Iconicity of the Uto-Aztecans: Snake Anthropomorphy in the Great Basin, the American Southwest and Mesoamerica

By Tirtha Prasad Mukhopadhyay and Alan Philip Garfinkel

Uto-Aztecan iconic practices are primarily conditioned by the consciousness of the snake as a death-dealing power, and as such, an animal that displays the deepest fears and anxieties of the individual. The attempt to study a snake simulacrum thus constitutes the basic objective of this volume. A long, all-embracing iconicity of snakes and related snake motifs are evident in different cultural expressions ranging from rock art templates to other cultural artifacts like basketry, pottery, temple architecture and sculptural motifs. Uto-Aztecan iconography demonstrates a symbolic memorial order of emotional valences, as well as the negotiations with death and a belief in rebirth, just as the skin-shedding snake reptile manifests in its life cycle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Release date: May 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781800739734

Tirtha Prasad Mukhopadhyay

Tirtha Prasad Mukhopadhyay is Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. He has taught at the University of Calcutta and Presidency College, India, and also briefly at the University of Texas at Dallas prior to his appointment in Mexico. An interdisciplinary scholar and former Fulbright Fellow, he travelled extensively across the American Southwest and Mexico to develop an interpretative view of Native American iconography.

Book preview

ICONICITY OF THE UTO-AZTECANS

ICONICITY OF THE UTO-AZTECANS

Snake Anthropomorphy in the Great Basin, the American Southwest, and Mesoamerica

Tirtha Prasad Mukhopadhyay and Alan Philip Garfinkel

First published in 2023 by

Berghahn Books

www.berghahnbooks.com

© 2023 Tirtha Prasad Mukhopadhyay and Alan Philip Garfinkel

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mukhopadhyay, Tirtha Prasad, author. | Garfinkel, Alan Philip, author.

Title: Iconicity of the Uto-Aztecans : snake anthropomorphy in the Great Basin, the American Southwest, and Mesoamerica / Tirtha Prasad Mukhopadhyay and Alan Philip Garfinkel.

Description: New York : Berghahn Books, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022054580 (print) | LCCN 2022054581 (ebook) | ISBN 9781800739727 (hardback) | ISBN 9781800739734 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Uto-Aztecan Indians—Religion. | Serpent worship. | Idols and images. | Anthropomorphism—Religious aspects.

Classification: LCC E99.U85 M85 2023 (print) | LCC E99.U85 (ebook) | DDC 299.7/845—dc23/eng/20230208

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022054580

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022054581

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-80073-972-7 hardback

ISBN 978-1-80073-973-4 ebook

https://doi.org/10.3167/9781800739727

Contents

List of Illustrations

Foreword

Frederick Turner

Preface

List of Abbreviations

Chronology

Introduction

Chapter 1. In-migrations of the First Uto-Aztecans

Chapter 2. The Uto-Aztecan Homeland

Chapter 3. The Primordial Snake Religion

Chapter 4. How Does Prehistoric Iconicity Emerge and Function?

Chapter 5. Anthropomorphy of the Uto-Aztecans, Animism, and Animalism

Chapter 6. Temporal Horizons of Uto-Aztecan Iconography

Chapter 7. Hunting Tool Iconography

Chapter 8. The Coso Anthropomorph and Its Untold Secrets and Mysteries

Chapter 9. The Circular Snake of Time

Chapter 10. Outlier Indices in Aztec Icons

Chapter 11. Iconicity of Tlaloc in the Rain Praying Cultures of del Bajío

Chapter 12. The Binding Liberating Chain of Chupícuaro Pottery

Chapter 13. Mother-Earth Snakes

Conclusion

References

Index

Illustrations

Figures

0.1. The plumed serpent motif at Templo Mayor, remnant of Tenochtitlan (sixteenth century CE), Mexico City. Photograph by Armando Perez.

0.2. Mictlantecuhtli the Aztec snake god of death and the afterworld, from Templo Mayor, Mexico City. Photograph by Armando Perez.

1.1. Map indicating first PUA movement and settlement before the Holocene (8000–2000 BCE). White arrows indicate population flows to the south and east, where Uto-Aztecan speaking groups like the Kawaiisu and the Takic-affiliated appear in the contemporary time frame. Drawing by authors.

1.2. Common visual codes of a concentric circle head, a zigzagging snake adjacent to a shamanic master-figure, hunting tools, animals, and so forth evinced in a Northern-Uto-Aztecan expression at the Coso Range petroglyphs area, California. Photograph by Alan Garfinkel.

1.3. Snake motif from Coso Range petroglyphs, eastern California. Photograph by Alan Garfinkel.

1.4. The linguistic locations map of the Uto-Aztecans following Glottolog 4.5 feed of native American languages. Drawing by authors.

2.1. An old photo from the Gila River Basin geological region, Arizona. Pregnant Pima Indian woman carrying an olla (water jar) on her head representing characteristic snake water visual metaphorization, Gila River Reservation, ca. 1900. Photo Courtesy of the California Historical Society Archives (CHS-768) of the University of California, Santa Cruz.

2.2. Map showing initial transitional routes of the Uto-Aztecans based on correlations between subsistence patterns and iconography of bighorn sheep (northwest), deer (north) and maize (south) in their respective regions. Drawing by authors.

2.3a. Photograph of Tev Gui, a Snake chief, half-length portrait, facing front, in ceremonial dress for antelope priest in snake dance. Courtesy of the Edward Curtis collection. Library of Congress Control Number 93501151 Reproduction Number LC-USZ62-106760 (b&w film copy neg.). LCCN Permalink https://lccn.loc.gov/93501151, retrieved 27 April 2022.

2.3b. D-Strech representation of petroglyph with strong resemblance to snake dance shamans as in the previous photograph of Tev Gui. Photograph by Alan Garfinkel.

2.4. Snake patterns in Hopi Basketry. Photograph of basket on display, photographed ca. 1900. A small legible label on the basket reads Frank M. Covert, 329 5th Ave., N.Y. Legacy Identifier: CHS-3949.tiff. Unique identifier: UC141418. Courtesy of University of California Santa Cruz digital library.

3.1. Quintessential snake or water-like curvilinear formation indicating an indexical serpent body typical to the great Uto-Aztecan geo-culture of the American Southwest and the Middle Americas, from Little Petroglyph Canyon, California. Drawing by Bernard M. Jones, Jr.

3.2. A concentric circle head set atop a snake body image, Coso rock art complex, Inyo County California. Photo by Alan Garfinkel.

3.3. This petroglyph panel is from south of the current Zuni Pueblo (a Tanoan Uto-Aztecan population subdivision). It has patterns associated with serpents. Image derives from drawings taken on the spot by the authors; John Barber, and Henry Howe; Cincinnati, Ohio; P. A. Howe, Successor of Henry Howe; 1865; p. 764. Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

3.4. Coso Peak solid body and projectile-pointed figures. Snakes appear in both hands. Snake left to panel exhibits a bifurcated tongue. Evident female gender of anthropomorph referenced by pendent labia genitalia. Avian feet appear with tri-une digits. Dart points are Elko Series (Nevada) projectile points, dating from about 4000 BCE to the Classic period of Mesoamerican archaeology, namely 400 CE. Dot blow-out digital reconstruction by Bernard M. Jones, Jr.

3.5. Horned figure holds a snake in its right hand and a staff/baton, ceremonial/religious scepter in its left (Grant et al. 1968).

3.6. Parrish Gorge petroglyph panel in the Coso Range, we have suggested that the panel is a portrayal of the journey of ascent (Garfinkel 2009; Yohe and Garfinkel 2012).

3.7a. Decorated avian-human snake figures. Note quail plume top knot adornment on the right side of the head and characteristic triangular/diamond rattlesnake pattern that emanates out of the genital regions of the figure. Drawings by authors.

3.7b. Picture of a hair whorl petroglyph motif, accenting gender. Drawings by authors.

3.8. Rattlesnake element with triangles and diamonds ascending from a portal in California petroglyph of the pre-Numic groups. Drawings by authors.

3.9. Snake figure association with basket and deposit of seeds/rain (notably abundance, renewal, ascent and descent, snake/bird feather fringe at base of figure), avian-style feet, concentric circle face. Drawing by authors.

3.10. Coso Decorated Human birthing a snake or referencing fertility and first menses with prominent Hopi style hair whorls. Drawing by authors.

3.11. Deco-bodied animal humans with fringe skirts (tail feathers/snakes). Prominent inverted chevron diamond rattlesnake pattern over the entire torso visible. Drawing by authors.

3.12. Kawaiisu baskets with the rattlesnake symbols as adornment (zigzags, diamond chain, and triangles). The baskets with necks on the top are taaragabadi, a small quail-plumed necked jar traditionally employed for brewing the jimsonweed (Datura wrightii) drink in order to enter an altered state of consciousness, obtain favor with the spirit world, and to gain a guardian spirit to help with life issues. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

3.13a. Coso quail feather plumage on concentric circle head formations. Drawing by Bernard M. Jones, Jr.

3.13b. Original quail feather plumage reference. Photograph by Alan Garfinkel.

3.14. Chemehuevi hunter wearing traditional Native dress and mountain hat with quail plumes. Courtesy of image from Legends of America. Courtesy of image from Library of Congress.

3.15. A snake-water motif alternating with a simpler, slightly curved line in Chupicuaro pottery. East of México-Bajío, Cuerámaro, River Turbio Location from the Classic period (400 CE). Permission of image granted by Museum of Arts, Irapuato, Mexico.

3.16. Hopi Indian altar with symbolic paintings of human-like figures, ca. 1900. Note the snake head projections and the deification of the snake with incorporation of an anthropomorphic divinity figure sitting on the snake. Image courtesy of California Historical Society (contributing entity), California Historical Society Collection, 1860–1960 (collection), Title Insurance and Trust, and C. C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860–1960 (subcollection). Date created: 1900.

3.17. The zigzagging Tlaloc lightning shape and snake water morphs from Bajio Guanajuato. Photograph by Armando Perez.

3.18. Snake representation in Jornada Mogollon style rock art at Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, near Sierra Blanca, New Mexico, USA. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

3.19. Xochicalco ritual pyramid panel. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

3.20. Map of snake-like symbols as distributed across Uto-Aztecan territory. The patterns are positioned in reference to Uto-Aztecan cultural region in the last 2,000 years of its history following the Preclassic Period iconographic motifs in Mesoamerica. The snake symbolism inherent in these patterns ranges from dramatically simpler hunter-gatherer snake divinities to established patterns for sacred ceramics and sculpture. Drawing by authors.

3.21. Classic pottery in water-intense lake regions around Acambaro on the northern frontiers of Mesoamerica, bordering the states of Michoacan, Jalisco, and Guanajuato, Mexico. Photo courtesy of City Museum of Irapuato, Mexico.

3.22. The snake-water interlocking chain. Yokuts (PUA adjacent group) basketry (ca. 1900 CE). Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

3.23. Pottery from South Central Mexico (Classic Period 400 CE). Courtesy of City Museum of Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.

4.1. The projectile point forager and gendered formation prototype from California, Nevada. Drawing recreation of a forager petroglyph by Bernard M. Jones, Jr.

4.2. Snake patterns on rock surfaces at Caborca Sonora. Drawing by authors.

4.3. Snake torso and snake portal and atlatl combinations in forager petroglyphs from Mojave Desert. Drawing by authors.

4.4. Emotional valence generated by exaggerated or aggrandized features (Pasztory 1974; Siebe et al. 2005). Vessel with mask of Tlaloc, the serpent rain syncretic entity. Museo del Templo Mayor. Photo by Atrix Kreiger, 2 March 2018. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

4.5. Emotive communication achieved with singular eye and FAPS-like ocular characters. Drawing by Bernard M. Jones, Jr.

5.1a. The detailed mat (calendrical or ritual) patterns evinced in reproduction of a Little Petroglyph Canyon image from the Coso Range, Mojave Desert, California. Drawing by authors.

5.1b. The second squarish bodied PBA comes from Sinaloa, Mexico. Drawing by authors.

5.2. PBAs, both deco-bodied and mat-like torso in-fill and solid-bodied, animal human conflation have avian-like bird feet, figures from the Coso Range, Mojave Desert, California. Drawing by authors.

5.3. PBAs from the Coso Range, Mojave Desert, indicated serpent patterns embedded within torsos of the deco-bodied figures with quadrant configurations. Drawing by authors.

5.4. Decorated, pregnant, bird-woman figure. Two quail plumes feather the top of her head. Pendent labia hang from the bottom of her torso emphasizing her feminine gender. The enlarged and bulbous torso exhibits dots within her belly—these are references to either seeds or rain and are another manner indicating that she is pregnant. Note avian-style feet and the serpent figure with a triangular head above the main (panel left) figure’s left arm. Panel is located in Big Petroglyph Canyon, California. Drawing by Bernard M. Jones, Jr.

