Leiden University Student Repository

Gerritse, Samantha (2011)

Herkomstbepaling aan de hand van stijl. Het debat over de precieze herkomst van de Postklassieke Codex Borgia, Mexico

Bachelor thesis | Archeologie (BA)

The use of style occurred very early in archaeology. It is used still today to determine specific proveniences for archaeological objects. A lot of problems tend to occur when trying to determine a provenience for objects in a region where cultural interaction played a major role. These problems contain questions such as whether culture is recognizable through similarities and differences in small details and whether a style is really specific for a certain culture or region. These and other problems are the central theme of this thesis and these are being analysed with the help of a case study. This case study focuses on finding the place of manufacture of the ritual Mesoamerican book called Codex Borgia. The specific questions that stand central in this thesis are: which theories have been created about the origin of the Codex Borgia and how did the researchers interpret data for this research question? Furthermore, does finding a place of manufacture for the Codex Borgia give us...Show moreThe use of style occurred very early in archaeology. It is used still today to determine specific proveniences for archaeological objects. A lot of problems tend to occur when trying to determine a provenience for objects in a region where cultural interaction played a major role. These problems contain questions such as whether culture is recognizable through similarities and differences in small details and whether a style is really specific for a certain culture or region. These and other problems are the central theme of this thesis and these are being analysed with the help of a case study. This case study focuses on finding the place of manufacture of the ritual Mesoamerican book called Codex Borgia. The specific questions that stand central in this thesis are: which theories have been created about the origin of the Codex Borgia and how did the researchers interpret data for this research question? Furthermore, does finding a place of manufacture for the Codex Borgia give us new insights for further research in this area? Five of the many theories concerning this topic have been analysed here. It has been concluded that a couple of the researchers have been focussing on style-culture relations which tend to reveal little about a specific place of manufacture. This is due to the fact that similarities in this style, called the Mixteca-Puebla style, have been found over a large region. It is argued in this thesis that on the basis of style alone a specific region or place cannot be identified. That is why it has been argued that other sources should be used as well such as the content of the book. It has also been argued that we should not focus on trying to find a more specific place of manufacture for the Codex Borgia because it would not give us useful information on which further research can be based. We should not look for big differences in cultures as well, especially in a region where cultural interaction is dominant. Rather, we should focus on trying to understand this interaction and how it came to be.Show less

Author

Gerritse, Samantha

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Supervisors

Jansen, M.E.R.G.N.

ECTS Credits

10

Evaluation

Recommended

Language

nl