Temas rituales en la cerámica « tipo códice » del estilo mixteca-puebla

Abstract

Ritual themes on « Codex-style » pottery of the Mixteca-Puebla tradition. This paper presents the results of a study of the iconography painted on « codex-style » pottery of the Mixteca-Puebla tradition, dating from the Late Postclassic period (A.D. 1250-1521), and found in several sites in the states of Puebla, Tlaxcala, Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico. This iconography is similar to that on the Borgia Group and Mixtec codices. It is suggested that the motifs painted on much of this ceramic formed a pictography referring to the ritual use of the vessels; there are groups of motifs depicted in one or several vessel(s) that formed a specific iconographical theme. The most frequent themes seem to refer to some of the main ritual activities in Mesoamerica. Four of them are commented in this paper: the complex of the Solar Band, of Prayer to the Deceased, of Offering to the Earth and of Smoke and Darkness.

Keywords

• « codex-style » pottery
• codex
• Borgia Group
• Mixtec codices
• Mixteca-Puebla tradition
• ritual