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Mimbres Pottery, Births, and Gender: A Reconsideration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Christopher T. Espenshade
Christopher T. Espenshade*
Affiliation:
TRC Garrow Associates, 3772 Pleasantdale Road, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30340
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Abstract

In their 1996 article, Hegmon and Trevathan argue that the nature of birth scenes depicted on Mimbres pottery bowls provides insight into the gender of the pottery painters. Specifically, they argue that the birth position illustrated is extremely uncommon, suggesting that the potter(s) had not had exposure to birth episodes. Hegmon and Trevathan conclude that the potters were male. Their arguments are flawed by faulty premises and a severe misunderstanding of the nature of Mimbres art. A review of the evidence regarding birth-depiction bowls indicates that the images do not imply either male or female potters.

En su artículo de 1996, Hegmon y Trevathan sostienen que el tipo de escenas de nacimiento en tres cuencos de Mimbres indica el género de los pintores. Ellas sostienen que la posición del bebé durante el alumbramiento es muy rara, lo que indica que los pintores no acostumbraron presenciar el nacimiento humano. Hegmon y Trevathan concluyen que los pintores de los cuencos fueron hombres. Su razonamiento está debilitado por el uso de premisas falsas y por la falta de comprensión de la naturaleza del arte Mimbres. Una revisión de las escenas pintados en estos cuencos demuestra que las imágenes no representan el género de los pintores.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 62 , Issue 4 , October 1997 , pp. 733 - 736
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1997

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References

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