CAPTIVE REPRESENTATIONS AND SOCIAL DISCOURSE AT IZAPA AND IN LATE FORMATIVE SOUTHEASTERN MESOAMERICA

Abstract

Abstract This paper takes Izapa Stela 21, with its vivid portrayal of captive sacrifice, as the point of departure for an analysis of the ways in which acts of aggression were portrayed in Late Formative monuments from a region that includes the Pacific slope and adjacent highlands of Mexico and Guatemala. It considers the social significance of themes of captive sacrifice and violence, and their role within a larger iconographic system designed to accommodate the mutually reinforcing ideas of ideology and coercive power. While clearly laden with implications of political control, subjugation, deference, and fealty, the imagery also alludes to agricultural fertility, the arrival of rain, and broader notions of social order.

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