2000/01/01 by Rosemary A. Joyce · 238 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Latin American history and culture #Indigenous Cultures and History #Mesoamerica #Ornaments #Girl #Interpretation (philosophy) #Formative assessment #Period (music) #Representation (politics) #History #Maya #Archaeology #Anthropology #Ethnology #Ancient history #Art #Sociology #Aesthetics #Psychology #Political science
paper · doi:10.1080/00438240009696933
published in World Archaeology 31(3), 473-483 (Routledge)
openalex publication_date 2000/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Drawing on the work of Judith Butler, I analyse practices through which lifecycle transitions were marked on the bodies of sixteenth-century Aztec children. Because the production of disciplined adults was socially so significant, it was also profoundly conservative. I examine implications of this ethnohistoric study for earlier societies that formed part of a Mesoamerican longue duree. The interpretation of archaeologically excavated material is transformed when related to the life course. Examples discussed include new perspectives on Formative period (c. 1500-400 BC) costume ornaments, conventions of figural representation, and feasting in domestic quarters.