By Angela Huster
One form of Aztec jewelry were decorative objects worn
through a piercing in a person’s lower lip, known as bezotes in Spanish and lip
plugs or labrets in English. They can be made out of different materials –
bone, clay, obsidian, or other stones – and come in various shapes. While there
are a few very fancy examples in museums, with gold and turquoise inlays, most examples
are much simpler. In Central Mexico, “T-shaped” lip plugs are traditionally associated
with the Otomi ethnic group, based on historic documents. In her excavations at
Xaltocan, Lisa Overholtzer (2015) showed that T-shaped lip plugs were used
during the Middle Postclassic, and and wider, flatter "Button-shaped" ones were used during the Late
Postclassic. However, people seem to have switched forms before the Aztec
conquest of the site, suggesting that they may have actively manipulated their
ethnic identity in anticipation of shifts in regional power.
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| The rock crystal and obsidian lip plugs from Calixtlahuaca (plus a copper earspool on the left) |
At Calixtlahuaca, we recovered two T-shaped lip plugs (one
made out of obsidian and one of rock crystal), and two button-shaped ones (both
made out of clay). Both T-shaped pieces come from Ninupi phase contexts. One of
the button-shaped ones comes from a Ninupi phase context and the other from a
Yata phase context. The fact that we recovered so few examples of lip plugs is
interesting, since the Otomi were one of the ethnic groups who lived in the
Toluca Valley. The phasing of the few lip plugs we did find parallels the findings
from Xaltocan; T-shaped lip plugs are earlier and from prior to the Aztec
conquest of the site, and button-shaped ones are more likely to be later, from
the period under Aztec rule, but there’s some fuzziness. However, because Calixtlahuaca
was conquered by the Aztecs later than Xaltocan was, the transition in forms
occurs later in calendar time; instead of a change between the Middle and Late
Postclassic, the switch in forms occurs between the two halves of the Late
Postclassic.
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| The ceramic lip plugs from Calixtlahuaca |
Because lip plugs are low frequency objects (even at sites
where they are more common than at Calixtlahuaca!), it can be hard for any one
project to find enough to identify meaningful patterns. As a result, it is
important for projects to publish good descriptions of their rare finds and
their proveniences, so that a larger regional sample can eventually be put together. We
are currently writing the informe chapter on miscellaneous ceramic objects at
Calixtlahuaca – which includes, but certainly isn’t limited to, lip plugs.
Works Cited:
Overholtzer, Lisa M.
2015 Agency, practice, and chronological
context: A Bayesian approach to household chronologies. Journal of
Anthropological Archaeology 37:37-47.
