Society for American Archaeology

Fiestas de los pueblos indígenas: ritos aztecas, las fiestas de las veintanas by Michel Graulich
Review by: Peter Kröfges
Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Mar., 2003), pp. 83-84
Published by: Society for American Archaeology
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 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTES
arguesthat specific traderoutes and modes of transport
were probablyquite variable over time and need to be
delineatedfor a given time period and geographicarea,
rather than assumed. Zuidema reminds us that even
under Inka state control, decentralized"ports-of-trade"
can exist on the bordersof empire, and he convincingly
arguesthat the site of Ollantaytambofunctionedas one
such tradingcenter.
Threepapers(Gnecco at al., Marcoset al., Shimada)
are notablefor their reliance on archaeometricanalyses
for the sourcing of "exotic" exchange items such as
obsidian, pottery,metals, precious stones, etc. and the
clear determination of long-distance trade, or lack
thereof. Gnecco et al. are able to demonstrateinterest-
ing patternsof local obsidian exploitation and utiliza-
tion in the southern highlands of Colombia alongside
more costly long-distance procurement of the same
materialfrom northernhighlandEcuadoriansources by
peoples on the Pacific coast of Colombia and in north-
ern Ecuador.Marcos et al. are able to demonstratethe
presence of highland Ecuadorian obsidian at the
Valdivia site of Real Alto as early as Phase 7 of that
sequence along with a unique nonlocal ceramic type
(Mogote Incisa y Punteada) whose paste very likely
derives from the Quito Basin. The implication is that
specialized highland traders (proto-mindalaes?) in
search of Spondylusshell and other marine mollusks
were actually living in the Valdivia Phase 7 village at
Real Alto as an enclave community.Shimadaprovides
an excellent methodologicaloverview of several issues
involved in determiningthe "exotic" or foreign nature
of exchange items found in the archaeologicalrecord.
Using data from his long-term research in northern
coastal Peru, he effectively demonstrates sustained
long-distance trade with coastal Ecuador in Middle
Sican times.
Two papers (Ontaneda and Salazar) stand out as
having a differentfocus and perhapsdifferentpurpose
thanthe rest of the volume's articles.Ontaneda'sarticle
on the northernhighlandsof Ecuadoris less a study of
prehispanictrade than a straightforwardreappraisalof
regionalprehistory.Salazar'sarticle presentsimportant
new data on extensive prehispanicplatformmounds or
tolas in the Upano Valley in Amazonian Ecuador,but
the implications of these mound-buildingpolities for
fosteringdirectcontactandenduringtraderelationships
with adjacent regions of highland Ecuador are not
addressed.
One of the volume's great strengths is the geo-
graphic,temporal,andtopical diversityand the multiple
spatial scales covered in the 15 articles. Paradoxically,
however,thatdiversityleft this readerhoping for a con-
cluding synthesis or commentarychapterin which all
of the studies would be examined with an overarching
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83
theoreticalandmethodologicallens. I also found it curi-
ous that none of the volume's authors cited Frank
Salomon's seminal article "The Dynamic Potential of
the ComplemenarityConcept"(in AndeanEcologyand
Civilization,edited by S. Masuda, I. Shimada, and C.
Morris, 1985), which provided a synthetic concluding
chapter in a similar volume over a decade earlier.
Salomon's use of Colin Renfrew'swell-known "modes
of trade"scheme for making sense of Andean ecologi-
cal complementaritycould have been applied to great
advantage in this volume as well. In this scheme,
exchange mechanisms such as direct access, dyadic
interdependence,multiple alliance exchange, and open
barterare examined for both decentralizedand central-
ized exchange systems. Individual cases can then be
effectively compared and classified according to the
mode or modes of trade that were likely employed.
Even where existing data do not allow for a thorough
evaluation along these lines, future research agendas
anddatarequirementscan be broughtinto clearerfocus.
This, however,is a minorcriticismfor an edited vol-
ume of such diverse geographicbreadth,topical signif-
icance, and unity of purpose.Almost all of the articles
contributesignificantlyto our understandingof interre-
gional tradeand exchange and all of them providefresh
insights into the prehistory of their respective geo-
graphicareas.All LatinAmericanistswith an interestin
prehispanictradeand exchange will want to read these
articles, and archaeologists and ethnohistorianswork-
ing in particularcountries covered in the volume will
find it indispensable.
Fiestasde lospueblosindigenas:ritosaztecas,lasfies-
tas de las veintanas.MICHEL GRAULICH.Instituto
Nacional Indigenista,Mexico City, 1999. 464 pp., fig-
ures, bibliography(paper).
ReviewedbyPeter Krofges, SUNY-Albany.
This detailedanalysisof the Mexicacalendarandrelated
ceremoniesis animportantadditionto the seriesof mono-
graphson indigenous Mexican festivities published by
Mexico's Instituto Nacional Indigenista. Because the
Aztec calendricalfestivities were describedin word and
image by early colonial Spanishand indigenousauthors
with exceptionaldetail, they have repeatedlybeen used
to identifylargerMesoamericanpatternsof a prehispanic
worldorder.Michel Graulichhas been researchingAztec
mythology, history, cosmovision, and rituals for many
years. In contrastto other scholars, he emphasizes the
seasonal associationof the festivities. He thus proposes
a coherentlystructuredcosmovision thatconnectedcon-
cepts of time and history to agriculturalpractices and
84 LATINAMERICAN
ANTIQUITY
social life fromthe LateClassic Periodto the time of the
SpanishConquest.
Graulich'sbook is structuredin 24 sections, includ-
ing an introduction,a conclusion, and an appendix of
illustrations.The bibliography was omitted from the
initialprintingof the book, and is includedas a separate
printed document. The introduction renarrates the
major events of Mexica historiographyas recorded in
the chronicles. The Aztec concept of the order of time
and space is introducedin Chapter1, summarizingthe
sequence of worlds that were created and destroyed
before the final and still lasting sun was born. Graulich
identifies structuralparallels between creation myths,
historiography,and temporal and seasonal divisions in
variousAztec sources and the Popol Vuh.He concludes
that the structureof the day, divided into the rising and
the setting of the sun, served as a model to structurea
year, life in general, and the migration myths of the
Mexica and Quiche in analogous patterns.The results
are well-known sets of binary opposites: day, dry sea-
son, and life on the one hand versus night, rainyseason,
and death on the other. The cyclic succession of these
opposites defined the cosmic orderand was enactedby
celestial and earth forces, personified in a complicated
pantheonof divine figures. These, in turn,dependedon
the rituals and sacrifices by the Mexica to sustain the
cosmic stability. Graulich's stated goal for the subse-
quent chaptersis to demonstratehow the Aztec festivi-
ties served to maintainthe annualrhythmof the sun and
how they relatedto the agriculturalcycle thatit defined.
In Chapter 2, Graulich presents his reconstruction
of the Aztec calendar,divided into 18 "months"of 20
days (veintena), plus five extra days. Accordingly,
every month was defined by religious ceremonies and
festivities to reinforce the annual cycle of vegetation
and rainfall. Sacrifices and performancesexpressed a
public concern to communicate with the divine forces
on which the agricultural productivity depended.
Startingwith the common assumptionthat the Mexica
did not regularlyinsert leap years to correct the calen-
dar's deviation from the solar year, Graulich argues
thatthe Aztec calendarwas 209 days ahead of the solar
calendar when the Spanish chroniclers recorded it in
the sixteenth century.
In order to "put things back into place" (page 74),
Graulichfocuses on the months of Atlcahualo ("parada
de las aguas,"February 13 to March 4 in 1519), and
Atemoztli ("caida de las aguas," December 10 to
December 29 in 1519) as obviously misplaced units in
their position within the alternating dry and rainy
period. Originally, thus, Atlcahualco should mark the
end of the rainy season, at the end of the month of
September,while Atemoztli shouldcenterin the time of
heaviest rainfall, i.e., the second half of July. By shift-
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[Vol. 14, No. 1, 2003]
ing the sequence of 18 months backward 209 days,
Graulich obtains a year count whose monthly cere-
monies are supposedly in closer agreement with the
seasonal changes in CentralMexico. He calculates the
length of time thatwould be requiredfor the calendarto
"lose" 209 days, and this puts the Aztec calendar in
accordwith the seasons between the yearsA.D. 680 and
683. His suggestion that the year count began at that
time is one of the more controversial of Graulich's
interpretations .
A short section on "moderntheories on the festivi-
ties and the seasons"actuallyfocuses on the early twen-
tieth-centurywork by Seler and Preuss, omitting most
recent interpretationsother than those of the author
himself. Graulichfirst presentedthis calendricalrecon-
struction in English in 1981 (CurrentAnthropology
22:45-60). In the replies to that article, a number of
prominentscholars were critical of his model and pro-
posed alternativeor opposing views. In Graulich'ssec-
tion on "modern theories," however, these are all
squeezed into one single footnote (p. 85).
Chapters 3 to 20 describe the individual cempo-
hualli, and the ceremonial activities as recorded by
Sahagun,Duran,and variousothersources.Throughout
these descriptions, Graulichexplores how these ritual
acts would correspond with the season they fall into
according to his reconstruction.He cites descriptive
details, contrasts differing versions from different
sources, and presents parallels between historical and
ethnographictraditionsfrom CentralMexico, the Maya
area, and beyond. In the end, the authorproposes that
the first nine months structurallyresemble the rise of
the sun, while the other nine correspondwith the sun-
set. Finally, the author claims a seemingly coherent
structureconnecting not only the historicaland cosmo-
visional concepts of the Aztecs but those of larger
Mesoamerica.
A number of problems weaken this publication.
First, it reflects very little of the more recent scholarly
work on Mesoamericancalendricalsystems. In particu-
lar,Graulichfails to discuss opposing views on the cor-
relation debate, which interpretthe relationshipof the
Aztec monthsaccordingto the annualcycle as recorded
in the sixteenth century.Second, references to specific
cosmological and ritual parallels to other
Mesoamericanor Amerindianculturesremain difficult
to judge. Third,the emphasis on the years aroundA.D.
680-683 as a decisive period of change and as a start-
ing point of the calendarneeds strongerempiricalsup-
port.
Despite these shortcomings, this book presents
Graulich'smodel with impressive detail and invites a
new discussion on the symbolic andpracticalaspects of
the Mesoamericanyear count.