Spindle Whorls and the Dawn of Solar Art in Postclassic Mexico

Interpreting household practices Barcelona, 21-24 november 2007 Treballs d’Arqueologia 13 (2007): 91-113

SOLAR DISKS AND SOLAR CYCLES: SPINDLE WHORLS AND THE DAWN OF SOLAR ART IN POSTCLASSIC MEXICO

Elisabeth Brumfiel

Abstract: Sun disks are a common motif in spindle whorl decorations at Xaltocan, Mexico. These and other forms of symbolism on domestic arti- facts suggest that women participated in the solar cosmologies of Postclassic Central Mexico. These symbols and their cosmologies pre- cede and anticipate the principles of Aztec state religion. Thus, the spindle whorls with solar symbolism suggest that rulers appropriated the symbolism of household units in their efforts to establish the legitimacy of their states. The "Little Tradition" in Mesoamerica was the source of the "Great Tradition", and not the other way around. Resumen: Los discos solares son un motivo habitual en las decoraciones de fusayolas en Xaltocan, México. Estas y otras formas de simbolismo de artefactos domésticos sugieren que las mujeres participaban en las cos- mologías solares del México central postclásico. Estos símbolos y sus cosmologías preceden y anticipan los principios de la religión del estado azteca. En consecuencia, estas fusayolas sugieren que los gobernantes se apropiaron del simbolismo de las unidades domésticas en su intento de establecer la legitimidad de sus estados. Esta "pequeña tradición" de Mesoamérica fue la fuente originaria de la "gran tradición" y no al con- trario. Resum: Els discs solars són habituals com a decoració de les fusaïoles a Xaltocan, Mèxic. Aquestes i d’altres formes de simbolisme d’artefactes domèstics suggereixen que les dones participave en les cosmologies solars de Mèxic central postclàssic. Aquests símbols i les seves cosmologies precedeixen i anticipen els principis de la religió de l’estat asteca. Per tant, aquestes fusaïoles suggereixen que els governs s’apropiaren del simbolisme de les unitats domèstiques en un intent d’establir la legitimitat dels seus estats. Aquesta “petita tradició” mesoamericana fou la font orig- inària de la “gran tradició” i no al contrari.

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The Aztecs were the last of the striking works of monumental great prehispanic civilizations. sculpture to communicate this They were an urbanized society world view. But the origin of Aztec with a complex market economy artistic conventions is something and a heterogeneous population. of a mystery. In this paper, I sug- With our Western bias, we might gest that many of the composition- imagine a strong separation of al rules and symbolic meanings of spheres: public vs. private and state Aztec art were developed not in vs. domestic households. And we state institutions, but in household might imagine that the private, contexts, probably by women as domestic sphere was a narrow they pursued their craft of cloth world of family concerns. But the production. designs on spindle whorls suggest that women entertained thoughts Aztec rulers supported a state reli- on the broadest cosmological scale gion that linked warfare to human as they carried out their domestic survival. The Aztecs recognized routines and that the communica- that human life depended on the tion of state ideology was rooted in orderly alternation of natural household aesthetics. Therefore, in cycles: day and night, summer and this case, and I suppose in many winter, rainy season and dry sea- others, the private and the public son, growth, death, decay, and were not separate spheres; instead, regeneration. But while we see they interpenetrated in interesting these cycles as natural and ways. inevitable, the Aztec state asserted that they were the uncertain out- Aztec ideology and art come of cosmic struggle. For example, the sun rose victorious each During its ninety year history, the morning, driving off the moon and Aztec empire’s wealth and power stars to capture the daytime sky. depended upon nearly constant But the sun’s victory was only pro- warfare and conquest. To justify visional, for each afternoon and this warfare, Aztec rulers promot- evening, the sun sank in weary ed a religious ideology that linked defeat and the moon and stars took warfare and sacrifice to human sur- back the heavens. The sun’s suc- vival, and rulers commissioned cess in this daily struggle depended

92 Elisabeth Brumfiel upon its being nourished with the refer to cosmic cycles (Fig. 1): To hearts and blood of sacrificial vic- underscore the uncertainly of tims, preferably vigorous young human survival, near the center of men taken captive in battle.1 the stone are four symbols com- memorating the four earlier cre- To communicate this world view, ations that had been overwhelmed the Aztec ruler commissioned by destructive chaos. They are works of monumental sculpture. named for the forces that destroyed For example, the Aztec calendar them: jaguars, hurricane-force stone is filled with symbols that winds, a rain of fire and floods. We

Fig. 1. The Aztec Calendar Stone, sacrificial stone of Montezuma II, c. 1512 (drawing after Umberger 1996).

