a newly discovered potbelly sculpture from ei salvador and ...user · reporte no.8, atlas...

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Simposio de Arqueologia Guatemalteca, 1993, pp.247-273, Museo Nacional de Arqueologia y Etnologia, Guatemala. Mayer, Karl Herbert 1994 The Maya Ruins of Pen a Blanca, Guatemala. Mexicon 16- 6:110-112. Morales, Paulino I. y Juan Pedro Lapolte 1995 El Chal: un sit io en la sabana de Dolores, Peten. Mexicon 17- 3:44-49. Roldan, Julio A. 1995 El area arqueol6gica de Santa Cruz y la cuenca del alto rio San Juan. Reporte No.9, Atlas Arqueol6gico de Guatemala, pp.179-216. IDAEH-USAC, Guatemala. Urbina, Marco Antonio 1994 La regi6n de San Valentin en el municipio de Dolores. Reporte No.8, Atlas Arqueol6gico de Guatemala, pp.63-76. IDAEH-USAC, Guatemala. 1996 lnforme sobre el reconocimiento en la zona de Santa Rosita y San Luis Pueblito. Informe, Atlas Arqueol6gico de Guatemala, IDAEH, Guatemala. Valdiz6n, W. Mariana 1995 Reconocimiento en la cuenca del rio Poxte, Peten: un acercamiento a la organizaci6n politica del area. Tesis de Licenciatura, Area de Arqueologia, Escuela de Historia, USAC, Guatemala. Valdiz6n, W. Mariana y Paulino 1. Mora[es 1993 Reconocimiento en San Luis Pueblito, Dolores. Repone No.7, Atlas Arqueol6gico de Guatemala, pp.57-78. IDAEH-USAC, Guatemala. Valdiz6n, W. Mariana, Federico Reyes y Juan Pedro Laporte 1992 Reconocimiento en [a cuenca superior del rio Poxte. Re- porte No.6, Atlas Arqueo[6gico de Guatemala, pp.63-82. IDAEH-USAC, Guatemala. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: San Luis Pueb[ito, ein bedeutender Fundort im Peten: 1m Zuge der Arbeiten fUr den ALias Arqueolilgico de GUGl ema/a und der archaologischen Erkundung des sUdo s tJi chen Peten, konnten fUr das spate Klassikum mehrere politische Einheiten rekonstruiert werden. [n del' weitJaufigen Dberschwemmungszone im west lichen Teil des Municipio de Dolores wurde del' Ruinenort San Luis Pueblito entdeckt. Diese l' bislang grof3te Fundort der Region weist die im sUdostlichen Pelen typischen Bauelemente auf: mehrere Plaza-Komplexe, einsch li ef3lich Akropolis und Ballspielplalz, die durch eine befcsligte StraBe miteinander verbunden sind; "uf del' zentralen Plaza befinden sich zahlreiche unbearbeitete Stelen und Al1dre. Auffallend ist das Fehlen architektonischel Strukturen del' Typ E- Gruppe, die fUr den groBten Teil der Fundone in der Region charakterislisch is!. In der Umgebung von Pueblilo konnten mehrere kleine Fundorte Joka- li sien werden, die zum politischen EinfiuBbereich des Hauptortes gehorlen. SUMMARY: San Luis Pueblito, a major site in the southeastern Peten: Explorations of the Atlas Arqueo /6 gico de Gualemala project with the aim of localizing the mosaic of sites in this wide area have pelmitted the identification of a series of political entities which coexisted in the Late Classic. During the re connaissance of the westel-n sector of the Municipio de Dolores, which contains large expanses that are usuall y flooded, the site named San Luis Pueblito was localized. It is the largest site of the region with architectural features of the southeastern Peten: various plazas, among them a ballcourt and a complex of the acropolis type, connected by a causeway; at the central plaza there are several plain stelae and altar s. Noticeable is the absence of the architectural complex of the E Group-type, which characterizes most of the sites in the region. The survey of th e vicinity brought to light the presence of various minor settlements which fOlmed part of the political entity of Pueblito. A Newly Discovered Potbelly Sculpture from EI Salvador and a Reinterpretation of the Genre Paul Amaroli A previously unreported potbelly sculpture has recently been discovered at the Teopan site situated in western EI Salvador. In addition to being only the fifth such sculpture found in that country, this example clearly depicts a woman and supports a reinterpretation of potbelly sculptures in gen- eral as depicting pregnant women, perhaps in the act of giving birth. They may be representations of a Late Preclassic earth goddess. Location and Discovery The potbelly sculpture under discussion was found in early 1996 near the shore of Teopan Island in Lake Coatepeque, situated in western EI Salvador (Fig. 1). Lake Coatepeque is a striking volcanic Jake within an oval caldera. Its single island is a partially submerged cone rising approximately 180 meters above the lake to an altitude of 929 meters above sea level. Construction on the island in early 1996 exposed an archae- ological deposit now recorded as the Teopan site. A potbelly sculpture was uncovered and remains at the site (Figs. 2, 3); the only information reported concerning its context was that at least one meter of soil covered its somewhat battered head. Inspection of sherds remaining on the site surface established the presence of several ceramic groups belong- ing to the Chul and Caynac complexes of western EI Salvador (as defined by Sharer 1978 and refined by Demarest 1986). Demarest's revision dates the Chul complex to about 400 - 100 B.C. and Caynac to 100 B.C. - 250 A.D. The Late Preclassic Chul and Caynac complexes are also represented at Santa Leticia where are found three other potbelly sculp- tures. I Sharer and Demarest both accept these ceramic com- plexes as products of an unspecified Maya group that covered a large area in the Late Preclassic, including Kami- naljuyu and western EI Salvador. Santa Leticia is located approximately 30 kilometers from the Teopan si teo Ev idence from Santa Leticia (Demarest 1986) and from several Guatemalan sites where potbellies have N A Lake Coatepeque o 3 km TeOpEln " Honduras '-.... Islc; lnd '- ! --- \..'\ EI Salvador { Fig. l. Location of the Teopan site in western EI Salvador. 51

