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

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.