SOWING THE BLOOD WITH THE MAIZE: ZAPOTEC EFFIGY VESSELS AND AGRICULTURAL RITUAL

This paper examines how maize and blood were central elements in ancient Zapotec religious practices and how they were conceptually linked. I analyze the iconography of different types of Classic period Zapotec ceramic effigy vessels. Using a comparative approach, I identify elements that frequently appear on the urns, such as maize plants in different stages of growth, or representations of the milpa. Framing these observations with early colonial historical accounts and ethnographic studies, I suggest that the main theme involved in these ancient representations was fertility, maintained by a sacred pact forged between humans and their deities that required sacrifice through bloodletting. The drawing and offering of blood insured a cycle of sustained and abundant growth for their most important crop: maize. Though many advances have been made in recent years regarding Zapotec iconography, I will offer some new interpretations regarding specific forms represented on the urns.