5.5. Amazing diamond-shaped concentric head foreshadowing the Huichol nierika, from a different time frame on the Coso (Numic) iconographic cultural expanse. Drawing by authors.

5.6. The Huichol ‘eye of god’ (nierika) motif in contemporary handicraft. Also see comparative study of Hopi Huichol intersections (cf. MacLean 2012; Preuss 1904). Photograph by Armando Perez.

5.7. An Aztec feather-shield. Courtesy of Creative Commons Attribute 4.0.

6.1. Map indicating regions of settlement and time frames of the Uto-Aztecans. Drawing by authors.

6.2. Conceptual map of emigration routes in the pre-Holocene. Drawing by authors.

6.3. Trade locations of obsidian and precious stones based on the recent literature on the Puebloan Periods (ca. 700 CE and after). Drawing by authors.

6.4. Aztlan, the origin of Uto-Aztecans, as interpreted by Keraudren. The Codex Boturini has been considered as a sourcebook for Uto-Aztecan migrations from a phase of Numic group migrations in the first millennium before the Common era. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

7.1. Projectile points (series), Lake Mojave (a, b), Pinto (c, d, e), Gypsum Cave (f), Elko (g, h). A cultural resource management plan for the Fossil Falls–Little Lake locality. Photograph by Alan Garfinkel.

7.2. A sample projectile point petroglyph characteristic of forager ritual motifs. Sheep Canyon, Coso Range, California. Photograph by Alan Garfinkel.

7.3. Snake association of projectile icons. Sheep Canyon, Coso Range. Photograph by Alan Garfinkel.

7.4. Anthropomorph adorned with projectiles. Coso Range. Photograph by Alan Garfinkel.

7.5. Elko Eared, Humboldt basal-notched points and Elko corner-notched projectile point with related attribute terminology. Photograph by Alan Garfinkel.

7.6. Drawings of Nevada Elko Eared and Elko corner-notched style projectile points (Thomas 1981). Drawing by authors.

7.7. Anthropomorph with the projectile head decoration. Drawings by authors.

7.8. Gendered with pendent labia. Drawing by authors.

7.9. Snake skirt archetype of the Uto-Aztecan mother-earth or snake-mother deity. Drawing by authors.

7.10. Iny-43/at Parish Gorge. California. A probable Kawaiisu archetype of the mistress keeper of animals. Drawing by authors.

7.11. Tezcatlipoca Azul, the God of the Aztecs with the Obsidian knife. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

7.12. Obsidian knife, Mixtec (ca. 1200–1500 AD). Exhibit in the De Young Museum, San Francisco, California, USA. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

8.1. Coso Rock Art District, Little Petroglyph Canyon. Photo by Craig Baker at Wikimedia Commons.

8.2. The Kawaiisu animal master Yahwera Figure. Drawing by authors.

8.3. Hohokam Caborca rock art motifs, Sonora-Arizona border, appearing to imply some sort of animal keepers and snake motifs. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons.

8.4. Huichol ‘eye-of-god’ motif. A drawing of a standard motif by authors.

8.5. PBA-like formations in Caborca, Sonora. Photo from NavaIsrael courtesy of Wikimedia Commons license Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

8.6. These three PBA examples are typical of Coso relational symbols of animal-human figures with objects like shafts, head ornamentations, and other objects like atlatl, digging stick, and snake (associated with extreme right image), etc. Drawings by authors.

8.7. Concentric circle motif with multiple possible associations in the folklore. Photograph by Armando Perez.

8.8. Circular knob eyes in the middle of a concentric circle shaped face is exhibited in a large number of Coso PBAs. Drawings by authors.

8.9. Map showing the distribution of Numic (Kawaiisu, Coso) and Takic groups in California and the Great Basin. Dotted line and arrows represent hypothesized Uto-Aztecan movements through the Sonoran Desert towards northwest Mexico and the Chichimec Sea. Drawing by authors.

9.1. The bird snake visual metaphor at Tula, an example of astronomical positioning of relief features on architecture. Image courtesy of CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).

9.2. The Hopi basketry pattern. Oraibi Mother with baby in cradleboard. The J. Paul Getty Museum (description). Photographer: A. C. Vroman (American, 1856–1916). Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1984.

9.3. The Coso PBA body head with calendrical ornamental marks in cardinal directions that anticipate the calendrical marks on the concentric circle motif in the Codex Borgia. Drawing by authors from original photography.

