Abstract
This Master’s thesis analyzes two hundred and twenty-nine Formative period (1500 BC – 250 AD) ceramic figurines, whistles, and iconographic vessel appliqués from the lower Río Verde valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. The lower Río Verde region has recently proven important to understandings of social change in Oaxaca. A detailed analysis of a selection of the coastal figurines excavated over the last twenty years can contribute significantly to an understanding of cultural patterns both geographically and temporally in ancient Mesoamerica. Because the Formative period was a time of transition toward sedentism, agriculture, and hierarchical social inequality, its material culture is relevant to models of social transition. I spent a month during the summer of 2006 with the collections in Oaxaca, recording data on the artifacts. The goal of the project presented here is to seek a better understanding of the sociocultural context of these artifacts. I logged information on various attributes and measurements into a thirty-four variable spreadsheet. I also collected 1,286 photographs for later reference, and illustrated twenty-three of the artifacts. As a secondary aspect of this research, I collected fingerprint impressions from the figurines themselves, in the hopes of ascertaining whether men or women made the figurines.
My analysis of the artifacts, many of which have not been previously studied in depth, allows me to comment on the figurines as a microcosm of the construction of personhood and ascribed social roles. Focusing on Formative period artifacts serves both as a method of limiting the sample size and seeking an understanding of sociocultural factors present during the rise of complex society in this part of the world. In addition to personhood theory, I use concepts such as mimesis and public ritual performance as ways to conceptualize the role figurines played in their ancient social milieu. I argue that these iconographic artifacts were focal points for domestic and public dialogue about ascribed social roles, conduits for contact with the ancestors, and vessels to mimetically capture the power of people, animals, and spiritual beings. I propose ‘communal domesticity’ as a useful conceptual framework for Formative era sociality. I conclude this thesis with a hypothetical reconstruction of the figurines as they functioned within the Formative period social context of the ancient coastal peoples, who probably included Chatinos or proto-Zapotecan ethnic groups living in the Río Verde region.
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