Playa de los Muertos

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For the beach in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, see Playa de los Muertos (Puerto Vallarta).

Playa de los Muertos (Beach of the Dead) is an archaeological site from the

Olmec centers.[1]

This article is part of a series on the
Maya civilization
Drawing of a Mayan stone carving with elaborate decoration.
History
Spanish conquest of the Maya

Etymology

The name "Playa de los Muertos" literally translated means "beach of the dead" in Spanish.

Location

Located on the

Ulua River. It is also located 10 km from the archaeological site of Puertos Escondido which is located on a small tributary of the Chamelecón River, one of two tropical rivers that form the lower Ulua Valley on the Caribbean coast of Honduras.[3]

Excavation history

George Byron Gordon first excavated the archaeological site of Playa de los Muertos from 1895 to 1897.

pottery sherds helped in finding these relationships.[4]

Then in 1928,

sexual characteristics.[1] Many of the figurines are depicted with; little clothing, sit cross-legged with one knee drawn up, and distinct sexual characteristics are visible.[5]

A more contemporary example of work done at Playa de los Muertos can be seen in the work of

Rosemary A. Joyce. Joyce has carried out various work on the Playa de los Muertos site in the late 20th century. Her analysis of the site reveals that many of the pots date as far back as 1600 BC and that established trade networks with areas in present-day Mexico date as far back as 1100 BC.[6] Joyce's recent analysis of the site includes gendering and identity at Playa de los Muertos. Joyce identifies the importance of the individual at the site and discusses agency at Playa de los Muertos. The role of females and how they are depicted is also central to Joyce's work.[5]

George Vaillant

Law of Superposition, comparing the ceramics found at other sites and to those found at Plays de Los Muertos and cross dating.[8]

Dorothy Popenoe

Dorothy Popenoe reading her morning paper.

Born Dorothy Kate Hughes, Popenoe was born June 1899, in

akee fruit, which is believed to have poisoned her and as a result she died. The results of her excavations at Playas de los Muertos were published posthumously in 1934.[9][10]

Gender Roles at Playa de los Muertos

Much of what is now known about the

jewelry, strongly resemble these descriptions.[13]

Therefore, the similarity would suggest that both

Aztec and Playa de los Muertos societies were very conservative in the expression of the genders and life stages.[13] Consequently, the ornamentation and hair style worn by an individual would be dictated by their gender and age.[11] The figurines would be seen as "bodily representation".[12]

In her analysis of ceramics, Joyce had compared the Playa de los Muertos – Ulua Polychrome art with the Lower and Central American and Classic Lowland ceramics. In all of these cases, figurines of men and women are usually represented doing some sort of labour or with objects related to labour. Joyce's analysis suggests that ceramics represent dichotomy embedded in gendered labour. Playa de los Muertos figurines mainly represent females with pots, or with a child or touching their hair.[12] Joyce interprets these images as a way of showing the importance of women's contributions to society: preparing food and bearing children.[12] In her analysis of gender at Playa de los Muertos, Joyce suggests that the gender dynamic had been strongly influenced by the alliance with Classic Maya culture.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Joyce, Rosemary A. and John S. Henderson 2001 Beginnings of Village life in Eastern Mesoamerica. Latin American Antiquity 12(1): 5-23.
  2. ^ Joyce, Rosemary A. 1993 Women's Work: Images of Production and Reproduction in Pre-Hispanic Southern Central America. Current Anthropology 34 (3): 255-274
  3. ^ Joyce, Rosemary A. and John S. Henderson. 2007. From Feasting to Cuisine: Implications of Archaeological Research in an Early Honduran Village. American Anthropologist. 109 (4):642-653.
  4. ^ a b c 1938 Archaeological Sequence in North-West Honduras. Nature 142(3594): 501-501.
  5. ^ a b Joyce, Rosemary A. 1993 Women's Work: Images of Production and Reproduction in Pre-Hispanic Southern Central America. Current Anthropology 34 (3): 255-274.
  6. ^ Joyce, Rosemary A. 2003 Making Something of Herself: Embodiment in Life and Death at Playa de los Muertos, Honduras. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 13 (2):248-261.
  7. ^ O'Brien Michael and R. Lee Lyman. 1999. Seriation, Stratigraphy and Index Fossils: the Backbone of Archaeology. Kluwer Academic Press: New York and Others.
  8. ^ Kidder, A.V. 1945. George Clapp Vaillant. American Anthropologist. 47 (4): 589-602.
  9. ^ Jstor. 2011. Popenoe, Dorothy Kate (1899-1932). http://plants.jstor.org/person/bm000048385. (Accessed February 29, 2012).
  10. ^ "Beware Tales of Deadly Plants". The Ledger (Lakeland, Florida). October 30, 2008.
  11. ^ a b c Joyce, Rosemary A. (2003) Making Something of Herself: Embodiment in Life and Death at Playa de los Muertos, Honduras. Cambridge Archaeological Journal: 13 (2):248-261.
  12. ^ a b c d Joyce, Rosemary A. (1993). Women's Work: Images of Production and Reproduction in Pre-Hispanic Southern Central America. Current Anthropology: 34 (3): 255-274.
  13. ^ a b Joyce, Rosemary .A. (2000). Girling the girl and boying the boy: theproduction of adulthood in ancient Mesoamerica World Archaeology 31(3), 473–83.

External links

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