Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T18:23:00.844Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

PERSONAL ART IN TEOTIHUACAN: THE THIN ORANGE GRAFFITI

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2015

Michael W. Spence
Michael W. Spence*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaN5X 4R3
*
E-mail correspondence to: spence@uwo.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the Classic period Teotihuacan imported large quantities of Thin Orange ware from the Tepexi de Rodríguez area of Puebla. Thin Orange bowls were widely distributed in the city, many of them with post-firing graffiti inscribed on their walls or bases. Although not highly visible, the graffiti seem to have served as owner's marks. Some of the images, particularly in the city's central zone with its high concentration of elite residences and public structures, were drawn from the formal iconography of Teotihuacan. Most, however, seem to have been idiosyncratic expressions of personal identity or simply marks with no wider meaning. This general disinterest in the formal iconography as a source of personal imagery suggests that the ideology of the state may not have penetrated deeply into the daily lives of most Teotihuacanos and may even have stimulated some resistance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , Fall 2015 , pp. 295 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Angulo, Jorge 1996 Teotihuacán. Aspectos de la cultura a través de su expresión pictórica. In La pintura mural prehispánica en México I, Teotihuacán: Tomo II, Estudios, edited by de la Fuente, Beatriz, pp. 65–186. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Barbour, Warren 1976 The Figurines and Figurine Chronology of Ancient Teotihuacan, Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Rochester, Rochester.Google Scholar
Berrin, Kathleen (editor) 1988 Feathered Serpents and Flowering Trees: Reconstructing the Murals of Teotihuacan. The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey (editor) 2003 The Maya and Teotihuacan: Reinterpreting Early Classic Interaction. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Brumfiel, Elizabeth M. 1996 Figurines and the Aztec State: Testing the Effectiveness of Ideological Domination. In Gender and Archaeology, edited by Wright, Rita P., pp. 143–166. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Cabrera Castro, Rubén 1996a Caracteres glíficos teotihuacanos en un piso de La Ventilla. In La pintura mural prehispánica en México I, Teotihuacán: Tomo II, Estudios, edited by de la Fuente, Beatriz, pp. 401–427. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Cabrera Castro, Rubén 1996b Figuras glíficas de La Ventilla, Teotihuacan. Arqueología 15:27–40.Google Scholar
Charlton, Thomas H., Otis Charlton, Cynthia L., and Sanders, William T. 2002 Influencias urbanas dentro de comunidades rurales: Teotihuacan y sus dependencias cercanas, 100 a.C. – d.C. 650 In Ideología y política a través de materiales, imágenes y símbolos: Memoria de la primera mesa redonda de Teotihuacan, edited by Gallut, María Elena Ruiz, pp. 487–499. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Clayton, Sarah 2009 Ritual Diversity and Social Identities: A Study of Mortuary Behaviors at Teotihuacan. Ph.D. dissertation, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Clayton, Sarah 2013 Measuring the Long Arm of the State: Teotihuacan's Relations in the Basin of Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 24:87–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conides, Cynthia 1997 Social Relations among Potters in Teotihuacan, Mexico. Museum Anthropology 21:39–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conides, Cynthia 2001 The Stuccoed and Painted Ceramics from Teotihuacan, Mexico: A Study of Authorship and Function of Works of Art from an Ancient Mesoamerican City. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, New York.Google Scholar
Cowgill, George L. 1993 Distinguished Lecture in Archeology: Beyond Criticizing New Archeology. American Anthropologist 95:551–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowgill, George L., Altschul, Jeffrey, and Sload, Rebecca 1984 Spatial Analysis of Teotihuacan: A Mesoamerican Metropolis. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, edited by Hietala, Harold, pp. 154–195. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Cowgill, George L., Sload, Rebecca, and Powell, Whitney 1981 Index of Computer Maps of Teotihuacan Mapping Project Data. Unpublished maps in possession of George Cowgill, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
de la Fuente, Beatriz 1995a Tetitla. In La pintura mural prehispánica en México I, Teotihuácan: Tomo I, Catálogo, edited by de la Fuente, Beatriz, pp. 259–311. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
de la Fuente, Beatriz 1995b Zona 5A. Conjunto del Sol. In La pintura mural prehispánica en México I, Teotihuácan: Tomo I, Catálogo, edited by de la Fuente, Beatriz, pp. 59–79. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
de la Fuente, Beatriz (editor) 1995 La pintura mural prehispánica en México I, Teotihuácan: Tomo I, Catálogo. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
