Pelc 1986), however, for our

purposes, the important point is simply that it is often feasible to locate the referent of

a given icon based on connections of visual resemblance. As will be discussed in

more depth shortly, meanings of icons often extend far beyond simply the things to

which they refer, yet our ability to locate these referents provides an initial starting

point from which we can pursue deeper analyses, incorporating multiple lines of

evidence.

I have thus far discussed the form of the iconthe signin relation to its

object or referent, however, uses of icons are also motivated by their signifieds; that

is, the cultural concepts which underlie them. A cogent argument on this point is

provided by Hodder (1989), which is discussed in more direct relation to Peircian

semiotic theory by Preucel and Bauer (2001: 89). In short, Hodder illustrates the non-

arbitrariness of certain visual signs by providing the example of a tree used to

27
represent the ecology movement. It is clear that the tree in this context signifies far

more than simply its referent, evoking social ideals behind this movement. While the

signified in this case extends far beyond the referent, the relationship between them is

not arbitrary, for it is not the case that simply any sign or symbol established by

convention, could be substituted for the tree and convey the same meaning in the

same way. Because this association is not per se a naturally given property,

Herzfeld (1992: 68-69) contends that the icon only appears less arbitrary than the

symbol. I would argue, however, that while relations between icons and the concepts

they signify can be quite abstract, one visual symbol cannot in every case simply be

replaced with another, without regard for its content or referent, and be expected to

link in the same way with the signified, as is the case with a linguistic or otherwise

arbitrary symbol. For example, the image of an oil tanker could certainly not serve

the ecology movement as well as that of the tree. In language, on the other hand, the

words oil tanker could quite easily substitute for that of tree, provided this was

established though socio-historical convention. The differences between these two

modes of signification are therefore not simply superficial. Though often relatively

abstract, the signified meanings of visual icons are nonetheless constrained to a

degree by the referents to which they bear resemblance, and well as their histories of

use.

At the same time, Herzfelds broader argument remains relevant. Because for

arbitrary symbols there is no connection between the signifier and that which it

signifies, great amounts of social labor must often be expended in order affix meaning

to arbitrary symbols in order to make them culturally intelligible (e.g. dictionaries).

28
As a result, the meanings of symbols can be relatively circumscribed.4 Icons, on the

other hand, because they impute a degree of naturalness to their associations, evoke

meanings that may be seen as obvious and taken for granted. As such, and in

contrast to symbols, meanings of icons may thus be less prone to discursive

mediation, and therefore more subject to multiple readings. Herzfeld (1992: 68)

writes of iconsa point also stressed by Joyce (2000: 16)that because they either

look natural or can be naturalized, [icons] are, ironically a good deal more labile,

and lend themselves with particular ease to totalizing cultural ideologies. For

exampleto return to the image of the tree once againwhat this icon is is rather

clear and obvious in an ontological sense, resembling an object all persons are quite

familiar with, and thus need not be explicitly defined or explained. Given this

appearance of naturalness, the relation of the tree to the ecology movement need not

be overtly asserted, however, we could at the same time imagine a tree image being

used to represent a logging company in a similarly non-discursive fashion.

The work of Roland Barthes is also of great relevance in such discussions of

the signifying capacities of visual imagesan author whos work has been recently

engaged in Mesoamerican archaeology by Rosemary Joyce (2000). Barthes (1977:

38-39) emphasizes the polysemous nature of iconic images, noting that, they imply,

underlying their signifiers, a floating chain of signifieds, the reader able to choose

some and ignore others. Meanings of these images, however, can be restricted by

way of various mechanisms, two of which are defined by Barthes as anchorage and

relay. In defining anchorage, Barthes (1977: 39) focuses on linguistic texts

4
Though these meanings are still by no means fixed, but rather still prone to a great deal of play and
slippage (Derrida 1978).

29
incorporated into images, seeing elements of anchorage guiding the reading of

images, as a means of control that direct the reader to a specific meaning or message.

Relay meanwhile, which is seen as less commonmore typical of cartoons, film, and

comic stripsentails the use of devices that guide the spatio-temporal ordering of

images, guiding the sequences of reading, and concomitantly producing specific

meanings from the subsequent wholes that result (Barthes 1977: 41).

Two other concepts from Barthes work are potentially of use for the present

study, though they are not as clearly distinguished in his work: those of denotative

and connotative meanings. These terms roughly correspond respectively to what he

refers to alternatively as literal and symbolic meanings. Barthes (1977: 33)

provides the example of an advertisement for a brand of pasta, asserting that it

provides a rather literal denoted message, imploring the reader to purchase the

particular brand. At the same time, through the use of imagery and the aesthetic it

creates, it connotes a notion of Italianicity, and perhaps others which may be seen

as potentially making the product more alluring to consumers. Thus the

advertisement carries a very specific and closely circumscribed meaning, which may

require decipherment of a code in order to glean, while also connoting more broad

and general, or more obvious meanings rooted in socio-cultural norms and values.

In discussing Mixteca-Puebla iconography in this thesis, I will variously use the terms

denote and connote to indicate whether images are seen as eliciting rather

specific meanings or, perhaps on a more affective level, relating to more general

cultural sensibilities.

30
 Many of the concepts just under discussion are applicable to the Mixtec

codices, which constituted a predominantly pictorial or iconographic form of writing.

The codices are effectively composed of series of iconsgraphic representations of

persons, places, and thingswhich may, in of themselves, be open to quite multiple

readings. However, methods of anchorage and relay were employed such that these

icons created specific narratives. Uses of calendrical names and distinctive

decorative elements that constituted personal names (Smith 1973) allowed for

depictions of persons otherwise indistinguishable to be ascribed specific identities, or

to be anchored. Other elements of anchorage include distinctive features

incorporated into toponyms, which allowed them to be read as specific places, often

evoking their names in Mixtec language. Smith (1973) discusses the possible

existence of phonetic qualifiers and the use of tone puns in the codices, which

would have further served to relate pictorial elements to language and restrictor

rather, denotetheir meanings. Relay is also quite prevalent in the codices, with red

guide-lines used to direct the reading order, calendrical dates further ordering the

images temporally, and depictions of posture, etc., further directing sequences of

action. A major question to be addressed in this thesis is how imagery on polychrome

pottery could be read similarly or differently.

2.4 Iconicity in Mixteca-Puebla Visual Media

Mixteca-Puebla visual media is predominantly iconographic and, as such, we

can often tie images to specific referents: i.e. this is a serpent, this is a feather, etc.

While these are obviously rather unspectacular insights, what they allow us to do is

take our analyses further in questioning what such images may have signified. Given

31
that the present study is focused on the Late Postclassic period, we have available an

invaluable corpus of documentsespecially the indigenous codices, but also Early

Colonial textsfrom which to draw in developing our understandings of icons.

Identifying the referents of these icons, we can then trace their occurrences and

associations through a suite of textual and other contexts. As many images found on

polychrome pottery are also found in the codices, we have the opportunity to see

these images in narrative sequences, in representations of activities and lived life, as

well as in myth and cosmology. Accounts of indigenous beliefs and practices from

early Spanish chroniclers help serve to further supplement our insights. Being able

to locate icons in these various contexts outside that of polychrome pottery itself, we

find ourselves on fertile interpretive ground from which we can develop richer

understandings of the signified meanings of these images than is often possible in

other archaeological cases.

Such an approach should not merely entail other lines of data being mapped

on to polychrome pottery but, as discussed previously, must be contrastive as well.

For example, how do pottery and the codices differ in terms of prevalent imagery?

How might salient themes signified in ceramic imagery differ from those found in

textual sources? Was polychrome imagery prone to the same sorts of anchorage and

relay found in the codices? Were these media similar or different in how they could

read; how did they connote and denote meaning? Taking the codices and Spanish

colonial documents as more representative of the ideologies of the dominant classes,

we return to Herzfelds notion of disemia and issues of ideology and identity,

querying to what degree these different media were variously inclusive and exclusive.

32
In taking such an approach, we stand to reveal how notions of ideology and identity

in commoner domestic contexts both articulated with and deviated from those in

power.

2.5 Material Culture and Figured Worlds

In what ways might polychrome ceramics and the images painted on them

have played a role in producing, reproducing, and reinforcing ideologies and

identities at Late Postclassic Yucu Dzaa? Elizabeth Brumfiel (2004) has recently

related the imagery of Aztec painted ceramics to the concept of figured worlds

developed by Dorothy Holland and colleagues (Holland et al. 1998). The latter

authors define a figured world as a socially and culturally constructed realm of

interpretation in which particular characters and actors are recognized, significance is

assigned to certain acts, and particular outcomes are valued over others (Holland et

al. 1998: 52). Figured worlds are essentially social collectivities, which may manifest

at a variety of scales, however, are generally much more localized relative to concepts

of culture, polity, society, etc. These groups coalesce around shared daily practices

and specific points of interest. Holland and her colleagues provide case studies

including those as small as Alcoholics Anonymous groups. While such figured

worlds are by no means divorced or autonomous from broader social formations,

ideologies, more widely shared cultural norms, etc., within them are found relatively

unique sets of rules, roles, activities, and meanings. Seen in such a way, these

figured worlds thus often provide the loci in which people fashion senses of self

that is, develop identities (Holland et al. 1998: 60).

33
 Holland and her colleagues further theorize that items of material culture,

which they term artifacts, may play integral roles in the interactions that take place

within the contexts of figured worlds. Certain artifacts may serve as cues, which

provoke specific types of activities and interactions, or evoke ideas and meanings

crucial to figured worlds. In the authors words, artifacts evoke the worlds to which

they were relevant, and position individuals with respect to those worlds (Holland et

al. 1998: 63).

Brumfiel (2004) has applied these ideas in arguing that contexts of commoner

feasting at the Late Postclassic site Xaltocan effectively constituted figured worlds,

and that images on painted ceramics evoked worldviews and ideas of cosmology

intimately related to these events. She further argues that because ethnohistoric data

indicate that polychrome vessels were sold in markets, and hence consumers had

considerable choice in the kinds of ceramics they purchased, imagery on these vessels

are apt to reflect those ideas most closely tied to commoners collective senses of

identity and understandings of their worlds. Teasing out the salient themes of this

imagery in her data set, Brumfiel then provides a diachronic analysis, comparing

ceramics from the period in which Xaltocan was an independent and powerful center

to ceramics from after the period it came under Aztec domination. She finds that

themes of warfare and sacrifice were quite prevalent in ceramic imagery at Xaltocan

while it was a regional capital. These themes became minimized, however, after the

beginning of Aztec rule, indicating that common peoples were distancing themselves

from the new foreign dominant ideology. While militaristic worldviews were popular

and identified with amongst commoners of Xaltocan when the polity was engaging in

34
warfare on its own behalf, these views became much less compelling once they were

subordinated to an external power. In such an analysis, we are able to see how

popular views of identity may vary considerably with respect to how they articulate

with dominant ideologies. Shifts in the foci of figured worlds at polities such as

Xaltocan may play a part in explaining the rather tenuous grip the Aztec state often

had on its provinces. Aztec tributary polities often broke away from the empire and

had to be re-conquered, likely due in large part to commoner resistance.

In examining the polychrome ceramics of Yucu Dzaa, I aim to pursue a

similar line of questioning, though in contrast to Brumfiels analysis, the present

study is limited in being synchronic and focused on a single site. It is likely that the

relevance of figured worlds for broader socio-political developments can be best

inferred when viewed in light of political and historical change, or interregionally in

comparing developments at different polities. For example, it would be interesting to

compare how figured worlds of commoners changed from the Late Postclassic to

Colonial periods, or alternatively, how figured worlds of those living in Yucu Dzaa

proper may have differed from those living in its hinterland or tributaries, who were

less likely to be ethnically Mixtec. These kinds of studies are potentially revealing of

how notions of identity intersected with relationships of power within diverse

societies and over the course of historical ruptures. In part, I hope that the present

study serves to lay some of the groundwork required for making such future analyses

possible.

At the same time, figured worlds are not seen here only as reflective of socio-

political relationships and change, but in part constitutive of these phenomena. As

35
was previously discussed in the introduction, Yucu Dzaa was the most powerful

polity of Late Postclassic Oaxaca, and able to mobilize numbers of people for

warfare, markets, and other events. How were such mobilizations possible? A

considerable degree of skepticism has already been alluded to with respect to the

possibility that commoners were simply duped into participating in the imperial

projects carried out by Yucu Dzaa. Instead, in this study, I explore how commoners

may have engaged with dominant ideologies; how they may have identified with or

deviated from them. Which themes and worldviews may have resonated with them in

the figured worlds in which they carried out their daily lives, and how may these

figurings of identity have reciprocally played a role in the shaping of ideology within

the polity at large? In this thesis I argue that polychrome ceramics at Yucu Dzaa

were primarily used in similar fashion to those described by Brumfiel, in the figured

worlds constituted by events of domestic ritual and feasting. As such, they stand to

provide particular insights regarding relations between popular senses of identity and

dominant ideologies. To quote McAnany (2002: 119) once more, Quite often, ritual

is seated at the crux of power negotiations between the household and the state, thus

as we enhance our understanding of domestic ritual, we also learn something of the

reach of the power of the state. In short, it is hoped that the analysis provided in this

thesis spurs us to consider in more depth how active negotiations of ideology and

identity may have in part helped to make the development of a rather unique Mixtec

conquest empire possible.

36
2.6 Summary

In this chapter I have detailed the questions to be addressed in the remainder

of this thesis and the theoretical frameworks and concepts that guide them. Linking

concepts of ideology and identity, I argue that dominant ideologies, even when not

actively resisted, must be seen as contingent upon active social negotiation, and that

popular expressions of identity potentially represent a crucial locus in which such

negotiation was carried out. Dealing here with visual representations painted on

polychrome pottery, I then argue that particular aspects of semiotic theory may be

especially useful in helping us to infer meanings these images carried, which can then

be related back to the aforementioned expressions of ideology and identity. Lastly, it

was further elaborated how these items of visual mediaor, in the terms of Holland

and colleagues (1998), artifactsmay play active roles in daily practice,

particularly in contexts of commoner feasting events of the Late Postclassic at Yucu

Dzaa. These contexts and practices, these figured worlds, are seen as having

important implications for broader socio-political processes at Yucu Dzaa:

understandings of these intersections of dominant ideology and identity are revealing

of how not only elites, but many other members of society, may have been engaged

and active in the production and reproduction of a relatively unusual Mixtec polity in

Late Postclassic Oaxaca.

After presenting the methods and results of the ceramic analysis in the

following three chapters, the data are related specifically to the questions presented in

this chapter. In chapter 6, it will be discussed how the use of polychrome ceramics

and the meanings evoked by their imagery helped produce notions of identity

37
expressed by commoners in domestic practice, and how these expressions related to

dominant ideologies and broader socio-political circumstances.

38
Chapter 3

The Ceramic Sample and Methods of Analysis

To address the research questions outlined in Chapter 2, a detailed analysis of

polychrome ceramics recovered by Levine (2006) from two residential groups at

Yucu Dzaa was carried out. These contexts will be described in depth shortly. While

other painted wares were recovered in Levines excavations, the polychrome

ceramics were easily distinguished from other types of painted pottery, and were

separated out prior to analysis. These ceramics, designated Yucu Dzaa polychrome

by OMack (1990), are generally consistent with what have been labeled Mixteca

polychrome by investigators conducting research in the highlands of Oaxaca (Lind

1987: 14, Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967). While the other painted wares are by no

means simply unimportant, their design motifs are relatively simple and abstract.

Design motifs on these wares are most likely symbols rather than icons, following the

distinctions outlined in Chapter 2, and strong inferences of their meanings cannot

presently be made. Given the iconographic focus of the present study, inclusion of

these materials was therefore not deemed feasible or appropriate.

Though this study was primarily focused on the iconography of the

polychrome ceramics, analyses of vessel forms and other material attributes (e.g.

paint colors used) were also carried out, with three main goals in mind: 1) to better

elucidate the ritual use of the ceramics, 2) to allow quantitative interregional

comparison, and 3) to provide data for more detailed studies and comparisons in the

future. The utility of these analyses will elaborated upon both later in this chapter as

well as in Chapter 4. In sum, the ceramic analysis was essentially two-pronged

39
consisting of both a material/formal and iconographic component. This is reflected in

the structure of the thesis, as the results of the analyses are divided into two

subsequent chapters. In the remainder of the present chapter, I will describe the

archaeological contexts from which the ceramic sample was recovered and outline the

specific methods used in the analysis.

3.1 Archaeological Context of the Ceramic Sample

Horizontal stratigraphic excavations were carried out by Levine at three

separate residential groups at Yucu Dzaa, each composed of multiple structures

flanking a central patio. These were respectively designated Residences A, B, and C.

The three residences were located in close proximity of one another, approximately

1.25 kilometers northwest of the sites civic-ceremonial center. Previous survey by

Joyce and his colleagues (2004) indicated that polychrome pottery was widely

distributed at the site and likely to occur in high frequency in excavations. Levines

excavations indeed showed this to be the case. In total, 683 polychrome rim sherds

were recovered, accounting for 7.61% of the total number of rim sherds in the sites

ceramic assemblage, or 5.96% by weight. Frequencies of polychromes from the

excavated residences at Yucu Dzaa are quite high in comparison to those for other

Late Postclassic commoner residences investigated in Oaxaca (Perez 2003: Table 4.4,

Lind 1987: Tables 25 and 36). In fact, the frequencies from the Yucu Dzaa

residences are even higher than those from noble residences excavated at Chachoapan

and Yucuita (Lind 1987: Tables 25 and 36). 5 These frequencies are summarized in

the table below (Table 3-1):

40
Table 3-1: Frequencies of Mixteca-Puebla Polychrome Pottery from Excavated
Postclassic Residences in Oaxaca (from Levine 2006)
Percentage of
Assemblage
Comprised by
Total Mixteca- Mixteca-Puebla
Puebla Polychrome Total Polychrome
Commoner Residences Sherds Sherds Sherds
Yucu Dzaa-Residence A 527** 6297** 8.37 %**
Yucu Dzaa-Residence B 85** 1740** 4.88 %**
Yucu Dzaa-Residence C 71** 639** 11.11 %**
Nicayuhu House 1 26* 40,061* .065 %*
Nicayuhu House 2 18* 6,658* .27 %*
Yucuita Midden N217B 2* 2448* .082 %*

Noble Residences
Chachoapan Midden F2-A 127 4966 2.56 %
Yucuita Midden F-10A 10 739 1.35 %
** These totals include rim sherds only.
* These totals include all sherds (rims, bodies, etc.), for Nicayuhu see Prez Rodrguez
(2003: Table 4.4), for Yucuita N217B see Spores (1974b cited in Lind 1987: Table 29).
Chachoapan F-2A is associated with a noble house that dates to AD 1540 (Lind 1987:
Table 36).
Yucuita F-10A is associated with a noble house that dates to AD 1340 (Lind 1987: Table
36).
These totals include rim sherds only and were calculated from data in Lind (1987: Tables
25 and 36).

What may account for the rather high frequencies of polychrome ceramics at

Yucu Dzaa is not yet well understood, however, future considerations of political

economy by Levine (2006) may bring some of these reasons to light. What is clear is

that the excavations conducted by Levine yielded more polychrome pottery sherds

than any of the above-cited studies. As such, the sample-size from Yucu Dzaa was

judged to be large enough for a study focused on these sherds to be carried out, and

appropriate for quantitative comparison.

5
It should be noted, however, that Bernal (Caso, Bernal, and Acosta 1967) reported finding over
10,000 sherds of Mixteca polychrome in the midden of an elite palace at Chachoapan. These findings
were not documented systematically, however, and the proportion of polychromes relative to the total
ceramic assemblage from this context is unknown.

41
 The ceramic analysis was limited to materials from the most dense midden

deposits at Residences A and B. Excavations at Residence C were limited only to

portions of a midden located down slope from the residential terrace, spanning

approximately ten meters, and no architecture was exposed. Analysis was focused on

residences A and B because understandings of the nature of Residence C and the

status of its occupants are less clear. Given that the theoretical concerns of this study

were to examine issues of commoner ideology, inclusion of materials from Residence

C was judged to be potentially misleading. Reasons for limiting the analysis to

midden deposits, as opposed to other contexts were several: 1) it was determined

through initial observations that polychrome materials in other excavation contexts

were notably low in frequency and poorly preserved, 2) midden deposits presented

the greatest likelihood of containing more complete vessels or fragments that could be

refit into more complete pieces, 3) midden deposits yielded the best carbon samples

from excavations, allowing the sample to be more directly tied to chronological data.

Restricting the analysis to materials from midden deposits biases the sample in that it

excludes de facto refuse and materials that were cached or otherwise discarded. At

the same time, doing so controls for post-depositional processes and focuses the

analysis specifically on large assemblages of domestic refuse that were liable to have

been used and discarded in a more consistent manner.

Extensive attempts at refitting sherds were made prior to analysis. Those that

could not be refit, yet based on their surface decoration could be inferred to have

come from the same vessel, were grouped together as such. Each of these refitted

pieces and groups of sherds assigned to the same vessel were then counted as a single

42
sherd. Statistical analyses were for the most part limited to rim sherds for the sake

of comparability with other data sets. Decorated body sherds were incorporated into

considerations of iconography and vessel supports, but were otherwise not included in

statistical analysis. The total sample comprised 1780 sherds, accounting for 67.5% of

all polychromes recovered from Levines excavations at Residences A and B.

Determination of the minimum number of vessels present in the assemblage

could not be made due to the following: 1) the highly fragmentary nature of the

assemblage, 2) considerable homogeneity or lack of distinct variation in wall

thickness and orifice diameter amongst rim sherds, and 3) because painted decoration

is at times so varied on a single vessel, two sherds radically different in decor cannot

necessarily be inferred to have come from different vessels. Wherever possible, I

have eschewed comparing the Yucu Dzaa data to those based on minimum numbers

of vessels or whole vessels from other studies, and detail the specific problems of

such comparisons when they are made.

` The vast majority of the sample came from midden deposits of Residence A

(Fig. 3-1). The residence itself was composed of seven structures, five of these

flanking a central patio, and an additional two located east of the patio group. The

midden deposits were located southeast of the patio, just outside Terrace A3. The

midden itself covered approximately 60m, and exceeded one meter in depth, dense

with ceramic materials and other artifacts, such as obsidian, figurines, spindle whorls

(Heijting 2006), and animal bone. The midden also included a secondary burial

(Levine 2006).