9.4. Moctezuma’s Stone at Tizoc. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons License 3.0.

9.5. The cosmic Disk at Chalcok. Sculpture representing the market glyph or tianquiztli. These objects were fixed on small platforms within the markets in the area devoted to the worship of the god of markets and fairs. Drawing by authors.

9.6. Codex Borgia, page 9. Directional almanacs, each cardinal direction representing four deities (Tlaloc, Xipe Totec, an unidentified Mixtec god, and Mixcoatl). This directional almanac is related to death, associated with four deities in different directions. The scheme functioned as a means of prophecy about death and thus entry through a ludic portal. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

9.7. Codex Borgia, page 30 repeats the four cardinal directions and a center labeling the creation of the sun theme. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

9.8. Codex Fejervary-Mayer, page 1. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

10.1a. Creation of the Sun Panel, Lunar Goddess with five primordial pilgrims, sky bearers, raising the heavens to create the sun in the cosmos—lifting up the sky with clouds. Little Petroglyph Canyon, Coso Range, California. Photo by Alan Garfinkel.

10.1b. Creating the Sun Panel with the five-pilgrim sky-bearers and the lunar goddess in the Coso Range, southwestern Great Basin, Little Petroglyph Canyon, China Lake, California. Drawing by authors.

10.2. Map showing centers of trade in precious stones. Hence, jade may have been mined and carried northward from Chichen-Itza in the peninsular regions of the Gulf of Mexico. Turquoise was mined in Mojave and Chaco Arizona and brought across through the south. Drawing by authors.

10.3a. Pinyon Creek motif. Drawing by Bernard M. Jones, Jr.

10.3b. Drawing showing details of same panel. Drawing by Bernard M. Jones, Jr.

11.1. Vessel displaying snake rain icon Tlaloc from Templo Mayor, Mexico City. Dated to Tenochtitlan thirteenth century CE. Photo by Dennis Jervis. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0.

11.2. Map of rock art occurrences from the del Bajío sink, south of the Aridamerican desiccated system, in the central mainland region of Mexico (based on Anzures and Morales 2008).

11.3. Los Hernandez pictogram site, Municipality of Salamanca, State of Guanajuato, Mexico. Part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, these panels seem to have pre-existed from a post Cretaceous layer of sedimentary rocks. Photograph by Armando Perez.

11.4. Anthropomorphic pictograms at Los Hernandeza. (A) Geometrical calendar; (B) vulva-like formations; (C–D) anthropomorph; (E) water-snake mark, and (F) Tlaloc preconfigurations along with calendrical markings. Drawings by authors.

11.5. Evidence of shapes from Los Hernandez, Salamanca Guanajuato, Mexico: (a) variations on calendrical markings and anthropomorphs; (b) snake-water linear formations. Photographs by Armando Perez.

11.6. The Plazuelas ruins at Guanajuato, Mexico (inhabited between Classic 600 CE and 900 CE). Photograph by Armando Perez.

11.7. The Tlaloc symbol: (a) a rudimentary but powerfully suggestive anthropomorphic (curved arm feature) symbol of an ethnographic rain deity; (b) Tlaloc symbolism from Las Plazuelas, in the State of Guanajuato, Mexico. Drawings by authors.

11.8. Convoluted, curvilinear formations do not add up to any specific image and are probably solar calendars with some metaphoric deific pareidolia. Photograph by Armando Perez.

11.9. High Aztec rain (snake-patterned) prayer artifact in polychrome shell. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, with Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License of property of the Walters Art Museum, Maryland, USA.

12.1. Map showing location of the highly sophisticated Chupicuaro pottery culture. Drawing by authors.

12.2. An interlocked zigzagging line grid on Chalchihuites pottery. Photo by Thelma datter. Creative Commons-Share Alike 4.0.

12.3. Incised snake line decor. Geometric. West of Mexico in the Bajío, Cuerámaro, Turbio River. Classic (400 CE). Photo courtesy of Irapuato City Museum.

12.4. Classic (400 CE) period container. Mud modeling demonstrating the unwinding Fibonacci-type line from Bajío Mexico. Photo courtesy of Irapuato City Museum.

12.5. Conch-shape decorative motif with inclined parallel lines throughout the body. Abasolo, Mexico. Photo courtesy of Irapuato City Museum.

12.6. Quadrangular Fibonacci snake line grids on container. Mud modeling. Incised and polished. Décor West of Mexico-Bajío, Guanajuato. Huanímaro. Classic. Photo Courtesy of Irapuato City Museum.

