Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T11:11:54.163Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

DRESSING THE PERSON: CLOTHING AND IDENTITY IN THE CASAS GRANDES WORLD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2017

Christine S. VanPool ,
Todd L. VanPool  and
Lauren W. Downs
Christine S. VanPool*
Affiliation:
112 Swallow Hall, Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Todd L. VanPool*
Affiliation:
112 Swallow Hall, Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Lauren W. Downs
Affiliation:
AECOM, 401 West A Street, Suite 1200, San Diego, CA 92101, USA ([email protected])
*
([email protected]; [email protected], corresponding authors)
([email protected]; [email protected], corresponding authors)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Casas Grandes Medio–period (A.D. 1200–1450) human effigies are unique in the North American Southwest in that they depict primary and secondary sexual traits, making determination of sex and gender roles possible. Here, we build on previous discussions by considering the importance of depictions of clothing (e.g., belts and sashes), personal adornments (e.g., necklaces and bracelets), facial decorations, and other aspects of dress. We find that Medio-period symbolism for males and females was based on gender complementary that combined the productive, reproductive, and ritual activities of men and women within a single symbolic and ritual system. Some clothing styles are found on both males and females (e.g., arm bands), but there are also sex-based differences. Women wear low horizontal belts across their hips, whereas men primarily wear sandals and elaborate headbands. Aspects of dress also appear to be continued from previous cultures such as the Classic Mimbres (A.D. 1000–1150) and continued into historic northern Mexican and southwestern groups (e.g., headgear and some sandal types). Ultimately, we find that males have more elaborate dress and are associated with a specific set of ritually important symbols. Females are associated with cloud/fertility symbolism, sternal decorations, and birds.

