Comparison of iconography from northwestern Costa Rica and central Mexico

Abstract

There has been a consensus among researchers that the iconography on certain types of pottery from the middle and late Polychrome periods (A.D. 800-1550) in the Greater Nicoya region of Costa Rica and Nicaragua shows a link to cultures in central Mexico. The Mixtec culture has been listed as one possible source. Several possible reasons have been given for this connection, including trade and migration. My project uses analyses of the iconography of both regions to investigate what the iconography from central Mexico looks like in Costa Rica and Greater Nicoya, how this iconography changes through time, and how it compares to the iconography seen in central Mexico. I also look at current theories on trade and migration from central Mexico to Greater Nicoya and how they account for this spread of iconography.