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of Cocijo’s mask (editing done by author). Drawing: Farmsi.org (registration key: MAt/104). Photo: Taken by author,
courtesy to the Museo Nacional de Antropolgía.
Tomb 104 - were crafted by the Zapotec people who
inhabited the site known as Monte Albán between
450 BCE and 750 CE, in the Oaxaca province in
Cocijo is the Zapotec deity of storms, lightning, rain
and fertility and many different representations of
this character are known from Monte Albán. Much
is known about the iconography and meanings of
discussed in this paper remains widely unknown.
Few assumptions have been made about the purpose
do exist (e.g.: Caso and Bernal 1952; Marcus 1983;
Sellen 2007). The aim of this research is to develop
new means of understanding the three vessels from
tomb 104 in regards to their purpose, by analysing
their iconography, position and orientation in
relation to current knowledge on the Zapotec
worldview.
Methodology
This research is based on an extensive literary
the tomb context from which these vessels were
recovered and the worldview of the ancient Zapotec
people whom inhabited Monte Albán. Tomb 104 was
selected due to the fact that is one of the few funerary
contexts in Monte Albán with secure provenance
and positional data on the vessels. It is also one of
the few contexts for which detailed archaeological
maps and drawings exists, which clearly indicate the
vessels’ in situ locations. The iconography on two of
the three vessels portrayed full body representations
and one partial representation of the Cocijo mask
investigation of possible connections between
vessel types and representational styles, in relation
to their orientations and locations in the tomb.
Theoretical orientation
One important aspect of ancient Zapotec religious
practice, was the veneration of ancestral spirits and
deities through the manufacturing and ritual use of
2017 | INTER-SECTION | VOL III | p.23