Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T16:20:28.039Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Mushrooms, Drugs, and Potters: A New Approach to the Function of Precolumbian Mesoamerican Mushroom Stones

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Abstract

The function of archaeological mushroom stones has been subject to various speculations. Recently their explanation as ritual objects, associated with the ceremonial consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms, seems on its way to general acceptance. The subsequent analysis refutes such an interpretation and reveals their real function as potters’ molds.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1976

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

Borhegyi, Stephan F. de 1961 Miniature mushroom stones from Guatemala. American Antiquity 26:498504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borhegyi, Stephan F. de 1963 Precolumbian pottery mushrooms from Mesoamerica. American Antiquity 28:32838.Google Scholar
Borhegyi, Stephan F. de 1965 Archaeological synthesis of the Guatemala Highlands. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 2, edited by Wauchope, Robert and Willey, Gordon R., pp. 358. University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Christensen, Nerthus, and Christensen, Dieter 1966 Die Töpferei von San Martin Totoltepec. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 9:24886.Google Scholar
Codex Magliabechiano XIII.3 1894 Manuscrit mexicain post-Colombien de la Bibliotheque Nationale de Florence; reproduit en photochromographie aux frais du due de l.oubat. Danesi, Rome.Google Scholar
Escalante, Roberto, and Lopez, Antonio 1971 Hongos sagrados de los Matlatzincas. Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Seccion de Linguistica 4, Mexico.Google Scholar
Foster, George M. 1948 Some implications of modern Mexican mold-made pottery. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 4:35670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, George M. 1955 Contemporary pottery techniques in southern and central Mexico. Tulane University, Middle American Research Institute, Publication 22:148.Google Scholar
Foster, George M. 1967 Contemporary pottery and basketry. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 6, edited by Wauchope, Robert and Nash, Manning, pp. 103124. University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Furst, Peter T. (Editor) 1972 Flesh of the gods: the ritual use of hallucinogens. Praeger, New York.Google Scholar
Gillin, John 1951 The culture of security in San Carlos; a study of a Guatemalan community of Indians and Ladinos. Tulane University, Middle American Research Institute, Publication 16.Google Scholar
Ichon, Alain 1969 La religion des Totonaques de la Sierra. Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris.Google Scholar
Kidder, Alfred V., Jenning, J. D., and Shook, K. M. 1946 Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 561.Google Scholar
Knecht, Sigrid 1967 Indianische Götterpilze. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 92:27885.Google Scholar
La Barre, Weston 1972 Hallucinogens and the shamanic origins of religion. In Flesh of the gods, edited by Furst, Peter T., pp. 261-78. Praeger, New York.Google Scholar
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1970 Before Cortes: sculpture of Middle America. A centennial exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Google Scholar
Rautenstrauch-J oset-Museum, Cologne 1966 Kunst der Maya; aus Staats- und Privatbesitz der Republik Guatemala. Eine Ausstellung im Wallraf-Richartz-Museum zu Köln. Köln.Google Scholar
Ravicz, Robert 1961 La Mixteca en el estudio comparativo del hongo alucinante. Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia 13:7392.Google Scholar
Reina, Ruben E. 1966 The law of the saints; a Pokomam pueblo and its community culture. Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis.Google Scholar
Sapper, Carl 1898 Pilzförmige Götzenbilder aus Guatemala und San Salvador. Globus 73:327.Google Scholar
Shook, Edwin M., and Kidder, Alfred V. 1952 Mound E-III-3, Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 596:33127.Google Scholar
Stirling, Matthew W. 1957 An archaeological reconnaissance in southeastern Mexico. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 164, Anthropological Papers 53:21340.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1948 An archaeological reconnaissance in the Cotzumalhuapa region, Escuintla, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 574:192.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1970 Maya history and religion. University of Oklahoma, Norman.Google Scholar
Wasson, R. Gordon 1972 The divine mushroom of immortality. In Flesh of the gods, edited by Furst, Peter J., pp. 185200. Praeger, New York.Google Scholar
Wasson, Valentina P., and Gordon Wasson, R. 1957 Mushrooms, Russia, and history. Pantheon, New York.Google Scholar
Woodbury, Richard B. 1965 Artifacts of the Guatemala Highlands. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 2, edited by Wauchope, Robert and Willey, Gordon R., pp. 163-79. University of Texas, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar