Dr. Geoffrey McCafferty

Since 2000, my research has focused on the archaeology, ethnohistory, and visual culture of Pacific Nicaragua. This has included large-scale excavation projects at the sites of Santa Isabel and El Rayo, as well as more limited excavations at Tepetate, Las Delicias, Sonzapote, Moyotzinco, and Ticuantepe. The overarching research question has been the investigation of ethnohistorical accounts of migration and colonization of the region by groups from central Mexico, including Cholula, between 600 and 1200 CE. In addition to Colonial period chronicles and historical linguistics, decorated polychrome pottery and its symbolic iconography suggest innovative cultural practices similar to Nahua and Oto-mangue groups from Mexico's central highlands. Over the past 25 years abundant information has been recovered to characterize indigenous practices ... but the connection to central Mexico remains enigmatic.

Plans are underway to shift the focus of my research to El Salvador, where I will collaborate with archaeologists from the Foundation for Archaeology of El Salvador (FUNDAR) to continue excavations at the ancient city of Cihuatan. Cihuatan was occupied between 900-1150 CE, and investigations have continued intermittently for 100 years, including excavations of monumental architecture (such as pyramids, platforms, and two ballcourts), as well as domestic contexts. Dr. Jane Kelley of the University of Calgary directed a household archaeology project there in the 1980s, so my interest represents continuity with that project. Cihuatan is noted for its material similarities to Mexican groups from Tula (Hidalgo), Chichen Itza (Yucatan), Cholula (Puebla), and the Gulf Coast (Veracruz), so this will be a continuation of my research into migration and colonization from central Mexico into Central America.

My interest in Cholula began when I enrolled at the University of the Americas as a first-year undergraduate in 1971, but really solidified when I returned for graduate school in 1980. Cholula is the site of the world's largest pyramid, the Tlachihualtepetl ('artificial mountain'), and it has been occupied continuously for 3000 years. Consequently, the research opportunities are vast, including questions about how the population's resilience has allowed them to continue unabated while other major centers have collapsed. The major effort of my research was the analysis of material culture from the UA-1  field school in 1968 under the direction of Daniel Wolfman that exposed three structures during construction of the university. Two of these were domestic residences with associated artifacts. For my MA thesis I analyzed ceramics from these houses, and then I expanded the analysis to include all aspects of the material culture for my PhD dissertation. These remain the most complete analyses of household practice from the ancient urban center. Another important contribution was the establishment of a ceramic sequence for the Postclassic period (900-1520 CE) that filled a gap in the culture history that previously had been interpreted as site abandonment.

Since completing my PhD based on the UA-1 materials I have participated in several other field projects, as well as using existing sources to interpret the construction history of the Great Pyramid, the role of Cholula in regional marketing, and the impact of the Cholula massacre upon the arrival of the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes. I currently hold a grant from Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to investigate ethnic change and resilience during the Epiclassic and Early Postclassic periods (600-1200 CE).

My interest in Oaxaca began when I joined the settlement pattern survey of the Tamazulapan valley in the Mixteca Alta region. In addition to the archaeological research, I also became interested in the pictorial manuscripts, or codices, that were produced in the Mixteca during the final centuries before the Spanish conquest. The manuscripts are primarily genealogical accounts of ruling dynasties of the small city-states in the many small valleys of the Mixteca. Instead of the historical content, however, my interest has been in the visual culture depicted, for example the woven costumes, the weapons, and the architecture. One theme that has been a focus of research in collaboration with my wife, Sharisse, has been representations of textile production tools, such as spindles and spindle whorls, that were used as symbols of female power. We recognized physical examples of spinning and weaving tools among the grave goods from Tomb 7 at Monte Alban, one of the richest tombs ever discovered in Mesoamerica, and used this information to reinterpret the cultural significance of the context as a shrine dedicated to a female earth/fertility deity. 

One overarching research interest throughout my career has been the archaeology of social identities, especially ethnicity and gender. My MA thesis considered ethnic identities of Cholula and Oaxaca, contrasting ethnohistorical sources with archaeological material culture. When I began my research program in Pacific Nicaragua, ethnicity was again a central question as I tried to use the artifact assemblages to distinguish traits associated with the autochthonous population from innovative traits introduced by newly arrived groups from central Mexico. My new project planned for Cihuatan (El Salvador) will again consider the material culture in order to infer different ethnic traits.

When I began graduate studies at SUNY Binghamton 'engendered archaeology' was a new concept, and Dr. Margaret Conkey was the leading advocate. I was fortunate to be able to study with her and, under her influence, begin my own research into gender identities -- in collaboration with my wife, Sharisse. This research has integrated archaeological evidence with visual culture and ethnographic analogies. One early example of our research was a critical re-analysis of the Battle Mural from Cacaxtla where, based on our costume analysis, we identified two of the major protagonists as gender female. The stereotypical female activities (based on ethnohistorical and ethnographic analogies) of spinning and weaving have afforded other opportunities to infer gender roles and ideologies. 

Ceramics offer many valuable insights onto past culture. They are highly durable, are essential for a variety of functions (especially in food storage,  preparation, and consumption), and are often decorated. I became interested in ceramics while working on the Tamazulapan settlement pattern project, where I played a role in using recovered ceramics to establish the time periods from which different sites were occupied. Ceramics from the UA-1 field school in Cholula were a central focus of analysis, both for chronological seriation but also using vessel form as a way to infer foodways. Similarities between the beautiful polychromes of Cholula and those from Pacific Nicaragua were an important incentive for initiating research at Santa Isabel. One of the major differences between the pottery of Cholula and Pacific Nicaragua, however, relates to the utilitarian vessel form of large, flat 'griddles' known as comales that were used for heating tortillas. Comales made up close to 25% of the rim sherds from Postclassic Cholula, yet are completely absent from sites such as Santa Isabel and El Rayo. If these sites were occupied by migrants from central Mexico, as the historical chronicles present, then the lack of comales and therefore tortillas is surprising. This is the subject of ongoing research involving additional sites, including Cihuatan, El Salvador.

In addition to the functional aspects of pottery, decoration is also an important aspect. Design elements and configurations on early Cholula polychromes, often referred to as the 'Mixteca-Puebla stylistic tradition,'  feature traits similar to the Gulf Coast, suggesting that Cholula may have been influenced by Maya potters. Pottery from Pacific Nicaragua has some of the same characteristics, and the absolute chronology indicates that 'Mixteca-Puebla' traits were being produced by about 800 CE, which is surprisingly about 200 years before they appear in Cholula. 

Besides their role in establishing cultural similarities, ceramic iconography also provides a 'window' onto ancient ideologies. For example, variations on the 'feathered serpent' appear in both Cholula and Pacific Nicaragua, as well as many other sites in between. The Feathered Serpent deity, known as Quetzalcoatl in Nahuat. was one of the most important figures in the Nahua pantheon. Other Mesoamerican deities are also represented on Nicaraguan ceramics beginning in about 800 CE, providing evidence of possible cultural interaction. 

The ceramics of Pacific Nicaragua also include a rich array of animal imagery, presumably relating to the animistic belief system of the inhabitants. With Sharisse, we are developing a 'bestiary' of animal imagery from excavated and museum collections, that we are then comparing with ethnographic traditions about animal actors in the cosmology. For example, a fairly common image is that of a praying mantis painted on the walls of Luna Polychrome. Interviews with traditional elders revealed that mantids, known as the 'madre culebra' (mother serpent), could be used to predict the weather as well as lead lost travellers back to their homes. Many of the animals depicted on Nicaraguan pottery related to Chibchan origin myths, and so provide one of the best means of recovering pre-Columbian ideologies.