Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T08:01:01.209Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Business of Narrative at Tula: An Analysis of the Vestibule Frieze, Trade, and Ritual

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Cynthia Kristan-Graham
Cynthia Kristan-Graham*
Affiliation:
The Atlanta College of Art, 1280 Peachtree St., N.E., Atlanta, GA 30309
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The so-called frieze of the Caciques at Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico, is an 8-m-long bench with most of its original polychromed face intact. It formed part of a larger composition that once ran around the perimeter of the Vestibule, a colonnaded hall that served as a foyer for Pyramid B. The composition of profile males is adapted to look as if they are actually marching around the room toward the pyramid. Although Hugo Moedano Koer (1947) identified the figures as caciques or local chiefs, an analysis of architectural setting, subject matter, and ethnohistory suggests instead that the figures represent merchants engaged in rituals related to trade. This new reading demonstrates that Tula had decorative programs paralleling its development as an important center of long-distance exchange during the Early Postclassic period, and that merchants from Tula may have been a plausible prototype for Aztec pochteca.

El friso de los Caciques de Tula, Hidalgo, México, es una banca tallada de ocho metros de largo con la mayoría del policromado intacto. Este formaba parte de una composición más grande que alguna vez corría a lo largo del perímetro del vestíbulo, una columnata (pasillo formado por columnas) colocada enfrente de la piramide B. La composición de personajes masculinos colocados de perfil es adoptada para aparentar la presencia de una procesión en acción, marchando alrededor del cuarto hacia la pirámide de Tula. Sin embargo, un análisis más profundo del marco arquitectónico, la iconografía, y la etnohistoria nos sugiere que las figuras representan comerciantes en lugar de caciques. Esta nueva interpretación nos provee de una visión conceptual y paralela hacia del papel de Tula como un importante centro de intercambio comercial a través de grandes distancias durante el principio del horizonte Postclásico.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , March 1993 , pp. 3 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Acosta, J. A. 1940 Exploraciones en Tula, Hgo. 1940. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 4:172–194.Google Scholar
Acosta, J. A. 1945 La cuarta y quinta temporada de excavaciones en Tula, Hgo., 1943–1944. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 7:23–64.Google Scholar
Acosta, J. A. 1956 Resumen de los informes de las exploraciones en Tula, Hgo. durante las VI, VII, y VII temporadas 1946–1950. Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia Anales 8:37–115.Google Scholar
Acosta, J. A. 1956–1957 Interpretation de algunos datos obtenidos en Tula relativas a la época tolteca. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 14:75–110.Google Scholar
Acosta, J. A. 1957 Resumen de los informes arqueológicos de la exploraciones en Tula, Hgo. durante las IX y X temporadas 1953–1954. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia Anales 9:119–169.Google Scholar
Acosta, J. A. 1961 La indumentaria de los cariatides de Tula. In Homenaje al Pablo Martínez del Río, pp. 221–229. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Acosta Saignes, M. 1945 Los pochteca. Acta Anthropológica 1:9–54.Google Scholar
Baird, E. T. 1981 The Toltecs as “Inheritors” of the Teotihuacan Tradition. Paper presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Diego.Google Scholar
Baird, E. T. 1985 Naturalistic and Symbolic Color at Tula, Hidalgo. In Painted Architecture and Polychrome Monumental Sculpture in Mesoamerica, edited by E. H. Boone, pp. 115–144. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Beyer, H. 1955 La “Procesión de los señores” decoración del primer teocalli de piedra en México-Tenochtitlán. El México Antiguo 8:8–42.Google Scholar
Bittman, B., and Sullivan, T. 1978 The Pochteca. In Mesoamerican Communication Routes and Cultural Contacts, edited by T. A. Lee, Jr., and C. Navarrete, pp. 211–218. Papers No. 40. New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.Google Scholar
Blom, F. 1933–1934 Commerce, Trade, and Monetary Units of the Maya. Smithsonian Institution Annual Report, pp. 423–440. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Cobean, R. H., Mastache, A. G., Crespo, A. M., and Diaz, C. L. 1981 La cronología de la región de Tula. In Interacción cultural en México central, edited by E. C. Rattray, J. L. King, and C. D. Oyarzabal, pp. 187–214. Serie Antropológica No. 41. Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Coggins, C. C. 1984 The Cenote of Sacrifice: Catalogue. In Cenote of Sacrifice: Maya Treasures from the Sacred Well at Chicken Itza, edited by C. C. Coggins and O. C. Shane III, pp. 23–265. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
de la Garza, M. (editor) 1980 Relaciones históricos-geográficas de la gobernación de Yucatán. 2 vols. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.Google Scholar
de la Fuente, B., Trejo, S., and Gutierrez, N. 1988 Escultura en piedra de Tula. Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.Google Scholar
de Landa, D. 1941 Relación de las cosas de Yucatán, translated and edited by A. M. Tozzer. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 18. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
de Sahagún, B. 1959 The Merchants, translated and edited by C. E. Dibble and A. J. O. Anderson. Florentine Codex, General History of the Things of New Spain, Book 9, Part X. School of American Research and University of Utah Press, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Diehl, R. A. 1981 Tula. In Archaeology, edited by J. A. Sabloff, pp. 277–295. Supplement to Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 1. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Diehl, R. A. 1983 Tula. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Diehl, R. A. 1989 Previous Investigations at Tula. In Tula of the Toltecs: Excavation and Survey, edited by D. Healan, pp. 13–29. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City.Google Scholar
Diehl, R. A., and Berlo, J. C. (editors) 1989 Mesoamerica After the Decline of Teotihuacan, A.D. 700–900. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Durán, Fray D. 1971 The Aztecs. Translated, with notes, by D. Heyden and F. Horcasitas. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Freidel, D. A. 1986 Terminal Classic Lowland Maya: Successes, Failures, and Aftermaths. In Late Lowland Maya Civilization, edited by J. A. Sabloff and E. W. Andrews V, pp. 409–432. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
German, R. 1974 Pochteca and Other Professional Merchants of Late Post-Classic Central Mexico. Unpublished Master's thesis, on file, Latin American Center, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Gasco, J., and Voorhies, B. 1989 The Ultimate Tribute: The Role of the Soconusco as an Aztec Tributary. In Ancient Trade and Tribute: Economies of the Soconusco Region of Mesoamerica, edited by B. Voorhies, pp. 48–94. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Gillespie, S. D. 1989 The Aztec Kings: The Construction of Rulership in Mexica History. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Graulich, M. 1976 Las peregrinaciones aztecas y el ciclo de Mixcoatl. Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 11:311–354.Google Scholar
Hassig, R. 1985 Trade, Tribute, and Transportation: The Sixteenth-Century Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Healan, D. 1989 Tula, Tollan, and the Toltecs in Mesoamerican Prehistory. In Tula of the Toltecs, edited by D. Healan, pp. 3–6. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City.Google Scholar
Jiménez Moreno, W. 1941 Tula y los toltecas segun las fuentes históricas. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 5:79–83.Google Scholar
Jones, C., and Sattherwaite, L. 1982 The Monuments and Inscriptions of Tikal: The Carved Monuments. Museum Monographs No. 44. Tikal Report No. 33, Pt. A. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kan, M., Meighan, C., and Nicholson, H. B. 1989 Sculpture of Ancient West Mexico: Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Klein, C. F. 1987 The Ideology of Autosacrifice at the Templo Mayor. In The Aztec Templo Mayor, edited by E. H. Boone, pp. 293–370. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Kristan-Graham, C. 1989 Art, Rulership, and the Mesoamerican Body Politic at Tula and Chichen Itza. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Art History, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Kubler, G. 1961 Chichén-Itzá y Tula. Estudios de Cultura Maya 1:47–80.Google Scholar
Kubler, G. 1982 Serpent and Atlantean Columns: Symbols of Maya-Toltec Polity. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians XLI:93–115.Google Scholar
Kubler, G. 1984 The Art and Architecture of Ancient America. 3rd ed. Penguin, Harmondsworth.Google Scholar