93 Solar disks and solar cycles are now in the fifth creation, 4- Umberger 1996). The style coa- motion, which is destined to be lesced during the mid-fifteenth destroyed by earthquakes. century, shortly after the Aztecs established their regional domi- these images are surrounded by a nance, and it ended less than a cen- ring containing the 20 signs of the tury later with the Spanish con- Aztec 260-day ritual almanac, quest in 1521. Despite its short related to the life cycle and person- duration, the number of pieces al destiny; outside of this ring is belonging to this style is “prodi- another, the solar disk, referring to gious” (Nicholson & Keber the cycles of day and night and the 1983:26), and stylistic development 365-day solar calendar—these within the tradition was rapid solar rays are a motif that we will (Pasztory 1983:143). see repeatedly on pre-Aztec spindle whorls; and another ring of fire However, the origin of Aztec serpents, the weapon that the imagery is something of a mystery. Aztec patron deity, Huitzilopoch- While Aztec sculptors duplicated tli, used to defeat the forces of certain forms from the ancient city darkness. of Tula (where the Aztecs carried out excavations to recover Toltec At the center, as if to underscore remains), Tula’s sculpture is little the need for human sacrifice is a concerned with solar imagery, central deity, with a sacrificial which is so important in Aztec art. knife protruding from his mouth However, archaeological research and talons on either side of his face at Xaltocan, a pre-Aztec city-state grasping human hearts. capital 35 kilometers north of Mexico City/Tenochtitlan, has This magnificent sculpture belongs yielded many images that express to what George Kubler (1943) solar and cyclical themes with termed the Metropolitan School of forms and symbols that closely Aztec art. These monuments are resemble Aztec art. distinguished by their large size, Xaltocan has been occupied from complex iconography, fine design 900 CE to the present (Fig. 2). and craftsmanship (Kubler 1943; During the first five centuries of its Nicholson 1971; Pasztory 1983; existence, Xaltocan was the capital

94 Elisabeth Brumfiel of a small autonomous kingdom; raphy in Xaltocan, very rare in after 1430, it fell under Aztec rule other parts of the Valley of Mexico, (Alva Ixtlilxóchitl 1975-77 I:423, has helped us define those changes. II:299; Anales de Cuauhtitlan 1945:14, At Xaltocan, solar and cyclical 50; see Carrasco 1950). Our archae- motifs appear on small decorated ological research has focused on spindle whorls recovered from the the changes in daily life in Xaltocan early, pre-Aztec, domestic contexts. which accompanied transforma- This suggests that Aztec imagery tions of in regional politics did not originate in the state-spon- (Brumfiel 2005). The deep stratig- sored art of large urban centers in

Fig. 2. The Valley of Mexico during the Aztec period, showing the loca- tions of Xaltocan, Tenochtitlan and other important towns.

