Landscape And Power In Ancient Mesoamerica

Description

From the early cities in the second millennium BC to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan on the eve of the Spanish conquest, Ancient Mesoamericans created landscapes full of meaning and power in the center of their urban spaces. The sixteenth century description of Tenochtitlan by Bernal Diaz del Castillo and the archaeological remnants of Teotihuacan attest to the power and centrality of these urban configurations in Ancient Mesoamerican history. In Landscape and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica, Rex Koontz, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, and Annabeth Headrick explore the cultural logic that structured and generated these centers.Through case studies of specific urban spaces and their meanings, the authors examine the general principles by which the Ancient Mesoamericans created meaningful urban space. In a profoundly interdisciplinary exchange involving both archaeologists and art historians, this volume connects the symbolism of those landscapes, the performances that activated this symbolism, and the cultural poetics of these ensembles. Contents Maps, Tables, and Illustrations Foreword: Landscape and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica Preface 1 The Cultural Poetics of Power and Space in Ancient Mesoamerica Defining Cultural Poetics Aesthetics Style The Structure of Power The Cultural Poetics of Space Space, Power, and Poetics in Practice El Tajin The Ritual of Raising the Banners 2 What the Heck's Coatépec? The Formative Roots of an Enduring Mythology Myth and Context The Structures of Myth 3 Procession Rituals and Shrine Sites: The Politics of Sacred Space In the Late Formative Valley of Oaxaca Rituals of Procession Procession and Rainfall Shrine Sites Pre-Hispanic Processionals, Shrine Sites, and Politics: Dainzú Shrine Sites and Sacred Geography: Monte Albán Sacred Space and Politics: The Danzantes of Mante Albán and Dainzú Ballplayers 4 Sacred Geography at Izapa and the Performance of Rulership The Landscape of Creation The Performance of Rulership: Plaza Group A Centering Rulership in the Cosmic Environment: Plaza Group B Ritual Circuits and the Choreography of Creation 5 Dance Performances at Quiriguá Ancient Maya Dance Performance Dance Iconography at Quirigá Platform 1A-1 as Performance Space 6 The Poetics of Power and Knowledge at La Venta 7 Merging Myth and Politics: The Three Temple Complex at Teotihuacan Mesoamerica and the Myth of the Three Stones of Creation Teotihuacan and the Three Mountains The Three Temple Complex The Three Temples of Atetelco Political Structure and the Three Stones of Creation 8 A Model for Late Classic Community Structure at Copán, Honduras Sculptural Analysis Maya Community Structure Concentric Ring Mode of Community Structure Four Quarters Model of Community Structure A Model of Late Classic Community Structure for Copán Structure 10L-22A and Late Classic Community Structure Social, Political and Cosmological Implications of the Popol Na 9 The Form of Power: The Architectural Meaning of Building a of El Tajín El Tajín in Time and Space Reading the Visual Text The Ritual Ball Game Cycle: Warfare, Sacrifice, and Rulership Tajín Chico: An Elite Acropolis Reading the Forms of Mesoamerican Architecture Building A: A Cosmic Map Building A: Ritual Reference or Ceremonial Space? 10 Political Rhetoric and the Unification of Natural Geography, Cosmic Space, and Gender Spheres 11 Mountain of Heaven, Mountain of Earth: The Great Pyramid of Cholula as Sacred Landscape Cholula and the Great Pyramid Artistic Program of the Great Pyramid The Patio of the Altars Complex The Great Pyramid in the Late Postclassic Period Conclusions and Speculation 12 A Sense of Place at Chichén Itzá The Politics and Poetics of Space Chichén Itzá and the Late Maya World The Settlement of Chichén Itzá Writing and Identity at Chichén Itzá Design and Ritual Index