Pre-Columbian Studies celebrated yet another successful fall symposium with maximum attendance on the theme of “Smoke, Flames, and the Human Body in Mesoamerican Ritual Practice.” Organized by Vera Tiesler and Andrew Scherer and held on October 9th and 10th, the symposium embraced diverse approaches to the uses and multilayered meanings of fire and the body in ancient, historic, and contemporary Mesoamerica.
The disciplinary interests represented at the proceedings ranged across archaeology, bioarchaeology, epigraphy, iconography, ethnohistory, and ethnography. The papers catalyzed fruitful discussions during and long after the formal symposium sessions. A concluding discussion was skillfully led by Senior Fellow John Verano, who offered reflections and observations from an Andean perspective leavened by his own special brand of humor to round out the weekend’s scholarly exchanges.