Unknown Mexico

Panel 1: Unknown Mexico

Here is a question to start out with: Why does this exhibit begin with a female figure? Does it suggest a culture which differs noticeably from that of the Mayas and Aztecs? What assumptions would you make about the ancient peoples of the Sierra Madres, based on this one image? How would you test the validity of your assumptions? Are you prepared to change your ideas about the culture and the image after you learn more?

Panel 2: Ancient West Mexico: An Overview

This panel uses two maps to identify the region described as West Mexico and set it in relation to the rest of Mexico and the North American continent. The landscape image rendered in pastels, "A Scene in the Sierra Madres," is based on an illustration used in a book published in 1902 by Norwegian explorer and naturalist, Carl Lumholtz. The figurines and vessels represent cultures that flourished in ancient West Mexico from 500 BC to 1500 AD. Because many of the artifacts that we now see in museums were taken from their original sites by looters, it is perhaps impossible to know for a fact what these objects meant to their makers and users. At times, also, it is a challenge for specialists to determine where the objects came from. Works are distinguished as being West Mexican by appearance--conspicuous details in dress, ornamentation, and paraphernalia--and not by a ceramic analysis or method of manufacture.

Activities and Questions:

1. What is a ceramic analysis? How would it be conducted? Where would it be conducted? Why would it be of little use where West Mexican artifacts are concerned?
2. Define the term "Looter." Why do archaeologists and scholars oppose the activities of looters? Under what circumstances might an individual become a looter?
3. Research the geography of West Mexico. Make an oral report on the land forms, the climate and atmosphere, the indigenous plants and animals, and the special challenges for human habitation.
4. Compile a list of five to ten museums outside of Mexico with a sizable collection of artifacts from Ancient West Mexico. Write to one of the museums asking for general and specific information about the collection. What are some questions that you will ask? To whom in the museum should you address your inquiry?

Panel 3: CHUPICUARO BURIAL—I

The area defined as West Mexico includes the modern states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Colima, Michoacán, and the southern border of Guanajuato. The Chupicuaro archaeological site was discovered on the banks of the Lerma River straddling the present day Michoacán-Guanajuato border. Excavated in the 1940s, Chupicuaro is thought to have been an important cultural link between the civilizations of the Preclassic Period (1000 BC-300 AD) of Central and Far West Mexico.

Activities and Questions:

1. Compare the painted bowl with an animal face and the painted bowl with a human face. How can you distinguish one as human and the other as animal? Notice the designs on the animal face, and trace their appearance on other vessels in the exhibit. Do you think the designs have any special meaning as used on this bowl? Do you think these designs have the same meaning each time they appear? Do they appear on articles made by later cultures?
2. Why would bowls have been put in a tomb?
3. Look at the two shoe-shaped vessels. What kind of "shoes" do they seem to be? What do you feel as you think about them? Do you think these actually were meant by their maker to represent shoes?

Panel 4: CHUPICUARO BURIAL--II

The lack of good scientific collection data makes these objects themselves our most important key to understanding the Chupicuaro culture. Click on each image and observe details closely. What clues do they offer to the daily life of the people?

Activities and Questions:

1. Look closely at the first image of two figurines. What kinds of ornaments does each figure wear? What do you notice about the ears? the shape of the face? What can such ornaments tell you about levels of social status in the culture? Why does the female figure have a bird on her headdress?
2. What distinguishes one pair of figurines from another in the next image? Write two sentences to describe each of the four figures. Next, write three sentences telling how the couple on the left differs from the couple on the right.
3. What animals are represented by the two animal figurines? What animals were typically present in the culture of Chupicuaro? What animals would not be found there?
4. Look at the grouping identified as "small human figures." Do you think these actually were designed as a group? What details do you use to make your decision?
5. Why would an artist design vessels in human form? How can you find more information about the use of such vessels?
6. How many birds have you seen in the artifacts from Chupicuaro? Are they all alike? Do they convey the same impression or feeling?

Panel 5: CHUPICUARO LIFE

Activities and Questions:

1. Archaeologists define the pre-history of Mexico as passing through several epochs: The Preclassic (or Formative) period, which is divided into three epochs: Early Formative, Middle Formative, and Late Formative; then the Classic, and the Post-Classic periods. Can you provide dates for these periods? Where would you look for information? Will you find the same dates used in reference to all cultures in ancient Mexico? Why do some scholars prefer the term Formative to Preclassic?
2. Why are these defined as prehistoric times? What determines whether something is or is not historic?
3. What different methods of manufacture are represented in the images on this panel? Notice the painting on the images. Where did the people get their paints? Does the fact that images are painted add to their importance?
4. If an article is not painted, then how may its importance be made visible?

Panel 6: CARL LUMHOLTZ

Lumholtz continues to be a primary source of information on the civilizations of the Sierra Madres, which he himself called "Unknown Mexico/México Desconocido." His book in two volumes, originally printed in 1902, has been republished for modern readers.

Activities and Questions:

1. Organize a report on the life and contributions of Carl Lumholtz. Where will you look for information?
2. Assume that you are to make an exploration of West Mexico in the year 1892. What would you take with you? How would you travel? How would you stay in touch with people at home?
3. Write a story describing one or two days of your trip. How would things be different if you make the trip in 1992?

Panel 7: THE SHAFT-TOMB ARC

Shaft Tomb Cultures

The ancient peoples who inhabited the present day Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima are best known for their unique shaft-chamber tombs and the remarkable pottery figures and vessels that have been discovered deep within them. As with many ancient cultures, we do not know the names by which these pre-Columbian peoples called themselves. Archaeologists have named them after the localities in which their remains were discovered.

Most of the pottery objects from this region were unscientifically removed from tombs and burials; therefore, much of the important archaeological data has been lost. The interpretation of these pieces has ranged form the purely secular to the more currently accepted attribution of sacred and supernatural associations.

As an instance of how interpretations have changed, in The Handbook of Middle American Indians, published in 1971, one scholar comments on the "lack of deities" among sculptures that have been found and the sense that these sculptures show individuals in activities of everyday life. More recently, scholars have drawn ethnographic analogies that relate the shaft tomb peoples to living cultures, such as the Cora and Huichol Indians who dwell in Nayarit and Jalisco today, and they talk of how thoroughly their art was imbued with religious imagery.

Colima Animals

Colima is noted for its ceramic representations of animals and sea creatures including dogs, ducks, frogs, gophers, crabs, parrots, armadillos, snakes, snails, and owls. It has been suggested that the animal figures may depict a "nahual" or guardian spirit of the deceased. This, however, seems an unlikely role for some of the figures, especially the sea creatures. Many of these ceramics are vessels and may have contained food or liquid placed in the tomb to accompany the deceased to the afterworld.

Colima Dogs

In some parts of pre-Columbian Mexico, hairless dogs (xoloitzcuintli) were fattened and eaten. These Colima specimens may have been intended for the same fate, but their frequent presence in tombs probably indicates a more important function. Spanish chroniclers of 16th-century Central Mexico reported a widespread belief that a dog ferried the souls of the deceased across a river to the afterworld.

Shaman Figure

In many traditional cultures, horns are an indicator of supernatural power. Colima figures frequently appear to have single horns growing out of their heads. Sometimes the horns look like they are strapped to the head. These "one horns" are thought to be shamans or priests. Shamans are individuals (men or women) who are in direct contact with the spirit world.