95 Solar disks and solar cycles central Mexico; rather, its compo- lighter spindle whorls were used sition and symbolic language were for shorter cotton fibers (Parsons developed in everyday household 1972; McCafferty & McCafferty contexts, as women engaged in 2000). In Xaltocan, both large and cloth production. small spindle whorls are present, suggesting that both fibers were Cloth production and spindle spun.2 whorls at Xaltocan The spinners were probably Cloth was woven from two fibers women. Cloth production in Aztec in Aztec Mexico. One was fiber Mexico was strongly gendered extracted from the leaves of the female. New born baby girls were maguey, a plant that was exten- presented with the symbols of sively cultivated in the cool high- womanhood: “the spinning whorl, lands surrounding Tenochtitlan, the batten, the reed basket [for the Aztec capital. The other was unspun cotton], the spinning cotton, which did not grow locally bowls, the skeins, the shuttle, her but was obtained from warmer little skirt, her little blouse” regions of Morelos and Puebla. The (Sahagún 1950-82:201, bk. 6, ch.37). maguey or cotton fibers had to be And a woman’s weaving equip- spun into thread before they were ment was placed with her when woven. The spinner worked by she died (Sahagún 1950-82:138, bk. hand, drawing the fibers out and 2, ch.33). Spinning and weaving twisting them into thread using a provided metaphors for women’s wooden spindle. The spindles were experiences with pregnancy and weighted with perforated ceramic childbirth, and female deities were disks, called spindle whorls, which depicted with spinning and weav- prolonged the spindle’s rotation. ing tools (Klein 1982; Sullivan 1982; Spinning thread by hand was very McCafferty & McCafferty 1991). time-consuming; spinning required We have very little information two or three hours of effort for each about who produced cloth in the hour devoted to weaving (Berlo pre-Aztec era at Xaltocan, but 1991:451). Large, heavy spindle spindle whorls and needles appear whorls speeded the production of in some infant burials and women’s maguey fiber thread, but smaller, graves, suggesting that cloth pro-

96 Elisabeth Brumfiel duction was a female activity (De these designs, I considered two Lucia 2004). aspects of spindle whorl decoration: design composition and A careful consideration of spindle design motifs. Texts and pictorial whorl decoration at Xaltocan sug- documents from early colonial gests that in many ways pre-Aztec Mexico provide guidance for spindle whorls anticipate Aztec understanding the meaning of Metropolitan art. On this basis, I these symbols. suggest that the Aztec state drew heavily upon these domestic con- With regard to composition, two- ventions to develop its own strik- thirds of spindle whorls have a ing artistic style. design divided in four parts, with motifs distributed symmetrically Spindle whorl designs and solar in the four quarters of the disk (Fig. cycles 3). Working with pottery designs, archaeologist Constanza Vega Sosa I examined 96 decorated spindle (1984) has suggested that quadri- whorls from Xaltocan. Most of partite divisions in Aztec art repre- these spindle whorls were recov- sent the four quarters of the uni- ered from the lower, pre-Aztec verse, the conventional way of strata at Xaltocan, with dates of imagining space in Mesoamerica A.D. 900-1430. In higher strata rep- (see Gossen 1974; Tedlock & resenting the Aztec empire (A.D. Tedlock 1985). Vega Sosa argues 1430-1521), more than three-quar- that the four quarters were defined ters of the spindle whorls were by lines emanating from the inter- undecorated, a point to which I cardinal directions, defined by the will return. Decorated spindle points on the horizon where the whorls were found in houses on sun rises and sets at the summer living floors, in domestic refuse, and winter solstices. Vega Sosa and in five cases, in burials. The concluded that these quadripartite decorations were mold-made compositions de-monstrated an impressions, and they sometimes interest in and a concern for the bear traces of the paint that must daily and annual cycles of the sun. have covered their molded designs. To define the possible meaning of Probably, the quadripartite compo-

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Fig. 3. Spindle whorls with quatripartite designs (drawings by Laura Jordan).

sition of spindle whorls also indi- design motifs (5 cases), or a dual cates an interest in the sun and its division (4 cases), or a division in movements. Two-thirds (71 cases) three or six parts (8 cases), or in of the spindle whorls in the five parts (2 cases), or in seven Xaltocan sample are divided into parts (1 case), or in ten or more four or eight parts which might parts (9 cases). The spindle whorls refer to the cardinal and inter-car- with undivided designs bear animal dinal directions with their solar motifs (vultures, frogs, the mythical associations. The other spindle cipactli, and a plumed serpent). The whorls either have undivided spindle whorls with five parts are

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Fig. 4. Spindle whorls with flowers, above a simple flower, below a flower adorned with sun rays (drawings by Laura Jordan).

