ization. Th e ceremonial center’s architecture tracked and re-
vealed astronomical phenomena: the movements of the sun,
moon, planets (especially Venus), and stars and the timing of
the solar equinox, solstices, and eclipses. A metaphor for the
cosmos, the carefully confi gured architectural setting allowed
the shaman seemingly to manipulate astronomical events for
the betterment of the subject peoples, especially concern-
ing agriculture. Th e festival audience would have gathered
to await the occurrence of the phenomenon, brought about
by the costumed shaman from his platform stage or atop a
pyramid. Examples of such sites include Building J at Monte
Albán in Oaxaca, Mexico (aft er 150 b.c.e.); Structure 5 at
Cerros, a Mayan site in Belize (aft er 100 b.c.e.); and the Nasca
lines in Peru (aft er 100 c.e.), the latter probably considered
visible only to a transcendent birdlike shaman.
Much of the artwork that has been unearthed at these
sites and others indicates theater on a grand scale, appropri-
ate to the architecture. Around the perimeter of the Sunken
Court at Chavín de Huántar humans and jaguars are depicted
in procession. Carvings in the Olmec heartland and at other
Mesoamerican sites represent costumed shaman-leaders act-
ing out ritual in theatrical settings. On a platform throne at
La Venta a leader wearing a bird headdress is shown seated in
the open jaws of the earth beneath a sky dragon and holding
a rope to which are attached captives. On the upper surface is
a car ved jaguar pelt, a symbol of power. On this throne before
his subject audience, the shaman was able to combine tran-
scendence with military prowess to enhance and centralize
his power.
In the present-day Mexican state of Morelos, a cave
doorway, the opening into the underworld in the form of a
monster mask at Chalcatzingo (ca. 500–ca. 300 b.c.e.), is a
dramatic stage set. At La Venta and Chalcatzingo sculpted
fi gures wear large, ornate headdresses that must have been
impressive whether closely inspected or viewed from a dis-
tance. In a cave painting at Oxtotitlan, in the Mexican state of
Guerrero, a shaman is seated on a throne and wears an elab-
orate bird costume. He raises his arms and attached wings,
giving the appearance of fl ight. Sculptures of transformation
fi gures depicting humans becoming jaguars or birds indicate
ritual festivals that must have brought together large num-
bers of participants into the plazas of Chavín de Huántar, La
Venta, and Monte Albán.
Stela 5 from the Late Formative (ca. 400 b.c.e.–ca. 150
c.e.) Mayan site of Izapa in the state of Chiapas, Mexico,
seems to record one of these presentations acted out before an
audience. Below sky symbols, a supernatural tree appears in
the center of the carved scene, rising up from a platform that
is elaborated with earth and water symbols. A large fi gure to
the right creates an opening in the tree from which humans
emerge. On the other side of the tree are an elderly man and
woman engaged in divination, perhaps the ancestral couple.
Th ese ceremonies inspired the production of costumes
made of feathers and other fi ne materials, jewels, masks, and
ritual objects carved of jade and other prized stones. Th e
jewelry and costumes of sumptuous materials denoted high
status and, at the same time, meant substantial cost for the
people served by the shaman-leaders. Materials for these ac-
cessories came from distant locales. Th us, as a result of this
grand ceremonial activity, production and trade moved be-
yond agriculture to include precious ritualistic objects for the
elite.
Th e Olmec played a game with a rubber ball on a court at
San Lorenzo in Veracruz (ca. 1500–ca. 1200 b.c.e.). From this
early precedent, ball courts continued to be placed within
ceremonial centers in Mesoamerica. Th e game was consid-
ered a metaphor for cosmic events and thus part of religious
festival activity. Audiences gathered to watch for an outcome
that could bring life or death to the players.
In Mesoamerica the origin of the 260-day ritual almanac
and the solar festival calendar of 365 days can be traced to the
activity of the shamans at the ceremonial centers. Th e sha-
man-priests joined together the two calendars to create the
52-year Calendar Round, which was both divinatory (fore-
telling the future or uncovering secret knowledge) and a tran-
scription of the cycle of festivals that followed the seasonal
movement of the sun and other celestial bodies. On carved
stone stelae at La Mojarra in Veracruz (aft er 150 c.e.) and El
Baúl in the Mayan region of Guatemala (Stela 1 dating to 37
c.e.), the combination of hieroglyphs with dramatically cos-
tumed shaman-lords reveals the power that came with con-
trol over the passage of time.Pottery dog, from Colima, West Mexico, 300 b.c.e. to 300 c.e.; dogs
were believed to assist the dead in their journey to the Underworld,
and the hairless type depicted here was eaten at feasts. (© Th e Trustees
of the British Museum)festivals: The Americas 471