Zapotec Writing - Famsi

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198-202, and 2001: 247-250). Until now, the values of the accompanying coefficient never exceed 13, with the attested numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and possibly 13 (when the coefficient is omitted). Glyph I frequently appear in texts that include at least one annual date, and if one assumes that its quadripartite form indexed multiplying the accompanying coefficient by 4, it is possible that the sign may anchor an event in the quadripartite division of the Calendar Round (four sets of thirteen years). Yet, knowing that in the first page of screenfold Tezcatlipoca a large glyph I encompasses the 20 days of the calendar, one can postulate alternatively that the reckonings recorded by Zapotec glyph I are somehow related to the thirteen day count of the Sacred Calendar. While its numerical working remains elusive, and as will become evident in later sections of this essay, the preeminent funerary contexts of most of the known examples of glyph I appear to be related to the commemoration of death events or death anniversaries, as well as with the presentation of offerings to the ancestors. If so, the inscription in the newly found cornerstone may allude to the presentation of a sacrifice (hand with knife and leaf) to commemorate the death or a related anniversary of the ruler’s father, whose identity remains unknown. THE JAGUAR LORDS AND THE PRIMORDIAL COVENANT Since the remote times when the Mesoamerican calendar was invented, the jaguar constituted a meaningful ontological unit in the mantic arts. As has become already evident (see Figure 1.20), the 14 th day name of the ritual calendar alludes to the jaguar, and in Oaxaca—as in other parts of Mesoamerica—its graphic representation included the iconic rendering of the feline either full bodied (both frontal and profile views), or by means of synecdoche, representing only the head (both frontal and profile views) or the paw with claws (Figure 2.8). The role that the jaguar played in divination must have constituted a complex interplay of significations that not only contributed in prognostications aimed at coping with diverse life crises, from birth, marriage, death, disease, interpersonal conflicts, and warfare, but also in the formation of personal identities, including the adoption of the name according to the day in 26
which people where borne or mantically marked, the identification of an animal companion (tona), and in certain cases, of an alter ego (nagual) attainable through corporeal transformation. Several lines of evidence strongly suggest that in ancient times, the representation of rulers as jaguars did not constitute exclusively a symbol of aristocracy, but that it signaled as well a special office, one entailing the perceived ability of rulers to acquire an alter ego (Urcid 1993: 152). In several parts of Mesoamerica to this day, the jaguar is considered a “strong” and “powerful” nagual (Wonderly 1946). Such a virtue was seemingly necessary to cope with the responsibilities that high political offices entailed. Thus, in order to secure the well being of the community, ensure agricultural production, and to maintain social control, rulers had to procure the necessary goods, including human offerings, to dedicate them in the ritual reiterations of a primordial pact with the divine. In several parts of Oaxaca, Guerrero, and the Central Highlands, the representation of jaguar-rulers devouring hearts, human beings, or with residue of blood dripping from the jaws or the claws was used as a visual metaphor to refer to the paramount office of supreme sacrificer and to human immolation (Figure 2.9). This metaphor may explain why the Zapotec name of the fourteenth day (lache) documented by fray Juan de Córdova seemingly translates as “Heart” and not as “Jaguar”. Part III- WRITING IN ELITE DOMESTIC CONTEXTS: MEMORY AND THE CONTINUITY OF CORPORATE GROUPS Chàba, tija – Celebration sponsored by the son to commemorate his parents, their accomplishments, and deeds (Córdova 1987a: 196). A large portion of the known Zapotec inscriptions occurs in mortuary features associated with elite domestic contexts. The walls of masonry tombs built under the houses where painted with elaborate narratives, sometimes complementing them with information carved on jambs, lintels, facades, and/or slabs that sealed the entrances to the crypts. Ever since the scientific investigation of Zapotec tombs began, the paradigms that have guided the interpretation of tomb narratives, particularly those rendered in murals, have changed. One interpretative position assumed that the painted themes had to do with the representation of anthropomorphic deities 27
Page 2 and 3: Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 3 Pa
Page 4 and 5: on the carved monoliths that were f
Page 6 and 7: 600 BCE to about 200 ACE, and found
Page 8 and 9: and the surviving screenfolds from
Page 10 and 11: million people. 5 The assessment of
Page 12 and 13: comparative approach. While in “Z
Page 14 and 15: logographic base certain features t
Page 16 and 17: destiny was mantically determined,
Page 18 and 19: Zapotec Sierra, the coefficient wit
Page 20 and 21: odily transformation by certain ind
Page 22 and 23: Among them was a ruler named 5 Jagu
Page 24 and 25: since the entire Platform was most
Page 28 and 29: (Caso 1938, 1965a); another positio
Page 30 and 31: The most common position of the bur
Page 32 and 33: may not have been autochthonous to
Page 34 and 35: order to give an idea as to the typ
Page 36 and 37: does not account for the known mort
Page 38 and 39: Regarding the antimeric pairs from
Page 40 and 41: the entrance (Figure 3.16). 35 With
Page 42 and 43: graves (Winter et al. 1995: 20, 50-
Page 44 and 45: ancestors of the paramount social g
Page 46 and 47: initial interpretative framework. T
Page 48 and 49: associative relations. For instance
Page 50 and 51: unexplored Patio F. The exploration
Page 52 and 53: thus provide at least a relative te
Page 54 and 55: esplendent like precious stones, an
Page 56 and 57: and thus, as in the case of the api
Page 58 and 59: ilateral symmetry of the compositio
Page 60 and 61: semi-circles in the representations
Page 62 and 63: garments--appearing with minor vari
Page 64 and 65: tomb under the east room (no. 103),
Page 66 and 67: northwest basin), and the “rain t
Page 68 and 69: of the internal vestibule actually
Page 70 and 71: indicates that they pertained to at
Page 72 and 73: denotes the reckoning of a Calendar
Page 74 and 75: continue with the one on the East s
Page 76 and 77:
waistband tied by the circular plat
Page 78 and 79:
1. 5E → 6E → 1E (0 → 40 → 0
Page 80 and 81:
As to the two painted texts in the
Page 82 and 83:
also runs from the center of the nu
Page 84 and 85:
stain of red paint. The paintings o
Page 86 and 87:
educe the dimensions of the female
Page 88 and 89:
the flayed mask with traces of yell
Page 90 and 91:
In his description of the range of
Page 92 and 93:
eferred to as the “Teotihuacan ye
Page 94 and 95:
decorated with several “Leaf” g
Page 96 and 97:
with sandals, but the laces in the
Page 98 and 99:
Cowgill 1991: 80; Sugiyama 1989: 90
Page 100 and 101:
addition, the year bearers associat
Page 102 and 103:
eing “voiced” by 12 Monkey. The
Page 104 and 105:
depiction of the legs or a foot tha
Page 106 and 107:
commemorating a death anniversary o
Page 108 and 109:
from Monte Albán, namely that in w
Page 110 and 111:
and honored. As in the instances of
Page 112 and 113:
the courtyard and the main chamber.
Page 114 and 115:
to “substitute” the focal point
Page 116 and 117:
that commissioned them. Ever since
Page 118 and 119:
produce several folds. Barefooted a
Page 120 and 121:
Kelemen (1943: 135-136) did a brief
Page 122 and 123:
corner of the bottom register. Afte
Page 124 and 125:
(hence the growing plant as a topon
Page 126 and 127:
The other epigraphic modification i
Page 128 and 129:
The spiral glyphs at either side of
Page 130 and 131:
The position of the text on the rig
Page 132 and 133:
highest-ranking corporate group at
Page 134 and 135:
Apasco or Santiago Suchilquitongo (
Page 136 and 137:
epresentation of a stripe that ends
Page 138 and 139:
graphic elements. The long and undu
Page 140 and 141:
top. Nevertheless, occasionally, wh
Page 142 and 143:
It may be noted that in the graphic
Page 144 and 145:
The third example in Figure 7.14, a
Page 146 and 147:
ensemble. Today, some of its consti
Page 148 and 149:
exegesis of other known genealogica
Page 150 and 151:
2000). The more nuance hierarchical
Page 152 and 153:
It is also evident that genealogica
Page 154 and 155:
the enactment of human sacrifice (t
Page 156 and 157:
ancient worldview, especially regar
Page 158 and 159:
Bibliography Acosta, Jorge R. 1959
Page 160 and 161:
Berrin, Kathleen (editor) 1988 Feat
Page 162 and 163:
1965a Sculpture and Mural Painting
Page 164 and 165:
Fernández de Miranda, María Teres
Page 166 and 167:
166 Hallowell, Irving, A. 1960 Ojib
Page 168 and 169:
168 Kaplan, Lucille, N. 1956 Tonal
Page 170 and 171:
Marcus, Joyce 1976 The Iconography
Page 172 and 173:
172 Martínez López, Cira, Marcus
Page 174 and 175:
174 Oudijk, Michel 2000 Historiogra
Page 176 and 177:
176 Saville, H. Marshall 1904 Funer
Page 178 and 179:
178 Stuart, David n.d. Ruler Names
Page 180 and 181:
1999b La Lápida Grabada de Noriega
Page 182 and 183:
182 Whalen, Michael 1981 Excavation
Page 184 and 185:
List of Figures Figure 1.1- Map of
Page 186 and 187:
Figure 3.1- [A] Cemetery near Santo
Page 188 and 189:
Figure 4.10- The iconic origin of s
Page 190 and 191:
Figure 5.23- Personal names in the
Page 192 and 193:
Figure 5.51- Glyphic repetitions in
Page 194 and 195:
Figure 7.16- Tableau of ceramic eff
Page 196 and 197:
Table 5.10- Minimum span between th
Page 198 and 199:
New Name Meaning Previous Name(s) T
Page 200 and 201:
Table 3.1- Skeletal Inventory from
Page 202 and 203:
Table 4.2- Inventory of objects ass
Page 204 and 205:
Without number Effigy vessel of man
Page 206 and 207:
5E → 6E → 1E 5E → 1E → 6E 1
Page 208 and 209:
Table 5.5- Data on handstones from
Page 210 and 211:
2 Piya Annual date (right lateral t
Page 212 and 213:
4 Xoo Presumed earliest date in the
Page 214 and 215:
Caso Table 6.1- Different readings
Page 216 and 217:
llama Quihuizo [4 Jaguar], que es p
Page 218:
echaba en el suelo que saltase y de
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