de la Fuente, Beatriz (editor) 1996 La pintura mural prehispánica de México I, Teotihuacán: Tomo II, Estudios. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Evans, Susan, and Berlo, Janet 1992 Teotihuacan: an Introduction. In Art, Ideology, and the City of Teotihuacan, edited by Berlo, Janet, pp. 1–26. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Gómez Chávez, Sergio 2000 La Ventilla: Un barrio de la antigua ciudad de Teotihuacan. Licenciatura thesis, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Gómez Chávez, Sergio, and Hernández, Jaime Núñez 1999 Análisis preliminar del patrón y la distribución espacial de entierros en el barrio de La Ventilla. In Prácticas funerarias en la Ciudad de los Dioses:Los enterramientos humanos de la antigua Teotihuacan, edited by Manzanilla, Linda and Serrano, Carlos, pp. 81–147. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Gómez Chávez, Sergio, and Spence, Michael W. 2012 Interaction among the Complex Societies of Classic-Period Mesoamerica. In The Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology, edited by Nichols, Deborah L. and Pool, Christopher A., pp. 283–297. Oxford University Press, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greene, Virginia, and Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1966 A Teotihuacan-Style Vessel from Tikal. American Antiquity 31:432–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haviland, William A., and Haviland, Anita de Laguna 1995 Glimpses of the Supernatural: Altered States of Consciousness and the Graffiti of Tikal, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 6:295–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutson, Scott R. 2011 The Art of Becoming: The Graffiti of Tikal, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 22:403–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kidder, Alfred V., Jennings, Jesse, and Shook, Edwin 1946 Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication, No.561. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Kolb, Charles C. 1986 Commercial Aspects of Classic Teotihuacan Period “Thin Orange” Wares. Research in Economic Anthropology, Supplement 2:155–205.Google Scholar
Kubler, George 1967 The Iconography of the Art of Teotihuacan. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, No. 4. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Langley, James C. 1986 Symbolic Notation of Teotihuacan: Elements of Writing in a Mesoamerican Culture of the Classic Period. BAR International Series 313. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langley, James C. 1992 Teotihuacan Sign Clusters: Emblem or Articulation? In Art, Ideology, and the City of Teotihuacan, edited by Berlo, Janet, pp. 247–280. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Leopold, A. Starker 1977 Fauna Silvestre de México. Instituto Mexicano de Recursos Naturales Renovables, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Luna, Albino 1996 La flora representada en la iconografía pictórica. In La pintura mural prehispánica en México I, Teotihuacán: Tomo II, Estudios, edited by de la Fuente, Beatriz, pp. 369–389. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda 2006 Estados corporativos arcaicos. Organizaciones de excepción en escenarios excluyentes. Cuicuilco 13:13–45.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda, and Carreón, Emilie 1991 A Teotihuacan Censer in a Residential Context: An Interpretation. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:299–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda, Butrón, Agustín Ortiz, and Jiménez, Miguel Ángel 1993 La cerámica del conjunto residencial excavado. In Anatomía de un conjunto residencial teotihuacano en Oztoyahualco I: las excavaciones, edited by Manzanilla, Linda, pp. 195–387. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Miller, Arthur 1973 The Mural Painting of Teotihuacan. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Millon, René 1973 The Teotihuacán Map. Urbanization at Teotihuacán, Mexico, Volume 1, Part 1. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Millon, René 1981 Teotihuacan: City, State, and Civilization. In Archaeology, edited by Sabloff, Jeremy, pp. 198–243. Handbook of Middle American Indians, Supplement 1. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Millon, René 1988 Where Do They All Come from? The Provenance of the Wagner Murals from Teotihuacan. In Feathered Serpents and Flowering Trees: Reconstructing the Murals of Teotihuacan, edited by Berrin, Kathleen, pp. 78–113. The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Millon, René 2002 Comentarios finales. In Ideología y política a través de materiales, imágenes y símbolos:Memoria de la primera mesa redonda de Teotihuacan, edited by Gallut, María Elena Ruiz, pp. 761–797. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Monzon, Martha 1989 Casas prehispánicas en Teotihuacán. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca.Google Scholar
