Abstract
While researchers of the pre-Columbian Maya have recognized that considerable variability characterizes treatment of dead bodies, few have scrutinized the practice of body partibility. The materiality of this practice indicates the ways in which social identities become transposed and then sedimented over generations. As one particularly cogent example, I examine a royal tomb from Dos Hombres, a ceremonial center located in northwestern Belize. The burial is also compared to other royal tombs in the region. While cultural continuities are identifiable, the Dos Hombres tomb is unique given its combination of attributes, namely the residential context into which it was entombed, its associated architecture, the approximately 20,000 obsidian flakes placed atop it, and the two decedents contained within-one of whom exhibited intentional body partibility. To make sense of this complicated burial, I take my cue from scholars who attend to mortuary processes that are materially subtle and often extended. Doing so facilitates distinction between myriad meanings encoded in corporeal manipulations.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Bioarchaeology of Space and Place: Ideology, Power, and Meaning in Maya Mortuary Contexts |
| Publisher | Springer New York |
| Pages | 15-38 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781493904792, 1493904787, 9781493904785 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2014 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Arts and Humanities(all)
Cite this
Sedimenting social identity : The practice of pre-Columbian Maya body partibility. / Geller, Pamela.
The Bioarchaeology of Space and Place: Ideology, Power, and Meaning in Maya Mortuary Contexts. Springer New York, 2014. p. 15-38.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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TY - CHAP
T1 - Sedimenting social identity
T2 - The practice of pre-Columbian Maya body partibility
AU - Geller, Pamela
PY - 2014/1/1
Y1 - 2014/1/1
N2 - While researchers of the pre-Columbian Maya have recognized that considerable variability characterizes treatment of dead bodies, few have scrutinized the practice of body partibility. The materiality of this practice indicates the ways in which social identities become transposed and then sedimented over generations. As one particularly cogent example, I examine a royal tomb from Dos Hombres, a ceremonial center located in northwestern Belize. The burial is also compared to other royal tombs in the region. While cultural continuities are identifiable, the Dos Hombres tomb is unique given its combination of attributes, namely the residential context into which it was entombed, its associated architecture, the approximately 20,000 obsidian flakes placed atop it, and the two decedents contained within-one of whom exhibited intentional body partibility. To make sense of this complicated burial, I take my cue from scholars who attend to mortuary processes that are materially subtle and often extended. Doing so facilitates distinction between myriad meanings encoded in corporeal manipulations.
AB - While researchers of the pre-Columbian Maya have recognized that considerable variability characterizes treatment of dead bodies, few have scrutinized the practice of body partibility. The materiality of this practice indicates the ways in which social identities become transposed and then sedimented over generations. As one particularly cogent example, I examine a royal tomb from Dos Hombres, a ceremonial center located in northwestern Belize. The burial is also compared to other royal tombs in the region. While cultural continuities are identifiable, the Dos Hombres tomb is unique given its combination of attributes, namely the residential context into which it was entombed, its associated architecture, the approximately 20,000 obsidian flakes placed atop it, and the two decedents contained within-one of whom exhibited intentional body partibility. To make sense of this complicated burial, I take my cue from scholars who attend to mortuary processes that are materially subtle and often extended. Doing so facilitates distinction between myriad meanings encoded in corporeal manipulations.
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U2 - 10.1007/978-1-4939-0479-2_2
DO - 10.1007/978-1-4939-0479-2_2
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:84929847561
SN - 9781493904792
SN - 1493904787
SN - 9781493904785
SP - 15
EP - 38
BT - The Bioarchaeology of Space and Place: Ideology, Power, and Meaning in Maya Mortuary Contexts
PB - Springer New York
ER -