Icons of Power: Feline Symbolism in the AmericasNicholas J. Saunders Icons of Power investigates why the image of the cat has been such a potent symbol in the art, religion and mythology of indigenous American cultures for three thousand years. The jaguar and the puma epitomize ideas of sacrifice, cannibalism, war, and status in a startling array of graphic and enduring images. Natural and supernatural felines inhabit a shape-shifting world of sorcery and spiritual power, revealing the shamanic nature of Amerindian world views. This pioneering collection offers a unique pan-American assessment of the feline icon through the diversity of cultural interpretations, but also striking parallels in its associations with hunters, warriors, kingship, fertility, and the sacred nature of political power. Evidence is drawn from the pre-Columbian Aztec and Maya of Mexico, Peruvian, and Panamanian civilizations, through recent pueblo and Iroquois cultures of North America, to current Amazonian and Andean societies. This well-illustrated volume is essential reading for all who are interested in the symbolic construction of animal icons, their variable meanings, and their place in a natural world conceived through the lens of culture. The cross-disciplinary approach embraces archaeology, anthropology, and art history. |
Contents
Icons of power | 1 |
The feline image | 12 |
Jaguar symbolism in the Americas | 53 |
A thematic approach to their imagery and symbolism | 77 |
5 Feline symbolism and material culture in prehistoric Colombia | 122 |
6 The jaguar of the backward glance | 155 |
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Amerindian Andean animal Anthropology anthropomorphic appear Araucanian Archaeology archeological artifacts associated Aztec Black Jaguar Bogotá bone Bororo cactus Cambridge canines carnivore Cashinahua Central ceramic ceremonial Chavín claws Cochiti Colombia context Cooke Costa Cult culture deer depicted Dillehay Dumbarton Oaks E.P. Benson effigy ethnographic example fangs felid feline feline imagery feline symbolism fetishes figure Furst grave groups hallucinogenic head historical human hunter hunting Huron-Wyandot icons Iroquoian jaguar jaguarundi killed Kogi Lothrop lowland male mammal Mesoamerica Mexico Moche Mountain Lion Museum myth mythology nahuallis natural Northern Iroquoian ocelot Olmec Olmec were-jaguar Panama panther man-being Parsons Pecos Peru Photograph pottery Pre-Columbian Art Pueblo puma region Reichel-Dolmatoff ritual San Agustín Saunders Seneca serpent shamans Shipibo shrine Sitio Conte skin Smithsonian Institution smoking pipes social society species stirrup spout bottle stone supernatural tail Tairona teeth Tembladera Tewa Tezcatlipoca University Press vessel Waiwai warriors Washington were-jaguar Yellow Jaguar York