THE DAWNING OF CREATION IN THE CENTRAL MEXICAN HIGHLANDS: INTERPRETING OLMEC STYLE SYMBOLISM AT THE FORMATIVE PERIOD SITES OF CHALCATZINGO, OXTOTITLÁN, AND JUXTLAHUACA by Brendan C. Stanley, B.A. A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a Major in Anthropology August 2020 Committee Members F. Kent Reilly III, Chair David A. Freidel Jim F. Garber COPYRIGHT by Brendan C. Stanley 2020 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-533, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Brendan C. Stanley, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for education or scholarly purposes only. ACKNOWLEDEGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude towards my committee members, David A. Freidel and Jim F. Garber, for their guidance and support throughout the writing process. I would especially like to thank my committee chair, long time mentor, and friend, F. Kent Reilly III, for all the support and assistance throughout the past years. This thesis would not have been possible without all your help. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 Mesoamerican Cosmology of Mountains and Mountain Caves .......................1 The Central Mexican Highlands of Morelos and Guerrero ..............................6 Olmec Art and Archeology ...............................................................................8 II. METHODS FOR INTERPRETING OLMEC ART ............................................13 Upstreaming and the Concept of Cultural Continuity ....................................13 Middle Formative Ceremonial Complex / Paradigm of the Periphery ...........17 Iconographic Analysis of Olmec Art ..............................................................20 III. PREVIOUS RESEARCH OF THE CENTRAL MEXICAN HIGHLANDS .....23 Chalcatzingo and Morelos: The Formative Gateway .....................................23 Guerrero: Mountains of Jade, Caves of Water................................................29 IV. CORPUS OF OLMEC STYLE IMAGERY IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS: MOUNTAIN MONUMENTS AND PAINTED CAVE SHRINES ..........................................................................37 The Mountain Monuments of Chalcatzingo ...................................................37 The Cave Paintings of Oxtotitlán ....................................................................53 The Paintings of Juxtlahuaca Cave .................................................................64 v V. DISCUSSION: ILLUMINATING THE ICONOGRAPHIC PATTERNS OF THE CENTRAL MEXICAN TABLEAU ......................................................70 Illumintating the Tableau ................................................................................70 Iconographic Patterns of the Central Highland Sites ......................................84 VI. CONCLUSION...................................................................................................93 Testing Original Hypotheses...........................................................................93 Significant Findings Within the Formative Period Ceremonial Complex ......99 Synthesis of Sites ..........................................................................................101 Topics for Future Research ...........................................................................105 APPENDIX SECTION ....................................................................................................108 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................197 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 01. The Dallas Plaque .................................................................................................109 02. San Martin Pajapan Mon. 1 ..................................................................................110 03. Portico 2, Tepantitla, Teotihuacan ........................................................................111 04. Cerro El Manati.....................................................................................................112 05. Chalcazingo’s Clefted Cerros ...............................................................................113 06. The Olmec World .................................................................................................114 07. Trade and Migration Routes of the Olmec ...........................................................115 08. Location of Oxtotitlan and Juxtlahuaca ................................................................116 09. Cacahuaziziqui (Cuadzidziqui) Rock Shelter Painting .........................................117 10. Cueva de los Gobernadores Monuments 1-4 ........................................................118 11. Three Iconographic Groups of Chalcatzingo ........................................................119 12. Chalcatzingo Monument 10 ..................................................................................120 13. Chalcatzingo Monument 2 ....................................................................................121 14. Chalcatzingo Mon. 3 .............................................................................................122 15. Chalcatzingo Mon. 4 .............................................................................................123 16. Chalcatzingo Monument 45 ..................................................................................124 17. Chalcatzingo Mon. 31 ...........................................................................................125 18. Chalcatzingo Mon 41 ...........................................................................................126 vii 19. Chalcatzingo Monument 5 ....................................................................................127 20. A Formative Period version of Acipactli, the mythical alligator gar or fish gator ...................................................................................128 21. Late Classic Structure 22 at Copán: Cosmic Monsters and the Milky Way ..............................................................129 22. The Cosmic Monster and the Milky Way .............................................................130 23. Gods emerging from maws of celestial dragon creatures .....................................131 24. Mon. 13, “El Governor” ........................................................................................132 25. Chalcatzingo Mon. 1, “El Rey” ............................................................................133 26. Chalcatzingo Monument 6 ....................................................................................134 27. Chalcatzingo Mon. 7 .............................................................................................135 28. Chalcatzingo Mon. 15 ...........................................................................................136 29. Chalcatzingo Mon. 14 ...........................................................................................137 30. Chalcatzingo Mon. 8 .............................................................................................138 31. Chalcatzingo Mon. 11 ...........................................................................................139 32. Chalcatzingo’s Water Dancing Group ..................................................................140 33. Map of Oxtotitlan Paintings ..................................................................................141 34. Oxtotitlan Mural I .................................................................................................142 35. Oxtotitlan Murall II ...............................................................................................143 36. Oxtotitlan North Grotto Entrance Grouping (Paintings 7, 8, and 9) .....................144 37. Oxtotitlan Painting A-1, “El Diablo” ....................................................................145 viii 38. Olmec Sky Dragons: Oxtotitlan South Grotto Paintings and Chalcatzingo El Rey ...................................................................................146 39. Oxtotitlan Painting A-3, a Tlaloc Face .................................................................147 40. Oxtotitlan Paintings A-2 and B-2: a kneeling humanoid and leaping deer ..........148 41. Oxtotitlan Paintings 4, 5, and 6: an Olmec Face and Bundles ..............................149 42. Oxtotitlan Painting 3 .............................................................................................150 43. Quadripartite grouping at northern end of the north grotto ..................................151 44. Oxtotitlan Painting 1-d ..........................................................................................152