43
Figure 3-1: Overview Map of Residence A (from Levine
2006)

Residence A was unlikely to have been occupied for more than a few

generations given the lack of evidence for architectural remodeling or successive

construction phases, as well as the apparent contemporanaeity of the structures

(Levine 2006). Levine further bases this inference on the volume of the midden

deposits. Two radiocarbon samples were dated from this midden, giving calibrated

ages of AD 1299-1328 and AD 1314-1356 respectively 6 (Levine 2006 personal

communication), placing occupation in the middle years of the Late Postclassic

period. Levine (2006) infers that this was a commoner residence; though, given the

6
Uncalibrated ages in radiocarbon years are 615 +/- 38 and 579 +/ - 38. Materials were dated at the
University of Arizona AMS Laboratory. University of Arizona sample numbers are AA69824 and
AA69823 respectively.

44
degree of architectural investment and quantity of luxury goods present at Residence

A, its occupants were likely somewhat more affluent than their Residence B

counterparts.

Far fewer polychromes came from Residence B. Only 199 of the total 1780

sherds analyzed in the sample came from this residence (Table 3-2).

Table 3-2: Frequencies of Polychrome Sherds Analyzed for Yucu Dzaa

Residences
Residence Number of Sherds
Residence A 1581
Residence B 199
Totals 1780

Residence B was located on a lower hilltop, approximately 230 meters to the

southwest of Residence A (Figure 3-2). It was composed of six structures, several of

them poorly preserved, three of them surrounding a central patio. Similar to

Residence A, the most dense midden deposits were located on a slope southeast of the

patio. In contrast to Residence A, however, at Residence B these deposits were

substantially less dense and extensive, in large part accounting for the lower number

of polychromes.

One calibrated radiocarbon date was obtained from this midden, providing an

age of AD 1419-1447 (Levine n.d.) 7 . Radiocarbon dates from the two residences

corroborate artifactual evidence in suggesting the residences were closely temporally,

if not exactly contemporaneous. Given that the midden at Residence B was

7
Uncalibrated age in radiocarbon years is 471 +/- 38. Materials were dated at the University of
Arizona AMS Laboratory. University of Arizona sample number is AA69825.

45
substantially shallower and less concentrated, it is possible that occupation here was

for a shorter time than that at Residence A.

Figure 3-2: Overview Map of Residence B (From Levine 2006)

Architecture at Residence B is relatively less elaborate and exhibits less investment in

labor than at Residence A, and frequencies of goods such as copper items, animal

bone, and polychrome pottery are lower at the former. Thus Levine (2006) has

argued that in comparison to Residence A, occupants of Residence B were of

somewhat lower economic means, though not of a fundamentally different socio-

economic status. While some of the disparities in amounts of socially valued goods,

such as polychrome pottery, are stark in terms of raw frequencies, differences in

length of occupation must be taken into account. To control for length of occupation,

46
the relative proportions of polychrome pottery to all pottery types present were

calculated (Table 3-1). These data indicate more subtle socio-economic differences

between the occupants of Residences A and B.

Preservation of the polychrome materials was considerably better in the

Residence A midden than in that at Residence B. The degree of erosion or surface

damage extant on each piece was coded according to a four-point ordinal scale

(minimal, fair, substantial, and severe). At Residence A, 38% of the sherds from the

sample fell into the categories of minimal or fair, while this was the case for only

8% of the sherds at Residence B. This may be accounted for in part by the fact that

midden deposits at Residence A were located just outside the A3 terrace wall, perhaps

better shielded from the elements than the midden deposits at Residence B.

Before moving on to a discussion of the methods of analysis, brief mention

should be made of the use of materials housed in the Museo Yucusaa (Tututepec

Community Museum). A considerable number of both polychrome sherds and

complete vessels are curated at the museum, coming almost exclusively from

donations by local residents who often find these materials on their properties. A

cursory examination of these collections was made concurrently with the field

analysis of the excavation materials. While these materials are almost assuredly from

the site of Yucu Dzaa proper, the museum pieces carry no further provenience

information, and were thus not subjected to systematic analysis nor incorporated into

the excavation sample. Given that these materials were likely collected selectively

simply on the bases of aesthetic or other qualities, their incorporation into the

excavation sample would greatly skew our view of the typical domestic assemblage.

47
The collections were therefore examined instead to glean a better sense of the general

ranges of variability in vessel form and design at the site. This exercise proved

informative in indicating that while some vessel forms and types of imagery were not

present in the excavated sample, they may have occurred in other contexts at Yucu

Dzaa as they were represented in the museum collections. The museum materials

will be discussed selectively in Chapters 4 and 5 in discussions of variability in vessel

forms and iconography.

3.2 Methods: Material/Formal Analysis

The material and formal aspect of the analysis consisted of 3 components: 1) a

macroscopic examination and characterization of pastes and quantification of the

presence or absence of firing cores in the fabric, 2) systematic documentation of paint

colors present on each piece, and 3) for rim sherds, systematic documentation and

description of vessel form.

Because macroscopic analysis found that the polychrome ceramic pastes were

extremely homogeneous, they could not be differentiated into distinct types, and

only a limited sample was inspected with concern for this attribute. Paste colors were

described using a Munsell Color chart (1992) and inclusions were examined with a

hand lens. Levine (2006, personal communication) has recently received results from

the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center (MURR) of Instrumental

Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) conducted on a sample of the pottery from the

Yucu Dzaa excavations, including 33 samples of polychrome pottery. These data

provide more detailed characterization of clays and their potential sources. Results of

48
this analysis will be discussed briefly as they corroborate findings of the present study

in suggesting local production of polychromes at Yucu Dzaa 8 .

Colors of paint present on each sherd were documented for the entire sample

and frequencies were subsequently tallied. General color categories were discerned

based on visual inspection, including the most common colors: orange, red, black,

white, blue, and pink. The rarer colors present in the assemblage were purple, brown,

and yellow. Tabulation of paint color frequencies was carried out in part simply to

better characterize the assemblage, but also to facilitate regional comparison, as a

body of comparable data is provided by Lind (1987: 15) on materials from the

Mixteca Alta.

The analysis of vessel form was carried out with the following goals in mind:

1) to characterize the range and frequencies of forms in which polychrome pottery is

found at the site, 2) to facilitate interregional comparisons with similar data sets from

other parts of Oaxaca and beyond, and 3) to provide insights regarding the functions

and uses of these vessels.

The formal analysis was based exclusively on rim sherds. As Lind (1987: 11)

points out, analyses based on body sherds will tend to overestimate frequencies of

vessel forms such as ollas (jars with globular bodies and restricted orifices), which

have larger bodies and thus break into greater numbers of sherds. This artificially

inflates the estimated number of ollas in comparison to other forms such as bowls.

To keep the data consistent with other systematic studies of Mixteca-Puebla

polychromes (Lind 1987, McCafferty 2001), I have limited the formal analysis to rim

8
Additionally, Lane Fargher is currently conducting petrographic analysis of this same sample, which
stand to further issues of temper sources and pottery production.

49
sherds only. I would add one caveat, however: because open vessels have more

extensive rims (greater orifice diameters), a focus solely on rim sherds may also bias

frequencies by over-representing open vessels relative to those with more restricted

orifices. McCafferty (2001: 20) avoids this problem by comparing sherd counts to

degree-of-arc values for rim sherds of the various vessel types of his ceramic sample

from Cholula. Unfortunately degree-of-arc measurements could not be taken in the

present analysis. A more accurate reflection of actual frequencies of vessel forms,

however, may also be garnered by comparing rim sherd counts if these values are

subsequently adjusted, by correcting for discrepancies in average orifice diameter

amongst the various vessel types. Such data are presented briefly in the next chapter,

however, similar figures from other studies of Mixteca-Puebla polychromes do not

exist in the published literature.

Forms were recorded for rim sherds in terms of general vessel types. More

specific quantitative and qualitative attributes related to vessel form were also

documented in attempts to capture some of the variability within these forms. The

following list of the attributes and methods of evaluation were employed carrying out

the formal analysis:

Vessel form

The majority of rim sherds could be assigned to one of four general categories of

vessel form, termed ollas, cajetes, tecomates, and plates. Each of these categories

will be described in detail in Chapter 4.

Wall form: This attribute refers to the shape of the entire vessel body (as viewed

in cross-section), from the rim to the base of the vessel. There is variation in wall

50
 form within the general vessel form categories. The specificity of wall form

descriptions were most often limited by the size of the sample sherd, the small

size of many sherds hampered the identification of wall form.

Lip form: Refers to a formal termination of the vessel rim at its orifice.

Categories included rounded, tapered, and beveled. This attribute exhibited

very little variability, the overwhelming majority of pieces falling into the

rounded category. Documentation of this attribute proved not to be useful in

this study.

Wall thickness: Thickness of each sherd in profile was measured to the nearest

millimeter using digital calipers. Measurements were taken at the thickest point

of a given sherd.

Orifice diameter: Orifice diameter was measured whenever possible, though a

fair number of rim sherds were too small for such a measurement to be possible.

Measurements were taken to the nearest centimeter using an orifice diameter

chart.

As will be seen in Chapter 4, the formal analysis was especially useful in

providing a means for making quantitative interregional comparisons with similar

data sets from other regions, especially Linds (1987) study of polychromes from

Chachoapan and Yucuita. Such comparisons are potentially useful in revealing past

social, political, and historical relationships. Furthermore, the analysis of vessel

forms stands to shed light on how the ceramics were used. Lind (1994) has

demonstrated that depictions of distinct vessel forms are found in the Mixtec and

51
Borgia group codices that are suggestive of how particular vessels were used ritually.

These issues will be explored in the chapters to follow.

3.3 Methods: Iconographic Analysis

As mentioned in Chapter 1, nearly all studies (but see Lind 1987) of the

iconography of Mixteca-Puebla polychrome ceramics have focused on whole vessels

(Seler 1990, Lind 1994, Pohl 2003, Sanchez 2005), often from museum and other

collections where specific archaeological contexts for the materials are lacking.

Reasons for a reliance on whole vessels are obvious: whole vessels allow not only for

specific images to be seen in their entirety, but also for these images to be seen with

all others they are associated with on a given ceramic vessel. As such, Sanchez

(2005), in her study of a wide array of polychrome vessels from Oaxaca, Puebla, and

Veracruz, has been able to define what she terms complexes of motifs. These

complexes are groups of icons that repeatedly occur together, potentially revealing of

more complex themes than singular images. The broader cosmological and

ideological connotations of ceramic vessels may be inferred by focusing on

complexes of motifs, offering richer understandings of their affective capacities and

social meanings.

Hence, any study focused predominantly on fragmentary sherds will, to some

degree, be less effective in interpretations of imagery than one focused on whole

vessels. Reliance on museum pieces, however, sacrifices more detailed

understandings of the social contexts from whence these ceramics came.

Archaeological contexts from which we can expect to recover substantial numbers of

complete polychrome vessels are very few. Though such vessels are at times found

52
intact as offerings within elite tombs in parts of Oaxaca, polychrome ceramics were

often disposed of in middens from domestic contexts. If we wish to study the roles

these objects played in daily life and amongst non-elites, analyses of fragmentary

materialsthough frustratingare imperative. I therefore view the studies of

museum collections and those such as this present analysis as mutually

complementary: studies of whole vessels have greatly informed the interpretations of

imagery presented in this thesis, and it is hoped that this study will help to better

contextualize the role of polychrome iconography in social practice.

Iconographic data were recorded systematically. All sherds with discernable

imagery were photographed and/or drawn. Categories of motifs were defined in

order for their occurrences to be recorded in a systematized database and their

frequencies to be determined. Following Linds methodology (1994: 92) if a

category of motif was found on one sherd, it was recorded as a single instance, even if

it occurred multiple times on the same piece. As Lind points out, given that certain

motifs may occur dozens of times on a single piece, recording each singular instance

on each piece would potentially make data collection nearly impossible. In total, over

50 different design motifs were defined; many of which corresponded to images

found in the codices, including zoomorphic motifs and depictions of ritual objects.

Ambiguous images that were found to repeat were also recorded such that they could

potentially be identified after data collection was completed. Lastly the portion of the

vessel on which the motif occurred (i.e. the exterior, interior, or base) was recorded as

well.

53
 Any attempt to quantify design motifs from sherds presents certain problems.

Because certain motifs tend to repeat on a given vessel while others do not, counts are

inevitably biased toward the repeated motifs. Counting repeated instances on a given

piece as a singular occurrence alleviates this bias to some degree. Furthermore, the

only other attempts at quantification of design-motifs on Mixteca-Puebla

polychromes are those by Lind (1987, 1994), based upon minimum numbers of

vessels. Thus the data presented in this thesis are not immediately comparable to

other data sets. Instead, I use information regarding the frequencies of motifs in the

Yucu Dzaa pottery in an attempt to characterize the assemblage on a more general

level. I argue that those which are most common should be expected to express the

most salient aspects of commoner ideology.

Definitions and identifications of motifs were based upon similar or analogous

images found in the prehispanic codices and the work of other scholars such as Seler

(1990), Lind (1987, 1994), Pohl (2003), and Sanchez (2005), all of whom have also

used the codices as a primary source for their interpretations. The codices allow us to

view these images in more detailed and extensive narrative contexts, particularly in

contexts of action and idealized versions of lived life. As discussed in Chapter 2, it is

particularly imperative in the study of icons that we trace their associations if we are

to approximate their social meanings and connotationsthe codices provide fertile

ground for precisely such an exercise. Furthermore, similar to the work of the

scholars cited above, ethnohistoric information (e.g. Sahagun 1970) is used when

appropriate to facilitate interpretations of the meanings of identified icons.

54
 Over the course of the analysis, certain iconographic patterns in the

assemblage and associations of motifs were noted as well. Due to the fragmentary

nature of the sample material, these patterns cannot be treated in the depth and

breadth seen in the analysis by Sanchez (2005) of whole vessels. Attempts are made

in Chapter 5, however, to draw on these observed patterns to better understand the

associations of images as well as the respective ideas underlying them.

3.4 Summary

In this chapter I have described the methods of analysis employed in this

study, the rationale behind their use, and the advantages and limitations therein. In

the following two chapters the results of the analysis are presented. Chapter 4 details

the material and formal aspects of the analysis, and is concerned predominantly with

questions of interregional relationships and uses of the ceramic vessels. Results of

the iconographic analysis are subsequently presented in Chapter 5, as the imagery

found on the Yucu Dzaa polychromes is explored in depth and initial interpretations

are provided. The results are then synthesized in Chapter 6, in a discussion of their

implications for understandings of ideology and social relationships at Late

Postclassic Yucu Dzaa.

55
Chapter 4

Material and Formal Analysis

This chapter presents the results of the analysis of the material and formal

aspects of the Yucu Dzaa ceramic assemblage. Wherever possible, these results are

compared with extant data on Mixteca-Puebla polychromes from elsewhere in

Oaxaca and the state of Puebla in efforts to situate the sample within a broader

interregional context. The chapter begins with a section discussing surface treatment

and general observations regarding ceramic pastes. Initial results of INAA are also

discussed in brief (Levine 2006, personal communication), as they are potentially

revealing of the sources of clays used in ceramic manufacture and, concomitantly, the

extent to which local production may have taken place at Yucu Dzaa. The following

section focuses on paint colors found on the Yucu Dzaa polychromes and the

frequencies of their occurrences. Data on paint color are compared to observations of

Mixteca-Puebla polychromes from other regions in an effort to discern how

polychromes from the Oaxaca coast might be visually distinguishable from their

highland counterparts. Forms of tripod supports found in the assemblage are

subsequently discussed, first individually in considerations of what each form might

represent, then on the assemblage level, with frequencies compared interregionally.

In the following section, each vessel form type found in the polychrome assemblage

is described and frequencies of types are reported. Frequencies of vessel forms are

also compared to those from Highland Oaxaca and Puebla to further trace

interregional similarities and differences. Lastly, the data on vessel forms is related

to depictions of polychrome ceramics found in the Mixtec and Borgia group codices,

56
for as Lind (1994) has demonstrated, such depictions may be suggestive of how they

were used ritually and socially.

4.1 Surface Treatment, Ceramic Pastes, and Characterization Data

All sherds analyzed from Yucu Dzaa exhibited the presence of a white slip or

base-coat. McCafferty (2001) reports that certain of the polychrome types he has

defined at Cholula were subsequently slipped orange after the application of this

base-coat, however, this practice is not an apparent trend in the Yucu Dzaa

assemblage. The latter materials appear to bear closest resemblance to what

McCafferty defines at Cholula as Coapan Laca Polychrome. 9 While the interior

bases of Yucu Dzaa bowls are typically painted orange and lack design motifs, an

underlying orange color normally does not extend over the entirety of the vessel as a

slip. The vessels often exhibit a solid background colorpredominantly red, black,

white or orangethat was applied over the initial white base-coat. In addition to

variation amongst individual vessels, for those with unrestricted orifices these colors

may differ from exterior to interior.

Surface treatment and decoration of a sample Mixteca-Puebla polychrome

ceramics from various regions have been studied by Castillo (1968). The Yucu Dzaa

materials appear to generally accord well with her description, though have not yet

been subjected to a comparable depth of analysis. According to Castillo, the vessels

were formed and their surfaces finely burnished or polished, then subjected to a first

firing. After a white base-coat was then applied over virtually the entire vessel body

(aside from the bottom-most portion of the base, which is generally unslipped for

9
Also defined by Noguera (1954) as Policroma Laca and by Lind (1994) as Catalina Polychrome.

57
both tripod bowls and jars), the vessel was then painted in polychrome motifs, fired a

second time, and polished to a lustrous finish.

It is quite clear that all paints were fired on. Washing of sherds did not cause

removal of paint. Sherds found on the surfaceprone to rain and other elemental

damage potentially for centuriesstill often exhibit relatively intact painted motifs.

This was evidenced in both field observations and illustrations of pieces collected

from the surface by OMack (1990: 32-34).

Ceramic pastes are quite homogenous in appearance, fine in grain size, and

predominantly of a caf or light brown color (Munsell 7.5 YR 4/4-7.5YR 5/6).

Less frequently, pastes will exhibit a more orange-brown appearance, but this appears

to be a gradient of the general paste color produced by variability in firing. Sherds

will often also exhibit a gray (7.5 YR 5/1) firing core in the center of the cross-

section. Inclusions are generally fewunlikely to constitute a distinct temper that

was added but often include fine to very-fine quartz sands. Also found in the

ceramic pastes are small voids, which may indicate that limited organic content was

once present within the clay. On the whole, these findings accord well with general

observations made by OMack (1990), suggesting that polychromes recovered from

residences A and B closely resemble those collected in the modern town of

Tututepecwhat was once the center of Yucu Dzaa.

While there appears to be a considerable degree of uniformity amongst

polychromes within the core of Yucu Dzaa, Brockington (1982) reports greater

diversity in Late Postclassic polychromes from the surrounding region of the Oaxaca

coast. Brockington divides polychromes into two groups, dubbed Professional and

58
Amateur. While his descriptions are brief, the polychromes Brockington places

within his Professional category appear to greatly resemble those considered in the

present study. They are characterized by precise and elaborate painted decoration,

including codex-style motifs, and are highly homogeneous in paste type (Brockington

1982: 11). Brockington (1982: 12) further asserts that Professional polychromes had

a substantially limited geographic distribution, likely centered around Yucu Dzaa.

Amateur polychromes, on the other hand, bear designs of a lesser quality, consisting

mostly of abstract geometrical motifs. They are found over a wide region and exhibit

much more diversity in ceramic pastes. No polychromes that fit within Brockingtons

Amateur category were recovered in the excavations at Yucu Dzaa. This absence is

perhaps to be expected. A limited geographic distribution of Professional

polychromes around Yucu Dzaa could be accounted for by the sites preeminence in

regional politics and economics. Meanwhile, the more diverse polychromes labeled

Amateur may result from local production outside the core of the empires capital.

Should this be the case, we would find that while access to Yucu Dzaa or

Professional polychromes may have been restricted geographically, they were not

necessarily restricted due to economic status, for all polychromes recovered from

commoner residences at Yucu Dzaa resemble the description of this type. While

commoners living in the core had access to these goods, those living outside it, in the

hinterland or tributary polities, may not have.

As was noted in Chapter 3, a sample of the ceramics from the Yucu Dzaa

excavations, including 33 polychrome specimens, was selected by Levine (2006

personal communication) for Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) at

59
the MURR. With the possible exception of two sherds, there is no indication that

polychromes were imported from abroad. This has been inferred by comparing the

Yucu Dzaa materials with extant reference data from the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley, the

Tehuacan Valley, the Chinantla, the Mixteca Alta, and the Valley of Oaxaca. The

polychromes themselves primarily fall into four compositional groups, though 58%

fall within a single group. The groups overlap to some extent with a compositional

group defined as likely based in the Lower Rio Verde region (see also Joyce et al.

n.d.), in a study of earlier ceramics from the region. Statistical associations, however,

are not significant. The data currently available suggest that polychrome ceramics at

Yucu Dzaa were likely produced locally, though production was not necessarily

restricted to a singular locus or clay source. This picture would appear to accord well

the findings of Neff and his colleagues (1994), who in carrying out INAA of

polychromes from throughout Oaxaca and Puebla demonstrate the existence of a

substantial diversity of production loci.

4.2 Paint Colors on Yucu Dzaa Polychromes

Paint colors were recorded for each sherd in the Yucu Dzaa polychrome

sample. However, as noted in the previous chapter, statistical analysis was restricted

to rim sherds in order to be consistent with previous studies and to allow for statistical

comparison.

Most common colors found on the Yucu Dzaa polychromes were black,

white, orange, and red, each found on over 90% of the rim sherds in the sample Table

4-1). Colors present in smaller, but still substantial amounts were blue and pink.

Purple, brown, and yellow were all found in frequencies of 1% or less in the sample.

60
While all these colors can vary in shade, they are easily discernable from one another.

The specific materials used to produce the various paints and pigments are currently

not well understood. In Table 4-1, frequencies of colors are summarized and

compared to similar figures provided by Lind (1987: 15) for Late Postclassic

polychromes excavated from the sites of Chachoapan and Yucuita in the Mixteca

Alta.

Table 4-1: Percentages of Colors Present on Yucu Dzaa Polychromes vs.

