Anales de Antropología

Astronomy, Iconography and History on the Maltrata’s Monolith

Rubén Bernardo Morante López — 2025-07-29

The valley of Maltrata is located in the middle lands of the eastern foothills of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Axis. In this site strong cultural interactions were taking place since the earliest periods of Mesoamerica. There, the so-called Maltrata monolith (hereinafter “monolito”) was found; it is a polyhedral limestone that was carved on two of its faces with reliefs that show scenes of mythical, historical and astronomical type. Based on previous studies, we seek to review, analyze and complement proposals made decades ago, recreating them with new data from pre-Hispanic pictorial documents. This led us to make proposals about the señora Doce Muerte and her relationship with the guerrero Trece Conejo (also present in Tajín and Filobobos) conquering the site on a date recorded there, which correlation with our calendar could be indicated by the planet Venus.

Characterization by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Meaning of White Slip in Formative Period Ceramics: Ojo De Agua, State of Mexico and Zazacatla, Morelos, Mexico

Francisco Javier Sánchez Tornero — 2025-08-28

It is widely known that one of the characteristics of ceramics from the Formative period (ca. 1500-200 BC) in Mesoamerica is the decoration painted in white slip. Using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis, this study analyzes ceramic samples with white slip from Ojo de Agua, State of Mexico, and Zazacatla, Morelos, to obtain information on the chemical composition of the white slip and to approach the origin of the raw materials used in both sites. The results show that in Ojo de Agua, silicon is the main component due to the high concentration of fossil diatoms, while in Zazacatla, calcium is the main mineral, with silicon and aluminum in a lower proportion, suggesting the use of calcium and clay as raw materials. The results reveal that the raw materials used as the white slip in Ojo de Agua and Zazacatla are of different origins depending on the environmental characteristics, although these regions share cultural links. The compositional differences, which indicate a diversity of materials used in ceramic decoration, suggest certain specialization according to their accessibility of low material in order to obtain white slip.

Dead’s Stuff: A Methodological Approach to the Problem of Objects Associated with Human Remains in Archaeological Contexts

Roberto Martínez González — 2025-10-27

Starting from the criticism of the indiscriminate use of the term “offering” in the study of archaeological contexts, this article proposes the development of a methodology for the analysis of objects associated with the deposition of the dead. This proposal is built around the “conceptions of death” and “mortuary context” categories; the first is formed as a series of logical principles that guide the action, while the second appears as its main means of expression. Several similarities are highlighted with the ways in which structuralism has approached myth and, consequently, the following of a similar method is proposed.

Celestial fertility in Serpent’s Head of San Antonio Tezoquipan

Jessica Belem Rodríguez Míguez — 2025-11-20

The objective of this work is to analyze a pictorial group captured on a rock in the shape of a serpent’s head located in the municipality of Alfajayucan, Hidalgo, from the visual culture approach (Baxandall 1981; Alpers 1983). Rock manifestations are considered as a visual and historical testimony, so a detailed description of the images is made, followed by a comparative analysis, and based on this an interpretation is proposed (Jordanova 2012). This is intended to contribute to the understanding of Hñähñü beliefs and ritual practices during the postclassical period. The description of each of the pictorial panel allowed us to identify represented themes, characteristics of the motifs, and technique’s details; subsequently, the relationships that the motifs maintain among themselves, as well as other elements of the landscape in which they are inscribed, were distinguished.

The proposed interpretation was made based on a comparative analysis with the motifs of other nearby rock sites, as well as iconographic elements from the pre-Hispanic and Colonial period that shed light on their possible meaning. Its originality lies in the application of visual culture perspective, and faces the limitations of a type of testimony that is in the process of deterioration. However, it is possible to propose that the Serpent’s Head was a sacred setting for rituals that promoted celestial fertility.

Algarrobo’s Crosses: The Case of Arenal Cross of Jayanca-Perú

Jair Obed Rodriguez Bustamante — 2025-11-24

The present investigation collects the history and tradition of the Arenal cross, located in the town center of Arenal, Jayanca district, Lambayeque Region-Peru. For this, ethnographic research techniques were used to collect information such as participant observation, and formal interviews with the butler of the celebration and residents of the district of Jayanca, Túcume and Incahuasi. Also, bibliography was compiled of the narratives and traditions associated with the carob tree and the crosses made from this plant.

The research concludes that the descendants of the founder of the festival have perpetuated the memory of the ancestor through the association of his birth with the main day of the festival, instrumentalizing the celebration to seek family unity in specific situations. Furthermore, the importance of the carob tree from pre-Hispanic times that has lasted until today is shown, going from its use as a construction element to its symbology as a huaca, and later its sacredness to be used in the making of crosses in the specific area of research, the northern coast of Peru. Finally, an attempt was made to approach the meaning and background of this religious festival, reaching the preliminary conclusion that the cult of the ancestor is still present to this day, and would have materialized in the carob crosses.

Muxe Documentals: Discourses, Outlooks and Markets on Cinema and Television

David Antonio Jurado González — 2025-11-06

This article analyzes documentaries about the muxe community produced between 1994 and 2024. Parting from film and semiotic-discursive studies, it draws on ethnographic research on the community, and engages with scholarship on the history of representations of Indigenous communities. It identifies dominant textual modalities, testimonial rhetorics, and gender performances, while also establishing the political-cultural horizons within which these works were produced (multicultural, intercultural, and transcultural), which in turn shape thematic negotiations around “being muxe”. The article concludes that the community’s lifestyle has become a recognizable and tradable profile within the audiovisual industries market and in the context of a neoliberal-multicultural culture, generating processes of media-driven Zapotecization.

Mazahua Cosmos, Elements for its Revaluation and Conservation from One Species: the Skunk

Sergio Paulino Escamilla — 2025-12-08

There is a close relationship between the native peoples of Mexico and nature, it shows a way of conceiving the world, and it allows acting, building thought and a life practice. The objective of this research was to document the importance of the üjmü (skunk) in ritual practices, oral tradition, cosmic relationships and use through the biological and anthropological relationship in Mazahuan thought in Agua Zarca, Villa Victoria, State of Mexico. The information was obtained through ethnographic techniques. The results documented interspecies relationships that are marked by respect, where the skunk is a fundamental species in medicine, festivity, orality and language. The Mazahuas and their relationship with the skunk allows us to refer to the sacred and symbolic burdens that culture grants to the species. This work integrates biological knowledge, cosmos and language, elements that affect the conservation of the skunk and the culture.

Silence and Secrecy in the Memories of Traditional Miskitu Medicine

Marlon Howking — 2025-09-22

This article examines the disputes between the memories of Miskitu traditional medicine, conventional biomedicine, and the religious doctrines introduced in Nicaragua’s Moskitia region since the 19th century. Using an ethnographic approach that combines participant observation, in-depth interviews, and the author’s personal experiences, this paper discusses the processes of silencing, stigmatization, and marginalization of Indigenous healing knowledge. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Elizabeth Jelin and Michael Pollak on social memory, the study reveals how this knowledge has survived through oral transmission, clandestine practices, and everyday resistance. In contexts where hegemonic medicine has shown limitations ‒such as during the COVID-19 pandemic or in addressing Indigenous spiritual illnesses‒, traditional medicine has re-emerged as a powerful system of healing and worldview. The article contributes to debates on the legitimacy of Indigenous knowledge systems, advocating for intercultural dialogue that recognizes the validity and persistence of these practices within postcolonial contexts.

Anthropology and Sociology Make Peace with the Topic “Work”: Brazilian Perspectives

Guillermo Stefano Rosa Gómez — 2025-07-29

After all, what is the difference between sociology and anthropology of work? The question sneaked up on us in a working group at the Mercosur Anthropology Meeting. In this article, we set out to untangle what we consider to be an origin bias: the so-called correspondence between “theme” and “disciplinary area”. To claim the analytical fertility of exhaustive cataloguing of empirical evidence as a resource capable of providing powerful explanatory injunctions. At this point, the theoretically informed view, open up to object of study question, which would render the reason that wants to see the rigid separation between areas of knowledge innocuous. To do this, we used clues left behind from literature and a sample of papers presented at the aforementioned working group under the guise of being an anthropology congress.

Post-Covid Tourism and Vulnerability on the Caribbean: the Cases of Cancun-Isla Mujeres (Mexico) and the Canton Talamanca (Costa Rica)

Cristina Oehmichen Bazán — 2025-07-29

The Covid-19 pandemic had global effects, with variations depending on the local and regional conditions of each country. In addition to deaths and secondary repercussions, the sector most affected by the pandemic was tourism, since its management is directly related to the mobility of people, which stopped due to confinement. The pandemic exposed a series of structural problems between the globalized tourism industry and local populations. Among them is the vulnerability of workers in regions highly dependent on tourism.

In this paper we focus on the study of these effects in two tourist destinations located in the Caribbean: Cancún-Isla Mujeres, in Mexico, and the Canton of Talamanca, in Costa Rica. The research follows the guidelines of qualitative methods such as ethnography, with fieldwork, with interviews with tourism workers and people from the local societies of the analyzed tourist destinations.

Carlos Serrano Sánchez, Bernard Fahmel Beyer y Oswaldo Camarillo Sánchez, coordinadores (2024). Más allá de la muerte. Bioantropología e iconografía de la colección arqueológica del Museo Casa del Mendrugo, Puebla, México. México: Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México-Museo Casa del Mendrugo

Laura Rodríguez Cano — 2025-09-22

Los autores que participan en la obra han conseguido que sus artículos expliquen de manera clara y concisa, para que cualquier persona ‒incluso no especialista‒ comprenda cada uno de los pasos seguidos en los minuciosos análisis realizados, el tipo de resultados obtenidos, los principios en los que se basan, así como las limitaciones que se tienen sobre estos materiales óseos descontextualizados.

Miriam Judith Gallegos Gómora y Patricia Horcajada Campos, editoras (2023). Figurillas mesoamericanas del Clásico. Una mirada caleidoscópica a sus contextos, representaciones y usos. México: Secretaría de Cultura, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia

Alexis Fernando Oliveroz Osorio — 2025-09-22

Quizás la concepción material más genuina de representación simbólica de los pueblos 0mesoamericanos puede hallarse en la plasticidad de las figurillas cerámicas. Este tipo de materialidades han sido elaboradas desde que se congregaron las primeras sociedades sedentarias en Mesoamérica, aproximadamente hace cuatro mil años. La alfarería constituyó una actividad primordial en esos primeros asentamientos debido a que permitió el almacenamiento, transporte, cocción y conservación de alimentos y bebidas. Asimismo, la producción de estos artefactos significó profundos cambios en la organización social, la especialización y división de trabajo y las diversas aplicaciones técnicas, estéticas y tecnológicas. Dentro de este campo de innovaciones aparecieron las figurillas. Si bien es cierto que las primeras figurillas cerámicas en la transición entre finales del Arcaico y principios del Formativo fueron elaboradas con pastas burdas y/o técnicas rudimentarias, con el pasar de los siglos se manufacturaron objetos polícromos, complejos y visualmente ricos en iconología y semiótica.

Yoko Sugiura Yamamoto, Magdalena García Sánchez, Gustavo Jaimes Vences y José Alberto Aguirre Anaya. (2024). Conviviendo con las ciénegas en el pasado reciente. Etnoarqueología del Alto Lerma. México: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México-Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México-El Colegio de Michoacán-El Colegio Mexiquense

María del Carmen Pérez Ortiz de Montellano — 2025-09-22

El libro Conviviendo con las ciénegas en el pasado reciente. Etnoarqueología del Alto Lerma nos adentra en un paisaje donde el agua ha sido el eje de la vida humana durante milenios, un lugar donde las personas pescaban, cazaban y recolectaban, adaptándose a un ecosistema que les ofrecía sustento e identidad. Esta obra nos sumerge en la memoria de un paisaje en transformación. A través de una mirada que abarca la arqueología, la historia y la etnología, los autores nos llevan a recorrer los antiguos humedales que alguna vez fueron el corazón de las comunidades del Alto Lerma. Con base en años de investigación, entrevistas y estudios arqueológicos, reconstruyen la forma de vida de quienes dependieron de estos recursos: sus técnicas de pesca, caza y recolección, sus herramientas y su relación con el entorno acuático.

Carlos Serrano Sánchez, 1942-2025

Judith Lizbeth Ruiz González — 2025-12-11

Carlos Serrano Sánchez, antropólogo físico veracruzano, descubrió su vocación en la infancia gracias a su abuelo y a la influencia de figuras como Eusebio Dávalos y Juan Comas. Se formó en la ENAH y obtuvo su doctorado en París, especializándose en dermatoglifos, osteología, entre otros. Fue docente durante 57 años y transmitió el legado de la antropología física mexicana. Desarrolló investigaciones interregionales y comunitarias, especialmente en Veracruz, y promovió debates sobre el racismo y la evolución humana. Su vida académica estuvo marcada por la pasión, la docencia y el compromiso social. Se despide con gratitud y poesía, dejando su legado en generaciones formadas.

Publisher

Hernán Javier Salas Quintanal — 2025-12-11