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UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara the Materiality of Aztec UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara The Materiality of Aztec Agricultural Deities: From Tenochtitlan to the Provinces A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Art History by Elizabeth Johnstone Aguilera Committee in charge: Professor Jeanette Favrot Peterson, Chair Professor Ann Jensen Adams Professor Alicia Boswell September 2020 The dissertation of Elizabeth Johnstone Aguilera is approved. _____________________________________________ Ann Jensen Adams ______________________________________________ Alicia Boswell ______________________________________________ Jeanette Favrot Peterson, Committee Chair September 2020 The Materiality of Aztec Agricultural Deities: From Tenochtitlan to the Provinces Copyright © 2020 by Elizabeth Johnstone Aguilera iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout the research for and writing of this dissertation I have received a great deal of support and assistance. I would first like to thank my advisor and chair of my dissertation committee, Dr. Jeanette Favrot Peterson, who guided me with kindness, encouragement, and patience. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Ann Jensen Adams and Dr. Alicia Boswell, for their astute insights and thoughtful critiques during various phases of my writing. I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for those who mentored me long after I was their student. Dr. Carolyn Dean fostered my passion for ancient Latin American art history and inspired me to pursue interdisciplinary perspectives. Dr. Emily Umberger was constantly encouraging, offering positivity and humor as well as sage advice and helpful criticism. Dr. Michael E. Smith generously allowed me to access to data and images from his excavations and research at Calixtlahuaca. Dr. Cecelia F. Klein inspired me, challenged me, and championed my voice. I would not have been able to complete this research without assistance from the following people. I had access to Aztec collections at the National Museum of Anthropology with permission from former Director Dr. Diana Magaloni Kerpel. The former head of the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Julie Jones, generously allowed me to do research there. The Senior Departmental Technician at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, iv Robert Sorenson, kindly pulled sculptures from their displays so I could thoroughly examine them privately. I appreciated the solicitous help of Gerard Van Bussel, Curator of the North and Central America Collection at the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna. In addition, I would like to thank my parents for their love and the opportunities they provided me. I thank my friends who were so encouraging and gave me confidence when I needed it most, with special thanks to Allison Weihrauch, Dr. Michelle Cepello, Dr. Pamela Corey, Dr. Jacqueline Chao. Finally, I have tremendous gratitude for Ron Call for lovingly being by my side during this academic journey. v VITA OF ELIZABETH JOHNSTONE AGUILERA September 2020 EDUCATION University of California, Santa Barbara Doctor of Philosophy in History of Art and Architecture, expected September 2020 Arizona State University Master of Arts in Art History, 2007 University of California, Santa Cruz Bachelor of Arts in History of Art and Visual Culture, 2004 PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT 2015-2016: Lecturer, CSU Long Beach, Art History Winter 2015: Lecturer, UC Santa Cruz, History of Art and Visual Culture Fall 2014: Lecturer, CSU Long Beach, Art History Spring 2014: Lecturer, UC Santa Cruz, History of Art and Visual Culture Spring 2013: Lecturer, UC Santa Cruz, History of Art and Visual Culture Fall 2012: Lecturer, CSU Long Beach, Art History Summer 2011: Teaching Associate, UCSB, Art History 2008-2010: UC Santa Barbara, Art History Teaching Assistant 2006-2007: Arizona State University, Art History Teaching Assistant Summer 2006: Laboratory Technician, Arizona State University Archaeological Chemistry Laboratory at the Center for Bioarchaeological Research 2005-2006: Arizona State University Visual Resources Collection Research Assistant PUBLICATIONS “Coyolxauhqui’s Serpents: Political Metaphors in Aztec Art.” In Birds and Beasts of Ancient Mesoamerica: Animal Symbolism in the Postclassic Period, edited by Susan vi Milbrath and Elizabeth Baquedano. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2020 (forthcoming). (Coauthored with Emily Umberger). “Malintzin as a Visual Metaphor in the Lienzo de Tlaxcala.” In Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas, Volume VII, 2014. “Mesoamerican Religion.” In The Encyclopedia of Global Religions, edited by Mark Juergensmeyer and Wade Clark Roof. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication, 2012. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Pre-Columbian Latin America, Aztec visual culture vii ABSTRACT The Materiality of Aztec Agricultural Deities: From Tenochtitlan to the Provinces by Elizabeth Johnstone Aguilera This study interrogates the ritual function of Aztec agricultural deities across various media to discover how material objects were perceived as animate and sacred. In addition, it addresses the following themes as they relate to the objects themselves: the instantiation of sacred essence in ritual performance, consumption as metaphor for sacrifice, and the reach of imperial power in provincial regions or the relationship of center and periphery. To do so, I examine a corpus of Aztec sculptures of female agricultural deities, made out of stone and paper, dough, and polychrome ceramic primarily, from provincial sites of central Mesoamerica (ca. 1325-1521). In both the capital of Tenochtitlan and the provinces, public rituals involving female agricultural deities solidified the interconnectedness between the material and spiritual realms; however, their prevalence in the provinces likely emphasizes their association with the agrarian economy. Whereas previous studies of Aztec ritual have privileged textual and pictorial accounts, I concentrate my analysis on extant concrete evidence viii (from museum collections and archaeological sites) and its relationship to Aztec ritual practices outside of Tenochtitlan. This study contributes to a broader understanding of Aztec ritual and sacrality, particularly as it relates to the nature of sacred imagery within the ceremonial life of provincial peoples. In this dissertation, I move beyond the simplistic categorization of Aztec female agricultural deities identifiable by diagnostic traits, to understand how they functioned in a ritual context. I focus on their materiality as it relates to an animate Mesoamerican universe in order to understand the interconnectedness of the physical environment and ritual activity. By examining the complex histories of objects related to ritual activity, I hope to further our understanding of the engagement of Aztec social communities with the material essence of sacred objects and, more broadly, explore the religious and political relationship between Aztec provinces and the state. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION I: Introduction to Catalog and Sources Chapter 1: The Inventory……………………………………………...………………1 The Aztecs and Their Worldview……………………………………...….5 Visual Analysis of Aztec Maize Deities…………………………………14 Calixtlahuaca and Aztec Imperial Structure……………………………..23 Chapter 2: The Sources………………………………………………………………35 A Historiographic Survey of Aztec Cultural Studies…………………….35 Methodology………………………………………………….………….41 Organization of the Dissertation…………………………………………48 SECTION II: Extant Materials—Ceramic and Stone Chapter 3: Ceramics: Imperial and Local……………………………………………54 Aztec Imperial Polychrome Ceramics…………………………………...57 Mesoamerican Figurines…………………………………………..……..67 Aztec Provincial Ceramics…………………………………….…………73 Chapter 4: Stone: Political and Religious Propaganda……………………...……….82 Translating Aztec Concepts of the Sacred……………………………….84 Aztec Imperial Stone Sculpture……………………………………...…..97 Provincial Stone Sculpture…………………………………...…………107 SECTION III: Ephemeral Materials: Paper and Tzoalli Dough Chapter 5: Paper: Performing Divinity……………………………………..………112 x Performed Teotl…………………………………………………...……113 Paper as a Sacred Material………………………………………..….…131 Chapter 6: Tzoalli Dough: Consuming Sacred Essence………………….……..….141 Food and Sacrifice in the Aztec Creation Myth……………….….……152 Aztec Sacrifice……………………………………………….…………156 Dough as Sacrifice……………………………………………...………167 Chapter 7: Conclusions……………………………………………………………..175 Bibliography………………………………………………………………..………184 Figures List………………………………………………………………………....207 Figures………………………………………………………………………………213 Appendix: Known Aztec Ceremonies…………………………………………..….262 Catalog of Known Aztec Agricultural Deities in Museum Collections……………263 Introduction……………………………………………………………..263 Catalog Bibliography……………………………………...……………265 Catalog………………………………………………………………….266 xi SECTION I: Maize Deities in an Aztec World View Chapter 1: The Inventory Itlatol Temictli Auh tocnihuane, tla xoconcaquican yn itlatol temicatli, ayahue, xoxopantla technemitia, in teocuitlaxilotl, techonythuitia tlauhquecholelotl, techoncozcatia. In ticmati ye, ohuaya ye, ontlaneltoca toyiollo, tocnihua! Ohuaya, ohuaya. The Dream of a Word And, O friends, hear the dream of a word: Each spring gives us life, the golden ear of corn refreshes us, the tender ear of corn becomes a necklace for us. We know that the hearts of our friends are true! Cantares mexicanos (Nahuatl Songs), sixteenth century1 Beyond serving as a basic subsistence crop in Mesoamerica, corn or maize sustained social intercourse, the very essence
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