Percentages from Chachoapan and Yucuita (Lind 1987: 15)
Color Present Yucu Dzaa Chachoapan and
(percent)* Yucuita (percent)**
Orange 94.63 96.67
Red 93.35 98.33
White 93.09 91.67
Black 92.58 93.33
Blue 49.87 1.67
Pink 27.11 11.67
Purple 1.02 0.00
Brown 0.26 1.67
Yellow 0.26 5.00
Gray 0.00 5.00
* Based on counts of rim sherds, 391 rim sherds total.
** Based on 60 minimum vessels.

Differences seen in the two samples may be accounted for by the fact that the

Yucu Dzaa figures are based on sherd counts while the Mixteca Alta figures are based

on counts of minimum numbers of vessels. For example, while certain colors such as

red were likely present on nearly all Mixteca-Puebla polychromes, they may not be

seen on small sherds, explaining the lower frequency of red in the Yucu Dzaa sample.

This discrepancy, however, should not bias the ratios of colors to one another within

each of the samples. Colors of paint should obviously have virtually no bearing on

the mechanical properties of a vesseli.e. ceramics with blue paint would not be

61
prone to break into more sherds than those without, etc. Therefore, while the figures

for the Yucu Dzaa sample are generated from sherds rather than whole vessels, we

should not expect colors in the sample to be over-represented.

Blue paint, while found on nearly 50% of the Yucu Dzaa sherds, is found on

less than 2% of the Chachoapan and Yucuita polychromes. This is easily the greatest

discrepancy between the two samples. Pink is also somewhat more frequent at Yucu

Dzaa, but is found on nearly 12% of the Mixteca Alta polychromes, and its

occurrence is noted for other regions as well (Sanchez 2005: 46). Blue paint, is not

reported by Sanchez (2005: 46) in her study of 467 vessels from Oaxaca, Puebla, and

Veracruz, or by McCafferty (2001) in his detailed study of the polychromes of

Cholula. That blue occurs on nearly 50% of the sherds from Yucu Dzaa is thus quite

curious and may be indicative of a regionally distinctive pigment.

The presence of this blue paint has been noted in previous cursory

examinations of polychromes from the Oaxaca coast by Brockington (1982: 10),

OMack (1990: 31), and Winter (1989: 82), all of whom characterize it as based on

graphite; presumably due to the reflective sheen that it exhibits. However, at this

point there does not appear to exist any characterization data to support this claim.

While much scholarly attention has been devoted to the composition of Maya blue

used in the Maya lowlands (see for example Arnold 2005), the paint under discussion

here does not appear to bear great resemblance to Maya blue and its exact

composition is not currently known. Given that the geographic distribution of this

blue paint relative to that of Mixteca-Puebla style polychromes in general appears

quite limited, characterization studies may prove a fruitful avenue for future research.

62
The possibility exists that this paint was derived from a material (or materials)

uniquely available on the coast. Alternatively, it may have been an exotic good that

Yucu Dzaa had unique access to, as one of the most powerful tribute polities of the

Late Postclassic and well-positioned with respect to Pacific coastal trade routes.

What is clear is that the atypically high frequency of blue paint on the Yucu

Dzaa polychromes is not a function of differences in iconographic subject matter.

Blue is most commonly found on motifs such as headdress feathers, volutes of smoke

(Fig. 4-1), and the markings on the feathers of eagle heads (Fig. 4-2), all of these

motifs being fairly common on polychromes outside of the Oaxaca coast. In

considering paint colors with respect to imagery, it is interesting to note that the only

color found in the Chachoapan and Yucuita materials not found at Yucu Dzaa is the

color gray. Of the common motifs just noted, gray is used in depictions of volutes of

smoke in polychromes of other regions (Sanchez 2005: 64), and gray and black are

also used elsewhere in depictions of eagle heads (Sanchez 2005: 48). Gray or black

markings are typical of the description of the eagle in central Mexican myth (Seler

1990 v. 5: 237); owing to the eagle having once been burned by the sun. It is

therefore perhaps the case that blue paint served at times as a substitute for gray on

the Oaxaca coast, or as a means of further embellishing otherwise relatively common

imagery.

63
Fig. 4-1: Blue paint on headdress feathers and smoke volutes

Fig. 4-2: Blue paint on eagle heads

4.3 Vessel Supports

Before going into a description of vessel forms themselves, it is perhaps first

instructive to discuss the supports upon which these vessels stood. It is presumed that

virtually all of the vessels recovered from the Yucu Dzaa excavations had hollow

tripod supports, due primarily to the high quantity of fragments of supports in the

sample. Support fragments constitute 14.88% of the total sample of all types of

sherds in terms of number, and 20.45% of the sample in terms of weight. For vessel

64
portions complete enough for presence or absence of supports to be determined, there

was no instance of a vessel lacking supports. All supports are hollow, modeled or

molded, and complete pieces often have a small ceramic ball within them, the

function of which are unknown, but would have produced a rattling sound. Of the

267 support fragments in the sample, 166 of them could be identified as

corresponding to one of several general formsmostly zoomorphicthe results of

which are summarized in the table below.

Table 4-2: Yucu Dzaa Support Forms

Support form Frequency (number of sherds)
Serpent 56
Conical 51
Deer hoof 47
Opossum 8
Eagle 2
Mushroom/phallic 1
Unidentified mammal 1
Indeterminate 101
Total 267

Serpent head supports

The most common supports in the sample take the form of a serpent: the foot

of the support is depicted as the head while the body extends up the length of the

support. The exterior face of the support is painted orange with concentric circular or

diamond-shaped black spots (Fig. 4-3), while the opposite side is painted to represent

the segmented white underbelly.

65
Fig. 4-3: Serpent head support from Residence A

In the only clear example of a polychrome vessel with zoomorphic supports in

the Mixtec codices, the supports take the form of serpents and the vessel is shown

containing pulque (an intoxicating beverage made from the fermented juice of the

maguey plant), represented by white foam at the top (Fig. 4-4). This may reflect an

important association, for ethnographer John Monaghan (1995: 105-106) writes that

amongst modern day Mixtec peoples, there is belief in beings known as koo savi, or

rain serpents. These are considered to be manifestations of rain that fly through the

air in the form of violent tempests. Pulque, meanwhile, is often described as white

blood, and equated with male semen (Monaghan 1995: 116-117). In contemporary

ritual, pulque is often poured on the ground as a means of sacrifice that will bring

about rain. Symbolic reasons for this are apparent, as rain and semen are also

considered analogous, viewed as facilitators of agricultural and human fertility,

respectively (Monaghan 1995: 117). Receptacles for pulque and representations of

66
serpents may therefore be seen as evoking, in complimentary fashion, ideals related to

the necessity of sacrifice in bringing about rain, agricultural fertility, and subsistence.

Fig. 4-4: Vessel with serpent head supports from the codex Nuttall

A more direct association of serpents, ceramics, and sacrifice is potentially

alluded to by Seler (1990 v.5: 293). He notes that in Zapotec language there was a

snake known as xicaa pito-manitranslated as animal of the vessel of god. Seler

then links this term to receptacles for sacrificial blood. It is not apparent whether an

equivalent term existed in the Mixtec language, however, we have already seen an

association of receptacles for white blood, or pulque, with sacrifice, and an

association of serpents with rain. Furthermore, the Spanish term god, may have

been equated in Mixtec with dzahui, the name of the rain deity, whom was held in

highest prominence. Dzahui is the lone translation for the Spanish term idol in

Early Colonial documentation (Terraciano 2001: 265). In sum, it is perhaps not

surprising that serpents were so frequently featured on the supports of polychrome

vessels: these icons would have reinforced relations between rain, sacrifice, and

subsistence, while the vessels contents may have been a medium through which

these relations were maintained.

67
Conical supports

The second most common form of support is much simpler and conical in

shape. It is virtually always painted primarily orange, colored red toward the tip, and

normally exhibits a thin red band just above this red tip (Fig. 4-5). Lind (1994: 92)

terms these bullet supports, and they are quite common in the Mixteca Alta. No

symbolic meaning of this support form is apparent.

Fig. 4-5: Conical support from Residence A

Deer hoof supports

Slightly less frequent than conical supports are those labeled deer hoofs,

painted orange with black spots, with an apparent hoof depicted at the foot of the

support (Fig. 4-6). As Lind (1994: 92) observes, depictions of deer may possibly be

linked with the Creator Couple 1 Deer, prominent in Mixtec creation myths found in

the Codex Vindobonensis and the writings of the early colonial Spanish friar Gregorio

Garcia (Furst 1978: 56, Anders et al. 1992). It thus perhaps evokes general notions of

creation. The deer also represented the seventh of twenty day signs in the ritual

calendar. In central Mexican mythology it carries associations with the stars.

68
According to Seler (1990 v.5: 218), It represents the host of stars that, chased by the

morning star, are driven from east to west. As the Mixtec and Nahuatl of central

Mexico shared the same calendar, deer imagery in Mixtec ceramics may have carried

similar connotations. Had this been the case, it may have been quite apropos that it

was the legs and hoofs of the deer depicted in the supports, evoking the

aforementioned chase, and by extension, celestial movement.

Fig. 4-6: Deer hoof support from Residence A

Opossum supports

Other support forms are far less frequent. Of these the most common is that

labeled herefollowing descriptions by Seler (1990 v.5: 197) and terminology of

Lind (1994: 92)as an opossum, due to its long snout and characteristic dark

markings around the eyes, forming a point toward the front of the face (Fig. 4-7).

Seler, drawing from Sahagun, links the opossum to ideals of, and rituals related to,

child birth. Though the opossum does at times appear in the Mixtec codices, it is not

clear from these depictions whether the animal connoted similar ideas to those cited

by Seler.

69
Fig. 4-7: Opossum support from Residence A

A curious feature of the opossums depicted in the polychrome supports is that

they exhibit a series of multicolored bands along the back of the neckclearly not a

natural trait of the animal. Seler (1990 v.5: 194) notes the existence in Aztec myth of

an animal known as the cuetlachtli, which possesses small narrow ears and a thick

snout, and is said to have a poisonous breath, which changes into rainbow hues, and

said to be a beast of prey that waylays other animals. According to Seler, it was

considered one of the strongest and bravest of animals, along with the eagle and the

jaguar, and was linked to warriors and the festival devoted to the god Xipe Totec, in

which war captives were sacrificed. Linking this animal to the opossum supports

found amongst the polychromes is questionable, especially as depictions of the

cuetlachtli in historical documentation are extremely scarce. However, such a

linkage may explain the curious multicolored stripes found upon in it, the depiction in

the support perhaps then constituting a composite animala phenomenon not

uncommon in Mesoamerican iconography.

70
Unidentified mammal support

One relatively complete piece of a support was found that bore great

resemblance in form to the opossum supports (Fig. 4-8). This piece, however, lacks

the eye markings characteristic of the opossum, instead exhibiting small black

markings on each side of the eye. Most curiously, color of the support was divided

bi-laterally, one half red in color, the other orange. What specific animal this support

might depict is currently unknown.

Figure 4-8: Unidentified mammal support from Residence A

Eagle head supports

Supports representing eagles in the assemblage are known from only two

small fragments (Fig. 4-9), but numerous complete examples are found in the

collections of the Tututepec community museum; inspection of these materials

allowing for identification of the fragments recovered from excavations. A molded

eagle head forms the foot of the support, while the leg is decorated with white

triangular depictions of feathers over a black, or at times red, background.

Significances of the eagle will be discussed in more depth in the next chapter, but for

71
many Mesoamerican peoples it, along with the jaguar, was considered the bravest of

animals, a patron of warriors, associated with warfare and the sun (Seler 1990 v.5:

241, Libura 2004: 14). Given that the eagle is normally typified by white plumage

with black markings, the use of red in some of the supports is curious. The resultant

red and white design seen in these supports may evoke the manner predominant in

Mixteca-Puebla art of depicting flint knives, which are not uncommonly seen

connected to the feathers of eagles found in the Mixtec and Borgia group codices

(Fig. 4-10). By conceptually linking eagles and sacrificial knives, this design may

have thus served as a means of further evoking themes of warfare and sacrifice.

Fig. 4-9: Fragment of eagle support from Residence A

72
Fig. 4-10: Depiction of eagle with flint knives from the codex Nuttall

Mushroom/phallic supports

Lastly, mushroom or phallus shaped supports are known from one piece

recovered from Residence B (Fig. 4-11). Lind (1994: 92) argues that an

interpretation of these forms as representations of mushrooms is more plausible due

to rituals related to mushroom use shown on page 24 of the Codex Vindobonensis

(see also Anders et al. 1992: 146-148, Furst 1978: 203-206). However, the

mushrooms in this scene differ from the vessel supports in their shape (Figure 4-12).

Lind also notes that there are representations of two ollas exhibiting

mushroom/phallic supports in the very same codex, yet these are found on page 18a

in a different ritual scene, and they appear to contain pulque and chocolate (Anders et

al. 1992: 159, Furst 1978: 242). The supports shown in the codex more closely

resemble the ceramic supports from Yucu Dzaa, also differing in shape from the

mushrooms shown in the ritual scene on page 24. It is therefore not entirely clear that

the ceramic supports represent mushrooms, and given that the vessels may have held

pulque, which was equated with blood and semen, interpreting the support forms as

phalluses may be plausible as well.

73
Fig. 4-11: Mushroom/phallic support from Residence B

Fig. 4-12: Depiction of ritual use of mushrooms from the codex Vindobonensis

Representations found in the vessel supports do not appear to bear any clear

or apparently necessary relation to the imagery painted on the vessel bodies. Given

the great variation and diversity of the latter imagery, the uniformity exhibited by the

74
supports is quite striking: not only do representations take relatively few forms, but

there is little variation within these forms, apart from size. Depictions of serpents,

deer hoofs, opossums, etc., are highly uniform; almost formulaic in appearance.

Because these supports are so apparently standardized, it is tempting to suspect that

they might have been produced independent of the vessels themselves. However,

there is currently no rigorous method available for evaluating this hypothesis. The

themes evoked by the supports appear to relate to very general and widespread

aspects of Mixtec belief, related to rain, sacred covenants and sacrifice, agricultural

and human fertility, warfare, and possibly creation. These were all related

conceptually and could have complemented a whole host of different kinds of

imagery found on the bodies of the vessels. As will be been in Chapter 5, many of

these same themes are also connoted by images painted on the vessels bodies.

Support forms may shed some light on interregional connections. In his

comparison of polychromes from Highland Oaxaca and Cholula, Lind (1994: 92)

finds considerable variation in the frequencies of support forms between the two

regions, summarized in the table below in combination with the Yucu Dzaa data.

75
Table 4-3: Regional Comparison of Support Forms
Support Form Cholula Highland Oaxaca Yucu Dzaa
(percent) (percent) (percent)*
Bullet/Conical 0.00 35.29 30.72
Mushroom 0.00 17.65 0.60
Deer Hoof/Phallus 0.00 15.29 28.32
Serpent Head 0.00 11.76 33.74
Slab 16.67 9.41 0.00
Eagle Head 0.00 4.70 1.20
Deer Head 0.00 2.36 0.00
Duck Head 0.00 1.18 0.00
Eagle Claw 0.00 1.18 0.00
Jaguar Claw 0.00 1.18 0.00
Opossum Head 50.00 0.00 4.82
Jaguar Head 33.33 0.00 0.00
Unidentified mammal 0.00 0.00 0.60
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00
*Unidentified support fragments are not included in these figures

The Yucu Dzaa supports clearly bear greater resemblance to Linds Highland

Oaxaca sample than to that from Cholula: of the four most common forms in the

Oaxaca sample, three of these are the most common at Yucu Dzaa as well. At the

same time, it is interesting that mushroom supports are quite rare at Yucu Dzaa, and

slab supportscommon in both Cholula and the Mixteca Altaare entirely absent.

Perhaps most curiously, opossum head supports are the most common form found at

Cholula, and while they are entirely absent in Linds Highland Oaxaca sample, are

present in limited quantities at Yucu Dzaa. Seler (1990 v.5: 200) reports that ceramic

supports of this form are found in a variety of regions throughout Mesoamerica,

including Michoacan. Thus while the Yucu Dzaa supports most closely resemble

materials from the Mixteca Alta and Valley of Oaxaca, it is possible that they suggest

connections with more distant regions such as Puebla, and even perhaps West

Mexico, as well.

76
4.4 Vessel Forms

Of the 431 rim sherds in the Yucu Dzaa polychrome sample, 391 of these

could confidently be assigned to one of five general categories of vessel form,

frequencies for which are presented in Table 4-4. In constructing the various

categories of vessel form, I have tried to be as consistent as possible with terminology

used in previous studies of Mixteca-Puebla polychromes, though certain differences

exist in terms used by the various authors.

Table 4-4: Yucu Dzaa Vessel Form Frequencies

Vessel Form Number of rim sherds Percent
Cajete 239 61.12
Olla 100 25.58
Tecomate/Neck-less jar 12 3.07
Plate / Platter 1 0.26
Undetermined restricted 39 9.97
orifice (olla or tecomate)
Totals: 391 100.00

In the remainder of this section the various vessel forms will be defined and

described, followed by a comparison of the data to materials from the Mixteca Alta

and Cholula. For certain rim sherds, it could be determined that the sherd came from

a vessel with a restricted orificei.e. likely from either an olla or tecomate

however, these sherds were too fragmentary for a more specific distinction to be

made. They have thus been labeled undetermined restricted orifice in the table

above, and will be excluded from further discussion and analysis, because they cannot

be placed in a definitive category.

Cajetes

Cajetes, following Linds (1987: 13) terminology, are open bowls. Cajetes

are the most frequent vessel form found in the Yucu Dzaa sample, constituting

77
61.12% of all identifiable rim sherds (see Table 4-5). They are painted on their

interior walls and bases, and most commonly on their exterior walls as well, though

this is not always the case. Bases are typically painted a plain orange on their

interiors, but occasionally exhibit complex designs as well (Fig. 4-13). Subtle

variation in wall form occurs, as cajetes exhibit incurving-divergent (i.e. sub-

hemispherical bowls), as well as outleaning and outcurving walls (conical bowls) (see

Figures 4-14a-c). Of these, semispherical bowls are the most common, constituting

approximately 67% of all cajete fragments from which wall form could be inferred.

All cajetes have direct rims and relatively flat bases. Mean orifice diameter for these

vessels in the sample is 18.58 cm (see Table 4-5).

Fig. 4-13: Over-head view of a reconstructed tripod cajete from Residence A.

78
Fig. 4-14: Profile drawings of Yucu Dzaa cajetes with A) incurving-divergent, B)
outleaning, and C) outcurving walls.

Ollas
Again following Linds (1987: 16-17) terminology, Ollas are defined as

vessels exhibiting globular bodies and cylindrical necks with restricted orifices.

Unsurprisingly, ollas are only painted on their exterior surfaces (Figure 4-15), with

the exception of a red stripe inevitably painted on the interior rim. Sanchez (2005:

45) refers to these vessels as jarros, and many observers might be apt to term them

jars in English. However, as the formal data presented here will be compared most

closely to that presented by Lind, I employ his terminology. The break between the

body and neck of a given olla is most commonly quite subtle and the wall is

composite silhouette in form (Figs. 14-16a and 14-16b). Less frequently, ollas have a

more formalized neck that breaks sharply from the body (Figure 14-16c). Because

many rim sherds were quite small in size, the exact form of the overall body could not

be inferred. Mean orifice diameter for these vessels is 14.1 cm (see Table 4-5).

Because so few ollas were recovered that were near-complete, calculations of mean

79
volume and height could not be made. These vessels are the second most frequent

form found in the sample, making up 25.58% of the total.

Fig. 4-15: Frontal view of a reconstructed tripod olla recovered from Residence
A.

80
Fig. 4-16: Profile drawing of ollas from Yucu Dzaa. 4-16a and 4-16b exhibit
relatively subtle angular breaks and outcurving necks, while 4-16c exhibits a
more sharply defined vertical neck.

Tecomates or Neck-less jars

Tecomates, following McCafferys (2001: 25) terminologyor what might

also be considered neck-less jarsare known from only twelve (see Table 4-4)

relatively fragmentary pieces in the Tututepec sample. These vessels have globular

bodies and incurving-convergent walls, thus restricted orifices (Figure 4-17), and are

painted only on their exterior surfaces, aside from at times a small red band along

their interior rims. Mean orifice diameter for neck-less jars is 8 cm.

Fig. 4-17: Profile drawings of super-hemispherical bowls from Yucu Dzaa.

81
Plates/Platters

These vessels are extremely shallow bowls with relatively flat bases and

broad, thin rims everted approximately 90 outward from the vessel body (Figure 4-

18). Lind (1994) has dubbed them platters in certain publications, but plates in others

1987), the latter term appearing to be in greater accord with those of McCafferty

(2001) and Sanchez (2005). Plates are known from only one rim sherd at Yucu Dzaa,

though diagnostic body sherds indicate that they may be slightly more frequent at the

site. Museum pieces from the town of Tututepec and data published by Lind (1994)

indicate that plates most often had tripod supports and were elaborately painted over

their interior bodies and rims. Painting was typically more crude on the exterior

body, in the form of simple colored bands, and the exteriors may not exhibit a white

base-coat. Data for these vessels is insufficient to provide figures for mean rim and

orifice diameter.

Fig. 4-18: Profile drawing of a platter fragment from collections of the Museo
Yucusaa (Tututepec Community Museum)

82
Table 4-5: Mean orifice diameter figures for Yucu Dzaa vessel forms (Note:
orifice diameter measurements not available for all specimens)
Vessel Form Mean orifice diameter (in centimeters +/-
s.d.)
Cajete (n=117) 18.58 +/- 6.22
Olla (n=60) 14.1 +/- 3.40
Tecomate/Neck-less jar (n=7) 8 +/-1.16
Undetermined restricted orifice (n=18) 8.94 +/- 4.93
Platters (n=1) NA

As discussed in Chapter 3, adjusting frequencies of vessel forms based on rim

sherds by taking into account discrepancies in mean orifice diameter may provide a

better representation of real frequencies. Thus, because cajete orifices are on

average 2.08 times larger than those of tecomates, we would multiply the frequency

for tecomates by this number to account for bias in basing frequencies solely on rim

sherds. Doing these calculations did not greatly alter the proportional representation

of the assemblage: the order of forms in terms of highest to lowest frequency remains

the same, and while the percentage of cajetes drops by approximately ten percent and

that for undetermined restricted orifice vessels rises by approximately the same

amount, proportions for other vessel forms change very little. These adjustments

therefore do not significantly change our understanding of which vessel forms are

most common in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage.

