Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T04:52:48.692Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

NEGOTIATING NARRATIVE DOMAINS: IZAPA'S PLACE IN THE DISCOURSE ON EARLY HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2019

Stephanie M. Strauss
Stephanie M. Strauss*
Affiliation:
The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Art and Art History, 2301 San Jacinto Boulevard, Stop D1300, Austin, Texas 78712-1421
*
E-mail correspondence to: stephanie.strauss@aya.yale.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper aims to situate the Late Formative urban center of Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico into the greater discussion of early Mesoamerican writing systems. The elites of Izapa produced elaborate carved stone monuments in an era that bore witness to the fluorescence of three great hieroglyphic programs—the Zapotec, the Epi-Olmec, and the Maya—and, yet, only a handful of glyphs appear in Izapa's monumental corpus. In a discussion that includes Izapan iconoglyphs, possible nominal phrases, and the calendrical inscriptions on Izapa Stela 27, Stela 9, and Miscellaneous Monument 60, this study juxtaposes Izapan visual culture with representational systems to the east and west, and ultimately explores the narrative domains of greatest salience to Izapa's elite: image and cyclical time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 29 , Special Issue 2: Recent Research on Izapa Archaeology and Iconography , Fall 2018 , pp. 347 - 359
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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

Anderson, Lloyd B. 1993 The Writing System of La Mojarra and Associated Monuments. Ecological Linguistics, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Baudez, Claude 1971 Commentary On: Inventory of Some Pre-Classic Traits in the Highlands and Pacific Guatemala and Adjacent Areas. In Observations on the Emergence of Civilization in Mesoamerica, edited by Heizer, Robert F. and Graham, John A., pp. 78–84. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility, No. 11. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Benavides, Antonio, and Grube, Nikolai 2002 Dos monolitos tempranos de Jaina, Campeche, México. Mexicon 24:95–97.Google Scholar
Blomster, Jeffrey P., Neff, Hector, and Glascock, Michael D. 2005 Olmec Pottery Production and Export in Ancient Mexico Determined through Elemental Analysis. Science 307:1068–1072.Google Scholar
Cahn, Robert, and Winter, Marcus 1993 The San José Mogote Danzante. Indiana 13:39–64.Google Scholar
Campbell, Lyle 1988 The Linguistics of Southeast Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 50. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Carballo, David M. 2013 The Social Organization of Craft Production and Interregional Exchange at Teotihuacan. In Merchants, Markets, and Exchange in the Pre-Columbian World, edited by Hirth, Kenneth and Pillsbury, Joanne, pp. 113–140. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Chang, K.C. 1983 Art, Myth, and Ritual: The Path to Political Authority in Ancient China. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo 2012 Cotzumalguapa: La cuidad arqueologica, El Baul – Bilbao – El Castillo. F and G Editores, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo 2015 Sounds in Stone: Song, Music, and Dance on Monument 21 from Bilboa, Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala. The PARI Journal 16:1–12.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., and Moreno, Ajax 2007 Redrawing the Izapa Monuments. In Archaeology, Art, and Ethnogenesis in Mesoamerican Prehistory: Papers in Honor of Gareth W. Lowe, edited by Lowe, Lynneth and Pye, Mary E., pp. 277–319. New World Archaeological Society, Provo.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., Guernsey, Julia, and Arroyo, Barbara 2010 Stone Monuments and Formative Civilization. In The Place of Sculpture in Mesoamerica's Formative Transition: Context, Use, and Meaning, edited by Guernsey, Julia, Clark, John, and Arroyo, Bárbara, pp. 1–26. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., and Pye, Mary E. 2011 Revisiting the Mixe-Zoque: A Brief History of the Formative Peoples of Chiapas. In The Southern Maya in the Late Preclassic: The Rise and Fall of an Early Mesoamerican Civilization, edited by Love, Michael and Kaplan, Jonathan, pp. 25–46. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1957 Cycle 7 Monuments in Middle America: A Reconsideration. American Anthropologist 59:597–611.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1966 The Maya. 1st ed. Frederick A. Praeger, New York City.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1977 Olmec and Maya: A Study in Relationships. In The Origins of Maya Civilization, edited by Adams, Richard E. W., pp. 183–195. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D., and Houston, Stephen 2015 The Maya. 9th ed. Thames and Hudson, New York City.Google Scholar