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Simposio de Arqueologia Guatemalteca, 1993, pp.247-273, Museo Nacional de Arqueologia y Etnologia, Guatemala.

Mayer, Karl Herbert 1994 The Maya Ruins of Pena Blanca, Guatemala. Mexicon 16­

6:110-112.

Morales, Paulino I. y Juan Pedro Lapolte 1995 El Chal : un sit io en la sabana de Dolores, Peten. Mexicon 17­

3:44-49.

Roldan, Julio A. 1995 El area arqueol6gica de Santa Cruz y la cuenca del alto rio

San Juan. Reporte No.9, Atlas Arqueol6gico de Guatemala, pp.179-216. IDAEH-USAC, Gu atemala.

Urbina, Marco Antonio 1994 La regi6n de San Valentin en el municipio de Dolores.

Reporte No.8, Atlas Arqueol6gico de Guatemala, pp.63-76. IDAEH-USAC, Guatemala.

1996 lnforme sobre el reconocimiento en la zona de Santa Rosita y San Luis Puebl ito. Informe, Atlas Arqueol6gico de Guatemala, IDAEH, Guatemala.

Valdiz6n, W. Mariana 1995 Reconocimiento en la cuenca del rio Poxte, Peten: un

acercamiento a la organizaci6n politica del area. Tesis de Licenciatura, Area de Arqueologia, Escuela de Historia, USAC, Guatemala.

Valdiz6n, W. Mariana y Paulino 1. Mora[es 1993 Reconocimiento en San Luis Pueblito, Dolores. Repone

No.7, Atlas Arqueol6gico de Guatemala, pp.57-78. IDAEH-USAC, Guatemala.

