MESOAMERICAN ART ARH 347L Unique #19845/LAS 327 Unique #39589 Spring 2019

Dr. Julia Guernsey (email: [email protected]) Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM or by appointment, DFA 2.514 Teaching Assistant: Kaila Schedeen ([email protected]) Office hours: Wednesdays 12-1pm in DFA 2.522 Class: Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30-11:00 ART 1.120

Course Description and Goals: This course surveys the art, architecture, and material culture of a number of the ancient civilizations of Precolumbian that flourished in what are now the modern countries of , Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. The course spans the time of the Olmec through that of the , or from the 2nd millennium BC through the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. The goal of this course is to provide students with a general knowledge of the history, ritual traditions, and belief systems of ancient Mesoamericans, as expressed through sculpture, painting, architecture, archaeological remains, and ancient writing systems.

This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from tests and assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present.

Suggested readings: There is no required textbook for this class. Instead, the schedule below contains a list of suggested readings that have been posted to Canvas or provided external links. These readings are designed to supplement the information presented in class lectures. The suggested readings are not mandatory, but may provide useful review information and images; they are especially recommended if you miss a lecture.

Class map/website: A map and website designed for review and study purposes exists for this class at: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?hl=en&hl=en&authuser=0&authuser=0&mid=1mTJHxe5_PhnA1Y6Bct AvtbsUT7U&ll=17.652939822266298%2C-92.84067449550781&z=6 It shows the location of major sites discussed in class, a summary of main ideas, and photos of pertinent materials.

Assessment: Assessment of a student’s progress within this course will be accomplished through two exams, two papers/reading responses, and attendance. Exams: There will be two exams, each worth 25% of your final grade. The exams will consist of fill-in- the-blank and short answer questions, image identifications and comparisons, and essays. Exams will require the student to 1) recognize and demonstrate an understanding of the various objects of art covered in class through discussion, comparison, and contrast and 2) go beyond memorization and synthesize ideas presented in class and drawn from assigned readings. There will be no makeup exams; if a student misses an exam, a zero will be given unless a valid medical excuse is provided. Short research paper: This short research paper is worth 25% of your final grade. It should be at least 3 pages in length, NOT including a bibliography (which should be on a separate, additional page). This paper is designed to allow students to apply knowledge used in class to an independent research project, expose them to the research process and scholarly sources, provide them with the opportunity to visit and think about an object displayed on this campus, and situate that object in the cultural history of Mesoamerica. Reading response: This assignment will be worth 15% of your final grade. It involves a 1-2 page reading response that discusses the theme of sacrifice in ancient Mesoamerica and involves cross- cultural comparison and consideration. The assignment is designed to allow students to develop critical thinking skills, relate ideas presented in class with those drawn from an assigned reading, and address a complex theme that resonates across many cultures. Attendance and Participation: Attendance will be taken on a daily basis, and since exam material will be drawn primarily from class lectures, discussions, and debates, it is very important to attend all 1 lectures if you intend to fare well in this class. Attendance and participation will count for 10% of your final grade. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late to class, you will receive ½ of an absence. You are allowed 3 unexcused absences. After 3 absences, your overall class grade will go down by one grade per absence. For instance, if you accumulate 5 absences in class, and your final grade is an A-, your grade will be lowered to a B; if you accumulate 7 absences, your grade would be a C+; etc. Grading: Plus/minus grades will be used for determining the final grade in this course.

Accommodations for religious holidays: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/

Schedule of lectures, assigned readings, exams, and assignments:

January 22: Introduction: what is Mesoamerica? Suggested reading: Coe and Koontz, Introduction, pp. 11-19

January 24: EARLY PRECLASSIC: 1500-900 BC The appearance of the Olmec at the site of San Lorenzo Suggested reading: Pool, Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica, pp. 92-127

January 29: An Olmec Worldview: Jade, celts, maize, and cosmograms Suggested readings: (1) Taube, Olmec Art at , pp. 126-135; (2) Broad, “In Guatemala, A Rhode Island-sized Jade Load;” (3) Pool, Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica, pp. 170-175

January 31: MIDDLE PRECLASSIC: 900-300 BC The Olmec site of La Venta: construction of sacred space; underpinnings for divine kingship Suggested readings: (1) Pool, Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica, pp. 156-170; (2) Freidel, Schele, and Parker, Maya Cosmos, pp. 132-137

February 5: The Middle Preclassic sites of Chalcatzingo and Oxtotitlán Suggested reading: Grove, “Faces of the Earth at Chalcatzingo, Mexico: Serpents, Caves, and Mountains in Middle Formative Period Iconography, in Olmec Art and Archaeology in Mesoamerica

February 7: The Middle Preclassic site of La Blanca, Guatemala Suggested readings: (1) Love and Guernsey, “Monument 3 from La Blanca, Guatemala: A Middle Preclassic earthen sculpture and its ritual associations;” (2) Report on 2005 excavations at La Blanca by Love and Guernsey at http://www.famsi.org/reports/05051/index.html Discuss Research Paper

February 12: LATE PRECLASSIC: 300 BC - 250 AD The organization of sacred space at Izapa Suggested reading: Guernsey, “Sacred Geography at Izapa and the Performance of Rulership.”

February 14: Class cancelled.

February 19: Izapa, continued

2 February 21: West Mexico Suggested readings: (1) Weigand and Beekman, “The Teuchitlan Tradition Rise of a Statelike Society”; (2) Townsend, “Before Gods, Before Kings”

February 26: The Valley of Oaxaca and the Zapotecs: Monte Albán and Dainzú Suggested readings: (1) Flannery and Marcus, The Cloud People, pp. 87-90; (2) Orr, “Procession Rituals and Shrine Sites: The Politics of Sacred Space in the Late Formative Valley of Oaxaca.”

February 28: Cacao & Chocolate in Mesoamerica Suggest reading: Cameron L. McNeil, “Introduction: The Biology, Antiquity, and Modern Uses of the Chocolate Tree (Theobroma cacao L.)”

March 5: Review for Exam One

March 7: EXAM ONE

March 12: THE CLASSIC PERIOD 250-900 AD: THE VALLEY OF MEXICO &: Teotihuacan architecture and sacred space Suggested reading: Millon, “The Place Where Time Began: An Archaeologist’s Interpretation of What Happened in Teotihuacan History”

March 14: Teotihuacan: the Temple of the Feathered Serpent and the iconography of warfare Suggested reading: Sugiyama “Rulership, Warfare, and Human Sacrifice at the Ciudadela” Research Papers Due

March 19 and 21: Spring Break

March 26: Teotihuacan and its relationship to the Zapotec region Suggested readings: (1) Spence “Tlailotlacan, a Zapotec Enclave in Teotihuacan”; (2) Flannery and Marcus, The Cloud People, pp. 175-181

March 28: The Valley of Oaxaca in the Classic and Post-Classic periods: Monte Albán, Mitla and Cerro de la Campana Suggested readings: (1) Flannery and Marcus, The Cloud People, pp.186, 191-197; (2) Pohl, “The Lintel Paintings of Mitla and the Function of the Mitla Palaces;” (3) Miller and Dávalos The Painted Tombs of Oaxaca, Mexico: Living with the Dead, pp. 84-135, 164-208

April 2: The Mesoamerican ballgame Suggested readings: (1) Schele and Miller, Blood of Kings: 241-264; (2) Metropolitan Museum entry at https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mball/hd_mball.htm; (3) Miller, “The ballgame”

April 4: Class cancelled

April 9: TERMINAL CLASSIC PERIOD 800-900 AD Chichén Itzá Suggested reading: Schele and Mathews, Code of Kings: 197-255

April 11: EPI-CLASSIC PERIOD: 900-1200 AD Tula and Cacaxtla Suggested readings: (1) Cynthia Kristan-Graham, “The Architecture of the Tula Body Politic”; (2) Brittenham, The Murals of Cacaxtla: the Power of Painting in Ancient Central Mexico, pp. 145-215.

April 16: POSTCLASSIC PERIOD: 1200-1521 AD The Aztecs: and the Templo Mayor 3 Suggested readings: (1) Matos Moctezuma, “Aztec Myth and the Great Temple”; (2) Manuel Aguilar, excerpt on The Precinct of Tenochtitlan from Aztec Architecture, http://www.famsi.org/research/aguilar/Aztec_Architecture.pdf (click on “The Precinct of Tenochtitlan” in the table of contents) Sacrifice Assignment discussed and handed out

April 18: The and Aztec sculpture Suggested reading: Felipe Solís Olguín, “Art at the time of the Aztecs”

April 23: The Aztecs, continued, and sacrifice discussion day SACRIFICE ASSIGNMENT DUE

April 25: The Aztecs: Malinalco and gardens of Texcotzingo Suggested readings: (1) Manuel Aguilar, excerpt on Malinalco from Aztec Architecture, http://www.famsi.org/research/aguilar/Aztec_Architecture.pdf (click on “Malinalco” at the end of the table of contents); (2) Susan Toby Evans, “The Garden of the Aztec Philosopher-King”

April 30: The conquest Suggested reading: Townsend, The Aztecs, pp. 35-42

May 2: The conquest and the colonial period

May 7: Displaying the indigenous past; Course evaluations

May 9: EXAM TWO

Bibliography for Recommended Readings and Research Papers: Aguilar, Manuel. 2007. Aztec Architecture. Report submitted to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. http://www.famsi.org/research/aguilar/index.html Berrin, Kathleen and Virginia M. Fields. 2010. Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art. F 1219.8 O56 O49 2010 Blanton, Richard E., Gary M Feinman, Stephen A. Kowalexki, and Linda M. Nichaols. 1999. Ancient Oaxaca. : Cambridge University Press. F 1219.1 O11 A53 1999 Brittenham, Claudia. 2015. The Murals of Cacaxtla: the Power of Painting in Ancient Central Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press. F 1435.1 C32 B75 2015 Broad, William J. 2002. “In Guatemala, A Rhode Island-sized Jade Load.” New York Times, 22 May. Brumfiel, Elizabeth M. and Gary M. Feinman. 2008. The Aztec World. New York: Abrams. F 1219.73 A98 2008 Butterwick, Kristi. 2004. Heritage of Power: Ancient Sculpture from West Mexico: the Andrall E. Pearson Family Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. F 1219.3 S38 B88 2004 Coe, Michael D. and Rex Koontz. Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs, 7th edition. London: Thames and Hudson. F 1219.7 C63 2013 Flannery, Kent V. and Joyce Marcus. 1983. The Cloud People: Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations. New York: Academic Press. F1219.8 Z37 C56 1983 Freidel, David, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker. 1993. Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman’s Path. New York: William Morrow. F1435.3 R3 F74 1993 Grove, David. 2000. “Faces of the Earth at Chalcatzingo, Mexico: Serpents, Caves, and Mountains in Middle Formative Period Iconography.” In Olmec Art and Archaeology in Mesoamerica, eds. John E. Clark and Mary E. Pye, pp. 277-295. New Haven: Press. Guernsey, Julia. 2001. Guernsey, “Sacred Geography at Izapa and the Performance of Rulership,” in Landscape and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica, eds. Rex Koontz, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, and Annabeth Headrick, pp. 81-111. Boulder: Westview Press. _____. 2006. Ritual and Power in Stone: The Performance of Rulership in Mesoamerican Izapan Style Art. Austin: University of Texas Press. F 1435.1 I93 G84 2006 4 Guernsey, John E. Clark, and Barbara Arroyo, editors. The Place of Stone Monuments: Context, Use, and Meaning in Mesoamerica’s Preclassic Transition. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks. F 1219 P685 2010 Kristan-Graham, Cynthia. 1999. “The Architecture of the Tula Body Politic” in Mesoamerican Architecture as a Cultural Symbol, ed. Jeff Kowalski, pp. 162-175. New York and Oxford: . F 1219.3 A6 M48 1999 Love, Michael, and Julia Guernsey, “Monument 3 from La Blanca, Guatemala: A Middle Preclassic earthen sculpture and its ritual associations,” Antiquity 81 (2007): 920-932. Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo. 1988. “Aztec Myth and the Great Temple.” In The Great Temple of the Aztecs: Treasures of Tenochtitlan, pp. 123-145. London: Thames and Hudson. McEwan, Colin and Leonardo López Luján. 