Resumen

PITARCH, Pedro. The two Maya bodies: An outline for an indigenous elemental Anthropology. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2011, vol.37, pp.149-178. ISSN 0185-2574.

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the indigenous Maya distinction between two types of human bodies: a carnal body, shared with animals, and a specifically human phenomenic body. This distinction, in turn, is equivalent to the indigenous distinction between two souls: a soul in a human shape and a soul in a non-human shape, generally of an animal species. The parallelism between bodies and souls leads me to propose a reorganization of the Mesoamerican concept of person in terms of a quaternary model which remains essentially binary (body/soul), yet permits the integration of elements which are different to each other, like the two bodies and the two souls, and yet mutually necessary to make up the person.

Palabras llave : body; personhood; Ontology; Tzeltal; Mayas; Mesoamerica.

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