Ancient MesoamericaApril 1, 2026Julia Madajczak, Katarzyna Mikulska, R Kelly Martinez
Abstract This article attempts to clarify the nature and structure of the Nahua otherworlds. It follows in the footsteps of scholars who have demonstrated the inaccuracy of the Sahaguntine view of the Nahua destinations of the dead. The article begins by analyzing multiple Mesoamerican alphabetic and graphic accounts of journeys to the world beyond, and concludes that the Nahua divided their...
This article takes two new approaches to the “enigmas” of La Venta. First, it examines the form of the site in relation to the region from which the La Ventans procured their stone: primarily, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. La Venta's north–south axis pointed to the nearest high mountain south of the site. The bar-and-four-dots design on the Mosaic Pavements corresponded to the duality of the...
AbstractAnthropologists have long speculated that ancient peoples of Mesoamerica used a toad,Bufo marinus, as a ritual intoxicant. This hypothesis rests on many iconographic and mythological representations of toads and on a number of speculative ethnographic reports. We rejectB. marinusas a candidate for such use because of the toxicity of its venom. A more likely candidate is the Sonoran...