The White Shaman Mural

An Enduring Creation Narrative in the Rock Art of the Lower Pecos

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Native American Studies, Archaeology
Cover of the book The White Shaman Mural by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox ISBN: 9781477311202
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: November 29, 2016
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
ISBN: 9781477311202
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: November 29, 2016
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English
The prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas and Coahuila, Mexico, created some of the most spectacularly complex, colorful, extensive, and enduring rock art of the ancient world. Perhaps the greatest of these masterpieces is the White Shaman mural, an intricate painting that spans some twenty-six feet in length and thirteen feet in height on the wall of a shallow cave overlooking the Pecos River. In The White Shaman Mural, Carolyn E. Boyd takes us on a journey of discovery as she builds a convincing case that the mural tells a story of the birth of the sun and the beginning of time—making it possibly the oldest pictorial creation narrative in North America.Unlike previous scholars who have viewed Pecos rock art as random and indecipherable, Boyd demonstrates that the White Shaman mural was intentionally composed as a visual narrative, using a graphic vocabulary of images to communicate multiple levels of meaning and function. Drawing on twenty-five years of archaeological research and analysis, as well as insights from ethnohistory and art history, Boyd identifies patterns in the imagery that equate, in stunning detail, to the mythologies of Uto-Aztecan-speaking peoples, including the ancient Aztec and the present-day Huichol. This paradigm-shifting identification of core Mesoamerican beliefs in the Pecos rock art reveals that a shared ideological universe was already firmly established among foragers living in the Lower Pecos region as long as four thousand years ago.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
The prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas and Coahuila, Mexico, created some of the most spectacularly complex, colorful, extensive, and enduring rock art of the ancient world. Perhaps the greatest of these masterpieces is the White Shaman mural, an intricate painting that spans some twenty-six feet in length and thirteen feet in height on the wall of a shallow cave overlooking the Pecos River. In The White Shaman Mural, Carolyn E. Boyd takes us on a journey of discovery as she builds a convincing case that the mural tells a story of the birth of the sun and the beginning of time—making it possibly the oldest pictorial creation narrative in North America.Unlike previous scholars who have viewed Pecos rock art as random and indecipherable, Boyd demonstrates that the White Shaman mural was intentionally composed as a visual narrative, using a graphic vocabulary of images to communicate multiple levels of meaning and function. Drawing on twenty-five years of archaeological research and analysis, as well as insights from ethnohistory and art history, Boyd identifies patterns in the imagery that equate, in stunning detail, to the mythologies of Uto-Aztecan-speaking peoples, including the ancient Aztec and the present-day Huichol. This paradigm-shifting identification of core Mesoamerican beliefs in the Pecos rock art reveals that a shared ideological universe was already firmly established among foragers living in the Lower Pecos region as long as four thousand years ago.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book The Literary Criticism of Frank Norris by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, Volume 2 by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book From Cuenca to Queens by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book Rise and Fall of the Cosmic Race by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book Cattle in the Backlands by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book Framing Female Lawyers by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book Herodotus and the Question Why by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book Cuban Artists Across the Diaspora by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book A Trade like Any Other by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book The Cinema of Robert Rodriguez by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book Maya Cultural Activism in Guatemala by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book Reel Knockouts by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book The Anatomy of Eleven Towns in Michoacán by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book My Remembers by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
Cover of the book Rebel Private Front and Rear by Carolyn E. Boyd, Kim Cox
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy