Women And Lady Six Sky's Stele 24 At Naranjo

Artistic works of women, throughout history, portray them with varying degrees of authority and societal status. In Ancient Mesoamerica, works of art with women were rare and of the two extremes: high status or of an equal status to a war captive. Coyolxauhqui relief from the Templo Mayor speaks to women being low on the hierarchy of society and equates them to a captive due to her body dismemberment and poor imagery. In contrast, Lady Six Sky’s Stele 24 at Naranjo suggests that Lady Six Sky was of elite status with the authority to sacrifice captives because of her attire and military associations. These two pieces of art show women in two distinct lights but are similar in one sense: elements of their clothing are typical of male regalia.

As she is mostly naked except for a loin cloth, she appears like a war captive would: bare and humiliated. Similarly, this relief’s location is at the base of a structure, so individuals walk right over her as if they are stepping on a war captive, like many works of art depict captives. Her body is in broken down pieces with bones protruding out of certain limbs, and the tongue sticks out as a convention for death. On her joints are fanged masks, suggesting the she is trouble and evil. Furthermore, snakes tie her up, which act as a parallel to how war captives are bound in many images. At the time of the creation of this relief, women were of lesser status than men. They had no authority and equal to that of a prisoner of war, an individual on the way to sacrifice. However, not all of Mesoamerican women had such low status within

Moreover, she is in a frontal view and wears animal imagery on her belt, characteristics reserved for kings at the time. She stands on a captive like she is taking a captive back from a military expedition. In addition, she holds a sacrificial bowl, so she is not only coming back with a captive, but she actively sacrifices them. The captive and war imagery place her stature in an authoritative position. Furthermore, Lady Six Sky boosts one female element, a spondylosis shell, which is a symbol for fertility. The inclusion of this particular female attribute creates a strong lineage for herself, something that kings will typically do to cement their ruling position. This work tells a story of woman having the power to rule over a society and actively participate in militaristic events. She, in particular, was of royal status as evidence of many more monuments erected for her during her reign exists. The Coyolxauhqui relief from the Templo Mayor and Lady Six Sky’s Stele 24 at Naranjo are only similar in their depiction of Ancient Mesoamerican women’s status in that they illustrate women linking to men. Both woman wear attire typical of men, but even their positions within society connect in some manner to those of men, vastly different in societal status. The Coyolxauhqui