Interpreting Tepantitla Patio 2 Mural (Teotihuacan, Mexico) as an ancestral figure

This thesis examines previous interpretations of Tepantitla Patio 2, Mural 2, in Teotihuacan, Mexico, and proposes an ancestral interpretation for the central figure. Examining iconographical themes within Teotihuacan’s residential art, and considering the archaological evidence of the use of the patio and the apartment complexes of Teotihuacan in general, this study focuses on the ancestor cults that permiated the doestic spheres of the city, rather than attempting to categorize the mural’s central figure as a deity of the state’s central religion. The iconographical significance of the frontal tableau, including a legless, frontally facing central figure with a large fanged noseplaque and avian hairdress flanked by two attending figures, and the axial configuration of a cave, mountain, and tree assemblage within a composition rich in water and agricultural symbolism, is considered and compared within the art of Teotihuacan. To further analyze the significance of ancestors across Mesoamerica and their associated realms and methods of artistic representation, cross-cultural and trans-historical studies are presented.