Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T14:06:23.876Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Planting the Bones: Hunting Ceremonialism at Contemporary and Nineteenth-Century Shrines in the Guatemalan Highlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Linda A. Brown
Linda A. Brown*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052 ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

From the Classic period to the present, scholars have documented the widespread Maya belief in a supernatural guardian of the animals who must be appeased in hunting rituals. Despite this resilience, features and deposits entering the archaeological record as a result of hunting ceremonies remain largely unknown. I describe several contemporary and nineteenth-century shrines used for hunting rites in the Maya highlands of Guatemala. These sites contain a unique feature, a ritual fauna cache, which consists of animal remains secondarily deposited during hunting ceremonies. The formation of these caches is informed by two beliefs with historical time depth: (1) the belief in a guardian of animals and (2) the symbolic conflation of bone and regeneration. The unique life history of remains in hunting-related ritual fauna caches suggests a hypothesis for puzzling deposits of mammal remains recovered archaeologically in lowland Maya caves. These may have functioned in hunting rites designed to placate the animal guardian and ensure the regeneration of the species via ceremonies that incorporated the secondary discard of skeletal remains. A review of the ethnographic literature from the Lenca, Huichol, Nahua, Tlapanec, and Mixe areas reveals similar hunting rites indicating a broader Mesoamerican ritual practice.

Desde la época prehispánica hasta el presente, los estudiosos han notado la amplia creencia Maya en un guardián supernatural de los animales que debe ser apaciguado con rituales antes y después de la cacerí. Mientras que esta documentación, los tipos de rasgos o artefactos que se han encontrado en los contextos arqueológicos durante las ceremonias siguen siendo desconocidos. Describo varios santuarios del siglo diecinueve y contemporáneos que documentan la ritual cacería Maya del altiplano de Guatemala. Ellos contienen rasgos especiales, unos de escondites de fauna ritual, los cuales indican el uso en el ceremonialismo de la cacería. La formación de estos escondites es indicada por la refundición simbólica de hueso, semilla, y regeneración. Esta creencia es evidente en los textos coloniales que sugieren una historia profunda en la zona Maya. La vida historia de los huesos en escondites rituales sugiere una hipóteis por huesos de mamíferos excavados en cuevas en las tierras bajas. Es posible que estos fueron depositados en ritos de la cacería para apaciguar al guardián de los animales y promover la regeneración de las especies. La literatura etnográfica nota patrones similares de cacería que incluyen el desecho ritual, lo cual sugiere una práctica mesoamericana más amplia.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 2005 , pp. 131 - 146
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 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

Alcorn, Janis B. 1984 Huastec Mayan Ethnobotany. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Bill, Cassandra R. 1997 Roles and Relationships of God M and Other Black Gods in the Codices, with Specific References to Pages 50–56 of the Madrid Codex. In Papers on the Madrid Codex, edited by Victoria R. Bricker and Gabrielle Vail, pp. 111–145. Middle American Research Institute Publication No. 64. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Bloom, Frans, and La Farge, Oliver II 1926 Tribes and Temples: A Record of the Expedition to Middle America Conducted by the Tulane University of Louisiana in 1925. Middle American Research Series Publication No. 1. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Brady, James E. 1989 An Investigation of Maya Ritual Cave Use with Special Reference to Naj Tunich, Peten, Guatemala. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Brown, Linda A. 2002 The Structure of Ritual Practice: An Ethnoarchaeological Exploration of Activity Areas at Rural Community Shrines in the Maya Highlands. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Brown, Linda A., and Alberto Romero, Luís 2002 Lugares Sagrados para Ritos de la Cacería. In XV Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2001, edited by Juan Pedro Laporte, Héctor Escobedo, and Bárbara Arroyo, pp. 771–778. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología de Guatemala, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Cabarrús, Carlos Rafael 1998 La Cosmovisión Q’eqchi’ en Proceso de Cambio. Cholsamaj, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Carlsen, Robert 1997 The War for the Heart and Soul of a Highland Maya Town. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Carlsen, Robert, and Prechtel, Martin 1991 The Flowering of the Dead: An Interpretation of Highland Maya Culture. Man 26:23–42.Google Scholar
