Society for American Archaeology

Arqueologa del occidente de Mxico: nuevas aportaciones by Eduardo Williams; R. Novella;

Evolucin de una civilizacin prehispnica: arqueologa de Jalisco, Nayarit, y Zacatecas by Phil
C. Weigand; El Michoacn antiguo by Brigitte Boehm de Lameiras
Review by: Shirley Gorenstein
Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Mar., 1996), pp. 88-91
Published by: Society for American Archaeology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3537022 .
Accessed: 06/02/2013 23:52
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
.
Society for American Archaeology is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Latin
American Antiquity.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Feb 2013 23:52:41 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
strong
to
suggest
that the codex was
produced
in the
Tehuacan
Valley (a position originally
taken
by
Eduard
Seler,
Robert
Chadwick,
and Richard
MacNeish).
Three
papers, by Sergio
Suarez
Cruz, Geoffrey
McCafferty,
and Michael
Lind,
deal with Cholula
poly-
chromes and
attempt
to refine the Postclassic ceramic
chronology.
Lind's
paper
is
particularly interesting
because he not
only
differentiates two
types
of Late
Postclassic
polychrome pottery (Cholula's
Catalina
Polychrome
and Oaxaca's Pilitas
Polychrome),
he also
argues
that the
typological
differences reflect differ-
ences in the cultural and
political systems.
Cholula was
a sacred Nahua
city;
its
polychrome
vessels
display
themes of
sacrifice,
and were used in
religious
rites. In
contrast,
during
the Late Postclassic the Mixteca and
Valley
of Oaxaca were characterized
by many
small
kingdoms
in which Pilitas
Polychrome
was used in
political
contexts;
the motifs in this case were tied to
noble
lineages
and
political genealogies.
Pilitas
Polychrome pottery
was used
by
the elite of each
major
town in events such as
royal marriages,
and such ves-
sels are
depicted
in
marriage
scenes in each town's
codex.
Lind's work is confirmed and refined in a
paper
coauthored
by
H.
Neff,
R.
Bishop,
E.
Sisson,
M.
Glascock,
and P. Sisson that
presents
results from a
large sample
of Late Postclassic
polychromes
whose
paste compositions
were determined
by
neutron activa-
tion
analysis.
Neff et al.
provide
clear evidence for mul-
tiple production
centers of Late Postclassic
polychromes:
four in the Basin of
Mexico;
three in the
Puebla/Tlaxcala
area;
and several in the Mixteca
Alta,
the
Valley
of
Oaxaca,
and the Chinantla. This evidence
for
multiple
centers of
production
fits well with our
evidence for elite
gift-giving
and
interdynastic
mar-
riage
alliances that served to link
major
towns.
Quifiones
Keber tackles the
problem
of what is
meant
by
the term "codex
style pottery";
she calls for
greater precision
in our use of that
term,
including
a
need to
specify
which codex is
being compared
to a
particular
sherd's motif. Noemi
Castillo-Tejero sug-
gests
that we use the term
"Mixteca-Popoloca"
instead
of
Mixteca-Puebla,
because there are
linguistic
and eth-
nohistoric sources that indicate the
Popolocas
were a
powerful
force in southern Puebla.
Bryan
Dennis notes that the
Borgia
Codex has more
in common with the Mixtec codices
(such
as the
Zouche-Nuttall)
than
previously emphasized.
Following
John
Pohl,
Dennis
(p. 169)
maintains that
"Mixtec 'histories' are not
simply
annals that record
'what
really happened
in the
past.' They represent
a
specific
view of
history-a
view informed and struc-
tured
by
the ritual and
divinatory
associations recorded
strong
to
suggest
that the codex was
produced
in the
Tehuacan
Valley (a position originally
taken
by
Eduard
Seler,
Robert
Chadwick,
and Richard
MacNeish).
Three
papers, by Sergio
Suarez
Cruz, Geoffrey
McCafferty,
and Michael
Lind,
deal with Cholula
poly-
chromes and
attempt
to refine the Postclassic ceramic
chronology.
Lind's
paper
is
particularly interesting
because he not
only
differentiates two
types
of Late
Postclassic
polychrome pottery (Cholula's
Catalina
Polychrome
and Oaxaca's Pilitas
Polychrome),
he also
argues
that the
typological
differences reflect differ-
ences in the cultural and
political systems.
Cholula was
a sacred Nahua
city;
its
polychrome
vessels
display
themes of
sacrifice,
and were used in
religious
rites. In
contrast,
during
the Late Postclassic the Mixteca and
Valley
of Oaxaca were characterized
by many
small
kingdoms
in which Pilitas
Polychrome
was used in
political
contexts;
the motifs in this case were tied to
noble
lineages
and
political genealogies.
Pilitas
Polychrome pottery
was used
by
the elite of each
major
town in events such as
royal marriages,
and such ves-
sels are
depicted
in
marriage
scenes in each town's
codex.
Lind's work is confirmed and refined in a
paper
coauthored
by
H.
Neff,
R.
Bishop,
E.
Sisson,
M.
Glascock,
and P. Sisson that
presents
results from a
large sample
of Late Postclassic
polychromes
whose
paste compositions
were determined
by
neutron activa-
tion
analysis.
Neff et al.
provide
clear evidence for mul-
tiple production
centers of Late Postclassic
polychromes:
four in the Basin of
Mexico;
three in the
Puebla/Tlaxcala
area;
and several in the Mixteca
Alta,
the
Valley
of
Oaxaca,
and the Chinantla. This evidence
for
multiple
centers of
production
fits well with our
evidence for elite
gift-giving
and
interdynastic
mar-
riage
alliances that served to link
major
towns.
Quifiones
Keber tackles the
problem
of what is
meant
by
the term "codex
style pottery";
she calls for
greater precision
in our use of that
term,
including
a
need to
specify
which codex is
being compared
to a
particular
sherd's motif. Noemi
Castillo-Tejero sug-
gests
that we use the term
"Mixteca-Popoloca"
instead
of
Mixteca-Puebla,
because there are
linguistic
and eth-
nohistoric sources that indicate the
Popolocas
were a
powerful
force in southern Puebla.
Bryan
Dennis notes that the
Borgia
Codex has more
in common with the Mixtec codices
(such
as the
Zouche-Nuttall)
than
previously emphasized.
Following
John
Pohl,
Dennis
(p. 169)
maintains that
"Mixtec 'histories' are not
simply
annals that record
'what
really happened
in the
past.' They represent
a
specific
view of
history-a
view informed and struc-
tured
by
the ritual and
divinatory
associations recorded
in the Codex
Borgia
and sources like it." In their
paper,
Pohl and Bruce
Byland
look at "factional alliance cor-
ridors,"
arguing
that the Mixteca-Puebla
style
was a
non-linguistically
based
system
of communication
used
by
the elite to transcend the
multiplicity
of lan-
guages
and
polities.
Ernesto
Gonzailez Lic6n and Lourdes
Marquez
Morfin discuss caves and their associated rituals in the
Cafiada de
Cuicatlan,
the riverine corridor
connecting
Puebla to the
Valley
of Oaxaca. In Cueva
Cheve, they
made some
spectacular
discoveries: a
turquoise
mosaic
mask similar to one from Cueva de
Ejutla;
round
wooden shields covered with
mosaics;
and
turquoise
mosaic scenes on
rectangular pieces
of
wood,
showing
a ball court and a battle scene
involving
at least 30 indi-
viduals.
In what
ways
has this edited volume advanced our
knowledge
of the Mixteca-Puebla
concept?
The answer
is threefold: it
presents
evidence that the
phenomenon
involved
multiple styles
and
multiple production
cen-
ters in
pottery,
even
though
shared or
overlapping
sets
of
symbols
were
used, borrowed,
and imitated
by
nobles across much of the
highlands;
it indicates that
we
might
be better off
removing
the
hyphen
in
Vaillant's term
"Mixteca-Puebla,"
using
each word
singly
to
designate
one of the two different
style
regions;
and it reveals that the Postclassic
landscape
was
politically fragmented
but tied
together by long-
distance
exchange, interdynastic marriage
alliances,
and multi-ethnic confederations. Such
complexity
and
diversity
do not fit
comfortably
within the label
"Mixteca-Puebla." Some
might
even
argue
that we now
know so much more than we did in the 1930s that the
term is on the
verge
of
outliving
its usefulness.
Arqueologia
del occidente de Mexico: nuevas
aporta-
ciones. EDUARDO WILLIAMS and R. NOVELLA,
editors. El
Colegio
de
Michoacan, Zamora, Michoacan,
1994. 384
pp.,
93
figures,
23
tables,
references. Price
unknown
(paper).
Evolucion de una civilizacion
prehispdnica: arque-
ologia
de
Jalisco, Nayarit, y
Zacatecas. PHIL C.
WEIGAND. El
Colegio
de
Michoacan, Zamora,
1993.
444
pp.,
58
figures,
6
tables,
bibliography.
$25.00
(paper).
El Michoacdn
antiguo.
BRIGITTE BOEHM DE
LAMEIRAS,
coordinadora. El
Colegio
de
Michoacan,
Zamora,
1994. 464
pp.,
black-and-white and color
pho-
tographs,
17
maps,
15
tables,
bibliography, appendixes,
indexes. Price unknown
(cloth).
in the Codex
Borgia
and sources like it." In their
paper,
Pohl and Bruce
Byland
look at "factional alliance cor-
ridors,"
arguing
that the Mixteca-Puebla
style
was a
non-linguistically
based
system
of communication
used
by
the elite to transcend the
multiplicity
of lan-
guages
and
polities.
Ernesto
Gonzailez Lic6n and Lourdes
Marquez
Morfin discuss caves and their associated rituals in the
Cafiada de
Cuicatlan,
the riverine corridor
connecting
Puebla to the
Valley
of Oaxaca. In Cueva
Cheve, they
made some
spectacular
discoveries: a
turquoise
mosaic
mask similar to one from Cueva de
Ejutla;
round
wooden shields covered with
mosaics;
and
turquoise
mosaic scenes on
rectangular pieces
of
wood,
showing
a ball court and a battle scene
involving
at least 30 indi-
viduals.
In what
ways
has this edited volume advanced our
knowledge
of the Mixteca-Puebla
concept?
The answer
is threefold: it
presents
evidence that the
phenomenon
involved
multiple styles
and
multiple production
cen-
ters in
pottery,
even
though
shared or
overlapping
sets
of
symbols
were
used, borrowed,
and imitated
by
nobles across much of the
highlands;
it indicates that
we
might
be better off
removing
the
hyphen
in
Vaillant's term
"Mixteca-Puebla,"
using
each word
singly
to
designate
one of the two different
style
regions;
and it reveals that the Postclassic
landscape
was
politically fragmented
but tied
together by long-
distance
exchange, interdynastic marriage
alliances,
and multi-ethnic confederations. Such
complexity
and
diversity
do not fit
comfortably
within the label
"Mixteca-Puebla." Some
might
even
argue
that we now
know so much more than we did in the 1930s that the
term is on the
verge
of
outliving
its usefulness.
Arqueologia
del occidente de Mexico: nuevas
aporta-
ciones. EDUARDO WILLIAMS and R. NOVELLA,
editors. El
Colegio
de
Michoacan, Zamora, Michoacan,
1994. 384
pp.,
93
figures,
23
tables,
references. Price
unknown
(paper).
Evolucion de una civilizacion
prehispdnica: arque-
ologia
de
Jalisco, Nayarit, y
Zacatecas. PHIL C.
WEIGAND. El
Colegio
de
Michoacan, Zamora,
1993.
444
pp.,
58
figures,
6
tables,
bibliography.
$25.00
(paper).
El Michoacdn
antiguo.
BRIGITTE BOEHM DE
LAMEIRAS,
coordinadora. El
Colegio
de
Michoacan,
Zamora,
1994. 464
pp.,
black-and-white and color
pho-
tographs,
17
maps,
15
tables,
bibliography, appendixes,
indexes. Price unknown
(cloth).
88 88 [Vol. 7,
No.
1, 1996] [Vol. 7,
No.
1, 1996]
This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Feb 2013 23:52:41 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTES
Reviewed
by Shirley
Gorenstein,
Rensselaer
Polytechnic
Institute.
Intermittently
over
many years, archaeologists writing
about western and northwestern Mexico have been
compelled
to
point
out that this
region
is
(1)
connected
to Mesoamerica
(early scholars)
or
(2) part
of
Mesoamerican studies
(later scholars)
or
(3) incorpo-
rated into a
newly
defined Mesoamerica
(most
recent
writers).
