Art and the Senses in Ancient America addresses three essential questions. The first is the materiality of the arts in pre-Columbian America, considering different cultures of both ancient Mesoamerica and the Andean area. In several of its chapters, the importance of physicochemical studies applied to the study of the art of past cultures is evident, because they offer results on the raw materials that were used, which were not always referenced in written or visual sources. The volume approaches art not only from its tangible dimension, but also from its immaterial one, as demonstrated by chapters focused on the culinary, aromatic and musical arts, which appeal to the senses of taste, smell and hearing. This brings us to the second dimension under discussion: the close relationship between the materiality of the arts and their sociocultural meanings. In this sense, the raw materials from which the images, textures, sounds, fragrances and flavors were made, which were part of the art and daily life of these pre-Columbian cultures, had meanings of great importance in their environments of belonging and use, whether they were public or private. This, finally, leads to the third argument that this book explores: the senses and sensory perception of art and daily life that participated in the sacred and the profane, giving identity to numerous sociocultural practices that are present in today's indigenous communities, who safeguard the historical memory of their ancestors.
This book explores the materiality and sensory dimensions of pre-Columbian art in Mesoamerica and the Andes. Chapters examine the physicochemical study of raw materials, sensory arts like music and cuisine, and the sociocultural meanings of textures, sounds, and scents, linking ancient practices to modern indigenous traditions.
Introduction. Art and the Senses in ancient America Ma. Luisa Vįzquez
de Įgredos Pascual, Ana Garcķa Barrios, Megan E. ONeil
Part I. Art, sensory perception and experience among the ancient Maya
Chapter
1. Materia, textura, color y percepción de las imįgenes sagradas
mayas Ana Garcķa Barrios, Alejandra Martķnez de Velasco Cortina
Chapter
2. A miniature world of sensorial art Mary E. Miller
Chapter
3. Modelando el sonido en barro: figurillas-silbatos miniatura del
basurero de un noble del Grupo IV de Palenque Ana Garcķa Barrios, Andrés
Ciudad Ruiz, Jesśs Adįnez Pavón
Chapter
4. Aromas y experiencia olfativa en la cultura maya prehispįnica
Ma. Luisa Vįzquez de Įgredos Pascual, Patricia Horcajada Campos
Chapter
5. Envolviendo a los gobernantes mayas. Un estudio arqueométrico de
dos contextos funerarios del sitio arqueológico de Calakmul, Campeche, México
Vera Tiesler, Patricia Quintana Owen, Kadwin Pérez López, Daniel H. Aguilar
Trevińo, Ivan Oliva Arias, J.V. Cauich Rodrķguez, William J. Folan, Marķa del
Rosario Domķnguez Carrasco
Chapter
6. Flavours, aromas and textures: art and everyday life among the
ancient Maya Lilia Fernįndez Souza
Chapter
7. Mixtures and textures in Maya culinary art: evidence from
yesterday and today Marķa Jesśs Novelo-Pérez, Esteban Moisés Herrera-Parra
Chapter
8. Entrando a un patio doméstico maya del Clįsico Tardķo-Terminal
Marie Charlotte Arnauld
Chapter
9. La serpiente en la cultura visual maya. Materia y simbolismo
Cristina Vidal Lorenzo
Chapter
10. Los grafitos mayas prehispįnicos: percepción y representación
Nśria Feliu Beltrįn
Chapter
11. Archaeometric study of the stuccos in archaeological sites of the
Northern Maya Lowlands (Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico): the lime from the mortars
of the preparation layers Nśria Guasch-Ferré, José Luis Prada Pérez, Ma.
Teresa Doménech-Carbó, Ma. Luisa Vįzquez de Įgredos Pascual, Laura
Osete-Cortina
Chapter
12. Thrones of the Dresden Codex: The Materiality of Power Merideth
Paxton
Part II. Art, sensory perception and experience among other Mesoamerican and
Pre-Columbian Cultures
Chapter
13. Eternity Carved in Stone: Mayan and Olmec Greenstone Artifacts
Characterized by in situ Spectroscopic Methods Mayra Dafne Manrique-Ortega,
José Luis Ruvalcaba-Sil, Edgar Casanova-Gonzįlez, Laura Filloy-Nadal,
Pieterjan Claes, Marķa Angélica Garcķa-Bucio, Malinalli Wong-Rueda, Valentina
Aguilar-Melo
Chapter
14. Anįlisis tecnológico del mono de obsidiana de la sala mexica del
Museo Nacional de Antropologķa de la Ciudad de México Emiliano Melgar
Tķsoc, Reyna Beatriz Solķs Ciriaco, Bertina Olmedo Vera
Chapter
15. Scrolls of Smoke and Sky: Reevaluating Scent and Sound in the
Borgia Group Manuscripts Alanna S. Radlo-Dzur
Chapter
16. Estudios de la materialidad de los códices mesoamericanos: I.
Apuntes para una historia de los anįlisis cientķficos Davide Domenici,
Élodie Dupey Garcķa
Chapter
17. Estudios de la materialidad de los códices mesoamericanos: II.
Acercamientos desde la historia y perspectivas para el futuro Élodie Dupey
Garcķa, Davide Domenici
Chapter
18. Sounds of Copper and Fire. Acoustic Symbolism of Copper Alloys in
pre-Hispanic Musical Instruments Mónica Gudemos
Chapter
19. Colours from the past: Mesoamerican pre-Hispanic dyes in Spanish
Colonial Architecture in Northern Mexico Karla Muńoz Alcocer, Laura
Fuster-López, Ma. Luisa Vįzquez de Įgredos Pascual, Marcello Picollo, Diana
Maldonado-Escobar, Daniel Salazar-Alemįn
The contributions collected in this book are presented by authors working in different academic institutions in Europe and the Americas. Their long research trajectories are characterized by innovative interdisciplinary approaches that are characteristic of their respective universities and research centers, including the Getty Research Institute, Emory University, Princeton University, University of New Mexico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Mérida, Yucatįn), Universitat de Valčncia, Istituto di Fisica Applicata Nello Carrara-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Universitą di Bologna, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Paris, among others. In this way, the book brings together structured contributions from diverse disciplinary fields, such as art history, history, archaeology, anthropology or archaeometry, among others. The authors have all published widely in international journals and books.