Kurbjuhn, K. 1977 Fans in Maya Art. The Masterkey 51(4):140–146.Google Scholar
Laporte, J. P. 1987 El “talud-tablero” en Tikal, Peten: Nuevos datos. In Homenaje a Roman Piña Chan, pp. 265–316. Serie Antropológica No. 79. Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, D.F. Google Scholar
Marcus, J. 1989 Zapotec Chiefdoms and the Nature of Formative Religions. In Regional Perspectives on the Olmec, edited by R. J. Sharer and D. C. Grove, pp. 148–197. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Mastache, A. G., and Cobean, R. H. 1985 Tula. In Mesoamérica y el centro de México, edited by J. Monjaras-Ruz Roca Brambila and E. Perez-Rocha, pp. 273–307. Colección Biblioteca No. 3. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Mastache, A. G., and Cobean, R. H. 1989 The Coyotlatelco Culture and the Origins of the Toltec State. In Mesoamerica After the Decline of Teotihuacan A.D. 700–900, edited by R. A. Diehl and J. C. Berlo, pp. 49–67. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Matos M., E. (editor) 1974 Proyecto Tula (1a parte). Colección Científica No. 15. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Matos M., E. (editor) 1976 Proyecto Tula (2a parte). Colección Científica No. 33. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Millon, R. 1988 Where Do They All Come From? The Provenance of the Wagner Murals from Teotihuacan. In Feathered Serpents and Flowering Trees, edited by K. Benin, pp. 78–113. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Moedano Koer, H. 1947 El friso de los caciques. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia Anales 2:113–136. México, D.F.Google Scholar
Molina Montes, A. 1982 Archaeological Buildings: Restoration and Misrepresentation. In Falsifications and Misreconstructions of Pre-Columbian Art, edited by E. H. Boone, pp. 97–107. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Morley, S. G., Brainerd, G. W., and Sharer, R. J. 1983 The Ancient Maya. 4th ed. Stanford University Press, Stanford.Google Scholar
Morris, A. A. 1931 Murals from the Temple of the Warriors and Adjacent Structures. In The Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itza, Yucatan, pp. 347–484. 2 vols. Publication No. 406. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Nicholson, H. B. 1957 Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl of Tollan. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H. B. 1971 Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. In Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, pt. 1, edited by G. F. Ekholm and I. Bernal, pp. 395–446. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, R. Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Pasztory, E. (editor) 1978 Middle Classic Mesoamerica. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Ruppert, K. 1943 The Mercado, Chichen Itza, Yucatan. Publication No. 595. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, A. 1962 Chichén Itzá y Tula: Comentarios a un ensayo. Estudios de Cultura Maya 2:205–223.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T., and Webster, D. 1988 The Mesoamerican Urban Tradition. American Anthropologist 90:521–546.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T., Parsons, J., and Santley, R. 1979 The Basin of Mexico. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Santley, R. S, Kerley, J. M., and Kneebone, R. R. 1986 Obsidian Working, Long-Distance Exchange, and the Politico-Economic Organization of Early States in Central Mexico. In Economic Aspects of Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by B. L. Isaac, pp. 101–132. Research in Economic Anthropology, supplement 2. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Scholes, F., and Roys, R. 1968 The Maya Chontal Indians of Acalan- Tixchel: A Contribution to the History and Ethnography of the Yucatan Peninsula. 2nd ed. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Originally published 1948, Publication No. 560, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Taube, K. 1989 Ritual Humor in Classic Maya Religion. In Word and Image in Maya Culture, edited by W. F. Hanks and D. S. Rice, pp. 351–382. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1964 Merchant Gods of Middle America. Summa Anthropológica en homenaje a Roberto Weitlaner, pp. 159–172. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1971 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing. 3rd ed. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
White, H. 1981 The Value of Narrativity in Historical Representation. In On Narrative, edited by W. J. T. Mitchell, pp. 1–23. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar