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Making Something of Herself: Embodiment in Life and Death at Playa de los Muertos, Honduras

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2003

Rosemary A. Joyce
Rosemary A. Joyce
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3710, USA; rajoyce@berkeley.edu.
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Abstract

Through an analysis of hand-modelled human figurines created in the Ulua River Valley of northern Honduras between 900 and 200 bc, this article explores the recursive links between crafting representations of bodies and crafting physical bodies. ‘Playa de los Muertos’-style figurines are characterized by extremely detailed treatment of hair and ornaments. They have been treated as unique portraits, each individualized, and have resisted broader archaeological interpretation. Drawing on recent excavation data, this article explores the treatment of bodies and representations of bodies within a single set of interconnected villages as material media of embodiment.

Keywords

embodimentfigurines, HondurasUlua River ValleyPlaya de los Muertos figurines
Type
SPECIAL SECTION: Embodying Identity in Archaeology
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , October 2003 , pp. 248 - 261
Copyright
2003 The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

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