Valdiz6n, W. Mariana, Federico Reyes y Juan Pedro Laporte 1992 Reconocimiento en [a cuenca superior del rio Poxte. Re­

porte No.6, Atlas Arqueo[6gico de Guatemala, pp.63-82. IDAEH-USAC, Guatemala.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: San Luis Pueb[ito , ein bedeutender Fundort im Peten: 1m Zuge der Arbeiten fUr den ALias Arqueolilgico de GUGlema/a und der archaologischen Erkundung des sUdostJichen Peten, konnten fUr das spate Klassikum mehrere politische Einheiten rekonstruiert werden. [n del' weitJaufigen Dberschwemmungszone im west lichen Teil des Municipio de Dolores wurde del' Ruinenort San Luis Pueblito entdeckt. Diesel' bislang grof3te Fundort der Region weist die im sUdostlichen Pelen typischen Bauelemente auf: mehrere Plaza-Komplexe, einsch li ef3lich Akropoli s und Ballspielplalz, die durch eine befcsligte StraBe miteinander verbunden sind; "uf del' zentralen Plaza befinden sich zah lreiche unbearbeitete Stelen und Al1dre. Auffallend ist das Fehlen architektonischel Strukturen del' Typ E­Gruppe, die fUr den groBten Teil der Fundone in der Region charakterislisch is!. In der Umgebung von Pueblilo konnten mehrere kleine Fundorte Joka­lisien werden, die zum politischen EinfiuBbereich des Hauptortes gehorlen.

SUMMARY: San Luis Pueblito , a major site in the southeastern Peten: Explorations of the Atlas Arqueo/6gico de Gualemala project with the aim of locali zing the mosaic of sites in this wide area have pelmitted the identification of a series of political entities which coexisted in the Late Classic. During the reconnaissance of the westel-n sector of the Municipio de Dolores, which contains large expanses that are usually flooded, the site named San Luis Pueblito was localized. It is the largest site of the region with architectural features of the southeastern Peten: various plazas, among them a ballcourt and a complex of the acropolis type, connected by a causeway; at the central plaza there are several plain stelae and altars. Noticeable is the absence of the architectural complex of the E Group-type, which characterizes most of the sites in the region. The survey of the vicinity brought to light the presence of various minor settlements which fOlmed part of the political entity of Pueblito.

A Newly Discovered Potbelly Sculpture from EI Salvador

and a Reinterpretation of the Genre

Paul Amaroli A previously unreported potbelly sculpture has recently been discovered at the Teopan site situated in western EI Salvador. In addition to being only the fifth such sculpture found in that country, this example clearly depicts a woman and supports a reinterpretation of potbelly sculptures in gen­eral as depicting pregnant women, perhaps in the act of giving birth. They may be representations of a Late Preclassic earth goddess.

Location and Discovery The potbelly sculpture under discussion was found in early 1996 near the shore of Teopan Island in Lake Coatepeque, situated in western EI Salvador (Fig. 1). Lake Coatepeque is a striking volcanic Jake within an oval caldera. Its single island is a partially submerged cone rising approximately 180 meters above the lake to an altitude of 929 meters above sea level. Construction on the island in early 1996 exposed an archae­ological deposit now recorded as the Teopan si te. A potbelly sculpture was uncovered and remains at the si te (Figs. 2, 3); the only information reported concerning its context was that at least one meter of soil covered its somewhat battered head. Inspection of sherds remaining on the si te surface established the presence of several ceramic groups belong­ing to the Chul and Caynac complexes of western EI Salvador (as defined by Sharer 1978 and refined by Demarest 1986). Demarest's revision dates the Chul complex to about 400 ­100 B.C. and Caynac to 100 B.C. - 250 A.D. The Late Preclassic Chul and Caynac complexes are also represen ted at Santa Leticia where are found three other potbelly sculp­tures . I Sharer and Demarest both accept these ceramic com­plexes as products of an unspecified Maya group that covered a large area in the Late Preclassic, including Kami­naljuyu and western EI Salvador.

Santa Leticia is located approximately 30 kilometers from the Teopan si teo Ev idence from Santa Leticia (Demarest 1986) and from several Guatemalan sites where potbellies have

N

A Lake Coatepeque

o 3

km

TeOpEln " Honduras '-....