decorated with pentagrams (what energy, (2) the spatial and tempo- we would call stars, but in ancient ral order of the universe, (3) the Mesoamerica, a circular symbol creation of this order, and (4) cycli- was used to represent stars). The cal or rotary movement. spindle whorls with seven or ten or more parts bore designs that con- Flowers constitute one common sisted of a series of dots or swirls or motif, present on 16 of the decorat- flower petals. Spindle whorls with ed spindle whorls (Fig. 4a). three or six parts had the same Flowers have been associated with motifs as spindle whorls with four the Aztec goddess Xochiquetzal or eight parts. It is to these motifs (whose name means flowery quet- that we now turn. zal feather). Xochiquetzal was the goddess of spring, flowers, love, The design motifs seem to cluster feminine sexuality and the patron according to four themes: (1) solar of weavers and embroiderers (Díaz

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Cíntora 1990; McCafferty & petal flower, the Maya glyph k’in, McCafferty 1999; Lopéz 2005). also a symbol of the sun (Fig. 5). Thus, we might conclude that the Two spindle whorls are decorated spindle whorl designs were with a complicated sun disk motif, focused on women’s sexual and surrounded by a ring of what might reproductive powers. be the petals of flowers or feathers of the solar eagle. Two other spin- This interpretation is correct, but dle whorls lack the sun disk but probably too narrow. Flowers had have a ring of petals or feathers very broad symbolic meanings in (Fig. 6). prehispanic thought. Specifically, flowers referred to the sun, heat, A second grouping of motifs is light, fire, and life (Velasco and related to the spatial and temporal Nagao 2006). Flowers had the order of the universe. For example, many associations because they six spindle whorls are decorated symbolized tonalli, the divine ener- with a quincunx motif (Fig. 7a), gy that sparked life in all living crossed diagonal lines that con- things: plants, animals, and nected the four inter-cardinal humans (Hill 1992). In defense of points of the universe, the points an interpretation of flowers as defined by the rising and setting of symbols of tonalli, we might cite the the sun during the summer and many other spindle whorl designs winter solstices. In eight other that refer to the sun. For example, cases, two lines cross the central six spindle whorls are decorated perforation of the spindle whorl, with flowers and sun rays (Fig. dividing it into four parts that rep- 4b), making a design that resem- resent the four quarters of the uni- bles the glyph ollin, which refers verse (Fig. 7b). both to the movement of the sun and to the era of the fifth sun, the A third grouping of spindle whorls present creation (Vega Sosa refers to the creation of the uni- 1984:153). Another spindle whorl is verse, of time, and of the sun. For decorated with only sun rays, example, one spindle whorl pres- another with the symbol ihuitl, a ents the opposition of Quetzal- symbol of the day, and a third spin- coatl, associated in Aztec mytholo- dle whorl is decorated with a four- gy with the movement of the sun,

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Fig. 5. Spindle whorls with sun symbols, above an ihuitl, a day symbol (drawn by Laura Jordan), below a spindle whorl with a k’in, the Maya sun glyph (drawn by Elizabeth Brumfiel).

Fig. 6. Spindle whorl decorated with possible flower petals or plumes of the solar eagle (drawn by Laura Jordan). and Tezcatlipoca, associated with 260-day ritual almanac (Fig. 8). On the night and the forces of dark- the day cipactli, the sun began to ness. Two spindle whorls are deco- move, initiating the sequence of rated with the cipactli symbol, the days and years (Sahagún 1950-82 first day of the tonalpohualli, the bk.7, ch.2). Seven other spindle

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Fig. 7. Spindle whorls with four-part divisions, above thel quincunx, below the four quarters of the universe (drawings by Laura Jordan). whorls are decorated with dots or cycle of the sun and its solstices. concentric circles which might Perhaps we should accept a very represent the succession of days, generalized interpretation for the that is, daily suns. The number of xicalcoliuhqui as representing move- dots or circles varies between four ments and cycles of all types, and twelve. including the rotation of the spindle whorl, itself, as it produced its Finally, the most common motif in thread. Both the spiral motif and the spindle whorls from Xaltocan the rotating spindle whorl might is the xicalcoliuhqui, the step-fret have represented all the cycles of spiral (Fig. 9). The xicalcoliuhqui the current universe, all the pat- occurs on 27 decorated spindle terns of movement and change that whorls (31% of the decorated sustained life in all its varied forms. whorls).3 In almost all cases, they occur in groups of four. Both Zelia Discussion Nuttal (1901) and Constanza Vega Sosa (1984) suggest that the xical- Spindle whorl designs can be inter- coliuhqui refers to movement, and preted in a series of ways, some the groupings of four suggest that narrow and concrete, others broad they might have referred to annual and abstract. For example, there

