Book contents
- Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica
- Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Preclassic Figuration
- 2 Monumental Sculpture and the Human Form during the Early and Middle Preclassic Periods
- 3 Early and Middle Preclassic Figuration in Clay
- 4 Figurines at Middle Preclassic La Blanca
- 5 Figurines, Fragmentation, and Social Ties
- 6 Changing Discourses of Human Representation in Late Preclassic Mesoamerica
- 7 High Culture and Human Representation in Late Preclassic Mesoamerica
- Epilogue
- Notes
- References
- Index
6 - Changing Discourses of Human Representation in Late Preclassic Mesoamerica
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 February 2020
- Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica
- Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Preclassic Figuration
- 2 Monumental Sculpture and the Human Form during the Early and Middle Preclassic Periods
- 3 Early and Middle Preclassic Figuration in Clay
- 4 Figurines at Middle Preclassic La Blanca
- 5 Figurines, Fragmentation, and Social Ties
- 6 Changing Discourses of Human Representation in Late Preclassic Mesoamerica
- 7 High Culture and Human Representation in Late Preclassic Mesoamerica
- Epilogue
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
Chapter 6 shifts its focus to the Late Preclassic period and explores the implications of the dramatic figurine cessation that characterized the south coast of Mesoamerica, which was paralleled by an upsurge in the production of stone monuments featuring the bodies of ruling elites. It explores the relationship between these processes and state formation, or the increase ofcentralized political authority, arguing that understandings of the social utility of human figuration was at the heart of these dynamics. Its emphasis is on both the power – and threat – of human figuration as well as its corollary, bodily fragmentation, which exponentially increased the potency of any single object through its fragmentation into constituent pieces. It summons a great deal of mythic evidence from Mesoamerica to supports its points, but also discusses a much broader cross section of global literature concerning the ritual efficacy of human representation and its potential, if unregulated, to result in social and political chaos.
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- Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic MesoamericaFrom Figurines to Sculpture, pp. 113 - 138Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020