Islc;lnd '- !--- \..'\ EI Salvador {

Fig. l. Location of the Teopan site in western EI Salvador. 51

been found (Parsons 1986) strongly supports a Late Pre­classic dating for this style of sculpture, as does also the preliminary ceramic dating of the Teopan site. Other materials reported from the Teopan site accord with a Late Preclassic dating, including four mushroom stones and several Bolinas figurines (also known as Alvarez Tripunctate-eye figurines - see Dahlin 1978 and Demarest 1986).

The Teopan Potbelly The Teopan potbelly conforms to the Monte Alto style of boulder sculpture as defined by Parsons (1986:39-40). This style includes the four Salvadoran sculptures from Santa Leticia and El Trapiche, and around 50 others from different sites located on the Pacific coast and highlands of Guate­mala. Typical Monte Alto traits present in the Teopan pot­belly are its neck less head , the use of grooves to define parts of the nose and mouth , "puffy" closed eyes (later reworked, as noted below), wrap-around arms, and demarcated naval (here a pecked circle 5 cm in diameter) . In addition, the Teo­pan potbelly has several traits rarely present or previous­ly unreported for the Monte Alto style, including the follow­ing: - Breasts are clearly shown.

Insofar as was possible given the limitations of a rounded boulder, the sculptor indicated wide hips and the division between the buttocks. The back of the sculpture is flattened. There is a small concavity (approximately 10 cm in diam­eter), crude but deliberate, located on center below the legs. This would normally not be visible when the sculp­ture is at rest on the soil surface. At some point in time after the potbelly was sculpted, its puffy closed eyes (typical of the Monte Alto style)

52 Fig. 2. The Teopan potbelly sculpture.

were "opened" by carving two oval and rather irregular concavities in the center of the large eyelids. As discussed below, this may have occurred in the Postclassic period .

The Teopan potbelly without doubt represents a woman.

A Possible Sixteenth-century Reference to the Teopan Potbelly

In his 1576 letter, the Spanish official Diego Garcia de Palacio described his inspection of the jurisdiction of the Audiencia of Guatemala. His visitacion included Lake Coatepeque where, as he gives to understand, the Pipil continued to venerate a "large stone idol in the form of a woman" on the lake's island (Garda de Palacio 1982:273; my translation). The Teopan potbelly is the sole Prehispanic sculpture known to date from El Salvador that in any way fits his description, and given its location on the very island cited by Garda de Palacio, there can be little question that it is the same object mentioned in the sixteenth-century. It may have been the Pipil who carved the two concavities that "opened" the eyes of this potbelly. There is, of course, ample precedent for the reuse of monu­mental sculpture in Mesoamerica.

A Reinterpretation of Potbelly Sculptures Parsons (1986:45) has suggested that potbelly sculptures, with their closed eyes, were portraits of the dead , perhaps "departed dignitaries or worthy captives". Other investigators have usually abstained from discussing the function of potbelly sculptures (e.g. Demarest 1986).

Fig. 3. Detail of the face and upper torso of the Teopan potbelly sculpture.

The clear representation of a woman provided by the Teopan potbelly gives occasion to reconsider the geme as all depicting women. The major traits consistently shared by potbelly sculptures are their rotund aspect, conspicuous and often extruded navel, closed eyes, and hands placed on the belly. Although the Teopan potbelly is the first to be noted with breasts, a pmtial review of previously published sculptures reveals at least three other examples.2 In any case, it is a rare trait, just as is so among the contemporaneous Bolinas figu­rines which also display wide hips and a bulging to large belly; almost all known Bolinas figurines are accepted as represent­ing women. Evidently, it was not considered essential to indicate breasts or genitalia in order to identify these sculp­tures (and figurines) as female. Potbelly sculptures appear to specifically represent pregnant women at full-term, as indicat­ed by their huge bellies with large (stretched) or protruding navels (not normal among the simply obese). As a further suggestion, potbelly sculptures could in fact represent the very act of birth. This may be supported by the closed eyes, the placement of the hands on the belly, and in some examples (as in the Teopan potbelly), the arched-back head, all of which can be associated with labor. The general posture of potbellies recalls the squatting birthing position common in much of Mesoamerica.3

