Chelsea Dacus
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Curatorial, Department Member
- Rice University, Art History, Graduate Studentadd
- Art History, Oceania (Archaeology), History, Archaeology, Pre-Columbian, Inca, Andes, Peru, South America, Archaeology, Anthropology, Pre-Columbian Art, and 11 moreMesoamerican Archaeology, Ancient Greek and Roman Art, African Art History, American Indian Art, Native American Studies, American Indian Studies, A new Etruscan graffito, in M. Fulford, A. Wallace Hadrill, Towards a history of pre-Roman Pompeii: excavations beneath the House of Amarantus (I.9.11-12), 1995-8, in Papers of the British School at Rome LXVII, 1999, 82-84, Curatorial Theory, Sociology, Humanities, and Textile Archaeologyedit
- Chelsea Dacus is Assistant Curator of The Glassell Collections, African, Oceanic, Ancient and Native American, and Antiquities at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. At the MFAH she has assisted in the production of multiple exhibitions including The Spirit of Ancient Colombian Gold. She is also currently a PhD student at Rice University in Art History. Her research concerns the metalwork of ancient Andean cultures ... moreChelsea Dacus is Assistant Curator of The Glassell Collections, African, Oceanic, Ancient and Native American, and Antiquities at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. At the MFAH she has assisted in the production of multiple exhibitions including The Spirit of Ancient Colombian Gold. She is also currently a PhD student at Rice University in Art History. Her research concerns the metalwork of ancient Andean cultures and their place within a holistic framework of practice and performance. She is currently working on her dissertation on the metalwork of the Tiwanaku of Bolivia within this context.edit
Weaving has been a succinctly female activity in the Mesoamerican region of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and the other countries of Central America for hundreds of centuries. For the modern Maya the fabrics and patterns woven are at the... more
Weaving has been a succinctly female activity in the Mesoamerican region of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and the other countries of Central America for hundreds of centuries. For the modern Maya the fabrics and patterns woven are at the core of a woman’s identity and a crucial source of family sustenance. For the ancient Maya cloth and fabric were used in their tribute activities – gifts of food and cloth created ties, alliances, and allegiances. The symbol of ascending to rulership in ancient Maya writing and sculpture was encapsulated in the action of tying on a cloth headband. Clearly, the production of fabric was an essential activity performed by Maya women.
This study examines a set of bones inscribed with glyphs calling them the bone pins of an elite Maya woman. These bones were probably specifically meant for use in weaving and were given a place of honor, indicating their significance and worth as elite objects and tools, by being buried with her as funeral goods along with a cache of valuable and elite objects. Using a categorical and iconographical analysis and utilizing the clues left behind in the glyphs adorning these bones, this study uncovers who this woman probably was and what her role might have been in the royal household she lived in. She was probably a royal woman, maybe a princess, or even a queen, who had ties with a ruler of Naranjo, a city in northeastern Guatemala near the border with Belize. She shares titles with some of the prominent queens of that city, and is labeled as a royal woman of high status by these titles as well.
The number of bones buried with the lady of this analysis may signify that she was a master weaver. Since fabrics and their distribution were so important to the political system of the ancient Maya it is logical to believe that fabrics by certain weavers who had proved themselves as masters would have been sought after, much in the way that ceramic vessels from certain workshops of high quality were desired. Along with monuments from Naranjo and other city-states, which tell of women acting as rulers, ambassadors, and politicians, these unique utensils, rare in the archaeological corpus, suggest that the role of elite women was integral to the function of rulership and Maya society.
This study examines a set of bones inscribed with glyphs calling them the bone pins of an elite Maya woman. These bones were probably specifically meant for use in weaving and were given a place of honor, indicating their significance and worth as elite objects and tools, by being buried with her as funeral goods along with a cache of valuable and elite objects. Using a categorical and iconographical analysis and utilizing the clues left behind in the glyphs adorning these bones, this study uncovers who this woman probably was and what her role might have been in the royal household she lived in. She was probably a royal woman, maybe a princess, or even a queen, who had ties with a ruler of Naranjo, a city in northeastern Guatemala near the border with Belize. She shares titles with some of the prominent queens of that city, and is labeled as a royal woman of high status by these titles as well.
The number of bones buried with the lady of this analysis may signify that she was a master weaver. Since fabrics and their distribution were so important to the political system of the ancient Maya it is logical to believe that fabrics by certain weavers who had proved themselves as masters would have been sought after, much in the way that ceramic vessels from certain workshops of high quality were desired. Along with monuments from Naranjo and other city-states, which tell of women acting as rulers, ambassadors, and politicians, these unique utensils, rare in the archaeological corpus, suggest that the role of elite women was integral to the function of rulership and Maya society.
Research Interests:
... in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a Major in Art History by Chelsea Dacus (BA, Mount Holyoke College) December 10, 2005 Page 2. 2 Copyright (2005)Chelsea Dacus All Rights Reserved Page 3.... more
... in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a Major in Art History by Chelsea Dacus (BA, Mount Holyoke College) December 10, 2005 Page 2. 2 Copyright (2005)Chelsea Dacus All Rights Reserved Page 3. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...