Postmortem/postpartum : the intersection between fertility and Mochican ancestral power

With no written record, the religious beliefs of the Pre-Columbian Mochica civilization are much of a mystery. This paper attempts to decipher the position of the deceased Mochicans, also known as ancestors, within the society as a whole. It discusses the ways in which we can use multiple sources of information, archaeological, iconographic, ethnohistoric and ethnographic to learn about the various aspects of Mochican culture. Specifically I will use these methods for collecting data to examine at how the Mochica viewed their deceased and to argue that part of the Mochica religious system granted their dead a supernatural ability to control human and agricultural fertility. This power would give Mochican ancestors a significant place within the society.

The presence of a woman : images of La Malinche in el Lienzo de Tlaxcala

La Malinche’s serene face and beautifully dressed figure dominates the first half of the lost sixteenth century manuscript El Lienzo de Tlaxcala, which exists today in the form of a copy made after the original. In this paper I propose an expanded study of these twenty-one representations of La Malinche as they offer insight into the Tlaxcalan’s reverence, respect, and spiritual belief in La Malinche. The Tlaxcalan leaders recognized her influence on both the Spanish and indigenous leaders during the conquest and cleverly designed a painted narrative to reinforce their connection with La Malinche to enhance their position with the Spanish. Through a multi layered study that consists of a detailed account of her biography in contrast to gender roles in Pre-Hispanic America, as well as formal and iconographic analysis of rarely examined images from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala that link La Malinche to the Virgin Mary, and a review of the ethnographic research on religious beliefs among contemporary Tlaxcalans, I will demonstrate that the mutable history of this woman made her the ideal supernatural protagonist for the people of Tlaxcala.

Textile fabrics of ancient Peru

by William H. Holmes.

An ethnographic collection from the Northern Ute in the Field Museum of Natural History / James W. VanStone.

n.s. no.28(1997)

Historic Ingalik settlements along the Yukon, Innoko, and Anvik Rivers, Alaska / James W. VanStone, Curator, North American Archaeology and Ethnology, Field Museum of Natural History.

v.72(1979)

A late pre-Hispanic ceramic chronology for the upper Moquegua Valley, Peru / Charles Stanish.

n.s. no.16(1991)

Mesquakie (Fox) material culture : the William Jones and Frederick Starr collections / James W. VanStone.

n.s. no.30(1998)

A seriation of the late prehistoric Santa Maria culture of northwestern Argentina / Ronald L. Weber, Field Museum of Natural History.

v.68:no.2(1968)

Material culture of the Chilcotin Athapaskans of west central British Columbia : collections in the Field Museum of Natural History / James W. VanStone.

n.s. no.20(1993)

Late Mogollon pottery types of the Reserve area / John B. Rinaldo, Assistant Curator, Archaeology, and Elaine A. Bluhm, Assistant, Archaeology.

v.36:no.7(1956)

Changing kinship systems: a study in the acculturation of the Creeks, Cherokee, and Choctaw / by Alexander Spoehr, Curator, Oceanic Ethnology. Formerly Curator, North American Ethnology and Archaeology.

v.33:no.4(1947)

The Mishongnovi ceremonies of the Snake and Antelope fraternities / by George A. Dorsey -- and H. R. Voth.

v.3:no.3(1902)

The Florida Seminole camp / by Alexander Spoehr, Curator, North American Ethnology and Archaeology.

v.33:no.3(1944)

Ethnographic collections from the Assiniboine and Yanktonai Sioux in the Field Museum of Natural History / James W. VanStone.

n.s. no.26(1996)