Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-11T07:16:30.781Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

POWER MATERIALIZED: THE DART-THROWER AS A PAN-MESOAMERICAN STATUS MARKER

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 December 2011

Donald A. Slater
Donald A. Slater*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University, Brown 228, MS 006, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453; Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, 175 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Throughout the deep history of Mesoamerica, the dart-thrower (a.k.a. atlatl) played a vital utilitarian and symbolic role. Although it was a highly effective tool exploited for practical purposes such as hunting and warfare, ample evidence exists which reveals its association with themes of authority, power, and prestige. The survival of ornamented dart-throwers, as well as the context in which the implement appears in Mesoamerican material culture and forms of graphic communication, reveal its role in the production and assertion of high social status. This argument will be supported by archaeological and ethnographic evidence which demonstrates that the dart-thrower served as a pan-Mesoamerican symbol of power beginning no later than the Middle to Late Formative period and continuing through the Conquest.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , Fall 2011 , pp. 371 - 388
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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

Ahler, Stanley A., and Geib, Phil R. 2000 Why Flute? Folsom Point Design and Adaptation. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:799–820.Google Scholar
Aveleyra A. de Anda, Luis 1956 The Second Mammoth and Associated Artifacts at Santa Isabel Iztapan, Mexico. American Antiquity 22:12–28.Google Scholar
Aveleyra A. de Anda, Luis, and Maldonado-Koerdell, Manuel 1953 Association of Artifacts with Mammoth in the Valley of Mexico. American Antiquity 18:332–340.Google Scholar
Beyer, Hermann 1969 [1927] La Tiradera (Atlatl) Todavia en uso el Valle de Mexico. El México Antiguo: Revista Internacional de Arqueología, Etnología, Folklore, Historia, Historia Antigua y Lingüística Mexicanas, pp. 421–425. Tomo XI. Sociedad Alemana Mexicanista, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey E. 2003 Introduction: Reinterpreting Early Classic Interaction. In The Maya and Teotihuacan: Reinterpreting Early Classic Interaction, edited by Braswell, Geoffrey E., pp. 1–43. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Bushnell, D. I. Jr. 1905 Two Ancient Mexican Atlatls. American Anthropologist NS 7:218–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1965 The Olmec Style and its Distributions. In Archaeology of Southern Mesoamerica, Part 2, edited by Willey, Gordon R., pp. 739–775. Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 3., Robert Wauchope, general editor, University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Coggins, Clemency Chase 1984 The Cenote of Sacrifice: Catalog. In Cenote of Sacrifice: Maya Treasures from the Sacred Well at Chichen Itza, edited by Chase, Clemency Coggins and Shane, Orrin C. III, pp. 23–166. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Coggins, Clemency Chase 1988 The Manikin Scepter: Emblem of Lineage. Estudios de Cultural Maya 17:123–158.Google Scholar
Coggins, Clemency Chase 1998 Portable Objects. In Maya, edited by Schmidt, Peter, de la Garza, Mercedes, and Nalda, Enrique, pp. 248–269. Rizzoli International Publications, New York.Google Scholar
Coggins, Clemency Chase, and Ladd, John M. 1992 Wooden Artifacts. In Artifacts from the Cenote of Sacrifice, Chichen Itza,Yucatan: Textiles, Basketry, Stone, Bone, Shell, Ceramics, Wood, Copal, Rubber, Other Organic Materials and Mammalian Remains, edited by Coggins, Clemency Chase, pp. 235–344. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 10, No. 3. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Collins, Michael B. 2007 Discerning Clovis Subsistence from Stone Artifacts and Site Distributions on the Southern Plains Periphery. In Foragers of the Terminal Pleistocene in North America, edited by Walker, Renee B. and Driskell, Boyce N., pp. 59–87. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.Google Scholar
Cook de Leonard, Carmen 1967 Sculptures and Rock Carvings at Chalcatzingo, Morelos. Studies in Olmec Archaeology No. 3. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Cook de Leonard, Carmen 1971 Minor Arts of the Classic Period in Central Mexico. In Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, Part 1, edited by Ekhom, Gordon F. and Bernal, Ignacio, pp. 206–227. Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 10, Robert Wauchope, general editor, University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Covarrubias, Miguel 1957 Indian Art of Mexico and Central America. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.Google Scholar
Diaz, Gisele, Rodgers, Alan, and Byland, Bruce E. 1993 The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript. Dover Publications, New York.Google Scholar