Daniels, Peter T., and Bright, William (editors) 1996 The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, London.Google Scholar
DeFrancis, John 1989 Visible Speech: The Diverse Oneness of Writing Systems. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.Google Scholar
de la Fuente, Beatriz 2000 Olmec Sculpture: The First American Art. In Olmec Art and Archaeology in Mesoamerica, edited by Clark, John and Pye, Mary, pp. 252–263. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent, and Marcus, Joyce 1976 Evolution of the Public Building in Formative Oaxaca. In Cultural Change and Continuity, edited by Cleland, Charles, pp. 205–222. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Gasco, Janine, and Voorhies, Barbara 1989 The Ultimate Tribute: The Role of the Soconusco as an Aztec Tributary. In Ancient Trade and Tribute: Economies of the Soconusco Region of Mesoamerica, edited by Voorhies, Barbara, pp. 48–94. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Geertz, Clifford 1983 Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. Basic Books, New York.Google Scholar
Gomez Rueda, Hernando, and Sierra, Liwy Grazioso 1997 Nuevos elementos de la iconografía de Izapa: La Estela 90. In X Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, edited by Laporte, Juan Pedro and Escobedo, Héctor L., pp. 223–235. Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Instituto de Antropología e Historia, and the Asociación Tikal, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Graham, John A. 1989 Olmec Diffusion: A Sculptural View from Pacific Guatemala. In Regional Perspectives on the Olmec, edited by Sharer, Robert and Grove, David, pp. 227–246. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Greene, Merle, Rands, Robert L., and Graham, John A. 1972 Maya Sculpture from the Southern Lowlands, the Highlands, and Pacific Piedmont. Lederer, Street, and Zeus, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Guernsey, Julia 2003 Reassessing the Late Formative Pacific Slope: The Role of Sculpture. Mexicon 25:39–42.Google Scholar
Guernsey, Julia 2006 Ritual and Power in Stone: The Performance of Rulership in Mesoamerican Izapan Style Art. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Guernsey, Julia 2010 A Consideration of Formative Sculptural Themes and Forms from the Pacific Piedmont and Coast of Mesoamerica. In The Place of Stone Monuments: Context, Use, and Meaning in Mesoamerica's Formative Transition, edited by Guernsey, Julia, Clark, John, and Arroyo, Barbara, pp. 207–230. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Guernsey, Julia 2012 Sculpture and Social Dynamics in Formative Mesoamerica. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Guernsey, Julia 2016 Water, Maize, Salt, and Canoes: An Iconography of Economics at Late Preclassic Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 27:340–356.Google Scholar
Guernsey, Julia, and Love, Michael 2005 Late Formative Expressions of Authority on the Pacific Slope. In Lords of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship, edited by Fields, Virginia and Reents-Budet, Dorie, pp. 37–43. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, New York.Google Scholar
Guernsey, Julia, and Strauss, Stephanie M. 2015 Art, Urbanism, and the Late Formative Pacific Slope of Mesoamerica. Paper presented at the Early Mesoamerican Urbanism Conference, Casa Herrera, Antigua.Google Scholar
Helmke, Christophe, and Nielson, Jesper 2014 Ancient Toponyms Recorded at Teotihuacan, Mexico. Contributions in New World Archaeology 7:73–112.Google Scholar