Carmack, Robert M. 1981 The Quiche Mayas of Utatlán: The Evolution of a Highland Maya Kingdom. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1958 The Aztecs: People of the Sun. Translated by Lowell Dunham. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Chapman, Ann 1985 Los Hijos del Copal y la Candela. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Imprenta Universitaria, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Chapman, Ann 1992 Masters of Animals: Oral Traditions of the Tolupan Indians, Honduras. Gordon and Breach, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Clendinnen, Inga 1987 Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatán, 1517–1570. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Cook, Garrett W. 1981 Supernaturalism, Cosmos and Cosmogony in Quichean Expressive Culture. Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Cook, Garrett W. 2000 Renewing the Maya World: Expressive Culture in a Highlands Town. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Cortes, y Larraz, Pedro 1958 [1768–1770] Descriptión Geográfico-Moral de la Diócesis de Goathemala, Tomo 2. Tipografía Nacional, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Edmonson, Munro S. 1971 The Book of Counsel: The Popol Vuh of the Quiche Maya of Guatemala. Middle American Research Institute Publication No. 35. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Emery, Kitty F. 2004 Animals from the Maya Underworld: Reconstructing Elite Maya Ritual at the Cueva de los Quetzales, Guatemala. In Behavior behind Bones: The Zooarchaeology of Ritual, Religion, Status and Identity, edited by Sharyn Jones O’Day, Wim Van Neer, and Anton Ervynck, pp. 101–113. Oxbow Books, Oxford.Google Scholar
Foster, George M. 1945 Sierra Popoluca Folklore and Beliefs. University of California Press, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Fox, James A., and Justeson, John S. 1984 Polyvalence in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing. In Phoneticism in Maya Hieroglyphic Writing, edited by John S. Justeson and Lyle Campbell, pp. 17–76. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York at Albany, Publication 9. Albany.Google Scholar
Freidel, David, Scheie, Linda, and Parker, Joy 1993 Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman’s Path. William Morrow and Co., Inc., New York.Google Scholar
Gilbert, B. Miles 1993 Mammalian Osteology. Missouri Archaeological Society Inc., Columbia.Google Scholar
Grollig, Francis Xavier 1959 San Miguel Acatan, Huehuetanango, Guatemala: A Modern Maya Village. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Indiana. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Halperin, Christina T, Garza, Sergio, Prufer, Keith M., and Brady, James E. 2003 Caves and Ancient Maya Ritual Use of Jute. Latin American Antiquity 14:207–219.Google Scholar
Hill, Robert M. II 1992 Colonial Cakchiquels: Highlands Maya Adaptation to Spanish Rule 1600–1700. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Fort Worth.Google Scholar
Honing, Charles A. 1991 Itzá Maya Texts with a Grammatical Overview. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Kerr, Justin 1990 The Maya Vase Book, Vol. 2. Kerr Associates, New York.Google Scholar
La Farge, Oliver II 1947 Santa Eulalia: The Religion of a Cuchmatan Indian Town. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
La Farge, Oliver II, and Byers, Douglas 1931 The Year Bearer’s People. Middle American Research Series, Publication No. 3. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Lipp, Frank J. 1991 The Mixe of Oaxaca: Religion, Ritual and Healing. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Lothrop, Samuel 1933 Atitlán: An Archaeological Study of Ancient Remains on the Borders of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication No. 44. Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Monaghan, John 1995 Covenants with Earth and Rain: Exchange, Sacrifice and Revelation in Mixtec Society. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Briones, Montoya, de Jesús, José 1968 Magia y cacería entre los nahuas de la Sierra de Hidalgo. Boletin, Instituto Nacional de Anthropologia y Historia 34.Google Scholar
Myerhoff, Barbara G. 1974 Peyote Hunt: The Sacred Journey of the Huichol Indians. Cornell University Press, Ithaca.Google Scholar
Neff Nuixa, Françoise 2001 La Lucera y El Volcán Negro. In La Montaña en el Paisaje Ritual, edited by Johanna Broda, Stanislaw Iwaniszewski, and Arturo Montero, pp. 353–374. CONACULTA, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Olsen, Stanley J. 1982 An Osteology of Some Maya Mammals. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol. 73. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Pendergast, David M. 1969 The Prehistory of Actun Balam, British Honduras. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.Google Scholar
Pendergast, David M. 1971 Excavations at Eduardo Quiroz Cave, British Honduras (Belize). Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.Google Scholar
Pendergast, David M. 1974 Excavations at Actun Polbilche, Belize. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.Google Scholar
Pohl, Mary D. 1983 Maya Ritual Faunas: Vertebrate Remains from Burials, Caches, Caves, and Cenotes in the Maya Lowlands. In Civilization in the Ancient Americas, edited by Richard M. Leventhal and Allen Kolata, pp. 55–103. University of New Mexico Press and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Pohl, Mary D. 1990 The Ethnozoology of the Maya: Faunal Remains from Five Sites in the Petén, Guatemala. In Excavations at Seibal, edited by Gordon Willey, pp. 143–174. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, Harvard University, Nos. 1–4. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Pohl, Mary D., and Pohl, John M. 1983 Ancient Maya Cave Rituals. Archaeology 36:28–32, 50–51.Google Scholar
Redfield, Robert, and Villa Rojas, Alfonso 1934 Chan Kom: A Maya Village. Carnegie Institution of Washington, No. 448. Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Sapper, Karl 1897 Northern Central America with a Trip to the Highland of Anahuac: Travels and Studies of the Years 1888–1895. F. Viewig, Brunswick, Germany.Google Scholar
Scheie, Linda, and Mathews, Peter 1998 The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. Scribner, New York.Google Scholar
Scholes, France V., and Adams, Eleanor B. (editors) 1938 Diego Quijada, Alcalde Mayor de Yucatán, 1561–1565. 2 vols. Editorial Porrua, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Taube, Karl 1992 The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, No. 32. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Taube, Karl 1997 A God Named Zip. Archaeology 50(3):39.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl 2003 Ancient and Contemporary Maya Conceptions about Forest and Field. In The Lowlands Maya Area: Three Millennia at the Human-Wildland Interface, edited by Arturo Gómez-Pompa, Michael F. Allen, Scott L. Fedick, and Juan J. Jiménez-Osornio, pp. 461–492. Food Products Press, New York.Google Scholar
Tedlock, Barbara 1982 Time and the Highland Maya. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Tedlock, Dennis 1985 Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life. Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1930 Ethnology of the Mayas of Southern and Central British Honduras. Anthropological Series 17(2). Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1970 Maya History and Religion. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Tozzer, Alfred 1907 A Comparative Study of the Mayas and the Lacandones. Macmillan Co., New York.Google Scholar
Tozzer, Alfred 1941 Landa’s Relación de las Cosas de Yucatán. Translated by Alfred Tozzer. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Villa Rojas, Alfonso 1945 The Maya of East Central Quintana Roo. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication No. 559. Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Vogt, Evon Z. 1969 Zinacantan: A Maya Community in the Highlands of Chiapas. Harvard University Press. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Wagley, Charles 1949 The Social and Religious Life of a Guatemalan Village. American Anthropologist Memoir No. 71.Google Scholar
Weitlaner, Robert J. 1981 Relatos, Mitosy Leyendosde la Chinantla. Selection, introduction, and notes by María Sara Molinari, Maria Luisa Acevedo, and Marlene Aguayo Alfaro. Institutión Nacional Indigenista, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Weitlaner, Robert J., and Carlos Antonio Castro, G. 1954 Mayultianguis y Tlacoatzintecpec: Papeles de la Chinantla I. Serie Científica 3. Museo Nacional de Antropología, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Weitlaner, Robert J., and Carlos Antonio Castro, G. 1973 Usila, morada de colibríes: Papeles de la Chinantla VII. Serie Científica 11. Museo Nacional de Antropologia, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Wisdom, Charles 1940 The Chorti Indians of Guatemala. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar