El Culto Al Felino

A Conference in Pre-Columbian Iconography

O C T O B E R 3l ST A N D N O V E M B E R l ST, 1 9 7 0

Elizabeth P. Benson, Editor

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections
TRUSTEES FOR HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Washington, D.C.

Copyright 1972
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection
Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress catalog number 72-90080P reface

R

began collecting Pre-Columbian art because he was
lured by the beauty of the materials, the fineness of the craftsmanship, and
the fascination of the iconography of the first Pre-Columbian objects he
saw. The Bliss Collection has been, since its beginning in 1912, primarily an esthetic
one-probably the first esthetically oriented collection of Pre-Columbian artifactsso itseemed appropriate to organize a conference that would focus on a cross-cultural,
art-historical approach. When we sought for a theme, the first that came to mind was
that great unifying factor in Pre-Columbian cultures, the feline. Large cats such as the
jaguar and puma preoccupied the artists and religious thinkers of the very earliest
civilizations, the Olmec in Mesoamerica and Chavín inPeru. The feline continued to
be an important theme throughout much of the New World until the European conquests. We are indebted to Barbara Braun for the title, “The Cult of the Feline.”
Pre-Columbian studies merge many disciplines. This conference was not only crosscultural but cross-disciplinary-with contributions from anthropologists, archaeologists, art historians, and ethnologists-since webelieved that the art-historical approach to iconography should be based on the knowledge of what has been found
archaeologically and what is known of the customs of the present-day peoples who
have been isolated enough to carry on what must be very ancient traditions. Perhaps
we should also have invited a zoologist. The conference, ably chaired by Geoffrey
Bushnell, covered various facets ofthe feline presence and meaning in Pre-Columbian
cultures from the Valley of Mexico to Argentina, from 1200 B.C. to present-day survivals. We have published in this volume not only the papers of the panelists but volunteered contributions from Alberto Rex González, David C. Grove, and Chiaki
Kano (whose material was presented at the conference by Donald Lathrap). Other
material-of greatinterest, but not suitable for publication here-was presented by
Mary Elizabeth King, Arthur G. Miller, and Peter Roe.
We are grateful for help received from the many members of the Dumbarton Oaks
staff who worked to make the conference a success. In the preparation of this volume,
we are appreciative of the editorial assistance of Barbara Braun, formerly the Assistant
Curator for the Pre-ColumbianCollection, most especially in transcribing the discussion-period tapes.
E LIZABETH P. BE N S O N
M ICHAEL D. CO E
OBERT WOODS BLISS

v

THE PANEL
Geoffrey H. S. Bushnell, Chairman
Michael D. Coe
Michael Kan

George Kubler
Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff
Alan R. Sawyer

THE PARTICIPANTS
Joyce Bailey
Junius Bird
Peggy Bird
Ingeborg Bolz
J. O. Brew
Patricia Bushnell
Frederick J.Dockstader
Dudley T. Easby, Jr.
Elizabeth Easby
Gordon F. Ekholm
Marguerite Ekholm
Nora Fisher
Kent V. Flannery
Beatriz de la Fuente
Dee Furst
Peter Furst
Alberto Rex González
David C. Grove
Terence Grieder
Gillett G. Griffin

Julie Jones
Michael D. Kampen
Mary Elizabeth King
Elizabeth Kubler
Donald W. Lathrap
Maria Antonieta Cervantes de Larrauri
Olga Linares
Arthur G. MillerLouise Milliken
Christine Niederberger
Lee A. Parsons
Esther Pasztory
Peter G. Roe
Richard W. Rose
John F. Scott
Marion Stirling
Matthew W. Stirling
Stephen Williams
Hasso von Winning

vii

Contents
MICHAEL D. COE

Olmec Jaguars and Olmec Kings
Discussion 13

1

GEORGE KUBLER

Jaguars in the Valley of Mexico
Discussion 45

19

GERARDO REICHEL-DOLMATOFF

The...