12.7. Hohokam pottery in Arizona, Mexico border. Wikimedia Commons.

12.8. Diamond rattlesnake shape deep in Western Mexico, from the Classic period of 700 CE and after. Photo courtesy of Irapuato City Museum.

13.1. Tapuat earth-mother symbolism of Hopi petroglyph evidences. Drawing by authors.

13.2. Kukulkan Maya Itzaean snake-deity evolved from the Aztec Maya interactive phase of the first millennium in the Common Era. Wikimedia Commons.

13.3. Distinctive labia and hole motifs from the American Southwest. Drawing by authors.

13.4. Drawing of Coatlique representing fertility. The sculpture was discovered at the Antigua plaza mayor, Historical Center of Mexico City, and is preserved at the Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia. 350 × 130 × 45 cm; 24 tons. Drawing by authors.

13.5a. Photograph depicts a woman wearing squash blossom whorls in her hair, a common Hopi hairstyle. Photo courtesy of Museum of Art, BC, Canada.

13.5b. Hopi hair whorl recreated in early portrait of the goddess Xochiquetzal depicting a whorl tradition in the Aztec tradition. Rufinio Tamayo Museum. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Attribution 4.0.

13.6. Quetzatcoatl. God of life, light, wisdom, fertility, and knowledge, patron of the day and of the winds, and ruler of the west. Codex Borbonicus, pp. 21–22. Bibliotheque del Paris Bourbon 39 × 39.5 cm; 24 tons. Drawing by authors.

13.7. Artist’s rendering in outline of relief of Coyolxauhqui dismembered by her brother, Museo del Templo Mayor (diameter 320 cm). Drawing by authors.

13.8. Drawing reproduction of original from Little Petroglyph Canyon, California reveals snake divinity with hand held snakes and associated feminine snake-deity. Both divinities are seen wearing snake-skirt vests. Drawing by authors.

13.9. Codex Borgia, page 56. Bone crusher mother goddess of the Aztecs. Wikimedia Commons.

14.1. The snake-water mimetic or archetypal prayer pattern on different cultural manifests of the Uto-Aztecan civilization: Coso (California), Yaqui (Sonora), Jornada (New Mexico), Caborca (Sonora), Caborca-type pottery (Zacatecas), Mixtec relief in architectural styles and the definitive snake arms or adornments of the Codices, like the Codex Laud (as shown here). Drawing by authors.

14.2a–d. The evolving Uto-Aztecan snake-water line. Drawings by authors.

14.2a. The elemental line. Drawing by authors.

14.2b. The perpendicular indented snake water line modification. Drawing by authors.

14.2c. The sharp angular snake water transformation in pottery and related artifacts. Drawing by authors.

14.2d. The grid-like snake water relief patterns common to architecture. Drawing by authors.

Tables

1.1. Adjunct visual features added to basic body type of representations that function as semiotic markers, gender beliefs, sustenance practices, and ornaments, all indicative of a set of core visual indices. Drawings by authors.

3.1. Snake species relevant to Uto-Aztecan art and symbolism. Drawings by authors.

3.2. Common core of abstract ideational iconic inscriptions based on iconicity of the snake consciousness. Drawings by authors.

5.1. ‘Head’ features of the Coso, Nevada, Mojave, and American Southwest anthropomorph complex. Drawings by authors.

7.1. Iconography of the projectile-point depictions, Great Basin (Eastern California and Desert West). Drawings by authors.

11.1. A chart of Bajío rock art sites related to possible groups that might have created the inchoate iconography of the whole region.

13.1. A list of mythological or sacred narrative legends originating as earth-mother names and their possible reappearances through visual metaphors in recent epochs.

Foreword

Frederick Turner

There is rising interest in the pre-Columbian world in both the Americas and Europe (especially Britain, Germany, France, and Spain). The trend toward the sociology and politics of postcolonial studies might well adopt this book on iconicity as an example of the appropriate elevation of the subaltern. The authors gather together a very large body of archeological, anthropological, iconographic, mythological, historical, art-historical, economic, linguistic, genetic, ecological, and psychological scholarship, previously limited by locality, specialization, and temporal period, and combines it coherently to present a big picture of a world that has been greatly neglected relative to its importance for human history.

More generally, the book makes an informed human statement that applies not only to the understanding of