Religiousness and Sacred Bundles in Prehispanic Mixteca

Abstract

The sacred bundle cult is one of the most widespread ritual activities throughout Mesoamerica. There is an abundant number of descriptions and representations of sacred bundles both in colonial sources and prehispanic pictographic documents, and the Mixteca region houses the greatest number of them.The use of bundles in Mixtec religiousness took place in foundational rituals, ceremonies of the accession of rulers, and periodical ceremonies that involved the whole community, but also in particular or private cults organized by the owner of a specific bundle. It appears that the sacred bundle cult was so widespread in the Mixteca that it might have been the main religious manifestation of the region during the prehispanic period.