Taylor Carrico

Nothing Set in Stone: Functionality and Multiplicity in the Sacrificial Art of the Aztecs

Abstract

Current studies of sacrificial Aztec art in Pre-Colombian Mesoamerica are infected with a primitivizing, Eurocentric lens that emphasizes aesthetics and perceived “barbarism” over the art’s function in society. Furthermore, in reducing these stone sculptures to their superficial attributes, scholars ignore the multiple meanings inherent in them. Through a close examination of both mythological and mundane sculptures, and a conscious movement away from the European perspective, this thesis seeks to return the cultural narrative of sacrifice to the Aztecs themselves.