If this interpretation is correct, then potbelly sculptures may be considered as representations of females embodying the concept of fecundity - at the very least by their overt pregnancy, and probably by actually depicting the act of birth. The consistency of features present throughout the extensive corpus if Monte Alto style sculptures suggests that a specific female personage is represented. It would ap­pear that potbelly sculptures are images of what could be called an earth goddess related with fertility. In this vein, it interesting to note that a regional variety of the Monte Alto style (limited to the type site; see Parsons 1986:45) consists of colossal heads with the same puffy closed eyes and plump appearance of the full-figure potbellies. As originally dis­played on the ground surface, it is possible that the earth itself was considered to form the body of these large heads, in what would be a most literal depiction of an earth deity.

Accepting the foregoing, this putative goddess would have been a principal deity among the Late Preclassic ethnic group, generally agreed to have been Maya, that occupied a signifi­cant portion of southeastern Mesoamerica, including Kaminaljuyu and western El Salvador. It would also seem possible that the almost invariably female Bolinas figurines (and perhaps other related figurine types of the Late Pre­classic) could in many cases be household images of this deity. Among the questions raised by this interpretation is what correlates might exist between this goddess and later Maya cosmology.

References cited Anderson, Dana 1978 Monuments. In: The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, EI Salvador

[Robert Sharer, editor], vol. 1. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

Demarest, Arthur 1986 The Archaeology of Santa Leticia and the Rise of Maya

Civilization. Middle American Research Institute Publ., No.52. Tulane University, New Orleans.

Garcia de Palacio, Diego 1982 Carta dirigida al Rey por e l Licenciado Diego Garcia de

Palacio. Appendix VI in: Relaciones geograficas del siglo XVI: Guatemala [edited by Rene Acuna] . Serie Antro­pol6gica, no. 45. Institutode Investigaciones Antropol6gicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, D.F.

Parsons, Lee 1986 The Origins of Maya Art: Monumental Stone Sculpture of

Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala, and the Southem Pacific Coast. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art & Archaeology No 28. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.

Sharer, Robert 1978 Pottery and Conclusions. In: The Prehistory ofChalchuapa,

EI Salvador [Robert Sharer, editor], vol. 3. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

Notes I. In addition to the th.ree examples from Santa Leticia, the corpus of Monte

Alto style sculptures from El Salvador includes a small potbelly exca­vated at EI Trapiche and designated as ChaJchuapa Monument 7. Al­though its affiliation with other potbellies was not originally recognized (Anderson 1978: 156), it possesses characteristic Monte Alto features (see op. cit.: fig. 6b).

2. Monument 58 from Bilbao (Parsons 1986:fig.1 07) and Monuments 4 and 5 from Monte Alto (op. cit. :fig.117 , 1(8). The potbelly from Obrero (Escuintla) also appears to share this trait (op. cit. :fig.11 0).

3. Many potbellies display their legs as wrapped around below the belly, with the feel almost tOUChing. Given the difficulties of rendering details on boulder scul ptures, this could be meant to indicate a squatting position.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: In EI Salvador entdeckte Potbelly-Skulptur ermoglicht eine Neuinterpretation des Typus: Anfang 1996 wurde am Fundort Teopan die mnfte SkuIptur dieses Typs in EI Salvador entdeckt. Die bisher unpublizierte Skulptur zeigt eindeutig weiblicbe ZUge, wodurch die POlbelly-Skulpturen nunmehr neu als Darsteliung sch.wangerer Frauen interpretiert werden konnen. Moglicherweise verkorpem diese Skulpturen des spaten Praklassikum eine Erdgottin.

RESUMEN: Una escultura Potbelly descubierta en EI Salvador posibilita una nueva interpretaci6n del lipo: A inicios de 1996, en el sitio de Teopan ba sido descubierta la quinta escultura de este tipo haJiada en EI Salvador. La escultura, hasta abora no publicada, muestra rasgos obviamente femeninos 10 cual permite ahora interpretar a las esculturas Potbelly como representa­ciones de mujeres embarazadas. Estas esculturas del preclasico tardIO posiblemente personifiquen una diosa telUrica.

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