Henderson, Lucia 2013 Bodies Politic, Bodies in Stone: Imagery of the Human and the Divine in the Sculpture of Late Formative Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Art and Art History, University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Holmes, William H. 1907 On a Nephrite Statuette from San Andres Tuxtla, Vera Cruz, Mexico. American Anthropologist 9:691–701.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen 2004 Writing in Early Mesoamerica. In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process, edited by Houston, Stephen, pp. 274–309. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen 2014 The Life Within: Classic Maya and the Matter of Permanence. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen, and Coe, Michael 2003 Has Isthmian Writing Been Deciphered? Mexicon 25:151–161Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, and Henderson, Lucia 2016 Time Tested: Re-thinking Chronology and Sculptural Traditions in Preclassic Southern Mesoamerica. Antiquity 90:456–471.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Ortiz, Raúl, Arroyo, Bárbara, and Robinson, Eugenia J. 2014 Chronological Revision of Preclassic Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala: Implications for Social Processes in the Southern Maya Area. Latin American Antiquity 25:377–432.Google Scholar
Jakobson, Roman 1960 Closing Statement: Linguistics and Poetics. In Style in Language, edited by Sebeok, Thomas A., pp. 350–377. Wiley Publishers, New York.Google Scholar
Josserand, Kathryn 2011 Languages of the Formative Period along the Pacific Coastal Plains of Southeastern Mesoamerica. In The Southern Maya in the Late Preclassic: The Rise and Fall of an Early Mesoamerican Civilization, edited by Love, Michael and Kaplan, Jonathan, pp. 141–174. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Justeson, John S. 1986 The Origin of Writing Systems: Formative Mesoamerica. World Archaeology 17:437–458.Google Scholar
Justeson, John S., and Mathews, Peter 1990 Evolutionary Trends in Mesoamerican Hieroglyphic Writing. Visible Language 24:88–132.Google Scholar
Justeson, John S., and Kaufman, Terrence 1993 A Decipherment of Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing. Science 259:1703–1711.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Terrence, and Justeson, John 2001 Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing and Texts. Texas Workshop Foundation, Austin.Google Scholar
Lange, Frederick W. (editor) 1993 Precolumbian Jade: New Geological and Cultural Interpretations. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Love, Michael 2007 Recent Research in the Southern Highlands and Pacific Coast of Mesoamerica. Journal of Archaeological Research 15:275–328.Google Scholar
Love, Michael, and Kaplan, Jonathan (editors) 2011 The Southern Maya in the Late Preclassic: The Rise and Fall of an Early Mesoamerican Civilization. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Lowe, Gareth W. 1977 The Mixe-Zoque as Competing Neighbors of the Early Lowland Maya. In The Origins of Maya Civilization, edited by Adams, Richard E. W., pp. 197–248. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Lowe, Gareth W., Lee, Thomas A. Jr., and Espinosa, Eduardo Martínez 1982 Izapa: An Introduction to the Ruins and Monuments. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 31. Brigham Young University Press, Provo.Google Scholar
Macri, Martha 2011 Late Formative Texts from Mexico and Guatemala with Reference to the Guatemala Highlands. In The Southern Maya in the Late Preclassic: The Rise and Fall of an Early Mesoamerican Civilization, edited by Love, Michael and Kaplan, Jonathan, pp. 175–202. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Marquina, Ignacio 1939 Atlas arqueológico de la República Mexicana. Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia, Publicación No. 41. Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Mendelsohn, Rebecca 2018 The Chronology of the Formative to Classic Period Transition at Izapa: A Reevaluation. Latin American Antiquity 29:239–259.Google Scholar
Mora-Marín, David 2001 Late Formative Inscription Documentation Project. Electronic document, http://www.famsi.org/reports/99049/99049MoraMarin01.pdf, accessed January 3, 2013.Google Scholar
Mora-Marín, David 2005 Kaminaljuyu Stela 10: Script Classification and Linguistic Affiliation. Ancient Mesoamerica 16:63–87.Google Scholar
