
Ritual and Power in Stone
The Performance of Rulership in Mesoamerican Izapan Style Art
Julia Guernsey(Author)
University of Texas Press
Published on 1. December 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
229 pages
978-0-292-72604-8 (ISBN)
Description
The ancient Mesoamerican city of Izapa in Chiapas, Mexico, is renowned for its extensive collection of elaborate stone stelae and altars, which were carved during the Late Preclassic period (300 BC-AD 250). Many of these monuments depict kings garbed in the costume and persona of a bird, a well-known avian deity who had great significance for the Maya and other cultures in adjacent regions. This Izapan style of carving and kingly representation appears at numerous sites across the Pacific slope and piedmont of Mexico and Guatemala, making it possible to trace political and economic corridors of communication during the Late Preclassic period.
In this book, Julia Guernsey offers a masterful art historical analysis of the Izapan style monuments and their integral role in developing and communicating the institution of divine kingship. She looks specifically at how rulers expressed political authority by erecting monuments that recorded their performance of rituals in which they communicated with the supernatural realm in the persona of the avian deity. She also considers how rulers used the monuments to structure their built environment and create spaces for ritual and politically charged performances. Setting her discussion in a broader context, Guernsey also considers how the Izapan style monuments helped to motivate and structure some of the dramatic, pan-regional developments of the Late Preclassic period, including the forging of a codified language of divine kingship. This pioneering investigation, which links monumental art to the matrices of political, economic, and supernatural exchange, offers an important new understanding of a region, time period, and group of monuments that played a key role in the history of Mesoamerica and continue to intrigue scholars within the field of Mesoamerican studies.
In this book, Julia Guernsey offers a masterful art historical analysis of the Izapan style monuments and their integral role in developing and communicating the institution of divine kingship. She looks specifically at how rulers expressed political authority by erecting monuments that recorded their performance of rituals in which they communicated with the supernatural realm in the persona of the avian deity. She also considers how rulers used the monuments to structure their built environment and create spaces for ritual and politically charged performances. Setting her discussion in a broader context, Guernsey also considers how the Izapan style monuments helped to motivate and structure some of the dramatic, pan-regional developments of the Late Preclassic period, including the forging of a codified language of divine kingship. This pioneering investigation, which links monumental art to the matrices of political, economic, and supernatural exchange, offers an important new understanding of a region, time period, and group of monuments that played a key role in the history of Mesoamerica and continue to intrigue scholars within the field of Mesoamerican studies.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Austin, TX
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
34 b&w photos, 5 b&w maps, 105 figures
Dimensions
Height: 280 mm
Width: 216 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
595 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-292-72604-8 (9780292726048)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Julia Guernsey
Ritual and Power in Stone
The Performance of Rulership in Mesoamerican Izapan Style Art
Book
12/2006
University of Texas Press
€65.88
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Julia Guernsey is Professor of Art History at the University of Texas at Austin.
Content
Preface and Acknowledgments
One. An Introduction to the Late Preclassic Period
Two. The Site of Izapa in Context
Three. A Historiography of Izapa and the Izapan Style
Four. Part of a Continuum: Supernatural Communication in Late Preclassic Izapan Style Art
Five. The Performance of Rulership: Avian Transformation in Izapan Style Monuments
Six. Monuments in Context
Seven. Beyond Ritual: Macaws, Men, and Matrices of Exchange
Notes
Bibliography
Index
One. An Introduction to the Late Preclassic Period
Two. The Site of Izapa in Context
Three. A Historiography of Izapa and the Izapan Style
Four. Part of a Continuum: Supernatural Communication in Late Preclassic Izapan Style Art
Five. The Performance of Rulership: Avian Transformation in Izapan Style Monuments
Six. Monuments in Context
Seven. Beyond Ritual: Macaws, Men, and Matrices of Exchange
Notes
Bibliography
Index