Activities and Questions:

1. What is meant by the term ethnographic analogy? Give an example.
2. Outline the process followed at an archaeological dig. What is meant by the term "archaeological data"? Why does it matter if an article is removed unscientifically from a tomb? Under what circumstances does this kind of removal usually take place?
3. What is a shaman? The shaman is shown wearing a shell necklace. Where did the shells come from? What kind of shells are they? Can you find out whether they have a specific meaning in relation to the shaman?
4. What is a palanquin? What person in society would be most likely to use a palanquin? Who would be most likely to carry it? What details, besides riding or carrying, convey information about social status?
5. Hollow red ceramic dogs are a hallmark of Colima pottery. One scholar says that most dog effigies are presented as well-rounded, since dogs were fattened as a delicacy to supplement the diet. Do you agree or disagree with this interpretation? What are the reasons for your decision?

Panel 8: SHAFT TOMB CULTURES AND STYLES

The pre-Columbian peoples of West Mexico created a tremendous variety of largely hollow ceramic figures to accompany burials. The major figure types have been named after the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima, but these divisions are based on style rather than geography. Since these people left no written records, we know very little about their daily life, language, religion, or social organization. The ceramic figures have become an important key to understanding these cultures as they portray in artistic form many of the activities, customs, and styles of dress of their makers.

Activities and Questions:

1. People may have believed that the hunchback was endowed with magic powers as bearers of good or bad luck. Can you identify similar images of afflicted or deformed individuals in ancient Mexican art from other cultures?
2. In the Colima culture, lower social status is signified by a smaller size and the role played by the figure, as a litter bearer, water carrier, warrior, musician, etc. Figures that are shown as carrying a burden often have a tumpline (mecapol) or band across the forehead. Categorize the figures from the shaft tomb cultures (Panels 8-13) according to status.
3. Look up the meaning of these words: Gadrooned. Terracotta. Effigy. Write a paragraph about the pottery on Panel 8, making appropriate use of each of these words.

Panel 9: SHAFT TOMB CONSTRUCTION

1. How many different types of construction do you see in panel 9? Why do you suppose so many shapes of tomb were made?
2. Did the people forget, from one burial to another, how tombs should be designed?
3. Did the composition of the earth force them to change designs?

Panel 10: AN INTERPRETIVE DRAWING

The tomb at San Sebastian also contained 40 ceramic vessels and several pottery boxes. The climate of the region and the composition of the burial chamber walls hastened the deterioration of most of the organic material originally placed in the tombs.

Distinguish between organic and inorganic materials. Name examples of each.

Panel 12: MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND DISHES FOR THE DEAD

The Huichol Connection

The Huichol Indians live today in the highlands of West Mexico just north of the ancient shaft tomb arc. Many scholars believe that the modern Huichol concepts of shamanism and religion are contemporary survivals of a pre-Columbian belief system. Although there have been considerable scholarly differences of opinion regarding the connection between pre-Columbian peoples and the Huichol, the study of Huichol myths and beliefs has nevertheless proven to be a valuable aid in understanding the symbolism of ancient West Mexico.

Amapa is an archaeological site in Nayarit excavated in 1959. According to Spanish documents, the region was densely populated at the time of contact but had no named population center. Archaeologists have determined that Amapa includes a habitation site, a small ceremonial complex, a ball court, and a huge cemetery. There are some 200 mounds in the region; these have contained only dirt fill and river cobbles. Evidence shows that the houses were of wattle-and-daub, adobe brick, or adobe cell construction.

Activities and Questions:

1. Define the terms: wattle-and-daub; ceremonial complex; habitation site; adobe brick; adobe cell. Draw a picture of the three types of house construction.
2. Draw a ground plan of an imaginary archaeological site. What are some essential details that must appear in your plan? For instance, what site-features are always facing the East?
3. Notice that the designer of the panel exhibit has drawn a jagged spiral image like that on the bowl behind the warrior with a stick. Both the bowl and the warrior are identified as being from Nayarit. What do you suppose the spiral image means? Does it appear on objects from other shaft tomb cultures?