La cultura de Paquimé (Casas Grandes) floreció durante el periodo medio (1200--1450 d.C.). Sus artesanos fabricaron efigies humanas únicas en el Suroeste norteamericano. Estas figuras presentan rasgos sexuales primarios y secundarios, facilitando la determinación del sexo y de los papeles de género. Con base en debates anteriores, en este trabajo consideramos la importancia de las descripciones de las prendas de ropa (por ejemplo, cinturones y fajas), adornos personales (por ejemplo, collares y pulseras), decoraciones faciales y otros aspectos del vestuario. Observamos que el simbolismo del periodo medio estuvo basado en la complementariedad de género que combinaba actividades productivas, reproductivas y rituales de mujeres y varones dentro de un solo sistema simbólico y ritual. Algunos estilos de ropa se encuentran en mujeres y varones (por ejemplo, brazaletes de brazo), pero también hay diferencias basadas en el sexo. Las mujeres usan correas horizontales en las caderas, mientras que los varones usan principalmente sandalias y cintas para el cabello. Algunos aspectos del vestuario también parecen ser una continuación de culturas anteriores, como los mimbres del periodo clásico (1000–1150 d.C.), y persistieron hasta el periodo histórico en el norte de México y el suroeste de Norteamérica (por ejemplo, las cintas de cabello y algunos tipos de sandalias). Por ultimo, observamos que los varones usan vestidos más elaborados y están asociados a un conjunto específico de símbolos ritualmente importantes. Las mujeres están asociadas a simbolismo de nubes y fertilidad, decoraciones esternales y aves.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , April 2017 , pp. 262 - 287
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by the Society for American Archaeology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Anawalt, Patricia R. 1981 Indian Clothing before Cortéz: Mesoamerican Costumes from the Codices. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Aragon, Leslie D. 2013Figuring Out Figurines: An Ontological Approach to Hohokam Anthropomorphic Figures from the Phoenix Basin. Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Bonvillain, Nancy 2001 Native Nations: Cultures and Histories of Native North America. Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Brantingham, P. Jeffrey, and Perreault, Charles 2010 Detecting the Effects of Selection and Stochastic Forces in Archaeological Assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science 37:3211–3225.Google Scholar
Brody, J. J., Scott, Catherine J., and LeBlanc, Steven A. 1983 Mimbres Pottery: Ancient Art of the American Southwest. Hudson Hills Press, New York.Google Scholar
Crane, Diana 2012 Fashion and Its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Crown, Patricia L. 1994 Ceramics and Ideology: Salado Polychrome Pottery. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Peso, Di, Charles, C. 1974 Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Grand Chichimeca, Vols. 1–3. Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, and Northland Press, Flagstaff, Arizona.Google Scholar
Di Peso, Charles C., Rinaldo, John B., and Fenner, Gloria J. (editors) 1974 Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Grand Chichimeca, Vols. 4–8. Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, and Northland Press, Flagstaff, Arizona.Google Scholar
Dunnell, Robert C. 2008 Archaeological Things: Languages of Observation. In Time's River: Archaeological Syntheses from the Lower Mississippi River Valley, edited by Raffery, Janet and Peacock, Evan, pp. 45–68. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Dutton, Bertha P. 1963 Sun Father's Way: The Kiva Murals of Kuaua. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Eerkens, Jelmer W., and Lipo, Carl P. 2005 Cultural Transmission, Copying Errors, and the Generation of Variation in Material Culture and the Archaeological Record. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 24:316–334.Google Scholar
Evans, Susan Toby 2004 Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History. Thames and Hudson, New York.Google Scholar
Ezell, Paul H. 1983 History of the Pima. In Southwest, edited by Ortiz, Alfonso, pp. 149–160. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 10, Sturtevant, William C., general editor. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Ferguson, T. J. 2004 Academic, Legal, and Political Contexts of Social Identity and Cultural Affiliation Research in the Southwest. In Identity, Feasting, and the Archaeology of the Greater Southwest, edited by Mills, Barbara J., pp. 27–41. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Fewkes, J. Walters 1898 An Ancient Human Effigy Vase from Arizona. American Anthropologist 11:165–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, Hayward H., and Reed, Lori S. 2016 Human Effigy Vessels from Chaco Canyon Outlying Communities. Pottery Southwest 32 (1):2–9.Google Scholar