A valuable body of data to which to compare vessel forms from Yucu Dzaa is

provided by Lind (1987: 15) in his study of Late Postclassic polychrome ceramics

from the sites of Yucuita and Chachoapan in the Mixteca Alta. Linds data on vessel

form frequencies, based on a sample of 149 rim sherds are presented in tabular form

below in conjunction with those from Yucu Dzaa (Table 4-6).

83
Table 4-6: Comparison of vessel form frequencies between Yucu Dzaa and the
Mixteca Alta (Lind 1987: 15)
Yucu Dzaa Chachoapan and Yucuita
Vessel Forms No. rim Percent No. rim Percent
sherds sherds
Cajete 239 67.9 99 66.44
Olla 100 28.41 45 30.20
Neck-less jar 12 3.41 0 0.00
Platter 1 0.28 0 0.00
Censer bowl 0 0.00 5 3.36
Totals: 352 100.00 149 100.00

It should first be noted that, as mentioned previously, undetermined restricted-

orifice vessels are excluded from the Yucu Dzaa sample here, which likely has the

effect of slightly increasing the true frequency of cajetes, and reducing the

frequencies of ollas and tecomates. However, because cajetes are slightly more

frequent in the Tututepec sample than in that of Chachoapan and Yucuita, while ollas

are slightly less frequent, the exclusion of unidentified vessels with restricted orifices

should not jeopardize a claim of similarity between the frequencies between the two

samples. Secondly, three of the five vessel forms presented in the table do not occur

in one or the other of the samples. Censer bowls are not found at Tututepec, but

constitute 3.36% of Linds sample. Censer bowls are vessels with globular bodies

that exhibit short collared rims with ventilation holes at the base (Lind 1987: 17).

Tecomates and plates are not noted by Lind in his study, however, plates are known

to occur in other contexts in Highland Oaxaca (Lind 1994, see Table 4). Though

none of these three vessel forms occurs in high frequency at either of the sites, the

absence of them at one site or the other has the unfortunate effect of making it

impossible to use chi-squared statistical tests to determine whether the samples are

significantly different.

84
 The frequencies of cajetes and ollas for the two samples are so starkly close to

one another that, even without the aide of statistical tests, similarities between the two

samples should be quite clear, indicating interregional connections. At the same time,

tecomates may perhaps be restricted to the Tututepec region. Because tecomates also

appear to be more common in coastal Mesoamerica during earlier periods (Arnold

1999), this may reflect the continuity of a more localized tradition. Alternatively, it

may indicate a secondary stylistic influence from Cholula, as the tecomates resemble

to some extent the supra-hemispherical bowls reported by McCafferty (2001),

though the Cholula vessels have less restricted orifices.

Interregional connections are clarified by taking into account Linds (1994:

87) comparison of polychrome vessel forms common to Highland Oaxaca and

Cholula, reproduced in the table below (Table 4-7).

Table 4-7: Frequencies of vessel forms for Oaxaca and Cholula polychromes,
based upon museum collections (Lind 1994: 87)
Vessel Form Highland Oaxaca Cholula (percent)
(percent)
Tripod Ollas 37.78 0.00
Tripod Cajetes 33.33 13.64
Pitchers 11.11 0.00
Tripod Platters 3.70 0.00
Censer Bowls 3.70 7.27
Goblets 2.96 17.27
Effigies 2.96 3.64
Supportless Cajetes 2.23 6.36
Sahumadores 2.23 3.64
Hemispherical Bowls 0.00 30.00
Plates 0.00 9.09
Basins 0.00 6.36
Vases 0.00 2.73
Totals 100.00 100.00

Because the aforementioned study drew on polychrome materials from a number of

different sites, and on pieces that did not necessarily have archaeological contextual

85
data, the frequencies above should not be expected to parallel those seen in specific

domestic contexts, such as those reported in Table 4-6. Nonetheless, it can be seen

that regional differences are quite stark, as the most frequent vessel form in each

region is entirely absent in the other.

Ollas, cajetes, and tripod plattersthree of the four most common forms

seen in Linds sampleconstitute three of the four known vessel forms from

household excavations at Yucu Dzaa. Remains of pitchers (see illustrations in Lind

1994: 89) were not found in excavations, but are present in the collections of the

Tututepec community museum. Effigy vessels are also found at the museum, and

fragments of a small jaguar effigy vessel were recovered from Residence B, outside

the midden deposits upon which the present study was based. One miniature olla

with molded serpent appliqus was also found outside the area from which the sample

was drawn.

In sum, the vast majority of vessel forms in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage closely

resemble forms common to the Mixteca Alta and Valley of Oaxaca. Tecomates may

be similar to the hemispherical (or supra-hemispherical) bowls, noted by Lind as the

most common form in the Cholula sample, but otherwise no obvious connections

with Cholula are apparent. Thus the formal data in certain respects parallel that for

paint colors and vessel supports: the polychrome ceramics exhibit strong connections

with the Oaxaca highlands while particular aspects may be unique to the coast. The

use of blue paint and the tecomate form may be unique to coastal polychromes, while

other features may reflect influences from more distant regions, such as the opossum

supports. These data suggest that though the majority of polychrome pottery at Yucu

86
Dzaa was likely produced locally, such production was closely linked to knowledge

and ideas that were shared widely throughout Mesoamerica during the Late

Postclassic, ties with the Oaxaca highlands being most intimate.

4.5 Codical Depictions of Mixteca-Puebla Polychromes

Overall, the polychrome assemblage exhibits relatively little formal

variability, and formal analysis alone provides few insights with respect to the

functions of these vessels. Lind (1994), however, has demonstrated that depictions of

polychromes in the Mixtec and Borgia group codices may provide considerable

insights as to how they were used. Lind cogently argues that the Mixtec group

codices are most relevant for examining the ceramics of Oaxaca, as these documents

are known to deal primarily with histories of Postclassic Mixtec city-states. At the

same time, the Borgia group codices are widely believed to have been produced in the

Tolteca-Chichimeca region (Nicholson and Keber 1994), encompassing most of what

is now the modern day state of Puebla, and are thus more germane for examining the

Cholula ceramics.

Lind shows that in the Mixtec codices, cajetes and ollas are overwhelmingly

depicted in scenes of feastingmeetings of royalty, marriages, etc.and are shown

as vessels used for the drinking of chocolate and pulque (e.g. Fig. 4-4). In the Borgia

codices, hemispherical bowls and goblets are shown used for this same purpose.

Thus for both Oaxaca and Cholula, the most common vessel forms appear to have

been drinking vessels used primarily during feasting events. In the Borgia codices,

the vessels common to Cholula are shown serving other ritual functions, such as in

the making of offerings, etc. (Lind 1994: 87). This difference may to some extent

87
reflect differences in the content of the respective groups of codices. The Mixtec

documents primarily chart dynastic histories, while the Borgia codices are typified by

more mythico-religious in content. Despite these differences, in scenes found in the

Mixtec codices that depict the making of offerings at temples and ritual processions,

we see not cajetes and ollas, but sahumadores (ladle-shaped vessels with long

handles, used for the burning of incense) being used (Fig. 4-19). It therefore seems

likely that, particularly for the Mixtec regions of Oaxaca, we can be confident in

distinguishing vessels that were used for feasting occasions from those that were used

in other types of ritual practices.

Fig. 4-19: Depiction of sahumador use in the codex Nuttall

Taking the above insights from the codices into account, and noting that the

materials under consideration in the present study all came from midden deposits and

were associated with other forms of domestic refuse (Levine 2006), there is little

reason to doubt that the overwhelming majority of the Yucu Dzaa polychromes were

used predominantly as drinking vessels during household ritual feasts. No remains of

vessels clearly associated with other types of rituals, such as sahumadores and censer

bowls, were recovered from the residences excavated at Yucu Dzaa, and were

perhaps restricted to more specialized religious practitioners. The issue of elite

88
feasting will be taken up again and explored in more depth in Chapter 6, after first

discussing the iconography of the Yucu Dzaa polychromes.

4.6 Summary

In this chapter I have provided a general description of the ceramics from the

Yucu Dzaa middens. Data from INAA were then discussed to suggest that the vast

majority of the polychrome ceramics recovered from excavations at Yucu Dzaa were

produced locally. Data from analyses of paint colors, vessel supports, and vessel

forms support the claim that the ceramics were produced locally, revealing regionally

unique aspects of the assemblage, while at the same time elucidating broad

interregional connections and/or influences as well. Lastly, depictions of polychrome

ceramics found in the Mixteca-Puebla codices were discussed in order to demonstrate

that the Yucu Dzaa polychromes were primarily used in domestic feasting rituals.

In Chapter 5, in an effort to explore the ideas and meanings that would have

been communicated in such rituals, the painted images found on these ceramics and

their potential articulations with notions of cosmology, identity, and ideology are

explored. While the ceramics and their imagery share a great deal in common with

general Mixteca-Puebla art and iconography found over a wide area of Late

Postclassic Mesoamerica, the Yucu Dzaa materials appear to have predominantly

produced locally and used in more intimate domestic settings. Therefore they may

not simply recapitulate generalized pan-Mesoamerican ideologies, but speak to more

localized notions of ideology and identity, articulating with more site-specific socio-

political dynamics. These issues are taken up in the remainder of the thesis.

89
Chapter 5

Iconographic Analysis

In this chapter the results of the iconographic portion of the ceramic analysis

are presented. As discussed in Chapter 3, over the course of analysis over fifty

different types of design motifs were defined and their frequencies documented for

the Yucu Dzaa polychromes. In the first section of this chapter, I present these

frequencies and then proceed to individually describe and, wherever possible, provide

interpretations of what the most common motifs may have represented and/or

connoted for users of Yucu Dzaa polychromes. As will become obvious in the pages

below, the latter venture is much more feasible for some motifs than for others: for

certain more abstract motifs, identification remains elusive and little can be said about

them. For the sake of brevity, these motifs will only be treated very briefly, and those

that occur extremely rarely in the sample will not be discussed unless special

circumstances warrant.

In the second section, rare but particularly interesting motifs will be discussed,

including certain motifs found on materials in the collections of the Tututepec

Community Museum. While these motifs are not characteristic of the imagery of the

ceramic sample on the whole, their explicit connections with images found in the

prehispanic codices present unique opportunities to gain insight as to how aspects of

ideology may have been expressed in, and circulated via, the medium of polychrome

pottery.

In the third section of this chapter, we move away from individual motifs to a

discussion of general patterns of decoration found in the polychrome sample and,

90
following Sanchezs (2005) approach, I attempt to discern recurring associations of

motifs in the assemblage to glean a more complete understanding of the iconographic

contents of the vessels. In sum, this chapter aims to trace out as far as possible the

most salient themes of ideology, cosmology, and identity found within the Yucu Dzaa

polychrome ceramics, which will then be situated within, and considered in terms of,

their socio-historical context and questions of identity in Chapter 6.

5.1 Catalog of Common Design Motifs in the Yucu Dzaa Ceramic Sample

Of the total ceramic sample of 1780 sherds, 464 exhibited one or more

identifiable design motifs. The other sherds in the sample were either too

fragmentary or eroded for such identifications to be made. Fifty-four categories of

motifs were defined, but many of these occurred very rarely. The discussion is

therefore limited only to motifs that occur at least five times within the sample, or on

over 1% of the total number of sherds with identifiable motifs. Frequencies for these

motifs are presented in the table below (Table 5-1), after which each is described in

turn.

91
Table 5-1: Frequencies of most common design motifs in the Yucu Dzaa
polychrome sample.
Motif Number Percent (of 464 sherds
with identifiable motifs)
Narrow feathers 109 23.5
Circles with dots 96 20.7
Eagle heads 73 15.7
Smoke volutes 51 11.0
Orange bar 49 10.6
Reptile skin 43 9.3
Clouds 34 7.3
Orange hooks or volutes 33 7.1
Broad feathers 32 6.9
Xicalcoliuquis 30 6.5
Pink bar 22 4.7
Red spot with concentric ring 17 3.7
Feather/down balls 14 3.0
Stellar eyes with smoke volutes 11 2.4
Flowers 11 2.4
Abstract geometry 11 2.4
Orange fan 10 2.2
Chevrons 9 1.9
Multicolored diagonal bands/diamonds 9 1.9
Human/anthropomorphic figures 8 1.7
Triangles 6 1.3
Crocodiles/serpents 6 1.3
Other birds 5 1.1
Floral staff 5 1.1
Small connected rectangles 5 1.1

Narrow feathers

Narrow feathers (Fig. 5-1) are the most common motif in the ceramic

assemblage. These images bear some resemblance to motifs that Sanchez (2005: 57)

identifies as maguey spines, however, they differ in color, and often in form, and are

not found in association with images of bone awls, as is the case in Sanchezs sample.

In the Yucu Dzaa materials, these images are most frequently found in groups of

three, with their lower portions alternating between pink and blue colors. Adjacent to

them is commonly found a similar object that tapers proximally into a hook or volute

92
shape (dubbed here orange hooks or volutes). This pattern most closely parallels

that seen in the obverse side of the codex Vindobonensis, and the codices Colombino-

Becker and Nuttall, in which very similar sets of objects are frequently seen forming

the headdresses of various personages (Fig. 5-2). Particularly in the Vindobonensis

and Colombino-Becker, not only the forms, but also the color schemes are quite

similar, seen often in these codices as alternating between red and blue. Because such

headdresses are found on both men and women in the codices, the motif does not

appear to have gender-specific associations.

Fig. 5-1: Narrow feathers, smoke volutes, orange bars, and orange hooks/volutes
from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

93
Fig. 5-2: Narrow feathers seen on headdresses in the codex Vindobonensis

These groups of feathers, while occurring most commonly in the headdresses

of persons, are also found in the codices on place glyphs, as well as other objects,

including a rubber ball (Fig. 5-3). Meanwhile, in the ceramics, these icons are

entirely displaced: we virtually never find them affixed to either persons or any other

objects in the ceramics.

Fig. 5-3: Narrow feathers seen on place glyphs and a rubber ball in the codex
Vindobonensis

94
 The brilliant colorspink and blueseen in the lower parts of the feathers

may indicate that they were precious items obtained from birds that were relatively

rare. The motifs, therefore, likely evoked notions of beauty and lavish adornment

generally, as opposed to being tied to specific types of persons or objects. It is

interesting to note that while this is the most common motif in the Yucu Dzaa

assemblage, the pattern is not reported in other studies of iconography of Mixteca-

Puebla polychrome pottery (Sanchez 2005, Lind 1987 and 1996). Because historical

documents indicate that Yucu Dzaa was a major producer and exporter of valued

feathers (Spores 1993), these motifs may have evoked especially community-specific

notions of identity and prestige, and representations of these valuable objects adorned

the drinking and serving vessels residents of Yucu Dzaa used during special events.

This set of motifs has the tendency to repeat several times on a given vessel,

particularly around the interiors of cajetes, and therefore may be over-represented

relative to other motifs within the sample.

Circle with dots

In keeping with Linds (1987: 94) terminology, these motifs are simply

referred to circles with dots, and are for the most part as mundane as such a name

would imply, constituted by a circle with a very small concentric circle in its center.

Sanchez (2005: 115-116) has referred to certain of these motifs as precious stones,

due to their tendency to occur repeatedly in bands around a vessel, alternating in

brilliant colors. This pattern is also seen in several examples from the Yucu Dzaa

sample (Fig. 5-4), thus Sanchezs interpretation may very well hold for these cases, as

ethnohistoric data indicate that a variety of gem stones were prized at Yucu Dzaa,

95
among other Mixtec polities, and at times constituted tribute items (Dahlgren 1966:

107-109).

Fig. 5-4: Multicolored circles with dots or precious stones from the Yucu Dzaa
assemblage

However, most commonly these motifs are a simple white in color and are

found intermittently amidst more complex and less routinized imagery (for example,

see Figs. 5-35, 5-36). I would assert, therefore, that while in certain instances these

motifs may represent gem stones, in the Yucu Dzaa ceramics they appear by and

large to serve as a general aesthetic device, as place fillers or providing balance to

various scenes painted on the polychrome vessels. Because these motifs tend to be

found repeatedly on an individual vessel, their frequencies may be somewhat over-

represented in the sample.

Eagle heads

Also very frequent in the Yucu Dzaa polychromes are images of eagle heads

(Fig. 5-5), found on nearly 16% of the sherds exhibiting identifiable motifs. As

96
mentioned in the previous chapter in the section on color, eagles are distinguished by

white plumage with dark banding, with a crest of erect feathers at the top of the head

(Seler 1990 v. 5: 237). While this banding appears as black or gray in the Mixtec and

Borgia group codices, I have argued that the color blue served as a substitute for these

colors in the Yucu Dzaa polychromes; thus depictions of eagles seen in the ceramics

are virtually identical to the codical images apart from this difference in the color of

the banding. Some might argue that the use of blue may indicate a quetzal bird as

opposed to an eagle, however, in the codices quetzals are always depicted as solid in

color rather than having banded plumage, and further differ in general form (see for

example, Caso 1977: Lamina XII).

Fig. 5-5: Eagle head motif in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Seler (1990 v. 5: 241), though drawing predominantly from central Mexican

sources, discusses how the eagle may be linked to mythology and notions of warfare

and sacrifice:

In the legends we read that in primeval time, when the gods Nanauatzin and Teccitzecatl
plunged into the fire in order to rise to the sky later as the sun and moon, the eagle and the
jaguar leaped after them. The eagle was scorched all over, hence its plumage is entirely black
(or striped with black) and burntLike the jaguar, the other member of the pair of brave

97
 animals that are the symbols and emblem of the warriors, the eagle is edged with stone knives
on the outline of its head or entire body.

Though they are not seen edged with flint knives in the ceramics, otherwise identical

images of eagles are found in the Mixtec codices, as discussed briefly in Chapter 4.

Thus the eagle may be linked not only to warfare, but to the sun, creation, and

sacrifice. Seler (1990 v. 5: 34) further notes, again citing Nahuatl myth, that

Tezcatlipoca created humans and war before the birth of the sun, so that people

existed whose hearts and blood were available, so the sun could eat. This idea finds

a parallel in a scene found on page 12 of the Mixtec codex Selden (Fig. 5-6), in which

a Lord 9 House is seen sacrificing a captured enemy named 13 Deer. An eagle and a

mythical yahui 10 figure are subsequently seen feeding extracted human hearts to a sun

deity.

Fig. 5-6: Depiction of the eagle in the codex Selden

10
Description and discussion of the yahui including its potential connections with the eagle can be
found in Pohl 1994: 43-51.

98
 Therefore, we find rather clear associations of the eagle, warfare, sacrifice,

and connections with the sun not only in Nahuatl creation myth, but in the Mixtec

pictorial documents as well. The eagle was a patron of warriors for many peoples of

Late Postclassic Mesoamerica, and its symbol may have served to evoke the necessity

of warfare as integral to sacrifice and to the maintenance of the sun and the cosmos.

One might be tempted to suspect that the eagle may have served as a symbol

of polity identity at Yucu Dzaa, given how commonly the image is found on the

ceramics and due to the fact that in the Mixtec codices Yucu Dzaas place glyph is

virtually always shown as a hill combined with an image of what appears to be the

head of an eagle. However, the Mixtec word dzaaor saa as it is spelled in the

modern dayonly refers to bird in the most general sense, yaa being the common

word to denote eagle. Smith (1973: 67-68) argues that while the bird in the toponym

is shown as an eagle, elements such as the human chin that often emerges from this

eagles mouth served as phonetic qualifiers that would have emphasized to the

reader that the place name should be read as dzaa rather than yaa. At this point,

there thus does not appear to be solid evidence to link images of eagles at Yucu Dzaa

to the name of the polity. These icons instead likely evoked notions of warfare and

sacrifice, and their relevance for life and cosmology. These motifs at times repeat

several times on an individual vessel, and may therefore be over represented relative

to certain other motifs.

Smoke volutes
Smoke volutes are rather simple motifs, most often occurring in pairs,

extending upward relative to the vessel body, the tops of the volutes being colored

99
white while their lower portions are colored in blue (Fig. 5-1). Similar motifs have

been identified as smoke by Lind (1994: 94) and Sanchez (2005: 64). While the blue

color in the Yucu Dzaa samples is somewhat curious, again, this may be a

substitution for gray or black; and the fact that the volutes seem to rise with respect

to the vessel body may further substantiate this identification. Volutes are seen very

commonly throughout the Mixtec codices, most commonly in depictions of ritual

offerings, emanating from objects such as sahumadores. They may also be employed

to represent speech or song in the codices; however, this is only the case when they

are found associated with persons.

The burning of incense and other sacrificial offerings was widely common in

Mixtec ritual (Spores 1984: 88, Terraciano 2001: 271), and the creation of smoke

likely served as a means of contacting the supernatural. These motifs evoke similar

notions of sacrifice and contact with the sacred on polychrome pottery.

Orange bar
This ambiguous but frequent motif is made up of an orange rectangle within

which are found small red circles and sets of two parallel lines in the pattern seen in

the figure above (Fig. 5-1). What this motif might represent or what significance it

may have is not clear, though similar designs at times appear in the lower body

adornment of persons in various codices. It is often associated with narrow feathers

and smoke volutes, and may be seen several times on a whole vessel.

Reptile skin
This motif, characterized by connected rectangles with small points found in

their centers, has been identified as serpent skin by Sanchez (2005: 70-71). Support

100
for this interpretation is found in codices such as the Borgia, in which many serpents

are found with this form of patterning over their bodies. However, because it also

occurs on the bodies of lizards, I would classify this motif more generally as reptile

skin as it does not appear to be associated exclusively with images of serpents. In

one sherd from the Yucu Dzaa sample, an image of what appears to be a serpent head

is seen integrated with this motif (Fig. 5-7), however, the reptile skin motif is found

by and large by itself within more abstract design schemes.

Fig. 5-7: Serpent skin motif in the Yucu Dzaa sample

Monaghan (1995: 106) writes that in addition to the serpent, the lizard is also

seen as manifestation of rain amongst some Mixtec peoples; the rain lizard

appearing as fine mist or dew. Therefore, while we cannot attribute the reptile skin

motif exclusively to one animal, representations of both the lizard and the snake may

have evoked notions of rain and sacred covenants, as argued in Chapter 4 in the

discussion of serpent head vessel supports.

101
Clouds
This motif (Fig. 5-8) has been identified by Lind (1994) as a flower glyph, and

by Sanchez (2005: 78) as representative of clouds. The design does somewhat

resemble in form certain depictions of flowers seen in the manuscripts (Caso 1977:

Lamina XIV).

