Feathered Serpents and Pole Climbing Clowns with Dr. Randall McGuire 

Feathered Serpents and Pole Climbing Clowns: the Paradox of the Southwest/Northwest and Mesoamerican Connection with Dr. Randall McGuire
A comparison of the Southwest/Northwest and Mesoamerican culture areas reveals an intriguing paradox. Parallels occur in cosmology, iconography, metaphor, and ritual. Despite these parallels, the societies of the two regions remain qualitatively different. In the past, archaeologists have attempted to resolve this paradox by either denying significant connections between the regions (regionalists) or by seeing the SW/NW as the northernmost extension of Mesoamerica (Mesoamerican advocates). The vast majority of these scholars have been archaeologists working in the SW/NW. Regionalists seek an understanding based on the specifics of Southwest history and ethnography. Mesoamerican advocates argue for profound iconographic, cosmological, and metaphorical parallels and connections between the Southwest and the Mesoamerican religions. This has resulted in explanations for the connections between the two regions that are both too specific and too general. A multi-scalar relational approach presents an alternative to the two camps. Such comparisons necessitate approaching the problem from both the SW/NW and Mesoamerica. From this perspective, Dr. McGuire will ask how the relations between migrations, commerce, conquest, religion, and elites through time and in space made and remade the Southwest/Northwest and Mesoamerican connection.
This webinar is part of the Discover Archaeology Webinar Series, hosted every Thursday at 4pm MT by Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. These webinars are offered free of charge thanks to the support of generous donors. See what’s coming up at crowcanyon.org/archaeology-we.... Stream past webinars from our RU-vid channel at / crowcanyonconnects .
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is a nonprofit organization located near Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado. Our mission is to empower present and future generations by making the human past accessible and relevant through archaeological research, experiential education, and American Indian knowledge.
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