Abstract
Olmec-style rock relief carvings dated to the Middle Formative (1000–350 BC) that can be found in Chiapas, Mexico – Xoc relief (Tzaconeja River valley, Department of Ocosingo) and rock carvings at Pijijiapan on Chiapas Pacifi c Coast – represent unusual forms of early monumental art from Southeastern Mesoamerica. They were situated in the natural environment, far from the settlement area, and not in the centers of the Middle Formative chiefdoms and communities. Xoc relief represents a supernatural fi gure carrying the bundle with maize stalk and corncobs and could be related to pan-Mesoamerican motif of the origins of the maize hidden within the rock. Pijijiapan carvings contain various motifs; the central one seems to be that of receiving the right to the power from the local female deity or feminine ancestor. Taking into the account their placement, suggested interpretations of the semantics of Xoc and Pijijiapan carvings probably indicate that they were related to the ritual practices different from those known from archaeological records from Middle Formative ritual and political centers like Chiapa de Corzo, La Libertad, La Blanca, Naranjo, Kaminaljuyu, Ceibal etc. The central idea of the stela concept was the renovation of the chiefl y power in the course of the calendrical ceremonies realized within the artifi cial landscape. It is possible that the image of the supernatural master of the maize carved on the Xoc cliff was used for the adoration by wider cultural group that single chiefdom or community. Rock outcrops at Pijijiapan probable were a sacred natural locality that chiefs were visiting for power-receiving ceremonies.
Keywords
Mesoamerica, Middle Formative, rock carvings, ancestor worship, ethnosemiotics.
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