THE MAYA

ALBERTO RUZ

41

Alberto Ruz Lhuillier (1906 1979) was born in Paris,

France to a Cuban father and French mother. He started
his studies in France, but in 1930, he continued them
at the University of

Havana.

he moved to Mexico where, in November

1965, he presented his professional examination as an
archaeologist in the National School of Anthropology.

Much

later

Profoundly and inseparably bound to the pre Colom

bian past. Dr. Ruz devoted himself, heart and soul as
well as mind,
history,

to

engaging

in

Mesoamerican archaeology and

number of diverse activities, such

as that of archaeologist in the National Institute of An

thropology and History from 1940 on; as Director of
archaeological explorations in Campeche, Yucatan and
Palenque from 1943 to 1958; as Head of the Mayan
1958; as Director q( the Center Mayan
Studies at the National Autonomous University of Mex
ico, and of the National Museum of Anthropology in

Zone from 1949 to

1977.

Among

the innumerable publications of Dr. Ruz

we can mention: Campeche in Mayan Ar
chaeology, 1945; The Civilization of the Ancient Mayas,
1968; The Temple of Inscriptions, Palenque, 1973; The
Lhuillier,

Tomb

of Palenque, 1974, etc.

Ruz discovered the tomb in the Temple

which completely changed everything
that had been known until then with reference to the
Mesoamerican World.
In

1952, Dr.

of Inscriptions

posthumous work of Alberto Ruz

consists of a synthesis of the vast trajectory
of investigations carried out by the author, which were
destined to comprise and penetrate the very dephts

The Mayas
Lhuillier

Ruz Lhuillier ex
presses his interpretation of a world which still remains
shrouded in darkness, doubtsand uncertainties. In his
conception of Mayan histOPjHtfre is no place for over
^-essential
^essential interprets
simplified nor anecdotal
author maintains
the
entr
throught
tions:

of the past of a people. In this work,

^ptibleand which

an analytic axis which is v

was enriched by the contri

ich different in-

vestigators, national as well

tn treating this subjet matter.
i

lave achieved

ARCHBISHOP MITTY LIBRARY

7953

Archbishop Mitty High School

Library

5000 Mitty Way

San Jose. CA 95129

THE MAYAS

SALVAT MEXICANA DE EDICIONES, S.A. DE C.V.

FUNDAC! N CULTURAL SAN JERONIMO LIDICE, A.C

THE MAYAS
ALBERTO RUZ

Archbishop Mftty High School

Library

5C00 Mitty Way

San Jose, CA 95120

M
ro
CO

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes

to

acknowledge

his gratitude to

two

institutions

made it possible for him to bring this work to a succonclusion: The National Autonomous University of Mexico

tor their having

cessful

and the

To

Institute

of Anthropology and History.

the former, for having

approved

elaboration and edition of the

my working on

the investigation,

seventeen chapters during the time

of my employment as a full-time professor in the Faculty of Philosophy
and Letters, and as Director of the Center of Mayan Studies, a branch
of the Institute of Philologic Investigations.
first

the latter, for having offered me the opportunity when I had been
appointed Director of the National Museum of Anthropology to conclude this project independently of fulfilling my duties which such
a note worthy position implies.

To

also wish to express

my

friendly recognition

and sincere appreciation

Ricardo Guerra, Director of the Faculty of Philosophy and

Letters; to Dr. Ruben Bonifaz Nufio, Director of the Institute of
Philologic Investigations, and to Prof. Gaston Garcia Cantu, Director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico.
to Dr.

For the typing of the text had the good fortune to count on the patient
and worthwhile collaboration of Mrs. Marta Olivera and Mrs. Marta
Lujan, both from the Center of Mayan Studies, and also Miss Angelica
Lopez and Mrs. Beatriz Sanchez of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
I

Mexicana de Ediciones, S.A. de C.V.

Mariano Escobedo 438, Mexico, D.F.

1983, Salvat

ISBN 968-32-0185-7

COLECCION IMAGEN DE MEXICO (A PICTURE OF MEXICO

COLLECTION)
A edition of:

SALVAT MEXICANA DE EDICIONES, S.A. DE C.V. AND FUNDACION CULTURAL SAN JERONIMO LIDICE, A.C.
Translator: Dr. Eleanor Frankle

Photographies Alcazar, Carlos; Centro de Estudios Mayas, UNAM;

Consejo Nacional de Turismo; Feldman, Daniel; Gutierrez
Tonatiuh; Meyer, Pedro; Mirafuentes, Jose Luis; Moller, Harry;
Miiller, Kal; Quezada, Emilio H.; Reuter, Walter; Salvat, Archivo fotografico; De la Torre, Luciano; Urquiza, Ignacio.

Printed by: Impresora Formal, S. A.

Binding by: Graficas Monte Alban, S.A. de C.V.
Printed in Mexico

A PICTURE OF MEXICO COLLECTION

The Cultural Foundation, San Jeronimo Lidice, and Salvat have
combined their forces to publish a collection under the title of "Imagen
de Mexico" (A Picture of Mexico Collection), the intent of which is to
make known such cultural, artistic, environmental and other
manifestations, which shaped the countenance of an aesthetic Mexico
of a complex process wherein the most
dissimilar cultures converge.

and which are the

result

of history is present history, it is mandatory to recognize how

deep is the imprint which the Mesoamerican Universe has left in this
process. There is hardly anything more appropriate than to initiate this
projet whit the study of a magnificent and enigmatic civilization, the
Mayan, a work brilliantly executed by an outstanding authority in this
field: Dr. Alberto Ruz
If all

The Mayas, the posthumous work of the eminent specialist in Mayan

studies, is a contribution of unusual magnitude not only because it
contains the synthesis of the recognized and grateful course of its
investigator, or for incorporating knowledge that has not yet been known
to the global vision of such a culture, but rather fundamentally for his

conception of
In this the

Mayan
Mayas

history.

observe: "It

is

not right to depend on a nebulous

background for any divination", but rather

to present

its

principal

protagonist. This attitude has enabled the author to fathom what, untill

now, have been enigmas and paradoxes for his foreign colleagues, and
fuse dramatically the yesterday and the today which is the historic
happening and shaping of so extraordinary a people.

The theme, complex in itself is, nevertheless, treated in such a

perspicacious manner that it is devoid of all stiffness as well as of
predetermined concepts and, still more important, with the typical

to

clarity

of a genuine connoisseur. It is, therefore, understandable that Dr. Ruz

felt that his work, The Mayas, has much greater weight and importance
than the discovery of the Tomb of Palenque, despite the fact that it was
he who had accomplished that.

Foundation as well as Salvat pay a double

homage: on the one hand, to the Mayas, an undeniable participator in
the Mexico of today and, on the other, to the illustrious archaeologist
who dedicated his life to the study of roots which have such importance
for our culture.
In publishing this work, the

Presentation

For the students of our pre-Colombian civilizations,

ly

for those who,

origins,

in

especial-

some manner of form claim Mayan

on learning something about the various periods

of their development which has been constant, an impassioned watch, there

to

now

is

the satisfaction of being able

read The Mayas, a work

in

which the Master, Alberto

ment when he makes intelligible and explicable the

developments and the artistic as well as scientific creations
in relation to the

expansion of the structures and socio-

economic organizations. That is his way of discarding every

form of

subjectivity since that does not constitute true

knowledge and,

at the

same

time, he provides us with a

Ruz, recapitulates the knowledge acquired during his en-

firm sustenance until there are additional notices along these

tire life-time.

lines.

The author analyzes the fundamental works of the investigators with objectivity and reasoning which are the
bases for the most exact image about this people that

can gather any wheres.

we

He welcomes distinct points of view,

explaining their motives accordingly, as well as discusses

and

rejects other with

a veritable

arguments which make

compendium of the most

this

work

recent reflection on

to understand, in a

carried on throughout in order

is

manner which we regard as one with

the best foundation, the cultural decline

ing of the large

Mayan ceremonial

centrates on the analysis

to the

and the abandon-

centers. Dr.

Joseph Herbert Spinden, Sylvanus Griswold Morley,

J.

Thompson and George Brainerd are the Mayan

specialists most read by those who have been interested
Eric

becoming more deeply versed in

this culture. In

The Mayas

Ruz con-

of the different causes attributed

problems and events and, many times

dissatisfied

with the explanations and conjetures ventured on the question with a criterion derived from a scientific

the subjet.

in

Such an enfocussing

uses,

he expresses his opinion which, while

surpassed seems to us most

it

logical. In short,

and penetrating opinion, yet without

method he

many not be

it is

rigidity,

a genuine

without any

mechanistic determinism.

Mayan

we have once again the judgments of the specialists quoted

and of specialists in complementary disciplines about which

while taking into account, in the first place, the social roots,

Alberto Ruz gives us his opinion and compares them, one

the

with the other, in order to later expound his

own judgments

In following the expansion of

means and relations ofproduction,

that

as an anthropologist, an archaeologist,

wisdom.

a linguistic, and a sociologist,

by the authorities mentioned above, which, however,

this

whose protagonist he

and certainties

the horizons in the field for

that he sets forth, broadens

new discussions. Whithout ac-

ceding to any limited theory, he finds support

flexible perspectives which for

in

him provide

open and
historic

the historic

is

and

ethnologist,

led to acclaim the people

a decision he definies clearly in

is,

The Mayas.

On opening

remarkable contribution shapes; a contribution which, with

the hypotheses

is,

and

development in all its aspects, Dr. Ruz through his kno wledge

wich are a synthesis of his o wn persevering experiences and

The foundations of his deductions are unlike those utilized

civilization

'

voluminous work

this

'Antecedents and A ims

is

obvious.

I fully

As far as

'

the general nature

',

am

to the section

of his

intent

concerned, in this introduction

touch upon what pertains to two or three points

which for

many of us

has caused bewilderment for a long

The elucidation on the development of the

materialism. In this way, in evaluating the opinions of his

time.

colleagues he shows the deficiencies which he perceives and,

precapitalistic societies excels in every conceivable aspect

without any lack of equilibrium he trascends individualjudg-

what

read

in the

chapter 'Socio-economic Characteriza'

of Mayan Society" in which his judgment establishes,

by means of an evaluation of the "theory of the form of
tion

This point

Asiatic production".

substance and weight:

'

'In

central, filled with

is

the Marxist schemes of the evolu-

of precapitalistic societies we find a solution to the

problem which Mayan society presents with regard to the
tion

contradiction between the economic substructure

cultural superstructure. This clarification

is

and

the

encountered

of the concepts which integrate what has

been designated 'the theory of the mode of Asiatic producin the entirety

tion

',

number of texts from Marx which have

commented on and complemented by a

implicit in a

been analyzed,

number of sociologists in France as Godelier, Chesneaux,

Vidal-Naquet and Terray, and in Mexico by Bartra
'

'.

"We

have found an answer", writes Dr. Ruz: not the

reply coloring the attainment

of his words.

And this reply

seems to me very judicious as also the acuity of his affirmation:

"We

believe that in order to reconstruct the

image

Mayan

society within universal categories.

While referring to artistic creations, he does not disregard

any factor "and

in the

cites

Bastide for us

most

influential".

find Marx, who

case

its

being a determinism

consider the sociological to be the

At

bo t ton of such an assertion we

Fundamental Elements of Political

in

Economy affirmed

in

the

1857:

"The

in

the epopee, are bound

of social development. The difficulty arises

grasping that they

may

still

joyment and may be worth

yet as a model that
art in surprises

does not de-

difficulty

pend on understanding that Greek art,

to specific forms

he

is

me

in

provide us with

artistic en-

some respects as a norm and

beyond attainment.

In pre-Colombian

that with such elemental

did not have any knowledge of metals

means

they

yet they created

such beautiful works which we prefer to those which,

our time, correspond

to

in

such creations as the Lazer Ray

and computers.
Dr. Ruz concludes his book

with the struggles

ofpresent

of any society whatsoever in out mind it is essential to depart

day Mayas. In Guatemala, the land of the Popul Vuh, with

from that which enabled in to reach was the basis of its

economy and social structure. To consider only the
technological, aesthetic, scientific, religious and ethical

much more
racists. In

elements of a culture without trying to explain the society

proportion so that we may not be what we are. The ethnocide

created them

action does not tolerate our intimate identity.

is

equivalent to describing the attire of an

individual while disregarding the person himself who

is

wear-

Among the criteria ofMorley and Thompson

Ruz does not
'

'the idyllic presentation

thinking

conflicts

this sketch,

of a society harmoniously integrated

and religious practise;

the absence

of social

and a spiritual of mythical determinism as the driv-

ing force of its historic development

of and primordial
presence of
activities

which Dr.

accept, which are eintherfew nor important,

want toal/ude, through what I have favored in

in its

have an example of such struggles. The census are

order "to civilize" they lower the indigenous

we are recognizing ourselves for what we are

such as that which in the classic Facundo, Dr.

ing that".

tually

than half of its population indigenous, we ac-

all

to (his

the

work

is

'.

What

is

distinctive

"to give emphasis to the

Mayan people

of every kind,

'

in the entirety

of

showed:

civilization against barbarism.

Once again
in

F.

a struggle

Sarmiento

But here,

civiliza-

Mayas and barbarism by their

oppressors: and I at once draw forth from my memory the
manner of thinking of Jose Marti': Our America will not
tion

is

represented by the

progress while the Indian has no opportunity to progress.

The ashes of Alberto Ruz who expired

in the

actual

tomb which he discovered

below the Temple of the Inscriptions

in

in 1979,

dream

in 1952, that

is.

Palenque.

their

to the time itself which characterizes

I A is

C IA7XV

>'
i

Aragon

Index

Introduction records and aims

11

Mesoamerica

29

Sources of information

41

The Mayan area

51

The Mayan men

55

The technology of
Economic

the

Mayas

63

69

activities

Organization of work

81

Characteristics of alimentation

89

The

different types of housing

95

The

characteristics of the clothing or dress of the

The

social organization of the

Political, sacerdotal, judicial

The socioeconomic

Mayas

Mayas

117

and military organization

qualities of

Mayan

The

scientific

The

religion of the

The

art

The

cultural history of the ancient

society

knowledge of the Mayas

Mayas

131
141

153
185

of the Mayas

The Mayas from

107

205

Mayas

the conquest to the present time

265
281

The Mayas of today

301

Epilogue

321

Bibliography, onomastic and toponymic index, general index

327

To my

sons

Alberto, Jorge and Claudia

To my

wife Celia

Ruz Lhuillier considered this work "the spoiled son among his books". Unfortunately, he could not
published, because of his sudden and deplored death on August 25, 1979; nevertheless, he has left us here
"everything he knew", according to his own words.
Dr. Alberto

see

it

This work, focussed within the material and scientific conception of history, is a posthumous homage to the indigenous people of Mexico as a whole, and particulary to the Maya people and culture, pre-Columbian and present,
whom he loved so much.
Celia G. de Ruz

w?

'

'J"k

f+'C*'

1 ^%
-.

yt-**

^**v *J*M

INTRODUCTION

Records and Aims(l)

The Palacio de Palenque, symbol

of the magnificence of [he

Mayan

people and of the greatness of their

past,

is still

surrounded by

mys-

The

first really

serious

and general work on the

of Joseph Herbert Spinden.

many

It

was

first

published

in 1913,

same author published Ancient

years later, the

civilization of the

both works under the

title

of

Maya

is,

undoubtedly, that

title of Study of Maya Art. Not

of Mexico and Central America in
Subsequently, in 1957, Spinden combined

under the

Civilization

which more than half of the contents dealt with Maya culture.

teries.

Mayas

Art and Civilization, but added there of a short introduction and

epilogue. For almost half a century these works have constituted the most complete synopses with reference
to the
It

Mayas.
is

obvious, nowadays, that

since, at the time they

undertaken.
for the

the

On

many of

were published, the intensive

the other

them are by now anachronistic

exploration of the Mayan area had not yet been

the opinions expressed in

hand Spinden, who was, above

problems pertinent to the calendar and astronomy.

Mayan and

Christian calenders, a correlation which

all,

an epigraphist, had a certain preference

We owe him one of the correlations between

is still

used by

many

investigators.

When

he

attempted to handle the historic development of the Mayas, the dates recorded on the monuments and
the artistic expressions associated with them, formed his framework, and were just about his one and
In this chapter

we do

not mention

only focus.

the accounts of archaeological ex-

plorations, which sometimes present a very schematic synthesis of

Mayan

history.

We areinterested ex-

clusively in dealing with the

that can

beconsidered as manuals,

compendiums and
tion

books

and

of the elements most used

in a

is

in

No

it is

confined to the analysis and interpretation of some

in the reliefs; also to the

chronological sequence, that

blems

concerned,

is,

composition of these elements, and to their place

he exclusively studies the motives and

Mayan

art as aesthetic pro-

themselves, regarding art as a "concrete expression of religion".

suggestion

is

made of

the social roots or basis of art, not

is

Mayan

society mentioned,

and

general divulga-

works about theancient Mayan

civilization

In so far as his study of art

its

history.

no attempt

Mayas do

is

made

to reconstruct

not appear in the

its

history.

panorama of

Of course, as Spinden presents the picture to

us, the

their civilization.

11

of The Ancient Maya, published for the first time in English in 1946, and in Spanish the
following year under the title of La Civilization Maya. After innumerable editions it is still
problably the work most consulted by non-specialists, and the one which

still

offers the

most complete view of the ancient Mayas.

In this work the author has compiled all the information that was available to him as
far as the Castilian chronicles and those written after the conquest by indigenous authors
are concerned, and also some information from archaeological ruins and etnographic
investigations.

He describes

the natural environment, the physical

the people: their languages; their daily activities; their

(architecture,

ties

sculpture,

painting, ceramics,

and psychologic

way of

and other

characteristics of

dressing; their artistic activi-

lesser arts);

their intellectual

achievements (writing, mathematics, astronomy, calendar); their beliefs and religious practices together with the survival of many of them in the customs of the modern Mayas and
the main aspects of their social, political and religious organization. The general picture

which Morley presents concerning the culture of the Mayas

is

more

or less complete and

continues to be acceptable.
His historical outline

is,

however, completely inacceptable. At the time he wrote his

development of the Mayas were already invalidated

by the very results of the investigations which a notable group of archaeologists from the
Carnegie Institution of Washington accomplished under his direction. For that reason,
after his death, a version of The Ancient Maya was published in the United States, revised
by George Brainerd in which all of Morley's concepts of Mayan history, in fact all his
personal contribution to the subject, were suppressed.
With great disregard Morley expressed emphatic statements on points insufficiently
known by then, and he clung to his views even after the new facts had made them untenable. Throughout his work one finds subjective manifestations which, naturally, are more
relevant to the sphere of emotions than to science. Extremely enthusiastic about everything
Mayan, Morley made greater use of the dictates of his feelings than of the precision of
scientific analysis. From then on, he committed more and more contradictions and incongruences.
work,

his basic ideas about the historic

The inacceptable points of view arise from his initial statements. He considers that
determined territory there would have existed a Mayan civilization as surely as if
testimonies were found of what is referred to as "hieroglyphic and chronologic writing,

in

unique

in

their kind", just as the

Mayan dome,

if

form of thatching, which

is

known

as a false arch or

may
of Mayan

such elements are not found, despite the fact that the language spoken

be Maya, the territory

is excluded, assertion with which he segregated the area

from the Highlands of Guatemala up to the shores of the Pacific. Nevertheless,
Popol Vuh is referred to as "the sacred book of the Quiche Mayas", without remembering,
apparently, the fact that the Quiches lived in a region in which they neither constructed
buildings with the Mayan dome, nor were there recorded hieroglyphic inscriptions in the
form of writing known in the regions which comprise the Yucatan Peninsula.
With great assurance he asserts that the origin, growth, flourishment, decadence and
ruin of Mayan civilization were produced "without any influence from the outside world",
just as in an ideal laborat >ry, isolated and free of every external contact. As he considers
that the Mayas were the inventors of writing in the hemisphere, of the system of numeration
by positions, and of the
:ndar (a product, according to him, of one sole intelligence
-naturally Mayan in the ye;
353 B.C. and precisely in Tikal, or maybe in Uaxactun) he
cannot accede to the fact th; another culture, like the Olmecan or that of Monte Alban,
for example, would have lefi
roglyphic inscriptions with a record of dates in an earlier

culture

12

"v"

'a

N^fe^tter-

i
i

general view of the Pirami-

de del Adivino ("Pyramid of

the Prophet") and of the
Cuadrdngulo de las Monjas
("Quadrangle of the Nuns").
This great ceremonial center
had is apogee during the late
classical period.

>Y

;**"#

epoch, and consequently rejects the dates of Stele C of Tres Zapotes, of Stele 1 of El
Baul and of the "statuette" of Tuxtla, emphatically insisting that the dates are only in
appearance older than that of the Mayas, but that he is sure that they were, actually, made

much

later.

With the same insistence, and regardless of how obvious many of the representations
are, he asserts that the sculpture of the Old Empire lacks scenes of violence, suggesting
that the scenes in which prisoners appear tied and mistreated by their masters, can be
interpreted on the basis of religious and even astronomic criteria, without having to be

He even rotundly denies that Mayan inscriptions deal with historic

no name of any man or woman has ever been recorded on them, according
to him, but exclusively matters of chronology, astronomy, religion, ceremonials and prophecies which arc all associated with the date of dedication of every monument.
Based on a premise apparently right when he began his investigations, but which later
explorations refuted, Morley, since 1915, created his theory of the existence of an Old
Empire to which something should have happened around the year 1000 ot our era,
related to martial acts.

subjects, since

13

suggesting that a

New Empire was

established in the north of Yucatan. Essentially, the

first

was limited to the central region of the Mayan area (Peten, Belice, Usumacinta, Motagua),
but later Morley recognized that the Old Empire had extended to the North, penetrating
the Yucatan Peninsula and torming colonies. The New Empire should have developed
alter the collapse of the civilization in the cities of the South, mainly because of the failure
of the agricultural system, a collapse followed by the migration of the people to the North.

These people, in contact with Mexican invaders, should have developed a genuine "rebirth",
of which the most important testimonies are the archaeological ruins of Chichcn-ltza.

When

he refers to this place, he mentions that

tonic styles: the

first,

it

presents

two well-defined

architec-

pure Mayan, corresponding to the period from the sixth to the tenth

from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries.

Nevertheless, he does not mention even one name for the pure Mayan style nor does he

centuries: the second, the Maya-Mexican,

14

The

Castillo

("Castle

According
the

de Chicken Itza

of Chichen

Morley,

to

after

of the central

collapse

Mayan

Itza").

area which had been

brought

about

year 900 A.D.,

around

the

many of

the

from
this region to the North of
Yucatan, forming the "New
Mayan Empire". However,
inhabitants

later studies

migrated

have shown that

offer even the slightest description of the characteristics of that style, which would be related to the time of the occupation of Chichen by the Mayas of the Old Empire. The reason
why Morley seems to ignore these points is obvious: it would destroy his theory which
accounts for the architectonic style of the region of Puuc to the contact with the Mexican
groups, while Puuc lacks (and that is what he mentions with complete surprise) every
Mexican feature (Toltec would be a more correct and precise word), as this style of Puuc
is exactly that of the buildings of the pure Mayan style of the type of constructions in

Chichen-Itza, built between the sixth and ninth centuries, Morley could hardly be able

what in the said

Mexican contact.
to affirm

The blindness

there had never been empires

in the

Mayan

region and that

had a
development from
parallel
the preclassical up to the
the

different

areas

postclassical period.

him

Chichen was pure Mayan, while

style in

or stubborness of

Morley

in

in

maintaining his theory

Uxmal was due

in spite

to

of the facts,

omit (doubtless, intentionally) some historic sources, confining himself to the

all intents and purposes, supported his ideas. Thus, in this way, as
justification for his thesis (according to which the Puuc style is a product of a supposed

led

to

use of those which, to

a

Mayan

produced by contact with Mexican groups), he quotes the Chilam Balam

in a katun corresponding to 987-1007, Uxmal was founded by
Ay Suytok Tutul Xiu (a Mexican Chief). However, he docs not allude in any form to a
quotation from the Chilam Balam of Chumayel which refers to 1544. about 870 years
after Uxmal had been destroyed and abandoned (674 A.D.): nor does he mention the
Relation of Fray Alonso Ponce in which it is stated that 900 years before, in the year 1586,
Uxmal had been established (686 A.D.). Regardless of the contradictions which both
sources of information imply (the date for the construction and destruction of Uxmal
being one and the same), they still place Uxmal in the seventh century, three centuries
before its supposed founding by Mexican Chiefs, (actually, a late occupation of the place).
But that did not fit in with Morley's theory, and, therefore, it was necessary to ignore it.
In summary, the manual which constitutes this very work of Morley, even though it is
rebirth,

of Mani, which states that

so far as the description ol the principal aspects of

valid

in

falls

short

historic

from

completely with regard to

its

Mayan

civilization presented,

attempt to reconstruct the main

development. Focussed almost exclusively on the epigraph ic point

its

very

beginning,

talsitied

by

lines
ot

simplistic theory elaborated a priori,

of

its

view, and
its

historic

outline devoid of sociologic concepts, cannot even trace the dynamics of the development
in the

time ol the Mayas.

When we
Brainerd and
the

study

ol

referred

to Morley's

work, we mentioned the version revised by George

published shortly after the death of

ceramics, within

the

group

ot

the

former,

investigators ot

Brainerd, a specialist

in

the Carnegie Institution of

and history of the Mayas, which

he called the Maya Civilization ami which was published m several issues of The Masterkey.
This synthesis, in its brevity, does not intend to do more than to describe amply the main
cultural aspects and the historic periods. This was done, thereby eliminating and rectifying
Morley's concepts. For example, he does not desist from including the Highlands ot Guatemala in the Mayan area, although specifying that in that region some ot the basic elements
ot fvjayan culture were lacking. He denies the thesis ot a migration ot the people l.om the
central area to the North ot Yucatan and insists on the occupation ot the Peninsula from
the formative (preclassic) period on. He denies that the style ot Puuc was a late rebirth
ol the Mayan style, occasioned by the contact with Mexican groups, but rather considers it
as an exact manifestation during the classic period, without foreign influences. He presents
the Mayan area as an entity culturally unified, but in which each region developed its own
Washington,

left

us a synthesis of his vision of the culture

15

particular styles,

and not

as localized center in Peten

from which

all

the ideas

and forms emanated.

However, he coincides with Morley in emphasizing the Mayan obsession for the passage of time, for
the calendar and the rituals associated therewith, discarding the possibility that the inscriptions recorded

Tulum,

on

the coast

walled during the post-classic

period

The

political events.

situated

of the state of Quintana Roo, was

for

defensive purposes.

so-called Castle

is

one of the

loggest constructions on this

In order to explain the formation

and functioning of Mayan

society, he gives attention to the

problems providing one of the new aspects for that time which

is

a major interest. In a comparison

of the construction of the Pyramids of Teotihuacan with those of Egypt, he

of days of work, the volume of the works before going on to the

economic

Mayan

tries to

buildings,

the conclusion that the villages of the formative period individually lacked the

determine in terms

whereby he reached

demographic density

necessary to provide the manual labor which such projects would require, and that only in a collective

form which,

16

in turn,

had

to be

under a unified

political control,

could they had built their ceremonial

site.

The development of a theocratic government to organize and

centers for the communities.

human

direct

resources; the completion of public works, concretly the ceremonial centers; the technical and scientific
progress, especially the calendar

and

growing complexity of religious symbolism; the notewor-

writing; the

thy architectonic achievements; the grandeur attained by the arts;

step

from the

On

cultural level of the formative to the

much

would stamp the gradual

that

all

higher one of the classic period.

the other hand, Brainerd does not believe that for this change a strong demographic increase

was indispensable among the Mayas,

as

it

was

Teotihuacan, taking into account that the heavy work

in

on the ceremonial constructions could be taken care of by the peasants who had not been doing anything
specialized during a long period of time dead, which left them only their agricultural work, although
the number of capable craftsmen would then be greater for finishing the pyramids decorated with ashlars,
and for the building of temples and palaces with dome roofs and
According to Brainerd,

their

ornamental facades.

the advances of the classic period were clearly stimulated by "institutions

all

developed under the increasingly more complex, more amply expanded formation of the classic period"

These institutions would be the ones that have to do with the religious complex. However, Brainerd
did not accept the idea that the increase in the construction of religious centers affected the

of the people, nor did he believe that extensive irrigation

development or a strong

works and the

in his

political

fact that the

works were able

power among the Mayas,

economy

to give rise to the birth

and

Old World. The lack of such

as in the

population was spread out without consisting of actual

cities

brought about,

opinion, a distinct and problematic lack; and, although he recognizes that the priests played

an important part

through

in the agricultural activities

their prognostication

of the time,

still

he does

not believe function to be sufficiently definitive to explain the unquestionable control that the priesthood
exercised on the population.

That the Mayan area

regards

its

cultural

up an exception which does not fit into a universal theocratic plan as

development is the conclusion that Brainerd reaches on this subject. "No economic
sets

stimulus would have motivated the

and

Mayas

to

an increasing concern through religious ceremonialism

form of an impressive cultural development " He doubts that

.

in the

control, since he believes that there

was no need

which the people were able to engage

in

for extensive

during the free time

it

human

was precisely a strong economic

resources for the public works

at their disposal.

He

touches upon an

important point when he emphasizes that religion was far more developed than economy, and that,
apparently, notable advances in astronomy, mathematics and other intellectual fields "were not due
to,

nor immediately preceded by the invention of new techniques for economic improvement".

On

confirming that the bases for the intellectual progress of the Mayas do not seem to coincide with what

was established for other civilizations of antiquity, he concludes, in a pessimistic tone, that we still
do not sufficiently comprehend the factors which determine the intellectual progress of certain groups
of people.

It

among

would be
the

difficult for

Mayan

anyone

investigators

to

deny that

from a

Eric

and the one who has

in the course of his investigations: archaeology

epigraphic studies

J.

Thompson

dealt with

is

the most noteworthy personality

more

aspects of

including explorations;

Mayan

civilization

architectonic, ceramic

and

ethnology and linguistics, even though his major interest was in the script. Starting

solid universal culture

and endowed with remarkable

to specialized studies, but rather

knew how

to

draw

lucidity.

Thompson

did not limit himself

a coherent picture of the history

and culture of

the Mayas.

Having scarcely begun

his

work

in the

Mayan

field,

he published in 1927, The

a relatively brief synthesis, but in which his perspicacity

is

Maya

Civilization,

readily perceivable

17

It

is

certain that he

adopted and

New

contained

in

Empire. The

is

logical that

he would have done so

thetical

Balam induced him to

differs

it

as the existence

arrive at erroneous conclusions

first,

supposedly, by the

from Morley with regard to the possible causes

Mexican invasions were doubtful; he also rejected

as causes for the

decadence the

he denied that there had been an exodus of the people of the Old Empire to Yucatan.

He did

suggest,

thrown by popular

on the contrary, that the

multitudes for the construction of ceremonial centers,

building of

monuments and

From

the discontinuance of cultural activi-

deduced the expulsion and

by a simple agricultural cult, more

the recording of dates), he

annihilation of the ruling class, followed,

18

power ought to be overregime which needed

or which tried to impose religious

priestly class in

revolts, in violent reaction to the oppression of a

innovations which the people would not accept.

ties (the

Itza,

Chicken Itza

inhabited by the Itzas,

played
the

first

of

all,

significant

postclassical

having

culture in the central area. Thus, he considered that the hypo-

anti-economic agricultural methods, as well as the epidemics or climatic changes, and, above
all,

Castillo de

Piramide de Kukulkan ("Pyramid of Kukulkan"). Chichen

and then by the Xius. But he

Mayan

The

of an

magnificient lines, looking upon

the books of Chilam

for the decadence of

any case

interpretation, although incorrect, of the historical chronicles

its

with reference to the occupation of Chichen-Itza and Champoton,

Itzas,

in

("Castle of Chichen Itza") or

Morley's historic picture with

Old and

it

joined

role

period

up with

ruling families of

in

on
the

Uxmal and

Mayapan in the famous alliance known as "The Mayapan

League".

appropriate for the needs of the peasant masses, and by a gradual waste of such knowledge
as the art

of painted ceramics and sculpture.

1954, being more thorough and profound, and with greater and firmer documentation acquired over more than a quarter of a century of explorations, epigraphic studies and
In

analysis of historic sources,

Thompson

published one of his best works, by and large, on

The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization, later translated into Spanish
under the title of Grandeza y decadencia de los mayas.
It would be feasible to ask if it was opportune or not to discard intentionally a series
of aspects, on the whole, definitely essential to a book of this kind (agriculture, commerce,
clothing, arms, slavery, etc.) and to have traced with sufficient scientific seriousness, but also
with a bit of phantasy, some pictures of Mayan life, such as a religious ceremony which includes
human sacrifices ("The Novice"); the work-day of a couple ("The Day's Cycle"); the construction works of a building ("An Architect in Chichen-Itza"); the customs related to betrothal
and marriage ("Marriage a la mode") and the death and burial of a Maya ("Death and Life").
His aim, clearly expressed, was to try to explain the causes of the rise, development
and decline of Mayan civilization. Discarding Morley's theories, he recognized the contemporaneousness of this civilization with other Mesoamerican civilizations (Zapotecan,
Teotihuacan, Olmecan and Totonacan), as well as the cultural interrelations which had to
exist among them. In addition, he accepted that the Olmecan culture had been "perhaps"
prior to the Mayan, and that what was considered the most genuinely Mayan characteristics,
the stele cult, and the recording of dates in hieroglyphics should have appeared centuries
before that of the Mayas, in Oaxaca and on the Guatemalan coast of the Pacific. In view of
the natural environment of humidity in the tropics of Peten, he further accepted that such
a region was hardly propitious for the birth of an advanced civilization.

Mayan

civilization,

In contrast to the over-enthusiastic attitude

of Morley,

who

attributed

all

the inven-

and discoveries to the Mayas in the most laudatory terms, Thompson cautiously recognized that it was very possible that the people of La Venta had invented the symbol for
zero; but at the same time, contradicting this supposition, he showed that we cannot be sure
that these people had utilized a numeration by positions before the Mayas (nevertheless, the
need for the zero is concomitant to every system in which the value of the numerals depends
upon their positions). One feels his resistance to strip the Mayas of their mathematical knowtions

ledge which, supposedly, were their original creations, and, not wanting to express himselt
in favor

of any definite people, he did suggest that the culture of La Venta could well be

due to the people of the Maya language. To avoid giving the advantage of priority in time
to any culture (which, for not being Mayan, would mean that they would have to restore to
them the credit for their creative work), he placed the appearance of the great Mesoamerican
civilization around one and the same epoch, as a parallel and, more or less, simultaneous

phenomenon.
The essential subject

that

expressed from the beginning

Thompson developed
is

that

some

advance", were those which permitted the

"cultural success".

He

in

the course of his

spiritual values

Mayan

work and which he

"more important than material

civilization to reach so high a standard,

further affirmed that their downfall too was motivated, to a great

extent, by adverse spiritual causes.

When he wanted to synthesize his ideas relative to the dynamics of the history of the
Mayas, establishing what mediums had been the motivating force for them, the recollection of
a Mayan peasant came to his mind, whose friendship he had cultivated over a long period
of years, and whose qualities seriousness, loyalty, honesty, religious devotion, discipline,
respect for authority, obedience, industry, patience, love for order, a deep feeling ot equili-

briumwere

for

Thompson

the

"epitome of the philosophy which animated the Mayan

19

culture". This type of character of the Mayas, under the direction of a minority

with great imagination and mental energy, produced the brilliant

Mayan

endowed

civilization, the

only one (perhaps together with that of La Venta, also a product of the Mayas) which

reached

its full

maturity

in

the hostile environment of the dense tropical woods.

According to Thompson's concept of the Mayan society, it made up a homogeneous

unit in which theocratic rule suited the people within a cosmic order, the mechanism of
which had resulted in discovering the priesthood which, as the nexus between the gods and
men, enacted its functions in such a manner that a similar order governed the land. Rain,
planting, fertility of the land, harvests, the very existence of the Mayas,

depended upon

were related to the course of the heavenly bodies, the

succession of the calendric cycles, and temporal recurrences.
One of the subjects to which Thompson was especially devoted and which he treated
accordingly is the philosophy of time. He supposed that "no other people in history experienced such interest for the passage of time... and that no other culture had elaborated
a philosophy on a subject so unusual as that of time". Thompson's reflections on the concept
that the Mayas had of eternity through their long-count calendric system, also in harmony
divine influences,

and

with a cyclic one, that

these, in turn,

is,

concept of history associated with the recurrence of chronologic

mere speculations and ought to reflect, with constant exactness, Mayan

thought as regards time without end, in which human acts occur with implacable regularity,
as the appearance and disappearance of the heavenly bodies, or the passing and return of the
seasons, as well as of all the periods of their complex calendar.
The supposition of an authentic philosophy of time among the Mayas was abetted by
Thompson but on a premise which, through investigations after the publication of his work,
is questioned and probably refuted. As Spinden thought and Morley emphatically affirmed,
Thompson insisted that the steles and altars were erected to show the passage of time since
more than a thousand hieroglyphic texts are known which treat this subject associated with
the positions of the moon and the planet Venus and related to calendaric calculations and
divine aspects and rituals implicit therein. He specified that no text glorifies any ruler or any
conquest, but rather contains only the record of intellectual preoccupations and manifestations of their philosophy of time, a philosophy in which calendaric cycles, celestial revolutions and divine influences were integrated in the perfect cosmic order.
The error of this brilliant hypothesis has its roots in the fact that fifteen years ago it
was still believed that these were in fact the exclusive contents of the hieroglyphic inscriptions
on the Mayan monuments, for the simple reason that it was only known how to decipher
the dates on their diverse calendaric records (religious, solar, lunar, large count, etc.) and
that the rest was not yet interpreted. A real obsession for the passage of time was attributed
to the Mayas, also the creation of a metaphysics of time, when, due to our ignorance we
were actually only able to read on the monuments what was relative to time, and we had
no idea about the texts which accompanied the dates. Nowadays, thanks to the studies of
diverse investigators, it is no longer tenable to think that the Mayas dedicated their steles,
slabs and altars to the passage of time.
Turning to Thompson's concept of the social aspect, he saw the people overjoyed to
have the opportunity to work in constructing ceremonial centers, offering their efforts and
their suffering for greater glory for the gods, in a profound and grateful feeling of "participation" in works which assured the approval of the deities at the same time as their own
material sustenance. It is very clear that Thompson felt that the spiritual aspect animated
the life of the Mayas in all fields. The scientific advances acquired through the priests did
not interfere with their practical goals, but rather with their intellectual needs; astronomy
was not practised as a science in itself but only as a means to control the destiny of the
cycles which are not

20

The Arc of Labna, one of

the

most magnificent works of the

region, in which stand out the
reliefs and false columns between the two frets of the sides.

people; to be acquainted with the functioning of the celestial mechanisms permitted the
prognostication of the future, since everything

in

the

cosmos integrates animated cycles

through an eternal impulse; the stone roads they constructed did not serve to unite the

towns or regions and to assure commercial exchange, but were useful for ritual ends such as
religious procesions; the dome which roofed the buildings was not invented to give greater
strength and duration to the structure but as an effort "of sacrifice".
This harmonious order, regulated beforehand by the gods, controlled by theocracy,
accepted with gusto by the people, ought to have lasted eternally if it had been isolated
from the rest of the world; but the Maya country formed part of a conglomerate of peoples,
tribes and states forcibly interrelated. Outside influences and "exotic ideas" were to infiltrate
and corrupt, disarticulate and finally demolish the marvelous world of the Mayas.
As a result of a series of chain reactions which started in the north of Mexico (invasions
of barbarians who provoked a militaristic tendency, first out of sheer defense and later
institutionalized, with a martial caste which was aided by the dogma of human blood as food
for the solar deity), strong pressure concerning new ideas, new beliefs, new deities, was
brought to bear on the Mayan area. The Mayan rulers were confronted with the obligation
to adopt new cults, and the native Mayan gods were relegated, which provoked discontent
among the people. Discord and dissension had pervaded their harmony, as Thompson remarked. The masses began to doubt their priests. They were tired of the tremendous pace
for the construction of ceremonial buildings and residences for the Chiefs; they were tired
of the increase of a parasitic class for which more food had to be produced: they were
tired of wars intended to obtain prisoners for the sacrifices. When doubt set in the minds
of the people with regard to their rulers and to their attitude towards the general well-being,
the regime was condemned: the fall was only a matter of time, but it was approaching
inexorably. It is not known exactly how it occurred in the central area, that is, it it was
gradual, with intervening passive resistance, or through the physical elimination ot the ruling
class;

but

it

is

centers, large

quite clear that in the course of approximately a century,

and

small, of Peten, Usamacinta,

Motagua, ot

all

all

the regions

the ceremonial

which had seen

:i

and fell
the
and
witch-doctors;
jungle
be handed over to peasant Chiefs

the development of a brilliant civilization during a millenium, ceased their activities

into ruins.
retrieved

The power had

its

to

rights; disorganized people

could not develop another civilization; culture des-

cended to an inordinately low level and collective existence became a precarious survival,
each time more difficult.
Invaders coming from the center of Mexico imposed their power on the septentrional
and meridional areas (Yucatan and the Highlands of Guatemala). The people had new masters
to whom they had to continue to pay the tribute of their work, their properties, their blood.
The gods were alien, the rites cruel, the rulers more implacable. Rival factions were fighting
among themselves. A bellicose atmosphere had taken the place of the bygone peaceful and
ordered environment. Culture became each time more decadent. The political disintegration
stronger. All that remained of the Mayan world was that it came to be an easy prey
new conquerors who were now coming from the East.
For the brilliant investigator of the Mayan world, as Thompson was, the motivating
force of their history resided in their spiritual forces. The emergence of the Mayan civiliza-

became
for the

tion, their

development, flourishing and decline have to be interpreted

of their religious ideas, the axis of the collective and individual

life

in

terms of the power

of that people.

When

popular rebellions destroyed the established order, the causes were essentially inconformity
with new religious concepts, imposed by high pressure and foreign invasions. Thompson's
concept of the historic dynamics of the Mayas is completely idealistic.