Panel 13: TOMB GUARDIANS

The Significance of the Tomb Figures

When first discovered, the figures were thought to be nothing more than representations of everyday village life. Archaeologists initially assumed that since these cultures were not as highly developed as those of Central Mexico, they could not possibly have a sophisticated belief system.

Many scholars now believe that these figures depict deities, shamans, and priestly rituals. Given their important function as tomb sculpture, this assessment seems more nearly correct.

Write a paragraph agreeing or disagreeing with the italicized statement above. Organize in order of importance (most important to least important) the reasons for your opinion.

Panel 14: THE TARASCAN EMPIRE

Who were the Tarascans?

The Tarascan people had established themselves in Michoacán by the 12th century AD Their exact origin remains unknown, but linguistic similarities to the Quechua language of South America have been noted. South America may also have been the source for the Tarascan pottery styles and metalworking techniques that were not previously known in Mexico.

The Tarascan capital city of Tzintzuntzan was dominated by a huge platform supporting a row of five temple pyramids called yácatas. From this religious and administrative center, the Tarascans waged war against their neighbors.

Although Tarascan society was socially stratified with nobility, commoners, and slaves, there is no archaeological evidence to indicate that the Tarascan sites were much more than rural settlements, the exception being their capital city of Tzintzuntzan. The Tarascans were excellent craftsmen in many materials. Their metalworking skills were the most advanced in Mexico. They were also accomplished at pottery making and lapidary work. Their utilitarian domestic pottery contrasted sharply with the exotic designs of funerary pottery.

Products such as honey, cotton, feathers, copal, and deposits of salt, gold, and copper were highly prized by the Tarascans. Neighboring regions that possessed these commodities quickly became a primary target of military expansion. When conquered, the peoples of these regions were expected to pay tributes of material goods to the Tarascan lord.

Tarascan Religion

Like the Aztecs, the Tarascans had many deities, each with their own attributes, requirements, sacred colors, associated animals, and calendrical days. The most ancient and revered Tarascan deity was Curicaueri, the fire god. A Tarascan origin myth tells the story of how Curicaueri and his brother gods founded the settlements around Lake Pátzcuaro. The pre-Columbian Tarascans believed themselves to be Curicaueri's descendants. When rulers and priests dressed in their ritual finery and performed ceremonial dances, they were affirming the connection to their ancestor gods.

The Aztecs attempted more than once to conquer the Tarascan lands but never attained their goal. This left the Aztecs with a major rival on their western border. In combat, they repeatedly suffered grievous losses to the Tarascan armies. For example, in 1478 the ruling Aztec lord, Axayacatl, marched against the Tarascans. He found his army of 24,000 confronted by an opposing force of more than 40,000 Tarascan warriors. A ferocious battle went on all day. Many of the Aztec warriors were badly wounded by arrows, stones, spears, and sword thrusts. The following day, the Aztecs were forced to retreat, having suffered the loss of more than half of their elite warriors.

The arrival of the Spanish Captain Hernán Cortés and his men on the east coast of Mexico in April 1519 led to the end of both the Aztec and the Tarascan Empires. Knowing that the Spaniards were on their way to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, the Aztecs sent some emissaries to the Tarascans to ask for help. Instead of providing assistance, they sacrificed the Aztec messengers. Tenochtitlán fell in 1520 after a bloody siege. The Tarascans' turn came in 1522. The last Tarascan king, Tangaxoan II, offered little resistance. Once he submitted, all the other Tarascan realms surrendered peacefully. After the conquest, the Spanish crown appointed Don Vasco de Quiroga to govern the Tarascan villages. He decided that each community should be noted for the production of a specialized art form. This vision of artistic specialization and commercial production persists today.

Tarascan Grave Goods

All manner of personal objects would have been placed in Tarascan burials. Common grave offerings included miniature pottery vessels; bells, needles, tweezers, and axes made of copper; long-stemmed clay smoking pipes; obsidian lip plugs, ear spools, and knives; shell beads; highly decorated pottery vessels, some filled with food and drink; and occasionally even gold ornaments.

Why isn't the Tarascan Empire better known? Remarks made by sixteenth century Spanish soldiers and missionaries give the impression that the Tarascan king was considered to be second in power only to the Aztec ruler Moctezuma. Some early accounts even rank the two as equals. Missionaries who served among both the Aztecs and the Tarascans considered the Tarascans superior to all other peoples in New Spain. So why isn't the Tarascan Empire better known today?

Unlike the Aztecs, the Tarascans left no personal documentary histories, and they had no missionary-historian-defender ready to write down their story as it might have been dictated at the time of conquest. The best source of historical information is the Relación de Michoacán compiled by an anonymous Spanish Franciscan friar around 1538. (By way of contrast, there are several well known Hispanic treatises concerning the Aztecs.) The Relación de Michoacán, coupled with archaeological excavations and a significant body of pottery, copper, and stone objects affords us a glimpse into the lives of these West Mexican peoples.

The Yácata

The Yácata, a typically Tarascan building, appears to have been used as both a mortuary and a habitation. The structure consists of three parts whose ground plan is shaped more or less like a capital T: a rectangular stepped pyramid, a round stepped pyramid that is placed at the mid-point of the rectangle, and a stepped passageway which joins the round structure to the rectangle.

Carl Lumholtz describes three yácatas which he saw in the Sierra de los Tarascos: "The mound is built of stones, without mortar, in the shape of a 'T,' each arm about 50 feet long and thirty-two feet high. The western arm terminates in a circular construction, a kind of knob. The sides all rise in regular steps from the ground, and the level surface on top of the arms is only six feet wide, while the base is twenty feet broad. These encircling steps make the monument singularly symmetrical and graceful."

Stirrup Vessels

A hollow, stirrup-shaped handle on pottery is a defining characteristic of the Tarascans. Discovery of vessels with such a handle is taken by archaeologists to mean that the Tarascans occupied or made use of a zone.

Activities and Questions:

1. Compare the Yácata with a pyramid from another pre-Columbian site shown in Mexico: Splendors of 30 Centuries (Teotihuacán, Monte Albán, or Chichén Itzá). What are the main differences between the structures? How did they differ in use? Where can you find more detailed information about the Yácata?
2. How would a stirrup-handle be made? How else might handles be made for pottery?

Activities and Questions:

1. Describe the different kinds of designs on the bowls. What images or figures do you see? How can you determine what a design might have meant to the person making or using the bowl?
2. Why would a chain of copper bells be included in a burial site?

Panel 16: TARASCAN TOOLS

The Tarascans of Michoacán

Tarascan is actually the Spanish name for the native people of northern Michoacán. They call themselves the Purépecha. Despite four centuries of intensive European influence, Tarascan culture has maintained its identity. Their economy is based on farming, fishing, and the sale of traditional crafts. Some of Mexico's finest artisans live in the villages around Lake Pátzcuaro.

Clay Pipes

Pipe smoking was a well-established practice among the Indians of the southeastern United States, but it was not until after about AD 900 that the use of tobacco became widespread in Mesoamerica. The practice may have moved southward from the United States to Mexico, where tobacco had been used for medicinal purposes and taken as snuff. Elaborate designs on a pipe probably mean that it was meant for ritual and ceremonial use.

Activities and Questions:

1. What is obsidian? How did the Tarascans use it? Why would they have used it? Why would tools have been enclosed in a tomb?
2. Where can you find pictures of Lake Pátzcuaro? Collect some pictures and write a report on how people use the lake to make a living.

Panel 17: 20TH CENTURY WEST MEXICAN FOLK ART

The Huichol

Believed by some scholars to be the descendants of the ancient shaft tomb cultures, the Huichol live in the western Sierra Madre mountains of Nayarit and Jalisco. Their religious beliefs and ceremonies have been influenced little by Christianity, and they worship many deities associated with nature. In his book Unknown Mexico, published in 1902, Lumholtz wrote of the Huichol:

"All Sacred things are symbols to primitive man, and the Huichols have literally no end of them. Religion to them is a personal matter, not an institution, and therefore their whole life is religious--from the cradle to the grave wrapped up in symbolism."

