| dc.description.abstract | The art from the ancient city of Teotihuacan has long fascinated Mesoamerican scholars. Humans, animals, deities, and landscapes in mural paintings decorate the interiors of palaces and apartment compounds while colossal animal heads adorn the façades of pyramids and massive sculptures of deities loom in plazas. The ceramics at Teotihuacan, while small in comparison to other artforms of the city, are no less intriguing. Teotihuacans cylindrical tripod vessel tradition proliferates throughout most of the citys life and demonstrate stylistic shifts throughout time. In this thesis, I analyze the imagery on sixty-five tripod vessels to attempt to find patterns in pictorial themes across ceramic phases. Through this analysis, I focus on the bird-warrior theme as a case study and have found that the theme enjoys longevity in the tradition of tripod vessel manufacture in the city. The prominence of bird-warrior imagery on the vessels throughout time shows that bird-warriors held higher status in the Teotihuacan military in comparison to other animal-associated units, such as the canine, feline, and snake warrior units. I support this claim by pointing out instances of bird and militaristic imagery abroad at the Maya polity Tikal, which is used in reference to the city of Teotihuacan. It seems as if bird-warriors held important status in Teotihuacan society, especially in terms of the military, and this status is manifested through their appearance on cylindrical tripod vessels for several centuries.--Abstract. | en_US |