Fig. 5-8: Cloud motifs in the Yucu Dzaa sample

Sanchez, meanwhile, identifies the designs as clouds, on the basis of

analogous images seen in the codex Vaticanus B (See also Beyer 1965: 63).

Evidence for this interpretation is quite compelling: a band extends across the

uppermost parts of pages 43 through 46 of this manuscript, in which are found

various cloud symbols identical to those seen on the ceramics (Fig. 5-9). At several

points along this sequence of pages, water is seen descending from the band, and a

solar disk is incorporated into it as well. Below the band on each page is found a

different depiction of the rain god known as Tlaloc in Nahuatl, or Dzahui in Mixtec,

and maize appears to blossom and grow as this sequence progresses.

102
Fig. 5-9: Cloud representations in the codex Vaticanus B (pg. 49)

While Sanchez (2005: 78) interprets the motifs as evoking mysterious forces

and perhaps ancestors, I would tie their significance more closely to the narrative

context in which they are found in the Vaticanus B, and suggest they relate more to

rain and notions of agricultural fertility. Such ideas were particularly apt to be salient

themes of ideology and cosmology in the Mixteca, where contemporary indigenous

peoples continue to identify themselves as uu Dzahui, or people of the rain. As

previously noted in discussions of the connotations of serpent imagery, rain is plays a

figurative role in Mixtec understandings of sacred covenants with the earth

(Monaghan 1995). Thus I would suggest that the motifs here served to help

emphasize these ideas of indebtedness to the earth, the necessity of sacrifice, and

reciprocity. These motifs are often displayed prominently on the ceramic vessels,

103
repeating around the exterior bodies of cajetes or around the rims and necks of ollas

and may have evoked pan-Mixteca senses of identity and cosmology.

Orange hooks or volutes

These images were discussed previously as they are almost inevitably found

with narrow feathers, both on the ceramics and in headdresses and other objects found

in the codices (Fig. 5-1). It is likely that these motifs represent feathers as well, and

their significance is equivalent.

Broad feathers
These motifs have been identified as feathers by both Lind (1987, 1994) and

Sanchez (2005). They are oblong in shape, with a depiction of the quill of the feather

running up the center (Fig. 5-10). These are normally of various solid colors,

however, the broad feather motif can also exhibit black banding, or even more rarely,

concentric rings of multiple colors. Those with black banding likely represent eagle

feathers (Sanchez 2005: 71) and thus likely have connotations associated with

warfare. Others likely relate more generally to lavish adornment, as Sahagun (1959

Bk. 11) details how feathers were the primary materials of a whole host of ritual

garments for peoples of central Mexico and may have related to basic pre-Columbian

notions of beauty and aesthetics. These motifs often occur side-by-side, repeatedly

over the body of a vessel.

104
Fig. 5-10: Broad feather motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Xicalcoliuquis (or grecas or stepped frets

These motifsknown in Nahuatl as Xicalcoliuquis, and in English and

Spanish variously as stepped frets or grecashave a wide geographic and temporal

distribution in Mesoamerica, going back to the Formative period (Beyer 1965: 53).

Despite their widespread occurrence and the fact that they have been subject to

several in-depth analyses (Beyer 1965, Zahller 1977), meanings that these designs

may have carried remain elusive. Xicalcoliuquis have variously been interpreted as

representing forces of nature, deities, and notions of duality (see review in Zahller

1977), however, these interpretations have rested primarily on intuitive readings and

little-to-no contextual evidence. They are known to occur most prominently in

Oaxaca on stone friezes of palaces, such as those found at the site of Mitla, as well as

on ceramics (Fig. 5-11). They are depicted as such in the codices as wellin

depictions of palaces and ceramic vessels, as well as on textilesand are self-

105
contained designs, hence not directly tied to any more clearly representational

imagery that might help us to infer the motifs significance.

Fig. 5-11: Xicalcoliuqui motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Linguistic translations of the name xicalcoliuqui itself do little to clarify the

situation. Beyer (1965: 56), apparently drawing from Sahagun, translates it as

voluta de jcara, or volute of the gourd-vessel, while Sanchez (2005: 85) notes

that it is glossed in the codex Magliabechi (1983: 6) as jcara tuerta, or one-eyed

gourd vessel. We may thus be able to relate the motif to drinking vessels such as the

polychrome ceramics to some extent, but can read little into its meaning beyond this.

Because the motifs are frequently seen in the friezes of palaces both archaeologically

and in the codices, Sanchez (2005: 85) interprets them as representative of the

nobility. However, at Yucu Dzaa we find xicalcoliuquis on the ceramics of non-elite

households. Given that most scholars of the Mixtec codices agree that palace friezes

depicted in the manuscripts served to indicate the Mixtec concept of uu, i.e. town

106
or people, and that ethnohistoric data reveal that words for the noble house could

function metonymically to refer to the polity at large (Terraciano 2001: 103-104), it is

possible that the xicalcoliuqui connoted an idea of corporate identity. I would stress,

however, that understandings of the meanings of this motif remain rather vague.

Pink bar

This motif is made up of a pink rectangle that often exhibits several lines or

red and/or blue colors. It is in some ways similar to the orange bar motif and often

associated with similar imagery. A notion of what this motif may represent currently

remains elusive.

Red spot with concentric ring

Though this motif is quite basic (Fig. 5-12), always found over a white

background, similar images in the Mixteca-Puebla manuscripts that might provide

insights as to its significance appear to be quite rare. The only instance of it that I

have come across is found on page 46 of the Vaticanus B, seen on the waist

ornamentation of Dzahui in the sequence previously noted in discussing the cloud

motif. Because Dzahui is depicted multiple times in this sequence, but only once

shown with adornment exhibiting the red spot motif, it is not clear if there is a

necessary relation between the motif and the deity.

107
Fig. 5-12: Red spot with concentric ring motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

A clue to the motifs significance may come from its associations seen in the

ceramics themselves: this red spot is often seen next to the motif termed here

stellar eye with smoke volutes that will be discussed in more depth shortly (Fig.

5-14). The latter is likely a celestial motif that connotes night and darkness.

These motifs will be found side by side, but divided into different boxes, the

latter motif seen over a dark background, as opposed to the white background of

the former. The two motifs may therefore indicate a paired opposition, and the

red spot would thus likely be representative of the sun. As discussed in depth

by Brumfiel (2004: 250-251), the opposition of solar and celestial motifs may

evoke the notion in central Mexican cosmology that a celestial war was constantly

being waged between the sun and the elements of the night sky. Sacrifice was

seen as necessary to ensure the suns victory and, concomitantly, its rise each

morning. The motifs seen here may similarly evoke this ideology.

108
Feather/down balls

These motifs have been identified as balls of feathers or down by both Lind

(1994: 94) and Sanchez (2005: 71). Specifically, they are apt to represent eagle

feathers as the upper halves are typically painted a dark color: blue at Yucu Dzaa

(Fig. 5-13), black or gray in other regions. As discussed previously, eagle feathers

likely have strong connotations with warfare, and the motifs discussed here are often

seen in the Mixtec codices adorning shields and arrows. Though they are not

incorporated with other motifs in the Yucu Dzaa ceramics, Sanchez (2005: 75)

reports that the motifs are frequently found at the centers of crossed pairs of arrows in

other Mixteca-Puebla polychromes. At the same time, feather balls are also seen in

the codices incorporated into headdresses, and at times other ritual objects such as

sticks used to create fires (Caso 1977: Lmina XI), thus their connotations may not be

related exclusively to warfare.

Fig. 5-13: Feather/down ball motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

109
Stellar eyes with smoke volutes
Motifs termed by the majority of codex scholars as stellar eyes or star-

eyes are formed by a bisected circle; the top half of a darker, usually red color, the

bottom half in which is found a smaller half-circle forming the pupil of an eye. The

double-meaning of these motifs are owed to the fact that they are often shown

forming the eyes of animals, persons, and deities, in codices such as the Borgia, while

also adorning sky bands and roofs of palaces in many of the manuscripts. Indeed, on

page five of the codex Colombino-Becker I, next to an image of the royal palace at

Yucu Dzaa is found a Colonial period gloss which reads huahi andehui, meaning

house of heaven.

Interestingly, virtually all such motifs found in the Yucudzaa polychrome

sample are shown with what appear to be volutes of smoke rising from the tops of

them (Fig. 5-14). While similar depictions are rare in the codices, they do occur at

times on roofs of palaces or sky bands affixed to place glyphs, such as in the scene

from page 75 of the Nuttall in which these motifs alternate with symbols of Venus

(Fig. 5-15). The stellar eyes with smoke volutes are thus apt to evoke the night sky,

though the specific reason as to why they are shown with these volutes remains

unclear. Byron Hamann (2004) has studied depictions of persons in the Mixtec

codices in which volutes of smoke are seen emanating from the eyes, and has linked

these depictions to ideas of enhanced vision. It is possible that these stellar eyes on

the ceramics may connote similar notions of vision, perhaps linked to certain ritual

practices such as divination. As discussed above, these motifs are often found

adjacent to red spots with concentric rings, and their combination may thus evoke

opposition between day and night, celestial war, and the necessity of sacrifice for the

110
suns renewal. Similar ideas would have been connoted by eagle representations,

through their relation to the sun, warfare, and sacrifice.

Fig. 5-14: Stellar eye with smoke volutes motifs in the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Fig. 5-15: Stellar eye with smoke volutes motif in a sky band from codex Nuttall

Flowers
Flowers are seen in the Yucu Dzaa polychromes in several different forms.

They may be shown with four petals or more attached to a central axis (Fig. 5-16), or

less commonly in the form seen in Fig. 5-17, which serves as the calendrical day-sign

for flower, and is often found on trees in the codices and also frequently used to

111
represent human hearts in the manuscripts as well (see Fig. 5-6). As suggested by

Sanchez (2005: 77), these motifs may relate to sacrifice, both due to the visual

equivalence of certain flowers and human hearts seen in the codices, and given that

flowers have been interpreted as representative of the sun by other scholars (Vega

1984, Brumfiel 2004).

Fig. 5-16: Flower motif with four petals from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

112
Fig. 5-17: Flower motif resembling hearts from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Abstract Geometry
Though relatively few in number, certain pieces exhibit more abstract

geometric motifs, such as spirals, concentric squares, etc (Fig. 5-18). In some cases

these will be the only motifs found on the piece, while in others they will be

combined with more clearly representational images. Any potential significance or

meanings these motifs might have had are not currently known.

Fig. 5-18: Example of abstract geometry motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

113
Orange fans
These motifs (Fig. 5-19) somewhat resemble those labeled orange bars, as

one portion is typically orange and marked with red lines. The motif also bears close

resemblance to an element incorporated into what Sanchez (2005: 69) identifies as the

Penacho de Quetzalcoatl, i.e. the crest of Quetzalcoatl, seen in certain of the

polychromes she has analyzed and in images of this deity found in the Borgia group

codices. In the Yucu Dzaa polychromes, this element is found in isolation, and

because it not always seen in images of Quetzalcoatl in the codices, a specific link

between the motif and the deity is not apparent. It may represent an element of lavish

and/or ritual adornment, however, this motif is currently not well understood.

Fig. 5-19: Orange fan motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Chevrons
Chevrons (Fig. 5-20) have long been understood by codex scholars (see Caso

1977, Smith 1973) to serve as icons of warfare. In the pre-Columbian manuscripts

and lienzos these occur most commonly in the form of war path bands seen

114
between two place glyphs when war or conquest is depicted as having occurred

amongst Mixtec city-states. This motif is also incorporated into the elements of dress

of certain personages found in the codices, perhaps most notably that of Lady 6-

Monkey War Band Quechquemitl, who is shown on page eight of the codex Selden

receiving a garment adorned with chevrons after success in warfare. In the Yucu

Dzaa polychromes, bands of chevrons are found in isolation, as opposed to the

codices, and likely served as a general icon for prominence or prowess in warfare.

Fig. 5-20: Chevron motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Multicolored diagonal bands/diamonds

Because of the fragmentary nature of the pieces, it is not clear whether these

motifs are constituted simply of diagonal bands, or possibly form diamond shapes at

times (Fig. 5-21, 5-25). The bands are of alternating brilliant colors, including blue,

red, pink, and orange. As will be further discussed in a later section of this chapter,

these designs appear to occur in distinct panels around exterior walls of cajetes, and

these panels are found adjacent to more representational imagery. The bands perhaps

115
call to mind the aforementioned chevrons, but also possibly motifs found within

certain place glyphs of the Mixtec codices, argued by Byland and Pohl (1994), among

others, as representative of stone. This motif is incorporated into depictions of the

Yucu Dzaa place-sign found in codices Colombino-Becker I, Bodley, and Nuttall.

Fig. 5-21: Multicolored diagonal band motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

The multicolored bands of these motifs more closely parallel the depictions of

stone in the codices, as opposed to chevrons. Whether the ceramic imagery really

does in fact represent stone, however, and if so, what this might imply remains

unclear.

Human/anthropomorphic figures
Depictions of humans or other anthropomorphic figures are known from eight

sherds in the ceramic sample. Most of these pieces are rather fragmentary. All

116
appear to be depicted in profile, as is customary in the codices. Of the four

representations for which gender can confidently be inferred, all appear male based

on dress and adornment, though the sample is obviously too small to determine

whether this is indicative of a pattern.

For those depictions bearing great resemblance to typical persons seen in the

codices, all wear large circular ear-spools (Fig. 5-22). Pieces in the sample, as well as

others from the Tututepec Community Museum, suggest they are also frequently seen

wearing the type of red shirt known in Nahuatl as a xicolli. Nancy Troike (1980), in

her analysis of human representations in the codex Colombino-Becker I, has

suggested that these elements may serve as indicators of Mixtec ethnic identity.

Persons in the ceramics are also typically shown with elaborate headdresses and red

facial markings. The fragmentary nature of the pieces often makes it difficult to

discern whether these persons are shown engaged in activities, and if so, what kinds.

In one case, however, we see speech scrolls emanating from a persons mouth (Fig. 5-

23), while in another, we see only a hand, which appears to be holding a fan

composed of narrow feathers (Fig. 5-24). The latter piece may resemble imagery

found on a vessel from the Museum of Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City, analyzed by

Sanchez (2005: 184). In the piece, persons are shown holding almost identical

objects in front of palaces or temples, perhaps making ritual or religious offerings.

117
Fig. 5-22: Human figure with ear spools from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Fig. 5-23: Human figure with speech scrolls from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

118
Fig. 5-24: Human hand holding feather fan from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

There are no instances of persons depicted in the Yucu Dzaa ceramics in

which it is apparent that they are accompanied by calendrical names, and in fact, I

have yet to see a clear example of this on any Mixteca-Puebla polychrome pottery.

While there are rare pieces such as the Nochixtlan vase, first studied by Seler (1990

v.4: 286), in which distinguishing features allow deities to be identified, human

images in the polychromes appear to be anonymous, as best as we can infer, rather

than representative of specific dynastic rulers found in the Mixtec codices.

Several other depictions in the assemblage likely represent supernatural

anthropomorphic beings. In one example, the head of a person is shown in a red-on-

white design pattern with a highly elaborate headdress (Fig. 5-25). The top-half of

the face is seemingly cut-off, and in its place is found an ambiguous object; what

might perhaps be a flint-knife. Should the latter be the case, we might associate this

depiction with the deity 9 Windthe Mixtec incarnation of Quetzalcoatlnoting this

119
deitys strong associations with flint: in fact, the codex Vindobonensis depicts 9 Wind

being born from a flint-knife.

Fig. 5-25: Anthropomorphic figure from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Another curious figure is seen below in Fig. 5-26. The portion of the piece

that would have contained the face of the person is missing, but we can discern from

the body that it is rather unusual. The body exhibits a tail, perhaps like that of a

monkey, and the clothing is quite curious. The clothing is adorned with red and white

stripes, similar to the body adornment of the red and white striped men: the

mythical beings that descend from the sky in depictions of the War from Heaven

seen in the codex Nuttall (Byland and Pohl 1994). However, the latter persons are

never seen in the codices depicted with tails, and thus it is unclear whether the image

seen here bears any relation to such beings.

120
Fig. 5-26: Anthropomorphic figure from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

A last image (Fig. 5-27) is more ambiguous still, the face again not being

visible, but exhibits unusually long narrow legs that appear to be dangling, as well as

atypical clothing. What this figure might represent is unclear.

Fig. 5-27: Anthropomorphic figure from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

121
 In sum, the human and anthropomorphic figures seen in the Yucu Dzaa

polychromes represent Mixtec persons, perhaps engaged in specific ritual activities,

as well as supernatural beings who may be tied to religious beliefs, creation stories,

etc. At this point, there is no clear evidence that any of these depictions can be

related or linked to specific personages found in the dynastic histories of the codices.

It is more likely that these figures related to more broadly shared notions of Mixtec

personhood and ritual practice, as well as perhaps religious beliefs and mythology.

These themes would have been familiar to most Mixtec persons.

Triangles
Small, simple triangles are found adorning certain pieces in the ceramic

sample. Because these did not always occur with other geometric designs, they were

assigned to a category of their own, however, it could perhaps be appropriate to place

them under the umbrella of abstract geometry. As is the case with the latter

category, possible meanings these designs might have had are elusive.

Crocodiles/serpents
Crocodiles and serpents are at times depicted similarly to one another in the

manuscripts. One distinctive feature of the crocodile is that it is almost inevitably

shown lacking a mandible, or having this mandible tucked in. The distinction is

perhaps problematic, however, when we consider the piece from the Yucu Dzaa

assemblage seen below (Fig. 5-28). The two figures seen in the piece are virtually

identical, with the exception that while one lacks a mandible, the other is seen with

open jaws. Thus, discerning whether these figures are indeed crocodiles, or possibly

serpents, becomes more difficult. I would argue that the figures are more apt to be

122
crocodiles since they more closely resemble codical representations, and that

depictions of serpents in the polychromes are likely typified by the manner of

representation seen above in Fig. 5-7.

Fig. 5-28: Crocodile/serpent motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

The connotations of serpent images have been discussed previously. The

crocodile, meanwhile, was the first of the twenty day-signs of the ritual calendar and

may be associated with birth and renewal. For many Mesoamerican peoples,

including those of Late Postclassic central Mexico, the crocodile was associated with

the earth and the primordial ocean, and it was believed by many groups that the world

sat atop the back of a crocodile (Libura 2004:10, Seler 1990 v. 5: 273). Thus, the

crocodile may refer to ideas of primordial creation, as well as notions of renewal and

rebirth implied by its primary place within the calendar cycle.

123
Other birds

Relatively rarely, birds other than eagles were depicted on the Yucu Dzaa

ceramics. Of these, two exhibit solid blue crests of feathers on their heads, with circle

beads attached at the points (Fig. 5-17, left side). The blue head crests, may call to

mind quetzal birds, however, these images otherwise do not resemble depictions of

quetzals seen in the codices. The manner in which the crests are depicted is

extremely similar to representations of water seen in the manuscripts. Thus, these

images perhaps represent a type of waterfowl that as of yet cannot be identified.

Other birds possibly represented in the sample include red macaws and pheasants. As

coastal Oaxaca was home to a great diversity of birds and was likely a major producer

and exporter of exotic feathers in the Late Postclassic, it is perhaps surprising that

other birds, while present, are represented so infrequently relative to the eagle,

emphasis focused on this one particular icon.

Floral staff

This is a quite ambiguous motif, seen in the red-on-white designs of the olla

shown in Figure 4-15, and more commonly in black-on-orange designs and in more

elongated fashion, as illustrated below (Fig. 5-29). This design is also seen in the

sample of polychromes analyzed by Sanchez (2005: Fig. 7.93). The central disk

perhaps calls to mind staffs of rulership seen in various Mixtec codices, however

the appearance of these objects is quite uniform throughout the different manuscripts,

and the motifs here differ from them substantially. The motifs discussed here appear

to be adorned with floral elements, but whether these images on the whole represent

actual flora or other types of objects is unclear.

124
Fig. 5-29: Floral staff motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Small connected rectangles

These are rather mundane motifs and only known by fragmentary pieces. A

motif identified by Lind (1994: 95) and Sanchez (2005) as a Patolli board is

composed of similar elements, however, the work of these scholars indicates that this

motif is rather unique to the region of Cholula, and it is by no means apparent that the

designs in the Yucu Dzaa sample form the same pattern.

5.2 Other Codical Motifs from the Yucu Dzaa Sample and the Tututepec Community
Museum

Before moving on to discuss patterns seen more generally in the iconography

of the Yucu Dzaa polychromes, attention is first turned to several kinds of motifs that

are rare in the ceramic sample, but interesting for exhibiting representations more

overtly relatable to imagery seen in the codices. It is hoped that such a discussion

will help to better elucidate the range of representations that may potentially occur on

polychrome pottery.

125
Skulls and crossed bones

These motifs are known only from the interior of one plate fragment

recovered from Residence A (Fig. 5-30). It is interesting to note that the comparative

study carried out by Lind (1994) indicates that these motifs are exceedingly rare in

Oaxaca polychromes, as opposed to those from Cholula. The skull images in the

piece resemble representations of the day sign death, and the deity Mictlantecuhtli

seen in the Borgia group codices. In the Mixtec manuscripts, skulls and crossed

bones are seen adorning the residence of the very powerful, and at times, dangerous

deity Lady 9 Grass. These motifs may then represent death and powerful and

dangerous forces. At the same time, Furst (1982) has argued that skulls may have

often served as symbols of fertility in the Mixtec codices as well, implying that they

may evoke both life and death; i.e. cyclicity. Of interest is that its presence of the

skull and crossed bones motif at Yucu Dzaa may be indicative of limited influence

from the Puebla region, or that the motifs distribution is wider than previously

thought.

126
Fig. 5-30: Skull and crossed bones motif from the Yucu Dzaa sample

Celestial symbols

While stellar eyes are the only celestial symbol seen in the excavation sample,

polychrome pieces housed at the Tututepec Community Museum exhibit solar disks

(Fig. 5-31) and representations of the moon (Fig. 5-32) very similar to those seen in

the Mixtec codices. In particular, the motifs in Fig. 5-32 appear to form a complex

sky band, with rather unusual stellar eyes found next to the lunar disk on the left.

Due to the fragmentary nature of the pieces, how such motifs might articulate with

the rest of a design on a given vessel is not entirely clear. These examples, however,

suggest that polychromes at Yucu Dzaa were at times decorated with highly complex

and diverse celestial symbols akin to those found in the codices. Whether these

motifs composed simple sky bands or were elements of more complex scenes cannot

be inferred.

