examination of botanical substructures as symbolic communication: The carved stone monuments of the Cotzumalguapa Nuclear Zone, Guatemala

Author

• Debora Claire Kerr

Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1998

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Kennedy, William J.

Abstract

The Cotzumalguapa Nuclear Zone is located on the Pacific slope of Guatemala. A portion of the carved stone monuments associated with this zone exhibits a unique combination of botanical symbols as a concomitant to central portrait figuration. This botanical style, found elsewhere in Mesoamerica, includes leaf, flower, fruit, and complex tabbed speech scroll/vine motifs intertwined with other non-botanical symbols. The resulting style can be interpreted as an "envisioned form" of symbolic communication. This thesis examines, isolates and quantifies the botanical elements, their placement and suggests comparisons with plant species known to facilitate altered state spiritual communication.

Extent

166 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1998.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Recommended Citation

Kerr, Debora Claire, "examination of botanical substructures as symbolic communication: The carved stone monuments of the Cotzumalguapa Nuclear Zone, Guatemala" (1998). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1990 - 1999. 1303.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_4/1303

Identifier

FADT15598

Format

pdf