In the Maw of the Earth Monster: Studies of Mesoamerican Ritual Cave Use (Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies)

449 Pages·2005·7.55 MB·English

by  James E. Brady

IntheMawoftheEarthMonster
TheLindaScheleSeriesinMayaandPre-ColumbianStudies
Thisserieswasmadepossiblethroughthegenerosityof WilliamC.Nowlin,
Jr.,andBettyeH.Nowlin,theNationalEndowmentfortheHumanities,
andvariousindividualdonors.
In the Maw of the Earth Monster
Mesoamerican Ritual Cave Use
edited by james e. brady and keith m. prufer
Universityof TexasPress Austin
Copyright©2005bytheUniversityofTexasPress
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Firstedition,2005
Requestsforpermissiontoreproducematerialfromthisworkshouldbesentto
Permissions,UniversityofTexasPress,P.O.Box7819,Austin,TX78713-7819.
(cid:1)ThepaperusedinthisbookmeetstheminimumrequirementsofANSI/NISO
Z39.48-1992(R1997)(PermanenceofPaper).
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Inthemawoftheearthmonster:Mesoamericanritualcaveuse/editedbyJamesE.
BradyandKeithM.Prufer.—1sted.
p. cm.—(TheLindaScheleseriesinMayaandpre-Columbianstudies)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-292-70586-7(cl.:alk.paper)
1.IndiansofMexico—Ritesandceremonies. 2.IndiansofMexico—Religion.
3.IndiansofMexico—Antiquities. 4.Caves—Religiousaspects. 5.Mayas—Ritesand
ceremonies. 6.Mayas—Religion. 7.Mayas—Antiquities. 8.Mexico—Antiquities.
I.Brady,JamesEdward,1948– II.Prufer,KeithM.(KeithMalcolm),1960–
III.Series.
F1219.3.R38I5 2005
305.897'42—dc22
2004019050
Thisvolumeisdedicatedtothreepioneersincaveresearch:
SirJ.EricThompson(1898–1975)
EvonZ.Vogt(1919–2004)
and
DorisHeyden
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Contents
1. Introduction:AHistoryofMesoamericanCaveInterpretation 1
james e. brady and keith m. prufer
PART1.CentralMexico 19
2. RitesofPassageandOtherCeremoniesinCaves 21
doris heyden
3. TheCave-PyramidComplexamongtheContemporaryNahua
ofNorthernVeracruz 35
alan r. sandstrom, illustrated by michael a. sandstrom
4. ConstructingMythicSpace:
TheSignificanceofaChicomoztocComplexatAcatzingoViejo 69
manuel aguilar, miguel medina jaen, tim m. tucker,
and james e. brady
PART2.Oaxaca 89
5. Pre-HispanicRainCeremoniesinBladeCave,
SierraMazateca,Oaxaca,Mexico 91
janet fitzsimmons
6. SacredCavesandRitualsfromtheNorthernMixteca
ofOaxaca,Mexico:NewRevelations 117
carlos rincón mautner
PART3.TheMayaRegion 153
7. SomeNotesonRitualCavesamongtheAncientandModernMaya 155
evon z. vogt and david stuart
viii IntheMawoftheEarthMonster
8. Shamans,Caves,andtheRolesofRitualSpecialistsinMayaSociety 186
keith m. prufer
9. CaveStelaeandMegalithicMonumentsinWesternBelize 223
jaime j. awe, cameron griffith, and sherry gibbs
10. ACognitiveApproachtoArtifactDistributioninCaves
oftheMayaArea 249
andrea stone
11. ClusterConcentrations,BoundaryMarkers,andRitualPathways:
AGISAnalysisofArtifactClusterPatternsatActunTunichilMuknal,
Belize 269
holley moyes
12. EthnographicNotesonMayaQ’eqchi’CaveRites:
ImplicationsforArchaeologicalInterpretation 301
abigail e. adams and james e. brady
13. ALacandonReligiousRitualintheCaveoftheGodTsibaná
attheHolyLakeofMensabokintheRainforestofChiapas 328
jaroslaw theodore petryshyn
translated and edited by pierre robert colas
14. BeneaththeYalahau:EmergingPatternsofAncientMaya
RitualCaveUsefromNorthernQuintanaRoo,Mexico 342
dominique rissolo
15. Caves,Karst,andSettlementatMayapán,Yucatán 373
clifford t. brown
16. ConcludingComments 403
keith m. prufer and james e. brady
Index 413
IntheMawoftheEarthMonster