Subject:      Re: Interesting article by Michael Coe
From:         yuku@io.org (Yuri Kuchinsky)
Date:         1996/11/12
Newsgroups:   sci.archaeology.mesoamerican


Michael Coe: A question for every answer.

*****************************************

I exerpted in this post some parts of this very interesting article that 
deal with the hypothesis of trans-Pacific diffusion of cultural traits.

[snip]

: "I think my native rebelliousness might have helped me see
: the potential of their efforts," Coe laughs, "because in the Maya field
: there is so much conservatism . . . there still is today.

Hear, hear!

[snip]

: Coe wants to organize a conference of Mayanists to meet in Bali. " It would
: be a marvelous chance to bring them into contact with what is known about
: Bali and show the Maya parallels in terms of ritual and mental systems via
: the deciphered inscriptions. We're just getting into this with the Maya,
: but in Bali it's still alive! There are so many resemblances. Some may be
: strictly evolutionary convergence, but others well may be real
: connections." Then Coe pauses and laughs, realizing full well he's
: embarking on touchy stuff: unfashionable theories about transpacific
: contacts between Mesoamerica and Asia that stubbornly refuse to go away.

Sure enough this is a sensible and relevant observation. Way to go Dr. Coe!

: "There are so many resemblances between mental systems of Bali and
: Mesoamerica. It got to the point I could predict what they [the Balinese]
: were going to do next from my knowledge of the Maya. Truly amazing! To see
: temple rituals, to see how temples were put together, the connection
: between astronomy and calendar. They have one very similar to that of
: Mesoamerica--a permutation calendar--and it relates to the everyday way of
: life in which all Balinese participate fully. You can develop models from
: the Maya area on this."

: That these views echo the fascinating but still controversial theories of
: Mexico's great Renaissance man (painter, caricaturist, ethnologist,
: archaeologist, and anthropologist) Miguel Covarrubias is no accident. "I've
: had a lifelong interest in Covarrubias," Coe admits. "He's my hero! I
: worship Covarrubias. His book Island of Bali (1937) is still the best book
: on the subject. It has its biases, but he had incredible instincts, those
: of an artist, an artist's eye. Being a caricaturist, from everything he
: could select the essence. I never met him personally. He died relatively
: young. He was a devoted socialist, a Marxist. Instead of going to a private
: clinic for something minor, he went to the state clinic because he believed
: in the Revolution. Basically they killed him there."

: Clearly Coe believes Covarrubias's heretical transpacific diffusionist
: theories may hold some truth.

And I'm sure glad to hear this (as those who followed my postings in this
group no doubt realize)...

: "We don't have any explanation, and we have
: to work out the time problem. The resemblances between Southeast Asia and
: Mesoamerica are extraordinary, but you can't take it from Angkor to
: Mesoamerica because the latter ruins are so much older than those in
: Cambodia. The visual aspects could be just stylistic, something that comes
: from looking at something in a similar way. Hence that' s not reliable. But
: I'm looking at mental systems, costoological systems, which are almost
: identical on both sides of the Pacific.

Yes, sir!

: Calendars, eclipse cycles, those
: things are probably not fortuitous. You can' t invoke psychic unity on
: things like that." And then, there is the jade. "Yes, in both places an
: obsessive interest and the coating of jade with red and placing a jade bead
: in the mouth as a symbol of life. These are uncanny things, something you
: can get your hands on. Most anthropologists are so fuddy-duddy. They're not
: willing to let their minds roam ahead, speculate. These things need
: explanations! Maybe it went the other way [westward] or, if there were
: connections, perhaps it was a two-way street,

Well, these issues certainly need to be discussed, and Coe's contribution
here is very important. Thanks for posting this article, Paul.

Best,

Yuri.
--
           **    Yuri Kuchinsky in Toronto   **
  -- a webpage like any other...  http://www.io.org/~yuku  --

Most of the evils of life arise from man's being
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