The Cora, Nayarit

Closely related to the Huichol, the Cora live in the mountains of northern Nayarit. They are an agricultural people, farming maize, beans, and squash. Catholicism has fused with traditional Cora beliefs, and their religious ceremonies are supervised by shamans.

The Nahua

Living in several Mexican states including Guerrero and Michoacán, the Nahua are Mexico's largest indigenous group. They speak Nahautl, the Aztec language, and retain many ancient craft traditions such as pottery making and weaving. This does not mean that they are of Aztec descent; rather, it reflects a decision of the Spanish conquerors, who were faced with a confusing plethora of languages in West Mexico. Rather than learn all these languages, the missionaries and soldiers forced the natives to adopt the Aztec language.

Pottery Making at Zacualpa, Guerrero

Zacualpa is a Nahua Indian village in the state of Guerrero. Most of the traditional pottery wares produced there are utilitarian, but that does not limit them to being plain. Functional vessels are created in the shape of animals and humans. Each piece is hand formed without the use of a potter's wheel.

Contemporary Jalisco Pottery

Pottery making in Jalisco has embraced many 20th century customs although pre-Columbian shapes and design elements can still be seen. The potters of the village of Tonalá are well known for their elegant wares decorated with profuse but delicate designs. By contrast, the village of Santa Cruz de las Huertas is known for the wildly fantastic ceramic figures, toys, and banks produced there.

Panel 18: HUICHOL CRAFTS

Huichol Ritual Life

Dependent on the farming of maize for their survival, the Huichol hold ceremonies throughout the year to honor the growth stages of this staple crop. An essential element in Huichol religious life is peyote (Lophorora williamsii), a hallucinogenic cactus that grows in the high central plateau of northern Mexico. The annual quest for the sacred peyote symbolically reenacts a mythological ancestral migration to the present day Huichol homeland.

Art Made for sale

For the Huichol, art is prayer. It provides direct communication with, and participation in, the sacred realm. However, increased contact between the Huichols and the outside world has opened an enthusiastic market for Huichol crafts. The most common objects made for sale are woven belts, yarn god's eyes (tsikuris), beaded gourd bowls (rukuri) and large yarn paintings. All of these objects have been adapted by the artists to make them more suitable for sale.

Activities and Questions:

1. Name all the different kinds of figures represented in the large yarn painting (from the Rockefeller collection). How many people? How many women? How many men? How many kinds of animals? How many of each kind? Can you find a Shaman? How is the Shaman distinguished?
2. Look at the Shaman's mask. What images are drawn on it with yarn? What is symmetry? What prevents the mask from being perfectly symmetrical? Do you suppose this lack of symmetry is accidental or intentional?

Panel 19: HUICHOL YARN PAINTING

Activities and Questions:

1. Look at all the details in this yarn painting. How do you distinguish each symbol? What do you think the symbols mean? How can you find out whether your interpretation is correct?
2. Can you make a yarn painting or a tsikuri (a god's eye)?
3. Can you interpret important beliefs of your family, your group of friends, or your community into a pattern for a yarn painting? Make a design of your interpretations and create a yarn painting.

Panel 20: THE ART OF WEST MEXICO, ANCIENT TO MODERN

The creation of handmade objects is an essential part of Mexican Indian life. Today, centuries after the Spanish Conquest, the Indian peoples of Mexico continue to handcraft extraordinary works of art. The visual patterns used to decorate pottery and other objects are much more than simple artistic motifs. They provide evidence of the transfer of pre-Columbian knowledge to peoples living today. The continuity of ancient traditions is also present in contemporary native religions.