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WEST MEXICO
A. Mezcala
B. Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima
1. contiguous states on Pacific coast between Guerrero and Gulf
of California
2. pieces looted from shaft-and-chamber tombs up to 6 m in
depth
a) underground chambers connnected by tunnels
3. date to Late Preclassic and Classic (AD 200-300)
4. Nayarit
a) Ixtlan del Río
1) lively figures and groups in red with painting in black,
white, and yellow
2) men and women in naturalistic poses
a> warriors posing with clubs
b> temples with thatched roofs
c> two-storied houses and village scenes
d> ball courts with game in progress
3) come from Early Classic shaft tombs (ca. AD 100)
5. Jalisco and Colima
a) pot-bellied, hairless dogs
1) represent breed fattened for food
2) shown sleeping, playing, growling, etc.
b) birds, hunchbacks, warriors, and other naturalistic
representations
c) occasional pornography (rare in Mexican art)
6. Interpretations
a) earlier school of art saw shaft-tomb art as simply an
expressive style, with no religious meaning
b) realism of art may be deceptive
c) dogs frequently had important mortuary significance
d) Peter Furst
1) worked with Huichol Indians of Nayarit
a> almost certainly the descendants of the people who built the
shaft tombs
b> found that religious practitioners are always shamans and
that hallucinogenic plants are very important
c> warrior figures are shown in typical fighting stance of
shaman
d> two-story houses are interpreted as dwellings of living and
dead
e> believes shaft-tomb art "conforms slosely to
characteristically shamanistic initiatory, funerary, and
death-and-rebirth beliefs and rituals"
C. Cotzumalhuapa
1. Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa and Bilbao
a) located on Pacific coast of Guatemala
b) close relations with Gulf Coast
2. stela depicting ballplayers making sacrifices of human
hearts
a) ballgames played between humans and supernatural beings
b) players wear hachas, yokes, and palmas
3. style is in between that of Gulf Coast and Maya
a) day signs resemble those of south Mexican calendar
b) numeration by circles is also south Mexican style
c) composition, with ball player below and sun deity above,
recalls some Piedras Negras stelae
4. may have been ethnically Pipil
a) Nahuat speakers from Central Mexico
5. Chronology
a) Sharer interprets style as Postclassic
1) may be related to spread of Chontal Maya from Gulf Coast in
the Terminal Classic
b) Parsons suggests "Middle" Classic (ca. AD 400-900)
1) interprets them as Teotihuacan intrusion
2) divides reliefs into two groups
a> Narrative Group (500-700)
b> Portrait Group (700-900)
D. Tarascans
1. homeland in MichoacÝn
a) name means "place of the masters of fish"
b) derives from Lake PÝtzcuaro
2. Tarascans name for themselves is PurÇpecha
3. Tarascan language has no known affiliation
4. Civilization probably does not predate 10th century
5. Postclassic Tarascans
a) bounded on south and west by areas under Aztec control
b) to the north were Chichimecs
6. Relaci¢n de MichoacÝn
a) tells of migrations of various tribes into MichoacÝn
b) claimed that some of forebears had been Chichimec
1) semi-barbaric Tarascan speakers who established themselves
on islands in the middle of Lake PÝtzcuaro
2) town of PÝtzcuaro "founded" about AD 1325 under hero-chief
Tar°akuri
c) conquered all of present-day MichoacÝn
1) established series of fortified outposts on frontiers
2) royal house established successive capitals during the Late
Postclassic
3) last at Tzintzuntzan, overlooking Lake PÝtzcuaro
a> dominated by enormous, rectangular masonry platform
1> 440 m long and 13 m high
2> one of most imposing structures of its time in the Americas
b> supports five great yÝcatas
1> rectangular, stepped pyramid joined by stepped passageway to
round stepped pyramid
2> each had twelve stages of rubble faced with stone slabs
3> once faced with fine, perfectly joined masonry slabs (recall
Inca stonework of Peru)
4> also found at other Tarascan sites
5> may be funerary monuments containing remains of past kings
and sacrificed retainers
d) detailed information on structure of Tarascan royal court
1) king was called the Kasons°
a> acted as war chief and supreme judge
b> was ruler of Tzintzuntzan
2) under him were rulers of two other administrative centers
a> IhuÝtzio and TÝtzcuaro
b> also four boundary princes
3) large variety of retainers and palace craftsmen
a> masons, drum-makers, curers, obsidian workers, silversmiths
b> head of war spies
4) group of non-celibate priests, headed by supreme high priest
a> led worship of high gods, including fire/sun and moon
5) boys trained by fathers for specific trades
6) women of aristocracy were educated in a special communal
house
7) much information on burial practices
a> at death of Kasons°, 40 male attendants were sacrificed,
including doctor who failed to cure him
7. had a very high level of craftmanship
a) early metalwork restricted to needles and hooks of copper
wire
b) paper-thin obsidian earspools and lip-plugs
1) often faced with gold and turquoise inlay
c) later expansion of craftsmanship is probably post-Toltec
d) master workers in gold, silver, and bimetallic objects
1) lost-wax casting
2) recalls Mixtec work
e) Chacmool-type sculptures indicate Toltec derivation
8. Tarascans successfully defended their territory from Aztecs
9. Kasoni -- the Tarascan ruler -- was treated an an equal by
the Aztec emporer
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