Las vasijas silbadoras conforman un tipo especial de instrumento musical característico de las culturas prehispánicas. La singularidad de estos instrumentos radica en la forma de producir sonido a partir de un impulso hidráulico y a través de un mecanismo que no es visible desde el exterior de la vasija. Estos instrumentos aerófonos aparecen en el registro arqueológico de Mesoamérica hacia el preclásico medio, principalmente en regiones como Oaxaca y el área maya, y desaparecen al momento de la Conquista. En este artículo presento datos arqueomusicológicos de las primeras vasijas silbadoras documentadas en Oaxaca. Discuto su mecanismo de funcionamiento, contexto, y algunas consideraciones en torno a la acústica, la iconografía y sus posibles usos.

This article applies the theory of archaeological semiotics to the study of the “Olmec” style. A semiotic approach differs from an iconographic study because it provides the possibility for complex analysis of all significant traits of material archeological objects without distinction between stylistic and iconographic traits. In this context, the semiotic analysis of the Olmec style as a sign system shows that its particular signs, which can be defined as stylistic traits because of the lack of specific iconographic meanings, simultaneously participated in the creation and transformation of cultural meanings. This phenomenon reflected the “macrosignified” of Formative Mesoamerican cultures, associated with a structure that linked together various meanings throughout the culture.

Continuing isotopic investigation of the sacrificial burials and trophies beneath the Feathered Serpent Pyramid (Temple of Quetzalcoatl) in ancient Teotihuacan, Mexico, has produced new results. Isotopic proveniencing using bioapatite strontium and structural carbonate oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel was applied to 39 samples, 24 from the sacrificial victims and 15 from the trophy jaws. Both the strontium and oxygen isotope ratios suggest that most or all of the sacrificial victims came from the central highlands of Mexico, which includes the area of Teotihuacan. In this sense, we find somewhat less multiethnicity represented among the military at Teotihuacan than previously thought. Analysis of carbon isotope ratios in enamel structural carbonate indicated a childhood diet dominated by maize, relatively homogeneous among the victims at the pyramid, and typical for much of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica.

From the analysis of the mural paintings at Cacaxtla, it was determined that the painters shared a system of measurement with the builders of this site and those of the Puuc area. In the Maya area, the basic unit was divided into subunits that measured its ninth and sixteenth parts but the division system found in Cacaxtla corroborates this information and shows that it derived from working in situ with a string that is folded in half or in thirds in a repetitive manner. Study of the composition of the paintings shows the use of a grid, a resource widely used in Mesoamerica. Furthermore, the use of units of measurement found in Teotihuacan and Nahua culture in combination with the zapal system open the discussion about measurement as a resource for creating meaning. This expression must be contextualized in the multicultural expressions found in the paintings and this period of political reconfiguration, the Epiclassic (a.d. 650–950).

The systems used to measure distances, time, liquids, and weights come from concepts and knowledge developed over centuries. Progressively, these systems were incorporated into shared customary systems among specific populations, thus integrating a series of factors specific to the culture of the social group that generated them (Morley and Renfrew 2010; Renfrew and Morley 2010). Different features stand out in this collective social construction, mainly regarding what is measured (sometimes in reference to something physical and sometimes a concept), the type of reference measurements used (for example, with or without relation to the human body), the way of relating what is large with that which is small, and the way in which the measurement is applied to the object.

The cultural tradition of stuccoed and polychromatic murals in central Mexico dates back to Early Classic Teotihuacan and continued into the subsequent Epiclassic period, with the stunning murals from Cacaxtla as the most famous and well-studied example. In this paper, we present three examples of stuccoed and richly painted benches or thrones from the mayor Epiclassic site of Xochicalco in the Mexican state of Morelos. A careful iconographic and epigraphic analysis of the imagery, as well as the associated hieroglyphic signs from one of the benches, leads us to suggest that these benches played a pivotal role in displaying the religious, mythological, and historical underpinnings of hierarchical power at Xochicalco. Based on comparisons with benches and seats from Classic Maya culture and, in particular, the contemporaneous Terminal Classic city of Chichen Itza, which was deeply involved in interregional relations with central Mexico, we also suggest that the Xochicalco benches may even have served as royal seats or thrones.

Classic Maya (a.d. 250–900) art is filled with expressive figures in a variety of highly stylized poses and postures. These poses are so specific that they appear to be intentionally communicative, yet their meanings remain elusive. A few studies have scratched the surface of this issue, suggesting that a correlation exists between body language and social roles in Maya art. The present study examines whether one type of body language (hand gestures) in Classic Maya art represents and reflects elements of social structure. This analysis uses a coding approach derived from studies of hand gesture in conversation to apply an interactional approach to a static medium, thereby broadening the methods used to analyze gesture in ancient art. Statistics are used to evaluate patterns of gesture use in palace scenes across 289 figures on 94 different vases, with results indicating that the form and angling of gestures are related to social hierarchy. Furthermore, this study considers not just the individual status of each figure, but the interaction between figures. The results not only shed light on how gesture was depicted in Maya art, but also demonstrate how figural representation reflects social structure.

Muchos animales se encuentran entretejidos en las visiones cósmicas de diferentes culturas del mundo. En este contexto varias especies han sido idealizadas como referentes que sintetizan atributos apreciados por el hombre como poder, valor, nobleza, así como fuerzas de la naturaleza o de lo desconocido. Con frecuencia son animales grandes los que han capturado la atención humana desde sus orígenes, como lo refleja el arte parietal antiguo. Probablemente esto obedece a que se les consideró importantes para la vida cotidiana y también a su supuesta influencia en mitos de mundos paralelos.

