This article explores the ritual use of edible effigies made from amaranth dough (tzoalli) among the Mexica. Rather than representing transcendent or polytheistic deities, these figures embodied «metapersons»: immanent, relational powers activated through ritual. Colonial – especially missionary – sources misread these practices as idolatry, failing to grasp the ontological logic at play. Focusing on the construction and use of figures like the Tepictoton, aquatic metapersons embodying mountains, the article argues that Mesoamerican religions enacted a fluid ontology and a dynamic material cosmopolitical system. These ephemeral bodies were not merely symbols but performative presences and social agents: temporary materializations of natural forces shaped through communal ritual action.
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-0006-7830
Chapter Title
Divinità di amaranto. Corpi effimeri in Mesoamerica
Authors
Sergio Botta
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0767-6.09
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Piccole ‘curiosità’ delle religioni antiche. Un approccio antropologico
Book Subtitle
Atti delle giornate di studio - Siena, 4 e 5 aprile 2024
Editors
Ginevra Benedetti, Francesca Prescendi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
124
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press, USiena Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0767-6
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0766-9
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0767-6
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-0768-3
Series Title
Studi di Antichistica