127
Fig. 5-31: Solar disk motif from the Tututepec Community Museum

Fig. 5-32: Lunar disk motif from the Tututepec Community Museum

Palaces, trees, and hills

Depictions of palaces or temples are known from two pieces in the ceramic

sample, and several others are found in the collections of the Tututepec Community

128
Museum. In contrast to the manner of representation typical of the codices, these

palaces are virtually always depicted in frontal view rather than in profile, with large

thatched roofs and brightly colored decorations adorning their facades. In two of

these pieces (Fig. 5-33 and 5-34) design elements are seen adorning the roofs: in the

first example what may be a jewel, in the second what appears to be a flower.

Because these symbols are rather general and widespread in the iconography, it is

unclear whether they served merely as ornamentation or if they were used to denote

the names of specific places, as is the case in the codices. John Pohl (2005) has

recently investigated the possibility of the latter phenomenon, and it is an interesting

avenue for future research on polychrome ceramics.

Fig. 5-33: Palace motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

129
Fig. 5-34: Palace motif from the Tututepec Community Museum

In Figure 5-34, from the Tututepec Community Museum, we find next to the

palace an image of a tree. This design greatly resembles the scene found on the

vessel from the Museum of Rufino Tamayo mentioned previously in this chapter.

Though the latter vessel is without archaeological provenience, it is of interest that we

see repetition of what may be an identical scene, presumably in different parts of the

Mixteca-Puebla region. Given this repetition, the scene more likely constitutes a

generalized representation, rather than containing specific historical information. At

the same time, in the piece from Tututepec, to the right of the tree is found the

130
calendrical sign for movement or earthquake, and adjacent to this is possibly a

fragment of a human depiction. The possibility therefore exists that this is an

instance of a named individual found on a polychrome vessel. This is by no means

clear, howeverSanchez (2005: 85) reports that movement symbols at times occur

on polychrome vessels without being related to calendrical dates or names, thus the

presence of the motif here does not necessarily imply such a phenomenon.

Trees similar to that found in the above piece were also seen in fragments

from a poorly preserved olla recovered from Residence B. In this case, the trees were

shown not with palaces, but with representations of hills that are similar to those

found in the codices. While representations of hills may be used in the manuscripts to

denote specific locations, in this piece they appear as isolated elements that repeat

over other fragments of the vessel. Trees are seen in the codices as sites of various

events of creation, but on this olla are also shown in isolation. Rather than forming

landscapes or representations of particular places, in this case these motifs appear

displacedalmost as if floatingand likely connoted other ideas, though their

potential meanings are not clear. In any event, it is probable that sacred trees were

powerful images, and perhaps evoked multiple ideas of creation.

Lastly, a representation of a hill is also found on a large and very complex

fragment of an olla from the Tututepec Community Museum (Fig. 5-35). Amidst

complex, yet poorly preserved imagery, we seen in this piece a depiction of a man

wearing a red xicolli seated inside of a hill. Several images of persons seated within

hills are found in the codex Nuttall, and a scene on page 71 of this document bears

particular resemblance to that seen here. Mary Elizabeth Smith (1973: 32-33) has

131
argued that depictions of persons in the codices diving into the earth represent acts of

escape, or the taking of refuge. In the aforementioned scenes from the Nuttall, the

hills are depicted as being pierced by arrows, indicating that they have been

conquered (Fig. 5-36). Persons seated within the hills may therefore perhaps

represent rulers of polities who have hidden in the wake of events of conquest. It is

not clear whether the hill image in the polychrome piece refers to a particular place or

polity; however, the scene may refer at least generally to acts of warfare and

conquest, given the analogues found in the manuscripts.

Fig. 5-35: Codex-like scene in olla fragment from the Tututepec Community
Museum

132
Fig. 5-36: Person showed seated within conquered place glyph in the codex
Nuttall

It is hoped that the preceding discussion has served to greater elucidate the

range of variability in the iconography of polychrome pottery from Yucu Dzaa.

Symbols with particularly clear connections with the codices are present, which may

have been employed to connote rather simple and general meanings, or in some cases

were potentially incorporated into rather complex scenes that could have

communicated more specific or narrative information. These types of imagery are for

the most part rare, however, and we turn our attention now to possible patterns seen

in the ceramic assemblage that may help us to better characterize the iconography at a

more general level.

5.3 Patterning in the Iconography of Yucu Dzaa Polychromes

While the imagery discussed in this chapter is quite diverse and variable,

certain patterns of decoration and associations of motifs are apparent within the

assemblage, consideration of which will allow us to better characterize the

iconography of the sample. After first briefly discussing general patterns of base and

rim decoration on the ceramics, patterns found in decoration of the vessel bodies will

133
be described. Though recurrence of these patterns could not be quantified, they are

found on substantial numbers of vessels from both excavated residences at Yucu

Dzaa. A more detailed consideration of these patterns stands to better elucidate

salient themes of ideology connoted by the polychrome ceramics.

Notes on base decoration

As mentioned in previous chapters, interior bases of cajetes are most often

painted a simple orange, a pattern that appears to characterize the Pilitas type of

polychromes of the Mixteca Alta as well (Lind 1987: 16). However, at least three

cajetes from Yucu Dzaa exhibit rather complex designs painted on their bases. Two

of these (e.g. Fig. 4-13) show stellar eyes in the centers of the bases, surrounded by

feathers. This motif has also been observed by Sanchez (2005: 87), and she notes,

drawing from the work of Taube (1992), that it may represent mirrors in a manner

akin to the art of Teotihuacan. Feathered vision and mirrors are also discussed by

Hamann (2004) in his consideration of Mixtec notions of vision. He writes that

mirrors were not simply thought of as reflective surfaces by the 16th century Mixtec,

but allowed for things otherwise not visible to be seen. It is perhaps the case that

these motifs similarly evoked notions of enhanced vision, possibly achieved through

ritual practice.

The other example of a cajete with a decorated interior base exhibits a

complex image of what appears to be an earth monster (Fig. 5-37), the wide-open

jaws greatly resembling those attributed to this being by a number of codex scholars.

Its representation may connote relationships with the earth, perhaps in the form of

indebtedness and sacred covenants as discussed previously. More broadly, the motifs

134
of stellar eyes and earth monsters at the bases of cajetes may have elicited ideas of

relations with the heavens and underworld. These base decorations are interesting in

that they are reported as being rare-to-non-existent in other parts of Oaxaca; interior

bases of bowls and plates being much more commonly decorated in the region of

Cholula (Lind 1994, McCafferty 2001). Like other aspects of the Yucu Dzaa

polychromes, base dcor by and large fits the known Oaxaca pattern, but possibly

exhibits limited connections to regions further north as well.

Fig. 5-37: Cajete base with earth monster motif from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Notes on rim decoration

The great majority of rims in the Yucu Dzaa polychromes are adorned with a

narrow orange stripe circling the entire rim, over which are found alternating

perpendicular red lines and small red circles (e.g. Figs. 5-1, 5-5, 5-11, 5-29). Reasons

for this are not clear, but one possibility is that these red marks were placed at regular

135
intervals to demarcate the placement of motifs for the painter of the vessel. Red lines

served as guidelines to demarcate space for Mixtec peoples in the painting of codices,

as well as in architecture; the latter evidenced by the presence of red lines on floors

marking the placement of walls in the 16th century cathedral and the Casa de la

Cacica (palace of the indigenous ruler) at Teposcolula (Kiracofe 1995). More

empirical research needs to be carried out in the future to determine whether this was

in fact the case for the ceramics, but it is interesting to note that vessels with very

repetitive designs inevitably tend to be found with this rim decoration, while those

with more complex and less spatially schematized designs often do not (for example,

in the olla shown in Fig. 5-35).

Dark red ollas with complex imagery

The most complex imagery in the sampleless repetitive and formulaic than

is typical, and bearing considerable resemblance to that seen in the codicesis

typically found on ollas over a dark red background color, which lack the type of rim

decoration discussed above. Examples can be seen in Figures 5-17, 5-19, 5-27, 5-28,

5-33, 5-34, and 5-35 in which are found depictions of persons, palaces, and other

motifs that may have constituted parts of complex scenes. While the pieces resemble

one another in terms of this general pattern, the specific imagery varies starkly from

vessel to vessel, and each piece may have been relatively unique. These vessels

contrast greatly with the majority of the sample, the latter characterized by more

generalized and repetitive motifs. It is possible that the painting of these dark red

ollas was a more specialized practice, and designs may have perhaps been specified

or commissioned by those who consumed them, though this is rather speculative.

136
In any event, these ceramics clearly exhibit the most complex, ornate, and variable

imagery in the Yucu Dzaa polychromes, and may have contained more narrative

kinds of information than was typical of the ceramics.

Cajetes with alternating panels of red-on-white designs and multicolored bands

Accounting for at least five distinct vessels, pieces with alternating panels of

designs are seen above in Figures 5-21 and Figures 5-25, are found at both residences.

They exhibit the pattern of multicolored diagonal bands discussed previously,

adjacent to panels containing relatively complex singular images in red and white.

These patterns of design are only known to occur on the exterior bodies of cajetes.

Again, meanings of the multicolored bands are unclear, and while the red-on-white

designs appear complex and variable, they are found as isolated motifs, and the

number of complete examples is too few to discern if there are trends in the specific

subjects depicted.

Black-on-orange design patterns

Certain of the ceramics in the assemblage are characterized by a simple black-

on-orange color scheme, containing motifs that include clouds, and the ambiguous

floral staffs. Examples can be seen in Figures 5-29 and 5-38. In her study,

Sanchez (2005) defines various complexes of polychrome iconography, and the

pattern seen here may most closely resemble those assigned to the complex labeled

Signos en Oscuridad, or signs in darkness. While the particular motifs are quite

variable within this complex, Sanchez (2005: 189) interprets these vessels as

primarily evoking themes of darkness and mysteriousness, relating to the tone of

certain rituals. For the materials considered here, the design motifs are not well

137
enough understood as yet to discern such trends in iconographic subject matter, but

the general resemblance of the materials to those analyzed by Sanchez is

considerable. At the same time, this design pattern may occur in self-contained bands

adjacent to quite different kinds of imagery that exhibit contrastingly bright color

schemes, as evidenced by the piece seen below (Fig. 5-39). Thus the black-on-orange

pattern may not always be characteristic of entire vessels.

Fig. 5-38: Olla with black-on-orange color scheme from the Yucu Dzaa
assemblage

138
Fig. 5-39: Olla with alternating color schemes from the Yucu Dzaa assemblage

Narrow feathers, eagle heads, smoke volutes, and orange bars

Of the five most frequent design motifs observed in the ceramic sample, four

of them are narrow feathers, eagle heads, smoke volutes, and orange bars. Their high

frequencies are not coincidental as they most commonly are found together, and

compose by far the most dominant pattern in the assemblage. This suite of design

motifs is most commonly found on the interiors of cajetes, as seen in Figures 5-1 and

5-5, though occasionally may also be found on the upper portions of ollas, as in

Figure 5-39 above. When found on the interiors of cajetes, quite different patterns of

motifs may occur on the exteriors of the vessels, including repeating cloud images,

xicalcoliuquis, and the pattern of alternating panels discussed previously. Despite

this variability in exterior design, the complex of interior motifs remains relatively

constant throughout the various vessels.

139
 As discussed in the section on individual motifs, eagle heads can primarily be

related to warfare, and indirectly to sacrifice. Volutes of smoke likely also connoted

sacrifice, and the combination of the two motifs here potentially reinforced this

relation. The sets of narrow feathers most likely served as symbols of lavish

adornment, attributing beauty and prestige to these acts of warfare and sacrifice. As

was also previously noted, the groups of narrow feathers may have also connoted a

notion of community identity, which would then be linked to these acts and ideals. In

considering this, it is interesting to bear in mind once again that the group of motifs

occurs predominantly on the interiors of cajetes. Aside from those who owned these

vessels, the set of interior motifs would not have been readily visible to persons at a

distance, but only as they consumed the vessels contents. While participating in a

feast or ritual, however, such motifs would have been those that the person came into

most intimate contact with, possibly connoting senses of identity bound with ideas of

warfare and sacrifice in contexts of corporate ritual practices within households.

5.4 Summary

In this chapter I have documented and described in detail the imagery

prevalent on Yucu Dzaa polychrome pottery. Wherever possible, I have further

attempted to provide interpretations of the potential meanings of various design

motifs. Working with rather fragmentary materials, this can be a most difficult task,

but it is hoped several recurrent patterns and themes have been elucidated. Certain

motifs remain ambiguous, and inferring themes present in whole vessels while

working primarily from sherds precludes many of the nuanced distinctions made by

Sanchez (2005) in her discussion of iconographic themes. At the same time, by

140
focusing on the most common motifs and patterns in the sample, it is hoped that we

can glean greater understandings of ideology and identity at Late Postclassic Yucu

Dzaa.

The motifs that were last discussed in the previous section are easily the most

pervasive in the ceramic sample and likely best encapsulate the most salient themes

that we can infer from the imagery on the whole; particularly those themes of

sacrifice and warfare. Other common motifs connote these ideas as well, particularly

those of cloudslikely relating to notions of rain and sacred covenantsand balls of

eagle feathers. While many other types of imagery could potentially occur on the

polychrome potteryas best evidenced by the dark red ollastheir frequencies are

far outweighed by these predominant and highly schematized sets of images.

Because of their high numbers and degree of uniformity, it is possible that such

vessels were produced in large quantities and were circulated or consumed amongst

broad segments of the population. Their imagery is thus apt to relate most closely to

notions of ideology and identity amongst common peoples at Yucu Dzaa. These

issues and their potential implications will be explored more fully in Chapter 6, as

prevalent themes expressed in the ceramic imagery are discussed in terms of their

past social and ritual contexts.

141
Chapter 6

Discussion and Conclusions

In the preceding chapters it has been argued that the Yucu Dzaa polychrome

ceramics share much in common with Mixteca-Puebla polychromes distributed

widely throughout Late Postclassic Mexico. Indeed, many of the motifs that were

reviewed in Chapter 5 could be attributed to the Late Postclassic International

Symbol Set as defined by Boone and Smith (2003). However, while many of these

motifs and certain of the meanings and beliefs underlying them were widely shared

throughout the Late Postclassic, it would be erroneous to assume that they simply

reflect or recapitulate a pan-Mesoamerican belief system or ideology. As Smith

(2003: 183) writes, in discussing the regional distribution of many of these images,

the area is better viewed as a network of nodes than as a pattern of outward flow

from a small number of centers. A number of scholars (Lind 1994, Pohl 2003,

Smith 2003) have demonstrated that within this broad iconographic complex, there

exists considerable regional variation in the specific subject matter emphasized. With

specific regard to Mixteca-Puebla polychrome ceramics, both Lind (1994) and Pohl

(2003) have identified regional differences in the iconography of these materials.

Hector Neff and his colleagues (1994) have further shown through material sourcing

studies that production of these ceramics likely occurred in a number of disparate

loci. As such, while Mixteca-Puebla iconography was shared over a broad region,

amongst a number of ethnically and linguistically different groups, its specific

manifestations are apt to reflect not only shared beliefs, but also local concerns with

respect to politics, ideology, and identity.

142
 I have argued previously that polychrome ceramics at Yucu Dzaa were by and

large produced locally, due to results of INAA characterization, and to regionally

distinctive features of the assemblage such as the use of blue paint. While both vessel

forms and their design motifs demonstrate substantial links with greater

Mesoamericaparticularly with the highlands of Oaxaca, with whom Mixtec peoples

of the Oaxaca coast would have shared their closest ethnic and linguistic tiesuse of

these materials and images could have been manipulated to resonate with local

concerns and sensibilities. Local manipulation of visual media has previously been

pointed out in considerations of Late Postclassic iconography by Smith and Boone

(2003), Pohl (2003), and Masson (2003). Masson (2003: 200) writes of the

Postclassic Maya that:

Artists in the Yucatn, Quintana Roo, and Belize zones did not simply adopt foreign styles
and symbols wholesale. Rather, they selected key elements from a broad repertoire of
international possibilities and used these in creating paintings that depicted local and regional
themes for a local audience.

In similar fashion, Mixteca-Puebla symbols and icons at Yucu Dzaa are seen

here as having been subject to creative manipulations, through various selective uses

and combinations, which likely produced more localized meanings. Claude Levi-

Strauss (1966) has described this phenomenon as bricolage: while signs (such as

words in language) are used by persons who did not invent or make them, these users

(in Levi-Strauss terms bricoleurs), may still alter their meanings by employing them

in novel contexts or combinations. Conceiving of these signs as part of a shared

cultural economy, Michel de Certeau (1982, pp. xiii-xiv) elaborates on Levi-Strauss

concept, in writing that those whom he terms users or consumers of this economy

make innumerable and infinitesimal transformations of and within the dominant

143
cultural economy in order to adapt it to their own interests and their own rules. Due

to the labile and polysemous nature of icons as discussed in Chapter 2, the meanings

of these types of representations would have been particularly contingent upon the

contexts in which they were deployed. We are therefore less concerned with issues of

origins and authorship of the images painted on Yucu Dzaa polychromes, but rather

how their meanings were born out in daily practice. With this in mind, our attention

turns to the social contexts in which these ceramics were apt to have been acquired

and used by their consumers.

6.1 Yucu Dzaa Polychromes and Commoner Feasting

Evidence indicates that the polychromes from Yucu Dzaa were for the most

part produced locally, and I have argued from this that meanings of their images are

liable to articulate with more localized notions of identity and ideology. Production,

however, by no means tells us the whole story. Of equal, if not greater importance is

how these items were consumed. The anecdote drawn from ethnohistoric data with

which this thesis began suggested that the polity of Yucu Dzaa facilitated large-scale

events of interregional market exchange. More common, however, were community-

based markets, typically held every five days in accord with the Mixtec ritual

calendar (Terraciano: 289-249). Market exchange is relatively underrepresented in

ethnohistoric documentation (Terraciano 2001: 248), yet both colonial records and

the continued prevalence of weekly local markets in contemporary Oaxacan

communities attest to the likelihood that this phenomenon was common and

widespread. Lind (1987), McCafferty (2001), and Brumfiel (2004) have all argued

polychrome ceramics were primarily acquired via markets in the regions of the

144
Mixteca Alta, Cholula, and Valley of Mxico, respectively. Francisco Lpez de

Gmara (1964: 131), secretary to the 16th century Spanish conquistador Hernn

Corts, wrote of the Cholula market that, So many came to trade and barter that it

was a cause of astonishment. One of the most noteworthy things in their market was

the pottery, of a thousand different designs and colors.

The ethnohistoric data suggest that consumers had considerable choice in the

kinds of polychrome ceramics they purchased. Those who produced the vessels and

painted the images on them may have at times composed specific designs for specific

personsthis may have been the case for elites, and perhaps characterize certain of

the red ollas with highly complex imagery discussed in Chapter 5. By and large,

however, it is likely that polychrome vessels were not produced for specific clientele,

but sold in marketplaces in which they would have been available to anyone with the

means to purchase them. Ethnohistoric data indicate that Mixtec elites practically

monopolized certain luxury goods during the Late Postclassic and Early Colonial

periods (Terraciano 2001: 203), yet this is not apt to apply to polychrome pottery at

Yucu Dzaa, for it appears so frequently at commoner residences and throughout the

site survey on the whole. Furthermore, while production of these goods was

undoubtedly a specialized craft and elites may have had some control over it (Spores

1984: 83-84), there is little evidence to suggest that this was a rigidly attached form

of specialization (Costin 1991). In fact, given that INAA data suggest that

polychromes recovered from individual sites in Oaxaca, Cholula, and the Basin of

Mexico (Neff et al. 1994, Nichols 2004) were produced in numerous loci, the

archaeological record appears to contradict what we would expect had attached

145
specialization been prevalent. Though production was highly skilled, it was most

likely relatively decentralized, and polychrome pottery at Yucu Dzaa was produced

for a broad segment of the populace. Given the lack of evidence for attached

specialization and the indications of diffuse production loci, it is highly improbable

that elites could have closely monitored and dictated the imagery painted on ceramics

consumed by commoners at large.

Taking the above into account, I follow Brumfiel (2004: 243) in expecting

that commoners who consumed polychrome pottery had a considerable degree of

choice in selecting vessels decorated with those motifs that most closely resonated

with their worldviews and senses of identity. In fact, popular sensibilities may have

in part affected which motifs and themes were emphasized generally, as producers

were potentially compelled to design vessels such that they would have widespread

appeal. To better understand these sensibilities and meanings, it is thus necessary to

consider the social contexts in which consumers actually used polychrome pottery.

It was argued in Chapter 4 that the ceramics considered in this thesis were

most likely used in contexts of commoner domestic feasting, based primarily on two

lines of evidence: 1) depictions in the Mixtec codices, which suggest that polychrome

pottery was predominantly used in this fashion in the Late Postclassic Mixteca

generally, and 2) that at the Yucu Dzaa residences excavated by Levine, remains of

polychrome vessels are overwhelmingly found in contexts midden deposits, among

other domestic refuse such as plain pottery, spindle whorls, lithic debris, and animal

bone. As reported in Chapter 3, polychromes sherds from the two primary midden

deposits at Residences A and B accounted for 67.5% of all polychromes from these

146
residences. Outside of these middens, polychrome sherds were not found in dense

concentrations, nor were they found in contexts such as caches or burials (though

Late Postclassic mortuary practices in the region are very poorly known on the

whole). The specific types of vessel forms seen in these contexts, furthermore,

correspond well to those represented in the codices; shown as drinking vessels

containing pulque and chocolate in scenes of feasting events such as elite meetings

and marriages.

There is ample reason to suspect that feasting events were not restricted only

to the elite, and likely occurred on the level of commoner households as well.

Ethnohistoric accounts mostly provide information regarding community-wide feasts

and fiestas, with which Spanish colonists and clergy members would have been most

familiar. Yet at the same time, 16th century documents also allude to ritual practices

in more intimate household settings to which the Spanish, in most cases, would not

normally have had access. Many Mixtec households during this time had their own

patron saints, images of which were often housed in separate small one-room

structures within the patio group, referred to as oratorios (Terraciano 2001: 309).

Similar structures are in fact still built and used in the town of Tututepec to this day.

In some colonial Mixtec communities, Catholic holidays such as All Saints Day

were devoted primarily to the honoring of household saints and ancestors (Terraciano

2001: 311). Household ritual in the Early Colonial period undoubtedly suggests, in

part, the persistence of prehispanic ritual practices and beliefs. In drawing from

similar ethnographic and ethnohistoric analogies, Lind (1979: 64) has inferred the

presence of household altars within Late Postclassic residences of the Mixteca Alta.