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Fig. 8. Spindle whorl with a cipactli, the first day of the ritual almanac (after Enciso 1971:19). Fig. 9. Spindle whorl with the xicalcoliuhqui, step-fret spiral with rectangular sides, a symbol of cyclical movement (drawn by Laura Jordan). are important associations between flowers, sexuality, and the that this energy is the active agent acts of spinning and weaving in completing several products (McCafferty & McCafferty 1991; transformed by heat, including Sullivan 1982). Very likely, the fired ceramics, slaked lime, and the women of Xaltocan were aware of proper maturation of an in utero these associations and the act of fetus (Monaghan 2001). In addi- spinning with spindle whorls dec- tion, tonalli inspires and energizes orated with flowers did evoke craft producers to attain high levels reflections on their sexuality. of artistic achievement. For exam- Flowers were also connected with ple, contemporary Huichol an array of symbols representing weavers, who are linguistically tonalli, divine energy (Hill 1992; related to the Aztecs, offer sacri- Taube 2006). Currently, some resi- fices to the sun in order to acquire dents of traditional Mesoamerican the force that allows them to pro- communities believe that tonalli is duce high-quality textiles an essential ingredient of success- (Schaefer 2002). ful craft production. They believe

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At the most abstract level, spindle way through their purchases of whorls referred to the energy that spindle whorls with one design or drove the regular cycles of the uni- another, based on their knowledge verse, particularly the sun’s cycles of the meaning of the various sym- which showered the earth with bols. tonalli and defined the segments of time and space (Gossen 1974:22). We don’t expect prehispanic We have seen that many designs on women to have such cosmological spindle whorls were related to interests. Western tradition aspects of the sun and its energy; assumes that women’s thought and the popularity of these themes sug- action is focused on issues of home gests that the women of Xaltocan and reproduction, that is, the were interested not only in domes- domestic sphere. Evidently, our tic activities but also in abstract Western expectations are mistak- and large scale cosmological con- en with respect to the pre-Aztec cepts. In addition, the conventional women of Xaltocan. These cosmo- motifs which appear on spindle logical interests were probably whorls (for example the xicalcoli- nourished by their reliance upon uhque, the ihuitl, the k’in, the quin- the 260-day ritual almanac for cunx) duplicate many that are many aspects of daily life: to dis- found in other parts of cern the fate of newborn infants, to Mesoamerica. This indicates that diagnose the causes and prognoses the women of Xaltocan possessed of disease, and to fix the date of substantial knowledge of Meso- weddings, trade expeditions, and america’s symbolic vocabulary. other household ventures. Efforts to cope with uncertainty prompted It is unlikely that the women who consultations with ritual almanacs, used the spindle whorls that we which linked household members find in Xaltocan were actually the with cosmic processes (Brumfiel ones who produced them because 2004, 2007). Since these same we have recovered very few molds forces determined the outcomes of for spindle whorls at the site.4 both the household and state Nevertheless, the women of affairs, it is unlikely that the Aztecs Xaltocan may have determined regarded the domestic and public spindle whorl design in an indirect spheres as fundamentally distinct.

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From the Home to the State game had sacred meanings linked to life and death, the sky and the Many artistic conventions that underworld, the presence of celes- appear on the spindle whorls of tial and solar motifs on these rings pre-Aztec Xaltocan are duplicated is not surprising. What is surpris- on sculptures later produced under ing are the similar motifs and com- the patronage of the Aztec state. position shared by the ballgame This suggests that women were an rings and the spindle whorls. important source of the symbols and ideology used by the Aztec Another form of sculpture pro- state to construct its legitimacy. duced under the patronage of the Aztec state was the temalacatl, a The Aztec state sponsored two monumental sculpture that sup- types of circular sculptures. The ported an enemy warrior during simpler of the two was the ring of the gladiatorial sacrifice (Matos & the ball court, the tlachtemalácatl Solís 2004). In some cases, the cen- (Matos 2002). Its circular form ter of the sacrificial stone was per- duplicates the circular form of forated to permit the passage of a spindle whorls. Like the central cord used to tie the captive to the perforation in a spindle whorl, the stone during his ritual battle. In ball court ring had a central perfo- other cases, the sacrificial stone ration through which the rubber had a central hollow to collect the ball passed to score a goal. A tenon blood of the sacrificial victim after on the edge of the ring permitted his battle. The central perforation its suspension from the wall of the or hollow of the sacrificial stone ball court. Among the surviving was analogous to the central perfo- ball court rings, one is carved with ration of a spindle whorl. The the motif of an eight-petal flower upper face of the sacrificial stone which more or less duplicates on a was engraved with the sun disk, a grand scale the spindle whorls multi-part composition (Fig. 10). with flowers that we see in Around the central hole, the sacri- Xaltocan. Another bears a series of ficial stone bore several concentric 16 dots surrounding its central circles, with rows of dots that sym- hole. Others are engraved with sun bolized the succession of days. rays. Since the Mesoamerican ball- Outside the concentric circles,

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does not appear on spindle whorls is the handles of blood-letters used in self-sacrifice (Matos & Solís 2004). The handles of blood-letters are positioned between the solar rays of the cardinal directions.

The solar disk was also present on the cuauhxicalli, stone bowls that were receptacles for the hearts of sacrificed captives. The solar disk also appeared ceremonial seats and sculptures of the xiuhmolpilli, the bundle of 52 sticks that commemo- rated the completion of a 52 year calendrical cycle (Matos & Solís 2004). All these objects played important roles in ritual activities that communicated the themes of state ideology, that is, cosmic Fig. 10. Sun disks, above a spindle whorl from Early Postclassic Xaltocan (drawn struggle, war, sacrifice, and imperi- by Elizabeth Brumfiel), below the Sun al expansion. Disk of Yale University (after Alcina, León-Portilla & Matos 1992:311). Thus, the official art of the Aztec state shared several motifs and eight solar rays marked the cardi- rules of composition with the spin- nal and inter-cardinal directions. dle whorls of Xaltocan, but the Outside of this, engraved eagle spindle whorls are older than all plumes adorned the border. the Aztec sculptures. Some of the spindle whorls in our sample ante- The central perforations, rows of date the Aztec monuments by four dots, sun rays, and eagle plumes are centuries. Therefore, we have to all found on spindle whorls. The consider the possibility that sun only motif that is present on these symbolism and some related con- sculptures and ball court rings that cepts were developed by

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Postclassic women and later the symbols have to be regendered, appropriated by the Aztec rulers. say from female-associated spindle This is not supposed to happen. whorls to male-associated warfare. How was this accomplished? Since the time of Robert Redfield, Marie Louise Stig Sørensen (2000) anthropologists have argued that observes that performances are the ideas and ideology filter down from key to endowing material objects the upper to the lower classes. with cultural meaning. The repeti- Redfield (1940) believed that a tive association of objects with Great Tradition and a Little females or males, acting out narra- Tradition existed in agrarian class tives of female or male action, sup- societies, and he envisioned ideas plies the context for engendering flowing from the Great Tradition objects. of the urban elite toward the Little Tradition of the rural peasants. The two sculptural forms we have But, with regard to another agrari- just examined, ball-court rings and an state on the island of sacrificial stones, were the center Madagascar, Susan Kus and Victor of attention in just such perform- Raharijaona (2000) argue that the ances. The ball game featured two state sometimes finds it useful to opposing teams of male warriors appropriate ideas from the family (the forces of light and darkness) and the home. By appropriating battling for control over the ball (a household symbols, state rulers can symbolic sun), a metaphoric hope to transfer to themselves the reprise of the battle for a life-sus- deep sentiments and familiar ideas taining cosmos. The game attracted of domestic life. In this way, Kus crowds, betting, and intense public and Raharijaona suggest, rulers interest. The gladiatorial sacrifice strengthen their legitimacy. was a contest between an enemy captive and an Aztec warrior, the Kus and Raharijaona do not con- latter fighting with a sword edged sider the difficulties of appropriat- with obsidian blades and the for- ing the already familiar symbols of mer fighting with a sword edged everyday life, but such difficulties with feathers. Again, this was a might be anticipated. The process metaphoric battle between male might be especially difficult when warriors, but in this case the out-

107 Solar disks and solar cycles come was predestined, as was the the necessity of war and sacrifice, destiny of the Aztec people, to tri- which resulted in conquest, trib- umph as imperial rulers and pro- ute, and the perpetuation of class tectors of cosmic order. So through divisions. We see in the case of extravaganzas featuring men in Postclassic Mexico that activities metaphoric battles, male warriors dominated by state elites were jus- became associated with the sun, tified with symbols and ideas root- replacing the solar associations of ed in the daily routines of women. women, ritual almanacs and house- There was a contradiction in this hold well-being. process: to represent state ideology, the symbols had to change their As if to confirm the successful meaning, but at the same time, regendering of solar symbolism as their strength was augmented by male, the spindle whorls from the lingering associations and sen- Aztec deposits at Xaltocan are timents of their household roots. undecorated. But far from being a passive concession to the power of References Cited state ideology, this might have con- stituted an act of resistance, an ALCINA, J., LEÓN-PORTILLA, M. effort to withhold divine energy & MATOS, E. 1992. Azteca- from tribute cloth intended for Mexica. Madrid: Lunwerg imperial coffers. Editores. ALVA IXTLILXOCHITL, F. de. Conclusion 1975-77. Obras Históricas, 2 tomos, E. O’Gorman, (ed.), The case of Aztec Mexico seems to México, D.F.: Universidad conform to the model provided by Nacional Autónoma de México. Kus and Raharijaona. Solar sym- ANALES DE CUAUHTITLAN. bolism, originating in household 1945. Anales de Cuauhtitlan. contexts in the familiar act of spin- InP.F. Velázquez, transl., Códice ning, was transformed into state Chimalpopoca:1-118. México, D.F.: art. The small scale of the spindle Universidad Nacional whorl with its intimate symbolic Autónoma de México. idiom was magnified on monumen- BERLO, J. 1991. Beyond bricolage: tal sculpture in order to proclaim Women and aesthetic strategies

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Notes earth) in the case of spirals with straight sides. But this interpretation 1 In accord with Western science, the is not entirely consistent with the Aztecs perceived that entropy is that characteristics of the motif as it occurs natural state of things, and order on the Xaltocan spindle whorls. On requires energy. these spindle whorls, all the spirals 2 Seventy-one of these decorated spin- have straight sides, that is, there is no dle whorls (74%) are large, that is, alteration of day and night signaled by they weigh 20 g or more and have spirals with round sides and spirals diameters of at least 38 mm. They with straight sides. 4 would have been used for maguey In contrast, Nichols et al. (2000) fibers. Twenty-five of the decorated report a concentration of almost 100 spindle whorls (26%) are small, that molds for large spindle whorls in a is, they weigh 16 g or less, with diame- limited area of Otumba, a Late ters of 34 mm or less. They would have Postclassic site in the northeast corner been used for cotton. of the Valley of Mexico. In Otumba, 3 Zelia Nuttal (1901) noted the pres- the molds were associated with basalt ence of two types of step-fret spirals in scrapers used to extract maguey fibers ancient Mexico, spirals with round from fleshy leaves, which implies that sides and spirals with straight sides. those who produced the spindle She believed that the spirals with whorls also participated in the prepa- round sides were associated with the ration of the maguey fibers, including above, with moving air and water, spinning the fibers. In addition a com- while spirals with straight sides were plete assemblage of domestic ceramics associated with the earth, night, and was found in this area, suggesting that darkness. Vega Sosa (1984) accepts the production of spindle whorls and this interpretation but suggests that spinning maguey fibers occurred in a both types of spirals were related to household setting. Thus, it is probable the movement of the sun: the day- that the women who lived in these time sun in the case of spirals with domestic units participated in the round sides and the night-time sun design of the spindle whorls. (passing through the bowels of the

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