Avaliação: Cuerpo y alimento en el ritual: miradas comparativas entre Mesoamérica y el Área Andina – Not Just for Sustenance: Sacred Liquids in Mesoamerica

In Book 6 (Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy) of the Florentine Codex, the 16th century Franciscan Friar Benardino de Sahagún and his co-authors equate cacao with both the heart and blood: “This saying was said of cacao, because it was precious…the heart, the blood are to be feared.” There are other examples recorded in ethnohistorical sources that highlight the complicated connections between liquids (chocolate, blood, maize beer, and other) and indigenous rituals. This paper will explore both pre-Columbian visual material and post-contact ethnohistorical sources to understand how these more esoteric manifestations fit into the larger indigenous world view.

• Ritual
• Food
• Mesoamerica