Geoffrey McCafferty

Engendering Tomb 7 at Monte Alban: Respinning an Old Yarn [and Comments and Reply]

A contextual analysis of material culture recovered from Tomb 7 at Monte Alban suggests a radical reinterpretation f the gender identification of the tombs principal individual. Spinning and weaving implements found with the burial, previously interpreted as a male, indicate the strong possibility that the individual was gender-female. A reinterpretation fthe skeletal remains as presented in the published accounts further indicates that the osteological evidence is ambiguous at best and the skeleton may have been of a biological female. Finally, the total assemblage is considered in reference to the religious and gender ideologies of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica to suggest that Tomb 7 may have been an important shrine to Lady 9 Grass, a principal member of the Mixtec Mother Goddess complex. This paper points up the necessity of periodic reevaluations of accepted wisdom that may have been developed under theoretical paradigms that minimized cultural diversity.

TEXTILE PRODUCTION IN POSTCLASSIC CHOLULA, MEXICO

Colonial chroniclers marveled at the quality and variety of textiles produced at the Postclassic center of Cholula. As a principal market center, textiles were produced for tribute and exchange, and other woven goods were manufactured for local consumption. This paper examines ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence to interpret the technology, materials, scale, and social relations of textile production. Original spindle-whorl data from the UA-1 domestic compound is contrasted with other whorls from Postclassic Cholula and from other sites in central Mexico. Results of this analysis indicate the complexity of pre-Columbian textile production and the significance of spinning and weaving in economic and social reconstructions of the past.

Reinterpreting the Great Pyramid of Cholula, Mexico

The Great Pyramid of Cholula is both the largest and oldest continuously occupied building in Mesoamerica. Initial occupation of the ceremonial precinct began in the Late Formative period, and the first building stage of the pyramid dates to the Terminal Formative. The Great Pyramid was built in four major construction stages and at least nine minor modifications. Early stages shared stylistic similarities with Teotihuacan, but toward the end of its construction history external contacts shifted to the Gulf Coast, particularly El Tajin, and probably relate to occupation by ethnic Olmeca-Xicallanca. The fourth and final stage was contemporary with extensive construction on the south side at the Patio of the Altars, and dates to the Early Postclassic period. This period ended, however, with the partial abandonment of the pyramid when ethnic Tolteca-Chichimeca constructed a ceremonial center around their “new” Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. The Great Pyramid continued as an important shrine dedicated to mountain worship and a rain deity until the Spanish Conquest. It remains one of the most important religious sites in Mexico, where the shrine of the Virgin of the Remedies attracts pilgrims to the church atop the pyramid mound during the annual festival. This paper summarizes the archaeological and ethnohistorical information available to reinterpret the construction history and ideological content of the pyramid throughout its long existence.

The Ceramics and Chronology of Cholula, Mexico

Chronology is a fundamental prerequisite for problem-oriented, anthropologically relevant archaeology. It is also the shaky foundation that has hampered attempts to reconstruct the culture history of Cholula, Mexico. Cholula is among the oldest continuously occupied urban centers of the New World, yet it remains one of the most enigmatic. This paper evaluates previous cultural sequences for the site, and summarizes recent evidence to construct a chronology using absolute dates and ceramic assemblages from primary depositional contexts. This revised sequence features a clearer understanding of Middle Formative settlement and the definition of ritual and domestic contexts from the Classic period. In addition, there is now evidence for a gradual transition between Late Classic and Early Postclassic material culture; and for the evolution of the Postclassic polychrome tradition within a sequence of short, clearly defined phases.

Domestic Practice in Postclassic Santa Isabel, Nicaragua

Four seasons ofexcavation at the Santa Isabel site on the shore ofLake Nicaragua have recovered an extensive assemblage ofmaterial remains relating to Early Postclassic period (A.D. 800-1250) domestic practice. This paper reports initial project results, specifically relating to themes of architecture, foodways, specialized production, and belief systems. Exceptional preservation oforganic materials such as faunal and botanical remains, as well as bone tools, permits an expansive description of the material culture relating to household level consumption. Through the intensive coverage of 5 ha of the site center, including 10 house mounds, we see that intra-site variation also reflects community organization. Finally, Santa Isabel presents potential for inferring cultural relationships between central Mexico (based on ethnohistorical accounts) and Greater Nicoya.

The Conquered Women of Cacaxtla

The vividly painted “Battle Mural” of Cacaxtla (Tlaxcala, Mexico) depicts the gory results of a battle between racially distinct factions, characterized by their opposing jaguar and bird insignia. The two central Bird figures that remain standing are shown as captives, and in both cases they are attired in elaborate costumes that include diagnostic items of female clothing, including the quechquemitl cape and long skirt. Other figures are nude or are shown in simple male costumes, including the maxtlatl loincloth. This paper considers arguments of whether the two central figures were biological females, or rather, that the presence of female apparel on male actors was used within a context of conquest, symbolically transmitted through a gender ideology of male dominance and female subordination. While the evidence is inconclusive, we employ a contextual analysis of pre-Columbian pictorial manuscripts and Mexican cosmology to argue that these individuals were female. Furthermore, we suggest that the elaborate costume elements associated with these female figures, and their recurrence with the Jaguar Lord 3 Deer Antler “Tlaloc mask,” indicates that this was a noblewoman destined for marriage as a means of binding the Jaguar and Bird dynasties. Thus the Battle Mural depicts the capture of the “founding queen,” with the subsequent union demonstrated by the complementary depictions of Jaguar and Bird lords on Building A.

CHRONOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR GREATER NICOYA FROM THE SANTA ISABEL PROJECT, NICARAGUA

The Santa Isabel Project (Nicaragua) is investigating domestic remains from a supposed Postclassic/Ometepe-period regional center on the shore of Lake Nicaragua. However, a suite of twelve C-14 dates from the site suggests that the occupation predates the currently accepted time range for the Ometepe period by several hundred years, calling into question the periodization and associated cultural processes. This paper reports and contextualizes those dates.

SPINNING AND WEAVING TOOLS FROM SANTA ISABEL, NICARAGUA

Abstract Costume is one of the most significant forms of material culture in ethnographic contexts, yet remains of cloth are extremely rare at most archaeological sites. Artifacts that typically relate to textile production include spindle whorls and bone tools. This paper summarizes results of analyses of a large corpus of whorls and a remarkably extensive assemblage of bone tools from the Early Postclassic site of Santa Isabel in Pacific Nicaragua. Ethnohistoric sources identify several Mesoamerican groups as living in the region during the Postclassic period, with the Oto-Manguean-speaking Chorotega likely candidates for the cultural group at Santa Isabel. Textiles were probably made from cotton, among other plant fibers. In addition to cloth production, we consider the importance of spinning thread for fishnets and hammocks.

Successful reconstruction of whole mitochondrial genomes from ancient Central America and Mexico

The northern and southern peripheries of ancient Mesoamerica are poorly understood. There has been speculation over whether borderland cultures such as Greater Nicoya and Casas Grandes represent Mesoamerican outposts in the Isthmo-Colombian area and the Greater Southwest, respectively. Poor ancient DNA preservation in these regions challenged previous attempts to resolve these questions using conventional genetic techniques. We apply advanced in-solution mitogenome capture and high-throughput sequencing to fourteen dental samples obtained from the Greater Nicoya sites of Jícaro and La Cascabel in northwest Costa Rica (n = 9; A.D. 800–1250) and the Casas Grandes sites of Paquimé and Convento in northwest Mexico (n = 5; A.D. 1200–1450). Full mitogenome reconstruction was successful for three individuals from Jícaro and five individuals from Paquimé and Convento. The three Jícaro individuals belong to haplogroup B2d, a haplogroup found today only among Central American Chibchan-speakers. The five Paquimé and Convento individuals belong to haplogroups C1c1a, C1c5, B2f and B2a which, are found in contemporary populations in North America and Mesoamerica. We report the first successfully reconstructed ancient mitogenomes from Central America, and the first genetic evidence of ancestry affinity of the ancient inhabitants of Greater Nicoya and Casas Grandes with contemporary Isthmo-Columbian and Greater Southwest populations, respectively.