Díaz del Castillo, Bernal 1908 The True History of the Conquest of New Spain. Translated by Maudslay, Alfred Percival. The Hakluyt Society Second Series, No. 23. Genaro Garcia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Dickson, D. Bruce 1985 The Atlatl Assessed: A Review of Recent Anthropological Approaches to Prehistoric North American Weaponry. Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society 56:1–38.Google Scholar
Oaks, Dumbarton 1963 Handbook of the Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Durán, Fray Diego 1971 Book of the Gods and Rites and the Ancient Calendar. Translated by Horcasitas, Fernando and Heyden, Doris. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Durán, Fray Diego 1994 The History of the Indies of New Spain. Translated by Heyden, Doris. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Farmer, Malcolm F. 1994 The Origins of Weapon Systems. Current Anthropology 35:679–681.Google Scholar
Fash, William L. 1994 Changing Perspectives on Maya Civilization. Annual Review of Anthropology 23:181–208.Google Scholar
Fash, William L., and Fash, Barbara W. 2000 Teotihuacan and the Maya: A Classic Heritage. In Mesoamerica's Classic Heritage: From Teotihuacan to the Aztec, edited by Carrasco, David, Jones, Lindsay, and Sessions, Scott, pp. 433–464. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Field, Frederick V. 1967 Thoughts on the Meaning and Use of Pre-Hispanic Mexican Sellos. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, Vol. 3. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. 2008 Codex Becker I/II, Akademische Druck – u. Verlagsanstalt – Graz. Electronic document, http://www.famsi.org/research/graz/becker/thumbs_0.html, accessed March 15, 2008.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A., MacLeod, Barbara, and Suhler, Charles K. 2003 Early Classic Maya Conquest in Words and Deeds. In Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare, edited by Brown, M. Kathryn and Stanton, Travis W., pp. 189–215. AltaMira, Walnut Creek, CA.Google Scholar
Frison, George C. 1989 Experimental Use of Clovis Weaponry and Tools on African Elephants. American Antiquity 54:766–784.Google Scholar
Gay, Carlo T.E. 1972 Chalcatzingo. International Scholarly Book Services, Portland.Google Scholar
Grana-Behrens, Daniel, and Grube, Nikolai 2007 Glossary. In Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest, edited by Grube, Nikolai, pp. 428–441. H.F. Ullman, Königswinter.Google Scholar
Grove, David C. 1984 Chalcatzingo: Excavations on the Olmec Frontier. New Aspects of Antiquity. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Guzmán, Eulalia 1934 Exploración Arqueológica en la Mixteca Alta. Anales del Museo Nacional de Arqueología: Historia y Ethnografía 5:I:17–42.Google Scholar
Hall, Robert L. 1997 An Archaeology of the Soul: North American Indian Belief and Ritual. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.Google Scholar
Hassig, Ross 1988 Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Haury, Emil W., Antevs, Ernst, and Lance, John F. 1953 Artifacts with Mammoth Remains, Naco, Arizona. American Antiquity 19:1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Headrick, Annabeth 2007 The Teotihuacan Trinity: The Sociopolitical Structure of an Ancient Mesoamerican City. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Helms, Mary W. 1993 Craft and the Kingly Ideal: Art, Trade and Power. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Hemmings, Christopher Andrew 2004 The Organic Clovis: A Single Continent-Wide Cultural Adaptation. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A. 2004 Postclassic and Colonial Period Sources on Maya Society and History. In Mesoamerican Archaeology, edited by Hendon, Julia A. and Joyce, Rosemary A., pp. 296–322. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 1989 Militarism and Social Organization at Xochicalco, Morelos. In Mesoamerica After the Decline of Teotihuacan, a.d. 700–900, edited by Diehl, Richard A. and Berlo, Janet Catherine, pp. 69–81. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen, and Stuart, David 1996 Of Gods, Glyphs and Kings: Divinity and Rulership among the Ancient Maya. Antiquity 70:289–312.Google Scholar
Howard, Calvin D. 1974 The Atlatl: Function and Performance. American Antiquity 39:102–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, Jack T. 1956 Stone Crosses with a Cuicuilco Burial. American Antiquity 22:80–82.Google Scholar
Humboldt, Alexander von 1810 Vues des Cordillères, et monumens des peuples indigènes de l'Amérique. 2 vols. F. Schoell, Paris.Google Scholar
Hutchings, Wallace Karl 1997 The Paleoindian Fluted Point: Dart or Spear Armature? The Identification of Paleoindian Delivery Technology Through the Analysis of Lithic Fracture Velocity. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Johnson, Ann S. 1971 Finger-Loops and Cruciform Objects. American Antiquity 36:188–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joralemon, Peter David 1971 A Study of Olmec Iconography. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, No. 7. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Joyce, Arthur A., and Winter, Marcus 1996 Ideology, Power, and Urban Society in Pre-Hispanic Oaxaca. Current Anthropology 37:33–47.Google Scholar
Justeson, John S. 1986 The Origin of Writing Systems: Preclassic Mesoamerica. World Archaeology 17:437–458.Google Scholar
Kerr, Justin 2007 Maya Vase Database: An Archive of Rollout Photographs Created by Justin Kerr. Electronic document, http://research.famsi.org/kerrmaya.html://research.famsi.org/kerrmaya.html, accessed September 22, 2007.Google Scholar
LeBlanc, Steven A. 2003 Warfare in the American Southwest and Mesoamerica: Parallels and Contrasts. In Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare, edited by Brown, M. Kathryn and Stanton, Travis W., pp.265–286. AltaMira, Walnut Creek, CA.Google Scholar
Lister, Adrian, and Bahn, Paul 2007 Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
López Austin, Alfredo, and Luján, Leonardo López 2000 The Myth and Reality of Zuyua: The Feathered Serpent and Mesoamerican Transformations from the Classic to the Postclassic. In Mesoamerica's Classic Heritage: From Teotihuacan to the Aztec, edited by Carrasco, David, Jones, Lindsay, and Sessions, Scott, pp. 21–86. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
López Luján, Leonardo, Filloy, Laura, Fash, Barbara, Fash, William L., Hernández, Pilar 2004 La Destrucción del Cuerpo: El Cautivo de Mármol de Teotihuacan. Arqueología Mexicana XI(65):54–59.Google Scholar
López Mestas Camberos, Lorenza, and de la Vega, Jorge Ramos 1998 Excavating the Tomb at Huitzilapa. In Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, edited by Townsend, Richard F., pp. 53–70. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Lothrop, Samuel K. 1952 Metals from the Cenote of Sacrifice, Chichen Itza, Yucatan. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 10, No. 2. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Lothrop, Samuel K., Foshag, W.F., and Mahler, Joy 1957 Catalogue. In Robert Woods Bliss Collection Pre-Columbian Art. Phaidon Publishers, Inc. New York.Google Scholar
Martin, Simon 2007a The Power in the West: The Maya and Teotihuacan. In Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest, edited by Grube, Nikolai, pp. 98–111. H.F. Ullman, Königswinter.Google Scholar
Martin, Simon 2007b Under a Deadly Star: Warfare Among the Classic Maya. In Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest, edited by Grube, Nikolai, pp. 174–185. H.F. Ullman, Königswinter.Google Scholar
Martin, Simon, and Grube, Nikolai 2008 Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo 2002 Catalog No. 279: Funerary Urn with an Image of Tezcatlipoca. In Aztecs, edited by Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos and Olguín, Felipe R. Solis, pp. 469. Royal Academy of Arts, London.Google Scholar
Miller, Arthur G. 1973 The Mural Painting of Teotihuacan. Dumbarton Oaks. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Noguera, Eduardo 1945 El atlatl o tiradera. In Anales del Museo Nacional de Arqueología Historia y Etnografía V:2:205–238.Google Scholar
Nuttall, Zelia 1891 The Atlatl or Spear-Thrower of the Ancient Mexicans. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 1, No. 3. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Perkins, Bob 2008a BPS Engineering Precision Atlatl and Dart Systems, About. Electronic document, http://www.atlatl.com/about.html, accessed April 15, 2008.Google Scholar
Perkins, Bob 2008b Engineering Precision Atlatl and Dart Systems, Mechanics. Electronic n document, http://www.atlatl.com/mechanics.html, accessed April 15, 2008.Google Scholar
Pickering, Robert B., and Cabrero, Maria Teresa 1998 Mortuary Practices in the Shaft-Tomb Region. In Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, edited by Townsend, Richard F., pp. 71–88. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Piña Chan, Roman 1955 Chalcatzingo, Morelos: Informes 4. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Proskouriakoff, Tatiana 1974 Jades from the Main Cenote, Chichen Itza, Yucatan. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 10, No. 1. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Quiñones Keber, Eloise 1995 Codex Telleriano-Remensis: Ritual, Divination, and History in a Pictorial Aztec Manuscript. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Raymond, Anan 1986 Experiments in the Function and Performance of the Weighted Atlatl. World Archaeology 18:153–177.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1970 Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, Book 1: The Gods. Translated by Anderson, Arthur J.O. and Dibble, Charles E.. Monographs of the School of American Research, Vol. 14, Part 2. The School of American Research and the University of Utah, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1975 Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, Book 12: The Conquest of Mexico. Translated by Anderson, Arthur J.O. and Dibble, Charles E.. Monographs of the School of American Research, Vol. 14, Part 13. The School of American Research and the University of Utah, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S., and Alexander, Rani 1996 Teotihuacán and Middle Classic Mesoamerica: A Precolumbian World System? In Arqueología mesoamericana: Homenaje a William T. Sanders, edited by Mastache, Alba G., Parsons, Jeffrey R., Santley, Robert S., and Puche, Mari C. Serra, pp. 173–194. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Sahlins, Marshall 1981 Historical Metaphors and Mythical Realities: Structure in the Early History of the Sandwich Islands Kingdom. The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Saville, Marshall H. 1925 The Wood-Carver's Art in Ancient Mexico. Contributions from the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, Vol. 9. Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation, New York.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Freidel, David 1990 A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. William Morrow, New York.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Miller, Mary Ellen 1986 The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. George Braziller, Inc. and the Kimbell Art Museum, New York and Fort Worth.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1901 Codex Fejérváry-Mayer: Page by Page Commentary. Electronic document, http://www.famsi.org/spanish/research/loubat/Booklets/Seler_Fejervary_Plates.pdf, accessed April 15, 2008.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1904 Codex Borgia Part 2: Page by Page Commentary. Electronic document, http://www.famsi.org/spanish/research/loubat/Booklets/Seler_Borgia_2_Plates.pdf, accessed April 15, 2008.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1990 [1904] Ancient Mexican Throwing Sticks. In Collected Works in Mesoamerican Linguistics and Archaeology. 2 vols. Translated by Bowditch, Charles P.. Edited by Eric, J.Thompson, S. and Richardson, Francis B., pp. 203–219. Labyrinthos, Culver City.Google Scholar
Starr, Frederick 1899 Indians of Southern Mexico: An Ethnographic Album. Lakeside Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Stirling, Matthew W. 1943 Stone Monuments of Southern Mexico. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 138. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stirling, Matthew W. 1960 The Use of the Atlatl on Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 173, Vol. 59, pp. 261–268. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 2000 “The Arrival of Strangers”: Teotihuacan and Tollan in Classic Maya History. In Mesoamerica's Classic Heritage: From Teotihuacan to the Aztec, edited by Carrasco, David, Jones, Lindsay, and Sessions, Scott, pp. 465–514. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo 2004 Governance and Polity at Classic Teotihuacan. In Mesoamerican Archaeology, edited by Hendon, Julia A. and Joyce, Rosemary A., pp. 97–123. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.Google Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo 2005 Human Sacrifice, Militarism, and Rulership: Materialization of State Ideology at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl 2000 The Turquoise Hearth: Fire, Self Sacrifice, and the Central Mexican Cult of War. In Mesoamerica's Classic Heritage: From Teotihuacan to the Aztec, edited by Carrasco, David, Jones, Lindsay, and Sessions, Scott, pp. 269–340. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl 2004 Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks. Pre-Columbian Art at Dumbarton Oaks, No. 2. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Teufel, Stefanie 2002 Catalog No. 315: Atlatl. In Aztecs, edited by Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos and Olguín, Felipe R. Solis, pp. 478. Royal Academy of Arts, London.Google Scholar
Tozzer, Alfred M. 1957 Chichen Itza and its Cenote of Sacrifice: A Comparative Study of Contemporaneous Maya and Toltec. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vols. 11 and 12. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Urcid, Javier 2002 La Faz Oculta de una Misteriosa Máscara de Piedra. In Sociedad y Patrimonio Arqueológico en el Valle de Oaxaca: Memoria de la Segunda Mesa Redonda de Monte Albán, edited by García, Nelly M. Robles, pp. 212–248. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Urcid, Javier 2006 Antigüedad y Distribución de la Danza de los Voladores: Águilas que Descienden, Corazones que Ascienden. Arqueología Mexicana 14(81):70–74.Google Scholar
Urcid, Javier 2010 Valued Possessions: Materiality and Aesthetics in Western and Southern Mesoamerica. In Ancient Mexican Art at Dumbarton Oaks: Central Highlands, Southwestern Highlands, Gulf Lowlands, edited by Evans, Susan T., pp. 127–220. Pre-Columbian Art at Dumbarton Oaks, No. 3. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
von Winning, Hasso 1958 Notes on Mexican Spear-Throwers. The Masterkey for Indian Lore and History 32(1):93–98.Google Scholar
Whittaker, John 2005 Weapon Trials: The Atlatl and Experiments in Hunting Technology. Electronic document, http://web.grinnell.edu/anthropology/Atlatl%20Stuff%20for%20John/Atlatl%20Experiments.pdf, accessed August, 2009.Google Scholar