Navarijo Ornelas, Lourdes 1996 La presencia de las aves en la pintura mural teotihuacana. In La pintura mural en México I, Teotihuacán: Tomo II, Estudios, edited by de la Fuente, Beatriz, pp. 325–341. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Ortega, Verónica 2009 Proyecto de investigación arqueológica, barrio Oaxaqueño Tlailotlacan, Teotihuacan, temporada 2009: Informe técnico de excavaciones arqueológicas y análisis de materiales. Report to the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Padilla Rodríguez, Román, and Zúñiga, Julio Ruiz 1995 Sector 1. In La pintura mural prehispánica en México I, Teotihuácan: Tomo I, Catálogo, edited by de la Fuente, Beatriz, pp. 164–172. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Palomares, Maria Teresa 2000 Propuesta functional de graffiti en la cerámica mazapa de Teotihuacán. Unpublished manuscript in possession of the author.Google Scholar
Pasztory, Esther 1974 The Iconography of the Teotihuacan Tlaloc. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, No. 15. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Patrois, Julie 2013 Río Bec Graffiti: A Private Form of Art. Ancient Mesoamerica 24:433–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paulinyi, Zoltán 2014 The Butterfly Bird God and His Myth at Teotihuacan. Ancient Mesoamerica 25:29–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn 1990 New Findings on the Origins of Thin Orange Ceramics. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:181–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn 1992 The Teotihuacan Burials and Offerings: A Commentary and Inventory. Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology, No. 42. Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn 2001 Teotihuacan: Ceramics, Chronology and Cultural Trends. University of Pittsburgh, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Pittsburgh and Mexico City.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn 2004 Etnicidad en el barrio de los comerciantes, Teotihuacan, y sus relaciones con Veracruz. In La costa del Golfo en tiempos teotihuacanos: propuestas y perspectivas. Memoria de la segunda mesa redonda de Teotihuacan, edited by Gallut, María Elena Ruiz and Soto, Arturo Pascual, pp. 493–512. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Sánchez, Jesús Evaristo 1996 Los dibujos esgrafiados teotihuacanos: ¿un lenguaje simbólico? In Segundo y tercer coloquios de documentos pictográficos de tradición Nahautl, edited by Monjaras-Ruiz, Jesús, Rocha, Emma Pérez and Valle, Perla, pp. 165–229. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Sánchez Alaniz, José Ignacio 2000 Las unidades habitacionales en Teotihuacan: el caso de Bidasoa. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Séjourné, Laurette 1959 Un palacio en la Ciudad de los Dioses. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Séjourné, Laurette 1963 La cerámica de Teotihuacan, México. Cuadernos Americanos 22:133–184.Google Scholar
Séjourné, Laurette 1966a Arquitectura y pintura en Teotihuacán. Siglo Veintiuno Editores, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Séjourné, Laurette 1966b Arqueología de Teotihuacan: La cerámica. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Séjourné, Laurette 1966c El lenguaje de las formas en Teotihuacán. Talleres de Litoarte, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Sempowski, Martha 1994 Mortuary Practices at Teotihuacan. In Mortuary Practices and Skeletal Remains at Teotihuacan, edited by Millon, René, pp. 1–311. Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Volume 3. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Soleri, Daniela, Winter, Marcus, Bozarth, Steven, and Hurst, Jeffrey 2013 Archaeological Residues and Recipes: Exploratory Testing for Evidence of Maize and Cacao Beverages in Postclassic Vessels from the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 24:345–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1989 Excavaciones recientes en Tlailotlacan, el barrio oaxaqueño de Teotihuacan. Arqueología 5:81–104.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1992 Tlailotlacan, a Zapotec Enclave in Teotihuacan. In Art, Ideology, and the City of Teotihuacan, edited by Berlo, Janet, pp. 59–88. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 2002 Domestic ritual in Tlailotlacan, Teotihuacan. In Domestic ritual in ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Plunket, Patricia, pp. 53–66. The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Monograph 46, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 2005 A Zapotec Diaspora Network in Classic-Period Central Mexico. In The Archaeology of Colonial Encounters: Comparative Perspectives, edited by Stein, Gil J., pp. 173–205. School of American Research Press, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W., and Rattray, Evelyn C. 2002 Los dibujos esgrafiados de la cerámica teotihuacana. In Ideología y política a través de materiales, imágenes y símbolos: Memoria de la primera mesa redonda de Teotihuacan, edited by Gallut, María Elena Ruiz, pp. 101–115. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo, and Castro, Rubén Cabrera 2007 The Moon Pyramid Project and the Teotihuacan State Polity: A Brief Summary of the 1998–2004 Excavations. Ancient Mesoamerica 18:109–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taube, Karl 2000 The Writing System of Ancient Teotihuacan. The Center for Ancient American Studies, Ancient America, No 1. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
von Winning, Hasso 1981 La iconografía de Teotihuacan: Los dioses y los signos. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar