In the Maw of the Earth Monster: Mesoamerican Ritual Cave Use

Chapter 6: Sacred Caves and Rituals from the Northern Mixteca of Oaxaca, Mexico: New Revelations

CHAPTER 6 Sacred Caves and Rituals from the Northern Mixteca of Oaxaca, Mexico: New Revelations carlos rincón mautner Introduction The rugged landscape of the Mixteca in western Oaxaca, Mexico, consists of uplifted limestone blocks capped with volcanic tuffs that enclose a number of sedimentary basins. Over the ages, flowing water has sculpted deep canyons and numerous caves and caverns. Some of these caves are truly spectacular in terms of size and the antiquity of use by humans. A great number of small caves and rock shelters were also formed as running water undercut softerdeposits, namely, layers of conglomerates and welded tuffs along the contacts of faulted limestone blocks. The subterranean enclosed areas, or chambers, of caves and caverns vary greatly in size. In some cases, they measure kilometers in length, while others are nothing more than shallow depressions a few meters in depth. Rock overhangs along the area’s deeply incised streams also present cavelike features and are decorated with paintings that suggest they were used for ceremonial purposes . The purpose of this chapter is to present a context for understanding the ritual use of caves in the Mixteca by referring to recent discoveries in the Coixtlahuaca Basin. This basin occupies the northernmost section of the Mixteca Alta in the mountainous region known as the Sierra Madre del Sur (Figure 6.1). One of these caves provides a unique opportunity to understand the role that landforms seem to have played in the cosmology and religion of the region. I draw on colonial-period documentation, Pre- and Post-Hispanic codices, and artifactual materials found in caves, including paintings on walls, to make inferences about the ancient cave rituals that were performed. Owing to their great numbers and to the very antiquity of the tradition, caves figure prominently in the origin, traditions, and ritual lives of the Mixteca’s inhabitants : the Chocho-Popoloca, the Ixcatec, and the Mixtec. As is the case 118 Oaxaca Figure 6.1. The Northern Mixteca and Coixtlahuaca Basin. throughout Mesoamerica, the Pre-Hispanic histories of this broad cultural region ’s indigenous groups all point to caves as places of emergence for the gods, the nobility, and the people. Caves were also used for ancestor worship, rain propitiation and prognostication, vision quests, and consultation with supernatural beings as petitioners sought to affect their fate or the outcome of events. After Sacred Caves and Rituals from the Northern Mixteca 119 agriculture became established as the principal subsistence strategy, cave rituals associated with rain propitiation became strongly rooted in areas like the Mixteca , where rainfall is seasonal, and especially where it presents extreme interannual variability (Figure 6.2). Numerous cave cults flourished throughout the highlands on the eve of the Spanish conquest. References to the prevalence and significance of caves as places of worship are found in the codices and in the written accounts of the colonial Spanish from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The PreHispanic rituals of the Mixteca Alta, however, were not as well documented by the Spaniards as they were for Central Mexico. Nevertheless, some of the extant documentary sources refer to several of the better-known cave-shrines of the Mixteca Alta. The codices provide simplified views of what appear to be cave ceremonies (Figure 6.3). These sources usually portray one elite personage making an offering, although the nature, circumstances, or purpose for which the rituals were carried out is somewhat unclear. Colonial-period reports portray cave rituals as mysterious, pagan cults for devil worship that took place in remote locations, far from villages and their churches. Ritual activities not related to the Catholic Church necessarily had to be performed secretly, since the entire community was expected to congregate for catechism and mass and convincingly demonstrate that all its members embraced Christianity. Few references indicate why the rituals were performed; instead, they focus on attempts to eradicate them through Christian indoctrination and persecution of those practicing them. Understanding Cave Power Caves and mountains constitute points of reference along the horizon that are used in demarcating and asserting a community’s dominion over its territory. Throughout Mesoamerica, temples or pyramids were often constructed on or near these powerful landforms, and settlement configuration was influenced by their presence (Brady 1997; Heyden 1976). The community enclave, including its mountains and caves, forms a sacred conceptual unit that is honored and upheld by its loyal inhabitants (Rincón Mautner 1997:130...