The iconography of a Toltec monument from El Cerrito

The iconography of a Toltec monument from El Cerrito

This contribution represents a case example of how mythology and literature from post-conquest sources might be used for framing hypotheses about the meaning of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican iconography, and the problems of this approach. It focuses on a stela in the style of Early Postclassic Tula from El Cerrito, Querétaro, Mexico, that reflects the adoption of Toltec sculptural traditions at this northern center. I interpret its complex iconography using the framework provided by the Flower World/Flower Mountain complex of ideas around the afterlife documented for historic Uto-Aztecan speakers and extended to the interpretation of Maya and Teotihuacan iconography by the work of Karl Taube. I highlight both how this model explains the unusual juxtaposition of images on the stela and the limitations and difficulties of using historic data in attempts at understanding pre-Hispanic art.

book chapter