Upon referring to works of a general nature on the culture and history of the Mayas,
one remembers that the French anthropologist, Paul Rivet, published Cites Mayas in 1954.
words he states with absolute honesty
original work" and that it has only tried "to summarize
deforming it", while conserving only "what is essential
historical development, which we have already analyzed
In the very first

Some

by no means an
the thinking [of specialists] without
that "this study

is

of the facts". He presents Morley's

and

criticized.

years later (1959), the American anthropologist, Charles Gallenkamp, published

Mayas under the title of Maya, The Riddle and

Rediscovery of a Lost Civilization. He makes no pretensions of presenting either new con-

a synthesis of the history of the ancient

22

The

Edificio delPalacio ("Pa-

lace

Building") in Palenque,

according

an

to

engraving

published by Runer in Paris

towards the end of the XVIII

The Anglo-Saxon tra-

century.
velers

were

spreading the

Mayan

Culture.

vehicle

for

knowledge of

own interpretations. As he states in the preface, when there are opposing points
view among the specialists, he presents them without committing himself in any form.

cepts or his

of

His book, written for a vast secular public, primarily repeats Morley's concepts (Old

New

Empire) and Thompson's (philosophy of time, the decline due to peasant

We

feel that at this

Rafael Girard,

who

point

it is

indispensable to mention a Swiss autodidactic ethnologist,

has tried, through thousands of pages, to explain the culture and history

of the Mayas as no one before him had ever done.

which consist of hundreds of pages

successive

and

revolts, etc.).

in his

No

one can deny that several chapters,

work, are repeated more or

less textually in his

publications (Esoterismo del Popol Vuh, 1948; Los chortis ante el problema

maya, 1949; El Popol Vuh, fuente historica, 1952; Los mayas eternos, 1962; Los mayas,
1966). In the same way identical photographs are reproduced in different works, photographs of modern ritual scenes between which the author intercalates, from time to time,
Mayan monuments which, it can be assumed, are to be associated with the actual rites.
In Girard's opinion, Mayan history cannot be explained through archaeology, nor can
one expect to learn it through hieroglyphic inscriptions, since, as others (Morley, Spinden,
Thompson) before him had shown, such materials do not contain any historic information.
Only the modern myths, a reflection of the way of thinking of the ancient myths, that
Girard alone has known how to interpret, can explain what constitutes Mayan culture,
Mayan society, Mayan history. To attempt to find universal schemes in the historic development of this people is to commit the crime of high treason since the Mayas are a unique
people in the world; their history has no parallels of any kind; their thinking is definitely
different from the human forms known. To believe, as Thompson had, that the downfall
of their civilization was due to revolutions of the people against their intellectual class is a
theory at variance with Mayan idiosyncrasy. To think in terms of a struggle between democracy and absolutism is a judgement of our Western mentality and of the subversive time in
which the present world lives; such problems were unknown to the Mayas. To suggest that,
signifies to deny the indigenous spiritual reality. Mayan society produced a theocratic
democracy {sic), a genuine religious brotherhood in whose hearts and minds such conflicts
could not arise.
The scenes of supposed human sacrifices, of wars, of bound slaves, condemned or
tortured, were erroneously interpreted, since such features were unknown among the Mayas
of the classic period.
rial,

We do

not doubt that Girard compiles interesting ethnographic mate-

mainly from the Chortis, but the use he has made of

that, the

phantasy he has applied

by integrating it with the myths handed down by Mayas and Quiches in the sixteenth
century, above all with Mayan history, invalidates his effort. It is difficult to take seriously
the historic picture he has constructed on the basis of his personal interpretation of the
to

it

mythology.
The most recent work on Mayan culture is that of Michael Coe, The Maya (1966).
Here he discards many of the erroneous concepts of the more classic works (Spinden,
Morley, Thompson) already rectified through later investigations. Thus, he regards Mayan
civilization as an inseparable part of the Mesoamerican culture; he regards the Olmecans
as the probable inventors of the script and chronologic record designated "long count",
and besides affirms that the Mayas, throughout their entire history, were influenced by
Mexico. In a manner excessively simple and direct, he adopts a position or attitude contrary
to that of the authors already quoted, concerning the characterization of Mayan society,
which, according to him, was indubitably segregationist with the power concentrated on an
elite integrated to a secular, not theocratic, government, as it had been insistently main-

23

He also diverges from whatever served as a basis for dwelling upon a supposed philosophy and obsession of time among the Mayas, when the possibility was not yet apparent to
him that the hieroglyphic inscriptions dealt with more than records of dates, and calendaric
as well as astronomic calculations. He concedes that the contents must be of a historic nature.
Through the study of the changes manifested in the ceremonial centers, he lays out a
tained.

sequence for a historical development. When he gets to the collapse that certainly took place
in the central area, he restricts himself to the recognition that "we only know what happened" and that all the possible causes that were put forth (soil-exhaustion, epidemics, revolutions, earthquakes, lack of balance in the proportion of both sexes, as far as their number is

more than mere conjectures. Coe gives

approximately one page to this important subject. Within the framework of the books for a
general, non-specialized public, Coe's is one of the most serious and probably the one which
do not amount

concerned; Toltec intrusion,

etc.)

reflects best the actual state

of archaeological investigations

to

in the field

of

Mayan

studies.

amazing that in this short account of manuals and research works on the
ancient Mayas not one Mexican name appears. At any rate, apart from monographs and
archaeologic subjects, some publications by Mexican authors do appear, but they are only
of a very general nature. Actually, nothing goes beyond the category of an article and it
does not contribute new knowledge or interpretations. On the whole, the cultural picture
is based on Landa, and the historic outline on Morley or Thompson. These works, among
which we include ours made up of four lectures {La civilization de los antiguos mayas)
cannot be compared with those analyzed in this chapter.
On referring to the classics of Mayan historiography (and to some few others, that
would not claim such a classification or, even if they would claim it, lack the merits to gain
it), analyzing the contents of his works in a very general form, we emphasize certain censurIt

is

quite

able or rejectitious aspects in the light of actual investigation. It

or rejection
tions,

and

is

is

obvious that

this criticism

involved in our goal for the express purpose of avoiding unfounded interpreta-

aprioristic criteria; of avoiding also the denial of certain forces in historic dyna-

mics, or the oversimplified application

We want
ness of the

Mayan

Mesoamerican

and mechanics of outlines and

to say that of the authors referred to,

civilization; their

we

unilateral focusses.

reject such concepts as the unique-

emergence and development independent of the other

civilizations; the attritubion to the

Mayas of

the paternity of the discoveries

of mathematical, astronomical and calendaric knowledge which they perfected, but which
others had already had before them; the denial of the historic contents of the hieroglyphic

and of the scenes depicted on the monuments; the supposed obsession for the
passage of time, which led to a standard of philosophy; the idyllic picture of a society,
harmoniously integrated with religious thinking and practise thereof; the absence of social
conflicts and a spiritual or mythical determinism as the motivating force of their historic
inscriptions

development.

Mayan

all the cultures in the world, has special features which account
undoubtedly it is a constituent part of Mesoamerican culture and is
comprehensible only within the Mesoamerican context. It acquired elements of earlier
cultures, created its own, influenced and participated in others after the interrelations between the different peoples of Mesoamerica had started.
To attempt to reconstruct their history, based on the premise that, being unique,
universal outlines cannot be applied to them, coincides with denying generalities concerning
man, on the pretext that each one is a unique being, who cannot be duplicated and incomparable to any other, although it is certain that no culture is identical with any other,

for

24

its

culture, just like

individuality, but

~f'j*

** ap-

Various styles flourished during

the

late

period

in

the

North of Yucatan, and that

was also the case in the early
postclassical
period.
Such
styles as that of Puuc, an
example of which is the
building

pertaining to Sayil.

admitted that no culture is completely different from the rest.

From here on let it be understood that in the problems ot Mayan culture we are going to
look for the phenomena it shares with universal history. This, or course, does not have
to imply the mechanical application of universal schemes, nor the constriction ot facts so
wherefore

it

also has to be

that they can be

made

to

fit

preestablished definitions or categories.

of integration, within the universal process, of

its

all

that the

The

goal has to be that

Mayas may have

in particular in

culture and history.

The reconstruction of Mayan history more appropriate to refer to as Mesoamerican

is the way it has to be according to the results ot

has been established primarily and that

25

Auber's engraving

which the

artist

(s.

XVIII)

in

que elements of the facade of the

building

Chichen

archaeologic investigations. Until only a short while ago, these investigations were focussed almost

presented the baro-

known as Las Monjas,

in

entirely

on the more spectacular vestiges of ancient

tombs, that

is,

picture which

Itza.

everything that

was acquired,

associated with the cult; to

is

found

refers to

life

in the

civilizations: temples,

ceremonial centers.

It is

evident, however, that this cultural

one sector of Mayan culture, that

and death of the ruling

pyramids, palaces, ball-games,

to the material manifestations

is,

a minority within the totality of the popula-

class,

tion.

On
civil

reading the greater part of investigative works,

and military heads, high functionaries, savants and

it

seems that there had existed only

artists.

can only surmise something about the people; one takes for granted
that has

no

them

such a

in

interest for the historian.

When one

light that they, in their

work,

refers to the people,

their faith

and

their indispensable existence, but

it is

To the

left,

the

Templo de

To emphasize the

las lns-

actual presence of the entire

cripciones in Palenque. Palenque

was one of the most important

social groups, the participation of each

ed

in

the central

Mayan

area dur-

and without

Mayan populace

community, to define

to specify their role in the life of the

ceremonial centers that flourish-

static

one

for the purpose of presenting

their sacrifices,

the collective task which revolved around their religious acts, in perfect

forming with them an itegrated, balanced society,

priests,

Against a nebulous background one

appear to take part

harmony with

their rules

in

and

conflicts.

in the

elaboration of their culture,

their dialectic relations with all the other

in the establishment, rule

and general use of

assets; to

explain the use of scientific knowledge and arts, and the socio-political role of the priesthood; to

show

ing the classic period In the interior

the historic consequences of the internal conflicts linked with the process of interrelations in Mesoamerica;

of the pyramid that supports the

to clearly delineate

Ruz found, in 1952,

most sumptuous sepulchral

temple, Dr.
the

precint of the

region.

whole Mcsoamerican

onization,

society within universal categories; to analyze the effects of conquest, col-

and modern acculturation of the Mayas in their ambivalence (conservatism-change, conformism-

rebellion), that

to

Mayan

is

the extent of the principal problems that

we

shall attempt, if not to solve, at least

expound.

27

i*C^

~*&^M

im&z

Mesoamerica

The Population of

the

American Continent

in the Old World for more than

and a half years, and our direct ancestor, Homo sapiens, had existed more than
two hundred thousand years ago, the American Continent, a vast zoological paradise, was
still unknown to man.
It was only 35 000 years ago (a hypothetic figure which new findings constantly amplify), when the man of the Old World discovered and began to establish himself in America.
For him it was, most certainly, a New World, even though he had no awareness of it. There
is no argument about the origin of the American man, nor his passage from Northeast Asia
via the Bering Strait, when the region was under ice and frigidity, at which time the crossing
would have been easier than now. The Aleutian Islands could also have provided a road
between both continents. It is believed that the migrations started then and continued, in a
more or less constant form, until some two thousand years before Christ. It is assumed that
the discovery of the Continent was made as a result of the progressive diminution of the
glacial cap and the displacement, towards the North, of the Asiatic fauna that, in turn, was
followed by the human groups which lived precisely on that fauna.

While different families of hominids had been dispersed

a million

The

Tem-

front steps of the

Prehistory: Paleolithic

plo de los Guerreros ("Temple

of

Chichen
niques
the

the

Warriors")

Itza.

The new

construction

in

and

original spatial concepts,

contributed

by

the

invasion

the

in

Mayan

believed that the

is

first

immigrants were hunters, but until

architecture.

now

the

most ancient

stone tools, found on the American Continent, correspond to a culture of collectors, that
is,

those

who

etc., for human consumption. It is more than probable

and hunters, having come from East Asia, and that their techno-

gathered plants, seeds,

that they were collectors

Toltec

century

A.D., transformed and enrich-

ed

It

in

tech-

logic level could be assimilated to the lower paleolithic.

related to the Australians

a

common

They would be dolichocephalics.

and Melancsians, not through direct descendency, but through

population of Asia and Oceania.

origin, a very ancient

29

Ten thousand years later they also came from Asia and always by the same route. They
were groups of hunters with a superior Paleolithic culture, who had set out from Siberia.
They were brachicephalic and of the Mongoloid type. Hunters and collectors existed side
by side over a period of thousands of years, the difference between them being, as Sanders
and Price emphasized, not chronologic but ecologic according to the regions and the resources available; the population devoted itself mainly to the hunt or collecting, but in

many

instances both activities were carried out equally.

that were found in many places, had been used by these people as
For those devoted to the hunt, different sharp-pointed projectiles are known, which
have provided the respective names for the cultures: Sandia (25 000 to 15 000 B.C.), Clovis

The stone objects

tools.

(15 000 to 10 000 B.C.), Folsom (10 000 to 7 000 B.C.), Yuma (7 000 to 5 000 B.C.).
Apparently they lived from the hunt which embraced horses, mastodons, camels and bisons,
and were nomads. In the course of time, but at an extremely slow pace, they began to use
different types of tools

which naturally gave them a wider berth

for the execution of distinct

made scrapers, pestles, knives and hammers out of stone, and punches from bones. They probably used wooden spears as darts
which permitted them to attain greater distances than that attained only from the charge
types of work. Besides projectile points, they also

of the arm.
Mesolithic

Afterwards,

in the

becoming each time

course of thousands of years, as climatic conditions were changing,

drier and hotter, the heat and desiccation of the prairies brought
about the progressive disappearance of Pleistocene fauna, that is, of huge mammals such as
the mammoth, the mastodon and others of smaller size as the sloth bear, the camel and the
horse. The hunters now began to hunt a minor fauna, and the gathering of vegetables (fruits,
tubers) came to acquire more and more importance. The stone implements were being adapted
to new needs and, in addition, through the instruments produced by simple percussion or
carving stones, new objects were made by polishing them, such as axes, mortars, metals and
receptacles. One of the cultures we know about from that period is the Cochise of Arizona.
These groups of humans used to live in caves and followed a semi-sedentary way of life.

30

Thor Heyerdahl, anthropologi st

wn o

tried to explain the

populating of America from

oceanic voyages.

Neolithic

Among
specific

those

who

gathered the vegetables, one ought to have noticed that under

conditions the seeds of fruits which had fallen to the ground, germinated and

yielded plants similar to those that the fruits had originally produced.
natural

phenomenon

to

its

phenomenon designated

Such

observing a

purposeful realization was not more than a step and

conceivable that numerous collectors started out

the

From

in this

it is

highly

manner, which was to constitute

the Neolithic Revolution: food production through cultivation.

been stated, was more akin to evolution since

a "revolution", as has already

it

was

actually brought about in the course of several millenia, and transformed not only the type

of alimentation, but also the way of

life

of the peoples. There

is

no doubt

that, to a great

still continued to depend (although each time to a lesser degree) on the hunt,
and gathering of seeds, but the actual fact of having assured and adequate harvest
determined a greater variety of activities; thanks to the increase of leisure time they were
able to give more consideration to new industries, such as basketry and especially pottery
making. At the same time the need for taking care of the sown fields brought about the
need for the definite establishment of populations.
The evolution in the utilization of plants should have started around the year 6000 to
7000 B.C. In Coxcatlan, a valley in Tehuacan, excavations have shown that from 7200
to 5200 B.C., beans, squash, chile, avocado and other plants had been used, some of which
had probably already been cultivated while the rest were still wild. One can place corn
among the plants that had as yet not been cultivated. In the same area in a second phase,
between 5200 and 3400 B.C., certainly corn, beans, squash, avocado, certain kinds of chile,
and other plants were most definitely cultivated. Between 2500 and 1500 B.C., agriculture
had become the primordial source of activities, and the products represented 70% of the
nutritional diet. It was then that there had already started the making, with clay, of receptacles for preserving and cooking foods. The way of life of the people was indeed sedentary,
and the families were grouped together, forming hamlets or small villages.
It is unnecessary to state that the slow cultural evolution which constitutes the Amer-

extent, they
fishing

ican prehistory, also took into

development we

shall

now

its

fold the territory

present by

way of

we

refer to as

Mesoamerica, whose

a brief synthesis.

31

Definition and Borders

Some

imposed the name Mesoamerica to denote a geocontinuum in which a culture had been developed,

thirty years ago, Kirchhoff

graphic-cultural

unit,

territorial

homogeneous, although ramified in regional variants, corresponding to ethnic

groups linguistically differentiated. At the time of the Spanish conquest, their septentrional
borders were more or less determined by the rivers Sinaloa in the West and Panuco in the
East, united by a line of demarcation which passed a little northwards of the rivers Lerma,
Tula and Moctezuma. In the South it encompassed the northwestern part of Honduras as
well as the western tip of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
basically

While the meridional frontier ought to have been relatively constant, the septentrional
frontier underwent several changes in the course of history, being more removed northwards
periods of the flourishment of Mesoamerican culture, and being drawn together and

\n the

bending towards the South in the epochs in which their power and cohesion were diminished. They were contiguous with such peoples as: the hunters or underdeveloped agriculturists
in the North, and the well-advanced agriculturists in the South, according to the standards
of Southamerican tradition.
Cultural Characteristics

Kirchhoff, in his classic article, distinguished a

number of sub-groups on

the basis of a

conglomeration of factors common to Mesoamerica and the people, who were superior and
North and South America: in the Andean region, and sometimes

inferior as cultivators of

among

we have

America and the Antilles

on the Continent we have the collectors and hunters. He
punctualizes the elements unknown in Mesoamerica and present among the cultivators of
North and South America, and emphasizes those which are their own and those that are
exclusive of the area in question. Among the latter, the main ones are: the cultivation of
cocoa and maguey, the small garden tracts, the complex of corn processed especially for
tortillas; the double-edged sword made from obsidian leaves, the "ixcahuipilli" or the
defense jackets made from cotton; the echeloned pyramids, the special structures with rings
for playing ball; the hieroglyphic writing*; the codices and maps; the calendar of 365 days,
divided into 18 months of 20 days, with five intercalary, but unlucky, days; a ritual calendar
of 260 days with a cycle of 52 years; the existence of calendaric festivals, the belief in
propitious and unpropitious days, the calendric names of persons; the military orders
denominated jaguares ("jaguars") and aguilas ("eagles"), la guerra florida ("Flowery War")
the Amazonians,

we have

the superior cultivators: in South

the inferior cultivators;

Paul

author

Rivet,

hypothesis

of

origin

of

the

the

of

the

multiple

populating

of the American Continent.

In

front:

the

cultivation of

maize was an activity common to all the Mesoamerican

area.
first

It

is

assumed

that the

cultivation was obtained

from "teozintle" (wild maize).

to take prisoners destined for sacrifice; the specialized markets, the social class of merchants;
the use of paper, rubber

when

and flowers

in

ceremonies; the self-sacrifice; the

human

sacrifice

hearts were torn out and the victims burned alive, the use of the skin of the victim for

number of lower worlds and

post-mortem trip with different tests;

numbers such as 9 and 13, etcetera.
From the many conclusions that Kirchhoff extracts from his study, we shall mention
his judgement to the effect that Mesoamerican culture forms part of a more extensive zone
of high American cultures, aroused from a more ancient horizon of people who were not
cultivators, and that the elements lacking in Mesoamerica, but which do exist in North
and South America, ought to have existed also in the area we are studying, although in an
rituals; the belief in a

in a

rain deities with related representations; certain ritual

earlier

epoch.

a few years ago there was

discovered in Peru the existence
of an incipient type of writing.
It was reco.ded on beans (sieva
beans), funeral coverings and

*Just

Origin
if

32

twenty years ago, the problem of the origin of Mesoamerican culture

still

allowed an

glasses (kcros).

on the contrary, as imported from Asianowadays and while new discoveries contribute data on ancient outlooks, this problem
seems clearer. In fact, hardly knowing even more than very vaguely the previous stages
in the formation of Mesoamerican culture and its appearance as more or less developed in
distinct areas, some investigators, favoring the diffusionist concept of culture, were inclined
to accept the Asiatic solution. The adherents to this theory were: Kirchhoff himself and
Miguel Covarrubias in Mexico: Gordon Ekholm in the United States, and Heine-Geldern
alternative to consider

it

autochthonous

or,

in Austria.

Besides considering

Kirchhoff found

some elements

main support

as

imported ones,

like

the echeloned pyramid,

according to him, the advanced matheMayas were found in a true "cultural vacuum",
if one takes into account the low technological level of American cultures, which, unlike
the people of antiquity of the Ancient World, had used neither the wheel, the plow nor
metallurgy. Furthermore, referring concretely to the calendar based on astronomical knowledge, he felt that, although in Egypt it had resulted from the need to regulate irrigation
while taking advantage of the swellings of the Nile there existed no need comparable to
his

in the fact that,

matical and astronomical knowledge of the

that

among

the Mayas, and therefore there was no reason to create such a calendar.

his arguments a comparison between the days of

Mexico (Mayan and Aztecan) and the Chinese. The only real thing
afforded by this comparison is that among 28 Chinese names and 20 from Mexico, the
tiger, dog and serpent appear. Objectively considered this does not establish any significative
relation between both calendars. In addition, Kirchhoff presents lists of deities of India and
Mexico which he groups together on the basis of the function of each one, attempting to
show thereby certain equivalents and, implicitlv, Asiatic influences on the religious concepts
of Mexico. Once again his argument docs not seem convincing even to the slightest degree,
since all that his comparison yields is that in India and Mexico solar gods (beneficent) and
lunar gods (pernicious) were worshipped. Other deities worshipped were those of agriculture
and water; of fire and war; of fertility and procreation; of destruction and death; and a goddes with diverse functions, among which was that of judging sinners. Dealing with universal
concepts and those associated principally with the basic activities agricultural -the presence
of similar deities among such people, essentially agrarian as the Hindus and Mesoamerican,
was to be expected.
Heine-Geldern and Ekholm have repeatedly offered supposed proof of the relation
between Asia (especially the Southeast and China) and the Mesoamerican cultures (particularly Mayan). It is always a matter of objects (ceramics, sculpture) or architectonic details
which present formal similarities, at times vague and at times sufficiently definite. On another occasion we already analyzed some of these "proofs" and we don't believe there is
any necessity to repeat here the arguments which we had rejected. The most conclusive
In

later

work, Kirchhoff adds to

the ritual calendar of

proof, in our judgement, for refuting the validity of the comparative

method applied

to

33

objects and shapes from different cultures, the goal of which was to establish relations

XXXV Congress of Americanwhich Heine-Geldern participated. The comparison of numerous

objects, decorative motifs, shapes of bowls and receptacles, carved or sculptured figures
which pertain to cultures that never had had contacts with one another (the Mycenaean with
the Zapotec, the French with the Aztecs, the Norwegian with the Aztecs, the French with
through contacts between them, was presented by Caso in the
ists in

the

same session

in

the Teotihuacanians, the

Scynthians with the Zapotecs, the Sumerians with the Cholu-

leans, the Hittites with the Aztecs, the Palestinians with the Zapotecs, the Etruscans with

the Totonacs) gave the impression to those

who took

part in the Congress of ridiculing the

diffusionist theory, but, in point of fact, the methodology Caso had utilized, coincided
completely with that of Ekholm and Heine-Geldern.
Kroeber, on referring to the numerous cultural elements common to the Old World
and America, that basically are nothing more than results from parallel phenomena, stated:

"Actually, they only arise from the same impetus, share the characteristics of the objects
or of nature and only resemble to a certain extent being completely different in other senses";

and, in so far as the similarities between concepts and spiritual creations are concerned, the

same author regarded them

as "certain tendencies inherent to

human mind

in

determined

directions".

The

discoveries of uncultivated corn, as well as the process of cultivation, in the valley

of Tehuacan, which correspond to dates as remote as the year 7000 B.C. for the wild

gramineous, and from the year 5000 B.C. on, for cultivated corn, leave no room for doubt

autochthonous origin of this basic plant of American culture. The existence in

Mesoamerica (Oaxaca, the Gulf Coast, the Pacific Coast) of monuments with writing,
numerals and dates, which precede by many centuries that of the Mayan hieroglyphic
inscriptions, makes it completely unnecessary to insist that the Mesoamerican calendar had
as

34

to the

Archaeology has shown that

study of the
prehispanic urban centers it
is possible to find the answer
to the emergence and development
of Mesoamerican
culture in general and Mayan
particular.
A maquette
in
which shows the city of
Yaxchilan (National Museum
of Anthropology). To the
the Juego de Pelota
right,
in
("Ball -games")
Copan,
Honduras.
in the systematic

its

origin in Asia, or

was preceded by

the mentioned Congress, by saying: "if

writing, had, as
is

The

form of
containers, techniques and decorative motifs which were found
similarities

among

in the

the ceramics of the Val-

on the coast of
and the ceramics of
the Jomon phase from several
phase

divia

Ecuador;
islands

of Japan,

are

nounced and repeated

suggest

the

possible

South America of

so

pro-

that they
arrival

to

group of
Japanese
fishermen between
the II and Ml millenia B.C.possessed a complex knowledge of ceramics which later

penetrated other regions, includMesoamerica. Nevertheless,

the involuntary arrival of sea-

ing

men

to a foreign Continent is
not easy to translate as a cultural
influence on
the natives.

Usually, the foreigners are eliminated but, if they survive they

local customs. On
hand, the primitive
aspect of the ceramics mentioned, induces one rather to think
in terms of parallel creations,
not influences.

the

the

other

seen, an independent origin,

it is

difficult to

understand

a persistent insistence to the effect that the simplest inventions necessarily

why

there

had to have

come from some center of diffusion in the Old World".

As we already stated when we began to explain this problem, concomitant with

the

Mesoamerican
cultures, then the gaps begin to be filled in, the antecedents emerge where they were lacking
so as to explain an advanced civilization, the mystery which surrounded the first steps of
the different civilizations begins to disappear, and everything points to the confirmation
of the autochthonous unfolding oi the high level American cultures, the Mesoamerican
increase in our knowledge of the prehistory of the formative stages of the

among them.

who

adopt

we have

it there. Thus Caso concluded his participation in

complex forms of knowledge, such as agriculture and

Taking on

this position,

of course

we do not

discard the contributions

made by

Asiatic

immigrants who, most certainly, did not arrive with empty hands and vacant minds. Without
any possible argument, American prehistory is the continuation of Euroasiatic prehistory.
not possible to specify the exact epoch

which Asiatic immigrants stopped

coming to America, it ought to have been around the year 2000 B.C. There is no doubt
that they still brought cultural elements, such as, perhaps, pottery making*, the custom of
painting cadavers with ocher, the game called "patolli" and other customs or beliefs firmly
established and continued in the Mesoamerican cultures. It is, however, inadmissible to
think that influences, mainly stylistic, and formal similarities continued to come from
Asia while such cultures were being developed (during the post-classic period also), and
that these influences excluded such basic elements as the practical use of the wheel, the
While

it

is

in

plow, the carriage, the potter's lathe, the semicircular arc, glazed ceramics or the religion
of Buddha.

35

Chronologic Horizons

we

If

had

lasted

about

in

set

the beginning of

some 35

its

Mesoamerican culture around the year 2000 B.C.,

centuries, divided into diferent periods

that

means

that

it

and phases, based on the changes brought

development. Since these changes did not take place

in all the cultures in a

synchronic

form, we are not goin to specify dates for the different periods.

Principal Cultures

Originating from a basic culture which

formed

in different ecologic

in the curse

refer to as

environments and as a

result

Mesoamerican,
of interrelations

distinct cultures

among

were being

the distinct peoples

of the historic process. These cultures were clearly distinguished through their

are, fundamentally, variations of the

Classifying

36

we

mother

culture.

them geographically, the main

cultures are as follows:

style,

but

Ornamented vase with

engravings (National

bass-relief

Museum

of

Anthropology). Ceramics has been

a very useful tool in the pcriodi/.ation of the

Mayan

society.

PRECLASSIC OR FORMATIVE PERIOD

Low Phase
The economic
sedentary

and coarse,

rooted mainly

life still

life in

and from

hot places,

The production

and wood

thin flat stones,

and

gathering, the hunt

a progressive increase

fishing, but with

monochrome ceramics
modelled as women. The lithic industry from

clay figurines frequently

(mortars, metates). Stone

in

in

small family groups.

of

in

simple forms, not

in

many

beginnings

of cultivation, of

variations, with fine decoration,

cut stones (projectile points, knives, scrapers) and polished

and henequen. Huts from sticks with a roof from palm leaves or grass
moderate and cold climates. Animistic religion. Worship of fertility and the dead.

objetcs. Clothes from cotton

and sun-dried

clay bricks

in

Middle Phase

complemented by beans, squash and chile. Human groupings in small villages; the beginning
ceremonial nuclei with platforms of earth and stone as the foundations for sanctuaries. Formation of specialized groups for ritual ceremonies.
Monochrome ceramics with a greater variety of shapes, figurines of molded clay. Jade objects. Beginning of sculpture, colossal heads

Cultivation of corn as a basis for alimentation,

of

and huge altars.

The Jaguar deity

(rain).

High Phase
Cultural differentiation

in distinct

areas. Increasing importance of the ceremonial center. Building of pyramids as the bases of the temple-huts.

Development of sculpture: steles which depict scenes. Hieroglyphic inscriptions with the beginning of scripts. Vigesimal numeration by
points and bars. A numeric system with values according to the position of the signs. Long count. Dates on the ritual and solar calendar.
Decorations on buildings in molded stucco. Ceramics no longer only monochromatic, the Old God (fire).

PROTOCLASSIC OR TRANSITIONAL PERIOD

Acceleration of the process of cultural development. Precision of the typical features of the different cultures Distinctions

made in the priesthood

on ceremonial and sepulchral buildings.

the sculptured works. Tetrapod containers, mammalian

Social stratification. Ceremonial centers planned. Imposing constructions for worship. Mural paintings

Steles with hieroglyphic inscriptions

and

dates. Important

personages appear

props, and polychrome decorations.

CLASSIC OR DEVELOPMENTAL PERIOD

Early

Phase

Important technical, scientific and

arch

among

paintings

artistic

developments. Erection

Temples and residences

the Mayas.

for

the buildings. Special buildings for ball-games.

in

Theocratic government. Social classes well differentiated

of

of large

the ruling class

ceremonial centers. Invention

built with

Numerous sculptured monuments

Political states with

in

stone and stucco

with long count dates

centralized power.

dome

of the projecting

stone walls. Decorations

in

Polychrome ceramics

the

or the false
reliefs,

Mayan

and

area.

a great variety

shapes and forms.

Late Phase

More extensive flourishment

extraordinary increase

in

of

ceremonial centers, principally Mayan, and the decline

of others (Teotihuacan). Cultural

attainments

the

the construction of ceremonial centers, diversification of architectonic structures (pyramids, temples, terraces, squares,

which American Indians worshipped their idols, ball-games, tombs, observatories, etc.). Art not longer only religious,
Theocracy and aristocracy. Complexity of polytheistic forms of religions (natural forces, plants, animals, stars,
offices or occupations, abstract concepts). Cultures clearly defined in distinct areas. Ceramics very variegated in shape, decorative thematic
techniques. Numerous clay figurines, modelled or molded, which represented deities, priests, civil or military chiefs, ball-players, women
yards, palaces, temples

but also

civil

of high rank,

(Mayan

in

art).

common

people, animals.

POSTCLASSIC PERIOD OR PERIOD OF DISINTEGRATION

Early

Phase

Discontinuance
of

of cultural activities in the large classic

ceremonial centers. Pressure from the uncivilized groups on the septentrional border

Mesoamerica, ethnic movements from Central Mexico

Increase of

militaristic influences;

increase

and mixed cultures which resulted from the

and "lead-colored" ceramics.

in

human

arrival of

to the

South and Southeast;

sacrifices. Flourishing of

new

internal disintegration for

states,

economic and

social reasons.

a product of the disintegration of the large centers

people recently acculturated Beginning

of

the use of metallurgy. Fine X orange-colored

Late Phase
Continued pressure and invasions at the septentrional border. Invasion of new ethnic, bellicose groups. General states of war; integration
of Aztec imperialism. Fortified cities Exacerbation of human sacrifices. The War of the Flowers. Increase in commerce. Artistic decadence.

The bow and arrow.

Arrival of the

Spaniards.

37

In

1952,

american
nected

unique Mcso-

the

crypt con-

funeral

with

temple

on the

discovered

inside

Templo de las
tions ("Temple of
the

covered

lias

It

contained

38

of

InscripInscrip-

form of
monolithic sarcophagus and

tions").
a

was

the

human

skeleton

witli jade jewels.

CULTURES FROM THE NORTH

Within the septentrional borders of Mesoamerica and outside of these limits as well forming cultural islets in an area of
there were marginal cultures in which are recognized elements from Central Mexico combined with
others originating from the Southwestern United States. We think of La Quemada and Chalchihuites (Zacatecas' and Casas
Grandes (Chihuahua) as some of the main centers which correspond to such cultures.

collectors and hunters

WESTERN CULTURES
heading we can include the cultures of the actual states of Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco. Colima, Michoacan and
and Guanajuato. Many objects are known from these regions, the greater part obtained from secret excavations, especially from sacking tombs. The figurines and genuine clay statues reveal a great diversity of style, according
to the regions they come from. Almost always they represent human beings, animals, huts and even models of villages, and
frequently scenes of daily life. Western art is realistic: the same in the "primitive" manifestations that in a more workedout style: in many instances, it tends to caricaturize and always shows vigor and originality. From the historic angle, the
culture of the Tarascans is the best known.

Under

this

part of Guerrero

CULTURE FROM CENTRAL MEXICO

Concentrated in the regions of the central valleys of the high table-land of Mexico, these cultures are certainly the ones
which have received more attention from investigators, for the simple reason that our information about them is not only
from archaeologic sources but also, to a great extent, from historic as well. Arranged chronologically, the main ones are
those that we are going to refer to next. Obviously we exclude the stages which correspond to prehistorics and we start
from what we consider the beginning of prehistory, that is, around the year 2000 B.C.
During almost the entire course of the two millenia prior to our era, Mesoamerican culture in Central Mexico presented
aspects so similar in the entire area that it is possible to regard it as one culture only. From that preclassic culture we are
reminded of some centers, almost all situated around or near the ancient lakes of the Valley of Mexico, Arbolillo, Zacatenco, Copilco, Tlatilco, Cuicuilco, Ticoman, Tlapacoya. etc. The grear classic culture of Central Mexico was that of
Teotihuacan, which started to develop during the last two or three centuries before our era, this culture not only ruled
that region but also spread out, up to districts very remote, in the course of almost a millenium.
The historic development in the central region of Mexico was marked by violent invasions of successive waves of people
of a very low cultural level, who had not vet gone beyond the stage of hunting, fishing and gathering. These peoples
came to the northern plains with bellicose intents and destroyed the civilized centers. When they understood the advantages offered by a civilized way of life, they did not delay in becoming sedentary and cultivators as well, joining the native
populace, assimilating their culture and creating a new one which, to a great extent, was an extension of the previous one.
but with a special stamp of its own.
Teotihuacan was destroyed in this way and the Toltec culture of Toyan (Tula) followed, which did not last for more than
three centuries, but which also influenced other Mesoamerican civilizations. Their destruction, towards the end of the XII
century, was likewise due to new immigrants who were barbarians known by the generic name of Chichimecans, as the
invaders of the valley of Teotihuacan at the decline of its culture. After becoming civilized these new Chichimecans
founded Tenayuca and later Tcxcoco. Around the beginning ol the XIV century new barbaric tribes came to the valley
of Mexico. They were the "Mexicas" who had in their midst the Aztec tribe which did not delay not only in mastering
all the people of Central Mexico from their capital in Tcochtitlan, but also in creating a true empire whose borders extended to all Mesoamerica.

CULTURES OF THE ATLANTIC: CULF

Important cultures developed along the Gulf of Mexico, ex< hiding the coast of the pcninsul.i ol N ucatan. The most ancient
which covered a great part ol the preclassic period was the Olmecan or that of La Venta. situated south of the actual
State of Veracruz and north of Tabasco. This culture, apparently the lirst completely different from that of Mesoamerica.
undoubtedly played an important role in the formation of the others.
More to the North, that is, in the central region of Veracruz, the culture known as Totonacan was located: their most
important center must have been El Tajin. This culture which came under the sway ol Teotihuacan elements, in its turn
influenced others, as the numerous findings of such characteristic objects as yokes, palms, and votive candles, show even in

remote regions.
Still more to the North,
the

Mayan branch during

group

linguistically affiliated with

Mayans, the Huastecan, which had separated from the

the preclassic period, created a culture ol

its

own with

rest

of

clearly defined features.

SOUTHERN CULTURES
At this time we are referring to the culture of Oaxaca, lor which we make use ol abundant archaeologic information. The
most important cultures among them were the Zapotecan, through which it was possible to establish an extensive sequence
and to determine the principal stages by means of explorations ol what had been its major center: Monte Alban, and
the Mixtccan, which had developed mote or less simultaneously with that of the Zapotecan, but in mountainous country,
while this latter was established in the huge valleys. During the postc lassie period, the Mixtec.ins dominated these valleys
and imposed their might on the Zapotecans. One ol their most well-known centers is Mitla.

SOUTHEASTERN CULTURE AND THE CULTURE OF CENTRAL AMERICA

a territorial expanse calculated at more than 400 000 square kilometers,
Campeche, Quintana Koo. part ol Tabasco, and Chiapas, and
of
Yucatan,
which comprised the present Mexican states
Salvadoi and Honduras. The chapters
the present Republic of Guatemala, Bclice ami the western tip ol the Republic ol
which follow are devoted to this culture.

We

arc

now

referring to

Mayan

culture which had

39

Sources of Information

It

is

important, we believe, to remind the public of what our main sources of inform-

ation are, concerning the ancient

ments.

We

Mayas with regard to

their history

and

cultural achieve-

can categorize these sources as historic, archacologic, ethnographic and linguistic.

Spanish Historic Sources

The

who took part in the conquest and that

Europeans who discovered the Mayas, are among the

reports of those

for such reason

were

testimonies or major
importance about these people. Even more important, however, are the chronicles written

also the first

by those who arrived at the time of the conquest or shortly thereafter. The greatest number
of them lived for many, many years among the conquered people thereby being able to
acquire direct knowledge about their customs, their beliets, their knowledge and their
history in general.

It

is

obvious that the testimony of the conquering warriors, as also that

of those whose duty was to complete the military triumph with the spiritual conquest of
the vanquished,

is

at fault in

many

instances,

if

not for a lack of veracity, at least

in the

interpretation of the elements of a culture which was so different from theirs, certainly for
the lack of ability, the limitations, and prejudices, entirely natural, of course, for

action and friars of that epoch.

from the Spanish

historic

It is

a task tor the historian,

men of

when he analyzes information

sources, to appraise the subjective aspect which so frequently

which he makes reference.

The first Spaniards who came in contact with the Mayas did not leave us any direct
testimony of such a contact and of their understanding and awareness of the native culture.
In 1511, returning from Darien, an expedition conducted by Valdivia was shipwrecked in
front of the Eastern coast of the Peninsula of Yucatan. Some fifteen of the shipwrecked
reached the shore and apart from two of them the others perished, most of them sacrificed.
The two survivors, Jeronimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero, each one in his own way.
alters the actual facts to

A page
Dresde
one of
ments
Mayan

from the Codice de

("Dresden Codex"),
the fundamental elefor

the

civilization.

study

of

41

significant part in that phase of the Mexican history which began with the conThe former, during almost eight years of captivity, had learned to speak Yucatccan
Maya to perfection, and was the first interpreter on whom Cortes relied to handle the natives
before the arrival of La Malinchc. She spoke Chontal, one of the Mayan languages, and
Nahuatl, and served as translator for the Mexican groups. She translated what Cortes said
to Ins interpreter, Aguilar. The latter founded the first Mexican family, a mixture of half-

played

.1

quest.

breed, Spanish-indigenous. Aguilar refused to take part in the conquest and, furthermore,

according to

.1

number

of chroniclers,

seems to have been the one

who

encouraged, organ-

and directed the resistance movement against the invaders.

We have the reports from some of the members who had taken part in the first three
expeditions which came to Mexico from Cuba. Of special value are the reports of Bernal
l)ia/ del Castillo, a soldier who in his old age, had turned to the writing of chronicles. In
i/eil

we

to his information

also have

Juan Diaz, the scribe of Juan de

Grijalva, head of the second expedition, plus the letters of Hernan Cortes to the Spanish
sovereigns with reference to the third expedition. The information provided in these first
chronicles is not very extensive but docs not lack interest. In the greatest number of
(.ises, the contact established between the Spaniards and the natives was not very farcaching nor even peaceful, and the facts reflect the circumstances under which they were
realized. Thus we are fully aware of the distance covered by these three exped'tions; we
also know the precise points at which the Spaniards landed and the nature peaceful or
addition

the diary of

violent

of the encounters; also the reference, usually direct, to

some of

the aspects of the

indigenous culture; embarkations, homes, temples and altars, idols, dress and adornments,
arms and tactics of war, of useful, natural and manufactured products, etcetera.
With regard to the people of Yucatan, most of the information we have is undoubtedly
from Diego de Landa, who wrote in 1566, but it wasn't until three centuries later that his
work was published. Apart from the chapters dealing with the discovery and conquest,
the work of Landa, Helacidn de las casus de Yucatan, is, presently a treatise on ethnography
,i\\d

history, in

which there

data. In the square below,

is

no lack

we quote

The most important old

buildings.

the

of geographic, climatologic, botanic

main

titles

and zoologic

of these chapters:

Government, priesthood, science,

letters,

and books of

Yucatan. Arrival of the Tutul-Xius and the alliance they made with the lords of Mayapan. Vices

Manner of building houses. Obedience to and respect of the Indians for their
Manner of decorating their heads and wearing their clothes. Food and drink of the
Indians in Yucatan. Painting. Land left fallow and tilled, ready for sowing the following year.
Their sprees, banquets, farces, music and dances. Industry, commerce and money. Agriculture,
and seeds. Justice, and hospitality. System of counting among the Yucatecans. Genealogies.
ol

the

Indians.

masters.

Inheritances and guardianship of orphans. Succession of lords. Marriages. Frequent repudiations

among

the Yucatecans. Weddings. Baptism in Yucatan. Their form of confession. Abstinences

and superstitions. Diversity and abundance of idols. The work of the priests. Sacrifices and
mortifications. Weapons of the Yucatecans. Military chiefs. The militia and the soldiers: customs of war. Crimes and punishments. Education of the youth. Dress and decoration of Indian
women. Chastity and education of Indian women. Duels. Burials of the priests. Belief in a
future life. The count of the Yucatecan year. The personages in the days of the calendar.
Festivals for the

ominous

days. Sacrifices for the

New

Year. Interpretation of the calendar.

century of the Mayas. Writing. Multitude of buildings. Izamal, Merida and Chichen
ity

of the land. Fish, iguanas and lizards. Serpents. About bees, their honey and wax. The flora

of Yucatan. Birds of the land and sea. Other animals of Yucatan.

42

The

Itza. Fertil-

rr

Among

the

sources

for

Mayan

archaeological
the

culture are

study

of

the three

Codices: 1) that of Dresden;

2) that of Madrid, and 3) that

of

Paris.

XXIV

of

Here we have page

the

Paris

Codex,

guarded in the National Library of that city. It contains

calendaric computations, riceremonies and prophecies connected with them.
tuals,

There

is

we

knowledge of
would be still more deficient in some aspects.
Mayan writing proceeds mainly from his information, but his religious

no need to

insist that if

didn't have Landa's Relation our

the ancient Mayas, their culture and history,

What we know of the

fanaticism led him to deplorable excesses

against the cultural expressions (books, sculpture)

of the ancient indigenous, which he destroyed implacably. However, the Relation of the
bishop of Yucatan restores, to a high degree, his place in history.
>ther chronicles of the XVI century, whose works cover much more than the Mayan
area, treat some aspects of the people who lived there at that time. That is the situation of
Bartolome de las Casas, Pedro Martir de Angleria and Antonio Ciudad Real, among others.
For the same century and for the septentrional part of the Mayan area, we also have
at our disposal some information which is the result of an inquiry conducted by the Spanish
crown among the Spanish encomenderos who were granted some lands in Yucatan by royal
decree. Their information is contained in Relaciones Historico-Geograficas de las Provincias
de Yucatan. The uniformity of the entries which correspond to many Yucatan towns,
suggest that the greater part of the questionnaire sent by the authorities was answered by
Antonio Chi, an interpreter for the Crown, since many of these Spanish encomenderos, or
perhaps even all, lacked sufficient interest and ability to gather and analyze the data on the
life and customs of the Indians whom they had just acquired.
During the XVII century several chroniclers added more facts to what had been left
by the authors already cited. Among them we have to mention Diego Lopez de Cogolludo
and Bernardo de Lizana, both of them, as Landa, Franciscan friars, who wrote the history
of their religious order in Yucatan, but who also devoted several chapters to the culture and
history of the inhabitants.
For the Southern part of the Mayan area, that is to say, mainly Guatemala, we have
among the chroniclers of the XVI and XVII centuries, Las Casas, already mentioned; Diego
Garcia de Palacio, Alonso de Zorita (or Zurita) and brother Roman y Zamora, of the
Augustine order. The former were the auditors of Guatemala. From the XVII century
we have, among other chronicles, those left by Antonio de Remesal, a Jacobin friar; Martin
Alfonso Tovilla and, especially Francisco Antonio Fuentes y Guzman. To these ones we
have to add, although it is at the beginning of the XVIII century, the very important one
of the friar Francisco Ximenez. These chronicles, less systematic in their presentation of
data than that of Landa, deal principally with the military conquest and with the subsequent one of spiritual quality. Nevertheless, through the reports of trips, of the "penetration" into wild regions, of the subjection of the Indians to the Spanish rule, of the founding
of convents and of the problems, dramatic at times, which arose between the natives and the
civil and religious authorities, we are familiar with the way the Quiche Indians, the Chols,
the Lacandons and other, who had settled in what is now Guatemala and Chiapas, lived
(

and thought.

JSS

Indigenous Historic Sources

The

more

and cultured than the conquerors and the Spanish encomenderos, in order to reach the indigenous and catechise them, learned the native language.
But in addition to that, anticipating what is presently done among the indigenous groups,
they taught them to write their language according to the Spanish alphabet. In some cases,
the transmission of this language came to be done secularly as is still the case in many
communities in oral form, without the benefit of any written records, and in other cases
friars,

intelligent

Due to such initiative of some friars of the XVI

century, the most important testimonies were then collected and guarded, which presents
us what Leon Portilla has called "the vision of the vanquished".
the texts were written in hieroglyphics.

Comparing the Spanish historic sources with those of the natives, a great difference
stands out between the rationalist intent of the Europeans to understand that people, and
their strange culture an intent usually unfruitful and the authentic expression of magic-

44

whose structure is not rationalist, but rather more readily identifiable

with poetry.
One can note how the Spanish chronicler and even the most perspicatious of them
treats, on the whole, only the superficial aspects; he tries to guess or sense, as a function

religious thinking,

of his own concepts and cultural patterns, the facts he describes, comparing them with
those which seem similar to him as far as their worth is concerned. That is the reason why
he frequently fails in his interpretations. The indigenous chronicler, on the other hand,

Among
useful

the

historic

acquiring

for

sources

know-

about Mayan culture

are the Relaciones ("Rela.iml.i, and data
tions") of
provided by the first Spanish

ledge

expeditions to the Peninsula

of Yucatan, as those of Juan

de Grijalva (left) and of Her-

nandez de Cordoba (upper).

does not attempt to make himself understood: his one interest is to express himself. With
words in his own language he holds sway over his knowledge, his awareness, his recollections, his thinking, in the way his mentality has acquired, stored, and unfolded them.
Hence, many texts, transcribed by the native chronicler in his own language, but utilizing
the Spanish letters, makes it difficult for us to understand, or rather, makes it impossible
for us to comprehend. The complexity of the mythical world, that they reveal to us, is like
a labyrinth often impenetrable. However, not everything lies within the nature of esoteric
doctrine since the native sources have also contributed to the richest and most abundant
information about the culture and history of the Mayas.
At the time of the conquest, a prophet {Chilam or Chilan) in Yucatan with the family
name Balam (jaguar) becomes renowned when he predicted the coming of white-skinned
strangers with beards, bearers of a new religion. At least that is what is stated in Relation
de Merida, written after the conquest. Nothing has been able to be confirmed, that is, if
such a prophet had existed or if the prophesy was invented a posteriori, to propitiate the
coming of the strangers. Much later the name of Libros de Chilam Balam was given to all
the manuscripts which were beginning to appear in different towns of Yucatan.
It is known that eighteen Libros de Chilam Balam, for which only half of that number
are available in photocopies, pertain to the towns of Chumayel, Tizimin, Mani, Calkini,
Kaua, lxil, Tekax, Tusik and Nah. Some of these have been published. The documents
which have come down to us, up to the present, are all copies which were made in the
course of centuries by their respective owners, to avoid their being lost to posterity as
the paper on which they were written on, began to crumble.
From one Chilam Balam to another, the contents varies considerably, but many texts
appear to be repeated in various books and, at times, with a number of discrepancies. Some
of these texts are of historic nature, very brief, and nothing more than mere references to
events, lacking actual precision or details. Such works are accompanied by dates
recorded in the form known as the "short count", a shortened form of computing time
which was utilized in Yucatan, a number of centuries before the conquest. In the religious
texts, which are perhaps the most important, in some cases one can detect Christian influence: they reflect the process of syncretization which started at the beginning of the
colonial epoch. Also of tremendous importance, in spite of the unclarity of the language,
are the prophecies associated with the different calendaric periods (katuns, tuns) and the
prognostications pertinent to the days of the ritual calendar. The riddles in "the language
of Zuyua" are typical of the esoteric doctrine of religion, and these had to be solved by
the candidates for the priesthood. There are also texts which explain the Mayan calendar;
others, undoubtedly quite apart from Mayan, as the history ot the Maiden Teodora and
King Almanzor, an Arabic tale; and others in which the European and indigenous elements
are encountered in strange combinations as, for example, astrologic texts which are associated with disease and native remedies.
In the meridional part of the Mayan area, specifically among the Quiches, who estab
lished themselves in the Highlands of Guatemala, the same phenomenon took place there
as in Yucatan, which has made available a valuable document, written immediately after
the conquest, by an anonymous Quiche who had been taught to write his language with
a Dominican friar, Francisco Ximenez who had found the original at the beginning ot the
XVIII century in the town of Chichicastenango.
The Manuscrito de Chichicastenango, better known as Popol Vuh or Libro del Con sejo

some

45

";
Eclipse
fciy,
I

59

'

X^

^y^

~h^j

sXZy. j??&?"**?*-

*&** eA****^ #*>**:

u.

l/^(W

jfe/*2*t

"-<**>*

**i

^?JZJ&

%&*

tzf
f

ci&u

**<*-% Cttr

Knowledge
providing

<2>?lic*i

of

Codices

greater

in

under-

standing about these people.

fie^etjeLt-

3wm* *-&*it~VA

the Chilam
case,
this
In
Balam of Chumayel provid-

ed important

46

the

and Mayan texts helped

historical data.

(Book of Advice or Counsel), is, without doubt, a transcription of some pictographic, rather
than a hieroglyphic codex (hieroglyphic inscriptions are unknown to the Quiche region).
This is inferred from the introduction of the author, who mentions the existence of "the
original book, written a long time ago, but whose vision remained impenetrable to the
investigator".

The Popol Vuh provides us with an exact and detailed version of the cosmogony and
mythology of the Quiche people, written in a language full of poetry. The creation of the
world, of the elements, of the stars, of the animals and vegetables, of man, all are described
there. So, too, are depicted the struggles between the mythological heroes and the forces
of evil, before their apotheotic transformation into the Sun and the Moon. The Popol Vuh
is also the history of the Quiches from the creation of the first four men by the gods, who
had made their bodies from corn dough, to the lords of those distinct lineages who were
ruling when Alvarado's soldiers violently and with cruelty succeeded in becoming part of their
history. This record serves to establish that the culture of the people of the Guatemalan
altiplano, centuries before the conquest, that is, the period in which the Toltec civilization
flourished, bore a marked Mexican stamp. Frequent allusions to Tollan and Quetzalcoatl
disclose that there had been contacts between the people of Central Mexico and those of
the Highlands of Guatemala.

The Memorial de Solola (Solola's Reminiscences) or Anales de los Cakchiqueles

(Annals of the Cakchiquels) came to be an integral part of the Cackchiquels, as the Popol
Vuh was for their neighbors the Quiches: the summary of their history, written by people
of their own ethnic group. The original version, which is dated from the end of the XVI
century, was written in Cakchiquel. Various authors, all of whom are members of the
Xehil family, collaborated in this work and their names appear in the document. Much
later it was transcribed, also in Cakchiquel, but in Spanish letters, the copy of which bears
data up to the year 1604. In contrast to the Popol Vuh, the Memorial de Solola contains
very little information of a cosmogenic nature, but the historical information is more
detailed and complete than the latter. The history of the Cakchiquels begins with the
creation of the first man and continues until almost a century after the conquest by the
Spaniards. It shows a parallelism between the history of the Quiches as far as the origin of
their culture is concerned, the legendary Tula, emphasizes the quality, frequently hostile,
of their relations with the Quiches. The Spanish conquest is narrated with crudeness, contrasting the cordial, friendly form in which they had received the invaders, with the crimes
and abuses of Alvarado, all of which served as the driving force for a rebellion which lasted
many years, until the absolute rule of the Cakchiquels wasted away. The Memorial, in the
last part, becomes the diary of the community in which different scribes make note of
facts which have no historic trascendency, such as marriages, deaths, land disputes, earthquakes, and other events of even less significance.

Archaeologic Sources

Here we refer to the architectonic monuments, the sculptures, objects made from clay,
stone, bone, shell and other materials; the paintings, inscriptions, in short, everything which
was produced in the Mayan area prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. Among the archaeolo-

sources we also include the only three painted "books" which have come down to us
(Codices de Dresde, Paris y Madrid) ("The Dresden, Paris and Madrid Codices"), because of
the fact that we cannot read them in their entirety and that they do not seem to contain
any historic information.
The monuments in the ceremonial centers; the common buildings and the reliefs they
enclose; the murals, the thousands of objects which have turned up from the explorations,
as offerings in the temples, other buildings dedicated to worship, and in the tombs, not only
show the material culture of the ancient Mayas, but also many aspects of their way of thinking, their beliefs, and manner of conducting themselves. The reconstruction with reference
gic

47

48

Mayan

which may be attempted has to be based, mostly, on the archaeologic

Hndings, since the historic sources refer only to the centuries immediately preceding the
to

culture,

Spanish conquest, and, the information presented

many

is

cause of the contradictions and incoherencies which

we can turn as it has made

many Mayan centers, their

it

times vague,

implies.

It is

if

not doubtful, be-

to archaeology to

which

possible to delineate, in a general form, the cultural history of

principal stages

and the changes which they had attained either

through internal motivations or external influences.

some phases of
the culture do not leave any material vestiges, but it is almost always feasible to infer from
these remains, if not a direct and accurate information, at least some possible hypotheses
which can find confirmation in the historic sources.
It

is

quite obvious that

Ethnographic Sources

When one

Mayan culture and this is valid for other Mesoamerican

one has to take into account that neither the Spanish conquest, nor the

begins the study of

cultures as well

three centuries of colonial domination, nor the century

and

a half

of republican

lite,

destroy-

remember that many millions of individuals continue

It
to speak many of them in an exclusive form- some of the languages of the Mayan group
and that they continue to carry on a way of life very similar to that of their ancestors. The
methods of cultivation, the types of dwellings, alimentation, standards of behavior, beliefs,
rites, ceremonies and very many other aspects of the customary daily life as well as the form
of thinking of the ancient Mayas have survived and are still in actual use in the present time.
The tremendous significance of ethnologic studies pertinent to the numerous contemporaneous Mayan groups is to be found precisely therein.
ed that culture.

is

quite

in

order to

obvious that the process

It is

of acculturation of these groups, in the

course of centuries,

up to the historian and ethnologist to

distinguish between what constitutes the survival of autochthonous patterns and what was
attained through occidental culture.
lias

not hit intact the ancient cultural elements.

It

is

Linguistic Sources

We

have already remarked that there are several million individuals

languages

ol

the

Mayan

precisely a part ol

linguistic family.

It

is

the culture and, therefore,

who

still

speak the

hardly necessary to recall that language

it

includes or reflects

many

of

is

the cultural

components. The vocabulary ol

language naturally includes the names which integrate the
natural environment (fauna and flora) of the people who speak it; or that are related to their
activities, to the instruments they use, to the methods of work, or what is applicable to
their domestic and social organization, or to their knowledge and ways of thinking. Linguistic studies enable us to detect cultural changes, contacts with other peoples and, under
.1

certain conditions, to

An

aerial

view of Tulum. Pro-

and coralline reefs from the Caribbean

Sea, the city of Tulum was
tected by

studied

its

and

investigated
Hi.

the decade of the

,

actuality,

investigations

to

Ruz

19S0's. In
,

the

their possible or probable historic origin.

Comparative Sources

walls

some extent by
1.

deduce

archaeological

of

that

area

have been undertaken again.

This chapter would be inadequate and incomplete

need nqt to
t(

we

if

did not insist on the stringent

restrict ourselves to sources that are directly related to the

reconstruct their history and culture.

It

is

Mayas inany attempt

Mayans

further indispensable to insist that the

j q nQt const j tute an independent historic phenomenon hut rather form an inseparable part
,,
lie historic sources which pertain to other peoples, the
of the Mesoamerican phenomenon.
r
comparison ol their archaeologic remains with those of other civilizations of Mesoamerica.
all these are aids for understanding what the Mayas actually accomplished.

...

ARCHBISHOP MITTY HIGH SCHOOL

LIBRARY
San Jose,

California

'

'

The Mayan Area

make it clear what we consider as the Mayan area:

which the Mayas lived prior to the conquest and the
territory they still occupy, the people linguistically related that comprise the group
designated Mayan, with the exception of the Huastecs. Although of the same linguistic
family, the Huastecs separated from the common branch before they were integrated in
the Mayan culture, and, in addition, they are in an area far removed from the general Mayan
family. We offer this notation here since some authors (Morley, Kidder) exclude from the
area of Mayan culture any region which did not have certain specific forms as "A hieroglyphic writing and a unique chronology of its own, and for what is referred to as North
America, an architecture of stone also unique in its class, which used roofs in the form of
a dome of a stone ledge (the false arch)". On the basis of this criterion one should not
consider the Quiche region as part ot Mayan culture as they do not have hieroglyphic
inscriptions nor buildings with the Mayan dome. Yet the Popol lull ot the Quiches is, in
Morley's opinion, "the most remarkable work ot its kind in the Southern Mayan territory".
As we begin

the

entire

disk
originating from
Chukultik (National Museum
of Anthropology), on which
a ball-player

appears with the

hieroglyphic inscription of a
date

corresponds

year 590 A.D.

to

the

territorial

chapter we have to

expanse

in

Mayan

Mexico embraces the present states of Yucatan,

Campcchc, Quintana Roo, almost all ot Tabasco and the western halt ot Chiapas; the entire
Republic ot Guatemala; Belice or British Honduras, and the western extremities of the Republics of Honduras and El Salvador. This land, in our calculations, covers more than
400 000 square kilometers, that is, in terms of European countries, an area greater than
that of both Germanys, or Italy, or, more or less equivalent to Sweden.
In

The

this

our opinion, the

area in

Physiographically this territory can be divided into three well ditterentiated areas.

On

and septentrional. It is interesting to anticipate that a cultural division and a historic development
sufficiently well ditterentiated, correspond to the natural divisions just noted. We do not
pretend to suggest a geographic determinism which would have conformed the culture and
the basis ot their location they are customarily retcrred to as meridional, central

51

history of

all

an important

three regions, although there

is

no doubt that the geographic factor played

role.

Meridional Area
This corresponds, in its greater portion, to the Highlands of Guatemala and the part
contiguous with El Salvador and, in addition, the narrow strip adjacent to the coast of the
Pacific Ocean. The latter, the width of which does not go beyond 40 or 50 kms, is slightly
above sea-level, with a hot, humid climate; with its own kind of tropical vegetation, and

does not represent more than a

minimum

part of the

whole

area.

The

rest consists of

mount-

ainous ridges of volcanic origin, from which some of the highest peaks of America projects,

Tacana and Tajumulco, which are higher than 4 000 meters. There are valleys and
plateaus with fertile land between the chains of mountains, from which flow the great rivers
Usumacinta and Motagua; from them, in turn, are formed lakes Atitlan and Amatitlan.
Numerous rivulets descend from the southern slope of these mountains and cross the coastal
belt. In the altiplano the climate is moderate in summer with a large period of rainfall, while
the winter is dry and cold. Vegetation abounds in the woods with conifers in the mountains,
grass in the highest parts, and cultivation of cereals, vegetables and fruits in the valleys.
The fauna embrace the felines: jaguars, ocelots, pumas, wildcats; deer and other small
mammals; serpents and birds among which the quetzal was readily outstanding for its
beauty and the value of its plumage.
The rich soil is due to orogenetic movements and contains sufficient minerals which
were utilized in prehispanic times, mainly jadeite, iron pyrites, hematites and cinnabar.
Volcanic eruptions provided the ancient Mayas with such materials as lava, alluvial
stones, obsidian and ashes.
as the

Central Area

This embraces

the

septentrional slope of the mountain ranges of Guatemala and

Chiapas, and the Lowlands which extend to the North, crossed by chains of

hills. It

includes

Guatemala (Peten), Tabasco, the southern part of Campeche, and Quintana

Roo, Belice with its volcanic system (the Mayan Mountains), and the west of Honduras
which is also mountainous. The area is channelled by the middle and lower courses of the
Usumacinta River with its numerous tributaries (Salinas or Chixoy, Pasion, Lacantun with
its own tributaries Lacanha, Jatate, Tzendales
San Pedro Martir), Grijalva (fed by the
Macuspana), Candelaria, Hondo and its tributaries (Azul, Uaxactun, Bravo) and Motagua,
to mention only some of the most important. Numerous lakes and lagoons complete the
hydrographic system. Among these are Lago Peten-Itza, Laguna Perdida, the lagoons of
Miramar, the lagoon of Terminos and Lago Izabal. There are vast swampy regions. The
climate is extremely hot and the precipitation of rain is much higher there than in the rest
of Mesoamerica. The rains fall almost daily, all year round, and in some regions the average
annual rainfall is almost four meters. The greater part of the Central Area is covered with
high, dense forests in which abound such trees as the mahogany, cedar, the zapodilla, the
God-tree, the browse-wood, the Mexican fig-tree and many varieties of palm. Apart from
the prairies, the soil is very fertile with a huge covering of humus, most suitable for the
cultivation of cereals, vegetables and fruits; many fruits still grow wild.
The fauna, as the flora, is rich and diverse, abounding in jaguars, pumas and other
felines; stags, pecarries, wild boars, monkeys and smaller mammals; there are many poisonous serpents, and lizards; many kinds of birds such as pheasants, turkey-gobblers, macaws,
parrots, toucans, etc., and innumerable insects, most of them harmful or, at least, disagreeable to man.
the north of

52

The

drawing originating in the

National Museum of Anthropology

in

which the diversih-

cations of the natural regions

orf the
.

..

Mayan

area are shown.

soil

of a calcareous formation with moderate folds, and

is

tne coastal plains of Tabasco and the southwest of

Campeche,

it is

in the

lowest part,

i.e.,

formed by loamy and

sanc}y se diments which are carried by the rivers. Eventually the calcareous rock contains
n

some

flint-stone,

Septentrional Area

This region constitutes the septentrional half of the Peninsula of Yucatan that

of an imaginary

Bahia de

la

line

is

north

which, perhaps, would just about unite the lagoon of Terminos with the

Ascension. In so

far as its

present political division

is

concerned,

it

corresponds

Yucatan and the major part of Campeche, and Quintana Roo. It forms a vast
form from the West to the East by some chains of hills which
do not exceed 100 meters in height. There are only three small rivers: Champoton on the
western coast, Lagartos on the septentrional and Xelha on the Caribbean, some lagoons
Coba, Chichankanab, Ocum, Nohbec and one lake (Bakalar) which complete the very
limited superficial hydrographic system. In the most northern part of the peninsula, where
there are virtually no water currents, innumerable ccnotes [dzonot in Yucatecan Maya),
natural subterranean deposits which are found when, as a result of the process of erosion or
by accident, the calcareous incrustations which form the soil of the peninsula are broken.
The rain precipitation is extremely low (less than half a meter in a year); that, plus the
scantiness of land suited for vegetation (calcareous rock crops up frequently or the soil is
only covered with a few centimeters of humus) yield a vegetation which each time is scarcer
and sparser, especially closer and closer to the northern part. The woods which are an
extension of the jungle of the Central Area become lower and less dense until they reach
the groves of dwarf oaks and even the semiaridity of the extreme north.
to the State of

plain, crossed in an irregular

The fauna,

like

the

flora,

is

scarcer

and

less

varied here than in the Central Area.

However, there are some felines, many stags, wild boars and small mammals such as rabbits
and armadillos; birds and reptiles. The bees find the pollen they need for making honey and
wax on the shrubs and flowers among the low mountains.

The ground
also calcareous,

is

a calcareous crust, at times full of flint-stone

known

as

which covers a sand coat

sahcab (Mayan Yucatecan) "white earth".

53

The Mayan Men

Originally

wc had

called this chapter

"The Mayan Man". However,

our materials together and had as much interest

somatic and psychologic, we realized that, as in
propriate to use the plural instead of the

in treating the

we were

as

getting

ethnolinguistic aspect as the

many disciplines, it is more correct and apsingular when referring to problems of the human

species.

Ethnolinguistic Groups

The

aprioristic prejudice in considering the

ent and isolated

in

the world, has led

Mayan languages have no

many

Mayas

as a

scholars of the

unique phenomenon, independ-

Mayan

field to affirm that the

Mexico or Central Mexico. Tozzer

adhered to this idea implicitly and was quoted by Morley who shared this view. Of course,
since the latter, in accordance with his outline of the development of Mayan civilization,
starting out from its nucleus in Peten, Guatemala, firmly asserted that "the language ot the
Old Empire ought to have been the progenitor of the modern Mayoid group'
Other authors, as Thompson for example, who also accede that the Mayan languages
have no relation to the languages of Mexico and Central America, consider only exclusively
two Mayan languages that of the Highlands and that of the Lowlands and some fifteen
dialects. On the other hand, according to the judgement of such distinguished linguists as
Swadcsh and McQuown, 28 languages are recognized, each with one or more local dialects,
and they, in turn, can be grouped into subgroups according to the degree of affinity which
affinity with other languages of

exists

Tzotzil

Chiapas.
all

are

the

woman from Chenal,

In point

Mayan

traditions.

their

fact,

in

still

own

try to

cultural

who

much more
Mayan languages which we have already enumer,v
group which he designated "Macromayan and which embraces in addition to

Swadesh, one of the

linguists

studied the languages of America with

dedication and competency, included the

territory there

groups which

maintain

of

among them.

ated

in

those mentioned, the following: Lenca spoken

the south of Guatemala;

Mixe

in

in Honduras and El Salvador, and Xinca in

Oaxaca and Totonacan in Veracruz. Swadesh further felt

55

that the Macromayan group was related to what he designated "Macroaztecan" which
embraces also the languages of the Nahuatl family, forming with the Penutian languages "a
segment of an extensive net which pertains to the entire hemisphere", that is to say, in no
form can the Mayan languages be considered as isolated, by and large, from the languages
of Mexico and Central America. They definitely show affinities with those of the contiguous
localities on the borders of the Mayan area, and, to a lesser degree and indirectly, with some
of the large linguistic groups of the American Continent.
The lexico-statistical method, a comparative technique for the different languages
which was carefully worked out by linguists has made it possible to establish just about the
probable moment in which any one of the Mayan languages separated from the common

CLASSIFICATION

OF THE

MAYAN LANGUAGE
accordi ng to

(1956)

A)

branch. Clottochronology, the results of this laborious investigation, provides the following

which are indicated the approximate dates when the separation from the main
languages started, beginning with a hypothetic Proto-Mayan.
The distribution of the main ethnolinguistic groups is presented in the corresponding
map: Linguistic Map for the Mayan Territory.
picture

HUASTECAN
1)

Huastecan of
Veracruz and
San Luis Potosi

2)

Chicomuceltec
(extinct)

in

Within the Mayan area,

are pipil groups

which

in

the southern part of

linguistically

has already been stated, there

is

Guatemala and

in El

B)

THE CHOL GROUP

2)

Chontal
Choi

3)

Chord

1)

Salvador there

belong to the Nahuas. Apart from the area indicated, as

the Huastec group

which originally was part of the Mayan

C)

THE TZELTAL

GROUP

family.

1)

When Morley

3) Toholabal

described the physical type of the ancient Mayas, he used as his main

modern Yucatecans,

D)

the other groups. In spite

Highlands
of the fact that he noted that "the Mayas of the
have a redder and shinier skin

E)

the

investigations

that

among
been made among

Steggerda had conducted

deploring the fact that similar studies had not

than the Mayas of Yucatan, and, biologically, seem of a

cludes that "however,

if

the

somewhat purer

one considers them according to the basic

criteria

lineage", he con-

hair,

CHUH
1)

Yacaltecan

2)

Kanhobal
Solomec

3)

of stature, color,

one can observe that all the groups that speak Mayan seem to
have come originally from the same ancestral branch". Strangely enough this conclusion
appears a few pages after a comparative table of the distinct somatic elements stature,
cephalic indexes, and weight, in which not only the difference in stature is very marked:
more than 7 centimeters between Chontals and Yucatecans, but also the very striking
and significative difference in the cephalic index: 9 between Yucatecan and Tzotzil men, and
almost 11 between the women of the same groups. Morley's conclusion is completely
incongruent, in view of the shape of the head, stretched or round, one of the most important factors of the biologic difference between these people, and especially when we take
into account the notable brachyccphalic difference (85) of the Yucatecans and the dolichocephalic difference according to several authors as, for example, Starr and Steggerda, or
mesocephalic according to other specialists as, for example, Comas, with reference to some
of the people of the Highlands of Chiapas, i.e., the Tzeltals and Tzotzils, and the Mams of
Guatemala, with a cephalic index from 76 to 79. Thompson, without a more thorough
investigation of this subject, considers the Mayas "sufficiently homogeneous".
In addition to the aspects we have just presented stature, and shape of the head,
Comas' study permits us to deduce that there are still other factors that reveal a lack of
homogeneity among the Mayans. This has a special value with regard to such facial indexes
as wide, average or narrow and nasal; hook-nose or wide nose. In the serologic investigation,
the presence of certain antigens in the blood indicates significant differences. In the dermatoglyphic study the digital prints and the lines of the hand disclose differences between the
groups of the high septentrional lands and those of the high meridional lands, as is the case
shape of the head, and

56

Tzeltal

2) Tzotzil

Somatic Features

basis

McQuown

F)

MOTOZINTLEC

G)

MAMEAN

H)

1)

Mam

2)

Aguacatec

3)

Ixil

QUICHEAN
1)

Rabinal

2) Uspantec
3) Quiche
4) Cakchiquel
5)

I)

KERCH IAN
2)

Kekchi
Poconchi

3)

Pokoman

1)

J)

Tzutuhil

MAYAN
1)

2)

Yucatecan
Lacandon

3)

Itza

4)

Mopan

CHRONOLOGY OF
THE MAYAN
LANGUAGES
2600
1800
1600
1400
900
750
400
200

B.C.

Mam

B.C.

Huastec

B.C.

Yucatecan

B.C.

Lacandon

B.C.

Chontal

B.C.

Tzeltal

B.C.

Tojolabal

B.C.

Quiche

100 B.C.

Kekchi

100

AD.

Kanjobal

100 A.D. Aguacatec

400 A.D.
900 A.D.
900 A.D.
1200 A.D.
1200 A.D.
1300 A.D.
1450 A.D.

Choi
Chorti

Pokoman
Tzotzil

Uspantec
Rabinal
Tzutuhil

of Yucatan.

of the limited number of series studied, the osseous remains found in

In spite

the course of archaeologic explorations also indicate a degree of variation, especially in the

and facial indexes.

Taking those differences into account,

cranial

hardly possible to speak of a unique

it is

Mayan

physical type for the entire area, completely differentiated from the other Mesoamerican

groups.

Some Mayan groups have presented and

still

present

some

peculiar features, such as

the hook-nose, the epicanthus fold of the eye, which covers part of the interior angle,
the

Mongol spot

The

or stain at the base of the vertebral column.

characteristic of the Asiatic people, specifically the Mongols.

The

last

slant-eye

two
is

and

features are

another herit-

age of the remote Asiatic ancestor of the autochthonous American people. The relative
length of the arms in comparison to the stature

groups are

The

much

is

also noteworthy, as the

arms of the Mayan

longer than those of the rest of Mesoamerica.

greater part of the physical qualities, as a whole, of the Mayas, are those

know from

which we

Mesoamerican people and the others of the Northern,

Central and Southern part of the Continent: low stature, dark-complexioned (brown or
copper-colored), dark-brown or black eyes, straight black hair; hairiness on the face and
body; broad shoulders; large thorax, and muscular legs. Landa describes them as a "comely
people, tall (?), vigorous and with a great deal of strength". To that he added that they were
"bow-legged" with arched legs due to the way they were carried as children, "astride in
already

the rest of the

the haunch-bones".
In conclusion,

we have

to consider the

Mayas

as a part

of the Mesoamerican population,

including the great ethnic groups, on the basis of their physical characteristics as well as

no way whatsoever can the Mayan be studied as a Homo Mayensis with

homogeneous somatic features and distinct from the rest of the American people.
their language. In

Psychologic Qualities

seems that only among the Mayas of Yucatan has any attempt been made to define
the psychologic personality of the Mayan man through any systematic study. Such a study
was carried on in the course of eight periods in the decade of the thirties and in the small
town of Piste near Chichen-Itza, under the direction of Morris Steggerda and as part of the
investigations of the Carnegie Institution of Washington which published the results.
We do not question the seriousness of those who made the investigation, and, since we
are not psychologists, we could hardly express any opinion on the work. We are going to
It

restrict ourselves to presenting a

all,

the

method

used. 1)

summary of

scale of values

the conclusions, taking into account, first of

which embraces 61 features of

turned over to white people familiar with the Mayas

sed their opinion about the Mayas

in general. 2)

characteristics,

was

own environment, who expresscale was given to five Mayan men

in their

similar

and eight half-breeds, who examined and qualified the other Mayas as individuals. 3) Incidents from the daily life of the Mayas were recalled as well as the reactions to diverse social
and psychologic situations. 4) Model tests were given to men, women and children. They all
had uniform graphic representations, non-language performance tests. Twenty-nine whites,
unfamiliar with the

Mayan

culture but acquainted with the "race" received the first scale of

values on different aspects.

The themes of these

were grouped together as follows:

1) potentiality of energy, 2) attitude towards oneself, 3) attitude towards the environment
which refers to inanimate objects and people, 4) humor, 5) intelligence, 6) general interests,

and

7) pathologic features.

Of

the 29

who

americans.

some twenty were members of the Staff

and among them some had been missionaries, almost all North-

replied to this scale of values,

of the Carnegie Institution,

58

scales

The second

scale

was given to

five

Mayan men who

solicited opinions

from 34

At the present time the

Mayas are face to face with
an accelerated transformation

which compels them to change

their

patterns

of

behavior

and their customs. Here, two

Quiche women from Guatemala,

country with

a highly

Mayan

popul-

concentrated
ation.

''

r
other Mayas, and 8 half-breeds

who

carried out investigations

among 38 Mayas. As

they measured up to the kind usually given in the United States, in which

tests,

form into units and put

sary to

in

for the

it is

neces-

order geometric figures with the greatest rapidity possible.

Steggerda himself points out the inconveniences of applying such tests to individuals of a
culture so different from that for

whom

they were set up, and, as a result, such an evaluation

mental intelligence of the Mayas was completely uncertain and doubtful.

very synthetic form, the results of the investigation would be as follows: the

for determining the

In

Mayas

are active, energetic,

and industrious workers; very orderly and extremely clean since

they try to maintain their hovels and clothing always immaculate; frugal, since they carefully

guard their harvest and avoid every waste; cruel to animals, and eventually also to
beings

when

it is

a matter of avenging the infidelity of a

woman;

human

conservative in their cus-

toms and opposed to progress; with no predilection for moving from one place to another,
except when there is no other choice; good conversationalists, and sociable; they like to
joke and enjoy amusement; confident, unselfish; good-natured and with a great respect for
the rights of others; sensitive to poverty, diseases or the misfortunes of others; proud, un-

accustomed to beg; courteous and friendly among themselves and to strangers; generous and
hospitable; they don't like to dominate others and value their independence as individuals,

even as children already; they are completely lacking in a

spirit

of rivalry, vanity and egoism;

they love justice; they are peaceful, not quarrelsome but rancorous and revengeful
they are wronged; honest to the highest point; their family
they rarely
adults

show

and they

ties are

when

very strong even though

affection; the paternal authority continues even after the children are

in turn are

heads of family; they are only moderately interested or preoc-

cupied with matters of sex; couples separate without any difficulty, and jealosies are
ly rare, although, as already stated, in

relative-

the case of adultery the revenge of the offended

husband can be without limits; they are fatalists and religious, which should better be
designated superstitious and adherentes of witchcraft; they are excessive alcoholics which
is often detrimental through quarrels, damage to their properties and acts of violence; they
are of mediocre intelligence and lack a spirit of initiative; they have a tremendous sense of

60

History, archaeology and an-

thropology

Mayas

consider

"active, energetic, in-

dustrious

and

people",

men who,

their

the

actual

persevering
in spite

conditions,

the inheritors of a

cultural wealth.

of

are

tremendous

observation and an excellent memory; they are very imaginative, to the point of creativeness
as they have a tremendous sense for beauty.

With regard to the classic tests for determining the extent of their mental development,
the results were completely unfavorable for the Mayas, that is, for adults as well as children.
Their averages were far lower than those obtained by people who were not Mayas, specifically speaking, "the white race". Steggerda repeatedly insists that, as far as he is concerned,
these results are due to the use of inadequate tests, but, indubitably, there has to be some
difference between the intelligence quotient of Mayas and "whites", since the conclusions
reached by other investigators among Indians in the United States coincide to the extent of
recognizing a lower level of intelligence for them in comparison with the "white" population.

Dispensing with what

is disputable about some of the aspects of the method employed,

by Steggerda himself as inadequate ones and with the fact that part
of the investigation was conducted through interpreters and people with little or no knowledge of the Mayan languages and Spanish, despite the fact that they had lived for twelve
years in Yucatan and had Mayan employees and workers (bricklayers and laborers), to a

like the tests designated

greater or lesser degree of cross-breeding,

agree with almost

all

the conclusions that Stegger-

da arrived at. However,

don't recall having witnessed any displays of cruelty to animals or
people, not even in cases of the infidelity of the woman. As far as sexual relations are concerned,
shall cite a fact which coincides with what Landa mentions with regard to the
facility that existed among the ancient Mayas for marriage or separation and what normally
takes place in the case of domestic disagreements. The caretaker of one of the archaeological zones under my supervision, whose wife maintained relations, according to the interested
party, a bit too affectionate with a younger caretaker, came to ask me in my capacity of
Head of the archaeological zone, to remind his wife officially of her unsuited conduct, as
remanded an employee when he did not fulfill his obligations. This attitude diverges considerably from the truculent cases cited by Steggerda of sadistic revenge cruelly realized by
the offended husband.
I

Other conclusions of the investigation resulted in attributing any number of attitudes

of the present-day Mayas to psychologic conformity, when they are, in actuality, the logical
result of socio-economic situations which have been persisting for centuries. Can those who
have always been ordered about and have seen their fellow-men in a position of inferiority
where the "whites" are concerned, be inclined to give orders? How could they have a spirit
of improvement if they have always known that their fathers and even ancestors had had to
put up with a life like theirs, reduced to a miraculous survival, at times, amid privations and
poverty? Why say that to continue using their own language, to construct homes as they
had done thousands of years ago, and dress, at least to some extent, as they had before the
arrival of the whites, constitute negative psychologic tendencies such as opposal to progress?
Steggerda commits a serious injustice, due perhaps to inadequate information about
the civilization and Mayan society, when the tests primarily rate the intelligence of the
Mayas as scarcely average, and, at the same time, insisting on the brilliancy that their civilization had attained before the conquest, in such a strong contrast with their actual lack of
scientific knowledge and artistic qualities. Undoubtedly he confuses the extraordinary
achievements in architecture, sculpture, painting, writing, the calendar, etc., with what the
customary daily life had to be; the intellectual level, the possibilities for the Mayan people
to know, create and reap from then on. Imprudently Steggerda deduces that "the modern
consist of a people endowed with any great intelligence", comparing the
temples with the shambles ot today; the astronomic calculations recorded on
the monuments, with the illiteracy of the present-day population; the great art displayed
in the ceremonial centers, with the poor fixings of the peasants now. We should not be
surprised of such a conclusion, especially when we know that the investigation was carried
out by an unsuited methodology and, consciously or unconsciously, with a feeling of

Mayas do not
ancient

racial superiority.

61

The Technology of

the

Mayas

The natural environment obviously conditions

itself,

the riches that

man

can obtain, but, in

only constitutes an arsenal of materials and potential forces which the individual

transforms through his work into definitely productive factors. As Gurvich remarks,
natural environment the

human

in the

being finds obstacles which he will overcome and favorable

factors which, through his actions, he will take advantage of

and which

result, in turn, in a

modification of such an environment, transforming the natural view into a cultural view.

Man's actions, in accordance with the degree of the development in his technology,
vary in intensity and efficacy, if we compare the resources that the Mayas had in prehispanic times in their natural environment with what they now actually have in each and
every expanse of the Mayan area, certain changes become evident. Cultivations, mainly of
coffee, bananas, sugar-cane, wheat and coconut which were unknown on the Continent are
now basic in the economic life of Guatemala and in the Southwestern States of Mexico.
Cattle-raising, brought there by the Europeans, is in lull swing. The minerals from gold,
silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron, chrome, etc., are used, but only on a reduced scale. With
modern mechanized equipment, wood, which the Mayas have already been utilizing, and
henequen from which they manufactured many articles, provide important aspects in the
present-day economy. Something similar to that can be said of the chicle and other products.

huge masks
Chicahna, Campe-

profile of the

of Chaac in

who,

There are many today

imprudently,
deduce

that

the

che.

present-day

peasants

cannot

heritors

of

the

be

those

prehispanic

Mayan
the

in-

who

in

something of what the Mayas obtained from the products of vegetable, animal and mineral
matter.

Products from Vegetable Matter

epoch were

the creators of that cultural

legacy.

In this chapter we are going to present some aspects concerning the degree of technology attained by the ancient Mayas, while other aspects, such as housing, dress, transportation, lapidary, feathers, etc., will be dealt with further on. Now we are going to see

From

this

we exclude the cultivation of

they will come under discussion

chapter

are edible or not, as

plants, regardless of

whether they

in the section entitled

"Economic

63

Activities". At tins point

in

wc

will

confine ourselves to the utilization of the trees that grew

wild form.

tlieir rudimentary lithic tools and with the help of fire, were able to
and extract, even from those with the hardest wood as, for example, the sapodilla,
such tools as beams, andirons, cross-bars and posts for their buildings, handles of tools for
work and arms; also sticks to help in planting, and canoes.
Paper is made from the bark of some fig-trees (Ficus). The bark is first softened
by maceration in water, then reduced to a pulp by blows with special hammers, and ultimately agglutinated using a natural resin. The Mayas used paper for the books in
I

fell

he Mayas, with

trees

which they recorded much of

their

knowledge and

for the

ones intended for their

ritual

purposes.

Roofs for the huts for the common people were usually made from leaves, put out to
dry, from different palm-trees, generally known by the generic term guano. The reeds and
lianas were used to firmly bind the entire framework of the sticks for the dwellings. The
palm-leaves were also used for weaving mats and baskets.
By making incisions in the trunks of certain trees, it was possible to obtain many kinds
of resin, which by a previous treatment yielded copal [Protium copal, "pom" in Mayan),
which was burned as incense; the rubber and gum-elastic [Ficus elastica, Par thenium argentatum or guayule) out of which balls for games, and small idols were made; chicle or chewing-gum from the sapodilla tree, and liquid amber were used for making a perfumed cosmetic.
Some dyes from trees, as the indigo plant (Indigocera anil Z), logwood (Haematoxylon
Campechianum), Brasil-wood (Caesalpinis brasilensis) and the chukum (Pithecolobium albicans) provided the different colors for painting. Black, as a color, was derived from the
carbonization of organic materials (from wood).
Products from Animal Matter

We

shall

not refer to the use of meat as alimentation, only to the parts of the body

of those animals that were used as objects, either

in their natural state, or

through previous

treatment.

and the puma were used for clothing; necklaces were

some animals; the bones were used to make adornments,
musical instruments such as fluted bones and flutes, and different tools such as awls, burnishers, punchers, needles and pins; the horns of the stag were used to drum the shell of the
turtle. Black paint was made from carbonized bones. The spines of the ray were used for

The skin of

made from

the deer, the jaguar

the canine-teeth of

taking blood in self-sacrifices. Shark's teeth were deposited together with other objects
as offerings to the gods.

Adornments were made from many mollusks. A kind of

earrings,

were made by hanging up a complete valve as a pectoral or preparing it

with fragments of shell and nacre. Large sea-snails (S trombus gigas) served as trumpets, and
some of the small varieties as bells in necklaces. On the shore of Campeche, adornments
counts and

tiles

The plumage from many birds served as decoration on the

penaches, capes and clothing, or as embroidery and fringes for cotton-cloth. Because of their
beauty, the plumage of the quetzal was especially prized. Feathers were also used for lining
shields and making fans.
The Mayas used the secretion from the cochineals (carmine red) for dyeing cloths.
were from the

turtle-shells.

Products from Mineral Matter

was stone. From limestone rocks were obtained

the stones for the construction of their buildings. By burning such rocks lime was obtained, which was mixed with sand, mortar, or the dust from the stones for a number of purposes

Undoubtedly the most important of

64

all

The Mayas were masters

in

the art of working with stone.

From
they

limestone

the

took

out

constructions
calcareous
to

make

rocks

stones

for

and with

the

stones

they

receptacles,

used

adorn-

ments, and sculpture

be

noted

in

Stela

as can
B of Co-

pan (Honduras).

65

such as making stucco which served as veneer for the walls or floors or for modelling

reliefs.

Receptacles and small objects for decorative purposes were also made from calcareous
stones. Their sculpture (boards, lintels, estelae, altars

and statues)

is

also

from

this

same

type of stone.

constructing buildings.

With the flint-stone (silex) which penetrated the lime rocks, the Mayas, as all the
peoples of ancient times, made every kind of tool, cutting them by percussion and finishing
touches. In that

of arms,

etc.,

way

knives,

hammers,

axes, projectile points, raspers, scrapers, cutting edges

were produced.

The Mayas made mortars, metates and three-footed mortars by hand, using

the basalt

obtained from the volcanic eruptions. The tools made in this way were for grinding grain
and whatever ingredients were used for preparing meals. Obsidian or volcanic glass, also
volcanic products, were used for

many

knives, razors, projectile points,

ornaments and

66

technology,

placed

by archaeology in the Stone

Age, produced a development
that was highly superior to
that of other peoples of the

Yucatan, beneath the lime cap there is a stratum of calcareous sand, sahcab or sascab
Maya, which was used by bricklayers without other elements or mixed with lime, for
In

in

Mayan

different kinds of objects

tiles.

and tools

for

work, such

as

same
the

age. This can be seen in

work with obsidian which

can be seen
Museum of

in

the National

Anthropology.

From harder stones, such as anchorite and serpentine, they made hatchets and chisels:
them the most important stone was jade (jadeite) which they used to make jewelry,
beautiful masks, figurines and tiles, and also drills to perforate the needles of the counts
and the pectorals.
They obtained the greater part of their colors from certain minerals: red from hematites (sesquioxide of iron) and cinnabar (protosulphide of mercury ): yellow from ferrous
clay: blue from some mineral similar to the beidelita, and dark brown from natural asphalt.
With clay and different materials for removing grease in order to reduce their plasticity
(quartz, baked clay, sand, small fragments of calcareous stone, seeds, volcanic dust, etc.),
they made many types of vessels for domestic, ritual and funeral purposes: figurines, masks,
for

winches, spherules for projectiles, weights for fishing-nets, etcetera.

some regions abounding in sedimentary soil in which stone-quarries are not found
Tabasco, baked bricks were made for constructing the buildings of their ceremonial

In

as

in

centers.

Through

the technique universally

employed

of evaporating water

from the

sea, salt

was obtained on the littoral, mainly from the swamp which is parallel to the northern coast
of Yucatan from Isla Mujeres almost up to Campeche.
While metallurgy was already known in Peru many centuries before our era. i.e., in the
Chavin culture, the technique for working metals reached Mesoamerica about two thousand
years later, around the XII century. With the exception of a pair of legs, part of a hollow
figurine which had been made in Costa Rica or Panama and found in the late packing of a
box of offerings which was linked with a stela from Copan, the greater part of the metal
objects encountered in the Mayan area are from the Sacred Cenote in Chichen-Itza. Almost
all these objects came from Central America (Costa Rica or Panama! and most assuredly
reached Chichen by means of commercial interchanges or were introduced by pilgrims.
Quite a number of disks, made from lamina of thin gold present scenes produced by the
technique of repoussage: these scenes had to be local productions since the) represent bat
ties and sacrifices in which the victims are the Mayas and the conquerors, probably the
Toltccs, who ruled approximately between 1000 and 1250 in Chichen-Itza. However,
the chemical analysis ol the material shows that it is a matter of Centroamcrican pieces
smelted and converted by hammering into very thin sheets. Almost all of the metal objects
discovered in Chichen are decorations, among which there is an abundance ol gold or
copper bells, holders from gold, perhaps for fans; figurines, masks, bracelets, pendants, a
kind of earring or ear-flap, counts, soles for sandals and rings from gold and copper. Small
flat axes from copper, which seem to have been used as mone) in mercantile transactions,

and

pliers as depilatories as well as

As one

cm

some copper hooks

deduce from the data summarized

are also

known from

this chapter, the

in

there.

ancient Mayas, with

reference to technology, and applying the classification utilized by the cultures of the Old

World, did not go beyond even the Neolithic Age,

corresponds to the postclassic period,

th.it

is,

it

we consider

posterior

to

that

work with metals

what was the authentically

Mayan development ot the classical period. Within the classic outlines of Morgan and
Childe, Mayan culture on the technological basis would remain within the frame ot the
barbaric stage. How can the Mayans be considered a genuine civilization when they lacked
the use of iron

and bronze;

the wheel

and the plow;

and the existence ot actual cities?

We want to anticipate here that the taxonomic
rigid in order to be duly applied to
in

all

relation to those of Mesoamerica,

phonetic alphabet tor their writing,

criterion results excessively narrow

and that it
the Mayan.

the universal cultures

and more

specifically

is

and

obviously not valid

67

Ha

Wl
-**.

AJISgS*
;3fe*

BB 7*

.'

foft

**>t

V,
'

'/

<&-.

."

^r

m m \l
'Vflrnwr

1*1

><*3&

&.

..'

f *"..fs

II'

'*

/*-

i**~

MV

Economic

The economic
be analyzed

activities

in the light

of the

Mayan

Activities

civilization, as occurs in other aspects,

have to

of recent investigations without the fear of facing rotund assertions,

which reached the point of a category ot dogmas respected for too long a period of time
without even the least criticism. The picture we can delineate, in the present, about the
economic life of the ancient Mayas results much less simplistic than that which was shown
up on the basis of which the cultivation of corn was almost the only activity which pertains
to physical work, other than the construction of the ceremonial centers. In the present
chapter we shall refer to the different forms

in

which the Mayas obtained the necessary

products for their subsistence.

Agriculture

The diversity

in

diversity of products

the soils and climate that the

Mayan

area presents had to determine

and agricultural techniques from which

we can only

glean a slight idea

through the information of the chroniclers ot the XVI century and the limited inferences

The temperate lands of the Highlands of Guatemala with its fertile

which the eroded earth accumulated from the mountains, were most
suitable for the cultivation ot grains and fruits. The narrow belt of the meridional littoral
was adequate for tropical fruits, including the cocoa-bean, just as the littoral ot the Atlantic
Gulf which corresponds to the present State of Tabasco. The septentrional slope of the
mountainous districts provided the earth sufficient irrigation through the many rivers,
besides counting on abundant rain precipitation so that there were fertile lands tor many
kinds of cultivation, The septentrional part ot the Yucatan Peninsula without superficial
currents but with a fixed and reduced rainfall, and with its soil of limestone poor in vegetal
earth, did not enjoy very favorable conditions for agriculture, however much Landa with
from archaeologic

soil

When modernization

in

com-

pletely different activities

introduced

among

was

the Mayas,

many changes

naturally were
brought about. Yet, in spite
of such changes, the Mayas
still

now

maintain even

textile industry as

originally.

it

their

had been

in

the valleys

data.
i:i

69

between and on top of the stones,

grows, some very large and beautiful that

sufficiently ingenuous enthusiasm tells us that "they plant

and the seeds are

fruitful,

and every kind of

tree

it

Apparently the agriculture of the Mayas can be considered essentially provisional, that
was only possible to rely on the natural conditions of the soil, hydrography and climate.

As exceptions we

of the cocoa-bean on lands irrigated by man on

Guatemala and probably, according to Palerm, small

shall cite the cultivation

the Pacific coast, which corresponds to

plots of cultivated land in the- Highlands of Guatemala.

the

humid

forests, the strong precipitation

danger while

in the

river

In the

much

It is

obvious that in the regions of

of rain and the long rainy season took away the

north of Yucatan, the lack of perfunctory currents created a constant

danger. In the Central area

of the

it is

more than

certain that advantage

was taken of the humidity

margins for cultivation.

course of the

attention because

last

of

twenty years, the problem of

its

socio-political implications.

artificial irrigation

Some

has received

investigators are of the

opinion that only a "hydraulic society" can attain the level of what

is

associated with

the concept of civilization. Thus, Wittfogel, the greatest adherent to this theory, includes the

Mayas of the Lowlands

in this "hydraulic society",

clear that he recognizes that the

Mayan government

although only

in a

marginal sense.

It is

did not engage in hydraulic works, but

because of the political, social and economic characteristics of the

Mayan

civilization,

it

has

to belong to the "hydraulic world", since such characteristics

ought to have been introduced

by a hydraulic society, even if such qualities among the Mayas were not perfected by irrigation works for the specific purpose of cultivation. We are sufficiently familiar with hydraulic
works in various Mayan centers, but with distinct purposes: aqueducts in Palenque to canalize

70

terraces constituted and

constitute a system of
vation

are a marvel to se".

is,

The

the streets which have streams; gulleys, duly waterproofed by storing the rain-water

common

to the

culti-

Amer-

ican cultures. Together with

and the low and high

of the land were
taken
advantage
of,
and
through the descent of the
waters from the rain which
ran through the canals, arranged from above to below. This
photograph shows its presence
in the Cakchiquel zone of
Guatemala.
that,

elevations

Exchange as a form of economic interchange continues

to be in use in some markets
of the

Mayan

arrested in a deep hollow and distribution canals in Tikal; and defensive ditches or storage

centers in the environs of ceremonial centers, as in Becan.*

Once

area.

al

again

we

are going to return to the hydraulic

problem because of

so far as the tools which the

In

Mayas were accustomed to use for farm labor, it is

more than the most rudimentary stone hatchets for

Mayan Yucatecan

(tr.

note: also written sul pronounced shul), a simple sharp-edged piece of wood, hardened by

tire

cutting trees and the underbrush, and the stick for sowing called xul in

which

to that

To
terrain

down

per

course

of the Champoton

River with the locale of Edzna.

By the same procedure

possible

it

was

to recognize the exist-

ence of waterways connected

with the Candelaria River which
would amplify the surface irrigated
cases,

for

by

this

partial

river.

In

both

works were used

these

or completely

cultural ends.

agri-

it

was possible to attach

a bag,

probably made of henequen, to carry the seeds.

cultivate corn the system utilized and also used

which
trees

become
Very recently, by means of airphotographs, a waterway was
identified which unites the up-

socio-politic-

implications, but that will be in the following chapter.

certain that they could not have been

its

is

to be sown, a high

woodland

or grove of

and cutting the shrubs and underbrush,

all

nowadays consists

dwarf oaks,
of which

is

is

in that the

cleaned up, knocking

burned, as soon as

it

has

first rains at

the

dry.

The preparation

of the corn-field requires

beginning of May, the land

is

sown, utilizing

many months,

and, after the

a sharp-pointed stick to

open holes to

depth

of 10 to 12 cm, in which various grains (3 to 6) are thrown, frequently together with beans
and squash-seeds. The holes are set apart one from the other at some two short steps (1,25 m)

and

as

soon

as the grains have

been thrown

in,

the holes are closed by foot manipulations only.

During the growth of the plants one or more weedings has to be made, according to the
fertility of the land, in so far as the terrain happens to be in the first year of cultivation or
may have been cultivated in previous years. In prehistoric times, the weeding was done by
cutting down the underbrush by hand. When the ears of the maize begin to ripen, the reeds
are bent towards the ground to prevent the penetration of the rain on its inside, and birds

71

from eating the

One month

grains.

after the

bending of the reeds, which

is

done

in

November,

the harvesting begins, an operation which lasts until the following spring, in accordance with
the amount of corn that will be needed. At present, and this is most assuredly a prehispanic
custom, the ears of the maize are stored in the corn-field in some high granaries made in a
most rudimentary fashion from sticks, placed vertically and very close together, and with

palms for the roofs.

With such a system,
tares each year.

corn-field

is

The

Yucatecan family nowadays needs to cultivate from 4 to

yield decreases rapidly, until such a point that, generally, the

not sown for more than two consecutive years, or

if

by chance

5 hec-

same

three, leaving

it

some 10 years. Morley calculated that in this form a family of five persons would
need to have an expanse of 30 hectares of land and that in the Highlands of Guatemala,
apart from the fertile valleys, that is, in the woody mountainous regions, a family needs
from 40 to 80 hectares, and in especially arid or eroded zones, from 200 to 400 hectares.
However, on an experimental field, which was set up near Chichen-Itza, upon completing
fallow for

is, by cutting down the underbrush completely

them
instead of cutting
with a cane-knife, a regular yield was maintained for seven consecutive years, and, if there was no locust plague, it most certainly would have been prolonged

the weeding as in prehispanic times, that

for at least another year.

Mayas

in

disposal

On

the basis of this experiment one can assume that the ancient

conditions similar to those of the modern Yucatecans, did not need to have at his

more than 14

or 15 hectares to support his family.

the Mayan areas corn was cultivated by the system

moderate and cold terrains of Mexico. This system consists of
cultivating the corn-field for two or three years and then letting it rest for about the same
number of years, whereby an average regular yield is maintained. In a Totonacan village of
the mountain ridges of Puebla it was established that a family needs to cultivate only two
hectares each year, and that in a permanent form, with the rhythm of the fallow system, an
expanse of six and a half hectares is enough. Sanders and Price suggested that in certain
humid regions of the Mayan area on the slopes of the mountains (the Highlands of Guatemala) it was possible to utilize the same system which served to reduce, perceptibly, the
expanse of land that each peasant family needed.
In addition to maize, other grains were also cultivated, such as beans, frequently sown,
as it was stated, together with maize, squash and other plants such as the chayote, the
chaya (a shrub of Cuba), tomatoes, various kinds of chile and, as seasonings, oreganum;
epazote; coriander, annotto, pepper, vanilla, etc. Of course the cocoa-bean was one of the
most important plants cultivated in hot, tropical and humid regions as that of Tenosique,
the coasts of Tabasco on the Atlantic Gulf, Chetumal on the Caribbean coast and Soconusco
on the littoral of the Pacific Ocean. Among the very important seeds for cultivation that still
have to be mentioned are those of cotton and tobacco.
Another form of cultivation, not through seeds, but by planting stalks and cuttings was
utilized to obtain such tubers as the sweet potato, the yucca and the jicatna. In addition to
these comestible plants, henequen was also cultivated.
A cultivation quite distinct, even though it is part of agriculture, is arboriculture despite
the fact that it is not possible to specify which trees were planted and which grew wild. In
any case, it is more than likely that originally all had grown wild; some were sown near the
homes. Among the main fruits, cultivated or gathered, we will mention the following: mamay,
avocado, papaya, the cashew, siricote, sapodilla (from which chicle is obtained); custardapple, nanche and guava. Another tree, which still grows in the ancient sites of the Mayas is
the browsetree, whose small fruits provided an important food. In another chapter we shall
talk again about this tree.
It

is

likely that in

of fallow-land as

72

in

some regions of

the

G, the God of the

according to the Co("Dresden
dice de Dresde
Codex"). The climatic conditions determined the econ-

God

Sun,

omic

activities,

and the

dei-

was
extended and deepened in the
Mesoamerican societies.
fication of natural forces

Collection

Obtaining vegetable and animal products does not imply either domestication nor cultiis, no form of human labor for the process of growth and reproduction, but

vation, that

work of collection. The primitive peoples

were collectors, hunters and fishermen. On becoming civilized through agriculture as the
principal means for producing foods, they never abandoned their practise of collection.
only the gathering of these products, that

is

the

Irregardless of the high level of their civilization, these people

We

have already mentioned

fruits

from wild

still

trees, certainly

follow this practise.

some of them were

culti-

vated as well. Other plants which grew abundantly provided important products for the

Mayas, which consist of various palm trees, as, for example the guano, a palm from Cuba,
the dry leaves of which were used for the roofs of the huts: the bayal, which yielded a fiber
from which baskets were made; the corozo palm, whose nuts contain a seed from which

was made; the dried fruits from the jicara were very useful as receptacles; the resin of
was burned as incense; various kinds of ceiba-tree, pochote, yield fruits which
contain a substance similar to cotton. Landa states that this substance was a "wool far better
for pillows than the burlaps from Alcarria". The bark of the balche tree was used for preparing a drink. Some Cactaceae yield the pitahaya fruit; another yields a kind of cucumber, cat
in Mayan Yucatecan. To this list can be added the names of literally hundreds of plants
which were used for medicinal purposes.
Apart from the animals hunted or fished to which we are going to refer to in the following paragraphs, as animal products, the Mayas took from the sea and the rivers, the lakes
and lagoons, some species of crustaceans, snails, oysters and other mollusks. Besides eating
them the Mayas also used to make adornments out of the shells. They used to pick the
cochineal insects from the prickly pears, and when such insects were reduced to dust they
provided the grana (deying substance), for making paints.
flour

pom

the

Hunt

What was previously mentioned with regard to collection is also valid for hunting and
fishing, that is to say, that the people never abandon this practise to obtain products which
they need, no matter what their level of cultural development.

on referring to products ot animal matter, we

mentioned some of the animals which were hunted for the purpose of utilizing part of their
body to make useful and ornamental objects. Besides the meat which was eaten, the skins,
bones, teeth, claws, feathers, shells and corals were made into innumerable objects.
The hunting technique depended, of course, on the animal that was hunted. Using
In the chapter dealing witli technology,

of information, as well as some of the presentations in the Codices, we can

say that they used lances, darts which were hurled by hand or with the atlatl; bows and
arrows in a late epoch, probably after the arrival of the Mexica mercenaries, two or three
centuries before the Spanish conquest at the most; blow-guns to shoot small birds with little

Landa

as a basis

from mud or clay; slings, lassos tied to branches bent from the trees (C/. several pages,
to XLIX in the Codice de Madrid) and other kinds of traps (in the same Codex one sees
an armadillo caught in a trap apparently made from sticks with a cover which holds up
stones, permitting one to suppose that this contraption ought to have fallen on the animal
to ensnare it pp. XLVIII and XCL ).
Dogs were used for a certain kind of hunt (a fact which Landa mentions in connection
with quails). Some presentations in the Codice de Madrid, and tripod polychromed plates
balls

XLIV

from Yucatan suggest some forms of hunting artifices. In the Codex there appears a human
figure, wearing the mask of a god and covered with the skin of a quadruped of a tremendous

73

how

made

form of a chain with circular links,

terminating into a human hand which thrusts a dart into an animal (p. XXXEX-b) comes out
of a skin of a stag. In the same Codex the tail of a scorpion, exactly the same as we have just
described about the stag, also ends with a human hand which is holding on to a lasso tied to
the leg of a stag (p. XLIV-b,c). On a painted plate which seems to present a ritual connected
with the hunt, several men covered with deer-skins appear, carrying a shepherd's horn in their
mouth. This horn has a hollow stem with which the bellowing of a small stag is imitated to
size (p.

XXXIX-c) and also

;

attract the attention of

its

a kind of tail

in the

mother.

The main animals that they hunted were those which we are going to indicate here.
Among the mammals, and according to their order, from the largest to the smallest, the tapir,
designated tzimin (a name which the Mayas of Yucatan gave later to the horse of the conquerors), the deer, the jaguar, the puma, the peccary or wild boar, the monkey among which
are a kind of ape or howling monkey, and the mico, the long-tailed monkey; the rabbit, the
red coati, the paca, the agouti or tuza real and the armadillo.
the quetzal, the

macaw,

Among

the birds can be noted

the parrot, the heron and the toucan for their plumage; the

wood

grouse, the pheasant, the cojolite, the partridge, the quail, the dove and the duck for their

meat.

Among

the aquatic animals which are not fish,

we can mention

the turtle not only for

meat but also for its eggs which are deposited on the beach and for its shell, and the
manatee, a mammal. The chronicler Landa refers to some of the characteristics of this animal

its

assumed to have provided the origin for the myth of the mermaids), endowed with
the sex "of a man and a woman", and "with wings like arms". He also states exactly how
they were hunted: with harpoons tied with ropes to beacons in such a way that as soon as the
manatee was wounded, it could be followed in canoes until exhausted, being finally elimin(which

is

ated

waters of very slight profundity.

in

Fishing
It

very likely that the sedentary

is

life

originated

among

small groups of fishermen and

on the shores of the sea, of lakes and rivers where there is an abundance of
alimentary resources which can be used even amidst a low standard of technology. It is the
chronicler Landa who again provides ample information with regard to the abundance of
fish on the littoral of the Yucatan Peninsula, in the lagoon de Terminos and in the inlets
which flow parallel to the septentrional coast of Yucatan. He mentions among the many
collectors,

other species, the river-fish, trout (uzcay,

Maya Yucatecan),

bass, sole, sawfish, sea-fish,

and sword-fish. Landa also points out that on the coast

below Campeche the small fish remained caught in large pools when the tide was low.
The Mayas fished with nets, lances, bow and arrow, and hooks. In the course of archaeological explorations some hooks made of shell and others of copper were found. Canoes
were used when they did not fish near the coast. This is depicted in some scenes engraved on
bones found in a tomb in Tikal. There are scenes in which the gods are the ones who are
fishing, some even taking the fish out of the water with their hands, others carrying them on
the shoulders in a kind of cage, probably made from stalks or flexible branches.
Fish were not only eaten fresh but also preserved by different techniques according to
the species used. They were salted, grilled or dried in the sun. When grilled, they were preserved for a number of days and could be taken up to a distance from 20 to 30 leagues to be
sold. Besides being used as food, the fish-bones from some kinds offish were used in self-sacrifices for taking blood, and the teeth were used both for offerings and for the points of arrows.

sardines, gigantic rays, skate-fish,

Domestication

The

74

fact that the bovine, caprine

and ovine livestock did not

exist in

America prior

to

mean

Trade was carried on by means

of fluvial, maritime or ter-

the arrival of the Spaniards does not

Yucatan
the roads, sacbeoob in Yucatecan Maya, are known. They
used to begin or end in open

much as beasts of burden as for providing milk, meat

Mesoamcrica, and more specifically in the Mayan area, a number of
species of animals were domesticated.

restrial

arcs, or

routes.

Arco

to

as
that
from
Kabah. Here, the
Kabah ("Arc of

de
Kabah").

in

that the practise of domesticating animals in the

prehispanic times. In the

Andean region various Camelidae

(the

llama, vicugna and alpaca) were used as

and hair or

Some

those placed near the

architecture,

Uxmal

In

New World was unknown

skins.

In

animals were even tamed by

women, but

that practise did not constitute a system

of domestication. That was the case of the red coati or the badger (chiic) since, according to
Landa, it is an animal "delightfully playful". The Indian women raised them, cleansed them

from

and the animals always went to them and were wonderful friends in fun. The deer
belong to this group as they were suckled and raised by the Indian women "who made them
so' tame that they never would escape to the mountains".
The women also raised birds such as a certain kind of duck (maxix) for the beauty of its
white feathers, and pheasants, doves, partridges and nightingales, just for the simple delight
in having them or for their plumage as well.
fleas,

75

form of domestication it is only possible to consider what is pertinent

to dogs, turkeys and bees. The chronicles mention that small mute dogs were raised for food
or for the ritual sacrifices. Another species was used for the hunt. Turkeys provided meat and
feathers. As for the bees, the women gathered the honey which the wild species made in the
hollow trunks or in the cavities of rocks; and they also got honey and wax from the domesticated variety which had small hives. Landa mentions that they did not have honey-combs, only
a kind of "vejiguitas como nueces de cera, all of them very close together, full of honey".
As

The

a systematic

arts

and

crafts industry

When we

refer to technology,

we

are not referring to

something new here,

as

we have

already mentioned the different activities involved in transforming matter such as vegetable,

animal and mineral into objects such as work-tools, arms, building materials, articles for
rituals,

receptacles, dress, decorations, musical instruments. In other

about everything that

that reason

we

shall

is

words we

are talking

indispensable for the material as well as for the spiritual

not persist in

this

phase of economic

life.

For

activities.

Commerce
The

differences in the various regions that comprise the

Mayan

area with reference to

and climatologic aspects, determined the remarkable

diversity in the natural resources of each one. Although for their subsistence even on a very
simple level, the people of the entire area were able to get in any geographic environment
the most indispensable for their alimentation: maize, fruits, animals and materials for their
housing: wood, palms, reeds. Despite all this, no region was ever self-sufficient in actuality and
to a greater or lesser degree the satisfaction for their needs was conditioned by commercial
geologic, orographic, hydrographic

76

battle-scene

in

the

Tem-

pl de los Guerreros ("Tem-

P le

of

Chichen Itza. Battles provided a very important "merchandise": slaves.

interchange. In addition to a very internal commerce, an important interchange was established with peoples of distinct cultures

these people, in turn required

who

raw materials

preferred articles

unknown among

the Mayas,

Mayas occupied.
The trading of such raw materials as salt, cotton, cocoa, flint and obsidian was necessary in
a general way for the entire population, while the objects they made were almost exclusively
on the level of luxury articles for the upper classes.
The products which the principal Mayan regions exported for internal as well as foreign
commerce were essentially the following, with the respective places from which they were
available in the territories the

exported:

From Yucatan: salt, wax, honey, maize, beans, fish (dried, grilled or salted), cotton,
henequen, woven blankets, incense and flint as raw materials, or carved objects and feathers
of aquatic birds.
From Guatemala: mainly
liquid amber, jade,

precious

woods,

furs,

cotton, quetzal feathers, incense,

obsidian, turquoise, volcanic rock for

making metates and mortars;

volcanic dust to remove the grease from clay and pottery.

From the Gulf and Pacific Coasts: cocoa and rubber.

From Chiapas: skins, indigo, copper, vanilla, quetzal
From Honduras: alabaster glasses and cocoa.

feathers,

amber and red ochre.

With regard to the merchandise which was customarily brought to the Mayan area, it
came from other towns and peoples. Among their items we can mention jade objects, rock
crystal, obsidian, copper, gold and pottery. These objects came mainly from Central Mexico,
Oaxaca and Central America (Costa Rica and Panama).
Of course another "merchandise" of great value were the slaves: men, women and
children, the greater number of whom came from Central Mexico and the Gulf Coast.
Commercial trade was effected by land, river and maritime routes, and also simple
trails in the jungle, mountains or plains, as well as stone-paved roads in low lands which were
customarily flooded

in the rainy season.

Of

these roads {sacbeoob in

Maya Yucatecan) many

known in Yucatan: near Coba, from Coba to Yaxuna (100 km), from T-ho (the native
name for present-day Merida) to Izamal, from T-ho up to the eastern coast of the Peninsula,
facing Cozumel and crossing the entire breadth of the Peninsula; and from T-ho to the
northern coast. Another route was from Uxmal to Kabah and from Uxmal to Oxkintok.

are

Cortes, on his voyage to Honduras, followed the route of the merchants from Xicalango,

who

provided him with a map marked with the roads to Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
The Usumacinta, Grijalva and Motagua Rivers with their tributaries were used for
commerce, principally between the High- and Lowlands. The Mopan and Belize rivers were
also used for this purpose.

The maritime route provided the means for an intense mercantile interchange. The
main ports of interchange are known, corresponding to the littoral of the Mayan area:
Potonchan, Xicalango, Champoton on the Gulf Coast; Chahuaca on the septentrional
coast; Pole, Bacalar, Chetumal on the eastern coast; Nito in Guatemala and Naco in Honduras.

It is

also

known

that signals were placed in the trees to facilitate the maritime trade

between Tabasco and Yucatan.

We

well as inland:

the sites

names of some of

on the coast as
already mentioned, Potonchan, Xicalango, Chahuaca, Niio and

are also familiar with the

the principal markets

Naco, and, in addition, Zinacantan in the Highlands; ltzamkanac, capital of Acalan, near
the lagoon de Terminos; Cachi and Conil in the far northeast of the Peninsula, and Xoconusco on the Pacific Coast. Of course it goes without saying that Chichen-ltza had to be

commercial center.
Land transportation was conducted exclusively by porters

also a large

who

carried the loads

on

77

The rivers
means for

were important
commercial exchanges, principally between
the High and the Lowlands
of the Mayan area.

78

their backs, supported by leather bands so that they were able to carry loads of 25 kgs on
an average of 20 kms daily. The owner of the merchandise was carried on stretchers, as a
painted container from Ratinlinxul depicts.
Canoes from hollowed-out trunks were used for river and maritime transportation. The
boatment used wooden sticks as is readily apparent in the mural paintings of Chichen Itza,
in the engraved bones from Tikal, in the painted codices, and in gold disks. Christopher
Columbus, in his fourth journey in the year 1502, found a huge canoe, eight feet wide,
in the Gulf of Honduras, manipulated by 25 slaves. In the middle there was a canopy for
the owner.
Although a great part of the mercantile transactions were realized by barter, some
products which were considered sufficiently valuable and, at the same time easy to transport, were used as money. Cocoa was the principal product of this category which the
mercenaries carried in their pockets. The same purpose was also to be had in colored shells,
strung as beads or in net bags; jade counts, small flat axes and copper bells the value of
which was determined by their size. With the cocoa-bean as a means of exchange it was
possible to buy or pay for anything. Oviedo quotes, for example, the price of a rabbit: 10
almonds; of sapodillas, eight for four almonds; and tor a slave, 100 almonds. For the services
of a prostitute the cost ranged from 8 to 10 almonds. The same chronicler also refers to the
fact that the seller, when receiving the payment in cocoa-beans was extremely careful,
counting them one by one, pressing them lightly, since there was no lack ot those who
"made counterfeit money", filling the almond shells with earth.
In spite of this eventual falsification, there was an atmosphere of honesty and confidence in the commercial relations. Landa is the chronicler who clearly states that "they
were accustomed to trust, lend and pay in a courteous manner and without usury". They
had no need for written contracts nor promissory notes, according to Cogolludo. The
contract was valid while the contracting parties were drinking together in public:
There is no other source ot information about the Mayan merchants as complete as
that of Sahagun who provided us with details about the Mexica "pochtecas". Nevertheless,
dispersed data from historic sources of Yucatan permit us to have some idea, not only of the
importance of the business, but also of the position of the mercenary in the framework of
Mayan society. Roys, interpreting such sources, distinguishes between the simple professional mercenary (ppolom) and those who were at the head ot a caravan of slaves, working
as porters [ah ppolom yoc) and who at the end of a one-day journey were sold as any other
merchandise, if, as Landa says, "the position or occupation to which more were inclined
was that of the mercenaries", that means that it would have been the most lucrative, at least
in Yucatan, at the time of the conquest. Besides, there is no doubt that the mercenary
occupied a higher level in the social scale than that of the great mass of workers. Although
the status of the mercenary was not a completely definite one, it does seem that instead of
forming an intermediary level between the people and the nobility, as was common among
the Aztecs, the traders were intimately connected with the latter.
Herrera, for instance, mentions that in Acalan "they used to make a sefior out of the
wealthiest mercenary as exemplified in the case ot Apoxpalon (Bax Bolon)", a tact which
Gomara repeats. On the other hand, in the Relation by Friar Alonso Ponce it is said that
"the lords of Chichen-Itza dealt in feathers and cocoa with Honduras". Another tact discloses that the highest personages of the nobilitv were engaged in business, Landa's narration about the murder of all the members ot the Cocom family, who ruled in Mayapan.
"The son of Cocom escaped this fate since he was away at that time tor his business transactions in the land ot Ulua". The powerful connection between mercenaries and regents
deduced from this information, whether it was because it ennobled the tirst, or because the
second were the ones who carried on the trade, if it does not indicate any identity between
these two, it certainly suggests, as Anne Chapman notes, a trade managed by heads, whether
of clans or political groups, and through representatives, plus the existence ot warehouses at
the ports of interchange.

79

Organization of

if

we compare

Work

the information about the division of labor provided by the historic

sources from the time of the Spanish conquest, with the ethnologic data pertaining to the

modern Mayan groups, then from

a simple

the conservative nature of the social

life

of the Mayas

it is

matter to establish that the present conditions are nothing more than the continua-

tion of the prehispanic

way of life. The

from which
colonial chronicles, those which
investigative work,

it

is

facts coincide

when they are found in both fields of

when they are lacking in the

possible to infer that,

are the result of ethnologic investigations are generally, if

not always, applicable to the period which preceded the conquest.

Anticipating what
is,

we

are going to analyze in the chapter

however, necessary to explain that

all

we

social organization,

it

the activities which provided the natural resources

converted into products used by man, were

time being

on the

in the

shall limit ourselves to the division

hands of the

common

people. For the

of labor within the working

class.

Division according to sex

Sex was, and continues to be, the basic factor in the division of labor. All the agriwork was for the men. Their activities consisted of clearing and burning in the
mountains; sowing, weeding, harvesting, as well as the preparation of the garden and fruit
plots; hunting and fishing, apiculture; building homes; getting fire-wood; removing the libers
from the henequen; basketry; extracting salt, and all the kinds of work connected with the
construction of ceremonial centers such as getting the stones from the quarries and engraving them; making lime-kilns; felling trees and making them into posts, beams, lintels, andirons and platforms; transporting the soil and other materials; masonry, sculpture, painting,
cultural

Within the division of labor

there

existed

were

restricted

activities

to

that

women

only, as the weaving of cloth.

This figurine from Jain a shows

a

woman

with a spun

plait in

her hand (The National

seum of Anthropology).

etcetera.

The

Mu-

upon

field

that.

of

activities

of the

women was

limited to the

home and

everything dependent

Perhaps the sole exception to that was going to look for water

in the natural

81

Apart from the domestic labors such

of meals, cleaning the

took part in production
activities by sewing, weaving and embroidering to meet the needs of the family as well as to
provide for the interchange or tribute. The women also took care of the fruit garden adjoining the house, and raised such birds as turkeys, pheasants and doves. Another activity that
springs.

as the preparation

women

house, washing the clothes, caring for the children, the

also

was part of her chores was that of boiling the honey in the house in order to clarify it. It is
also very likely that she assisted her husband in the domestic production of some articles
from henequen such as ropes and sacks.

Collective

work

Many of

the production activities were accomplished in a collective form, especially

the cutting and burning in the mountains. Landa states quite definitely that "the Indians

have the good custom of helping one another in

who do
all

of

not have their

whom

own

people to do

it,

work. At the time of sowing, those

are joined by groups of twenty more or less,
all

do everything together according to

but no one leaves until everything

is

their

their capacity

and individual

rate of

work,

completed". They also were accustomed to hunt

in

way, "by groups of fifty, more or less", according to the same chronicler, and the same
was followed for some kinds of fishing, especially that of the manatee.
The houses were "easily" constructed "since everyone participates equally in the
work", as is confirmed by a certain source. The construction of ceremonial centers and
public works, as, for example, paved stone roads, was accomplished by diverse forms of
manual labor, all the people working simultaneously and well organized.
this

identical procedure

Productive work and construction of ceremonial centers

One of

the important aspects related to the organization of

work

is

the determination

of the time required for the execution of the activities involved in production and, consequently, of the time available for other work, and more specifically, for the construction
of buildings

in the

ceremonial centers. With regard to

this

point one finds flagrant contra-

from the minute investigation of Reina one can deduce that for the presentwho uses the machete and the steel ax the work in the cornfield
virtually implies full-time dedication, Morley asserts that presently, a Yucatecan peasant
does not require more than 48 days of work to obtain the necessary maize for the basic
maintenance of his family (excluding what the animals consume, and limiting the purchase
of commercial articles to the most essential), leaving him some 10 months available for
dictions, while

day peasant of Peten,

other activities.

This conclusion of Morley

is,

however, not

in

accord with his

own

calculations

when

he analyzes the time required for the cultivation phases of the maize, calculations which
indicate a period of 190 days per year at the present time. It is obvious that this is based on
the moderate expanse which the peasant cultivates today and the yield of which, enables

enough not only for the needs of his family, but also for that of some of the
domestic animals such as pig and hens, leaving him, in addition, a surplus with which he can
acquire the articles indispensable for his home. With exaggerated optimism Morley asserts

him

82

to assure

design

on

glass

Guatemala,
commercial activity
Nebaj,
the

Mayas

is

from
where

among

represented;

one can also interpret this,

however, as a scene showing
the paying of taxes.

that the Mayan peasant was, therefore, able to devote some ten months of the year to the
construction of ceremonial centers. However, he did not take into account, on the one
hand, that the work of clearing and weeding without metal instruments required a period of
time sufficiently longer than what is actually needed* and, on the other hand, that the
remaining activities connected with production; that is hunting, fishing, apiculture, cultivation of plants completely different from maize, etc., represented a specific time investment.
In addition, as Landa specifies, it was, of course, obligatory to support the regents, i.e., the
nobles and priests: "people used to make the houses for the lords at his own cost, in addition, there was also the participation of the whole town in sowing the land for the lords who
profited from that and gathered in quantity what was sufficient for them and their households; and when they went hunting or fishing, or when it was time to extract salt, they used

to give a part to the lord because those activities

fact,

the surplus that the

much more than what

According
the

to

Sanders (1973),

clearage with

ments

stone imple-

four

times as
Guinea), as with steel instruments.
implies

much time

(4.4

in

New

Mayan peasant was

were

all

done on

community

basis". In

obligated to produce was, without doubt,

the present day Yucatecan peasant spends for the acquisition of the

goods which he and his family consume, and for the feeding of some pigs and hens. Under
these conditions, and adding to the 190 days which Morley estimates, perhaps 60 more due
to the extreme slowness in cutting in the mountains and weeding the cornfields, because of
the lack of metal tools, to calculate two thirds of the year as the time that the Mayas spent
in productive labor seems to us a calculation fairly close to reality.
On this basis, they were able to devote only four months to the building of the ceremonial centers, but even this lapse could be less, mainly in the central area, because of the
abundant rains during the season of the cold, strong winds coming from the north in winter,
the period of less agricultural occupation. The great number of ceremonial centers which
were erected in the classical period, the tremendous number of constructions which almost
all of them comprise, and the duration sufficiently reduced three centuries of the flourishment period of the greater part of the Mayan centers, leads us to conclude that, according to
the traditional system of clearing the land, it would not be possible for the working class
to have been able to realize in their "free" time the tremendous outlay of energy which the
ceremonial centers must have required.
This problem has concerned the investigators. Wolf poses the question: "How can one
explain the existence of the many ceremonial centers located in this zone, if we admit that
the Mayas of Peten were accustomed to no other system than that of grubbing?" And he
replies: "It is very likely that the Mayas did have some knowledge of an intensive system of
cultivation in addition to that of the procedure of grubbing. This knowledge would have
permitted them to maintain some stable centers of government even when they had to
manage a peasant population which was constantly moving from one place to another.
Perhaps it was a system of small garden tracts or a procedure similar to that, which made
good use of the many lakes and swamps in Peten".
Sanders and Price emphasize the differences in the criteria among the investigators, with
regard to the system of grubbing:"Wasteful, unproductive and harmful to the biotic equilibrium, according to some authors; extremely productive, according to others". Bronson
suggests that the spectacular development of the Mayan civilization in the Lowlands implied
a demographic density equivalent to that which would permit agriculture, as long as there
were irrigation, which was possible because of the great caloric yield from the cultivation of
tubers. The relation between irrigation and the development of the civilization in Mesoamerica has been grossly exaggerated by many investigators: Armillas, Steward, Palerm, Wolf, and
Wittfogel. In any case, in the central and septentrional areas of the Mayan region in which,
in actuality, culture flourished in its highest manifestations, the indications of irrigation works
are few, and those that have been detected (Cf. the chapter, "Economic activities") do not
permit the suggestion of the existence of a true "hydraulic society". Besides, there is no need
of such works in damp woods where there are also strong precipitations of rain and an abundance of rivers, nor is there any possibility of using them in the dry regions in the north of
Yucatan which lack even shallow aquatic currents.

83

A Catherwood
shows

drawing which
Arco de Labna

the

("Arc of Labna") in Yucatan.

monument, as all that

we have inherited from the

This

Mayas,

was

the

result

of

communal work. As Landa

states, the

constructions were

"easily" carried

on "since

helped each other to

them".

We make no

pretensions to solve what specialists in economic and ecological problems

seems to us that the thesis recently presented by Puleston ought to be

given serious consideration, if one rejects the possibility that cultivation by grubbing in the
jungle may have permitted the development of the Mayan civilization, and having reached
the conclusion to the effect that a family in Peten needed, as a minimum, five hectares of
good land for maintaining itself a number that coincides with what Morley estimates for a
Yucatecan family if one further takes into account that the results of the study of the distribution of the population in Tikal shows that for each group of inhabitants the ground
available for cultivation rarely extends beyond 1.5 hectares, Puleston proposes the following
alternative: Tikal has as many browse-trees (Brosinum alicastrum) in the ceremonial center
as in the area in which the population settled, as there are also in numerous Mayan centers.
A very nutritive food was obtained from the fruits of this tree in periods of a shortage of
maize, from prehispanic times up to the present.
It is logical to presume that the browse-trees of Tikal are descendents of those which
the ancient dwellers cultivated and that the people used the fruits of this tree as their basic
food. Puleston states that the yield of the browse-tree in seeds from which flour is made, is
ten times greater than that from maize and in exactly the same size area cultivated. The
nutritive qualities of the browse are on a par with those of maize as far as vitamins and iron
are concerned, and even somewhat superior with regard to calories and proteins. The cultivation of this tree involves practically no work at all, and the harvesting which requires gathering the fruits that have fallen to the ground, implies a simple work which requires very little
time: Puleston estimates that with eight hours work daily, a woman and two children can
harvest 3 000 pounds in less than 20 days. The scant humidity which the seeds contain permit
storing them for a long period of time, even in subterranean cisterns [chultunes), which were
used not only for keeping water, but also for conserving food, and in which maize and beans
rapidly spoil. There is enough space between the trees to cultivate other plants in such a way
that an area from 1 to 2 hectares, planted with the browse mainly, can provide a family with
all the food they need during a period of time in which there is hardly any employment.
With this type of orchard, the male population would be able to devote almost all of their
have not solved, but

it

time to other activities and, most of

Summarizing

84

this

all,

to the building of ceremonial centers.

point, as soon as the possibility of any intensive cultivation

by

all

make

Water-a

vital

agrarian

society such as the

Mayan was

element for an
obtained

the cenotes and

from

was stored

in

distinct ways.

view of the Cenote

Chichen Itza.

in

number of

partial

irrigation has
i

been eliminated, which

is,

of course, useless

in

damp woods and

impossible

n Yucatan, and of which scant traces were found; or by means of fruit tracts in

(many of the ceremonial centers do not have swamps in

mentions this type of cultivation), we consider the following
1)

their vicinity

swamps

and no source

possibilities:

Alimentation essentially from maize through grubbing:

a)

The

entire male

working population dedicates one third of

their time to the

construction of ceremonial centers;

b)

a third

of the male working population dedicates almost

constructions, aided by the other

two

all its

time to such

thirds.

85

Alimentation based largely on tubers: more time available so that the male po-

2)

pulation

may devote

their labor to

sumptuary works.

Alimentation based fundamentally on the browse: almost full-time dedicated to

3)

such work by the male population.

which the work-time was divided between the production of

goods for their own consumption and for the ruling classes on the one hand, and the work
for religious worship on the other, we agree with Morley in his conclusion to the effect
that "the low class, obliged to work under the goad of the demands of a commanding and
exacting class from the priesthood and religion, must have had few hours of rest, very
little time in fact that would belong to them", or, in other words, that the functioning
of Mayan society evolved around the superexploitation of the peasant class.
Apart from the form

in

Full-time workers
It

ists

on

is

difficult to say if in the other labor

a full or part-time basis.

The presence,

branches the work was performed by special-

in all the

ambits of the

Mayan

area, of animals

of the hunt permit one to assume that hunting would constitute a secondary activity, the

means by which

was able to satisfy their needs of proteins; consequently,

it is probable that there were no professional hunters on a full-time basis. With regard to
fishing, we believe that the picture would be quite different in view of the limitations of
the natural means; in view of the absolute lack of marine foods in extensive regions and
in view of the existence of trade in salted, dried and grilled fish, from the littorals to the
inlands. It is, therefore, probable that there had been fishermen on a full-time basis, apart
from the peasant population established on the coasts and the rims of lakes and rivers,
which could spend part of their time fishing for the normal consumption of their families
and for the tribute to the lords.
The extraction of salt from the inlets, which was done at specific times (according
to Landa, four to five months after the rains), did not imply continuous work, and consequently we doubt that there would have been specialized workers on full-time for this
work. As for apiculture, the system we now know among the Yucatecan peasants ought to
have been the same in prehispanic times; without the need of giving much time to this
the population

of his apiary, but the technical operations (the preparation

of the honeycombs; harvesting and all the remaining activities) would be in the hands of
specialists on a full-time basis who could take care of many beehives. The cultivation of some
plants such as cotton, henequen, rubber and cocoa, because of the technique involved which
was more specialized, or because of the special importance of its fruits, could well be
activity, the peasant takes care

entrusted to the care of farmers working full-time.

The manufactured

articles,

which were most certainly the

basis of

commerce, demand-

ed a production which would exceed the capacity of the work ability of any family, and
would imply plants and groups of specialists on full-time. That would be the case for the
textile industry cotton, henequen; basketry; ceramics; the lithic industry, and in more
recent times, gold or silver work.

As

far as the

commercial

activities are

concerned, one has to differentiate between

those which were carried out in local markets with a definite regularity, and
a larger scale

who

directly

between

made

distinct regions. While in the

commerce on

former case the producers were those

the interchange of their merchandise, the latter was a matter for profes-

sional merchants, devoted perhaps exclusively or principally to the acquisition, transport

and

86

sale

of articles and raw materials which they did not produce.

Codz Pop in Kabah, Yucatan.

The complexity of the architectonic
work which was
carried out in the entire area

required the presence of

time

workers,

full-

especially

in

certain building activities

Management of labor

activities

management of farm labor was in the hands of the priests, who through
acquaintance with the rhythm of the seasons decided on the date for the successive

The
their

activities,

general

mainly the clearing of the

trees, the

burning and sowing.

Commerce

at a great

distance, appears to have been controlled by the lords of the high hierarchy or by individuals

more

or less connected with the nobility.

that, that certain arts

and

crafts

Distribution of the products of

It

is

also possible, although

were directly managed by the

we

lack the data for

lords.

work

about the organization of work leaves no room for doubt with

regard to the distribution of the products which were the results of such work. The peasant,
besides producing the food indispensable for himself and his family, was compelled to
produce whatever the maintenance for the lords and priests imposed upon him, which was
more than what the craftsmen and specialized workers in certain cultivations needed: or

What we have

said

what the fishermen on

in the

full-time, the

merchants and loaders, and

construction of the ceremonial centers needed.

From

their

all

those

who

participated

complementary

activities,

such as hunting and fishing, even part of these products did not belong completely to them,
but was used "to give

gifts to the lord", as

Landa

specifies.

The same can be

said

about

salt,

about wood used in building, about the products elaborated on the level of home arts-andcrafts or in the work-shops of specialists. As the Relacion de Motul mentions, the products
which they gave to the regent in recognition of his position, comprised cotton blankets,
"cocks and hens, turkeys, maize, honey and all the remaining objects of value which they
did not have but which the region produced".
In a few words, the worker could not aspire to dispose of all his products which were
the fruits of his labor, but only the minimal part thereof; of what was the most indispensable for his survival and that of the immediate members of his family.

87

*^< *

Characteristics of

Alimentation

In

all

aspects the information Sahagun has left with regard to the Aztecs

is

much more

complete and precise than that of Landa about the Mayas, in spite of the fact that this
chronicler is still our best source of knowledge with reference to the ancient founders or
settlers of Yucatan. In so far as alimentation is concerned, Landa speaks about their food

and drinks, the dishes they prepare and what they drink, but only in a general form, that
is, as if all the components of the population had within their reach the totality of the
alimentary products. On the other hand, Sahagun devotes one entire chapter to deal thoroughly with what constituted the meals of the lords, and another one on the banquets of
the mercenaries, which let us guess or suppose that in quantity and quality the Mexica
working class did not eat as the lords and other privileged members of society.
It is to be presumed that among the Mayas the situation would have been analogous
to that, and that the lower strata of the population would not have been able to aspire to
delicacies as, for example, foods imported from distant places cocoa and fish or those
which would have required especially complicated preparation. In point of fact, the chronicles exaggerate the frugality of the Mayas to the extent that they ate only one meal a day,
which was at dusk, and that they did not eat meat except on holidays. Now let us take a
look at the data which the chronicles of the XVI century provide for the Mayas of Yucatan.
The historic evidence which
shows us something about the
foods that the Mayas consumed

is

indicated especially by

those
tioned.

Landa had menAmong them we note

that

that maize, just as

it is

in real-

Foods of vegetable

origin

normal times the principal food was undoubtedly maize, which is eaten in solid or
When the grain is cooked with lime and later ground with the metate, a dough
is obtained which, when duly flattened out, is then heated on the comal to make the tortillas
as needed at meals, since when cold, as Ximenez states, "they are as tough as the sole of a
In

liquid form.

The tortilla can be eaten alone, that

Tamales are made out of the corn dough which

ity,

shoe, as well as insipid".

is,

with just

in

with a stew.

is

filled

was an essential element

the diet of this people.

salt or

pepper, or

with pieces of meat;

89

some leaves of the chaya or beans are mixed with the dough. Ximenez refers to them as
"lumps cooked in water, strung up on a rope like black, hard and gruff rosaries". With the
half-cooked and ground dough, food is prepared for "the workers, the walkers and sailors,
which lasts for some months". This is posol from which several times a day "they take a
lump and soften it up in a glass made from the rind or shell of a fruit which a tree yields
which God had provided them for glasses" (Jicaras) as Landa tell us.
Ximenez adds that, as far as he is concerned, "the common beverage of the Indians of
these provinces, if it is not cocoa, then it is something much stronger". To the ground dough
from maize, diluted in water, they add milk and curdle it on the fire; they make porridge
from that in the mornings and drink it hot", but here Landa is referring to atole. The same
chronicler goes on to say "that to what is left over from the mornings they added water to
drink it during the day as they were not accustomed to drink water without something else
added". Another form of eating maize was in pinole. The flour for that is obtained from
toasted maize which is then dissolved in water resulting "a very refreshing drink, especially
when a bit of Indian pepper (chile) and cocoa" have been infused in that. Without making it
more definite, Landa speaks of another drink, "refreshing and tasty" which is obtained
"from the substance of the maize ground raw".
With the ground cacao bean, diluted in water and taken hot, they made chocolate,
which Landa describes as "a very tasty foam which they use to celebrate their holidays,
while for Ximenez it was "a most unpleasant drink for those who are not accustomed to
it, but refreshing, tasty and highly esteemed by those who are used to drinking it". The
chronicler of Yucatan mentions another drink, "tasty and highly esteemed", for which "a
fat resembling butter" was obtained from the cocoa-bean, and this they mixed with maize.
Probably he was referring to the chocolate-flavored atole.
They ate mainly beans of various colors and kinds black, red, white; boiled or ground
to a paste as much as other vegetables, stewed separately or with meat. The other vegetables
they used were various species of squash, chayotes, sweet potatoes, chaya, tomatoes, yucca,
jicama, avocado and taro (the edible tuberose root of the yam family). In times of extreme
scarcity, as when the maize harvest had been insufficient, the fruits of a number of different
trees were highly valued. Landa mentions the cumche [kuumche), whose bark was edible,
as the "huge fruit with a very thick rind or shell, soft inside as a fig", which provided both
fruit and drink. Some low, spiny palms "carry some large custers of a round, green fruit, as
large as the eggs of a dove. When the rind was removed there remained a stone, very strong
and tough, from which when broken a round seed, no bigger than a hazel-nut, came out.
This seed is very tasty and helpful in times of need. A hot meal is made from these seeds and
it was used as a drink in the mornings". We are referring to the cohune palm or cocoyol (the
corozo palm). In a previous chapter we have already spoken about the browse-tree, the fruits
of which Landa considers as very tiny "tasty figs", the seeds of which were eaten, boiled as
a vegetable or dried and ground as flour, which served as a substitute for maize.
Their fruits were plentiful. From among them we can mention especially the following:
or

avocado, mamey, sapodilla, the white sapodilla, papaya, guave, nance, pitahaya, the tree

cucumber, the

siricote, the

annona, the cashew, various kinds of plums, wild grapes, and

unlimited others.

Foods of animal

Some
parties

origin

chroniclers are certain that the ancient

and banquets.

It is

Mayas did not

eat

90

and be given

at

probable, in actuality, that the few animals they raised for eating

dogs, turkeys, pheasants, and doves were reserved precisely for

*ribute

much meat except

as gifts to the lords, or to

make

festivities,

or to pay

offerings to the deities. But, at least,

which

The

nutritional varieties

the

Mayas consumed include

the badger, the hare, the rab-

bit^ the

armadillo,

and the

they were able to eat meat, even though in a reduced form, from what was obtained from
principal animals the meat of which was used
t he hunt: mammals, birds, reptiles. Among the
as meat)

armadil l

wild boar.

iguana.

the deer, the tapir, the wild boar, the badger, the rabbit, the hare,
the woo d gro use, a certain species of pheasant, the partridge, the quail and the
meat was prepared by stewing it with vegetables or separately, or well grilled

we can mention
The

91

oven dug out of the earth (for barbecue, pib in Mayan)

made, and when red-hot, the livecoals are covered with

directly over the fire, or even in an

at the

bottom of which

the fire

is

stone slabs over which the animal, properly prepared,

is

placed.

Then

the oven

is

The people on

the coast

supplemented

velop

their vegetable diet with fish

and sea-food. As

fish, grilled fish

or fish

The chroniclers mention innumerable marine

from the pez mosquito, sea-bass, flounder, saw-fish, trout, mojarra,
sardine, the ray, the smooth dogfish, which was used for cooking and its meat, when eaten
with mustard, was almost as good as beef. In addition, there were mollusks such as the
octopus and oyster, and marine mammals as the manatee, according to Landa's statement.
products such as the

92

fat

Sea was an
of

source

Mayas had been

already mentioned in the chapter on commerce, they took salted

dried in the sun, to towns in the interior.

inexhaustible

re-

stuffed

with leaves, branches, and stones.

we

The Caribbean

fishing.

coastal

able

and

to de-

deep-sea

Seasonings

They used

to season their food with salt, pepper, various kinds of chile

and a variety of
Yucatan the annatto was and continues

odoriferous herbs: coriander, epazote, oregano. In

to be an important seasoning, which, besides giving a special flavor also serves "to give color
to the stews as the saffron does, and yet so delicate a color that it stains a great deal", as
Landa noted. These seasonings could be used separately or to make sauces, according to the
dishes as, for example, the chirmole in which were blended the annatto, chile, pepper and

tomato.

Drinks

Apart from liquid foods made mainly from maize and cacao, to which we refer in the
"Foods of vegetable origin", we are now going to mention some of their alcoholic
drinks. The basic one was balche, which the Spaniards called pitarrilla, made by fermenting
the bark (or, according to some chroniclers, the root) of the three balche (Lonchocarpus
longistylus Pit tier) in water and honey. The use of this drink was restricted to religious
ceremonies. According to Landa it was "a strong and very disagreeable wine, with reference
to its odor". For other ceremonies they used to make another drink with "four hundred
and fifteen grains of toasted maize which they call picula-kakla" According to Perez Martinez it ought to be written picul-aqahla, the meaning of which is "a drink in abundance".
Without greater precision the sources say that they used to make other drinks with broad
beans and squash seeds.
section

Food customs

When Cogolludo

said that the Mayas did not eat more than once a day, an hour before
time
for making the dinner and supper, one should not assume from that,
sunset, the same
that a whole day went by without their partaking of any food. The chronicler is referring
only to solid foods. In actuality, at dawn, before beginning their work, they were accustomed to take a hot drink, atole; during the day, at intervals of a few hours, cold drinks, i.e.,
posol and pinole; and only at night the stew with vegetables, with or without meat, generally without, but duly seasoned. Men and women did not take their meals together, as first
the women served the men. They used to eat on the ground, or in any case, seated on a
mat. After meals it was customary to wash the hands and mouth. On the occasion of reli;

gious holidays they abstained from seasoning their dinner with salt and chile. During some
fastings they did not eat meat. The Nacom, the military head, was accustomed to refrain

from eating meat during the entire three years that he was

in

command.

Anthropophagy
that on certain occasions the ancient Mayas did cat
matter of a ritual cannibalism. The human flesh did not form part
of their nutritional diet. Even the Spanish chroniclers who were generally eager to find
vices and despicable customs among the indigenous, are almost all in accord to affirm that
the Mayas did not eat human flesh except during certain festivities. In such cases it is very
definite that the parts of the victims were eaten "with great respect, and also with relish

Although

human

it

flesh, this

is

beyond question

was

and enjoyment".

When Valdivia and some of his shipwrecked companions were sacrificed by an Indian
chieftan from the Caribbean coast of Yucat;m, "banquets were made for the people from
the victims", but as something exceptional. In Guatemala anthropophagy was also a ritual:
"The bodies of the sacrificed victims were cooked and eaten as sanctified meat", as Ximenez tells us. He adds that the meat was offered to the high priest, the king and other priests
and

dignitaries, but not even a

"mouthful reached the people".

<n

The

Different Types of

Housing

we

with two aspects of the housing problem of the ancient

Mayas: 1) the location of the population and the town, and 2) the housing itself. Both
aspects are of interest to us not only as parts of the cultural picture, but also because of
In this chapter

shall deal

what Mayan society was. The historical sources

provide us only with some very simple information on these points, but archaeology and
their implications for the understanding of

ethnology, at least to some slight extent complete that.

The

location of the
It is

obvious that until now, archaeology has given very partial attention to the ceremo-

nial centers

the other.

town
town and the population, on
but none of them justify it: the spec-

on the one hand, and to the general centers

A number

of reasons explain

this situation

for the

tacular of the explorations in the buildings dedicated to religious worship, together with the

valuable findings in sculpture, paintings and objects of artistic and cultural importance which

accompany them,

and, in contrast, the unrewarding

view of the Cuadrangulo de

las Monjas ("Quadrangle of
the Nuns") in Uxmal, with the
temple of the chenes of the

exploring afterwards, the modest vestiges of the

Piramide del Profeta ("Pyramid of the Prophet"), in the

work which

first

place.

Mayan

The study of

the

archaeological sites has

number of problems,
among them to determine if
raised a

usually

is

common

work of

first

and
Mexico there

detecting,

dwellings. Besides, in

the obligation on the part of the archaeologist to restore, or at least to consolidate the

ceremonial constructions which constitute an important part of the national patrimony, a

is

frequently indispensable but which exhausts the resources, limited from the

made available to the investigators.

Mayan area the exploration of zones occupied in prehispanic times by
the population has been realized in many different places, but especially in Kaminaljuyu,
Uaxactun, Tikal, Peten, Mountain Cow and Valle de Belice, Mayapan and Dzibilchaltun.
The study of the Mayan archaeologic places has raised diverse important problems,

very beginning, that are

However,

in the

these had functioned only as

ceremonial centers or if they
can also be considered urban

starting first with the

centers.

it

is

need to ascertain if such places were simply ceremonial centers or if

them as urban centers. In order to establish such a definition it is.

possible to consider

95

however,

first

of

what

essential to clarify

all

is

an urban center.

arc inclined to consider as authentic cities the ancient ceremonial

generalizing the description which

Landa

Mayan

offers of a

Some

Mayists, as Morley,

and administrative centers,

city: "...In the center

of the

town or village were the temples with their beautiful squares, and the temples in turn were
the homes of the lords and the priests, and then for the people as a whole. In this way the
richest and most highly esteemed were closer to these squares, and finally, at the outskirts
of the town were the homes of the lower classes". It is certain that Morley is pointing to the
fact "that the Mayan centers of population were not so concentrated, not so densely compressed in blocks of buildings close together as occurs with our cities and modern towns, but
rather they were scattered over extensive suburbs, inhabited in greater comfort, spread out
in a

continuous series of small farms,

suburb than to
In

view of

as a result

disagree

kind of population which has greater resemblance to

concentrated urban center".

this

concept of

cities or

suburbs

less

densely populated than our

cities,

with

this

opinion. William Coe, for example, believes that a city implies "the

permanent residence of

a relatively large

number of people, with

good organization and

multiple functions through administrators, priests, businessmen, artisans, peasants, etc.,

live relatively

demarkation of the community".

made up of

who

near one another, with a grouping sufficiently close to provide a basis for the

a concentration of temples

and

and

of the investigations carried out after the works of Morley, most of the Mayists

On

the other hand, a ceremonial center can be defined "as

and palaces, basically

priests, assistants, administrators

specialists for the

a religious center,

of the high hierarchy

with a fixed population

(if

not the same priests)

production of the objects needed for the ceremonies..."

Borhegyi, using the suggestion

made by Sanders

for the Center of

Mexico,

calls the

community or center formed by the conglomeration of groups of houses or hamgrouped together or scattered about form, socially homogenous, whose population
may be of several hundreds of people of which 75%, as a minimum, devotes 75% of their
time to a farm work". A town would be "a rural community or center formed by the conglomeration of villages, socially homogeneous, in which the bulk of the population also
spends its time in farm work, but in which commerce and craftsman specialization constitute
secondary activities, thereby reducing the percentage of the population dedicated to agriculture to less than 75%". With reference to a city, he defines it as "a community socially
heterogeneous, economically interdependent, in which more than 75% of the population
village "a

lets, in a

may

devote more than 75% of

its

rejects that of other investigators

time to activities other than agricultural". His definition

who

define cities according to: 1) the size and expanse of

volume and density of the population, 3) the standard or level of technological and economic progress of the residents, 4) the size and number of the public buildings, and 5) the standard of intellectual arts which is attained by its inhabitants.
Willey and Bullard accept, in principle, Borhegyi's attitude and, desirous of making
more specific what ought to be considered as a city, have recourse to Childe, and recall that
the Mayan society of the classic period had all the elements which, according to their author,
are part of an urban society, that is, a vast number of public buildings stylized by a higher
the place, 2) the

art, a

formalized religion with cemeteries for the gods and priestly hierarchy; interregional

commerce; division according to classes of society; writing and beginnings of a true science,
but which lacked the factor which is the most diagnostic: large dwelling units which reflect
the essential characteristic of a city, that

is,

the large

number of

fulltime specialists

who do

not devote their time to the production of basic alimentary products.

The Highlands
The conclusions which Borhegyi

96

arrived at for the Highlands of

Guatemala seem

to us

very clear.

He

two fundamental types of population and towns:

differentiates

has to serve as dwellings, and that which has to constitute the center of
administration. While the
arable lands

takes cognizance of the physical needs,

first

and sources of water, and presents

civil

that

and

which

religious

established near

it is

domestic architecture which uses perish-

able materials; the second answers the call of the cultural forces,

it is

centralized in places

considered sacred or strategically situated, and provides pyramids and monumental buildings constructed with durable materials.
life,

Borhegyi subdivides the

On

means of

the basis of the size, expanse and

type into three subgroups:

first

1)

hamlets or small clusters

with orientation and local alimentary resources, and composed of from 5 to 20 houses:

farming villages or minor aggregate clusters from 50 to 100 or more houses, with orientation and local alimentary resources, and 3) satellite farming villages or major aggregate
clusters of 100 and more houses, with orientation and regional alimentary resources, and
2)

depending on
In
1)

ceremonial center-smaller or larger -or of a "'national

so far as the second type

is

capital"".

concerned, he subdivides that into two subdivisions:

ceremonial centers with smaller administrative centers composed of 10 to 30 buildings,

forming units of

villages

with small central squares for

communal

activities

and with orient-

ation as well as local alimentary resources, and 2) greater ceremonial centers or vacant
towns with 50 or more buildings, central squares well delineated, ot great importance
for reuniting multitudes

for

religious

such as defensive places, and for general

The Lowlands of

purposes such as pilgrimages, for secular purposes

communal

purposes.

the Central Area

For the Lowlands of the Central Area (Peten, Valle de Belice), Willev. Bullard and
other investigators provide us sufficient data to enable us to understand the matter ot the
location of the population.
settling,

that

when

less

lands.

To

is,

It

quite logical that the people chose places favorable tor

is

near natural sources of water supply (shores of rivers, lakes, lagoons, or

watery or "low"

in

sufficient water in the rainy seasons)

avoid the harm that the swellings ot rivers could cause or,

and

also near arable

in general, the rise

of

the level of the water during periods of heavy rain, they chose terrains slightly elevated

and with good drainage facilities.

Such natural factors water resources, proximity to arable lands and the topography
of the region conditioned a scattered type of population. The aforementioned authors
clusters
recognize, on the basis of the degree of importance, the following subtypes:
from 5 to 1 2 houses in which a great part of the population would be related by marriage;
at times with one building which would serve as a place of worship or altar, or tor some
specialized function within the community; 2) zones or units of clusters consisting of
from 50 to 100 houses, not grouped together in any compact form, but rather scattered,
with a smaller ceremonial center for the entire zone for their ritual and civic needs; and
3) a district or unification of zones which embraced a territorial expanse in a scattered
I

form, with a larger ceremonial center

reference to

its

buildings (in

in

view ot

its

size,

number and tremendous

and other manifestations of major

because of

size)

and

its

importance with

ot the presence ot steles

art.

Referring specifically to Valle de Belice, Willey

and

his collaborators set

up distinctions

based on the following: platforms tor one or more houses: the "small squares" on which
the houses, more finely constructed and belonging, undoubtedly, to the inhabitants ot the
highest social rank,

compared

to those of the simple dwellings on individual platforms.

surround a central yard; a smaller ceremonial center with a pyramid, small knolls and
generally a larger one which had to maintain a much larger building for collective purposes;

97

the large ceremonial center, habitually built on elevated hills which dominate the valley,

consisting of

many

buildings for religious worship and

civil activities

and which controls

modest ceremonial buildings. In this hierarchy

of communities the scattered nature of the dwellings and groups of dwellings predominate,
and reflects the form of life essentially agricultural of the masses of population.
Tikal seems to present a greater degree of urbanization than the other ceremonial
centers of Peten, with innumerable domestic units. Coe cites the topographic factor as
the impediment to a methodical distribution of habitations in Tikal. They form scattered
groups in places with a slight elevation, around the squares with four to five houses and
with sour- annexes. Coe concludes that Tikal is "something more than a ceremonial center.
Its characteristics were not so markedly urban as those of Tenochtitlan, but Tikal had many
elements of an urban standard of living". Although the explorations revealed that there are
many knolls or hillocks with dwellings near or far from the major nuclei of the ceremonial
buildings, they do not form dense concentrations but rather, quite the opposite, they are
found scattered throughout the entire area.
/one of small centers of population with

its

Yucatan

Our information

extremely limited for Yucatan: scanty with regard to almost all

of the known centers; provisional and incomplete for Dzibilchaltun, but more ample and
is

Mayapan. Ruppcrt and Smith, through

Puuc, inform us about the types of houses found

examination in the region of

there, but tell us little with regard to
their distribution. Some houses in Uxmal appear to be part of the ceremonial groups, on the
same terraces that support the buildings, or in the yards. Others are found at a certain
distance, generally on small elevations, with one or several subterranean cisterns (chultunes)
precise

and

for

small pyramid.

similar arrangement

is

a short

seen also in

Kabah and

Sayil. In Chichen-Itza

there are groups of houses near the ceremonial buildings, although they are not the main

ones; the greater part

is

found on both sides of Scabe Number

7,

that

is,

in the

southwestern

section of the part referred to as Chichen-Viejo (Old Chichen). As a rule, the houses are on

ample platforms of some slight elevation, and are either isolated or in groups.
In Edzna, George Andrews investigated a sector in which there are the principal ceremonial buildings, grouped together, and one or two particularly residential buildings,
with hillocks of dwellings without any apparent order; the part with the greater number
of habitations is sufficiently far from the civic-religious center. With great reserve, due
to the fact that the explorations were not carried out, only a simple examination made of
the place, Andrews emphasizes the presence of many low platforms in the proximity of the
main buildings, platforms which perhaps supported the houses made of perishable materials,
but in no case could they serve to concede an urban character to the ceremonial center.
Besides, the author believes that the great number of tcpalcates which appear all along the
rims of a "low-lying land" suggests the probable existence of numerous houses constructed
directly on the level ground.

The

east coast

On

Yucatan Peninsula, Sanders examined many kinds of towns.

thousands of them in the actual State of
Quintana Roo, is the Farming Hamlet with six to twelve platforms for houses, frequently
connected with a pyramid. Another type, which he assumes has a connection with the
residences for the merchants or fishermen, consists of a small isolated sanctuary, a short
the east coast of the

The most common

98

of which, as he states, being

distance from the sea-shore,

tle")

quarters.

view of the Castillo ("Casand Templo del Dios

Descendente ("Temple of the

Descending Clod")
Sanders
kinds

in

Tulum.

recognized different

of population

on the

by ceremonial buildings, and,

scattered groups at
unit; the

eastern coast of the Peninsula

Last of

of Yucatan, of which Tulum

with

presents
types.

one of the special

composed of one or two temples or of a temple and sleepingAnother type, of greater importance, comprises one or several squares surrounded
some

in

distance.

addition, several buildings for religious purposes, or small

limited

extended platform which had

all,

dome

the scarcest type

roofs within

is

in a

for habitations

complete the

to support a collective sleeping-quarter

the one characterized by

is

frequent.

Tulum, with residences from stone

is occupied by

unit surrounded by a wall in which the central part

ceremonial buildings; traces of

been united

number of platforms

common

houses show that the population,

in spite

of having

form more compact than that of the other. types, was not very numerous.

Dzibilchaltun

We noted

previously that our information with regard to the type of town of Dzibil-

chaltun was scanty and incomplete. According to Andrews

it was the greatest urban center

of the entire American Continent in prehispanic times, with an expanse of some 50 square
kilometers and a density oi occupation which was in the vicinity of 1 000 structures for
each square kilometer. The unit would be formed by a series of ceremonial centers grouped
in a more or less dense form, surrounded by concentrations of hillocks of dwellings. According to the calculations it was considered that half of the domestic structures did not have
platforms and did not leave any traces on the ground. The lack of precision with regard to
the topographic distribution of the groups of dwellings, the lack of published maps and
especially their location concerning time, prevent us from forming a clear idea of the type
of town that Dzibilchaltun was, which seems to constitute an exception to the scattered

type of the classic period.

99

$**
V*:
TTT

n H rTTlTf n tl
T

TltlTT

Mayapan
The

place which with absolute certainty constitutes an exception for the precise de-

obvious character as a city, is Mayapan. Surrounded

length, provided with 12 entrances, the city encloses almost 4 000

limitation of the urban zone and for

by

a wall 9 kilometers in

its

structures of which only 3.5% are ceremonial buildings, that

approximately 140, and the

rest are houses, the most part grouped together, showing differences in dimensions and
quality and a construction which corresponds to distinct strata of the population. The
better buildings are, of course, found on small natural elevations on a rocky ground, and
the poorest are in the low sections. Groups of three or more structures present a rectangular
arrangement around a small yard. The houses were surrounded by sections of dry rocks.
There were 29 cenotes within the wall. The city does not have any form of planning with
is,

the exception of the greater concentration of ceremonial buildings which are in the center;

one finds grouped together the units of the more elaborate dwellings, that is, the residences of the members of the ruling class. The common type of dwelling
was set up without any definite order because of the irregularity of the terrain. Outside the

around

this central section

wall there are diverse groups of habitations, usually in pairs.

Process of urbanization
if

one studies the types of settlements over the course of time, one can perceive that

as

the population increased (with a corresponding increase in the surplus of products, which in

augmented the power of the lords), the bureaucracy increased there through which
such power was exercised. That also intensified the arts and crafts industry with probable
specialists on a full-time basis, and stimulated commerce. Concomitant with these developments the ceremonial centers were increased in great number, making them more extensive,
turn,

100

rn i n TtTTlTt HU OITnnTirfl

The

Palacio de Sayil ("Palace

of Sayil"). There were various

forms of dwellings in the Peninsula of Yucatan, among

which are the "palaces". They

more complex and more densely populated. Towards

sites

of Peten,

the end of the classical period, the

but also others such as Dzibilchaltun, show a growing tendency

in particular,

towards concentration, perhaps "towards an urban planning and

more heterogeneous

society", as Willey remarks.

as

This concentration becomes more manifest during the postclassic period in the High-

lodgings for the ruling class.

lands of Guatemala and in the north of Yucatan when, partly out of the need to protect

The Palace of

the population, the ceremonial centers were established in strategic places,

seem

to

have

been used

Sayil consists

of three storeys and more

than sixty rooms or dwellings.

on the tops
of mountains and surrounded by ravines (Altos de Guatemala) or by walls (Mayapan, Tulum,
Xkaret, Ichpaatun, etc., in the Peninsula of Yucatan). However, with regard to the classical
period, Tikal and Dzibilchaltun are examples in which an evident human concentration is
manifest. It is not a matter of cities with cross-sectioned streets, as it was in part in Teotihuacan and later in Tenochtitlan, but rather the modern type of "city-garden", in which
the buildings are adapted to the topography and have respect for the natural landscape, as
in Tikal, or in small satellite cities which depended on a larger city until it attained the level
of a "main city", as Mayapan.
i.e.,

Types of dwellings
In treating the

housing

itself

now,

ed between the homes of the lords (the

the

common

it is

indispensable to stress the difference that exist-

priests, civil heads,

and

people. Landa describes this difference in detail

rulers in general)

when he

and those of

states that "...where

they settled they always were accustomed to build again their temples, sanctuaries, and

houses

in their

wood covered

manner for

the lords, while the

common

with straw". Archaeology has confirmed

people had only used homes from

this

and given the name of "palaces"

to the buildings which were probably the residences of the ruling class and which can be

101

distinguished in the ceremonial centers from the buildings dedicated to religious

clearly

worship (temples, portable

we

shall

consider

first

altars,

platforms for dances or ceremonies,

these palaces and afterwards the

etc.).

common homes

For

this

reason

for the great

mass

of population.

Palaces

We

have already mentioned the location of the dwellings of the lords: the very cere-

And when,

Mayapan

or in the city which Landa describes

same urban unit as the lords and priests,
the living quarters of these are "around the temples", and near them, but remote from the
ceremonial buildings, "the most important people ...the richest and most esteemed", while
"at the end of the town were the houses of the lower classes".
Another fundamental difference was in the material used for the construction: lime
and stone for the houses of the lords, "painted with much elegance", as Landa describes, and

monial center.

without naming

wood

it,

the

in

with straw roofs for the

The

the case of

common

people

homes of

live in the

the

common

people.

palaces are almost always constructed on top of a terrace or platform which have

staircases; they can be

rooms varied

of one or several storeys; and the number and arrangement of the

one single line, up to fifty and more in

various lines or grouped together around a yard. By way of example we shall mention some
of the distinct sites. In Uaxactun a small building composed of three rooms in one line
would correspond to the simplest type of building; the arrangement in double line is frequent with

a great deal,

six

many

from

several

rooms, with another

rooms

in

in a transversal position at

each end. In Tikal there are

which the rooms form two, three and four lines,

in addition to two or three transversals at each end (in all, some 20 to 30 rooms in each
building); another building with a total of 16 rooms in double line or transversals emerges as
a triangle; still another, probably with 50 rooms at a minimum forms a quadrangle around a
a great

different kinds of palaces in

yard, or with dwellings arranged in double line. In Tikal there are also palaces of several

from one small one with nine rooms, six of which are in double line on the first
floor, and three others in a single line on the second floor; the larger one had to have more
than 30 dwellings, divided into five floors and in double line; it is necessary to explain that
the five floors are not found superposed in one and the same building but in two: one
further behind than the other, taking advantage of a depression in the terrain, although
straight ahead the facade forms five floors.
We also know about palaces of several storeys in Yucatan; another in Kabah of some
20 rooms on two floors (in the same site, Codz-Pop ought to have 30 rooms, but on one
single floor); another in Labna, of two storeys, with a complex composition buildings
forming a triangle with others and whose number of dwellings cannot be determined
because of the state of deterioration in which they are found; in Sayil, the beautiful palace
of three storeys ought to have more than 60 rooms in double line on the first and second
floors and in one single line on the third, with entrances on four sides.
The "Palace" of Palenque with its galleries which open as much towards the outside
as towards the yards does not seem to be a building very suitable for occupation, that is, for
living purposes. In addition, the yards and galleries suggest a ceremonial use rather than a
residential one. However, during one late period these galleries were divided into rooms by
thin walls, and one of the yards (the southeastern) consisted of several small buildings. In
another yard they had built a steam-bath and at the foot of the tower, various sanitary
installations (latrines). We believe that, in principle, the dwellings in this palaces were
exclusively lower galleries (now designated "subterranean"), which form three parallel lines
storeys,

102

and which communicate with the ceremonial part of the palace by means of three staircases
inside. In Palenque small rooms situated at the sides of the sanctuary ought to have served as
the cells for the priests.

The

Governor in Uxmal has 24 rooms of which ten are in

double line in the central section (of which two form large drawing-rooms), five on each
side section and two built later in each one of the domed corridors which separate the
central part from the annexes. The Quadrangle of the Nuns comprises a unit of 80 rooms.
The building also designated "The Nuns", in Chichen-Itza, the result of a number of
superpositions, has many rooms on different floors and ji its annex. Likewise in Chichen
the Akab-dzid is composed of a number of rooms (18) arranged in one, two and up to three
so-called Palace for the

lines in the four facades.

Tulum, it is possible that the buildings which

or two side rooms may have been the residences of
In

consist of a portico, sanctuary and one

the hierarchies with their special port-

able altars, or even temples with dwellings for the priests.

In

Mayapan some 50

buildings

seem

to correspond to units for dwellings for high

personages, almost always located near the main ceremonial center.

view of

its

The palace which,

being the most elaborate, was presumably the residence of the

consists of houses provided with porticos

Cocom

in

family,

which have columns around the yard, and with

temples and kitchen as well.

Quite different from

Mayapan

(as also

the

Mayan

the buildings that

those of Tulum) which had

of the typical Mayan

If

all

dome

with

palaces are

its

for the

that the

a point that

flat

discussed until now, are those of

roofs of

beams and high

terraces in place

protruding stones.

compared with those of

chroniclers of the conquest describe,

up to such

we have

some authors

it is

the

Romans

or the Aztecs

which the

evident that they are very slightly comfortable even

hesitate to accept that

it is

really a matter

of residences

members of the ruling class, that is, the civil and religious dignitaries. It is certain
rooms without an entrance over the facade and arranged in double line was the most

and air. And, of course, the situation was still worse where
there was a third or fourth line, in which case the rooms were situated more in the rear, and
completely lacked natural light. The buildings with windows or rather even with something
resembling port-holes are very few; the larger openings are in the lemplo de los Siete Munecos
("The Temple of the Seven Dolls") in Dzibilchaltun; in Palenque the rectangular port-holes or
openings in the form of the sign IK (air, wind) are many, and the large openings in the domes
of the outside walls which separate the portico from the rear corridor assure a cross-ventilation for the rooms and the inside galleries. However, when one takes into consideration that
these buildings are located in regions ot an extremely hot climate, it is readily comprehensible
that the shaded dwellings, isolated from the outside by the thick walls, provided a suitable
or, at least, a tolerable temperature. Another problem that the Mayan builders seemed to
have worked out easily enough is the means of closing the entrances to prevent the penetration of the rain and protect from the severe cold in the winter nights.
In almost all the Mayan buildings, whether palaces or temples, at both sides of the
entrances, in the rear of the thick outside walls, one can see in sections of wall or columns
a kind of hoop made in many forms (a piece ot stone slab embedded in the edges of a small
usual received very

little light

cavity in a stone of the thick outside wall, a small cylinder of stone

embedded

vertically in

the hollow left between rocks forming a niche). These hoops were used to tie cords with
which curtains would be hung up, since real doors did not exist. The closing ot the entrances
was by means of lintels from stone or wood. When they were of wood, they used to torm a

number of beams from

a

few

in

the sapodilla tree and could be cut or engraved as those of Tikal and

Chichen-Itza.

103

The houses where the com-

mon

people lived were similar

to those
as

which are

still

used

dwellings for the peasants

of the Mayan area. The buildings have walls from wood

and
floor

straw

roofs.

The main

was almost always

angular, but

it

rect-

could also be

rounded ends. In
photograph
this
one sees a
Tzeltal house in the municipality of Ococingo, Chiapas.
apsidal with

To

prevent the rains from penetrating the inside of the buildings, in addition to the use

of curtains

at the entrances, the

people of Palenque built the architrave

in the

form of strong

projecting eaves and at their end they placed a small slab plastered with mortar in the oblique

corner of the molding, going beyond and below the molding to form a water channel; in this

way, the

rain, gliding

through the inclined wainscot,

fell

on the eaves without reaching the

outside walls or the columns which were adorned with reliefs from stucco.

One can frequently find in the inside of the Mayan palaces some low, narrow platforms,
up on the walls, which form stools and which were used as seats and probably even as
beds. Although the hammock, in the present, provides the preferred means for sleeping in
the Mayan area, it does not seem to have been known before the Spanish conquest and it is
assumed that it came with the conquerors who were from the West Indies where, as in South
America, it had actually been used in prehispanic times.
From archaeology we know that the buildings annexed to the residences of the lords
and priests contained steam-baths, whose use, more than hygienic, probably would have been
therapeutic and ritual. We have already mentioned the latrines in the Palacio de Palenque
which consisted of stones provided with a hole, placed on the ground and on top of a drain
or sewer. We have already referred also to the existence of a portable altar or an altar which
was part of the homes of the privileged in Mayapan and perhaps also in Tulum. In one of the
Relaciones de Yucatan reference is made to the existence of buildings of rubblework with
large granaries for the purpose of storing maize, as well as also cisterns to pick up and guard
the rain water, all of which was extremely well constructed. As a rule, the homes of the lords
were near the cenotes or at least the chultanes, open cavities in the ground, made smooth on
the inside with stucco, and the opening of which, in the form or a narrow neck, could be
closed with a stone. The chultanes were used as cisterns and also to conserve food: maize,
for only a short time, and seeds of the browse-tree for a longtime. In Mayapan, in particular,
tombs were found under the floor of the residences which confirms Landa's hypothesis with
reference to the burial of the residents in their own home.
With regard to the household furnishing of the homes the same for those of the lords
as for the common people the references in historic sources are very limited and treat only
utensils made primarily from organic material; archaeology has not been able to add any
further information on that subject. It is more than likely that the furniture consisted
only of small wooden stools and beds from rods or cords on a frame of wood maitained by
poles. We believe that the crossbars embedded in the domes or in the upper part of the thick
outside walls, in addition to their architectural function to protect the dome from the
set

104

pressure of the sides, were possibly used to hang up objects of the

as

is

still

would

done

in

the huts with the

beams of

the frame.

consist of three stones placed on the ground, as

is

home, such

as clothes, etc.,

The cooking-stove of

the kitchen

traditional in Mesoamerica. Metates

and stone mortars, bowls from baked clay, gourd cups and dried calabashes used as bottles
or bowls, woven baskets and mats would make up the entire household furnishings.

Huts
As Landa indicated, the homes of the

common

people were "of

wood

covered with

is to say, huts similar to those we know today in the entire Mayan area as the
abodes ot the peasants. We have already made reference to the usual location of the homes
of the people: at a distance from the principal group of religious or civil guildings when they
are found within the confines vague except in the cases ot the walled cities such as Mayapan, or surrounded by ravines as in the Highlands of Guatemala of the ceremonial center,

straw", that

or forming hamlets, villages and towns in a spread out arrangement around a ceremonial

We

mentioned that the dwellings of the common

people always occupied less suitable places according to the topography of the place and
which frequently were set up directly on the level ground or rather on a slightly elevated
platform. These dwellings could be delimited by a stone or brick railing from rubblework or
through a simple row of coarse rocks: the floor would be of earth, pounded down, or with a
smoothing from lime. The floor was generally rectangular, but it is also found in an apsidal
form with rounded ends. The walls were made ot wooden posts stuck together, one to the
other, and tied with reeds. Four wooden columns held up the beams and horizontal crossbars on which the framework of the root rested. This could be covered with dried palm
leaves used for thatching, or with hay to form two slopes, but it generally consisted ot
inclined planes on the tour sides. The roof was finished off with a ridge from which the
slopes were sprung.
A house could consist of just one room or several .two. three, four] in a single line, and
in Yucatan it was often that it had an open portico in front. A wall separated the portico
from the rooms, but there was one door which served as an entrance to each room. This
arrangement coincides with the description that Landa otters: "...'they present a wall in the
middle and lengthwise which divides the entire house, and on this wall they leave some doors
for the halt which they call the back ot the house, where they have their beds, and the other
half they bleach with a very tine whitewash ... and this half is the reception-room and lodgings tor the guests; there is no door so that everything is open to the entire house...'* The
beds were made from rods and on top ot them they put mats and covered themselves with
cotton blankets. Stools can frequently be found in the rooms or in the portico, which were
also used to sleep on in summer.
It has been established that the greater part ot the homes were set up with the facade
to the East although there are also some which face the North and South very tew remain
which faced the West. In Mayapan main dwelling form, along with an annexed terrain
center of lesser or greater importance.

also

probably a fruit or vegetable garden a piece ot land enclosed by thatches ot coarse rocks,
without mortar. There were some paved streets and footpaths ot irregular form between
the houses.

In

different places

it

has also been confirmed, according to the information ot

the chronicler, with reference to the

manner

in

which they buried

their dead, that

is.

"with-

house" and that "they commonly abandoned the home

and left it uninhabited after burials". The kitchen would probably be a small construction
of wood with a straw root, close to the dwelling or a tew meters away from it.
Three or tour houses together would probably correspond to a family housing unit.
in their

homes

or at the

back

of the

105

-JC-

4
w\

The

Characteristics of the

Clothing or Dress of the

Mayas

In this

chapter

we

not only the theme of clothes and adornments which the

shall treat

ancient Mayas used, but

all the changes as well that they had effected on their own bodies
through paint, tattoo, deformations, and mutilations, the purpose of which being to comple-

ment

their attire.

On comparing

XVI century with

information from the chroniclers of the

the

detailed data provided by iconography, their veracity

is

the

thereby confirmed while, concomi-

tantly, their limitation is also established. But between such forms as the historic narrative
and the analysis of archaeologic testimony, there are innumerable and very ample sources
which permit us to clearly express what we feel we really know about this phase of life
of the Mayas.
After the first four or five years of life in which the children of both sexes were accustomed to go around naked, there began a distinction in dress: the boys were given "some
streamers to make them as decent as their lathers, and the girls began to cover themselves
from the waist down", as Landa affirms. He further goes on to mention, but without
making it clear whether it was the lords or the common working men who used "the large

square blankets

...

which they

tied

around

their soulders".

Social differences

common

Continuing with the cronicles we see that the lords and the
dress in identical fashion. In Relation de Valladolid

The

richness in attire conti-

nues to be one of the most

....

remarkable legacies that one

still
finds todav amone the
different groups in the
area.

Mayan

W ear

xicoles
j

made of cotton and

../

.;

,;

feathers

is,

it

is

specified that "the lords used to

into a kind ot multicolored jacket; they

.L\

between

a loincloth)

i*
It

their legs.

was

lon^ narrow

cotton cloth, girded around the

abdomen, going around

P ' woven
n g the privy parts, with two long points decorated with

str,
i

also used the mastil [maxtlatl, that

woven

people did not

several times, cover-

feather hanging in front and in

back". But the same Relation, on the other hand, affirms that

"many

Indians went about

107

naked with only the long narrow

strip

of cloth. This was generally the custom in

all

the

common people, Landa mentions that

"dignified
only by some long streamers
naked
Indians
by
ex". The clothing that Jeronimo de Aguilar wore when he presented himself

provinces of Valladolid". Likewise, in referring to the

the buildings were constructed

which they

call

to Cortes, consisted precisely only of these streamers.

Through the Mayan iconography -painting, sculpture and ceramics this difference in
the manner of dress between the personages who pertain to high society and the men of a
socially lower class

or those

who

is

confirmed and made precise.

In the

murals of

died in battle, as also the victims sacrificed after that,

Bonampak
all

the prisoners

appear naked or only

with the loincloth, and without headgear or any adornments. However, in the same frescos,
individuals

who ought

to be the servants, judging

by

their attitude

chiefs, presenting tiger skins or jewels, kneeling before the family

and

activity (dressing the

of the halach uinic, and

carrying a child), use decorated cloths for the hips and headgears similar to turbans. Perhaps

some of them were merchants or, on

would have the right or the obligation

the basis of their serving in the court of

Bonampak,

to present themselves dressed with greater refinement

than the peasants and other workers. Dressed

in similar

fashion the musicians were presented

with headgears of phantasy, some very elaborate and with earflaps from

shell,

and necklaces

from the canine teeth of animals. Among those whom one can assume were servants, we see
that some wear earflaps, and those who because of their place in the pictoric composition,
which is on an intermediate level between the low class and the lords, and because they are
displaying valuable merchandise while holding a fan in their hand, we assume that they
are probably merchants; they too are wearing turbans and at least one of them, a pendant
and jade earflaps.
The warriors in those same paintings undoubtedly belong to distinct hierarchic levels.
In the judgement scene, in the torture and sacrifice, of the prisoners, a group of warriors is
placed at the same level as the highest personages, i.e., in the upper part of the composition,
while others are on the lower plane. The difference in attire is clearly notable: all those
who are higher in the scale wear small, highly adorned capes while those who are lower are
stripped to the waist; the hip cloths are also more costly for the former than for the latter.
However, both groups use identical helmets with the heads of animals, an usual artifact

among

warriors to instil the

The

enemy with

fear.

lords of high rank are recognizeable by the elevated position in

in the distribution

of the different levels and by their costly

which they appear

attire: highly

elaborated head-

some with quetzal feathers in the form of a crest; diadems with jade beads; necklaces
and bracelets from the same gem; long, wide cotton capes; hip cloths and loin cloths embroidered in attractive colors and designs, and in addition, they are wearing sandals. The
copies made of the mural paintings do not always show if they are wearing shoes or not.
Three personages are distinguished among the lords and most assuredly they are all
high dignitaries, the batabes, according to Thompson. They appear twice in the first room:
on top, getting ready for a ceremony and attended by a number of servants who are putting
large crests on two of them, while in the third they are painting their body. Below, the
same personages, already perfectly attired take part in the ceremony which the musicians
gears,

and dancers

are performing. Their dress

referred to the

open

in

enormous

is

and luxurious: we have already

tiger skin hanging from the waist,

also very elegant

crests of large green feathers; a

front and disclosing the rich embroidered loin cloth; they are wearing diadems,

huge necklaces of many strands of beads, pectorals, bracelets and anklets, all of
jade. In the fourth central mural they are near the principal personage who is passing sentence on the prisoners who are in the upper level; they are all attired in tiger skins which
earflaps,

seems to serve

108

as capes,

with helmets made from the heads of jaguars in two of them, while

V*
*V'

Among many
activities,

the

of the

daily

fabrication

cloth was practised in

all

of
of

Mesoamerica and was accomplished by the most traditional method, that is, it consisted
of a loom attached to the
waist.

the helmet of the third appears to be the head of a lizard which terminates with the foot of
a jaguar.

In the battle

scene ol the same central room they are

all

rccognizeablc bv their

jac-

kets (xicolli) which are short and sleeveless, from tiger skins.

main personage of these mural paintings is concerned, i.e., the probable

halach uinic ol Bonampak, his importance can be deduced from the contents of the paintings, particularly in the judgement scene, the torture and sacrifice of the prisoners, in which
he occupies precisely the central part of the upper level; in the vertical axis of the composiAs

tion,

far as the

the activities of

representation he

is

those

who

wearing the

accompanying him, converge towards him.

are

tiger skin jacket

feathers which are emerging from something

who

with fringes,

made from

In

this

headgear ot large quetzal

the skin and feet ot the jaguar. In

from the same

skin; his spear is likewise lined in part with the skin of the jaguar. He is distinguished from
the batches not only by his central position, by the feathers in his headdress and bv his
sandals, but also by the jade jewels he is wearing; ear flaps, necklace, an enormous pectoral
and anklets.
In synthesis, the social differentiation that these paintings disclose, through the composition itself, through the significance of the scenes and the attitude ot the participants, is
further reflected by the ostentation which goes from the very expensive attire -dress and
jewels of the halach uinic to the almost complete nudity (some of the vanquished in battle
contrast to

all

the other personages

seem to lack even the cotton streamers

from top to bottom: the batabes, the

are barefooted, he has costlv sandals

ot the loincloth), passing through the following levels

lords of the court, the military chiefs, the warriors,

109

one and the same grade) and the servants. From the
last room we exclude the dancers from this hierarchy in dress, whose extremely expensive
attire corresponds to a very special ceremony, most assuredly used only on very special occasions by the dancers, and without any implications of social standing.
In the sculptures, where only one single personage appears, his luxurious dress shows
that it refers to a hierarchy of the highest category. (In the scenes in which a number of
individuals appear it is obvious that one of them is member of the highest rank of society,
i.e., the halach uinic or the highest priest.) The headdress can be an enormous bejeweled
helmet (as in the lintel of Tikal); a set of superposed masks (Quirigua); a tiara of discs of
jade, terminating in a crest of feathers (Palenque); a helmet from the head of a bird with
quetzal feathers (Palenque); a tiara with crests on top and in back (Yaxchilan) or a most
complex set of superposed masks and feathers (Copan). The torso can be covered with a
small, short cape, made from jade insignia and with feather fringes (Tikal, Palenque); from
the waist down, the lords wear loincloths, most elegantly embroidered (this pertains to all
the towns mentioned), or hip cloths made from tiger skin (Palenque), or skirts decorated
with rhombs of large tubular beads sewed on the cloth, and generally with feather fringes
(Copan, Palenque). It is also customary for them to wear a colorful belt adorned with three
human faces, probably made in jade mosaic, as those which we found on the tomb of the
Templo dc las Inscripciones ("The Temple with Inscriptions"), in Palenque; three oblong
tablets, hang from each one of these faces; the faces appear in profile at the ends of the belt,
and in front in the middle (Palenque, Yaxchilan, Piedras Negras, Copan, Naranjo). The
sandals seem to be made of, or consist of, only a sole from untanned leather or henequen,
provided with a leather strip which slides between the fingers and is tied around the ankle;
they can also have a heel which covers the upper part of the ankle, almost always of leather
and beautifully adorned with symbolic motives or with masks of the gods (Copan, Coba,
Naranjo, Tikal, Calakmul, Quirigua, Seibal). Above the instep the more costly sandals have
a curious feature: a kind of tassel which can terminate in feathers. In the scenes in which the
individuals of a lower social rank appear, as the slaves and prisoners, these ones are barefoot.
In Palenque and Bonampak, the important personages also appear without shoes if they are
the merchants and the musicians

(all in

of standing. The Mayan lords represented in the sculptures are usually wearing between the knee and the ankle some crossed narrow strips, probably of leather, which
would serve to tie the sandals (Palenque), or also a kind of spat or leggings in which the
strips are crossed various times around the leg (Edzna, Yaxchilan, Palenque, Seibal, Oxkintok) or they form horizontal bands tied together (Chichen-Itza).
In the figurines of Jaina the most remarkable and noticeable part of the attire appears
to be the headdress. The variety of forms, materials and composition is infinite: turbans,
diadems, tiaras, twisted or plaited bands, crests and even hats with wide brims. .However,
even when the personages may be almost naked, the headdress can still be luxurious and
complex. Many figurines present men and women who have only the lower half of the body
covered with either loincloths or skirts, according to the sex and, in any case, this does not
have to be a matter of individuals of the lower social class, since they almost always wear
a necklace of heavy beads, frequently bracelets of various strings of beads, a large shell as a
pectoral and the gawdy headdress. The loin cloth is generally very wide and can also be
painted. The individuals who appear to be males wear huge capes which come down to their
feet. In some instances it is also a very large, long coat but with short sleeves.
sitting, instead

Feminine clothing
With reference to women, Landa informs us that "the Indian women of the coast of
the provinces of Bacalar and Campeche are extremely decent in their dress; besides the
covering they were accustomed to wear from the waist down, their breasts would be covered
by tying a folded blanket around them from below the armpits; all the others did not wear
anything except something similar to a large, wide jacket or sack, open on both sides, reaching to the hips; they were held tight by the same width and had no other clothing than the

110

Bas-relief
attire,

in

Palenque.

The

ornaments and attitude

of the personage reveal that

he had to be a hierarch of
high category. Lapida de Madrid

("The

Madrid").

gravestone

of

blanket which they also always use for sleeping, and when they went on the road they were
accustomed to wear them as a cover, folded or rolled up".
However, apart from some few exceptions, the dress of the women, as can be observed
in the mural reliefs and figurines, does not correspond to the description given by the chronicler. The most common is the long tunic which strongly resembles the present day huipil,
whether all white or with a green edge on the rim (in the central and western rooms of
Structure
in Bonampak), or also yellow (in the eastern room of the same building); it is
elegantly embroidered in the reliefs in Piedras Negras, Yaxchilan and Bonampak, in which
they can be seen would around a long skirt, which still permits one to see the embroidered
sandals also. In the reliefs in Palenque the women wear a short, small cape adorned with
tubular jade beads and fringes from feathers, with a long skirt which is also adorned with
jade beads. In the figurines in Jaina, what is most frequently seen is a long skirt and a quechI

auemitl with circular points. It is not possible to determine the ranks of the greater part of
the women represented in the mentioned figurines of Jaina since the quechquemitl has no
adornments, and besides they were even used by the simple women weavers; on the other
hand, almost all the women used to wear necklaces and earrings. Some women show only a
skirt as in the case of one an old one, and a hip cloth worn by an old, blind woman.
Jewels

Both men and women of high rank used to wear many jewels, almost all of them of jade.
However some were also of obsidian, shell or bone. Such jewels were comprised of the following: diadems of inserted discs, or sewn on a strip of cloth; locks of hair or flowers in the hair
(Palenque); round, square and complex earrings forming various floral designs (individuals of
apparently lower social rank are accustomed to wear a strip of cloth which crosses the lobe
of the ear); tubular nose rings or those made with buttons on both sides, or a small tablet
hanging from the tip of the nose; mouth ornaments were composed of four elongated tablets
which form a rectangle with a small disc at each right angle, the set of which set off the mouth
(personages in stucco on the crypt of the tomb of the "Temple of the Inscriptions" in Palenque, a personage buried there and a figurine of Jaina); rings worn on the lower lip made of
jade or shell necklaces of a single strand of spherical beads with or without pendants (hideous
masks, lockets); necklaces from a number of concentric strands, generally of tubular beads;
pectorals; bracelets of various rows of beads; rings and bangles also of various rows.
;

Care or the body and adornments for the body

Landa has provided us with much valuable information on the subject of the care of
the body that the Mayas of Yucatan had practised. The chronicler was amazed at the
frequent baths both men as well as women used to take, with cold water or steam, in small
buildings expressly constructed for such purposes.

He

also refers to the fact that the children

became dark-skinned from very many sun baths, and he disliked that the women bathed
together with the men, "with slight morality since it was customary to undress and be stark
naked in the well where they used to go for water". With regard to the steam baths, he assumed that they took them not as much for hygienic reasons, but rather for health.
To beautify themselves, since they had it for the so-called "full dress", they painted
the body and face red, as Landa informs us. He also assures us that they daubed themselves
in black until they married. Herrera makes it still more precise, when he states that they
painted themselves with a certain resin, the color of red ochre, which, incidentally, was also
useful against mosquitos and the heat of the sun. The color varied, that is, black during
fastings, blue for the priests, and black with red for the warriors. The women, according to
Landa "anointed themselves with a colored unguent, and those that had the means, were
accustomed to use a certain aromatic concoction, but which was very sticky. believe it was
liquidamber and was there called iztah-te (itz-tahte). The same chronicler mentions the
special liking that the Mayas of Yucatan had for agreeable odors, using "bouquets of flowers
and odoriferous herbs" to perfume themselves.
I

112

flH

Men and women of high rank

used a great deal of jewelry,

and almost everything was of

jade.
However, they could
also have been of obsidian,
shell

or bone.

shown here

Museum

is

The necklace
in the

National

of Anthropology.

Tattoo
For the Mayas, tattoo through scarification was an important part of body adornment.
The chroniclers mention that, and innumerable sculptures and clav figurines confirm it. The
type of tattoo in which the cicatrices had resulted from cutting the skin previously painted,
form every conceivable kind of design, geometric and symbolic, and was the stamp of pride

among

the men, since the greater the tattoo on the body, the more courageous and valiant
were they considered since the operation involved was extremely painful. They derided those
who were not tattooed. In any case, the tattoo could also be imposed as punishment even for
thieves of high social rank. In such instances their faces were worked over "on both sides,
from the beard till the forehead". The women were also accustomed to tattoo their bodies
"from the waist upward, except for the breast since it was needed for feeding", with '"more
delicate and beautiful work than for the men". The young men, while they were still unmarried, were not tatooed or they did it very lightly.

The

hair

Among

women, the hair was customarily worn long. For the

"on the top they cut it as a crown and thus much of it
grew from the bottom; what appeared to be the crown, remained short. Thev made braids
and formed them into a garland around the head, leaving a very small pony tail in the back
like a tassel". It is understood that, apart from the special kind ot hair cut, the rest of the
hair was very long. In the reliefs in Palenque the hair cut seems to be limited to the back
part of the head. There, and also in very many figurines ot Jaina. the hair appears to be
the

men

former Landa makes

as

it

among

the

delinite that

13

'.'

trimmed over the forehead, giving the form of a step on both sides of the face. In Palenque
one can also see what we have referred to as tufts or locks of hair with tips of jade separating
the hair. The women, when they appear in the reliefs, wear their hair much longer than the
men and without cutting it, letting it in the back. Landa mentions a feminine hair-do, parted
in two, forming a "gallan" headdress; it was also used in braids or forming something that
resembled two or four horns. It is said that there is a difference in the hair-do for the unmarried women, but thus far no one has shown what the difference was.

ceramic piece from Jaina.

The

hairdress or hair-do dif-

fered

according to the sex,

age and status.

elaborate

down

the

The chronicler of Yucatan informs

us that "they did not

grow beards and they use

to

could never grow beards. But

now

they do grow beards although they are very gruff and

The presence of beards and moustaches is, in actuality, sufficiently

Mayan iconography, but it can be noted from time to time. Apart from the representations which correspond to the period of Toltec occupation in Chichen-Itza, we
know of men with beards in reliefs in such places of the central area as Copan, Quirigua,
rough, like horsehair".

rare

in

and principally in Palenque as well as in the figurines of Jaina which date from the
classical period and in no way refer to the foreign invaders. Mention is made of the use of
tweezers in Yucatan, most certainly from copper and gold, as a depilatory, and some samples
of these have been found. It is possible, although no historic source mentions it, that the
use of the beard, as that of certain jewels among the Mexicas, depended on definite rules
of the hierarchy, and that only the lords of high rank had the right to have a beard. That
would explain, on the one hand, their presence in sculptural representations, associated with
Seibal,

114

that basis

of social

considering

elements which the

culture

say that their mothers had burned their faces as children with hot cloths so that they

pictures

stratification

ferent

Facial

On

archaeology has been able to

constituents

of

all

dif-

this

were accustomed to

important personages; and, on the other hand, the custom which Landa refers
probably valid only with regard to the common people.

to,

which was

Deformations and mutilations

As

mark of beauty, which

of course, difficult for us to understand, Landa mentions also strabismus provoked artificially in children, "by hanging their in their hair ... a
small object which reached the middle of their eyebrows; as it moved around they tried to
see it constantly and that made them cross-eyed". Do not forget, however, that the solar
gods appear with huge eyes, generally cross-eyed. We also have to mention the perforation
of the lobe of the ears for the ear-rings, the diameter of which was between 2 and 3 centimeters; that of the nasal partition or of the sides of the nasal openings to hang up the nose
rings, and the cleft below the lip for the ring to pass through in the lower lip.
The ancient Mayas, as all the other Mesoamericans and some of the people of the
Continent as well as of other parts of the world, used to practise cranial deformation. Landa
explains how the child, was stretched out on his small bed of sticks, the head placed between
two small boards, one in front and the other in the back part, pressed with great force "until
several days had passed which left the head flat and molded, as all of them used to have".
Besides this kind of frontal occipital deformation, others were also made, which can be
observed in skulk found in archaeologic explorations in a circular form (this resulted from
a bandage very tightly tied around the head), in an occipital, frontal, posterior-vertical,
frontalvertical-occipital, lambdoidal form, etc. Torquemada, in referring to this practise,
points out they had told him that the gods had given it to their ancestors and that it provided them with a noble aspect, besides making their heads better adapted to carry loads. It
is known, through the archaeologic finds, that the cranial deformation was not limited to
the upper classes of society, which coincides with Landa's information in the sense that it
a

is,

was practised by all.

Although the historic sources only mention the dental mutilations among women, which
they "had out of elegance", leaving the teeth "like the teeth of a saw", a form of operation
which the old women performed "by filing them with certain kinds of stones and water",
according to Landa, we also know, from the study of many skulls found in archaeological
explorations, that the men also practised this form of physical "embellishment". The sources,
however, do not mention the incrustations which, alone or combined with dental cuts, the
ancient Mayas used to make. The cuts took on distinct forms and were carried out in the incisors and upper and lower canines and, as a rule, although probably not in an exclusive form,
with symmetric patterns. The most customary -according to actual data which comes to us
principally from Jaina and Palenque-was the B2 type (Romero), in the form of a lateral
notch or groove in one of the lower corners of the tooth. Frequently type C6 follows that
with a notch on each side of the tooth. There arc some cuts which form sharp points, while
others, blunt ones. However, the most frequent in the Mayan area was the incrustation, also
in incisors or upper and lower canines, of a circular fragment in the center of the face in the
front part of the tooth. The material incrusted was usually jade, but also obsidian, pyrite or
hematites were used. The archaeological findings disclose that, contrary to what was usually
presumed, the practise of dental mutilations was not limited exclusively to the upper strata
of society, since they have been encountered in osseous remains which correspond to the
poor people (who had been buried without the benefit of architectonic structures, apart from
ceremonial buildings, without funeral offerings or with a poor offering). The mutilation in
such cases can still be noted, while personages buried in what is the equivalent of very expensive tombs, in buildings of the ceremonial center and with valuable objects as offerings,
can also not present the feature referred to.
In summary, it seems that while the dress and adornments undoubtedly had a social
significance, which hierarchical or economical character we cannot establish, the physical
deformations lack meaning as a means of differentiation between the various classes of

Mayan

society.

115

ms9L

^
\

The

Social Organization of

the

Economic

The
time,
ity

basis

picture presented by the social organization of any

human

group, at a definite

neither casual nor attributable to the desire of any person, group, or even the total-

is

of the members of such

Mayas

society

group.

made up of

system of relations which functions

cultural and ideologic implications, and which is

any structure with

up on a standing
economic basis, in any specified time, during the historical development of such a unit.
Therefore, the society "ultimately" results from the economic organization, and whatever
change arises therein has to have its repercussions in its actual functioning.

juridical,

is

political,

The economic organization,

established between the

of

their will, within

in its turn,

men of one and

the

is

as

set

constituted by the entirety ot the relations

same society

in

an imposed way, independent

the process of production. Such relations

become more complex

in

proportion to the rate of development of the productive forces.

These forces, which allow the production of goods that men use, comprise: the same
men as the potential of work, the natural resources which are found within their reach, and
the technical instruments which they have created with which they transform these natural
resources into products of consumption.

which the men maintain among themselves in the process of production

of goods determine the system of ownership, distribution, change and utilization ot such
goods; and establish the fundamental differences between groups ot human beings, differences which bring about a division of classes of society.

The

Mayan

Within

ball-player

was

considered

society

very

privileged indi-

vidual, this placed

upper
able

spheres
to

feasts
rituals.

him

and

participate

and

this

likely

special

in

the

he

was

in

the

religious

relations

Our information on

the subject of

two kinds ot sources: the

which can be deduced from the ar-

society rests on

XVI century and the results

The former refer to the conditions

Spanish chronicles of the

chaeological materials.

Mayan

cannot be applied retroactively

in

at the

any absolute form to the

time ot the conquest and

classical period, in

view ot the

17

fact that the

Mayan

area, over a period

of centuries prior to the

arrival

of the Spaniards,

was dominated by groups which had come from the central region of Mexico. In many
aspects and forms they imposed new norms on the life of the Mayas. However, the interpretation of the archaeological data associated with the classical period does not seem to
contradict the historic information, at least fundamentally, in so far as the social organization

is

concerned.

Land tenure
Since the basic occupation of the ancient

Mayas was

agriculture, an important element,

its economic organizaproblem of land ownership appears.

It is obvious that so rotund an assertion as that of Landa, when he says that "the lands
are now common property, and thus the first one who occupies it, is the owner", does
not precisely define the system of land tenure in Yucatan. Cogolludo refers to it in a less
simplistic form, but, in actuality, he is only reproducing the information of Gaspar Antonio
Chi: "The lands were common property, and thus among the people there were no limits
or boundaries which could divide them, although it was that way between provinces during
wars, except for some seedbeds for sowing fructiferous trees and lands, which might have
been bought on some such basis as general betterment".
Villa Rojas, relying to a great extent on the ethnohistoric and ethnographic investigations of Ralph Roys, presents many forms of land tenure which we shall summarize briefly

therefore, for the definition of that society; in the first instance of

tion the

at this point.

Lands of the State

At the time of the conquest, Yucatan found itself divided into 16 small states or provinces, each one of which had its own autonomous government. The territory of each state
was duly delimited as is confirmed by Chi's information. Some documents give the impression that the governor considered the land his which corresponded to his State and that he
was able to dispose of them "for the general benefit of the community or for the members
of the nobility". Actually, the fact that the Head of State regarded himself as owner of the
lands under his jurisdiction, and that he could make whatever decisions he wanted for its
utilization, does not imply that he would have had, under all circumstances, the full ownership of these same lands.

Land pertaining to the people

Each town or village had its own land which, in contradiction to the data provided
by Chi, seems to have been delimited. These towns comprised a capital and distinct sites
or dispersed hamlets. The lands belonged to all, were distributed among the inhabitants
for their usufruct, and the people were able to acquire private property which was not
transferrable to those of another

Lands of

partial

community

or town.

ownership

The towns were divided into districts or groups of partial ownership, referred to as
tzucul in Mayan, which is equivalent to the Aztec calpulli. It is a political and religious
subdivision, since each partly owned land had its ruler and its own special deity. It has
been assumed that this type of division could have been brought to the Mayan area by the
Nahuatl invaders at a fairly late date, although it is more readily acceptable that the normal
growth of the towns, associated with religious concepts, such as the quadruplicity of deities
and other elements situated in cardinal points, would have determined the division of the

118

''if

Land tenure is a factor which

shows us with sufficient clarity

the type of society that

the

Mayan had

been. Here, in

view of Uxmal, we
see several Mayan men working on what, in a certain pe-

towns into four or more

served as the owners, for

from the

districts

communal

classical period on.

These

districts

use, of the specific lands within their

would have

domain.

Lands through lineage

this partial

riod,

State.

were the lands of the

Within each partially owned regions, the lands were divided into lots for family groups
of patrilineal lineage, apparently through ownership and inheritances. In some of the docu-

ments of the XVII century, Titulos de Ebtun (the "Titles of Ebtun") it is quite clear that
the lands of a certain lineage corresponded to the "mountains ... opened up by their ancestors", and it is emphasized that they were clearly delimited and measured out.

Lands of the nobility

The nobles were accustomed

to consider as their lands

distributed them", the actual land of the people.

"by the

By belonging

will of the gods,

who

to the nobility the governors

and taking into account that the

lineages possessed lands, it is natural that the principal ones, from the ruling line up to those
of the rulers on different levels, had lands as their own property. They were able to obtain
them through inheritance, purchase, presents or concessions from the highest ruler.
of political entities (State, larger or smaller towns,

districts),

Special lands
Special lands belonged to the nobles or to the rich. This had

come about from

personal

from the investments of capital. These lands were

cocoa bean, cotton and some fruits, and represented genuine wealth. The ownership
of such lands was absolute for the owner, but it was obligatory to give preference to members of his lineage or to the authorities of the town in case of putting an axis on them, for
the purpose of making certain that they would not be burned over to the heads of other
towns or villages. They were inherited only through the patrilineal line to the male children.
Although with reference to the Highlands we lack enough information, such as we have

efforts or

used exclusively for the cultiva-

tion of

119

A map of Tabasco drawn

by Melchor de Alfaro Santa
Cruz in 1579. This map accompanies a geographic kind
of description in which the
distribution of the lands is
shown.

Yucatan, the data available

for

calls

up

a picture

have just presented on the subject of land tenure.

more
It is

or less comparable to that which

we

entirely possible to affirm that, at the

time of the Spanish conquest, there coexisted two forms of land ownership: collective own-

by the peasants of the village, and of the partially owned lands

which were sectioned off), and special or private (the lands of the State over which the highest ruler had complete right of disposal; the lands belonging to lineages, originally opened up
for cultivation to their ancestors; the lands of the nobility in the hands of political heads at
different hierarchic levels; and the lands which belonged to the rich people).
It can also be assumed that at the time of the classical period there existed two forms of
ership (lands held in usufruct

more restricted than the collective

Mayan area had been dominated over a

land tenure, but that the private ownership was probably

one. In point of fact

we ought

to

remember

period of five or six centuries by invaders

ly

that the

who came from

the Western frontier, and ultimate-

from the central region of Mexico, and that the military conquest must have determined
many of the warring chiefs and

the concession of lands in ownership and inheritances, to

civil as

well as religious authorities of the conquerors.

The communal lands probably con-

stituted the greater part of those that were exploited during the classical period, within

unchanged even by the intrusion of alien peoples and before a

militarism was imposed which favored, as has always been the case, the transference of the
land from the vanquished to those who had distinguished themselves in battle.
a conservative

system

still

Usufruct of the products

In

120

any

case, the tenure of land in itself does not fully explain the process of

production

and distribution of the goods obtained by means of the exploitation of the land. Who did
the work on the land and who were the ones to take advantege of this work? To these
questions we find answers, in a more or less unanimous form, in the chroniclers of the XVI
and XVII centuries and in the modern investigators. In one of the previous chapters ("Organization of work") we anticipated something along these lines. All production work, especially agricultural, was turned over to the common people and was accomplished under the
management of the priests, who were accustomed to monopolize the astronomical and
calendaric knowledge. Landa states with absolute assurance that "the town or the people
had their sown lands, but only for the lords". Cogolludo affirms that the articles of subsistence and luxury arrived to the city "from the vassals to the princess", that is, in the form
of tributes.

From

the statements of the chroniclers one can deduce that the peasant was able to keep,

from what he produced, what was hardly sufficient to meet the most basic needs for himself
and his family, and that the greater part of what was exacted with great effort from nature
served to maintain the hierarchy of the lords and the priests. From the existence of hundreds
of ceremonial centers, which surround thousands of buildings used for religious worship and
for the residences of the ruling class, it is deduced that a great part of the surplus produced
by the peasant served to provide alimentation for thousands of men who worked, temporarily
or permanently, on the construction of the buildings referred to. Besides, a certain class of
workers, such as the artisans, the loaders, the cultivators of some specific plants such as

cocoa bean, henequcn, and cotton, and others who were not producers of food products,
would have to count on part of the products produced by the peasant. The development
of commerce, especially in the postclassical period, would imply a heavy load for the man of
the field since the businessmen, as those who extracted natural products such as salt and
fish, or who made products intended for an interchange on a large scale, would have been
and would not produce their own food.
From the historic information available, one can inter that the transfer of good produced by the common man for the rulers and those who were accustomed to devote some
or all of their time to the building of monuments or to obtain merchandise lor the benefit of
the lords, priests and merchants, not only affected the agricultural production, since, under
devoted to their

activities

on

a fulltimc basis

the form of tribute, a large part of what was obtained from the hunt, fishing and collecting

was transfered

also to the lords

and

priests.

Social stratification

up on an economic basis such as we have

outlined? Obviously, a society divided into classes which had not only different but actually
antagonistic interests. The social stratification was explicitly presented in the chronicles.
Landa describes a Mayan city at the time of the conquest (Cf. our chapter "Diverse types
of dwellings"), which explains how the distribution of the population around the ceremonial
buildings was ruled by social differentiation to the extent that the greatest proximity to the

What kind of

social organization

could be

set

center was in direct relation to hierarchich preponderance.

many times to the existence of slaves (sacrificed in the

people
(whose homes were constructcd-and under which they
Sacred Cenote), common
were buried-"for the benefits of the town"); lords (for whom the lands were sown, their
The same

homes being

chronicler refers

built near the

ceremonial buildings and their ashes being deposited

in

urns

and the main people (whose homes were located between those of the
lords and priests, on the one hand, and those of the common people, on the other). Others
chroniclers, such as Cogolludo and Pedro Martir, also make reference to lords and slaves.
In the light of our present knowledge, we can assert that Mayan society was composed
inside the temple),

121

of four

classes,

keeping

in

mind

the relations that existed between the various

human groups

within the process of the production and distribution of goods.

At the top of the

pyramid one would find the

which the lords as

well as the priests belonged, respectively designated in Yuratan, almchenoob (that is, those
who have a mother and father), and ahkinoob (that h chose of the Sun). Although we cannot establish more precisely how this nobility was formed, we can assume that a great part
of it, at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, had their origin on the basis of what they
had won in war. One has to remember that many of the Mayan rulers, both in Yucatan (Xiu,
Itza, and Cocom) as well as in Guatemala, were proud of their possible Toltec or Mexica
origin, that is, that the Mayan nobility, in a great part of the global area, came from foreign
invasions. The Mayan name almehenoob came to be semantically equivalent to the Spanish
term hidalgo which implied knowledge of one's ancestors and the awareness of being part of
a lineage.

It

is

social

further essential to

remember

the nobility corresponded the charges as

nobility, to

that the quality of a noble

civil

was hereditary. To

leaders; the practise of the priesthood; the

high bureaucratic standards; the possibility of devoting oneself to science, whether mathematics, astronomy or medicine, to the handling of the calendar, and to the knowledge and

use of writing. Ultimately, this class directed the agricultural activities, determining the time

most suitable

and the rest of the tasks, but without participatany productive activity. Their standard of living was far superior
to that of the other classes, since they were accustomed to make use of what resulted as
surpluses obtained from the work of the common people who, of course, constituted the
vast majority of the population.
One group for which we do not have enough and exact information, a lack which leads
us to doubt its existence as a separately differentiated class, is that or the merchants. In
Mexica society it seems that the pochteca could be considered as a member of an intermediate class clearly defined, between the nobility and the macehuales. When we discussed
commerce in a previous chapter, we mentioned the existence among the Mayas of the plain
professional merchant, probably on a regional (ppolom) scale, in contrast to the owner of
a real commercial enterprise (ah ppolom yoc), with caravans for interchanges that were
ing directly in

to prepare the land, to sow,

them nor

in

and even up to very great distances; and that they also utilized canoes, as
Columbus had found along the Eastern coast of Yucatan. It is possible to mention also
barter, but on a small scale, directly among the producers in local tianguis. The professional
traders seem to have enjoyed a much higher economic and social level than the common
people, but to judge by the contents of historic information, more than integrate a socially
differentiated class, they would form part of the nobility; they would be the nobles devoted
to mercantile activities or rich merchants who had become members of the nobility (one
should not forget the cases of Apoxbalon, of the lords of Chichen-ltza and of Cocom's son).
interregional

drawing inspired

figures of the

Frescos

("Temple

Frescoes")

of

by

Templo de
of

Bonampak

panic Mayas

of the

the production of goods, but rather only in

the

owners of cocoa bean plantations which were limited in their geographic distribution Tabasco and Soconusco-and of a special character due
to the use of cocoa bean as currency. It is hard to think that the cultivation of cocoa bean
would not have been controlled and monopolized by the nobility or the merchants, just as
it is not conceded in our society that money can be fabricated privately.
The great mass of the population constituted the plebeian class of the ah chemhal uinicoob, the "lower, vulgar and coarse men", also referred to as memba uninicoob, "the work-

in

prehis-

shown. At the
head, the Halach Uink ("The
True Man"); below him, the
nobles, the families of the nobles and the warriors, the artisans and the merchants and,
finally, the
al

participate, of course, in

This group, being or not a separate

los

Chiapas, in which the social

stratification

was not accustomed

the

is

peasants (Nation-

Museum of Anthropology).

sector of society one

would include

class,

its

interchange.

to'

It is

highly possible that in this

the

men, common people, plebeians", and through Nahuatl

influence, the mazc-hualoob. These men were responsible for all the production work in the
field of agriculture, hunting, fishing, collecting, salt extraction; apiculture and .ill the other

ers",

and halba uinicoob,

"little

123

ji-i

production, in a permanent or temporary form, as that of the sump-

activities involved in

tuary works involved in the construction of

monuments

for ritual purposes, or as residences

would enjoy some rights,

As men
among which were the usufruct of some lands, and individual rights concerning their personal and family life. As far as the goods they produced, we have already stated that they
were accustomed to keep only the most indispensable to assure their own survival and that
of their families as well, in order to continue producing the goods that the socio-economic
for the

members of

the ruling class.

legally "free", they

system demanded of them.

At a still lower level than that of the previous class, there was the one that had to share
the load of production, although their participation was undoubtedly less than that of the

common

people.

We

124

The chroniclers explain

committment of penal crimes;

are referring to the slaves, the p'entacoob.

the circumstances under which slavery had

come about:

the

The Baroque

qualities of the

clothing and the attitude of

the

personages

the

high

they

had

social
in

demonstrate
rank which

society.

Lintel

26 of Yaxchilan, Chiapas.

who were slaves; to have been

merchant; to be an orphan intended for sacrifice by his guardian. The slave did
not enjoy any rights; he was compelled to work on specifically owned lands, that is, that of
the nobility and the rich; and he was the most likely victim, always available for human
sacrifices. He used to take part in the production, but whatever he would receive would
only be for a precarious survival since he was always threatened by his own state as a podebts; being prisoners of war; to have been born to parents

bought by

tential victim.

Therefore, on the basis of historical sources we can affirm that the Mayan society was
divided into differentiated classes, with the exception which we previously pointed out, as
regards the merchants. The antagonism of interests between these classes was evident even

though

it

was not manifested

in the

form of

The hypothesis of an organization without

a class struggle.
classes

In spite of what we consider self-explanatory, some investigators have expressed their

doubts about the social stratification among the ancient Mayas, and have suggested the
existence, in the classical period, of a social system without any class distinctions.
The hypothesis of a group of investigators such as ethnologists and archaeologists of
Harvard University and other North American institutions, is based primordially on the
conclusions which were reached from the ethnologic investigations in Zinacantan, a town
in the Highlands of Chiapas, the language of which is Tzotzil; and also from archaeological
explorations carried out principally in Belize.
One can summarize the main points of this hypothesis in the following manner:
a) At present the population lives in villages and in scattered hamlets. They come together in Zinacantan for political, religious and commercial matters. In the classical period the
population used to live in scattered communities, but they recognized one ceremonial center
for their reunions and, essentially, for the purpose of fulfilling their religious obligations.
b) The small towns of the classical period had smaller ceremonial centers which consisted of several small buildings. In these towns the priests and the common people used to
live together on the same economic and social level.
c) In the same way in which the political-religious obligations are discharged by the
peasants appointed for one year, in ancient times the common people would have opportunities to positions in a revolving and temporary form.
d) The Tzotzil peasants of today are being promoted, little by little, in the hierarchy
of the posts, alternating their fulfillment with their normal activities as agriculturists. It can
be assumed that the same would have taken place in the classical period and that the promotion would comprise the passing from minor centers to increasingly more important ones.
e) The peasant origin of the civil and religious leaders, their provisional return to the
work in the field, as also the fact that when they were given directive posts, that did not free
them from their social stratum, would explain the fact that the building of the ceremonial
centers; the obtaining of the necessary workers; of the food to maintain the builders and
the beneficiaries of the centers; and the absolute conformity of the population to devoting
part of their time to such work, did not present any difficulty since the builders and the
usufructuaries were in actuality the same peasants.
f) Besides, the peasant population needed only a part of their time to meet their own
special needs and much time was left over to them to work on such buildings and to produce
alimentary surpluses which allowed them to attain a standard of living more or less similar
to that of the other social groups, so that they were able to acquire non-essential goods
and even luxuries.
g) The knowledge demanded of the Mayan priests of antiquity was not superior to
what is required of the Tzotzil peasants for fulfilling political and religious posts.
h) One should not regard Mayan society as stratified into hermetic classes in which the
nobility, that is, the civil and priestly leaders, dominated and exploited the great masses
of peasants.

125

Referring

first to

to a), but only if

it

is

the points based on archaeologic explorations,

for the interpretations presented in f)

presence in small communities of

some modest ceremonial

and

h).

we have no

As

objection

a matter of fact, the

buildings only

means the

realiza-

on the level of a village, but does not imply that all the inhabitants were
able to have the same wealth in goods and had the same social standing. The findings in
small centers in Belize of platforms for dwellings with stucco floors instead of pounded
down earth, and of retaining walls well constructed, as well as also some jade objects and
ceramics decorated on the tombs which are assumed to have been of the common people,
does not provide any basis for the hypothesis that the lower classes did not have a standard
of living which differentiated them from the higher classes. On the one hand, the buildings
used as dwellings could have belonged to a specific lower hierarchy, whether civil or religious, emphasized by a higher order in the village in the representation of more important
leaders, and the same could have taken place with the tombs and the offerings which were
more costly than usually. On the other hand, a funeral offering of a specific value can
tion of ritual acts

126

drawing of the tablet of

tne

slaves

strat]ii

in

Palenque. The
<

and exalted the priests

and military leaders on the
gravestones, steles, lintels and
fied

sculpture.

eventually

accompany

of antiquity,

as

much

common

gift

burial since

it

is

a frequent

occurrence

among

the people

America, that the relatives of the dead make

for their eternal stay in the other life with some purpose they

for the

and give a
would never have been
a sacrifice

Old World

as for

and use in this life.

With reference to the alleged "free time" of the peasants, we have treated this problem
in the chapter dealing with the organization of work, and we doubt very much if this factor,
that is, "leisure time" had ever actually existed. With regard to the free disposal of the surable to acquire

plus of products created during this hypothetic "free time",

same chapter and

at the

we

peasant in prehispanic times, with "leisure time" or without

through

his

forced labor, with the limited technologic means

time, would have encountered any

higher than what

To

it is

dealt with this aspect in the

beginning of the present one. With absolute certainty the

with reference

it;

Mayan

the producer of surpluses

still

inferior to those of our

number of difficulties to attain

to the Mayan peasant of today.

a standard

of living

antedate to the classical period the rotating system of existing offices or posts in

Mayan population

the present day

in

the Highlands of Chiapas, even assuming the pro-

motion of the peasants to higher levels each time in the civil and religious hierarchy during
that period points c), d) and e) does not go beyond a hypothesis in which all the historical
data which we have treated in the present chapter are opposed, and the archacologic data as
well (Cf. the chapter "The art of the Mayas"), which we make use of.
It is certain that for some investigators, among whom are the advocates of the hypothesis under discussion, the historic information of the XVI century has to be considered
with much reserve and even up to the point of discarding it in order to appraise the situations
which correspond to the classical period. They consider it in that light for the simple reason
that the invasions which had emanated from the center of Mexico, and the domination, in
great part, of the

ed the forms of
as

Mayan

life

area during the centuries prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, alter-

and the organization of the Mayan society

to such a point that nothing,

presented by the chroniclers, should be accepted as valid for the classical period.
Well then, the results are

now

absolutely contradictory.

On

the one hand,

when

the

by the chroniclers of the XVI century is rejected on the

basis of not being applicable to that period, due to the changes that had taken place during
the five centuries prior to the Spanish conquest, and, that on the other hand, the present
day system may be suggested as an outline of ancient Mayan society, forgetting that what
socio-political picture as presented

had occurred from that time on, that is, from the 10th to the 16th centuries took place
not only in the form of changes already referred to, but also the tremendous impact from
the conquest, the three centuries of colonial domination and more than a century and a half
of acculturation during the republican period. In point of fact, one ought not automatically
apply, nor reject in a categorical manner, the information from the XVI century that belongs to the end of the postclassical period

when

it

is

matter of necessity to evaluate the

It is not possible to bring up the changes in certain aspects of the religious

of the organization of society, ot the aesthetic norms and others, but, most definitely,
the secular conservatism of the Mayan people and the complete stability ot their daily life
(which is still encountered today in many aspects), have to considerably hold in check the

classical period.
life,

attempts

at their transformation.

Or

rather, the last phase of the postclassical period

shows

a return to the architectonic, sculptural and ceramic patterns, technically and thematically,

which had predominated in the classical period and which seems to be the reflection of a
process of Mayanization of a culture which only in its highest manifestations, bound to the
civil and religious pinnacle of society, had become into a hybrid form, that is, the MayanToltec or Mayan-Mexica.
The hypothesis which we arc discussing was criticized (Proskouriakoff. Haviland,

127

W. Coe, Ruz) and later the authors of these criticisms introduced some important exceptions
which changed the more rotund conclusions. On the one hand, it was suggested that the
promotion, in a rotating form, of the peasants in civil and religious posts would not reach
the point of covering more than the positions of inferior categories, while the high hereditary
posts were retained completely for members of the higher classes of society (Vogt). It was
further suggested that the present day organization in Zinacantan would correspond more
appropriately to the preclassical period prior to the complete development of the Mayan
classical society, and which would return to rule again after its decline and the influence
of foreign groups (Bullard).
The tendency to deny the existence of differentiated and antagonistic classes among
the ancient Mayas, is sufficiently widespread among the Mayan investigators. We ask ourselves if this is not due to an ideologic attitude whether conscious or unconscious of the
refusal

128

to recognize the existence of classes

and

their struggles, as a definitive factor in

numeral glyph. The totemorigin of the clans is inferred from the numerous surnames which correspond to
names of animals. These family names are still used in
the zone. One can assume
ic

that in

mon

many

would

been an animal, such

lialam

(jaguar),

pent),

Pech

(dog).

com-

cases the

ancestor

have
as the

Chan

(tick)

or

(ser-

Pelt

among them and which

through violence. To deny this for

the historic process of societies, struggles which are developed

culminate

in radical transformations, generally attained

form of denying that for the present and immediate future in a kind of tranThat is the attitude which one attributes to the ostric when it tries to
from
escape
the dangers which threaten it.
the past

is

quilizing exorcism.

The

tribal
It

is

system
highly probable that in a previous stage of socio-economic development before

there were class distinctions, the Mayan groups would have been organized in a tribal system,
according to clans, as is well known, to have occurred on a universal level. Various authors
have suggested the survival of such a system within the framework of the classical Mayan
society, and in coexistence with stratification according to classes. For some, as for example
Morley and Brainerd, only specific traces can be detected in the classical Mayan society; for
others, as for Haviland, the system of clans would function in the course of the early classical period and would disintegrate without disappearing completely, during the late classical
period under the pressure of a strong development and of the diversification of the econ-

omic

life.

The data which permitted

the elaboration of this hypothesis are, to a great extent,

from the information of the chroniclers of the XVI century, although only in the form of
indirect inferences, since the clans had by then already virtually disappeared. The terminology employed in kinship terms and the existence of some precise taboos with reference to
marriage, between kin individuals are the elements which served as a basis for the hypothetic
reconstruction of the system.
The most generally accepted attitude is that the clans were patrilineal, exogamic and
probably of a totemic origin. Their patrilineal nature is inferred from the norms of ancestry
and inheritance, although some features suggested a parallel matrilineal system. In fact, it
seems that in Yucatan patrilineal lineages [chibal) and matrilineal [czacab) had existed. In
addition, the residence of the newly married couples can be matrilocal for a number of years,
or patrilocal, which certainly points to the ambivalence of the system. However, the great
number of taboos in marriage which pertains to the paternal line in comparison with that of
the maternal, which are restricted only to the maternal aunt and her daughter, leads one
to think that the clans were fundamentally patrilineal. Haviland believes that the twofold
ancestry implicit in the name that was given in Yucatan to the member of the nobility,
almehen (who has both a mother and father), could rule only in the upper class of society,
but he considers that questionable.
Exogamy is manifested in the taboo which prohibits marriage between individuals who
have the same family name even though they have no ties of blood relationship. The Fact
of having a common family name indicated that they belonged to one and the same clan,
that is, the origin of a common ancestry through which an endogamic marriage constituted
a form of incest. This taboo still exists among the Tzeltals and Lacandons.
With regard to the probable totemic origin of the clans, it is inferred from the innumerable family names still used, which correspond to the names of animals. One can assume
that in many cases the common ancestor would be an animal. Among the family names of
this kind we can recall the following: Balam (jaguar), Chan (serpent), May (young deer or
doe), Pech (tick), I'k (louse), and Pek (dog).
The existence in the Mayan classical society of traces of a tribal system does not
validate the fact of the division into classes with different

and antagonistic

interests.

in-

The

XVI and XVII centuries, the investigation of

documents from the civil or parochial archives, the archaeologic evidence and the iconographic analysis, all concur in making evident such a division. It is obvious that at the top
of the Mayan society there was a minority which exercised the economic, social, religious
and political power, a class, economically parasitic which absorbed, in the form of tributes and labor force, the surpluses produced by the tremendous majority of the population.
historic information of the chroniclers of the

129

>w*
'

ii

mk

Political, Sacerdotal,

Judicial and Military

Organization

Mesoamerican empires

From studying

the history of the main Mesoamerican peoples,

to the conclusion that

manner of

referring to

it

was possible to

arrive

some of these had come to constitute actual empires. That is the

an Olmccan regime, to a Teotihuacan regime, a Toltec regime as well

of the Mexicas. Certain factors are considered essential to quality the designation
of an empire. Among such factors or elements are the dominion exercised by a metropolis
over an ample territory and even remote regions, occupied by States which lost their independence or their autonomy in part, when they became dependent States particularly in
as that

economic ones as well. A regime or empire

army sufficiently strong and organized to be able to conquer new
territories and control those already vanquished. Another quality or characteristic of an
empire is the dominion of the metropolitan people over distinctly different ethnic and
linguistic groups. Other elements which determine an empire consist of commerce, carried
on over great distances; the acquisition of "exotic" products and the imposing of the
the political aspect, but also in the military and
implies the existence of an

religion of the imperial center as well as of the stylistic patterns in general.

of the fact that these characteristics cannot be applied to the Mayas, and much
before one even thought about the Olmccan, Teotihuacan, Tolteean and Mexica empires,
In spite

By means of different symbols

the

architecture

Itza

shows the

litical

of Chichen

social

hierarchical

and po-

organiza-

tion of a people

wrapped up

and

mythology.

in

religion

The Templo de los Guerreros

("Temple of the Warriors"),
in

Chichen

Itza.

two Mayan empires separated geographically, temporally, had already been assumed, that is, an Old Empire, located in Pcten of Guatemala
and the neighboring regions of Usumacinta and Motagua, and a New Empire, which followed it in the Peninsula of Yucatan and which had resulted from the fusion of Mayan and
Tolteean cultures. The transfer of the concepts of the Old and New Empires of Egypt to the
Mayan area, Morley's fiction, maintained by him until his death, despite the archaeologic
evidence each time more definitely negative, had been converted into a dogma and is still
conserved in that form in many manuals published on the subject, and even several times in
the existence not merely of one, but of

131

minds and writings of present day

Mayan Empire had never existed.

an implicit form

obvious that a

Autonomous

From

in

the

investigators.

However,

it

is

States

the historic sources

we know

that at the time of the Spanish conquest the

Mayan

autonomous States. We know the names of those which constituted a

great part of the Peninsula of Yucatan and the Highlands of Guatemala, and we can well
assume that in the classical period the situation was more or less the same, if we consider
the entire Mayan area as one unit, we note that in one and the same period, people on an
equal technologic and cultural level, who had the same knowledge of mathematics, astronomy and the calendar; the same hieroglyphic writing, the same beliefs and the same gods
area was occupied by

and

rituals,

manifested their creative

spirit in the

form of architectonic conceptions and

distinct sculptural styles to such a high degree of differentiation that

it

is

impossible to

from Tikal to the builders of Palenque and viceversa, or to confuse a

stele from Copan with one from Piedras Negras or Yaxchilan. This stylistic diversity which
the different regions of that central area, that is, Peten, Usumacinta and Motagua present,
has to be a reflection of a territorial division in the form of provinces or autonomous States.
The historical data which we have with reference to the political organization of
Yucatan deal, of course, with the conditions that existed when the conquerors arrived, and
can be considered valid for the earlier centuries which constitute what we designate the
postclassical period. With regard to the classical period we lack documentary information
and can only deduce the results from the archaeologic monuments and their iconographic
contents. The patterns of settlement; the diversity or uniformity of the types of dwellings
on the different levels of rural, semiurban and urban concentrations; the distinct types of
burials, and further data, which come to light from the archaeologic explorations can help
us, up to a certain degree, to reconstruct schematically the political frame in which the
attribute a temple

classical
In

Mayan

speaking of the social organization in the previous chapter, we emphasized the

attitude of
torical

society functioned.

some

investigators

who

are disposed to accept for the classical period, the his-

information which we have available for the postclassical, expressing their opinion to

the effect that the invasions which

norms of

life

marked

the end of the classical period totally altered the

of the Mayas and especially their political and social structures. Without deny-

ing that such invaders as the Chontals, the Toltecs, the Pipils and Mexicas ought to have

changed the Mayan institutions, concomitantly one should not forget that these foreigners
had also belonged to the Mesoamerican culture and that they were, basically, accustomed
to participate in their systems, ideas and general ways of life. It could perhaps be said that
in the postclassical period, with the invasion of a more virulent militarism and with the increase of commerce, the society was, on the one hand, more complex than during the
classical period, and, on the other, less homogeneous, their political organization being more
ramified although within some structural patterns common to Mesoamerica.

Political organization

According to the

on Yucatan, each State was governed by a

who belonged to the nobility
and whose post was hereditary. His eldest son succeeded him on his death, and in the
event of the lack of male descendents or of the age to rule, the throne was given to his
older brother. He enjoyed a wide range of powers as much on the civil ground as on the
halach uinic, that

132

is,

historical information

"a true man", also called ahau, "lord",

He was accustomed to rely on the advice of a Council of State, called ah cuch cab,
"the ramrod of the people", which was made up of priests and heads from the highest
ranks of society. The batab, appointed by the halach uinic and frequently a relative of his,
governed the satellite cities. The batab fulfilled civil, judicial and military functions: he
religious.

collected taxes for his governor, administered justice and was the military chief of the unit

and he also had several ah kideloob, aids who

transmitted and executed his orders, and the ah holpopoob, "those who are at the head of
the mat", who had such obligations as the management of the popolna, "the house of the

he was born

in.

local council assisted him,

people", a place of reunion for the

The

distinct historic evidences

confirm
priests

for

us

were

the

"the

that
lords,

heads and superior to

the

all..."

This drawing of a personage

on
the grave-stone of the Templo
de la Cruz ("Temple of the
Cross") in Palenque, and presents a priest smoking a huge
is

beautifully

pipe.

men

to discuss their business, to arrange the ceremonies,

and to organize the dances and songs. The ah holpop was the chief singer, the head of the
musicians and in charge of the musical instruments; the tupil, on the lower level in this
bureaucratic hierarchy, was entrusted with fulfilling the orders which come from his superiors. In spite of the fact that the batab exercised military power, in case of war the
effective command rested on the nacom, the expert in war activities.
It was assumed that during the classical period the concentration of power was greater
than in the postclassical. The basis for this was the fact that along with the dynamics typical
of the development, each time more complex, of this society, there would have been a need
for a specific division in the management of the civil, religious, military, judicial and mercantile activities, although the rigid stamp of an autocratic government would, of course,
continue. The fact that important personages who appear on the steles, lintels and panels
of the classical Mayan monuments may be holding objects which have a religious connotation (a scepter with a serpentine handle, which culminates with the mask of a god, probably
the rain god; a ceremonial bar with signs which represent celestial bodies and which terminates at both extremities with heads of serpents, and which supposedly symbolizes the
heavens; a circular shield with features of the Sun god) seems to indicate that the governors
used to exert, besides, a priestly function, that is, their political power emanated from
their ecclesiastic state as agents of a deity.

sculptured

In a magnificent sculptural

hands of the Mayan ruler

subjects or kneeling vassals,

personage
less

who imposes

his

work,

stele 1 1

of Yaxchilan,

this duality

of power in the

head raised in front of various

the ruler hides his face behind a mask of the solar god. The
power in this scene is, for those who are inferior to him, no

is

clearly expressed: with his

than a god.

Sacerdotal organization

The preponderance of
the conquest,

is

priests in the

power structure even during the period preceding

confirmed by the chronicler Diego Lopez de Cogolludo

that "the priests were considered as lords, the heads

were the ones

who meted

respect". Their

field

and superiors of

all

when he

states

the people, and

out punishments and made awards, being obeyed with great

of action, of course, went beyond the purely religious, as it embraced

and judicial. Besides, the priests monopolized the scientific knowledge

in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, the calendar, writing, and history; whereby their
dominion over the individual and the group as a whole was absolute.
The information which Landa provided pertains to Yucatan, but only to a late period.
However, one can assume that the organization of the priesthood in other regions of the
Mayan area and during the classical period did not differ to any great extent from that one
presented by the chronicler. A generic term designated all the priests, and when the Spaniards arrived, the same name was used by the Mayas to designate the friars: ahkin (plural,
ahkinoob). The meaning of that term, "he of the Sun", indicates the great importance of
solar worship, or that in its origin the priesthood would have been specifically associated
also

the

political

133

with such worship. (In a preceding paragraph

we mentioned

that the

Head

priest

wore the

mask of the solar god of Yaxchilan.)

The highest priest, according to Landa, was
of
is

this
still

called Ahuacan May, but it is highly likely

information to be related to a certain individual whose family name was May, which

frequently encountered, and so, therefore, that the

"the serpent's lord". The scepter to which

in the

monuments of

we

the classic period, with

title

was only Ahaucan, that

refer as characteristic of

its

many

is,

personages

handle in the form of a serpent, suggests

title would have been very widespread over a great part of the Mayan area (Peten,
Usumacinta, and Motagua) in that period.

that the

The
cific

would most certainly imply very spewe do have some knowledge about them from the chronicles. Besides,

great variety in the functions of the priests

positions and

there were distinct levels in the ecclesiastic hierarchy as in the

Of

civil

one, in accordance with

was the function and position of the

who carried him on their
shoulders when he was presented during public ceremonies. A connoisseur and interpreter of
the books in which were recorded the historic events and all happenings such as the astronomical, meteorologic, etc., which called their attention, the chilam used to announce of
the importance of the centers.

greatest importance

chilam, the prophet or seer, highly venerated by the people,

forebode their repetition in accordance with the cyclic recurrences of the calendaric periods.
i
Another important position, although not very e r
a by the people, was that of the
nacom who was in charge of human sacrifices. While it is assumed that all the other posi-

nacom, however, was elected and on a lifetime basis.

In order to affect the sacrifice it was customary to open the breast and take out the heart of
the victim, in which act the nacom was assisted by four venerable old men, chosen for each
ceremony. Their mission was to hold down the arms and legs of the victim when he was
placed on the stone that was used for making the sacrifice. Such venerable old men were
called chaacoob, a word which has a completely different meaning as it signifies the god
of rain. They, i.e., the chaacoob also helped in other ceremonies, as, for example, that of
puberty, that of the new fire in the month of Pop, with which the civil calendar was initiated, and also in some others related to specific holidays on the calendar, in the rituals of
apiculture, and probably still others.
On the lower level of the priestly hierarchy one finds the ahmen, "the one who knows",
the one who had more contact with the people, since he was accustomed to participate
in the indispensable agricultural ceremonies at the time of sowing and harvesting or during
prolonged periods of drought which made it necessary to pray to the rain god Chaac during the ceremony of the cha-chaac for the rain that was lacking. The ahmen was, in addition,
the sorcerer and witch doctor, that is, the one who had the power to provoke illnesses and
detriment, but who was also able to provide the remedy for them. It is precisely the post of
ahmen, of all the diverse religious posts, the one that has survived till now.
tions of the priests were hereditary, the

Judicial organization

The chronicles that provide the data for Yucatan are in accord, to the extent that the
Mayas were regarded as peaceable and "were governed by laws and good customs", which

we can
The Mayan pyramids erected
so as to be nearer to heaven

as that of Tikal, Guatemalawere also intended to be

separated from the ground
so

as

forces

to

on

invoke
high.

the divine

readily accept since there

is

confirmation of that

in the present

Yucatecan population

respectful of the laws and has a profound feeling of justice. More difficult to
statement to the effect that "these people lived so peacefully that there
Landa's
accept
were never any disputes among them". The chronicler obviously contradicts himself since

which

still is
is

he also refers to the violations and crimes for which corresponding adequate punishments
were indicated. We have already stated that the civil chiefs and priests, apart from their
specific functions in their respective offices, also exercised judicial powers. That specifically

135

XV

'iw

Mi/

On

this lintel

from Yaxchilan,

Chiapas, there appears on the

right, the

pletely

Halach Uinic, comwith a mini-

attired

sceptre

ature

which handle

terminates in the head of a

serpent; on the left, another

personage, but of lower rank,

,^. 1>

who

rT.-.'Ufc;

9M
applies to the batab in the

his

town under

his jurisdiction,

who

resolved a

number of problems,

particularly when they concerned the community as a whole, as, for example if the detriment affected an individual of another town, then, in order to avoid still greater conflicts,
which would disrupt the good relations with the town of the guilty, the batab of the latter

gave satisfaction to his colleague, but only provided that the detriment was the result of an

involuntary fault or offense.

But from the chronicles one can actually infer the existence of actual judges, function"to hear the complaints". Cogolludo makes it quite definite that "other ministers were
designated who were in the capacity of lawyers and magistrates and were always ready to
assist in the presence of the judges". This statement suggests different functions, and probably even levels, in the judicial structure. The judicial functionaries received gifts from the
contending parties which were referred to as retribution for the exercise of their duties.
A clear distinction was established between involuntary and voluntary offenses. Among
aries

136

is

carrying an offering in

hand.

rrX

4:

"r

In

the

society

general
set

of classes

picture

minority enjoyed
vileges,

of a

up on the basis
in which a ruling
all

the pri-

the extraordinary

chitectonic

ar-

works expressed

the glorification of a social

world dominated by religion.

The Palacio

del

Gobernador

("Palace of the Governor") in

Uxmal, considered by many

as the most perfect work of
Mesoamerican architecture.

man or woman because of the

of the spouse; the accidental fire in homes, beehives and granaries, which occurred with
a certain degree of frequency when the brush was burned before the sowing. In all such cases
judgement was passed with definite kindness, and if the guilty party lacked the economic
the former are cited accidental homicides, the suicide of a

guilt

means

to

pay for the damage, then

necessary help.

On

his friends

the contrary, as Landa

and

relatives

makes very

were allowed to give him the

definite, "the other offenses

commit-

ted with malice of forethought, always had to give satisfaction through the shedding of blood
and through blows". As one can readily perceive from some examples, justice among the
ancient Mayas was severe, inflexible and without appeal. Intentional or accidental homicide
was punishable by the death penalty if the relatives demanded that, or paving with a slave
for the dead person.

When

the murdered was

still

minor, he became

a slave.

Thievery, even

which lasted for the time it was conthe thief could not pay the full value
of what he had misappropriated, he remained a slave for the rest of his life. Adultery received an exemplary punishment, but the offended husband had the prerogative of pardoning
the guilty, who was then set free. When pardon was not granted, the form of the punishment
was a disgraceful death at arrow wounds, or with the head crushed by a huge rock, or it was
even possible "to order to take out the guts through the navel". An adulterous woman could
also be condemned to death, but as a rule it was sufficient to expose her to public disgrace.
The rape of a virgin or married woman was also paid for by the death penalty. Among the
Xius sodomy was a serious offense and the guilty were burned in an oven. We do not know
if the other Mayan groups meted out a punishment similar to that. Landa affirms that he did
not found such practise in Yucatan. A traitor to his master, as also anyone guilty of arson,
was punished by the death sentence. When a debtor died without having liquidated his debt,
his wife and children had the obligation to pay that, and in the event that they did not do
so, became slaves until the full value of the debt had been paid for.
Within the general picture of a class society in which the ruling minority were the lords,
priests, rich merchants, functionaries and war chiefs, who enjoyed economic, political and
social privileges, it is strange that, according to what the chroniclers state, justice was applied
though

it

was of

less gravity

was punished by

slavery,

sidered necessary to pay for what had been stolen.

If

137

with the same degree of severity to the nobility as to the plebeians. Landa asserts that lords
guilty of some offense had their faces carved from the beard to the forehead on both cheeks,
whereby they retained for all times the mark of their infamy. Besides that, if their crime or
offense deserved the penalty of death, it was inflexibly applied. A number of concrete cases
are cited with reference to rape of virgins, one of which was perpetrated by a lord from
Mayapan, for which her brother "had him killed in the most insulting fashion", and another
by the brother of the lord of the Tutul Xiu, whom the governor condemned to be lapidated
and then abandoned under a huge pile of rocks, if this information is accurate, then it implies a profound sense of equity among the Mayas of Yucatan, a feeling so strong and deeplyrooted that it was imposed indiscriminately, that is, without giving any special consideration
to the social level of the delinquents and criminals.
Military organization
idealizing the ancient Mayas, it was affirmed over a very long period of time that they
were a peaceable people, and that the bellicose conflicts arose as a result of several invasions
which proceeded principally from the center of Mexico. First the Toltecs, later the Mexica
mercenaries, all of whom would have introduced warriors, new weapons, military orders and
a militaristic organization which would have clashed with the atmosphere of peace of the
classical period, it is evident that, independently of the fact that the complex warrior in
the postclassical period imposed many of his norms and thereby changed the theocratic
regime of the earlier periods, the Mayas were also familiar with war, arms, armed groups,
tactics of combat, rules of attack and defense, and a specific manner of military organization. As eloquent proof of that we have the innumerable monuments of the classical period,
primarily from the region of Usumacinta (the steles, the lintels, the slabs, and the mural
paintings) which depict armed chiefs and bellicose scenes. The conflicts could have arisen
between hostile Mayan groups in matters of territorial limits or through exploitation of
natural resources; between the Mayas and neighboring communities, ethnically distant since
they exercised pressure over the former, or by attempts to extend some Mayan faction. One
should not disregard the use of the militia to maintain the internal order, supporting the
regime, including the possible reppression of rebellion outbreaks as Alejandro Lipschutz has
suggested with regard to the mural paintings of Bonampak.
Upon invading the Mayan area, the Spaniards had to engage in combat with the natives,
who in some instances inflicted heavy losses upon them. According to the information of the
chroniclers, the batab, in addition to his civil and judicial functions as already mentioned,
was the head of the armed forces within his jurisdiction; his position was for life and hereditary as well. However, in time of war, an authentic military commander was elected, the
nacom (although the title may have the same form as that for the sacrificer, it was not a
matter of the same person), who was in charge of this office for three years. While he was in
charge, this war chief was compelled to follow an ascetic life, which included abstinence
from sexual intercourse and adherence to a severe diet. Under his command were the mercenary soldiers, the holcanes, who received emoluments only in time of war. In accordance
with the necessities of war, the nacom was able to recruit men from the populace.

Summarizing the data which we have

ceramic piece from Jaina

which

represents

(National

Museum

pology).

The

warrior

of Anthro-

military

class

played an overwhelming part

in

Mayan

society

as

it

had

constituted the sustenance of

the priests as a class.

at

our disposal on the

political, priestly, judicial

and military organization, it is possible to affirm that among the ancient Mayas (not only
those of the postclassical period to which the colonial sources refer, but also of the classical
period which can be deduced from archaeological and iconographic testimonies) prevailed an
organization which pertained to the State and amalgamated the civil, religious, judicial and
military powers, and functioned through an authentic bureaucracy divided horizontally into
corresponding branches of activities, and vertically into hierarchic rungs. Their efficiency can
be evaluated by taking into account the centuries of apparent sociopolitical stability which
represents the classical period from 300 to 900 A.D., and, although less stable, several
centuries of the postclassical.

139

The Socio-economic
Qualities of Mayan Society

Universality and singularity

When

matter of describing an ancient society which does not have available writwhose existent sources lack sufficient information, the investigator can be
tempted to adopt one of the two opposed positions: to include it globally, while omitting
particularities within universal schemes or, on the other hand, to exaggerate the particularities by considering them unique and denying their possible integration into a universal
it

is

ten sources or,

model. In our opinion, both positions are erroneous because of

of a complex problem.

On

the one hand,

it

is

beyond discussion

societies exactly the same, since

geographic,

all

that

would be

it

arc the result of an infinite

Enigmatic front steps in the

hieroglyphics, integrated with

number

two human

ot causes ot ethnic,

human

at

work.

same fundamental problems:

adaptation to determined natural environments and the changes to which they were subjected; exploitation of animal, vegetable and mineral resources for their survival and development; creation of technical means to dominate nature; organization ot human groups to
the other hand,

all

societies have to solve the

assure their existence: explanations of the forces and

thousands of written symbols,

Copan, Honduras. This is an

example of the fact that the
Mayas knew how to solve
problems in a unique manner,
problems which the physical
medium raised for him, showing more and more material
progress and the development
of a complex culture.

difficult to find

technological, chronological, historical and ideological origin, in

ecological,

which internal forces of development and external pressures are

On

their excessive simplification

search for a better

way

to use in an advantageous

way

ment ot the social mechanisms at the same time

became more complex in their operations, etcetera.

To
as

phenomena of

these forces and

the universe and

lite;

phenomena: improve-

as societies progressed materially

and

generalize about an extremely technological basis leads to inacceptable conclusions

would be the case

if

one were to define Mayan culture

as neolithic, in

accord with the

designated law of the three ages, because they had not had any acquaintance with either
the bronze or the iron age, and because they had not emerged from the techniques ot polish-

ed stone

to

make

their utensils

and

tools.

The application of Morgan's concepts

to the

141

:*

~
I

armr

development of Mesoamerican and Mayan culture,

doubts: in some aspects

it is

unquestionable that

in particular, arouses perplexities

it is

and

integrated with the period which he

designated civilization, but, according to him, this ought to imply the invention of a writing

with a phonetic alphabet; the use of metals; the utilization of wheels for transportation; and

Mayas nor the other peoples of Mesoamerica had attained. From here on there is the danger of generalizations on a universal level.
However, the comparative study of a specific society with others which present similar
characteristics, not only technologically but also in the very foundation of its economic
life, in the organization and functioning of its social body, in its mechanisms of power, and
the use of the plow, knowledge which neither the

even

in its ideological

concepts, can lead to the integration of the society in question within

known, with the

of finding in them an explanation for

phenomena difficult to understand within the specific context of that society.

others, perhaps better

possibility

Economic substructure

We

image of any society whatsoever, it is imperative to begin with whatever had permitted it to attain the point which
was the very basis of its economy and social structure. To consider only the technological,
aesthetic, scientific, religious and ethical elements of a culture without trying to explain
the society which created them is akin to describing the wearing apparel of an individual
believe, that in order to reconstruct for ourselves the

while ignoring the

man

himself.

Concretizing the theme of our work, which

142

is

the Mayas,

we have confirmed

that the

partial

view of the city of

Tikal in Peten. Several particular

elements

of

Mayan

culture have led to dangerous

generalizations such as those

which

attempt

Mayan

architecture with that

to

of Southeastern Asia.

identify

The

difficulties

from the geo-

graphic environment were not

an obstacle for the creation

of a vast zone of Mayan influence. A panoramic view of

Usumacinta River in the

present day State of Chiapas.
the

Mayan studies have shown very slight interest in the economic

problems; and with regard to the social and political organization, the greater part of them

investigators in the field of

limited themselves to repeat the scantiest references which historic

thereto. Morley does not present any sociologic aspect;

with reference to the economic

life,

and attributes

Thompson

all

sources have

treats virtually

the attainments achieved

made

nothing

by the

ancient Mayas, to spiritual values; Brainerd tries to correlate the artistic and intellectual

accomplishments with the economic development, but always only in order to come to the
conclusion that the Mayan phenomenon constitutes a unique exception in the universal
picture, since religion was far more fully developed than economy, and the intellectual
progress did not respond to adequate material conditions, as in the Old World.

The contradiction between

Brainerd and other

the substructure and the superstructure

Mayan

specialists

posed

a question

with respect to a possible

contradiction between the low technological, economic development and the impressive

development of the Mayas. For some investigators, as, for example, Sanders, Price,
Wolf and Palerm, who are not precisely Mayan specialists, but who had given their attention
to the problem of the Mesoamerican societies, and among them the Mayas, from sociological, ecological and economic angles, the answer to this question would be that Mayan agriculture was not based on an elementary technique, incapable of producing the necessary
surpluses to maintain a complex social structure, as the form of cultivation designated grubbing is, but rather fundamentally, such as if happened in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indochina,
cultural

143

Cambodia and China, and

that a

more

intensive cultivation

would have existed which made

some

use of important hydraulic works, of which until now, archaeology has only detected
slight

and isolated evidence.

of the prehispanic Guatemalan society, Guzman

and Herbert treat the Mayan postclassical more than the classical period, and, in addition,
In their socio-historical interpretation

exaggerate some features such as the development of private property, the existence of
slavery

and the

militaristic

domination. Likewise, they consider an "exaggerated Utopian

socialism" the statement that there existed "collective forms of tenure and use of land"

and they characterize that society as one basically mercantilist and highly civilized, in spite
of the fact that in the technical aspect it fell within a "superior neolithic period" and that
in certain aspects it continued to be "primitive because of the vices or bad habits of tribal
organization".

Of

course

it

is

not easy to understand

how

a society

of the kind that the Mayan was,

constructed on a limited economic substructure and dependent on a rudimentary techno-

was able to achieve impressive intellectual progress in the fields of mathematics,

astronomy, the calendar, writing and art. To justify such advances on the basis of the supposed predominance of spiritual values over material considerations and necessities as
Thompson does is not convincing, since there would be lacking the explanation as to how
they were able to have developed these spiritual values and why only a small minority had
them and derived benefits from them.
We ask ourselves the same question, but we resist the temptation of accepting the
proposed uniqueness of Mayan society within the universal whole of ancient societies.
We are convinced that the history of these people, their economic, social and political
development were not attained by chance in any anarchical form, but rather in accordance
logy,

human aspect
may impose a different

with general laws; although we recognize that some factors, including the

under the form of personalities, who in any determined moment

course of events, can accelerate, restrain or "temporarily" hold
history.

We

in

check the march of

underline the "temporarily" since the parenthetical statement that can signify

some of these human factors, besides the fact that their possibility falls
within the framework of historic laws, is generally closed in a short time and the dynamics
of the historic occurrence returns to its own rhythm and course.
the outbreak of

Modes of production
According to the Marxist schemes of evolution of precapitalistic societies, we find an
answer to the problem which Mayan society presents with reference to the contradiction
between their economic substructure and their cultural superstructure. This reply is contained in a set of concepts which integrate what has been designated as the "theory of
the Asiatic mode of production", concept implicit in a number of texts by Marx which
were analyzed, commented on, and enlarged upon by a number of sociologists in France,
for example, Godelier, Chesneaux, Vidal-Naquet and Terray, and by Bartra in Mexico.
According to this point of view, the development of societies is based on the form of
production which embraces the productive forces (natural resources, human groups, technology), and the relations to production, that is, the form in which the goods produced by
a society are distributed among its members. On this basis, i.e., the economic substructure,
the social structure is erected out of which the superstructures will emerge which may be
cultural, political, juridical or ideological. These, in turn, assure social cohesion, the function-

and conservation of ethic and religious norms, etcetera.

and limiting ourselves to precapitalistic societies, we are

ing of the whole, the acceptance

On

144

this

contextual basis,

Mayan
system,

society was organized

designated

Asiatic,

which allowed, through the

collectivization of work, the
construction of large urban
centers.

going to consider the following stages of development,

since

is

it

or, rather, the

following models,

not a matter of forcibly treating successive phases along one and the same

line,

but rather the diverging possibilities out of which some, under definite conditions and in

some

specified times, can constitute a sequence:

.-1

1)

a)

community, divisible into two aspects:

natural nomadic community based on hunting,

primitive
a

simple domestic organization,

b)

a primitive agrarian

i.e.

tribal or vaster

community based on

and exploitation of the land with

fishing

and

collecting, with a

groups;

agriculture with collective property

tribal organization.

2)

The Asiatic mode of production with a coexistence of village communities and an

incipient State which join together the economic, political and spiritual power.

3)

The ancient classical mode of production, based on the coexistence of limited

ownership by peasants, and communal ownership; and also based on the grouping
together of the greater part of the population in cities.

4)

The slavery mode of production based on private ownership of land and of the
slaves who work on them. Such slaves were regarded as the chattels of the master.

The Germanic mode of production based on rural dispersed communities, small

independent land owners and some communal lands such as forests, pastures and
enclosed lands for hunting to complement the private ownership.

5)

The feudal mode of production based on the exploitation of private properties

of the feudal lords, the vassals of the monarch and through the serfs bound to the

6)

sod as part of the feudal system.

Asiatic

mode of production

if

hispanic

we compare the characteristics of these different models with those of the preMayan society, we find very many similarities between this one and those which

Old World were based on the so-called Asiatic mode of production. It is clear that not
all the features which are attributed to this kind of production are found in the society
referred to, but that as an abstract model elaborated on the existence of concrete elements
in distinct universal societies, it resembles them to a great extent, coinciding almost exactly
with the general economic, social, political and cultural picture of the Mayan civilization
and, of course, much more so than any of the other models. But let us see how, taking into
consideration the general concepts of Marx on this theme and the corresponding commentaries together with the propositions of the authors already cited, we can summarize the
in the

characteristics of the Asiatic

mode of

production, also designated despotic-village or des-

potic-communitarian and, more recently, tributary.

The contrast between the low technological level and the relatively high productivity
worthy of note. This productivity, which is due to the organization of work, is, to a great
extent, collective and under institutionalized and centralized management. The manual
labor is controlled not only for the agricultural operations (such as the clearing and burning
of the woods, rotation of cultivation, and fallow, and hydraulic works), but rather for more
important public works as, for example, the ceremonial centers, roads and defense.
is

146

:W
*

*j

The communal form of land ownership predominates although

The Palacio de Labna ("Palace

of Labna"), built during the
period
the Puuc style.

and

in

of private ownership

as a result

in

may

exist spurts

of eventual donations to high functionaries, aristocrats, and

distinguished warriors for the construction of temples.

land are practised

there

The

rights of the individual over the

an usufructuary form through the rural community.

Together with the rural communities there is a higher unit which pertains to the State
and that directs and exploits them, appropriating for itself the surpluses which the communities produce by means of imposing taxes in kind, or utilizing the work of the members
under the heading of "payment for services".
The appropriation of the surplus goods from the rural communities is carried out by
means of a bureaucracy hierarchically arranged and only for the benefit of the representatives of the State. The producers of these goods can keep only the most indispensable for
their own survival and that of their families, and for the assurance of the continuation of the
system. The exploitation of the individual is accomplished while the group which exploits

may

not necessarily have land tenure or, having

The

it

only partially.

vast majority of the population integrates the peasant

in dispersed villages. Cities play

no important

role in the

communities, established

economic sense; the function of

the city as such appears to have only a secondary value.

The minority, made up of

is,

representatives of the higher level of the

community,

that

of the State, forms hierarchical groups which are differentiated on the basis of their

functions:

civil,

religious,

administrative,

and military ones;

(regional or local groups); and their levels of importance;

among

all

their

geographic location

of them acting coordinately

themselves.

exchange for their supposed intervention for help from the gods, this minority
exploits all of the communities, forming what has been referred to as "generalized slavery",
in contrast to individual slavery which was the slavery mode of production.
The Asiatic or tributary mode of production is a transitional form between a classless
society and a class society, since there village communities coexist and, on a higher level, it
is a form pertaining to the State whose members integrate the higher privileged class.
In

147

The power, which was

operations with a

common

interest

and for

the others as a

means of

realizing

Detail from a glass from the

(economical, political and religious), was gradually

South of Campeche, corresponding to the late classical

justified in itself

all

becoming into a power to exploit, but without forfeiting its quality as an operational power.
The sovereign represents unity, cohesion and permanence of the community; he assures

period (800 A.D.), the real-

the functioning of the social organism through traditional institutions, in an absolute form,

arrangement of their society

by means of the whole hierarchy. He is considered a divine being and, together with the
diversified and hierarchized bureaucracy which operates in its surroundings and which
depends upon him, is presented before the populace as a higher entity, the symbol of the
unity of the village communities.
To strengthen in individuals the confidence in the unity and permanency of their
community, considered as of divine nature, some rituals are celebrated in a constant and
absorbing form, among which are the periodic holidays; imposing monumental works are
constructed for greater glorification of the gods and for their representatives on Earth.
However, only the members of the highest levels have access to the temples in which the
sacred ceremonies are celebrated in the presence or in contact with the deity. An immutable
order rules the cosmos and all the Land: the image of a society strongly organized in which

man

is

not important.

On

the whole, the Asiatic

the domination of

ment

man

mode of production corresponds to the age of metals:

new forms of cultivation; the develop-

over nature; the invention of

or architecture; the use of calculations and writing;

commerce and

the use of

money;

the application of law, etcetera.

The mode of production among

We

have already

made

the

Mayas

clear in this chapter that

we

believe that the

which existed among the ancient Mayas, was the one referred to
village or

despotic-communitarian

mode of production

as "Asiatic", or despotic-

or, still simpler, tributary.

determine very precisely the features of Mayan society

which coincide with those of the model cited and those of a few others which differ from it.
In previous chapters we also mentioned the low technological level of the Mayas since
they had no knowledge of metals, the wheel, the plow nor of animals for teams nor as
beasts of burden, and that their only tools for agricultural work were the stone axe to cut
In the following lines

148

we

shall

ism

of which

into hierarchies.

reflects

the

down woods and

the stick to plant for sowing. Yet, the agricultural productivity had to be

high in order to assure food, not only for the producers, but also for the ruling class and
for the other groups of the hierarchy such as the merchants, artisans on a full-time basis,

who took part in the construction of the ceremonial centers, etcetera.

We know that many agricultural tasks were collectively done and that the

the workers

priests,

through their manipulation of the calendar and their knowledge of the seasons, especially
the approximate date of the beginning of the rainy season, directed agriculture in the
highest conceivable form of collective living.

The

great mass of the population

was control-

led in this manner, not only for agricultural work, but also for other important works of

public nature.

During the
private,

classical period,

land tenure would have been

much more communal

than

the latter being limited principally to certain cultivations such as cocoa bean,

some cases. The peasant was usufructuary of the land

which belonged to the community. During the postclassical period, as a result of the arrival
of the invaders, of an atmosphere more bellicose than during the classical period, of the
perhaps henequen, and

fruits in

increase in militarism, and of the struggles and conquests, private property ought have in-

creased considerably. However, the greater part of the land continued to be retained as

communal property.
The chroniclers

clearly

mention the payment of taxes

to the lords on all of the goods

payment in kind, but also in the
which was absolutely obligatory for

the lower classes produced. These taxes were not only

form of services, through more than ample participation

thousands of men who worked on the ceremonial centers.

It is

evident that in spite of the

were only

fact the ruling class did not have land tenure or, if they did have, they

partially

owned, that group did appropriate the surpluses of production.

In the chronicles we also find some information on the forms in which the appropriation of goods was effected through the functioning of a bureaucracy, both specialized and
in the form of a hierarchy within the framework of an autocracy.
The peasant population, by far the majority within Mayan society, lived in hamlets,
villages and dispersed towns which formed satellites around the ceremonial centers, and
the partially urban ones on which they depended. In the last few years the concept of a
ceremonial center has been modified, due, to a great extent, to the explorations in Tikal
and Dzibilchaltun, and nowadays a process of urbanization is recognized for the late classical period, mainly in which within the ceremonial centers are integrated, not only the dwellings of the rulers and their workers, but also probably those of the merchants, functionaries
of different ranks, and the artisans on a full-time basis, a grouping which seems to resemble
what Landa describes for a postclassical site, apparently Mayapan.

The

ruling class with

its

halach uinic,

its

batabes in the towns,

its

advisors, the ah

popoloob, the tupiloob, and the remaining civil and religious functionaries, their judicial
organization, their militia and administrators, form in actuality an State organization
centralized and arranged hierarchically, with a division among its members on the basis
of their functions, who devoted their time to specific activities which embraced all the
social needs and all levels.
Since the advanced preclassical period, that is, for many centuries before and several
after the beginning of our era, some important personages appear on the Mayan monuments
who are not deities that have been changed into humans, but rather probably governing
priests within a theocratic system.

of individuals politically powerful,

for their self-glorification

and who

This minority had to have

its

These presentations already

who

have

reflect the very existence

at their disposal the material

and human means

since then have constituted a privileged minority.

remote origin

in the sorcerer.

He was

naturally

endowed

149

with supernatural powers that enabled him to attract the beneficient forces of nature and

Scene on a

as a simple intermediary between

embodied into gods. His power was functional
but it was practised through magic. With the development of society, magic was converted
into a religion. The magicians, isolated, formed a body of priests and, for their sustenance
and for the construction of hundreds of centers dedicated to religious worship and thousands
of monuments built to honor the gods, their functional power acquired the right to exploit.
The division which was started in the preclassical period culminated in the classical one with
a marked separation between the ruling, civil and religious class, and the great masses of

che where a governor appears,

to counteract the evil ones.

men and

At the outset he would act

the forces which were not as yet

the population.

Within

this

regime the highest priest was simultaneously the sovereign ruler with

absolute power; although he had his advisers, he was considered of divine essence, or rather
a divine being (let us again

remember

the personage

on

stele

11 of Yaxchilan with his

mask

of the sun god).

The

great

number of

deities,

the celebration of frequent ceremonies and religious

holidays, and the vast proliferation of buildings for rituals reveal that religion served as the

Mayan society and as an instrument for domination in the hands of

the higher class. The Mayan man, as an individual and as a part of the community was
looked upon, from the moment of his birth to his death, as imprisoned by a world which
binding principle of

had meaning only through religion, a world in which health, prosperity and survival were
within his reach, but only in accordance with the extent of his faith and his inclination to
serve the gods through their representatives on earth. That was the reason of their absolute
surrender to religion and of their submission without reserves to the priests.

Everything in the universe and above the ground was wisely ruled by gods: the course
of the seasons in which there were periods of drought and of
on the plants, the animals and men; the successive steps in agricultural labor; the passing from one generation to another; the entry and the disappearance

of the

stars, the repetition

rainfall; the

150

phase of

life

glass

relating with

from Campe-

men who

to an ethnic group

pearance

is

belong

whose

clearly

ap-

distinct

from that of the Mayan

classic, 800 A.D.).

(late

of the

rulers.

Everything functioned only thanks to the gods and everything would continue
men respected and served the gods. Man, in himself, was a void, absolutely

to function while

To complete the comparison between the characteristic features attributed to

mode of production and those which form the Mayan society, we can recall that

nothing.
Asiatic

greatest difference arose

from

their lack of the use of metals for production.

during the postclassical period but

the
the

Metal appears

was used almost exclusively for ornamental purposes.

in the other countries in which the use of metals is recognized
already in the past in the cited form of production, the dominion of the Mayas over nature
is obvious since without it they would not have been able to attain the level of civilization
that they had; they were able, in actuality, through their organization and the efforts of
their people, to surmount their technological deficiency, i.e., the lack of metals, the wheel
and the plow. In the course of their development, Mayan society ought to have created
cultivations, as that of the browse tree, and to have invented new techniques for agriculture
such as that of the irrigation, although limited and little known until now. Their mathemmatical, astronomical and calendaric knowledge, their writing, the diversity and extent of
development in their architecture and the quality of their artistic attainments, sets them up
on the highest level of civilization in universal antiquity. In other chapters we have referred
to commerce, which came to be of great importance for the Mayas above all in the postclassical period, and which comprised the use of certain objects such as coins. We also saw
that in their standards of social living, law received complete attention and was applied with
great equity. In summary, we believe that the problem which has troubled many investigators
with regard to Mayan society, in the sense of an inexplicable contradiction between their low
technological level and the rudimentary basis of their agricultural economy on the one hand,
and their scientific and aesthetic attainments on the other, or, stated in other words, their
economic substructure and cultural superstructure. This contradiction can be understood
and explained by focusing on the Asiatic manner of production. In point of fact the contradiction results from their peculiar socioeconomic structure which corresponds to a stage of
transition in which simple forms of social organization coexist, as are the peasant communities with their primitive means of production in which the kinship degrees determine the
uncultured relations, and those dominated by the religious faith; and, on a higher level,
the beginning of the formation of a State in which the representatives, released from the
productive work, are responsible for collecting taxes and channeling them towards the glory
of the State; for directing vast public works, whether of material interest for the population
or for those of a luxurious nature for the benefit of the ruling class; supposedly for interceding with the gods to assure the well-being of the people, and devoting themselves to scientific
works (mathematics, astronomy, and the calendars), historic works (such as recording important events concerning their rulers), and artistic ones.
The supposed contradiction which, according to Thompson, was explicable on the basis
of the greater importance which the Mayas gave to spiritual values than to material advances,
and which Brainerd, dispiritedly, felt himself incapable of justifying since it is a matter of
it

Although more limited than

treating an exceptional fact without precedence in the history of the people,

is,

after

all,

the

consequence of the mode of production. That mode of production in which the vast masses
as producers lacked any advanced technology but were, by their efforts and sacrifice, able to
create the necessary goods for the aristocratic minority which directed and exploited them,
in order to attain a much higher standard of living and to have at their disposal sufficient
time to achieve the great cultural creations which are so astounding.
The brilliancy of the Mayan civilization does not constitute a miracle nor was it a gratuitous gift from the gods: the Mayas payed for it with the excessive exploitation to which
they were submitted, their ignorance fed by religious dogmas, their agony over the centuries.

151

ste

The

Knowledge
Mayas

Scientific

of the

While treating this subject, the majority of the authors limit themselves to present the
accomplishments of the Mayas in astronomy, mathematics, the calendar, and writing, being
not concerned with providing an explanation for the conditions which motivated them, or
made it possible for them to reach such heights or attain such knowledge, nor with the use
that they made of it, the benefits or advantages which they derived and those who impeded
them or took advantage of such factors. Another criticism, which occurs to us, is that many
Mayan, specialists in their keen desire to idealize the Mayan civilization, exaggerate in a
glaring manner the level of their scientific knowledge while they forget about the advance
attained by other peoples of antiquity both in America and in the Old World.
We have to recall that Morlcy, for example, describes the Mayan civilization as the
"most outstanding on the planet", and maintains that a brilliant mind had one day invented
the complex calendar in El Peten, basing it, most assuredly, on astronomical observations
from many earlier centuries. Copan has also been mentioned as the place in which the calendar was invented. These rotund statements, however, omit Mesoamerican antecedents of

monuments dated many centuries prior to the first Mayan

the cultures we designate "Olmecan" and "Zapotecan".
Ruled by natural cycles, the
Mayas created a set of scientific data which served them
deciphering

in

the

occult

dates,

and which correspond to

Without wanting to depreciate or lessen the merits of the ancient Mayas who, without
doubt, rediscovered astronomic and mathematical laws, invented a hieroglyphic writing, and
elaborated

complex calendar

as

they perfected the mathematical and astronomical know-

them on

mechanisms of the cosmos,

ledge of other peoples of Mesoamerica, one ought not to place

thereby attaining the adapta-

higher than that of the Chaldeans, the Chinese, the Egyptians and the Greeks,

tion

and

nature.

transformation

A view

of

of the archi-

tectonic whole in which Cara-

col ("Snail") of Chichen ltza

is

found, where astronomical

observations were carried out.

very similar knowledge and perhaps even greater,

fore the crystallization of the

The need

for scientific

The main

Mayan

many

a scientific

ground

who attained

centuries and thousands of years be-

civilization.

knowledge

scientific

knowledge

of the

Mayas

in

astronomy, mathematics, writing, and

153

was among the other advanced peoples of antiquity. It is highly likely that since very remote times men may have had interest in observing the firmaments during the day and the night, paying attention to the path of the sun,
the phases of the moon and the position of some of the stars. Such observations would be
very useful to the nomadic people for their travels and for the sailors on the high seas.
But, undoubtedly, it was the agricultural people who systematized the observations,
repeated them untiringly, recorded them, and gave them every consideration in many aspects
of their material and spiritual life, despite the fact that they did not know the causes of the
phenomena they were observing. Since the first half of the third millenium, the Chaldeans
had recorded astronomical observations, including solar eclipses, on which they used to base
their astrology. According to Montet, among the Egyptians the hieroglyphic of the year
represented a young sprout with a bud, since the year did not signify the duration of a solar
revolution, but only the time that was necessary for obtaining the wheat harvest.
The astronomical observations, recorded through writing and bound to their sequence and
periodicity through mathematics, enabled them to foresee the relative positions of certain stars
on determined dates. Among the Egyptians the harvest depended upon the flooding of the
Nile, and it had been observed that the river began to rise on the date that Sirius, the most
brilliant star, returned to appear for one moment in the East, precisely before the sun rose,
after a prolonged disappearance. Both phenomena remained associated in their mind and thus
the day of the appearance of the star was decided upon for the beginning of the year.
Based on the agricultural necessities, on the imperiousness of knowing with exactitude
the most propitious moment for sowing, the agricultural people paid attention to the succession of the seasons and related them to the movement of the stars which it was possible to
learn about, recognize, and record. Astronomy was for them the first step in scientific knowledge, and the obligation to accumulate knowledge to measure periodicity of the seasonal
changes and the rhythm of the coinciding celestial movements led them to handle quantities
which, in turn, brought them to the field of mathematics. From here on they proceeded to
establish the calendar, probably the lunar one first, since it is easy to observe the phases of
the moon before those of the sun. The study and record of the celestian happenings and their
association with the calendar implied the use of symbols, which, in other words, means a
form of writing.
the calendar

is

closely knit

among

itself as it

Berthelot referred to this phase of the development of scientific spirit as Astrobiologie;

this corresponds to the period in which an organized and advanced agriculture begun, which
was the basis for a sedentary and stable society. It constitutes a system of ideas in which the
march of the stars and the growth of plants complies with the laws associated thereto:
the laws of nature and the laws of the universe; what occurs above ground and in the firmaments; the life of man, and the cosmos. As this author states, "in astrobiology there is a
reciprocal penetration between the idea of an astronomic law and the idea of vegetable or
animal life. Everything would be living on the one hand the heavens and the stars and on

the other, everything

is

subjected to numerical, periodic laws, in turn to the laws of neces-

of harmony and stability which govern the periodic movements of the celestial dome,
the regular alternation of the seasons, the annual reproduction of plants". According to this
same author, this concept would have originated in Chaldea, going later towards the East to
China, and towards the West to Greece, contributing in creating the intellectual frame of
the Chinese empire, and the science of mathematics in the school of Pythagoras and the
sity,

medical science of the school of Hippocrates. Astrobiology would then be the transition

between the

beliefs

of the uncultured peoples and modern science. The ancient civilized

peoples of America, that of Mesoamerica and the Andes, took part in

The application of the

154

periodicity laws, which rule the celestial

it.

movements, the natural

phenomena (meteorological and

lective, would provide a place for

and the human

astrology and history.
biological),

life,

individual as well as col-

Astronomy
The means

that the ancient

Mayas used

to

make

their astronomical observations

were

extremely rudimentary being impossible to compare with those of Mesopotamia, Egypt,

China and Greece many centuries before our era. As a matter of fact, the scholars of the
Old World had already made use of the sundial and the water-clock, the former for determining on a horizontal plane, the solar azimuth, that is, the height of the Sun in accordance with
the direction and longitude of the shadow projected on that plane by a vertical needle; the
second apparatus was a genuine water-clock which provided the means for determining the
hours of the day and of the night, giving greater exactitude to any measurement whatsoever.
Possibly the

Mayas were

able to ascertain the path of the

very procedure on which the sun-dial

is

Sun around the zenith by the

based: through a stick placed vertically in the ground,

which does not project any shadow when the Sun passes around its own prolongation. They
also would make use of two rods or crossed threads, forming an X, to trace or draw the lines
of vision at the points of astronomic interest, that is, the rising or setting of the Sun, the
Moon and Venus in distinct periods of the year. This procedure clearly appears in the Mixtecan Codices which depict a face or an eye behind the crossed sticks in the interior of a
sketched temple.
Various buildings constructed

in the

Mayan

area were intended for astronomical ob-

Among the former we know about the one designated Caracol (snail) in Chichenand another with the same name, still not yet explored, in Mayapan. The arrangement
of the building in Chichen, with its observatory in the upper part to which there is access
through a narrow staircase like a snail beginning at the floor level of the arch of the interior
concentric gallery, providing absolute and adequate isolation for the astronomer at work,
and the small windows which open to the cardinal points and at intermediate directions,
denotes that it is an actual observatory. This is confirmed by numerous astronomical observations carried out by specialists in recent times.
The Tower of the Palace in Palenque was probably used for the same purposes, in
spite of the fact that the top floor seems to lack the characteristics which the Caracol has,
except that the astronomer from Palenque would be relatively isolated. We would even be
able to say that he was separated from the earthly plan in the same way as his colleague in
Chichen-Itza, since the interior staircase which leads to the top floor does not begin at the
base of the tower but at the elevation of the first floor. In both cases a hand ladder would
be necessary which would be put up and removed at will for going up to the observatory.
From the higher floor of this tower the horizon of the plain can be perceived at an approximate extension of 180.
In Uaxactun a set of buildings from Group E is also regarded as having been intended
for astronomical observations. It is composed of the pyramid E-VII and an enlarged platform
servations.
Itza,

on which the foundations of

three temples rest.