En varias culturas alrededor del mundo se ha asignado a los osos un sitio prominente. Se conocen rituales y cultos relacionados con la presencia del oso en distintos grupos humanos en Asia, en pueblos originarios de Norteamérica y culturas de los Andes. Estas manifestaciones ocurren, por lo general, en sociedades que se encuentran asentadas en territorios dentro las principales áreas de distintas especies de osos. Sin embargo, en partes marginales de territorios ocupados por osos, las referencias culturales a ellos son escasas. Por ejemplo, no se había reportado la representación de estos mamíferos en las culturas que se desarrollaron en Mesoamérica.

Trabajos arqueológicos recientes en el sitio de Tancama (Querétaro, México), ocupado por un grupo de afinidad Huasteca cuya mayor actividad se dio en el período clásico (entre 500 y 700 d.C.; fechas de C14), han revelado una escultura de barro asociada con restos de uno de los edificios principales, que representa un oso de cuerpo entero (se determinó como un oso negro, Ursus americanus, dado que es la única especie presente en el área). Además de la escultura, se encontraron vasijas y fragmentos cerámicos, excavados en otros edificios, que muestran rasgos diagnósticos de la cabeza de un oso.

El presente estudio analiza este primer y singular hallazgo para Mesoamérica, enfatizando su relevancia para la región. Se analizan las relaciones entre la efigie principal de oso como parte de un edificio y las numerosas vasijas con representaciones ursiformes, para explorar el posible significado cultural local de esta especie animal.

En las unidades domésticas de las comunidades chinamperas en Xochimilco del posclásico tardío, han sido localizadas un tipo de jarras que tienen como característica principal una aplicación en la parte frontal de la pieza que posiblemente representa una deidad. Con el propósito de entender su función y establecer elementos que permitan identificar estos objetos y su uso en otros contextos, proponemos estudiar estas piezas mediante métodos diferentes a los de los análisis formales tradicionales. Este trabajo expone los resultados de los estudios de residuos químicos impregnados en materiales porosos (spot test) y análisis de gránulos de almidón de 27 muestras obtenidas en 26 ejemplares de jarras efigie procedentes de tres sitios al sur de la cuenca de México. Los resultados indican que fueron enriquecidas con fosfatos, residuos proteicos, carbohidratos, y ácidos grasos, mientras que los almidones recuperados indican una presencia importante de maíz, y en menor medida, de camote, chile, y dioscórea. Basado en lo anterior, en sus contextos de procedencia y en la identificación de las deidades representadas, proponemos que estas jarras contenían bebidas de maíz y que fueron utilizadas en ceremonias domésticas dedicadas a la agricultura—como la fiesta de Huey Tozoztli, entre otras—del calendario mexica.

This study examines small-scale household ceramic production at the site of Xaltocan, Mexico, to understand the organization of household ceramic production prior to the development of the Aztec Empire. We examine utilitarian vessels and serving wares from an Early Postclassic (a.d. 900–1200) domestic context using neutron activation analysis (NAA). We also examine archaeological evidence for ceramic manufacture. The NAA data reveal that similar raw materials and paste recipes were used for both utilitarian and decorated wares, suggesting that households produced both plain and decorated pottery. We conclude that ceramic production was an intermittent activity that took place alongside other crafts and agriculture. By looking at ceramics within their contexts of use and production, we consider the practices and choices made by individual social units, which is crucial to interpreting broader Early Postclassic economic systems and the ways in which commoners influenced these systems.

In this article, I examine the use of ceramic fragments to mark sacred spaces at the Postclassic central Mexican site of Xaltocan. Recent excavations in Xaltocan's central precinct revealed a series of ritual features dating to Xaltocan's Middle Postclassic period (a.d. 1240–1350) that were carefully constructed with ceramic fragments. I argue that this practice might represent an effort on the part of Xaltocan's Postclassic leaders to mark these features as sacred. Although Xaltocan was ruled by Otomi peoples during this time, the careful incorporation of ceramic fragments into ritual spaces might be related to the Nahua concept of tlazolli and possibly reflects the increasing influence of Nahua ideologies across the Basin of Mexico. Despite its generally negative connotations, tlazolli was a powerful substance that central Mexicans could manipulate to energize ritual spaces. By carefully reordering ceramic fragments in and around ritual features, Xaltocan's leaders might have imbued these spaces with sacred energy. While the concept of tlazolli might have been quite widespread during this time, the specific practices discussed in this article appear to have been isolated to Xaltocan's Middle Postclassic leaders. Perhaps the specific practices observed were an invention of Xaltocan's Middle Postclassic leaders that never spread.

The Tlahuica, a Nahua ethnic group, arrived in what is now western Morelos and conquered several preexisting towns circa a.d. 1100. Members of Tlahuica elite lineages took control of irrigable land and founded altepeme (small city-states). As population increased, segmentation occurred until there were 32 altepeme. The elite's control of the irrigable land was the basis for collecting tribute consisting of cotton cloth. The 32 altepeme in western Morelos became part of three señoríos (regional centers) comprised of multiple altepeme by a.d. 1400: Cuauhnahuac, Tlaquiltenango, and Xiutepec. Coatlan, located in the southwestern part of western Morelos, remained an independent polity separate from the three señoríos. The 32 altepeme were conquered by the Triple Alliance in the 1430s and 1450s, putting a halt to further conquests by these señoríos and leaving Coatlan as an independent buffer state between the Tlahuica señoríos and Chontal polities to the southwest. The Triple Alliance did not displace the local population in western Morelos or send colonists from the Basin of Mexico, as they did in non-Nahua provinces of the empire.