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OCTLI'- See Pulque. OFFERINGS OFFERINGS 403 OCTLI'- See Pulque. vidual was buried together with the objects necessary for living in the afterlife; alternatively, it could be the vestiges of a dedicatory rite in which a new building was given OFFERINGS. Buried offerings are the material ex- essence by interring a sacrificial victim with various ce- pressions of rites of sacrifice, or oblation. They are the ramic vessels. tangible result of individual or collective acts of a sym- As a consequence of two centuries of archaeological in- bolic character that are repeated according to invariable vestigations throughout Mesoamerica, we now have an rules and that achieve effects that are, at least in part, of impressive corpus of buried offerings. This rich assort- an extra-empirical nature. In specific terms, offerings are ment often permits us to recognize the traditions of obla- donations made by the faithful with the purpose of estab- tion practiced in a city, a group of cities, a region, or an lishing a cornmunication and exchange with the super- area, in addition to the principal transformations that oc- natural. In this reciprocal process, the believer gives curred through four millennia of Mesoamerican history. something to adivine being in the hope of currying its The oldest buried offerings date to the Early Formative favor and obtaining a greater benefit in return. With of- period (2500-1200 BCE) and generally consist of anthro- ferings and sacrifices, one propitiates or "pays for" all pomorphic figurines and ceramic vessels deposited in the types of divine favors, including rain, plentiful harvests, construction fill of the village dwellings. In the Middle good health, and military success. Formative (1200-400 BCE), a radical change occurred Unfortunately, the majority of Mesoamerican rites of ob- when chieftain societies constructed the first civic-cere- lation are not archaeologically discernible, because nearly monial centers. A sharp increase is perceivable in the all the offerings consisted of foodstuffs and other perish- quantity and quality of gifts offered to the supernatural. able items that were left out in the open ("exposed offer- However, the richest and most complex offerings are ings"), According to sixteenth-century historical sources, found in the urban centers of the great states of the Clas- the most common offerings were tamales, tortillas, tur- sic (200-900 CE) and Postclassic (900-1521 CE) periods. key and iguana meat, seeds, pulque, cacao, human and In spite of great differences in time and space, common quail blood, aromatic resins, tobacco, flowers, feathers, patterns of oblation were shared by many Mesoamerican rubber, and bark paper. At the end of the ceremonies, societies. In one clear example the place s where offerings these types of offerings were usually abandoned, burned, are deposited are always associated with liminal ("thresh- consumed by those making the offerings, or simply dis- old") areas where it was possible to establish communica- carded after having been left to decompose. tion with the supernatural. These place s include unusual In sharp contrast, there were other, far less comrnon geographical features (mountaintops, caves, springs, ce- rites of oblation that resulted in the interment of gífts notes, whirlpools), elements organizing urban space (pla- ("buried offerings"), which remained protected for pos- zas, avenues, aqueducts), religious edifices (temples, terity. Generally, these types of offerings were prepared shrines, ballcourts), monumental sculpture (stelae, altars, on special occasions in life and society: the construction, benches), and habitations (palaces, urban residences, ru- renovation, consecration, and closure of important build- ral dwellings). ings; the inauguration and reutilization of important Another recurrent pattern is seen in the position of the sculptural monuments; the end of great cycles of time; offerings with respect to architecture: they usually were the rites of passage of sovereigns and other distinguished buried in the center, in the corners, and along the princi- persons; military victories; econornic and social crises; pal axes of buildings. They also were cornmonly depos- and natural catastrophes. On these occasions, not only ited at the entrance, the center, and the head of rooms, perishable objects but also an enormous variety of raw as well as the foot of stairways and the apex of pyramids. materials, biological organisms, and manufactured items The position of the offerings also depended on the mo- were buried. Much of this material has survived until the ment in which the oblation occurred: construction offer- present and informs us about the technology, economy, ings were incorporated directly into the foundations or politics, and