Full Description
From the early cities in the second millennium BC to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan on the eve of the Spanish conquest, Ancient Mesoamericans created landscapes full of meaning and power in the center of their urban spaces. The sixteenth century description of Tenochtitlan by Bernal Diaz del Castillo and the archaeological remnants of Teotihuacan attest to the power and centrality of these urban configurations in Ancient Mesoamerican history. In Landscape and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica, Rex Koontz, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, and Annabeth Headrick explore the cultural logic that structured and generated these centers.Through case studies of specific urban spaces and their meanings, the authors examine the general principles by which the Ancient Mesoamericans created meaningful urban space. In a profoundly interdisciplinary exchange involving both archaeologists and art historians, this volume connects the symbolism of those landscapes, the performances that activated this symbolism, and the cultural poetics of these ensembles.
Contents
Foreword , Preface , The Cultural Poetics of Power and Space in Ancient Mesoamerica , What the Heck's Coatépec? The Formative Roots of an Enduring Mythology , Procession Rituals and Shrine Sites: The Politics of Sacred Space In the Late Formative Valley of Oaxaca , Sacred Geography at Izapa and the Performance of Rulership , Dance Performances at Quiriguá , The Poetics of Power and Knowledge at La Venta , Merging Myth and Politics: The Three Temple Complex at Teotihuacan , A Model for Late Classic Community Structure at Copán, Honduras , The Form of Power: The Architectural Meaning of Building A of El Tajín , Political Rhetoric and the Unification of Natural Geography, Cosmic Space, and Gender Spheres , Mountain of Heaven, Mountain of Earth: The Great Pyramid of Cholula as Sacred Landscape , A Sense of Place at Chichén Itzá