Over the last 20
years,
the
pace
of archaeo-
logical
work in western and northwestern Mexico has
accelerated,
and
archaeologists
have made discoveries
of new sites and offered new
interpretations
that have
shown the
complexity
of culture there in
Prehispanic
times. At
first,
these
archaeologists expected
to have
their work noted in the
publications, certainly
in the
synthetic publications,
of Mesoamericanists.
Surprising
to
them,
this was not and has not been done
with the
expected frequency
or
regularity.
Mesoamericanists,
governed by
a central Mexican and
points
south
perspective,
could not see the relevance of
the work to what
they
considered the Mesoamerican
area. In some
sense,
archaeologists
of western and
northwestern Mexico were
operating
as if
looking
through
a
one-way
mirror in which
they
saw out but
were not visible to their associates on the other side.
It is
astonishing
to them that their
increasingly
rad-
ical
arguments
have not been
engaged by
other
Mesoamericanists and that the
archaeology
of this
region
has had little influence in
defining
Mesoamerica
and Mesoamerican
high
culture. In the last two
years,
several
important
books on west Mexico and
Mesoamerica have been
published, among
them the
three books
listed,
which both
expand
and
integrate
the
archaeology
of the
region
as well as address
major
issues in the
study
of
Prehispanic
Mesoamerica.
In the first
book,
Arqueologia
del occidente de
Mexico,
Eduardo Williams once
again places
west and
northwest Mexico in the context of Mesoamerican
studies. He
points
out that this area is vast in size and
diversity,
both
geographically
and
culturally.
In addi-
tion,
it has its own
history
of cultural
development
whose
rhythm
was different from the area to the east.
The interaction between the two areas was
complex
and it is
probably
not
helpful
to use a model in which
one area is the
recipient
and the other the donor culture.
Arqueologia
del occidente de Mexico contains arti-
cles that
give
new data on the
prehistory
of the area.
Patricia Carot describes a burial zone on the island of
Loma Alta in the ancient marshes of
Zacapu.
She estab-
lishes a
body
of
iconographic motifs that link the site
not
only
to other
places
in
Michoacan,
but also to other
places
in Mesoamerica and to the U.S. Southwest. Her
work
suggests
that it is worthwhile
examining
what
may
be a
pan-Mesoamerican
trait that associates the
dead with water. Karen
Hardy presents
an
analysis
of
surface lithic collections from the
Zacoalco-Sayula
Basin in Jalisco
dating
from the
preceramic
or
Archaic,
a
period
from which we have
very
little data for west
Mexico. Ver6nica Darras
reports
on obsidian work-
shops
in the
Zinaparo-Cerro
Prieto zone in Michoacan
and notes a
possible
connection with lithic
technology
at
Pachay
in Guatemala.
Enriqueta
M.
Olguin gives
an
account of ornamental shell found as
grave goods
in the
far north of Jalisco. She
provides insight
into social and
historical contexts. Lourdes Suairez Diez offers a cata-
log
of sections of written and
pictographic
documents
of the
sixteenth, seventeenth,
and
eighteenth
centuries
that mention and describe shell
objects
in west Mexico.
Della
Sprager
understands the contribution that her
analysis
of west Mexican
weights
can make to the
study
of science and
technology
in Mesoamerica.
Eduardo Williams uses the
concept
of ceramic
ecology
to frame his
study
of ceramic
production
in the con-
temporary community
of
Huancito,
Michoacan.
There are certain features of western and northwest-
ern Mexico
Prehispanic
culture that are
distinct,
per-
haps
foremost
among
them is the
early
and
vigorous
metallurgy industry.
An article
by Dorothy
Hosler on
the
technology
and
chronology
of
Prehispanic
metal-
lurgy
in west Mexico
(originally published
in the
Journal
of
Field
Archaeology)
is a rich resource on the
subject
of Mesoamerican
metallurgy.
Hosler's scholar-
ship,
here and
elsewhere,
always provides
both new
data and refined discussions of
meaning
on
metallurgy
as material culture and as a
technological process.
Another distinctive
aspect
of west Mexico is the
highly
organized
Tarascan state. Helen Perlstein
Pollard,
whose research on the Tarascans has been both exten-
sive and
edifying,
writes here with Thomas A.
Vogel
on
the
political
and economic
implications
of obsidian
exchange
within the Tarascan state. The Bolafios
expression
of the distinctive shaft tombs found in west
Mexico is discussed
by
Maria Teresa Cabrero Garcia
who
compares
them with tombs in
Panama, Colombia,
and
Ecuador,
areas in central and South America that
have been linked to west Mexico
by
this as well as
other
aspects
of material culture. Phil
Weigand
ends the
volume with a
provocative critique
of the
myth depict-
ing Mexcaltitain, Nayarit,
as the Mexica Aztlan
employ-
ing
a
refreshing
and
surprising contemporary
context.
The second
book,
Evoluci6n de una civilizaci6n
prehispdnica,
is a collection of 17 articles written
by
Phil
Weigand (perhaps
two or three have not been
pub-
89
This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Feb 2013 23:52:41 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
lished
before)
with an
appreciative
introduction
by
Jose
Lameiras Olvera. Phil
Weigand
has entered the debate
about west Mexico and Mesoamerica on
many
levels
and in
many ways. Weigand's
work in Jalisco revealed
the
complexity
of west Mexican
Prehispanic
culture.
He uncovered monumental architecture of an
indige-
nous tradition and showed that there were
large
settle-
ment and
irrigation systems
and
possibly
a
characteristic
ideographic glyphic system
in the
high-
land lake districts of western Jalisco before the
Postclassic. He has shown that in the
Formative,
socio-
cultural
configurations
were
developing
with
compara-
ble
complexity
and
pace
to other core areas of
civilization in Mesoamerica. He has assessed the
Central Mexican influences on the
indigenous develop-
ments in this west Mexico tradition
during
the Classic.
He voiced the idea of a
greater Mesoamerica,
which is
greater
than the Mesoamerica of the Basin of Mexico
and the
regions
to the east and south of
it,
by employ-
ing
the
concepts
of world
economy
and trade structure.
Two
chapters
of this volume
explicate
the
investiga-
tions and results of his work in the Teuchitlan/Etzatlan
region:
one is on
chronology
and
change
in the
Teuchitlan/Etzatlan zone in Jalisco and the other is on
the Teuchitlan tradition of architecture and settlement
patterns
in the Formative. Five
chapters place
his work
in west Mexico in the context of Mesoamerica: one
focuses on the Teuchitlan
tradition;
another on the col-
lapse
of the Teuchitlan tradition and the cultures of the
Postclassic
period
in the
west;
a third on the
political
organization
of the
valley
and lake basins of the
high-
lands of Jalisco and
Nayarit
on the eve of the
Spanish
conquest;
a fourth on the influences of Central Mexico
in Jalisco and
Nayarit during
the
Classic;
and the last
on the Teuchitlan tradition's
expression
of the
Mesoamerican ball
game.
Another section of seven
articles is devoted to
Weigand's
substantive work on
trade
systems.
The most
important among
these are the
articles on the obsidian
mining complex
in La
Joya,
Jalisco;
on
mining
and mineral trade in
Prehispanic
Zacatecas,
showing possible
routes for the trade of
turquoise
from southern Mesoamerica to the U.S.
Southwest;
and on the function of
turquoise
in the com-
mercial structure of ancient Mesoamerica.
Finishing up
the volume are
chapters
on the
ethnography
and ethno-
history
in the
region.
While the
organization
of the book
suggests
the his-
tory
and direction of Phil
Weigand's
research
up
to this
time,
it also indicates that a
single
work
by
Phil
Weigand
in which he would
integrate
his research and
perspectives
would be useful to the
community
of
Mesoamericanists.
The third book El Michoacdn
antiguo
is about the
Prehispanic
Tarascan state. It is a handsome book and
its
production
follows the standards of art books in its
large
size,
heavy glossy paper,
and
high quality
black
and white and color
photographs
of
artifacts,
docu-
ments,
and
contemporary
scenes. There are a number
of useful
maps,
some with a
persistent
error: these
place
Acambaro south of the Lerma River.
Prehispanic
Acambaro is at least in
major part
if not
entirely
north
of the Lerma
River;
it is the historic Acambaro settle-
ment that is
exclusively
south of the Lerma.
By focusing
on the
Tarascans,
the
publishers
and
sponsors
of this volume affirm
expansively
that the
Prehispanic
Tarascan
kingdom
is one of Michoacan's
major
contributions to the Mesoamerican
configuration.
The book is divided into three
parts.
The first
part, by
Ulises
Beltran,
is more ethnohistorical than
archaeolog-
ical and contains a notation of some of the well-known
documentary
sources and a brief annotated
chronology
of the
prehistory
of Michoacan from Archaic to
Postclassic
times,
based on selected
archaeological
and
documentary
sources.
Using contemporary scholarly
interpretations
and
data,
he also
provides
a discussion of
Prehispanic
Tarascan subsistence
patterns
and a sum-
mary comparison
of Tarascan and Mexica settlement
patterns
and urbanization
along
with some
thoughts
on
political
ramifications. With a focus on the Tarascan
population,
he discusses the
political
and social
system,
then
explicates
the
economy, through
brief examina-
tions of
occupation,
tribute,
and
general
commerce,
and
finally
he looks at the
sixteenth-century
Tarascan
popu-
lation in the
period
after the
Spanish conquest.
In his
conclusions,
Beltran offers some remarks on theories of
the state and state formation and the
application
of such
theories to the Tarascan situation.
Certainly,
he
recog-
nizes the
complexity
and
diversity
of state formation in
the whole of Mesoamerica.
Part two of the volume is more
archaeological
than
ethnohistorical and is led off
by
an article
by
Eduardo
Williams on the
archaeological
data of earlier
periods
in the Tarascan
area,
covering particularly
El
Opeio,
Chupicuaro,
a number of
Classic-period
sites,
and
including
also a
description
of the Tarascan
capital,
Tzintzuntzan,
based in
good part
on Helen Perlstein
Pollard's work.
Pollard, herself,
writes a substantial
section on factors in the formation of the Tarascan
state. She considers
metallurgy,
an
industry
with a
unique history
in west
Mexico;
ethnicity,
both in the
Lake Patzcuaro basin and in the
75,000-km2
territory
tributary
to the
Tarascans;
and
ideology,
as manifested
particularly
in Tarascan
religion.
She studies these mat-
ters in the context of the roles
they played
as
challenges
to,
catalysts
for,
and
supports
of the Tarascan state.
By
using
this historical
perspective,
she is able to illumi-
90
[Vol. 7,
No.
1, 1996]
This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Feb 2013 23:52:41 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTES REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTES
nate the
process
of formation and to characterize the
emergence
of the
singular
Tarascan
state,
which is dif-
ferent from the Mexica
state,
as
characteristically
Mesoamerican. Pollard's articles
expand
and
develop
the
original
substantive and
interpretative scholarship
she offered in her
book,
Tariacuri's
Legacy:
The
Prehispanic
Tarascan State. The
penultimate
articles in
the book are on obsidian sources and on
production
and
use,
the former
by
Efrain Cardenas Garcia and the lat-
ter
by
Dan M. Healan. The final
article,
by
Francisco
Valdez and Catherine
Liot,
is on the salt beds on the
western Tarascan frontier in the
Sayula
Basin.
My message
to readers of Latin American
Antiquity
is to seize the
opportunity
to read about west Mexico.
The
publications
are now at hand. You will find new
information on
Mexico,
challenges
to current ideas
about
civilization,
and fresh
insights
on the formation
of states. Once
you
read
them,
Mesoamerica will never
look the same.
The Politics
of Symbolism
in the Mixtec Codices.
JOHN M. D. POHL. Vanderbilt
University,
Nashville,
1994. xii + 171
pp.,
56
figures, footnotes,
bibliography,
appendix.
Price unknown
(paper).
Reviewed
by
Mark B.
King, Georgia
State
University.
As the
largest corpus
of Late Postclassic
manuscripts
in
existence,
the Mixtec codices
preserve
a wealth of
information
pertaining
to
every aspect
of
society
and
culture. Codex studies have
traditionally
focused on
genealogical
constructs and
toponymic decipherments,
but new
analytical
methods have transformed our com-
prehension
of these codices. In this
book,
Pohl uses the
symbolic
features of
costuming
to isolate four
specific
political roles, supported by archaeological
data,
colo-
nial
documentation,
and modern
ethnographic
accounts.
Further,
Pohl outlines
aspects
of Postclassic
political competition
based on codical accounts of the
tactics used
by
rival elites
claiming
succession to the
same
hereditary
titles.
In the first
chapter,
Pohl summarizes the literature
on Mixtec
sociopolitical organization,
and
lays
the
methodological groundwork
for his
analysis
of
political
maneuvering
as reflected in the costume
symbolism
of
rival elites and the costumes of individuals
giving sup-
port
to elite
competitors, including
ritual
arbitrators,
stewards, oracles,
and
foreign
ambassadors.
Chapters
2
through
5 each focus on one of these
supporting
roles.
The sixth and final
chapter
is a brief
summary.
The ambitious
scope
of Pohl's book is also a
signif-
icant weakness.
By
this I mean that the
average length
nate the
process
of formation and to characterize the
emergence
of the
singular
Tarascan
state,
which is dif-
ferent from the Mexica
state,
as
characteristically
Mesoamerican. Pollard's articles
expand
and
develop
the
original
substantive and
interpretative scholarship
she offered in her
book,
Tariacuri's
Legacy:
The
Prehispanic
Tarascan State. The
penultimate
articles in
the book are on obsidian sources and on
production
and
use,
the former
by
Efrain Cardenas Garcia and the lat-
ter
by
Dan M. Healan. The final
article,
by
Francisco
Valdez and Catherine
Liot,
is on the salt beds on the
western Tarascan frontier in the
Sayula
Basin.
My message
to readers of Latin American
Antiquity
is to seize the
opportunity
to read about west Mexico.
The
publications
are now at hand. You will find new
information on
Mexico,
challenges
to current ideas
about
civilization,
and fresh
insights
on the formation
of states. Once
you
read
them,
Mesoamerica will never
look the same.
The Politics
of Symbolism
in the Mixtec Codices.
JOHN M. D. POHL. Vanderbilt
University,
Nashville,
1994. xii + 171
pp.,
56
figures, footnotes,
bibliography,
appendix.
Price unknown
(paper).
Reviewed
by
Mark B.
King, Georgia
State
University.
As the
largest corpus
of Late Postclassic
manuscripts
in
existence,
the Mixtec codices
preserve
a wealth of
information
pertaining
to
every aspect
of
society
and
culture. Codex studies have
traditionally
focused on
genealogical
constructs and
toponymic decipherments,
but new
analytical
methods have transformed our com-
prehension
of these codices. In this
book,
Pohl uses the
symbolic
features of
costuming
to isolate four
specific
political roles, supported by archaeological
data,
colo-
nial
documentation,
and modern
ethnographic
accounts.
Further,
Pohl outlines
aspects
of Postclassic
political competition
based on codical accounts of the
tactics used
by
rival elites
claiming
succession to the
same
hereditary
titles.
In the first
chapter,
Pohl summarizes the literature
on Mixtec
sociopolitical organization,
and
lays
the
methodological groundwork
for his
analysis
of
political
maneuvering
as reflected in the costume
symbolism
of
rival elites and the costumes of individuals
giving sup-
port
to elite
competitors, including
ritual
arbitrators,
stewards, oracles,
and
foreign
ambassadors.
Chapters
2
through
5 each focus on one of these
supporting
roles.
The sixth and final
chapter
is a brief
summary.
The ambitious
scope
of Pohl's book is also a
signif-
icant weakness.
By
this I mean that the
average length
of each
chapter
is about 25
pages-much
too brief to
adequately
cover
any
of the four
topics.
A collection of
four
large monographs
would be more
appropriate.
Therefore each
chapter
is like an
analytical
"pilot
study," using only
two or three codical
examples
to
establish the
diagnostic symbolic
features of an institu-
tionalized
sociopolitical
role.
Although
Pohl
initially
acknowledges
the tentative nature of each
construct,
subsequent
references tend to
present
these constructs
as
firmly
established
postulates.
Another
significant problem
lies in Pohl's transla-
tion and
interpretation
of Mixtec
terminology.
Lexical
data must be treated like
any
other
systematic database;
Pohl uses
only
terms that
agree
with his
constructs,
ignoring
alternative forms and
meanings
that do not
"fit." This is
comparable
to an
archaeologist
who
asserts that "the
occupants
of
Building
X used
poly-
chrome ceramics" but fails to
say only
two
polychrome
sherds were found
among
five hundred other sherds.
Worse,
some terms are
contextually inappropriate
and a
few translations are incorrect. Readers should
ignore
Pohl's use of Mixtec
terminology
and evaluate each
chapter accordingly. Fortunately,
this
adjustment
is of
little
consequence
in
chapters 2, 4,
and
5,
but half of the
analysis
in
chapter
3 is affected
by
this
problem.
Chapter
2 examines evidence for the existence of a
council of four
priests
that functioned in an
advisory
and
judicial capacity
within each Mixtec
kingdom.
Pohl demonstrates that the council
helped
settle dis-
putes
between local elite factions when
legitimate
inheritance or succession is contested. Pohl also claims
the council had a
responsibility
to maintain certain
"sacred bundles." These bundles
appear
to
represent
tangible proof
of ancient elite
origins
and,
in some
sense,
the bundles
sanctify
the territorial
rights
of local
elite
lineages.
Pohl's
argument
is
convincing, although
he never
explains
how the council of four
priests
can be
distinguished
from scores of other
priests
who
appear
in Mixtec codices.
Chapter
3 considers individuals who wear the tor-
toise-shell
costuming
of the
fire-serpent. Examples
of
this costume are
quite
rare in the
codices,
but we know
these individuals are called "sorcerers that
fly
in dark-
ness" in
sixteenth-century language
sources.
Using
data from the 1544 Yanhuitlan
Inquisition
trial
together
with
fascinating examples
of
Spanish symbolism
asso-
ciated with St.
Dominic,
St.
Francis,
and St.
John,
Pohl
constructs an excellent
argument
that associates the
fire-serpent
costume with a
priest
that carries out ritual
acts of human sacrifice. The office is often
given
to a
ruler's
sibling.
Pohl also claims the
fire-serpent priest
was
something
like a
steward,
managing
tribute,
food
stores,
and the
market,
but these economic functions
of each
chapter
is about 25
pages-much
too brief to
adequately
cover
any
of the four
topics.
A collection of
four
large monographs
would be more
appropriate.
Therefore each
chapter
is like an
analytical
"pilot
study," using only
two or three codical
examples
to
establish the
diagnostic symbolic
features of an institu-
tionalized
sociopolitical
role.
Although
Pohl
initially
acknowledges
the tentative nature of each
construct,
subsequent
references tend to
present
these constructs
as
firmly
established
postulates.
Another
significant problem
lies in Pohl's transla-
tion and
interpretation
of Mixtec
terminology.
Lexical
data must be treated like
any
other
systematic database;
Pohl uses
only
terms that
agree
with his
constructs,
ignoring
alternative forms and
meanings
that do not
"fit." This is
comparable
to an
archaeologist
who
asserts that "the
occupants
of
Building
X used
poly-
chrome ceramics" but fails to
say only
two
polychrome
sherds were found
among
five hundred other sherds.
Worse,
some terms are
contextually inappropriate
and a
few translations are incorrect. Readers should
ignore
Pohl's use of Mixtec
terminology
and evaluate each
chapter accordingly. Fortunately,
this
adjustment
is of
little
consequence
in
chapters 2, 4,
and
5,
but half of the
analysis
in
chapter
3 is affected
by
this
problem.
Chapter
2 examines evidence for the existence of a
council of four
priests
that functioned in an
advisory
and
judicial capacity
within each Mixtec
kingdom.
Pohl demonstrates that the council
helped
settle dis-
putes
between local elite factions when
legitimate
inheritance or succession is contested. Pohl also claims
the council had a
responsibility
to maintain certain
"sacred bundles." These bundles
appear
to
represent
tangible proof
of ancient elite
origins
and,
in some
sense,
the bundles
sanctify
the territorial
rights
of local
elite
lineages.
Pohl's
argument
is
convincing, although
he never
explains
how the council of four
priests
can be
distinguished
from scores of other
priests
who
appear
in Mixtec codices.
Chapter
3 considers individuals who wear the tor-
toise-shell
costuming
of the
fire-serpent. Examples
of
this costume are
quite
rare in the
codices,
but we know
these individuals are called "sorcerers that
fly
in dark-
ness" in
sixteenth-century language
sources.
Using
data from the 1544 Yanhuitlan
Inquisition
trial
together
with
fascinating examples
of
Spanish symbolism
asso-
ciated with St.
Dominic,
St.
Francis,
and St.
John,
Pohl
constructs an excellent
argument
that associates the
fire-serpent
costume with a
priest
that carries out ritual
acts of human sacrifice. The office is often
given
to a
ruler's
sibling.
Pohl also claims the
fire-serpent priest
was
something
like a
steward,
managing
tribute,
food
stores,
and the
market,
but these economic functions
91 91
This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Feb 2013 23:52:41 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions