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Interpreting Tepantitla Patio 2 Mural (Teotihuacan, Mexico)

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Interpreting Tepantitla Patio 2 Mural (Teotihuacan, Mexico) INTERPRETING TEPANTITLA PATIO 2 MURAL (TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO) AS AN ANCESTRAL FIGURE ____________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Chico ____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts In Art History ____________ by © Atalie Tate Halpin Fall 2018 INTERPRETING TEPANTITLA PATIO 2 MURAL (TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO) AS AN ANCESTRAL FIGURE A Thesis by Atalie Tate Halpin APPROVED BY THE INTERIM DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES: ______________________________ Sharon Barrios, PhD. APPROVED THE GRADUATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: ______________________________ ______________________________ Asa S. Mittman, PhD., Chair Matthew G. Looper, PhD. Graduate Coordinator ______________________________ Rachel Middleman, PhD. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………….. iv CHAPTER PAGE I. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………… 1 II. Tepantitla Patio 2 Mural: Context and Description .......................................................... 4 III. Previous Interpretations: Literature Review …………………………………………… 14 A. “Tlaloc”……………………………………………………………………………... 14 B. “Great Goddess” …………………………………………………………………… 15 C. “Spider Woman” …………………………………………………………………… 18 D. “Water Goddess” and Other Interpretations ……………………………………….. 19 IV. Methods ………………………………………………………………………………... 24 A. Iconography ………………………………………………………………………... 24 B. Cross-cultural and Trans-historical Comparisons …………………………………. 25 V. Iconographic Analysis …………………………………………………………………… 29 A. World Trees and the Cosmic Center ……………………………………………….. 29 B. Agricultural, Aquatic, and Floral Motifs ………………………………………….... 30 C. Headdress and Garments …………………………………………………………… 31 D. Fanged Nose Plaque ………………………………………………………………... 32 E. Comparison to Theatre-type Censers and Censer Rituals ………………………….. 34 VI. Comparison to Ancestral Representations in Mesoamerican Art ……………………… 41 VII. Domains of Ancestors in Mesoamerican Worldview …………………………………. 51 VIII. Discussion and Conclusions …………………………………………………………. 61 A. Gender ……………………………………………………………………………… 61 B. Political power ……………………………………………………………………… 64 C. Teotihuacan Worldview ……………………………………………………………. 66 Figures ……………………………………………………………………………………… 69 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………... 88 iii ABSTRACT INTERPRETING TEPANTITLA PATIO 2 MURAL (TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO) AS AN ANCESTRAL FIGURE by © Atalie Tate Halpin 2018 Master of Arts in Art History California State University, Chico Fall 2018 This thesis examines previous interpretations of Tepantitla Patio 2, Mural 2, in Teotihuacan, Mexico, and proposes an ancestral interpretation for the central figure. Examining iconographical themes within Teotihuacan’s residential art, and considering the archaological evidence of the use of the patio and the apartment complexes of Teotihuacan in general, this study focuses on the ancestor cults that permiated the doestic spheres of the city, rather than attempting to categorize the mural’s central figure as a deity of the state’s central religion. The iconographical significance of the frontal tableau, including a legless, frontally facing central figure with a large fanged noseplaque and avian hairdress flanked by two attending figures, and the axial configuration of a cave, mountain, and tree assemblage within a composition rich in water and agricultural symbolism, is considered and compared within the art of Teotihuacan. To further analyze the significance of ancestors across Mesoamerica and their associated realms and methods of artistic representation, cross-cultural and trans-historical studies are presented. iv 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This study focuses on the central figure in the upper register of the fresco mural (Figure 1) located in Patio 2 of the Tepantitla apartment complex, Teotihuacan, and considers its potential identification as an ancestral representation. Located in the patio of an elite residence, this mural features two figures in profile approaching a prominent frontally facing figure with outstretched arms, diamond eyes, a mysterious face hidden behind a fanged nose bar, a giant avian headdress, and tree branches rich in symbolism extending upward on a central axis. The base of the figure merges into a horizon of wave motifs, and features a cave-like opening. While most contemporary scholars identify this figure as a deity, I argue for its interpretation as an ancestor figure. Using iconographic analysis and comparison to other objects associated with Teotihuacan’s ancestor veneration, I examine this piece not only in the context of city of Teotihuacan, but also in the archaeological context of Teotihuacan’s residential districts and use of the patio itself. The presentation of incense by the flanking figures towards a figure visually resembling Teotihuacan incense-burning censers, and the ceremonial importance of these vessels in the context of ancestral veneration, support my interpretation within this thesis. The likeness of the tree branches to Mesoamerican “world tree” ideology which is supported by other cases of cave-mountain-tree configurations, the gendered symbolism of spiders and butterflies in Mesoamerican traditions, and the gender-ambiguous features of the central figure all lend themselves to an ancestral interpretation. Cave emergence, and tree origin stories from surrounding cultural records will be analyzed in relationship to these elements presented in the Tepantitla Patio 2 Mural. 2 Located in the Valley of Mexico, 45 kilometers north of today’s Mexico City, the city of Teotihuacan achieved its peak around 500-600 CE.1 The largest city in the Americas at its height, it reached a population of approximately 125,000.2 Certainly identifiable as a state by 200 CE, Teotihuacan was a strong polity even centuries before that.3 Beginning in 150 CE and through the Classic period (300-900 CE), it was the main urban center of central Mexico.4 The city was built on a north-south axis, aligned along the Street of the Dead (Figure 2). The great Pyramid of the Sun flanks the Street of the Dead on its east side, while the Pyramid of the Moon overlooks the rest of the city from the north. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent with its elaborate mosaic facade lies in the Ciudadela, located off of the Street of the Dead in the southwest of the city’s heart.5 Scholars divide the Teotihuacan metropolis into four probable districts, reflecting concepts of the Mesoamerican quadripartite cosmogram.6 Structured in a grid, the city boasts great works of public political architecture as well as residential complexes to house its citizens. Not surprisingly, there are numerous differences in the nature of the art and artefacts from these two distinct spaces of public and domestic life and ritual practice. The art of the apartment complexes (or barrios) at Teotihuacan is characterized by vividly pigmented fresco murals, ceramic incense burners, and modestly sized figurines. Such domestic art and ritual objects contrast with the monumental sculptures, facades, and large caches of obsidian and jade artefacts from the major religious and political structures of the city. Teotihuacan’s ceramic incense burners and stone masks that share visual, iconographic, and 1 George L. Cowgill, Ancient Teotihuacan: Early Urbanism in Central Mexico. Case Studies in Early Societies 2 René Millon, “The Last Years of Teotihuacan Dominance,” in The Collapse of Ancient States and Civilizations, ed. Norman Yoffee and George L. Cowgill (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988), 102. 3 Cowgill, Ancient Teotihuacan, 10. 4 Linda R. Manzanilla, “Teotihuacan Apartment Compounds, Neighborhood Centers, and Palace Structures,” in Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire, ed. Matthew H. Robb, Rubén Cabrera Castro, and David M. Carballo (San Francisco, CA: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and University of California Press, 2017), 94. 5 Cowgill, Ancient Teotihuacan, 36. 6 Manzanilla, “Teotihuacan Apartment Compounds,” 94. 3 contextual similarities with the Tepantitla mural likely had ceremonial functions.7 A composite assemblage of many mold-made pieces called adornos, the base of the so-called theatre-type censer incense burners (Figures 3, 4, and 5) are often mound-shaped with an attached mask, jewelry, and elaborate headdress. The choice of adornos allowed for multiple combinations and arrangements, enabling personalization by the diverse persons who likely used them.8 Visually and compositionally similar to the presentation of mummy bundles or otherwise prepared corpses throughout ancient Mesoamerica, the function of ceramic censers as instruments in rituals for the dead is probable.9 Not a localized phenomenon, Teotihuacan-style censers experienced popularity in Guatemala as well, in areas likely inhabited by people originally from Teotihuacan.10 The nature and function of these ceramic censers as paraphernalia for ancestor veneration are central to my thesis. Comparing the central figure in the Tepantitla Patio 2 Mural to censers and ritual objects for ancestral veneration was one of the initial elements that prompted this study. 7 Margaret Young-Sanchez, “Veneration of the Dead: Religious Ritual on a Pre-Columbian Mirror-Back,” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 9 (1990): 328. 8 Young-Sanchez, 335. 9 Young-Sanchez, 328. 10 Janet Catherine Berlo, “Teotihuacan Art Abroad: A Study of Metropolitan Style and Provincial Transformation in Incensario Workshops,” Ph.D. diss. (New Haven: Yale University, 1980), 328-29. 4 CHAPTER II TEPANTITLA PATIO 2 MURAL: CONTEXT AND DESCRIPTION Although Teotihuacan has
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