religion of past societies. the nucleus of a building and covered with tons of filler During archaeological excavations, it is crucial to keep material; inauguration offerings were deposited in vessels a detailed record of the buried offerings along with their created just before the consecration of the monument; of- contexts, in order to avoid confusing them with other de- ferings made while the building was functioning were in- posits that were buried intentionally, such as refuse troduced into cavities dug into the floor, and sealed with dumps, storage spaces, and graves. For example, the as- a stone slab or a patch of stucco; and closure offering sociation of human skeletal remains and ceramic vessels were placed on floors, stairways, or altars, and then bur- can be problematic if a meticulous analysis is not done. ied by new construction. It could be the result of a funerary rite in which an indi- Gifts could be left in direct contact with distinct archi- 404 OLD GODS tectural elements or could be protected inside ums, stone privileges. Among the last was the right to become inebri- boxes, or chambers. Generally, the offerings included ma- ated on pulque, a fermented beverage believed to have a terials of all types, nearly always evoking powerful sym- "cold" nature. The elderly were greatly admired and re- bolism: minerals (rock crystal, quartz, green stones, cin- vered because they had accumulated authority, wisdom, nabar, stalactiteslstalagmites),plants (flowers,seeds, spines), and the capacity for transmitting their knowledge; how- animals, and human beings. They also contained semi- ever, they were also feared for their internal "fire." In fact, precious and finished objects of ceramic, stone, metal, according to sixteenth-century Nahua concepts, the el- shell, bone, textile, wood, and other materials. Orna- derly had received the influences of the fifty-two possible ments, vessels, divine images, and instruments of sacri- combinations of the four year bearers (House, Rabbit, fice and autosacrifice were quite common. Reed, Flint Knife) and their thirteen numerical coeffi- In the majority of cases, the gifts were not deposited cients. As a consequence, their tonalli and teyolia (the ani- haphazardly; rather, the faithful followed a strict ritual mistic entities lodged in the head and the heart) had been order prescribed by liturgy. Therefore, Mesoamerican of- invigorated to the extreme with powerful energy of a hot ferings were true symbolic complexes-that communicated nature. Therefore, the elderly were called chicahuac and a message through principies of spatial distribution. For pipinqui, terms that mean "strong, robust," a clear allu- example, objects were arranged horizontally according to sion to their unusual animistic strength. It was said that imaginary axial lines; they were assembled in groups grandparents possessed adivine heart and were thus con- whose numbers related to the cosmos (4, 5, 7, 9, 13, 20, sidered yolteteo, equal to artists, inventors, savants, and 52); and they were connected vertically, forming layers of diviners. the same type of material. The results were cosmograms Within Mesoamerican mythology, old age found its that reproduced in miniature a section or totality of the greatest expression in the figure of the primordial pair: universe. a woman and aman, toothless, with wrinkled faces and hunched bodies. In the Nahua world, they were known as BIBLIOGRAPHY Oxomoco and Cipactonal. According to some accounts, Baudez, Claude. Una historia de la religión de los antiguos mayas. Mexico City, in press. they had been sent by the gods to the earth's surface to Becker, Marshall Joseph. "Caches as Burials; Burials as Caches: The spin, weave, and cultivate the fields. They created the cal- Meaning of Ritual Deposits among the Classic Period Lowland endar, gave origin to humanity, and instituted the arts of Maya." In Recent Studies in Pre-Columbian Archaeology, edited by divination and healing. Oxomoco had the butterfly as her N. J. Saunders and O. de Montmoullin, pp. 117-142. Oxford, 1988. principal attribute and was directly related to the goddess Calligéris, Catherine. "Fonction et signification des dépóts de fonda- tion mayas, dans les Basses Terres, a la période Classique." Disser- Itzpapalotl ("Obsidian Butterfly"): Cipactonal was dis- tation, Université de París I, Panthéon-Sorbonne. tinguished by the glyph cipactli ("earth monster")-that Coe, William R. "Caches and Offertory Practices of the Maya Low- is, by the sign of the first day in the calendar. Among lands." In Handbook of Midd/e American Indians, edited by Robert the Maya, Xpiyacoc and Xmucane played an analogous Wauchope, vol. 2, pp. 462-468. Austin, 1965. mythical roleo It was said that, by means of divination, Coggins, Clemency C. Artifacts
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