ABSTRACT
Religion was phenomenon that linked Mesoamerica, region by region, into one giant sphere of interaction. Religion and ritual cycles in R. A. Rappaport’s framework are seen as having adaptive functions far beyond increasing group solidarity. The belief systems generally subsumed under the headings of “religion” or “ideology,” however, can ensure the acceptance of social conventions, and thus the requisite degree of predictability in the operation of a social system. Rappaport has divided the operation of religion into three categories: “ultimate sacred propositions,” ritual, and religious experience. Religion can be articulated with social processes through rituals of sanctification. Rituals of sanctification ensure the acceptance of important messages or conventions, by imparting to these messages or conventions some of the unquestionable nature of the ultimate sacred propositions. Two artifacts that probably functioned in community-level ritual are the conch shell trumpet and the turtle shell drum.