147
For Terraciano (2001: 315) some of the most compelling evidence for the persistence

of these practices comes from the continued use of the indigenous 260-day ritual

calendar throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Persons continued to be given

surnames according to their day of birth on the calendar, and some indigenous writers

related dates according to both the Christian and the indigenous system (Terraciano

2001: 315). Use of the calendar would have allowed for the reckoning of traditional

ceremonies and life cycle rituals, such as birthing and naming ceremonies, and the

honoring of household ancestors and patron deities.

Domestic rituals would have served as focal points for the construction of

corporate identities. This may especially be the case for the Late Postclassic Mixteca:

while ethnohistoric data and ethnographic analogy indicate that elites often sponsored

community-wide feasts and rituals, on the whole there is a marked decrease from the

Classic period in both the frequency and scale of civic-ceremonial architecture and

monuments. Evidence suggests that the state invested considerably less in

infrastructure for public religion and gatherings than in previous periods. Domestic

gatherings and rituals were thus especially important sites for the production of

ideology and identity. Ethnohistoric and ethnographic analogues from the Mixteca

(Terraciano 2001, Monaghan 1995) indicate that the consumption of food and drink

was an integral feature of these events. Polychrome serving vessels and the meanings

conveyed by their symbols and icons therefore played prominent roles as commoners

made sense of their worlds and fashioned identities in practice. Thus by examining in

detail the meanings polychrome imagery held and how those meanings were

conveyed, we may shed greater light on these past phenomena.

148
6.2 The Medium and the Message: Meaning in Pottery and Screen-fold Manuscripts

In Chapter 5, the Mixtec codices were used as an interpretive tool, aiding in

inferring the meanings that icons on the polychrome ceramics likely held for Mixtec

peoples at Yucu Dzaa. The codices offer an invaluable basis for comparison in

examining what these icons conveyed, but at the same time provide a useful contrast

in understanding how icons conveyed meaning. While the manuscripts and

polychrome vessels share many similar if not identical motifs, the meanings such

motifs elicited were potentially altered in several different ways: 1) due to qualities

and constraints of the respective media on which they were found, 2) how these

motifs were differentially subject to mechanisms of anchorage and relay in their

respective media, and 3) the social contexts in which these respective media

circulated. An examination of these differences stands to better elucidate the role of

polychrome imagery in crafting notions of identity, and how popular notions of

identity may have articulated with dominant ideologies at Yucu Dzaa.

In my analysis, I have attempted to infer meanings held by polychrome

pottery vessels by way of an almost exclusive focus on the symbols and icons painted

on them. In this way, it could be said that the analysis has been focused

predominantly on content of the iconography, as opposed to the form or medium in

which the iconographic content was expressed. Such an approach may be argued to

be flawed or incomplete, as social and semiotic theorists have in recent decades

become increasingly concerned with how specific media, or material expressions of

signs, affect how meanings are disseminated, received, and interpreted (McLuhan

1964, Derrida 1978, Bolter 1991, Kress and Van Leeuwen 1996). In short, the

149
medium is not neutral or simply a container for meaning. For example, we can

imagine what is effectively the same story or narrative communicated through print,

radio, or television, and each respective medium would differentially affect whom the

narrative would be able to reach and how it could be interpreted. Meaning is

therefore not only shaped by signs themselves, but how they are manifested

physically or materially, by the technologies through which they are expressed.

Taking such phenomena into account led influential media theorist Marshall

McLuhan (1964) to write the refrain, The medium is the message. For McLuhan

(1964: 24):

[I]t is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action. The
content or uses of such media are as diverse as they are ineffectual in shaping the form of human
association. Indeed, it is only too typical that the content of any medium blinds us to the character of
the medium.

The medium is indeed of great import, and in this section I aim to elucidate how two

mediathe Mixtec codices and polychrome potterywhile employing much of the

same iconographic vocabulary, communicated meanings rather differently.

However, as I hope will become apparent, content had a greater bearing on this

distinction than scholars such as McLuhan might suspect.

In this thesis I argue that meanings in the Mixtec codices were born out of

relatively coherent narratives, while those elicited through polychrome pottery were

for the most part not structured in such a manner. As is likely obvious, the screen-

fold format of the codices lent itself quite well to the construction of narratives (Pohl

1994: 2). Unfolded end-to-end, these strips of deer skin or bark-paper could extend

for meters, painted with long sequences of actions and events, with their physical

terminations demarcating clear beginnings and ends. Pottery vessels, meanwhile,

150
would have been much less conducive to the depiction of narrative sequences. As

three-dimensional objects, indicating beginnings and ends of narrative sequences on

vessels to their readers would have been a considerably more difficult task. Given

their relatively smaller dimensions, the depiction of narrative sequences as extensive

as those found in the codices on individual ceramic vessels would furthermore have

been virtually impossible. But was it not possible to at least paint relatively

abbreviated narrative sequences and scenes on polychrome ceramics? John Pohl

(2003: 204) has argued that this was in fact the case for several Mixtec polychrome

vessels known from various museum collections. These vessels show distinct

representations of deities in scenes that potentially refer well-known religious stories

paralleling those in the codices. As has been suggested earlier, several of the dark red

ollas discussed in Chapter 5 might also be characterized in this way. Thus, the

rendering of limited or abbreviated narratives does appear to have occasionally

occurred on polychrome pottery. However, by and large, the materials recovered

from Yucu Dzaa do not contain explicitly narrative content. If not entirely a function

of the material constraints of their respective media, what accounted for the

differences in how the codices and ceramics conveyed meaning?

In Chapter 2, the Mixtec codices were used to illustrate the phenomena of

anchorage and relay as articulated by Roland Barthes (1977). Additional pictorial

elements added to the visual content of these manuscripts were instrumental in the

codices potential to convey more specific information and formulate detailed

narratives. Images that constituted calendrical and personal names, dates, phonetic

qualifiers, and others, allowed for icons to be assigned proper names and arranged in

151
specific and coherent sequences. Techniques of anchorage enabled certain images to

be related to specific persons and places, while those of relay arranged these images

in space and time. As might now be obvious to the reader, virtually none of these

pictorial elements of anchorage and relay are present in the iconography of the Yucu

Dzaa polychromes 11 . In the Yucu Dzaa iconography, we seen no evidence of such

explicit techniques used to constrain the polysemous nature of icons. Instead, though

the icons often bear strong affinity with those found in the codices, they are employed

in a rather different manner. The motifs are often very general and repeat around the

body of a vessel, without denotation of clear progressions or sequences. In depictions

of human figures and places, we do not find elements of anchorage that would allow

for these images to be assigned proper names. Due to the lack of anchorage and relay

seen in the polychrome pottery, in interpreting specific motifs, I have repeatedly

referred to their meanings as connoted rather than denoted. Though these icons were

certainly not arbitrary signs and could not, in anarchic fashion, simply be interpreted

as anything one chose, their meanings were by no means as tightly circumscribed as

their codical counterparts, and hence could not form specific and overarching

narratives.

In interpreting various motifs in Chapter 5, I frequently drew from narratives

from the Mixtec codices and mythology in order to suggest their meanings. For

example, in discussing the meaning of eagle depictions, a scene from the codex

Selden and ethnohistoric data on Nahuatl creation myth were cited in relating these

images to warfare and sacrifice. The point here was not to suggest that the

11
The potential exceptions being two pieces with decorative elements incorporated into the roofs of
palace depictions, and one possible (though by no means clear) instance of an individual with a
calendrical name curated in the Tututepec Community Museum; as discussed in Chapter 5.

152
appearance of an eagle image would have elicited recollection of the entire narrative

that surrounded it, but rather connoted the more general ideas and cultural

sensibilities with which it was closely associated. While it was perhaps the case that

polychrome vessels were used in rituals that involved oration or the recitation of

creation stories and the like, the icons that have been discussedsuch as eagle heads,

clouds, stellar eyesare common and general such that they cannot be relegated only

to singular narratives. Instead, this iconography likely connoted broader

understandings of social and sacred life that would have been much more immediate

and, perhaps, obvious, resonating with cultural sensibilities on a more basic level. As

such, polychrome imagery would have been a more inclusive medium insofar as it

connoted meanings that were more general and readily intelligible to a great number

of people.

In trying to understand why the codices and polychrome pottery signified

meanings in different ways, it is instructive to consider amongst whom these different

media likely circulated. This question is particularly difficult with respect to the

codices, as so few of them survived the Spanish conquest. However, a quote from

colonial Friar Francisco de Burgoa, writing in the 17th century, potentially provides

insight. Of the codices, Burgoa (Pohl, n.d.) wrote that:

[T]he historians inscribed with characters so abbreviated, that a single page expressed the
place, the site, province, year, month, and day with all the names of the gods, ceremonies, and
sacrifices, or victories that they celebrated, and recorded in this way by the sons of the
lordstheir priest had instructed them since infancy to illustrate the characters and memorize
the historiesI heard some elders explain that they were accustomed to fasten these
manuscripts along the length of the rooms of the lords for their aggrandizement and vanity,
they took pride in displaying them in their councils.

There are two points of particular interest here. The first is that if Burgoas

description is correct, the codices were likely kept by elites and nobles in their homes,

153
and thus unlikely to be viewed frequently by the general populace. It should be noted

that scholars have argued that there was a performative aspect to the codices: the

Mixtec term for a singer recorded in the 16th century is tutuyondaayaa, translated

literally as one who holds the song book (Pohl 1994: 13). The histories found in

the codices may thus have been sung, and performed or reenacted in front of an

audience. These issues have been considered in depth by scholars such as King

(1988) and Monaghan (1990), who note that the structures of the codices would

themselves have lent to a performative component. But who would have been

included in the audiences for such performances? As has already been noted, sites of

the Postclassic Mixteca are marked by a substantial decrease or absence of the kinds

of public ritual spaces in which large audiences would have congregated. Particularly

at a site as large as Yucu Dzaa, we have no indication that venues existed in which

large segments of the population could have gathered for such events. Taking this

into account, while also bearing in mind that elite personages are the primary subjects

of the codical narratives, it is much more probable that performances of codical

stories took place amongst smaller groups of elites, and were perhaps figurative in

forging alliances amongst rulers (Pohl 1994).

This brings us to the second point of interest in Burgoas quote: that

knowledge of the codical histories was apparently entrusted to highly specialized

scribes or priests, who from a very early age were trained to memorize them and

represent them pictorially. Codical narratives were thus apt to have been rather

restricted and esoteric forms of knowledge, detailing very complex royal genealogies.

Even had non-elites been exposed to these dynastic histories, we may seriously

154
question the extent to which such narratives resonated with them. Though at times

we do see in the codices depictions of mythical events, such as the War from

Heaven or creation stories that a large segment of the populace may have been

familiar with, subject matter was on the whole quite exclusionary. The codices focus

almost solely on the actions of elites, and many common peoples were likely not

familiar with much of their content, nor were they likely trained in the reading of

some of the manuscripts more complex aspects.

It is therefore perhaps not surprising that we find considerable differences in

the meanings found in the codices and those in polychrome pottery. Polychrome

icons, not being anchored to very specific readings, evoked more broadly understood

and culturally salient meanings. In Chapter 5, I argued that analysis of these images

indicates popular concern on the part of commoners at Yucu Dzaa with several

dominant themes, summarized in the table below (Table 6-1); predominantly those of

warfare and sacrifice.

Table 6-1: Summary of Dominant Themes in Yucu Dzaa Polychrome

Iconography
Connoted Theme Corresponding Images
Warfare Eagle heads (both painted images and molded
supports), feather/down balls, chevrons,
Sacrificegeneral Smoke volutes, flowers
Sacrificerain and sacred Clouds, serpents (both painted images and molded
covenants supports)
Representations of Narrow feathers, broad feathers
beauty/prestige
Structure of cosmos and Stellar eyes, red spots with concentric rings,
creation crocodiles, deer-hoof supports
Representations of polity Narrow feathers, xicalcoliuquis

These themes recur in the Mixtec codices, yet they are incorporated into complex

narratives, tied to the actions of specific elite persons. In the pottery, meanwhile, they

155
are connoted much more simply and immediately by way of the associated icons

listed above.

Throughout this thesis I have avoided terming Mixteca-Puebla polychromes

codex style. This is by no means to deny the very overt connections in both

rendering style and subject matter between the two media. However, in adopting an

approach that also contrasts these two media, it is potentially misleading to refer to

the polychrome pottery as codex style for it risks implying that codical subject

matter was simply glossed on to the ceramics, and thus gives primacy to the

manuscripts. Because so few of the codices have survived, it is not possible to know

just how far back in time the tradition of manuscript painting extends in the Mixteca,

nor whether this art-form precedes that of polychrome ceramics. It may in fact be the

case that the codices represent a reworking of the polychrome iconographic tradition;

an appropriation of symbols and icons that held great appeal amongst Mixtec peoples

generally, refigured to more closely tie elites to specific visions of cosmological and

political order, constructing dominant ideologies.

In sum, the Mixtec codices and polychrome pottery, while demonstrating

close links to one another, contained divergent meanings, and communicated these

meanings in different ways. The codices, I argue, predominantly relate to dominant

ideologies, concerned with justifying the power of elites and ruling dynasties.

Polychrome ceramics, on the other hand, circulated much more widely amongst

Mixtec peoples, and elicited meanings to which a greater number of people would

have related. As such, they are liable to express more popular notions of ideology

and corporate identity. Thus by examining these different media conjunctively, we

156
stand to better elucidate the relationships and articulations between dominant and

popular ideological spheres. To better understand how these relationships were born

out in practice and how they related to broader socio-political developments, attention

now turns to the role of polychrome pottery in shaping the figured worlds of domestic

feasting and ritual at Late Postclassic Yucu Dzaa.

6.3 Figured Worlds and Identity in Yucu Dzaa Domestic Ritual

We can now return to the concept of figured worlds discussed in Chapter 2.

Based on ethnographic and ethnohistoric analogies, events of domestic ritual and

feasting would have included participation of extended families and/or other

community members, and involved food sharing, in addition to the veneration of

household deities and ancestors. Polychrome vessels are thus seen here as artifacts

in the sense put forward by Holland and her colleagues (1998). The vessels and their

imagery served to help frame and provide a sense of coherence to these gatherings of

corporate groups, and they were integrally tied to the rituals and offerings carried out

in order to maintain and reproduce both social and sacred relationships. The ceramic

iconography thus helps us to better elucidate the symbols, icons, and ideas around

which these groups came together, cohered, and identified, providing insights into

commoner ideology and identity.

Images would have been integral to crafting notions of identity at a number of

nested scales. Expressing ideals visually through the widely shared Mixteca-Puebla

style, polychrome imagery may have in part signified interregional affiliationsmost

closely with peoples of the Mixtec highlands, but also perhaps with more distant

polities such as Cholula, as has been indicated by interregional comparison. Using

157
this set of widely shared symbols and icons may have allowed Yucu Dzaa residents

both to intelligibly signify identity and ideals to outsiders, as well as appropriate

appealing images from distant places in crafting expressions of identity. At the same

time, we cannot view use of the Mixteca-Puebla style as only producing notions of

affiliation or sameness. I argued at the outset of this chapter that this suite of

imagery was potentially used via practices of bricolage to craft and represent more

localized identities as well. Bearing this in mind, it is thus not surprising that we see

regional differences in the forms and imagery of polychrome vessels (Lind 1994), and

thus these artifacts could have been selectively consumed to better express local

ideals and identities. Unique aspects of the Yucu Dzaa assemblage, such as the use of

blue paint and the tecomate form, are likely indicative of this phenomenon. I have

further suggested that while xicalcoliuquis may have symbolized widely shared ideas

of polity and community, the multicolored sets of narrow feathers so unusually

common in the Yucu Dzaa imagery potentially connote a more locally specific notion

of corporate identity. Hence through appropriation and creative manipulation,

Mixteca-Puebla symbols and icons could be used to evoke ideas and express identity

on the local level as well.

From the Yucu Dzaa ceramic assemblage we see that within the intimate

contexts of domestic ritual and feasting, themes of warfare and sacrifice were most

prevalent, and that these themes were closely tied to views of the structure of the

world, and how it was to be maintained and reproduced. As discussed in Chapter 5,

such ideas were integrated through combinations of icons, most notably the pattern of

eagle heads, smoke volutes and narrow feathers repeatedly found together. Such

158
combinations served to intimately link ideals of warfare and sacrifice: intrinsic

relationship necessary for the maintenance of existence. Through different icons or

signifiers, this is a linkage that is also seen in the codices, for example, in the scene

from page 12 of the Selden noted in Chapter 5, in which the heart of a captured

enemy is seen being sacrificed to the sun deity. It thus appears that in both Yucu

Dzaa households, as well as in dominant ideologies, warfare was seen as a vital act of

sacrifice, which helped facilitate and maintain sacred relations with deities, the earth,

and the heavens. Furthermore the motifs connoting these ideas of warfare and

sacrifice are also typically found in the polychrome imagery adjacent to the sets of

narrow feathers, which have been argued here to have potentially connoted senses of

both prestige and localized identity. This being the case, we would then see the

relation between warfare and sacrifice as closely intertwined with icons of identity, as

a salient theme around which notions of identity were produced and reproduced

within the household. As was alluded to in the previous chapter, this suite of motifs

is most commonly found repeating on the interiors of cajetes recovered from the

Yucu Dzaa residences. Thus, as members of corporate groups participated in

commensal feastingforging and maintaining social affiliationsthey would have

repeatedly and intimately been confronted with these signs, which emphasized how

closely bound up ideas of warfare and sacrifice were with conceptions of social

identity.

I suggest that in the core of the city of Yucu Dzaa, in the figured worlds of

feasting and ritual that took place at commoner residences, ideals related to the

importance of warfare and sacrifice framed understandings of the world and of

159
corporate selves. Polychrome icons, which connoted powerful and immediately

intelligible meanings related to these themes, carried considerable resonance within

the Yucu Dzaa populace at large. Such icons represented points of shared

worldviews through which commoners were able to self-identify with one another,

forging popular ideologies. These themes that were so key to common conceptions of

corporate identity were also integral to dominant ideologies. This is evident in the

Mixtec codices, and ethnohistoric data give us every reason to expect that these

themes and ideals were vital to the construction of polity at Late Postclassic Yucu

Dzaa. Constituting the largest tribute-empire of any Mixtec polity, warfare and

tribute were likely more prevalent at Yucu Dzaa than anywhere else in the Mixteca.

It can then be seen that popular and dominant ideologies, though they were produced

by different segments of the population and were expressed through different means,

had considerable points of articulation at Yucu Dzaa.

This presents a potential contrast with the case of the Late Postclassic Aztec

Empire. Brumfiel (1998: 8) writes that among commoners of the hinterland of the

Aztec capital, images such as those related to warfare were very low in frequency,

indicating that elite ideology held little sway in these regions. She therefore

concludes that Commoners internalized the ideology of power while simultaneously

waiting and hoping for deliverance from oppression (Brumfiel 1998: 11). In this

case, commoners are seen as complying with an exclusionary ideology that they did

not necessarily accept or embrace, and the potential for this compliance to change

into active resistance was ever-present. In contrast, at Yucu Dzaa, though highly

exclusionary ideologies likely did exist in the form of the elite codices, they

160
articulated in important ways with popular ideologies of sacrifice and warfare. This

suggests that commoners did not simply accept or comply with dominant ideologies,

but negotiated power relationships such that ideologies of the state spoke to their own

concerns and worldviews as well.

A difference of potentially great significance between the Aztec and Yucu

Dzaa cases just compared is that while Brumfiel (1998) examines lives of commoners

in the Aztec hinterland, the residences from Yucu Dzaa considered here, while

occupied by commoners, were located in the core of the capital. It is quite possible

that those living nearer to the center of the city were more invested in the projects of

the state than were others, particularly in comparison to those living in tributary

polities. Furthermore, survey data collected by Joyce and his colleagues (2004) has

indicated that the city of Yucu Dzaa may have been organized into distinct barrios or

neighborhoods, occupants of which potentially holding respectively different

worldviews. Thus accord between state and popular ideologies did not necessarily

characterize the site as a whole, much less the greater empire. What is apparent,

however, is that commoners were not in all cases required simply to blindly accept or

meekly comply with a dominant ideology in order for power relationships to be

maintained. Rather than viewing non-elites as simply being along for the ride, we

must ascribe greater importance to the active roles of all members of society in the

constitution of the state.

We are thus prepared to offer at least a part of the answer to the question put

forth at the beginning of this thesishow were large numbers of common people

motivated to participate in projects of polity development and empire building at

161
Yucu Dzaa? Warfare and sacrifice would have been critical to the conquest of

polities and the exacting of tribute by the Yucu Dzaa state, and ideals tied to these

acts were closely tied to salient themes of identity amongst commoners within the

politys center. The polychrome ceramic data indicate that commoners were apt to

have been considerably engaged with dominant ideologies or, inversely, that

dominant ideologies catered to popular concerns. In this way, the imperial actions of

the state were more likely to have been seen as important and appealing.

Concomitantly, commoners would have been more compelled to lend support to, and

participate in, such actions. Sacrificeso prevalent in commoners understandings of

daily life, as existence was predicated upon sacred covenantswas tied to warfare

not only via the prerogative of elites, but by commoners themselves, as they elected

to consume ceramics that linked these two themes and used them in domestic ritual

practice. While ethnohistoric documentation indicates that elites required commoners

at Yucu Dzaa to go to war (Smith 1973: 86), we need not see this as entirely a

product of coercion, nor of false consciousness. Rather than viewing commoner

complicity with the projects of the state as merely a function of ideological

dominance, I argue here that the data suggest it was instead the outcome of negotiated

social practice. Elites were liable to have been required to frame dominant ideologies

such that they had widespread appeal, meanwhile commoners were able to

appropriate aspects of the states prestige in forging popular identities within the

sphere of domestic ritual.