2009. Moctezuma: Aztec Ruler. London: The British Museum. F 1219.73 M63 2009 McNeil, Cameron L. “Introduction: The Biology, Antiquity, and Modern Uses of the Chocolate Tree (Theobroma cacao L.).” In Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao, ed. Cameron L. McNeil, pp. 1- 28. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. Miller, Arthur G., and Felipe Dávalos. The painted tombs of Oaxaca, Mexico: living with the dead. Cambridge University Press, 1995. F 1219.8 Z37 M55 1995 Miller, Mary Ellen. 1989. “The Ballgame.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 48 (2): 22-31. Miller, Mary and Simon Martin. 2004. Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. F 1435 M55 2004 Millon, René. 1993. “The Place Where Time Began: An Archaeologist’s Interpretation of What Happened in Teotihuacan History.” In Teotihuacan: Art from the City of the Gods, eds. Kathleen Berrin and Esther Pasztory, pp. 16-43. New York: Thames and Hudson. Orr, Heather. 2001. “Procession Rituals and Shrine Sites: The Politics of Sacred Space in the Late Formative Valley of Oaxaca” in Landscape and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica, eds. Rex Koontz, Kathryn Reese- Taylor, and Annabeth Headrick, pp. 55-79. Boulder: Westview Press. Pasztory, Esther. 1998. Aztec Art. Norman: Oklahoma Press. –Q- F 1219.76 A78 P37 1983 Pohl, John. “The Lintel Paintings of Mitla and the Function of the Mitla Palaces,” in Mesoamerican Architecture as a Cultural Symbol, ed. Jeff Kowalski, pp. 176-197. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. F 1219.3 A6 M48 1999 Pool, Christopher. 2007. Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Princeton University Art Museum. The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership. 1995. Exhibition catalogue. Princeton University. F 1219.8 O56 O55 1995 Schele, Linda and Peter Mathews. 1998. The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. New York: Scribner. F1435.3 A6 S34 1998 Schele, Linda and Mary Ellen Miller. 1986. The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Fort Worth: Kimbell Art Museum. F1435.3 A7 S34 1986B Solís Olguín, Felipe. 2002. “Art at the time of the Aztecs.” In Aztecs, eds. Eduardo Matos Moctezuma and Felipe Solís Olguín, pp. 56-63. New York: Harry Abrams. Spence, Michael. 1992. “Tlailotlacan, a Zapotec Enclave in Teotihuacan.” In Art, Ideology, and the City of Teotihuacan, ed. Janet Catherine Berlo, pp. 59-88. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks. F 1219.1 t27 A73 1992 Sugiyama, Saburo. 1992. “Rulership, Warfare, and Human Sacrifice at the Ciudadela.” In Art, Ideology, and the City of Teotihuacan, ed. Janet Catherine Berlo, pp. 205-230. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks. F 1219.1 t27 A73 1992 Taube, Karl A. 2004. Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks. F 1219.8 O56 T38 2004 Toby Evans, Susan. 2010. “The Garden of the Aztec Philosopher-King.” In Gardening: Philosophy for Everyone, ed. Dan O’Brien, pp. 207-219. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell. Townsend, Richard F. 1998. “Before Gods, Before Kings.” In Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, ed. Richard Townsend, pp. 107-135. London and Chicago: Thames and Hudson and the Art Institute of Chicago. _____. 1992. The Aztecs. London: Thames and Hudson. F 1219.73 T68 1992

5 _____. 1998. Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past. London and Chicago: Thames and Hudson and the Art Institute of Chicago. F 1219 A7 A53 1998 Weigand, Phil C. and Christopher S. Beekman. 1998. “The Teuchitlan Tradition Rise of a Statelike Society.” In Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, ed. Richard Townsend, pp. 35-51. London and Chicago: Thames and Hudson and the Art Institute of Chicago. F 1219 A7 A53 1998 Whittington, E. Michael, editor. 2001. The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame. New York: Thames and Hudson. F1219.3 G3 S66 2001

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