Hansen, Karen Tranberg 2004 The World in Dress: Anthropological Perspectives on Clothing, Fashion, and Culture. Annual Review of Anthropology 33:369–392.Google Scholar
Haury, Emil 1976 The Hohokam: Desert Farmers and Craftsmen. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hays-Gilpin, Kelley A., Webster, Laurie D., and Schaafsma, Polly 2004 The Iconography of Tie-die Textiles in the Ancient Americas. Cosmos 20:33–56.Google Scholar
Hurst, Winston 1994 The Little Man and the Old Character: Two Human Effigy Pots from Alkali Ridge. Blue Mountain Shadows 13:4751.Google Scholar
Hurt, Teresa D., VanPool, Todd L., Rakita, Gordon F. M., and Leonard, Robert D. 2001 Explaining the Co-occurrence of Traits in the Archaeological Record: A Further Consideration of Replicative Success. In Style and Function: Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Archaeology, edited by Hurt, Teresa D. and Rakita, Gordon F. M., pp. 51–68. Bergin and Garvey, Westport, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Jenkins, Richard 2014 Social Identity. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Johnson, Kim K.P., Yoo, Jeong-Ju, Kim, Minjeong, and Lennon, Sharron J. 2008 Dress and Human Behavior: A Review and Critique. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 26:3–22.Google Scholar
King, Mary Elizabeth 1974 Chapter 6: Medio Period Perishable Artifacts. In Casas Grandes: Bone-Economy-Burials, edited by Di Peso, Charles C., Rinaldo, John B., and Fenner, Gloria J., pp. 76–119. Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, and Northland Press, Flagstaff, Arizona.Google Scholar
Kroeber, Alfred L. 1917 Zuni Kin and Clan. American Museum of Natural History, New York.Google Scholar
Lumholtz, Carl 1973 Unknown Mexico: Five Years Exploration among the Tribes of Western Sierra Madre. Reprinted. Originally published 1902, Charles Scribner's Son, New York.Google Scholar
McElvain, Jean Elizabeth 2008 Wearing a Cause: Personal Motivations for Expressing Beliefs through Dress. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Mathiowetz, Michael D. 2011 The Diurnal Path of the Sun: Ideology and Interregional Interaction in Ancient Northwest Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside.Google Scholar
Miller, Mary, and Taube, Karl 1993 An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. Thames and Hudson, New York.Google Scholar
Mills, Barbara 2004 Identity, Feasting, and the Archaeology of the Greater Southwest. In Identity, Feasting, and the Archaeology of the Greater Southwest, edited by Mills, Barbara J., pp. 1–23. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Moulard, Barbara L. 1984 Within the Underworld Sky: Mimbres Ceramic Art in Context. Twelvetrees Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico.Google Scholar
Moulard, Barbara L. 2005 Archaism and Emulation in Casas Grandes Painted Pottery. In Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, edited by Townsend, Richard F., pp. 66–97. Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Munson, Marit 2000 Sex, Gender, and Status: Human Images from the Classic Mimbres. American Antiquity 65:127–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munson, Marit 2011 The Archaeology of Art in the American Southwest. AltaMira Press, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Narez, Jesus 1991 Casas Grandes: Catalogo de las Colecciones Arqueologicas del Museo Nacional de Antropología. Instituto Naccional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico, D.F. Google Scholar
Neitzel, Jill 2017 Recognizing People in the Prehistoric Southwest. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Parsons, Elsie C. 1996 Pueblo Indian Religion, Volumes 1 and 2. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.Google Scholar
Pepper, George H. 1906 Human Effigy-Vases from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Boas Annual Volume, edited by Anonymous, pp. 320–334. American Museum of Natural History, New York.Google Scholar
Phillips, David A. Jr., and Gamboa, Eduardo 2015 The End of Paquimé and the Casas Grandes Culture. In Ancient Paquimé and the Casas Grandes World, edited by Minnis, Paul E. and Whalen, Michael E., pp. 148–171. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Phillips, David A. Jr., and VanPool, Christine S. 2009 Seeking the Individual in Casas Grandes Pottery: A Progress Report. Pottery Southwest 28 (3):10–16.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum 2017 Female Effigy Vessel, A.D. 1350–1450. Electronic document, http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/108703, accessed January 3, 2017.Google Scholar
Rakita, Gordon F. M. 2009 Ancestors and Elites: Emergent Complexity and Ritual Practices in the Casas Grandes Polity. AltaMira Press, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Rakita, Gordon F. M., and Antillón, Rafael Cruz 2015 Organization of Production at Paquimé. In Ancient Paquimé and the Casas Grandes World, edited by Minnis, Paul E. and Whalen, Michael E., pp. 103–125. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Riley, Carroll L. 1987 The Frontier People: The Greater Southwest in the Protohistoric Period. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Roach-Higgins, Mary Ellen, and Eicher, Joanne B. 1992 Dress and Identity. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 10 (4):1–8.Google Scholar
Roscoe, Will 1991 The Zuni Man-Woman. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Schaafsma, Polly 1980 Indian Rock Art of the Southwest. School of American Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico.Google Scholar
Schaafsma, Polly 2009 The Cave in the Kiva: The Kiva Niche and Painted Walls in the Rio Grande Valley. American Antiquity 47:664–690.Google Scholar
Shafer, Harry 2003 Mimbres Archaeology at the NAN Ranch Ruin. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Sprehn, Maria S. 2001 Tattoos, Women, and Rites of Passage: Body Art in the Casas Grandes World. In From Paquimé to Mata Ortiz: The Legacy of Ancient Casas Grandes, edited by Johnson, Grace, pp. 65–72. San Diego Museum of Man, San Diego, California.Google Scholar
Stinson, Susan 2004 Household Ritual, Gender, and Figurines in the Hohokam Regional System. Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Stone, Gregory P. 1981 Appearance and the Self: A Slightly Revised Version. In Social Psychology Through Symbolic Interaction, edited by Stone, Gregory P. and Farberman, Harvey A., pp.187–202. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Alan P., and Rozen, Kenneth C. 1985 Debitage Analysis and Archaeological Interpretation. American Antiquity 50:755–779.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl 2000 Lightning Celts and Corn Fetishes: The Formative Olmec and the Development of Maize Symbolism in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. In Olmec Art and Archaeology in Mesoamerica, edited by Clark, John E. and Pye, Mary E., pp. 297–337. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Teague, Lynn S. 1998 Textiles in Southwestern Prehistory. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Townsend, Richard F. 2005 Casas Grandes in the Art of the Ancient Southwest. In Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, edited by Townsend, Richard F., pp. 14–65. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
VanPool, Christine S. 2003a The Shaman-Priests of the Casas Grandes Region. American Antiquity 68:696–717.Google Scholar
VanPool, Christine S. 2003b The Symbolism of Casas Grandes. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
VanPool, Christine S., and VanPool, Todd L. 2002 Dichotomy and Duality: The Structure of Casas Grandes Art. In Talking Birds, Plumed Serpents, and Painted Women: Ceramics of Casas Grandes, edited by Stuhr, Joanne, pp. 71–75. Tucson Museum of Art and Arizona Lithographers, Tucson.Google Scholar
VanPool, Christine S., and VanPool, Todd L. 2006 Gender in Middle Range Societies: A Case Study in Casas Grandes Iconography. American Antiquity 71:53–75.Google Scholar
VanPool, Christine S., and VanPool, Todd L. 2007 Signs of the Casas Grandes Shamans. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
VanPool, Christine S., and VanPool, Todd L. 2009 The Semantics of Local Knowledge: Using Ethnosemantics to Study Folk Taxonomy Represented in the Archaeological Record. Journal of Anthropological Research 65 (4):529–554.Google Scholar
VanPool, Todd L., and Leonard, Robert D. 2011 Quantitative Analysis in Archaeology. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
VanPool, Todd L., O'Brien, Michael J., and Lyman, R. Lee 2015 Innovation and Natural Selection in Paleoindian Projectile Points from the American Southwest. In Lithic Technological Systems: Stone, Human Behavior, and Evolution, edited by Goodale, Nathan and Andrefsky, William Jr., pp. 61–81. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
VanPool, Todd L., VanPool, Christine S., and Phillips, David A. Jr. 2006 The Casas Grandes and Salado Phenomena: Evidence for a Religious Schism in the Greater Southwest. In Religion in the Pre-Hispanic Southwest, edited by VanPool, Christine S., VanPool, Todd L., and Phillips, David A. Jr., pp. 235–252. AltaMira Press, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Voss, Jerome A., and Young, Robert L. 1995 Style and the Self. In Style, Society, and Person, edited by Carr, Christopher and Neitzel, Jill E., pp.77–99. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Webster, Laurie D. 2007 Ritual Costuming at Pottery Mound. In New Perspectives on Pottery Mound Pueblo, edited by Schaafsma, Polly, pp. 167–208. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Whalen, Michael E., and Pitezel, Todd 2015 Settlement Patterns of the Casas Grandes Area. In Ancient Paquimé and the Casas Grandes World, edited by Minnis, Paul E. and Whalen, Michael E., pp. 103–124. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

VanPool supplementary material

Table S1

Download VanPool supplementary material(File)
File 27.9 KB
Supplementary material: File

VanPool supplementary material

VanPool supplementary material 1

Download VanPool supplementary material(File)
File 16.2 KB