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The Symbolism, Use, and Archaeological Context of Masks in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2019

Guy David Hepp Open the ORCID record for Guy David Hepp [Opens in a new window] ,
Sarah B. Barber ,
Jeffrey S. Brzezinski Open the ORCID record for Jeffrey S. Brzezinski [Opens in a new window] ,
Arthur A. Joyce Open the ORCID record for Arthur A. Joyce [Opens in a new window]  and
Rachael L. Wedemeyer
Guy David Hepp
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, California State University San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA92407USA, Email: guy.hepp@csusb.edu
Sarah B. Barber
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Howard Phillips Hall Rm 309, Orlando, FL32816, USA, Email: sarah.barber@ucf.edu
Jeffrey S. Brzezinski
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, 1350 Pleasant St., 233 UCB, Boulder, CO80309USA Email: jebr9093@colorado.edu
Arthur A. Joyce
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, 1350 Pleasant St., 233 UCB, Boulder, CO80309, USA, Email: arthur.joyce@colorado.edu
Rachael L. Wedemeyer
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California Riverside, Watkins Hall, 1334, Riverside, CA92521, USA, Email: rwede001@mail.ucr.edu
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Abstract

The production and use of masks at multiple scales and in diverse contexts is a millennia-long tradition in Mesoamerica. In this paper, we explore some implications of Mesoamerican masking practices in light of materiality studies and the archaeology of the senses. We also discuss a collection of 22 masks, miniature masks and representations of masks from the lower Río Verde valley of coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. The iconography of these artefacts as well as their recovery from well-documented archaeological contexts inform our interpretations of masking practices during an approximately 2000-year span of the Formative period (2000 bc–ad 250). Specifically, we argue that these masking-related artefacts index sociocultural changes in the region, from the first villages and the advent of ceramic technology during the Early Formative period (2000–1000 bc) to a time of increasing consolidation of iconographic influence in the hands of the elite in the final centuries before the Classic period. As indicated by their continued use today, masks have long been intimates of communal activities in Oaxaca.

Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , May 2020 , pp. 257 - 274
Copyright
Copyright © McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 2019

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