Navarrete, Carlos 1984 Guia para el estudio de los monumentos esculpidos de Chinkultic, Chiapas. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Neff, Hector, Blomster, Jeffrey, Glascock, Michael D., Bishop, Ronald L., Blackman, M. James, Coe, Michael D., Cowgill, George L., Cyphers, Ann, Diehl, Richard A., Houston, Stephen, Joyce, Arthur A., Lipo, Carl P., and Winter, Marcus 2006 Smokescreens in the Provenance Investigation of Early Formative Mesoamerican Ceramics. Latin American Antiquity 17:104–118.Google Scholar
Norman, V. Garth 1973 Izapa Sculpture. Part I: Album. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 30. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Norman, V. Garth 1976 Izapa Sculpture. Part II: Text. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 30. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Parsons, Lee A. 1973 Iconographic Notes on a New Izapan Stela from Abaj Takalik, Guatemala. Atii del XL Congresso Internazionale degli Americanisti, Roma-Geneva 1:203–212.Google Scholar
Parsons, Lee A. 1986 The Origins of Maya Art: Monumental Stone Sculpture of Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala, and the Southern Pacific Coast. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Pasztory, Esther 1993 An Image is Worth a Thousand Words: Teotihuacan and the Meanings of Style in Classic Mesoamerica. In Latin American Horizons: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, edited by Rice, Don S., pp. 113–146. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Pérez de Lara, Jorge, and Justeson, John 2006 Photographic Documentation of Monuments with Epi-Olmec Script/Imagery. Electronic document, http://www.famsi.org/reports/05084/05084PerezdeLara01.pdf, accessed January 5, 2013.Google Scholar
Piquette, Kathryn, and Whitehouse, Ruth 2013 Introduction: Developing an Approach to Writing as Material Practice. In Writing as Material Practice: Substance, Surface and Medium, edited by Piquette, Kathryn and Whitehouse, Ruth, pp. 1–13. Ubiquity Press, London.Google Scholar
Pohl, Mary, Pope, Kevin, and von Nagy, Christopher 2002 Olmec Origins of Mesoamerican Writing. Science 298:1984–1987.Google Scholar
Postgate, Nicholas, Wang, Tao, and Wilkinson, Toby 1995 The Evidence for Early Writing: Utilitarian or Ceremonial? Antiquity 69:459–480.Google Scholar
Prater, Ariadne 1989 Kaminaljuyu and Izapan Style Art. In New Frontiers in the Archaeology of the Pacific Coast of Southern Mesoamerica, edited by Bove, Frederick and Heller, Lynette, pp. 125–133. Arizona State University Anthropological Research Papers, No. 39. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Quirarte, Jacinto 1973 Izapan-Style Art: A Study of Its Form and Meaning. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, No. 10. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Quirarte, Jacinto 1974 Terrestrial/Celestial Polymorphs as Narrative Frames in the Art of Izapa and Palenque. In Primera Mesa Redonda de Palenque, Part I, edited by Robertson, Merle Greene, pp. 129–135. Pre-Columbian Art Research, Pebble Beach.Google Scholar
Quirarte, Jacinto 1976 The Relationship of Izapan-Style Art to Olmec and Maya Art: A Review. In The Origins of Religious Art and Iconography in Formative Mesoamerica, edited by Nicholson, Henry B., pp. 75–86. UCLA Latin American Center Publications, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evenlyn 1995 The Oaxaca Barrio at Teotihuacan. Instituto de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de las Américas, Puebla.Google Scholar
Martínez, Rodríguez, Carmen, Maria del, Ceballos, Ponciano Ortíz, Coe, Michael, Diehl, Richard, Houston, Stephen, Taube, Karl, and Calderon, Alfredo Delgado 2006 The Oldest Writing in the New World. Science 313:1610–1614.Google Scholar
Rosenswig, Robert M., Culleton, Brendan, Kennett, Douglas J., Lieske, Rosemary, Mendelsohn, Rebecca, and Núñez-Cortés, Yahaira 2018 The Early Izapa Kingdom: Recent Excavations, New Dating and Middle Formative Ceramic Analyses. Ancient Mesoamerica 29:373–393.Google Scholar
Rosenswig, Robert, López-Torrijos, Ricardo, Antonelli, Caroline E., and Mendelsohn, Rebecca 2013 Lidar Mapping and Surface Survey of the Izapa State on the Tropical Piedmont of Chiapas, Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 40:1493–1507.Google Scholar
Saturno, William A., Stuart, David, and Beltrán, Boris 2006 Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala. Science 311:1281–1283.Google Scholar
Saussure, Ferdinand de 1983 [1916] Course in General Linguistics. Translated by Harris, Roy. Duckworth, London.Google Scholar
Schieber de Lavarreda, Christa and Corzo, Miguel Orrego 2010 Formative Olmec and Maya Monuments and Architecture at Takalik Abaj. In The Place of Stone Monuments: Context, Use, and Meaning in Mesoamerica's Formative Transition, edited by Guernsey, Julia, Clark, John E., and Arroyo, Barbara, pp. 177–205. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Seitz, R., Harlow, G.E., Sisson, V.B., and Taube, K.A. 2001 ‘Olmec Blue’ and Formative Jade Sources: New Discoveries in Guatemala. Antiquity 75:687–688.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert, and Traxler, Loa 2006 The Ancient Maya. 6th ed. Stanford University Press, Stanford.Google Scholar
Smith, Virginia 1984 Izapa Relief Carving: Form, Content, Rules for Design, and Role in Mesoamerican Art History and Archaeology. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, No. 27. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stirling, Matthew W. 1943 Stone Monuments of Southern Mexico. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 138. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Strauss, Stephanie M. 2013 Desde la matriz de Olman: The Birth of Writing in Formative Era Mesoamerica. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Strauss, Stephanie M. 2015 Izapa and the Discourse on Late Formative Hieroglyphic Systems. Paper presented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Stross, Brian, and Reilly, Kent 1991 Cielo y tierra: Del icono al glifo. Extensión 38:30–41.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 1995 A Study of Classic Mayan Inscriptions. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 2000 The Arrival of Strangers: Teotihuacan and Tollan in Classic Maya History. In Mesoamerica's Classic Heritage: From Teotihuacan to the Aztecs, edited by Carrasco, David, Jones, Lindsay, and Sessions, Scott, pp. 465–513. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 2015 The Early History of Maya Script and Visual Culture. Paper presented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo, and Luján, Leonardo López 2007 Dedicatory Burial/Offering Complexes at the Moon Pyramid, Teotihuacan. Ancient Mesoamerica 18:127–146.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl 2000 The Writing System of Ancient Teotihuacan. Ancient America, No. 1. Center for American Studies, Barnardsville.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl 2003 Tetitla and the Maya Presence at Teotihuacan. In The Maya and Teotihuacan: Reinterpreting Early Classic Maya Interaction, edited by Braswell, Geoffrey, pp. 273–314. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl 2011 Teotihuacan and the Development of Writing in Early Classic Central Mexico. In Their Way of Writing: Scripts, Signs, and Pictographies in Pre-Columbian America, edited by Boone, Elizabeth H. and Urton, Gary, pp. 77–109. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl, Saturno, William, Stuart, David, and Hurst, Heather 2010 The Murals of San Bartolo, El Petén, Guatemala, Part 2: The West Wall. Ancient America, No. 10. Boundary End Archaeology Research Center, Barnardsville.Google Scholar
Urcid Serrano, Javier 2001 Zapotec Hieroglyphic Writing. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, No. 34. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Whittaker, Gordon 2009 The Principles of Nahuatl Writing. Göttenger Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 16:47–81.Google Scholar
Wichmann, Søren 1995 The Relationship Among the Mixe-Zoquean Languages of Mexico. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Wichmann, Søren 2003 Contextualizing Proto-languages, Homelands, and Distant Genetic Relationships: Some Reflections on the Comparative Method from a Mesoamerican Perspective. In Examining the Farming/Language Dispersal Hypothesis, edited by Bellwood, Peter and Renfrew, Colin, pp. 321–329. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Winfield Capitaine, Fernando 1988 La Estela 1 de La Mojarra, Veracruz, Mexico. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing, No. 16. Center for Maya Research, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Zender, Marc 2008 One Hundred and Fifty Years of Nahuatl Decipherment. The PARI Journal 8:24–37.Google Scholar