INTER-SECTION Volume III | Page 24

| “Linguistic Landscape Studies” and Archaeology | INTERPRETING THREE ZAPOTEC COCIJO EFFIGY VESSELS FROM MONTE ALBÁN IN RELATION TO ZAPOTEC WORLDVIEW AN ANALYSIS OF CERAMIC COCIJO EFFIGY VESSELS FROM TOMB 104 AT MONTE ALBÁN, MEXICO, IN RELATION TO DIRECTIONS OF THE WORLD Nienke Verstraaten Leiden University Abstract little is known about the purpose and meaning of these objects. A lack of available data on the provenance analysed in light of the Zapotec worldview during the Classic period (± 200CE – 800CE) and the meanings that were ascribed to the primary directions within this worldview. The three vessels which are examined in this study are aligned with each other within the tomb and all are oriented with their face to the east, the realm of life, and their backs to the west, the realm of death. Therefore it is suggested that there exists the Zapotec people. Keywords Iconography, Worldview, Directionality, Ancestor Veneration, Animism E-mail: [email protected] Academia: https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/NienkeVerstraaten I ntroduction The research presented in this paper deals with arguably one of the most complex parts of humanity; our (religious) beliefs (Morris 1987, 21). Archaeologists are invariably limited to the material remains left behind by the peoples of the past, which puts researchers at a disadvantage when studying the religious structures, rituals and beliefs of past peoples (Insoll 2004, 1). However, a middle ground exists between the physical world of archaeological remains and the mental world of beliefs and religion that can be studied through worldview theory. p. 22 | VOL III | INTER-SECTION | 2017 A worldview can be considered a “map” of how the world and the larger universe are constructed of people (see for example: Arnold 1999; Hopkins and Josserand 2001; López García 2001; Radzin 1983; Roe 1982; Wilbert 2004). Researching past peoples using worldviews is possible, via extensive analysis of ritual and religious contexts such as tombs, burials, and associated material culture. This paper aims to interpret a set of three ceramic objects Zapotec worldview. The vessels – recovered from