162
6.4 Conclusion and Future Directions

Throughout this thesis, while arguing in Chapter 2 that ideology should be

seen as fragmented and multiple, I have framed the research questions most often in

terms of a simple dichotomy: elite or dominant vs. commoner ideologies. Because it

is highly probable that Late Postclassic Yucu Dzaa was a multiethnic polity,

ideological relations within the empire were certainly much more complex than have

been represented in terms in which I have painted them here. Differences may have

existed along lines such as gender and barrio divisions as well. The data upon which

the analysis was based came from only two residences located in close proximity to

one another, in an area near the center of the capital. The persons that inhabited

residences A and B were more likely to have been ethnically Mixtec and,

concomitantly, commoners that were most invested in the actions of the state. In

other parts of the site, and certainly in the tributary polities within the region, we

should expect to find different ideologies and expressions of identity, and possibly

evidence of resistance as well. Future archaeological research in these areas,

comparing items of material culture such as polychrome pottery to materials found

within the sites core, stand to reveal a multiplicity of ideologies and identities, and

shed greater light on the complexity and nuance of social relations within the empire.

In examining visual expressions of ideology and identity through the medium

of polychrome pottery, I hope to have elucidated aspects of power relationships for

one segment of the Yucu Dzaa population. By focusing on modes of signification as

well as salient themes in the content of such signification, I argue that while we can

see clear articulations between state and popular ideologies, we can also note

163
differences that reveal the dynamism of the relationship between the two. Often in

archaeological theory, relationships of power and ideology are framed only within the

polarized terms of domination or resistance (Miller et al. 1989). While recent

considerations of resistance have shed light on issues of agency, commoner practices,

and the multiplicity of ideology (e.g. Joyce et al. 2001, Brumfiel 1996, Hutson 2002),

I suggest that even in the absence of evidence of resistance, we may still view

relationships of power as dynamic, negotiated, and contingent. As Joyce (n.d.: 235)

writes of the Oaxaca Coast during the Formative through Early Postclassic periods,

Political domination was not a given, but was part of a dynamic, negotiated history.

When faced with evidence of ideological accord with state power on the part of

commoners, we need not simply attribute this phenomenon to ideological dominance,

but interrogate in depth both how and why such accord came about. I argue that at

least for the segment of the population examined here, elite and commoner ideologies

were negotiated such that the ambitions of the state had popular appeal. In Late

Postclassic Oaxaca, the empire of Yucu Dzaa was an exceedingly unique political

entity, larger and more expansive than any of its regional contemporaries. It is

offered here that popular conceptions of ideology and identity played a considerable

role in making this possible. This is not meant to be taken as an all-encompassing

explanation, however, and ongoing studies of other aspects of social life at Yucu

Dzaa, such as the politys political economy, stand to shed a great deal further light

on how this unique Postclassic Oaxacan empire came to be formed and maintained.

Polychrome pottery only reflects a small portion of the complex web of social

164
practices that took place at Yucu Dzaa, yet provides a certain unique access to the

small figured worlds out of which the greater polity was constructed.

165
Works Cited
Althusser, Louis
2001 Lenin and Philosophy and other Essays. New Left Books, London.

Anders, Ferdinand, M. Jansen and A. Perez

1992 Origen e Historia de los Reyes Mixtecos: Libro Explicativo del llamado
Cdice Vindobonensis. Fondo Cultura Econmica, Mxico, D.F.

Arnold, Dean E.
2005 Maya blue and palygorskite: A Second Possible Pre-Columbian Source.
Ancient Mesoamerica 16: 51-62.

Arnold III, P. J.
1999 Tecomates, Residential Mobility, and Early Formative Occupation, in Coastal
Lowland Mesoamerica. In Pottery and People: A Dynamic Interaction, edited
by J. Skibo and G. Feinman, pp.157-170. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake
City.

Barber, Sarah
2005 Identity, Tradition, and Complexity: Negotiation Status and Authority in
Pacific Coastal Mexico. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of
Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder.

Barber, Sarah and Arthur A. Joyce

n.d. Polity Produced and Consumed: Negotiating Political Centralization in the
Lower Rio Verde Valley, Oaxaca. In Mesoamerican Ritual Economy, edited
by E. Christian Wells and Karla L. Davis-Salazare. University of Colorado,
Boulder. In press.

Barthes, Roland
1977 Image, Music, Text. Hill and Wang, New York.

Beyer, Hermann.
1965 Mito y Simbolismo del Mxico Antiguo. Sociedad Alemana Mexicanista,
Mexico, D.F.

Blanton, Richard E., G. M. Feinman, S. A. Kowalewski, and P. N.Peregrine

1996 A Dual-Processual Theory for the Evolution of Mesoamerican Civilization
Current Anthropology Vol. 37(1): 1-14.

Bolter, David J.
1991 Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ.

166
Brockington, Donald L.
1982 Spatial and Temporal Variations of the Mixtec-style Ceramics in Southern
Oaxaca. In Aspects of the Mixteca-Puebla Style and Mixtec and Central
Mexican Culture in Southern Mesoamerica, edited by D. Stone, pp. 7-12.
Tulane University, New Orleans.

Brumfiel, Elizabeth M.
2004 Meaning by Design: Ceramics, Feasting, and Figured Worlds in Postclassic
Mexico. In Mesoamerican Archaeology: Theory and Practice, edited by J.
Hendon and R. Joyce, pp. 239-261. Blackwell, London

1998 Huitzilopochtlis conquest: Aztec Ideology in the Archaeological Record.

Cambridge Archaeological Journal 8(1): 3-13.

1996 Figurines and the Aztec State: Testing the Effectiveness of Ideological
Domination. Gender and Archaeology, edited by R. P. Wright pp. 143-166.
Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press.

Byland, Bruce E. and John M. D. Pohl

1994. In the Realm of 8 Deer: The Archaeology of the Mixtec Codices. Norman,
University of Oklahoma Press.

Capone, Patricia W. and Robert W. Preucel

2002 Ceramic Semiotics: Women, Pottery, and Social Meanings at Kotyiti Pueblo.
In Archaeologies of the Pueblo Revolt: Identity, Meaning, and Renewal in the
Pueblo World, edited by R. Preucel, pp. 99-111. University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque.

Caso, Alfonso
1977 Reyes y Reinos de la Mixteca. Mxico, Fondo de Cultura Econmica.

Caso, Alfonso, I. Bernal, and J.R. Acosta

1967 La Cermica de Monte Albn. Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia,
Mxico, D.F.

Castillo, Noem
1968 Algunas Tcnicas Decorativas de la Cermica Arqueolgica de Mxico.
Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia, Mexico, D.F.

Chandler, Daniel
2002 Semiotics: The Basics. Routledge, London.

167
Clark, John E. and Michael Blake
1994 The Power of Prestige: Competitive Generosity and the Emergence of Rank
Societies in Lowland Mesoamerica. In Factional Competition and Political
Development in the New World, edited by E. M. Brumfiel, and J. W. Fox, pp.
17-30. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Codex Bodley 2858

1960 With commentary by A. Caso. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropologa, Mexico,
D.F.

Codex Borgia
1993 Edited by G. Diaz and A. Rodgers, with commentary by B. Byland. Dover,
New York

Codex Colombino-Becker
1966 With commentary by A. Caso and M. E. Smith. Sociedad Mexicana de
Antropologia, Mexico, D.F.

Codex Magliabechi
1983 The Book of the Life of the Ancient Mexicans, with commentary by Z. Nuttall
and E. Boone. University of California, Berkeley.

Codex Nuttall
1975 Edited by Z. Nuttall, with introduction by A. Miller. Dover, New York.

Codex Selden 3135

1964 With commentary by A. Caso. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropologa, Mexico,
D.F.

Codex Vaticanus B
1993 With commentary by F. Anders, M. Jansen. Fondo Cultura Economica,
Mexico, D.F.

Codex Vindobonensis
1992 With commentary by F. Anders, M. Jansen, and A. Perez. Fondo Cultura
Economica, Mexico, D.F.

Corts, Hernn and A. Pagden

1986 Letters from Mexico. Yale University Press, New Haven.

Costin, Catherine L.
1991 Craft Specialization: Issues in Defining, Documenting, and Explaining the
Organization of Production. In Archaeological Method and Theory, edited by
M. B. Schiffer, pp. 1-56. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

168
Dahlgren de Jordn, B.
1954 La Mixteca, su Cultura e Historia Prehispnicas. Impr. Universitaria, Mxico,
D.F.

De Certeau, Michel.
1982 The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley, University of California Press.

De Cicco, G. and Donald Brockington

1956 Reconocimiento Arqueolgico en el Suroeste de Oaxaca. Instituto Nacional
de Antropologa e Historia, Mexico, D.F.

Deetz, James
1967 Invitation to Archaeology. Anchor Books, New York.

Demarest, Arthur A. and Geoffrey W. Conrad

1992 Ideology and Pre-Columbian Civilizations. School of American Research
Press, Santa Fe.

Derrida, Jacques
1978 Writing and Difference. Routledge, London.

Flannery, Kent V.
1972 The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations. Annual Review of Ecology and
Systematics 2: 399-426.

Furst, Jill L.
1978 Codex Vindobonensis: A Commentary. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies,
Albany.

Giddens, Anthony
1979 Central Problems in Social Theory: Action, Structure, and Contradiction in
Social Practice. University of California, Berkeley.

Gillespie, Susan D.
2000 Rethinking Ancient Maya Social Organization: Replacing Lineage with
House. American Anthropologist 102(3): 467-484.

Gilman, Antonio
1989 Marxism in American Archaeology. In Archaeological Thought in America,
edited by C. C Lamberg-Karlovsky, pp. 63 73. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.

Gomara, Francisco Lopez de

1964 Cortes: The Life of the Conqueror by his Secretary. Berkeley, University of
California.

169
Hall, Stuart.
1996 Introduction: Who Needs Identity? In Questions of Cultural Identity, edited
by S. Hall and P. Du Gay, pp. 1-17. Sage, London.

Hamann, Byron
2004 Seeing and the Mixtec Screenfolds: In the Eyes of the Mixtecs/To View
Several Pages Simultaneously. Visible Language Spring 2004: 66-124.

Hegmon, Michelle
2003 Setting Theoretical Egos Aside: Issues and Theory in North American
Archaeology. American Antiquity 68: 213-233.
Heijting, Femke J.
2006 Cotton Thread Production in Late Postclassic Tututepec: A Study of
excavated Spindle Whorls from the Tututepec Archaeological Project 2005.
Unpublished Master's Thesis, Leiden University, Leiden, Holland.

Herzfeld, Michael
1992 Metapatterns: Archaeology and the Uses of Evidential Scarcity. In
Representations in Archaeology, edited by J.C. Gardin and C.S. Peebles, pp.
66-86. University of Indiana, Bloomington.

Hodder, Ian
1989 This is not an Article About Material Culture as Text. Journal of
Anthropological Archaeology 8: 250-269.

1982 Symbols in Action: Ethnoarchaeological Studies of Material Culture.

Cambridge University, Cambridge.

Hodder, I. and S. Hutson

2003 Reading the Past: Current Approaches to Iinterpretation in Archaeology.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Holland, Dorothy, William Lachicotte Jr., Debra Skinner, and Carole Cain
1998 Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds. Harvard University, Cambridge.

Hutson, Scott R.
2002 Built Space and Bad Subjects: Domination and Resistance at Monte Alban,
Oaxaca, Mexico. Journal of Social Archaeology 2(1): 53-80.

Hutson, Scott R., Aline Magnoni, and Travis W. Stanton

2004 House Rules? The Practice of Social Organization in Classic-period
Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 15: 75-92.

170
Janusek, John W.
2004 Identity and Power in the Ancient Andes: Tiwanaku and Lukurmata.
Routledge, London.

Josserand, J. K., M. E. R. G. N. Jansen, and A. Romero

1984 Mixtec dialectology: Inferences from linguistics and ethnohistory. Essays in
Otomanguean Culture History, edited by J. K. Josserand, M. Winter, and N.
Hopkins, pp. 141-163. Nashville, Vanderbilt University Publications in
Anthropology No. 31.

Joyce, Arthur A.
n.d. Domination, Negotiation, and Collapse: A History of Centralized Authority of
the Oaxaca Coast Before the Late Postclassic. In After Monte Albn, edited
by J. P. Blomster. University of Colorado, Boulder. In press.

2004 Sacred Space and Social Relations in the Valley of Oaxaca. In

Mesoamerican Archaeology, edited by Julia Hendon and Rosemary A. Joyce,
pp. 192-216. Blackwell, Oxford.

1993 Interregional Interaction and Social Development on the Oaxaca Coast.

Ancient Mesoamerica 4: 67-84.

Joyce, A. A., L. A. Bustamante, and Marc N.Levine

2001 Commoner Power: A Case Study from the Classic Period Collapse on the
Oaxaca Coast. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 8(4): 343-385.

Joyce, Arthur A., H. Neff, M. S. Thieme, M. Winter, J. M. Elam, and A Workinger

n.d. Ceramic Production and Exchange in Late/Terminal Formative Period
Oaxaca. Latin American Antiquity. In preparation.

Joyce, Arthur A. and Marcus Winter

1989 Investigaciones arqueolgicas en la cuenca del Ro Verde inferior, 1988.
Notas Mesoamericanas 11: 249-262.

Joyce, Arthur A., A. G. Workinger, B. Hamann, P. Kroefges, M. Oland, and S. King

2004 Lord 8 Deer "Jaguar Claw" and the Land of the Sky: The Archaeology and
History of Tututepec. Latin American Antiquity 15(3): 273-297.

Joyce, Rosemary A.
2000 Gender and power in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. University of Texas Press,
Austin.
.
Joyce, Rosemary A. and Susan D. Gillespie (eds)
2000 Beyond Kinship: Social and Material Reproduction in House Societies.
University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

171
Keber, Eloise Q.
1994 The Codex style: Which style? Which Codex? In Mixteca Puebla:
Discoveries and Research in Mesoamerican Art and Archaeology, edited by
H. B. Nicholson and E. Q. Keber, pp. 143-152. Labyrinthos, Culver City,
California.

King, Mark
1988 Mixtec Political Ideology: Historical Metaphors and the Poetics of Political
Symbolism. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Kiracofe, James B.
1995 Architectural Fusion and Indigenous Ideology in Early Colonial Teposcolula.
Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Esteticas 66: 45-84.

Kohl, Phillip L.
1981 Materialist Approaches in Prehistory. Annual Review of Anthropology 10: 89-
118.

Kress, Gunther and T. Van Leeuwen

1996 Reading Images: the Grammar of Visual Design. Routledge, London.

Leone, Mark P.
1982 Some Opinions About Recovering Mind. American Antiquity 47(4): 742-460.

Leroi-Gouhan, A.
1993 Gesture and Speech. MIT Press, Cambridge.

Levine Marc N.
2006 Personal communication.

2006. The Tututepec Archaeological Project (TAP) Final Report. Submitted to the
Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies Inc.

2004 Proposal for Dissertation Improvement Grant. Submitted to National Science

Foundation.

Levi-Strauss, Claude.
1966. The Savage Mind. University of Chicago, Chicago.

1963 Structural Anthropology. Basic Books, New York.

Libura, Krystyna M.
2000 Los Das y Dioses del Cdice Borgia. Ediciones Tecolote, Mexico, D.F.

172
Lind, Michael.
1994 Cholula and Mixteca polychromes: Two Mixteca-Puebla Regional Sub-Styles.
In Mixteca Puebla: Discoveries and Research in Mesoamerican Art and
Archaeology, edited by H. B. Nicholson and E. Q. Keber. Labyrinthos, Culver
City, CA.

1987 The Sociocultural Dimensions of Mixtec Ceramics. Vanderbilt University,

Nashville.

1979 Postclassic and Early Colonial Mixtec Houses in the Nochixtlan Valley,
Oaxaca, Mexico. Vanderbilt University, Nashville.

Marx, Karl and Frederick Engels.

1976 The German Ideology. Progress Publishers, Moscow.

Masson, Marilyn A.
2003 The Late Postclassic Symbol Set in the Maya Area. In The Postclassic
Mesoamerican World, edited by Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan, pp.
194-200. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

McAnany, Patricia A.
2002 Rethinking the Great and Little Tradition Paradigm from the Perspective of
Domestic Ritual. In Domestic Ritual in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by
Patricia Plunket, pp. 115-119. The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Los
Angeles.

McCafferty, Geoffrey G.
2001 Ceramics of Postclassic Cholula, Mexico: Typology and Seriation of Pottery
from the UA-1 Domestic Compound. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Los
Angeles.

McLuhan, Marshall
1964 Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man. McGraw Hill, New York.

Miller, Daniel and Christopher Tilley

1984 Ideology, Power, and Prehistory. Cambridge University, Cambridge.

Miller Daniel, M. Rowlands, and C. Tilley

1989 Domination and Resistance. Allen and Unwin, Boston.

Monaghan, John
1995 The Covenants with Earth and Rain: Exchange, Sacrifice, and
Revelation in Mixtec Sociality. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

1990 Performance and the Structure of the Mixtec Codices. Ancient Mesoamerica
1: 133-140

173
Neff, Hector, R.L. Bishop, E.B. Sisson, M.D. Glascock, and P.R. Sisson
1994 Neutron Activation Analysis of Late Postclassic polychrome pottery from
central Mexico. In Mixteca Puebla: Discoveries and Research in
Mesoamerican Art and Archaeology, edited by H. B. Nicholson and E. Q.
Keber, pp. 117-133. Labyrinthos, Culver City, CA.

Nichols, Debra L.
2004 The Rural and Urban Landscapes of the Aztec City State. In Mesoamerican
Archaeology: Theory and Practice, edited by J.A. Hendon and R.A. Joyce, pp.
265-295. Blackwell, London.

Nicholson, H. B. and E. Quiones Keber

1994 Mixteca-Puebla: Discoveries and Research in Mesoamerican Art and
Archaeology. Labyrinthos Culver City, CA.

OMack, Scott
1990 Reconocimiento Arqueologico en Tututepec, Oaxaca. Notas
Mesoamericanas:19-39.

Peirce, Charles S.
1991 Peirce on Signs, edited by J. Hoopes. University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill.

Pelc, Jerzy.
1986 Iconicity, Iconic Signs, or Iconic Uses of Signs? In Iconicity: Essays on the
Nature of Culture, edited by P. Bouissac, M. Herzfeld, and R. Posner, pp. 7-
17. Stauffenburg Verlag, Germany.

Perez Rodriguez, Veronica

2003 Household Intensification and Agrarian States: Excavation of Houses
and Terraced Fields in a Mixtec Cacicazgo. PhD Dissertation, University of
Georgia, Athens.

Pohl, John M. D.
n.d. John Pohls Mesoamerica. Website for Foundation for the Advancement of
Mesoamerican research. http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/.

2005 The Griffin Fragment: A Mixtec Drinking Vessel Portraying the Place Sign
for Hill of the Turkey. Record: Princeton University Art Museum 64: 81-
90.

2003 Ritual and Iconographic Variability in Mixteca-Puebla Polychrome Pottery.

The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Michael E. Smith and
Frances F. Berdan, pp. 201-206. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City

174
1994 The Politics of Symbolism in the Mixtec Codices. Vanderbilt University,
Nashville.

Preucel, Robert W. and Alexander A. Bauer

2001 Archaeological Pragmatics. Norwegian Archaeological Review 34: 85-96.

Ramsey, James R.
1982 An Examination of Mixtec Iconography. In Aspects of the Mixteca-Puebla
Style and Mixtec and Central Mexican Culture in Southern Mesoamerica,
edited by D. Stone, pp. 33-42. Tulane University, New Orleans.

Sahagun, Bernardo de
1959 General History of the Things of New Spain; Florentine codex, edited by A.
Anderson and C. Dibble. School of American Research, Santa Fe.

Sanchez, Gilda Hernandez

2005 Vasijas para Ceremonia: Iconographa de la Cermica Tipo Cdice del Estilo
Mixteca-Puebla. CNWS, Leiden.
Saussure, Ferdinand de
1983 Course in General Linguistics. Duckworth, London.

Schortman, Edward M.
1989 Interregional Interaction in Prehistory: The Need for a New Perspective.
American Antiquity 54(1): 52-65.

Scott, James C.
1985 Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. Yale
University Press, New Haven.

Seler, Eduard
1990 Collected Works in Mesoamerican Linguistics and Archaeology, edited by J.
Eric S. Thompson and Francis B. Richardson. Five volumes. Labyrinthos,
Culver City, CA.

Shanks, Michael and Christopher Tilley

1988 Social Theory and Archaeology. University of New Mexico Press,
Albuquerque.

Smith, Mary Elizabeth

1973 Picture Writing from Ancient Southern Mexico : Mixtec Place Signs and
Maps. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

Smith, Michael E. and Elizabeth H. Boone

2003 Postclassic International Styles and Symbol Sets. In The Postclassic
Mesoamerican World, edited by Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan, pp.
186-193. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City

175
Smith, Michael E. and Cynthia Heath-Smith
1982 Waves of Influence in Postclassic Mesoamerica? A Critique of the Mixteca-
Puebla Concept. Anthropology 4: 15-50.

Spores, Ronald
1993 Tututepec: A Postclassic-Period Mixtec Conquest State. Ancient Mesoamerica
4(1): 167-174

1984 The Mixtecs in Ancient and Colonial Times. University of Oklahoma Press,
Norman.

Terraciano, Kevin
2001 The Mixtecs of Colonial Oaxaca: udzahui History, Sixteenth Through
Eighteenth Centuries. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.

Troike, Nancy
1980 The Identification of Individuals in the Codex Colombino-Becker I. Tlalocan
8: 389-418.

Vaillant, George C. 1938. A correlation of archaeological and historical sequences

in the Valley of Mexico. American Anthropologist 40(4): 535-573.

Vega Sosa, C.
1984 El Curso del Sol en los Glifos de la Ceramica Azteca Tarida. Estudios
Cultura Nahuatl 17: 152-170.

Wilden, Anthony
1986 Ideology and the Icon: Oscillation, Contradiction, and Paradox: An Essay in
Context Theory. In Iconicity: Essays on the Nature of Culture, edited by P.
Bouissac, M. Herzfeld, and R. Posner, pp. 251-302. Stauffenburg Verlag,
Germany.

Willey, Gordon
1957 The Early Great Styles and the Rise of the Pre-Columbian Civilizations.
American Anthropologist 64(1): 1-14.

Winter, Marcus
2002 Monte Alban: Mortuary Practices as Domestic Ritual and their Relation to
Community Religion. In Domestic Ritual in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by
Patricia Plunket, pp. 67-82. The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Los
Angeles.

1989 Oaxaca: The Archaeological Record. Minutiae Mexicana, Mexico City.

176
Zahller, Mark
1977 Mixteca-Puebla Ceramics and their use of the Xicalcoliuqui Motif.
Unpublished Masters Thesis, Department of Art History, University of
Colorado, Boulder.

177