From

a point in the axis of the stairs, the

lines of vision directed towards the center of the central temple E-II, and to the south-

western corner of the temple situated more to the north

E-I,

and to the southwestern corner

of the temple more to the south E-I II, indicate respectively the true East, that is, the point of
the rising of the Sun in the spring and autumn equinoxes, the rising of the Sun in the summer solstice and the rising of the Sun in the winter solstice. Some twelve to eighteen similar
observatories were identified in two localities of the Mayan area.
In Copan, Stele 10 and 12 rise, one facing the other, separated by more than 6 kilometers betweem them. The first is located to the west of the ceremonial center, the second

155

and both in mountainous country which surround the valley. It has been noted
from Stele 12, the sun sets exactly behind Stele 10 on the 12th of April and the
7th of September. The first date coincides with the period in which the fields are burned
before sowing, which leads one to suppose that the position of these monuments has the
to the cast,
that, seen

purpose of determining the date of one of the most important works in the agricultural process. The use of natural aspects (such as the tops of hills, boulders which emphasize the
horizon, the wall of a

ments of certain

cliff, etc.),

as references to these activities associated with the

stars, principally the

Sun,

Moon and

move-

Venus, would be frequent among the

astrobiological system which we have already elucidated upon.

With these rudimentary procedures, Mayan priests expressly prepared by those more
advanced in age and with more experience, succeeded in defining with amazing precision and
accuracy the lunar, solar and Venutian cycles and the conjunctions of the celestial bodies
which especially interested them. The results achieved can only be explained on the basis of

Mayas within the

repeated observations, day by day,

in the

course of generations of astronomers, meticulously

recorded and corrected when errors were recognized; in other words, the technical deficiency was surmounted through untiring, constant and careful
plished with devotion and precision

work

to the utmost,

by those who deserve to be acknowledged

as

accomgenuine

scientists.

From

the astronomical

knowledge acquired by the Mayas

let us

remember

their respect

on
would be of 365.2420 days, while according to our Gregorian calendar
there are 365.2425, and in actuality there ought to be 365.2422. These calculations show
that the marking of the solar cycle by the Mayan astronomers was obtained with a difference of only 0.0002 days each year instead of 0.0003 days in our calendar, or, a more
exact approximation is reduced to an error of one day every 10 000 years.
Their marking of the lunar cycle, calculated between a new Moon, easy to recognize,
and the following one, would amount to 29.53086 days according to the Dresden Codex. In
accordance with modern calculations, one lunation, on an average, corresponds to 29.53059
days, but, in actuality, as Teeple states, one genuine moon can differ from this number by a
for the solar cycle, which, in accordance with the calendaric corrections as recorded

some

inscriptions,

few points

in the first

decimal place..., but,

if

cumulative, and at the end of a thousand years

our average

we

is

correct, the difference

will still see that the

is

not

observation agrees

with the computation, presenting only a discrepancy of a few days in whatever sense. There-

marking of the lunar cycle as calculated by the Mayas can be considered correct.
page 24 and pages 46 to 50 in the Dresden Codex we know that the Mayas had a
knowledge very similar to ours on the basis of the cycle of Venus. In a uniform manner they
used to reckon it on 584 days while in actuality their revolutions varied from 580 to 587,
and from 583 to 587 days, although it was repeated in series of five and with an average in
each series of 583.92 days.
The division they made of a synodical revolution differs from the modern as the followfore, the

From

ing table readily discloses:

Mayan

Phases
Venus

as a

morning

236
90
250

star

Disappearance in a superior conjunction

Venus as an evening star
Disappearance in an inferior conjunction

584

knew

156

d.

d.

584

d.

Venus was not precisely for 584

the mentioned Codex it is seen that

that the revolution of

days, and through corrections which they recorded in

240
90
240
14

Total
In point of fact they well

d.

Modern

Mayan
be,

almost
sion

writing continues

even
in

today,

beyond
spite

to

mystery
comprehen-

of

the

vast

number of studies carried out

by Soviet, German, Japanese
and Mexican scientists.

583.935 days, instead of 583.920 days. Teeple

believes that they used to strive for phases of its division so that they were much closer to
8.3 and 8.5 lunations, plus 8 days, and that it would be possible to make the beginning of a
Vcnutian year coincide with that of a vague year, counting five Venutian cycles which is
equal to 8 vague years which is equivalent to 2 920 days. It can, therefore, be asserted that
the evaluation of the cycle of Venus as measured by Mavan astronomers was very exact.
It is highly likely that they also knew about other planets and that they would have
recorded their synodic revolutions. Forstcmann, Willson and some other astronomers have
tried to interpret some of the tables of the Dresden Codex as calculations related to Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn. However, since their conclusions arc all different, we discard their opinions. Teeple himself, who studied with great meticulousncss the astronomical recordings in
the Codices and inscriptions on monuments, concludes that he has not been able to be
convinced of the existence of such tables and in the event that they really exist, he would
not know how to use them. On the basis of a number of references in historic sources, it is
deduced that the Mayas were interested in innumerable stars and constellations. Among them
the Polar star, which they called the "great star' Xaman Ek, which they were accustomed
to use just as the peoples of the Old World had, that is, as a guide for travelers and merchants:
the Pleiades which they called Tzcth, that is "bells", as they looked upon them as something
similar to the rattles in the tail of the serpent; Gemini, which they called Ac, "turtle",
probably because they saw some resemblance between them. The possibility was also suggested that they had had some conception of a zodiac which they consulted for astrological
practises; some representantions of precisely that, would be on pages 23 and 24 of the Perez
Codex, concretely in the form of animals hanging from the firmaments.
The Mayas, with surprise and fear, used to observe that certain days of the Solar Year
would remain partially obscure for some time, and that at times the Sun even disappeared
completely. For them that signified that a beast in the sky was trying to devour it. The
priests took advantage of their panic, when they were faced with such a perspective, which
they used to calculate

it

for a little less than

157

could only mean the end of the world. With such a terrible threat in the offing, they were
human sacrifices. These same priests, although
they perhaps were unable to explain this phenomenon scientifically, did know through their
astronomers that such an event was a recurring one and that the darkening of the Sun did
not imply its destruction, since the duration of such an occurrence was limited. The study of
the tables on pages 51 through 58 of the Dresden Codex, which Teeple, Forstemann, Thomas,
Bowditch, Meinshausen, Willson and Guthe had carried out, has shown that these tables deal
with the record of 405 consecutive lunations set up in 69 groups, consisting of 5 or 6
lunations in each, and which embrace a period of 33 years. The arrangement of these groups
suggests, according to different authors already mentioned, that it was intended for establishing a table of ecliptic syzygies (the conjunction and opposition of the Moon and the Sun)
and that each one of these lunar groups would finish on a day of a possible eclipse, visible
from some place on Earth. Teeple considers that the table is not the record of the eclipses
which had occurred when the Codex was made, but rather the predictions of possible
eclipses. Comparing that with Oppolzer's list of eclipses, one notes that discrepancy between
the latter and the former does not exceed more than one day, except in the case in which he
probably did not record an eclipse which would not be a total one in any part of the globe.
Of the 69 eclipses announced in the Codex only 18 were visible on Mayan territory.
However, the very fact that a table of predictions had been set up, seems to indicate that the
Mayan astronomers had observed that the trajectories of the Sun and the Moon crossed in
the heavens twice a year and they had probably perceived intuitively that the temporary
darkening of the star on certain dates was associated with this crossing ("the node" as it is
designated by modern astronomers). To dominate the people still more it was preferable to
threaten them with the idea that a voracious beast would devour the Sun if the priests did
not intercede to impede that. Thus, when the phenomenon actually occurred, their power
became still more indisputable since they had, in the first place, advised of it and then were
apparently able to control it.
At the end of this chapter it is worth repeating Teeple 's words on the achievements
of the ancient Mayas in the field of astronomy in which their irony is transparent when, on
the one hand, they describe these achievements, and the inhabitants of the Old World on the
other: "This is rather a stupendous apparatus of astronomic data for some barbarian Indians
to posssess 1 000 or 1 500 years ago, who were completely isolated from the civilizations of
the Old World; actually it may probably be far more advanced than what our noble ancestors
possessed in that time".
able to receive greater submission and even

Mathematics

The need

whether things, animals, individuals, distances, or time, etc., is

inherent in any human group and had to be solved even in societies on a very low cultural
level, probably having to recourse to their fingers as numeric markers. In later periods, and
due to the need for solving practical problems in every day life, it was definitely indispensable to invent signs to represent quantities. The arrangement of numbers passed from an
empirical to an intuitive system and gave rise to mathematical analysis. For many millenia
prior to our era, in India, China, Mesopotamia and Egypt, different types of numeration
with which elementary operations were carried out were in use. It was the Greeks who for
some 600 years before Christ had rationalized the mathematical knowledge inherited from
Asia and Egypt, and introduced the deductive method whereby mathematical science attained great heights of development, the principal representatives of which were Thales,
Pythagoras, Democritus, Hippocrates and Archimedes. Much later, from 300 to 1200 A.D.,
the Hindus and Arabs improved upon mathematics and invented the "zero" which the
former passed to the latter who, in their turn, conveyed it to the Occidental civilization and
elaborated the treatises on algebra and trigonometry.
Morley referred to the Mayas as the "Greeks of America" more through a collation on
a continental level by comparing them with other American peoples, than on an universal

158

to count,

basis,

and contributed much to what we consider an idealization of Mayan culture, since he

them the inventions which other peoples had made before, and exaggerated

attributed to

knowledge. This is precisely the case with regard to mathematics. On this

also say something very similar to what we have affirmed with reference to
astronomy, that is, that the amazing aspect is the fact that with the rudimentary means with
which they counted had, nevertheless, obtained such outstanding results. In reality, on a
very limited scientific basis, departing from theoretical knowledge that was practically nil,
but through constant observation; meticulousness in keeping records of that; intelligence
and ability, and through generations of specialists devoted to their studies, the Mayas attained such noteworthy results in the field of mathematics.
What, in point of fact, was their mathematical knowledge? Simply an ingenious numerical system in its simplicity, on a vigesimal basis in which the value of the signs varied according to their position, with a special sign which corresponds to our "zero" to indicate the
lack of unities in whatever order. But we ought not to forget that, many centuries prior to
the Mayas, the people on the Atlantic Gulf coast whom we call "Olmecans" and "Zapotecs"
from the earliest periods of Monte Alban in Oaxaca, had used the same system in their
inscriptions when recording dates. The difference between these inscriptions and that of the
Mayas is based on the fact that in the latter the sign "zero" had been identified, while among
the others such sign was not known, although a numerical system with a positional value
for the numerals implies the need of a symbol which can indicate the absence of units in a
their scientific

subject

we could

certain position.

To write their numbers the Mayas employed several systems, the most simple being
what they had inherited from the peoples whom we have just mentioned. This systems
consisted of the numeration of bars and points with a value of 5 and 1 respectively, to
which they added the "zero", representing it by a small sea-shell painted on the manuscripts
and by a kind of four-petalled flower or the Maltese Cross on the stone monuments. With
these three signs they were able to record quantities which reached millions of units, and
this was more readily done than with the use of the Roman numeration which consists of
seven letters. The operations implicit in the numeration of points and bars are addition, subtraction and multiplication. This system is further adaptable for divisions with relative
facility.

Another system of writing numbers is encountered in the use of human heads with
specific details, which differentiate each one and which correspond to the numbers from 1
to 12, but not zero. For the numbers from 13 to 19 the heads from 3 to 9 are utilized, but
with the jaw from which the flesh has been removed; the symbol for 10 is represented by a
skull. The variations in the heads correspond to the patron deities of the zero and the first
12 numbers. These, however, are less utilized than the points and bars.
In very exceptional cases the Mayas probably represented numbers by means of human
figures, which on some part of the body bore the symbol indicative of the cipher. In the
following illustrations we present the numbers by points and bars up to 19 and also some
examples of greater amounts as well as arithmetic operations. In the same way the variations
of the heads from
to 19 and the glyphs of the entire body are also apparent.
Since the basis of the numeration is vigesimal, when a numeral passes from one position to the next, its value is always multiplied by 20. However, in the calendaric calculation
the third position implies a value of 18 times of what corresponds to the second position, so
that the unit is an approximation of the duration of the vague year of 365 days (1 x 20 x 18
is equal to 360 days).
On the inscriptions, the order of reading the quantities is from left to right and from
top to bottom, the larger units being at the beginning of the inscriptions and following in
decreasing order to their value. The arrangement in double columns is also quite frequent,
in which case the horizontal reading does not embrace more than the signs of the two columns and continues with those which follow in the immediate lower line or space, and
so on and so forth.

159

<

in

Writing

We
a

believe that

it

is

system of writing which

possible to feel certain about the ancient

is

the most advanced in

all

Mayas having elaborated

prehispanic America.

and concepts

(dates, personal

names, toponymies, conquests,

death, sacrifice, ancestors or offsprings, rites, etc.).

160

It

is

known

writing in

all

the

of
of prehispanic

America. The glyphic inscript-

The existence of the beginning of writing on the most ancient sculptured monuments
within the Mayan area and bordering territories, i.e., the Gulf coast and Oaxaca, ought to
have served as the initial stimulation, and besides it is also likely that some of the Mayan
hieroglyphics are derived from Olmecan and Zapotecan signs. But the texts discovered in
Mesoamerica outside of the Mayan area do not go beyond the pictographic form to express
certain facts

The Mayas elaborated

most advanced system

birth, marriage,

that pictography did not

ions are found in codices,

stone,

on

ceramics and stucco.

exclude the use of some signs with phonetic value, as occurred in the Aztec "writing".
Appart from Mesoamerica, another form of writing had been developed which has only begun to be detected and studied in the last ten years and which is still not very well known:
that of the Peruvian civilization as appears

The knowledge which we

last

on "sieva beans",

actually have about the

Mayan

textiles

and keros

writing has

recourse, in the twofold information which the chronicler Diego de

(glasses).

its origin, as

Landa has

left us.

As a matter of fact, in his valuable Relation he affirms, on the one hand, that the Mayas
had books "written with characters or letters" and completes his information by supplying
what he designated "their alphabet" which consisted of 27 signs. Landa developed, on the
other hand, a calendar of 365 days, which apparently corresponds to the year 1553, for
which he provides the names and hieroglyphics for the 20 days which continue to be repeated and of the 18 months of 20 days each, with the 5 complementary days which integrate
the vague year.

With regard to the "alphabet", Phillip Valentini demonstrated, more than a century
what Landa had actually acquired was not a Mayan alphabet, bur rather an approximated glyphic transcription of the Castillian alphabet which an informant tried to
represent by means of signs that really existed in the Mayan writing or in the pictograms,
that is, the phonetic value of the Spanish letters. In this way he drew for the letter a a head
of a turtle (ac)\ for the b, a footprint which symbolized the road (be); for the letter c,
the sign of the month Zee; for the /, a possible leaf (/e); for the n, a tail of a monkey (ne),
etc. Besides, it is obvious that if the 27 signs of Landa constituted the Mayan alphabet,
no other sign would be encountered in the inscriptions and Codices, but only all of them
and no others. However, some of these conjectured letters never appear in the hieroglyphic
texts and various hundreds are known which completely and indisputably lack the elements
ago, that

expressed by the chronicler.

The phonetic school

Landa has provided us with, has given rise to what we would
call the "phonetic school", which was started as a result of the publication of Relation
de las Cosas de Yucatan and which has continued until the present time. We shall mention
only some of the individuals who followed this line of investigation. The first was Brasseur
de Bourbourg, who discovered Landa's manuscript and wanted to use the "alphabet"
mentioned to interpret the text of the Troy Codex, which he had also discovered. In his
opinion this document referred to the disappearance of Atlantis, an extremely popular
theme in the second half of the past century; but, when years later it became possible to
establish by means of the development of the calendar that accompanies the text, the order
for reading the Codex, it was proven that the abbot had "read" it in reverse.
A number of investigators, mainly French, were interested in epigraphic studies and
tried to decipher the hieroglyphic texts of the Codices and some inscriptions on monuments, especially that of Palenque, made known by some travelers of the XIX century,

The information

that

among them, Dupaix, Waldeck, Charnay. For

their investigations

they tried to utilize

Landa's "alphabet" and to attribute a phonetic value to the hieroglyphics. Intuitively

some perceived that the texts in the Codices have to be related to the illustrations and
tried, at times with complete success, to identify the corresponding hieroglyphics with

some concrete figurative representations, such as those of animals like the turkey, the
macaw, and the turkey buzzard, or with identifiable concepts such as the cardinal points
and the colors associated with them.

Among

the principal representatives of this school

Hyacinthe de Charencey,

F.

Aymar de

la

we can mention Leon de Rosny,

Rochefoucauld, Hillborne Cresson and Cyrus

161

Thomas, of

these the last

two are Americans. Until

during the second half of the 19th century,

Some

still

the phonetic school

some

time some of the interpretations presented

continue to be accepted.

of these works are after the date of publication of Valentini, which makes

definite that the nature of the 27 signs presented by

In

this

cases

it

still

Landa is not

it

more than

alphabetic. In the course of our century,

continued to be active, except for a period of 40 years of inactivity from 1893-1933.

was recognized that no

they could be associated with

all

of Landa's signs were really

phonemes of

the

Mayan

letters,

but that, at any rate,

language. Benjamin Whorf, departing from

premise, tried to identify verbal glyphs which could correspond to actions represented in the scenes

this

accompanying the

texts

and had only limited

was attributed

In other cases a phonetic value

ner.

With greater daring, giving

for deciphering the

had aspired

to. It

Mayan

was

to

were not accepted.

some hieroglyphics

in a

completely arbitrary man-

free reins to their imagination, the authors of these

writing

in this

results, but they

way

"read" the Codices so

Werner Wolff

that

supposed "keys"

what they

that the results coincided with

utilized the hieroglyphics

of the 20 days of the

Mayan language possessed only 20 phonemes and that they represented

the firs letter of the name for each day, choosing as they pleased from among the names of these days
in the different Mayan languages. In the text "read" by Wolff the name "Aztec" appears a number
of times, but that is something which could have envisaged only with difficulty by the Mayan authors
ritual calendar, deciding that the

of the Codices during the XI or XII centuries of our era.

More

recently,

Hector Calderon, relying upon Landa's "alphabet" and previous

occurrence of the Castillian phonemes

the

Mayan

in the

names of the hieroglyphics

for the days

statistics

of the

and months of

calendar, finds in these signs "the intention... to give to the forms a pictographic design,

more or less faithful to the buccal organs used in pronouncing them". For example, the sound "A"
would be represented by an open mouth, as, according to the author, appears in Landa's "letters".
With a tremendous power of imagination he identifies, in the known hieroglyphics, in the names of
which the phoneme "A" is contained (Akbal, Kan, Manik, Lamar, Caban, Etznab, Cauec, Ahau,
etc.), some line which can possibly be interpreted as the basis for the open mouth. As the glyphs for
the days and months are most assuredly ideograms and not integrated with phonetic elements (the name
contained in the composition of the month Yaxkin would be an exception), the author has to make
up

for the lack of scientific seriousness in his hypothesis through an extravagance of phantasy.

Mayan writin

Wolfgang Cordan, the inventor of the "Merida System", as he had lived in Merida for sometime, apparently while he was affiliated
with the University of Yucatan there. In his opinion, one hundred "key words" make it possible to
Another discoverer of the probably

inexistent key to

decipher thousands of hieroglyphics and,

it

is

goes without saying, that he came to

of these "key words", utilizing dictionaries in almost

all

the

Mayan

know

the

meaning

languages and handling at

will

the great variety of meanings which the dictionaries give for each word. Besides, he went outside of
the

Mayan

field

when, for example, he explains the sense of

of an elephant" which, according to

in Sanscrit

sting of

is

an insect and

means of a

bound

virile

river", which

glyph referred

his statement,

hat which he associates with the

to.

He

is

his

appears also

Mayan

glyph 28 in the form of "the head

in the Stelae

organ. In this case he wanted to say "to

make something

precisely presented in the illustration of the

considered

to the conceptions in the

Mayan

of Copan. The word

terms at and ach, which, however,

162

the

get accross by

Codice associated with the

writing "higly phonetic", the contents of the Codices closely

Popol Vuh and "proved"

that these Codices can be read "with almost

from a Cakchiquel-Spanish dictionary..." One has to remember, however,

Cakchiquel regions no herioglyphic inscriptions have thus far been found.
the only help

mean

that in the

dangerous and slipshod manner for deciphering, which was, of course, based on

In the rather

phantasy, Antoine Leon Vollemaere

He

writing".

is

the most recent example of the "discovery of the key to

affirms that "After having demonstrated the extraordinary polyvalence of the

glyphs and after having proven in detail their phonetic nature, the author
permits one to conlcude, with every customary reserve, that

His attempt

Mayan

now adds

writing

is

Mayan
Mayan

the last key which

virtually deciphered".

completely devoid of any scientific value.

is

Soviet Investigations

The

subject of decipherment by

means of phoneticism is entitled to a chapter in itself, apart from

some of the others who have derived something from them.

the works of the Soviet investigators and

It is

not a matter of, as in the previous cases, attempts carried out by self-taught individuals with

good intentions

or, at times, even

by charlatans, pure and simple, since these authors are true

all

scientists

although not precisely linguists or epigraphists.

The news of what

the Soviet ethnologist, Yuri Knorozov, had accomplished,

tation in the world of investigative work.

This author showed that

Mayan

He had

succeeded

finding "the key to

Mayan

writing".

writing contained ideographic, determinative and, mainly phonetic,

The ideographic hieroglyphics correspond

hieroglyphics.

in

awakened much expec-

to words, the determinative to concepts,

and

the phonetic to sounds. Besides, Knorozov, considers Landa's signs "as containing, in effect the phonetic
,

value which he had attributed to them", although this "he does not want to say, nor
these signs

may

not have any other value, nor that the

much

less, that

Mayan writing may have been completely phonetic.

Mayan

Furthermore, he has no desire to say that with these signs the relation of the phonetic symbols of
writing

is

entirely exhausted.

Codices and much

later

On

this basis the

author presented

his interpretations

of words of the

complete phrases or sentences, establishing that the meaning of the words read

would have been confirmed by the

illustrations

"From now on, the work

Maya writing "the history

which accompany them. With a great deal of optimism

not consist of deciphering", and that with his discovery

he asserted that

will

of the key to

of the peoples of Central America can be studied from

written sources". But, unfortunately,

been achieved through

his system.

years have elapsed since then,

lyttle

century by the representatives of the "phonetic school"

at the

among whom are Cyrus Thomas and the French

Thompson reproached Knorozov, above

to represent consonants. In addition, he

of the reading of the elements

Mayan words which,

in the

in

end of the past

all,

for the excessive

margin

of phonetic values which he attributed not only to the vocalic glyphs but also to those which

assumed were used

its

has

from Thompson and Barthel who found

criticisms, especially

what had been deciphered of the words presented

investigators already mentioned.

and very

Knorozov's theory received strong

his readings repetitions in

more than 20

found

composed glyphs and

fault with

him

it

was

for the variable order

the invention of supposed meanings for

recognizing that they were not completely incorrect, but

still

they hardly maintain-

ed relations with the actual meaning. Barthel criticized the insufficiency of the linguistic sources which
'

Quite recently,

February 1976, the

mentioned
again
that

press

in

Knoro/ov's had

Mayan

writing.

On

deciphered

the

the basis of th

simplicity of the information

we

be-

lieved that the Soviet ethnologist had

finished the reading of the Codices,

Knorozov had made use of

that, asserting that

as a basis,

and summed up

his analysis

of 150 examples provided from

30 were derived from Landa's work; 50 repeated the readings of Cyrus Thomas;

30 from other authors of the phonetic school, and that the greatest number of the 40 remaining were
questionable, and only possibly five correct with only one probable.

i.e,

known, plus a fourth which

had appeared some years ago but was
the three

probably

and without a legible text

since it is a table of the planet Venus
of which for more than twenty years
it had been possible to read only a few
words and phrases.

in part what the Soviet investigator had focussed on as

on the other hand, heas Barthel, reproaches defective erudi-

David Kelley, however, supports

false

well as

some of

tion and,

in

the interpretations;

addition, the fact that he had presented the supposed discovery in a highly pre-

tentious form

and was even aggressive towards those who had contributed or attempted

to

163

contribute something leading to the solution of this important problem before he had.

Some

words suggested by Knorozov

are eventually

igations have not

nor made any perceptible advance in the decipherment of

Mayan

facilitated

mentioned

in epigraphic

works, but his invest-

writing.

Approximately 10 years after the news about Knorozov, another bit of news was also
reported in the Soviet Union on the same subject which provoked a strong impact among
the Mayan investigators. In point of fact, World Press announced then, that is, in 1961, that
some mathematicians of the Siberian branch of the Academy of Sciences (E.V. Evreinov,
Y.G. Kosarev and V.A. Ustinov), utilizing electric computers, had deciphered the greater
part of the three Mayan Codices. The programming was done by
phonetic focussing, supplying the computing machines with the hieroglyphics from the Codices; many words from
Maya-Spanish dictionaries, and others from written documents in the Mayan language with
characters from the Spanish alphabet; and also the pictoric elements of the above mentioned
Codices. Establishing the concordances between the hieroglyphics and the known Mayan
words through the colonial texts and the components of the illustrations associated with the
glyphic texts, the computers provided a kind of reading of the Codices which, to all intents
and purposes, was coherent.
The Mexican philologist and linguist, Alfredo Barrera Vasquez, the greatest authority
in the field of the Mayan language of Yucatan, criticised the results obtained since he considered the lexicographic sources insufficient and deficient in view of the fact that the
meaning of many words had been misunderstood and that the composition of a number of
words was not only incorrect, but actually impossible as far as the Mayan language is concerned. But the harshest criticism came from Knorozov who, although he recognized the
interest in using computers for linguistic works and for trying to decipher Mayan writing,
came to the rotund conclusion that his Siberian colleagues had not progressed even one step
on the road to the decipherment of this writing.

The

calendaric school
If

the phonetic school, which had originated with Landa's "alphabet", gave rise to

which imagination played a more important part

than scientific rigor, and resulted in many alleged "keys" with few acceptable readings, then
the calendaric school, on the other hand, based on some information of the chronicler
relative to the succession of the months and days during a year of 365 days, had very fructiferous results and led to a more or less exhaustive knowledge for reckoning time among
the ancient Mayas.
In his informative material Landa blends the elements of two calendars, adding every
20 days of the esoteric cycle the name and hieroglyphic of a month of the civil calendar.
In actuality, the chronicler did not understand the mechanism of what he referred to as an
"embarrassing count". Ernst Forstemann, in the last decade of the past century, not only
explained the existence and related function of both calculations, but also understood and
elucidated the series of cycles, which conform what we refer to as the "long count", and
calculated the initial date of this series. He identified the tables of Venus and the lunar series
in the Dresden Codex, and grasped the meaning of the role of the series known as secondary in
the inscriptions. He recognized the signs which correspond to "zero" in the Codices and
monuments, as well as the numeric value of the hieroglyphic for the Moon and the signification of other glyphs in the Codices, such as of Uinal, Tun and Katun; and Baktun in the inscriptions on the monuments. In short, Forstemann clarified many of the basic aspects of the
Mayan calendaric system at the same time that he deciphered the chronologic hieroglyphics.
Around the same period, and apparently making use, to a great extent of the works of
innumerable decipherment attempts

164

in

Apparently

Mayan

was practised only by

ists.

It

writing
special-

reached an enormous

degree of complexity and

it

was probably understood only

by a very limited number of
people.

beautiful ceramic

piece from Jaina which shows

a

Mayan with a codex (NaMuseum of Anthro-

tional

pology).

(1
'W

'Si'

T"^

^A

Forstemann, J.T. Goodman identified other calendaric glyphs which indicate the half and
fourth part of the Katun, and, principally, almost all the numerals in the form of human
lit. ids.
In addition, he established chronologic tables which were very useful for the calendaric calculations, and was the first to have suggested the correlation between the Mayan
and Christian calendars, which later, with minor modifications, still continues in force for
the majority of the investigators. At the beginning of this century, Charles Bowditch read
chronologic inscriptions on monuments from several Mayan cities; definitely established
the value of the sign "zero", and analyzed glyphs associated with the designated "dates at the
end of periods". He also prepared a compendium of what was then known about numeration, the calendar and the astronomy among the Mayas. The contribution of Hermann
Beyer to the decipherment of writing was also of importance. Among other things he explained the meaning of the variable elements contained in the introductory glyph which
indicates the beginning of the date of an initial series or a long count, an element which, in
point of fact, points to the month in which the date occurs. He identified the hieroglyphic
of the eighth lord of the night in the supplementary series (Glyph G-8) and proved the application of the lunar glyph as a number in the secondary series. In addition to that, he
analyzed the use of the affixes in the hieroglyphics and interpreted a set of dates abbreviated in Chichen-Itza.
William Gates took a lively interest in collecting innumerable manuscripts, grammars
and dictionaries which had materials pertaining to the Mesoamerican, and particularly the
Mayan, cultures. He also had copies made of the three Mayan Codices, although altering the
tonus of the hieroglyphics, making them uniform and making their outlines geometric. He
presented a study of the Paris Codex and published the first dictionary of Mayan hieroglyphics. Within the framework of chronologic interpretations, Richard Long contributed data
of great interest; he completely clarified the meaning of a number of glyphs, as Pictun;he
explained the dates contained in the Annals of the Cackchiquels (Anales de los Cackchiqueles) and the calendaric contents of the frescoes of Santa Rita.
Undoubtedly one of the most diligent investigators in the archaeologic and epigraphic
field in Mayan studies was Sylvanus G. Morley. He not only discovered but also made known
a great number of monuments with hieroglyphic inscriptions which he interpreted with
reference to their calendaric contents, considering that these texts dealt exclusively with
chronologic, astronomical matters and with religious connotations. As personal contributions of his own to decipherment, we mention his confirmation of the identification of
the glyphs which indicate the half and the fourth part of the Katun, i.e. hotun and lahuntun,
as Goodman had previously already suggested. In addition, he determined the significance
of the glyph at the end of the Tun, and with the collaboration of R.K. Morley as well as that
of Robert W. Willson he basically established the lunar nature of the supplementary series.
Having come to Mayan culture through aesthetics, Herbert J. Spinden later became
especially interested in the chronology and astrology of the Mayas. In accordance with this
aspect he interpreted many inscriptions and presented a correlation quite different from that
of Goodman, making all the dates more ancient, close to 260 years, a correlation which some
investigators actually prefer. In spite of not being an astronomer by profession, John E.
Teeple devoted much of his time to the study of Mayan astronomy and discovered the exact
signification of different signs in the lunar series. In this way it was possible to calculate the
age of the Moon at a specific date, that is, in which month of the six-month period it occurs,
if it is a matter of a month with 29 or 30 days, and how many days had elapsed since the
last

New Moon.
We are indebted

for some contributions concerning chronological hieroglyphics to such

Edward W. Andrews, Enrique Juan Palacios, Cesar Lizardi Ramos, Heinrich
Berlin and Linton Satterthwaite, but it is beyond doubt that it was John Eric Thompson,
now deceased, who had acquired the greatest knowledge on Mayan writing. Among his most

investigators as

important contributions to decipherment the following merit mention: precision of the

meaning of the sign "zero", which he does not regard as an absence of value in some orders

166

of units, but rather as the perfecting of such units as 20 or multiples of 20 which were thus
converted into units of a higher order; he discussed and refuted the interpretations presented by other authors, as, for example, Seler, with regard to the meaning of the names of the
days and months, since his interest embraced the religious as much as the chronological
aspect. He also studied and fully explained the function of the glyph "G" in the supplementary series, which symbolizes one of the nine nocturnal companions associated with each day.
He also identified the glyphs which precede what we refer to as the secondary series and
which he designates "distance-numbers": these glyphs indicate if the lapse implied in such
"distance-numbers" have to be added or substracted from the date immediately before, that
is, if it has to be counted from before or after that in time. Thompson also discovered in the
Mayan inscriptions the existence of a chronological cycle of an esoteric nature composed of
819 days and which would be the result of the multiplication of 13 x 7 x 9, numbers which
correspond respectively to the celestial, terrestrial and subterranean deities. In spite of having
shown that he was opposed to the phonetic interpretation of the glyphs, he offered interpretations of some sets of glyphs in the Codices which dealt with prognostications (good
or bad harvest, the forewarning of droughts or abundant rain, sicknesses, possible plagues or
epidemics); the reading of which, based on the formation of riddles (rebus) implies that
the signs are to be interpreted not according to what they actually represent but rather to the
phonetic value of the words which they designate. To this writing, used for graphic divinations, Brinton gave the name of "iconomatics". For instance, to show the word caracol
(snail) a cara (face) followed by a col (cabbage) would be presented.
The masterpieces of Thompson on Mayan writing such as Maya Hieroglyphic Writing:
An Introduction, and ,4 Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs present a summary of his knowledge
and provide the most extensive and serious basis for epigraphic investigation.

The ideographic school

The works

we

what
compreof more thorough and

related to the chronological contents of the writing (constituents of

refer to as the "calendaric school")

form part of

a field

hensive investigations, that could be referred to as "ideographic", since the glyphs for days,
months and the other calendaric periods do not seem to have been worked out on any

phonetic basis, but rather on a conceptual one, which in many cases is expressed by the
combination of various glyphs (Yax-kin) with an ideographic or mixed value, that is phonetic and ideographic [Ka-tun). Some investigators have worked on the ideographic aspect but
not on the chronologic, but Thompson, on the other hand, directed his efforts to both
these fields.

Among

we

who,

beginning of this century,

identified the gods represented in the Codices, taking into account the information oi the
chroniclers who dealt with the functions of each deity; the iconographic interpretation and
the hieroglyphics associated with the text which accompanies the figures. In this way he was
able to recognize the glyphs which undoubtedly correspond to each god, but he had the
prudence to suggest only which could be the name according to the data provided by the
historic sources; and besides, he preferred to distinguish them with letters of the alphabet.
Half a century after he had completed his investigation, he expressed a pessimistic attitude
with regard to the knowledge of Mayan writing, considering it beyond decipherment.
Giinter Zimmermann, over a period of many years, worked on Mayan writing, mainly
with the Codices, trying and, at times, succeeding in determining the meaning of certain
variants of the hieroglyphics which represent the deities. In addition to that, he further
elaborated a catalogue of hieroglyphics which was much more complete than that of Gates,
the

first

shall refer to Paul Schcllhas

at the

very careful classification in which the principal glyphs are separated from the affixes
which each one of the signs is numbered and facilitates any reference to them.
T. S. Barthel also took a keen interest in Mayan epigraphy, especially in ascertaining the
meanings of the affixes used in the Codices. He prepared a catalogue of them with all the different meanings which the investigators, who had tried before to identify them, had given them.

with

and

in

167

More recently, Mexican investigators of the National Institute of History and Anthropology and from the Center of Mayan Studies, formerly known as the Seminar on Mayan
Culture and the Seminar for the Studies of Mayan Writing, investigated a number of aspects
related to decipherment: the structure of the cartuchos and glyphic phrases (Roberto Escalante, Juan Jose Rendon) and the relations between the texts and drawings in the Codex
(Maricela Ayala), or between the colonial texts and the glyphic ones (Maria Cristina Alvarez).
Historic content of the inscriptions

A transcendental step in the history of the decipherment of Mayan writing was the
recognition of the fact that the contents of many inscriptions on the monuments were of a
historic nature. This conclusively disproves the belief that only calendaric matters were dealt
phenomena and religious connotations. The process
1958, suggested that in each city some glyphs associated
in the inscriptions and that these glyphs served'to'designate the
name, the protective deity of the place, the ruling dynasty or some other element that
characterizes it. He gave the name of "emblem-glyph" to these signs, since it was impossible
to define their actual meaning with more exactitude. Then he interpreted as nominal glyphs
those recorded on the sides of the great sarcophagus in Palenque, together with human representations which he supposes are members of the buried personage's family. Much later
he found on a tablet in Palenque, the probable names of different lords whose history ought
to be linked with that place. With that, the taboo maintained for almost half a century, according to which the Mayas never wrote the name of any person on their inscriptions, had
been broken.
Tatiana Proskouriakoff continued along these same lines. She very carefully analyzed
the inscriptions of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan, and was able to explain the meaning of
some glyphs which have to do with the life of a number of rulers of these cities: birth,
enthroning; the capture and sacrifice of prisoners; and the names of the personages. These
facts together with the scenes presented on the monuments allow her determine the dynastic
history of some of the heads, finding additional support in the dates associated with everything, from their birth to their death, including also their ascension to power, their struggles
against enemies, the possible alliances of lineages, the matrimonies, the mention of the
with, which were related to astronomic

began with Heinrich Berlin,

with the city were included

who

in

ancestors and descendents, etcetera.

David Kelley presented some information with reference to Quirigua about a number
women connected with their life, and other data, such as the
probable political dependence of that city on Copan. More recently, Thompson, who during
almost all his life refused to accept the possibility that the Mayan inscriptions contained
historic facts, suggested that the calendaric glyph Cipactli, of Nahuatl origin, which appears
on one of the stele of Seibal with a presentation of a personage whose features are not
Mayan, would be the name of the family Cipaque, who, according to historic sources, ruled
in the region which was inhabited by the Putunes, probably the invaders of the cities of
Peten at the end of the classic period.
We have personally interpreted the inscription sculptured on the gravestone which
covers the sarcophagus of Palenque in a historic sense in which we consider that some of
the biographical material pertains to the personage buried there are mentioned: the date
of his birth and his calendaric name; the date of his enthronement; the acquisition of certain
hierarchical titles; perhaps even the name of his predecesor; his marriage, and possibly the
1-.1
-c
c
l L1
l
c .1
c
j
lineaee orC Ins wire,
andj a
the mention or probable members or the family and relations with
,r
x/
j
r rrc
another lineage from Yaxchilan?), until his death with the date thereoi. To our way ol
ii
r
thinking this last date would correspond perfectly to the age that the skeleton reveals.
When anyone tries to interpret the inscriptions historically, it is obvious that the
investigators have to curb their imagination and not fall into phantastic lucubrations, as had
occurred with reference to the personage of Palenque to whom we have just referred. Without any reserve whatsoever, one attributes to him a name which can only be hypothetical
of rulers of that place; the

it

168

-i

-,\

iii

According
6
.

schools
..

Mayan
can

the

to
,

ot

interpretation
,

writing,

have

different

pnonet

of

their

signs

or

jd eo .

graphic values.

The glyph on

the high relief

known by

name of Ahau

the

or lord (Mu-

seum of Palenque, Chiapas).

as well as

an age for the time of his death; a defect in one foot and a height, which in no

way correspond

And

supposed anatomic deformity, the

affirmation of consanguineous and incestuous marriages between members of the Palenquen
dinasty, is thrust forward gratuitously. Through such a dangerous road of phantasy one
would easily arrive to the version of what is known as "science-fiction", widespread in
books, illustrated short stories and television programs, in the sense that the person buried
in the sarcophagus was an extraterrestrial being, depicted on the gravestones as he handles
the controls inside of his space capsule.
In summary, we can say that Mayan writing, being hieroglyphic, comprises signs which
represent objects, actions, historic names (whether of personages, cities or lineages), and
of deities, celestial bodies, calendaric periods, mathematical values, rituals and ceremonies,
auguries, important events in the life of the rulers, reference to esoteric concepts, etc. These
signs can, of course, have ideographic or phonetic value. However, we believe that the complete decipherment of Mayan writing does not depend on the sudden finding of a supposed
"key", but rather, step by step, with probable periods of standstill and even of retrogressions, through the medium of linguistic studies, comparisons between the glyphic and literary texts, analysis of the structure of each hieroglyphic and also as sets of them, and the
use of statistical computational techniques, one will arrive at the point of completely
understanding all the Mayan inscriptions as the point of full comprehension of other writings of antiquity, such as the Egyptian and "Pumer" among others, was attained.
to

his skeleton.

to explain the

The calendar
Antecedents. The very needs of agricultural peoples determine that
their natural

development, they

may

in the

course of

have been compelled to invent or adopt a calendaric

system. Based on the knowledge of the periodicity of the agricultural cycles and wanting to

know with
the

full

exactitude the time of the year in which one ought to plant in order to derive

benefits of the rainy season, they had to

to discover, in

seasons.

We

their

perfect mechanics,

some

make observations of

facts

celestial

happenings

which coincided with the change of

dealt with this particular point at the beginning of the chapter,

when we

refer

to the concept of "astrobiology" which Berthelot presented.

The Mayas, when they

started their own culture, which was clearly differentiated from

Mesoamerican cultures, had already inherited the calendaric knowledge which
other peoples had acquired centuries before, and added to them concepts or new inventions,
thereby elaborating a complex calendaric system.
The builders of Monte Alban in Oaxaca, in its first period, and those designated "Olmecans" on the coast of Veracruz and Tabasco, recorded dates which substantiate the affirmation that between the year 500 B.C. and approximately at the beginning of our era, two
of the calendars which the Mayas had adopted at the end of the third century A.C., having
one calendar of 260 days and another of 365 days, were used.
Following this, we shall present a summary of the distinct mechanisms which integrate
the Mayan system for computing time: calendars of 260 and 365 days; the calendaric wheel;
the supplementary series; the lunar count; the esoteric cycles of the nine lords and of 819
days; the long count; the ends of periods and the short count.
all

the other

The

ritual calendar

One could assume

that the

first

calendar which the Mesoamerican peoples invented was

the lunar one, in view of the fact that the phases of our satellite are easy enough to observe.

However, there
Zapotecans.

170

On

is

not the slightest trace of

its

use on the inscriptions of the Olmecans and

the contrary, the calendar of 260 days seems to have been utilized from

earliest times.

We know

that

it is

the result of the combination of 20

names and numerals

from 1 to 13. The meaning of the names coincides, in part, within the different cultures,
which comprise the names of animals (tiger, serpent, dog, monkey, lizard, rabbit, deer,
eagle and turkey buzzard), of plants (flowers without specifying them maize, harmful
herbs), of natural phenomena (wind, night, rain, water, earthquakes, and death), and of
some material things (house, flint knives), if one compares, for example, the tonalpo hualli
of the Mexicas and the so-called tzolkin of the Mayas, one can immediately perceive that
approximately half of the names have a correspondence and that they occupy an identical
position in each calendar.

Attempts have been made in vain to explain this calendar in terms of some natural
making reference to the cultivation of maize, from the moment in which the ground
is prepared by stubbing until the end of the harvest; reference has also been made to the
duration of gestation of a human being. There is, however, no scientific argument which
could support these hypotheses, besides, the relation between the calendaric (very exact)
cycle and the vegetal and human gestation cycles which are variable, is vague and difficult
cycle,

to maintain.

Attempts have also been made to attribute an astronomic origin to it. When Teeple
asserts that "the numbers 13, 20 and 260 are completely arbitrary, since they have no
relation whatsoever to any natural phenomenon", he thereby suggests "that two tzolkines
[520 days] are almost equal to three ecliptic periods", but he concludes that "this correspondence is accidental, not intentional". With reference to the possible astronomic origin
of this calendar, Lizardi Ramos adds a note to the translation he had made of Teeple's work,

which he quotes three authors who had referred to this point. According to him, Luden"it would be possible to have been adopted as a mean of the ecliptic
periods", which seems to correspond to the same suggestion of Teeple already mentioned
and discarded by the latter. Zelia Nuttal "makes it obvious that the same Mexicans assigned an astronomic origin to the period of 260 days and finds support for that argument in a
passage of the '1'rataclo reLitivo a la observacion del Planeta Venus. For us it is, however,
difficult to imagine that the Mexicas had knowledge of the origin of a calendar which would
have been in use for some two thousand years earlier. As far as Ola Apenes is concerned,
Ramos refers to the fact that "the author makes it clear that the two successive passings of
the Sun through the zenith of a place, located between the tropics, are produced at intervals
of 260 days, in a latitude of 14 degrees and 7 minutes, very close to that of Copan. In fact
he states precisely around the year 1000 B.C., the latitude of the place ought to have
been 14 degrees 9 minutes, in order that the interval between two passages would be 260
days". The hypothesis of Apenes is interesting, but it would be extremely difficult to
associate Copan with a region where the tzolkin had originated on a supposed astronomic
basis due, on the one hand, to the distance of the places in which the most ancient inscriptions were found which record the use of this calendar and, on the other hand, the fact that
some 1 500 years had elapsed between the time in which the observation of an interval of
260 days had been made between two consecutive passings of the Sun through the zenith
in

dorff believed that

of the place and for the first date recorded there. It has to be a matter of an intellectual
invention in which the preexistent vigesimal numeration and the magic value of the number
13 were the bases which served for the elaboration of a system destined for esoteric use.
Berthclot considers that its origin may have been pre-agricultural and pre-astronomical.
In point of fact its function was exclusively of an "astrologic nature", even if the course
of the stars would not intervene in their creation. Manipulated by the priests it was consulted to give the new born its first name-that of the day corresponding and to establish what
could be termed its horoscope. Many of the Books of Chilam Balarn {LibrosJeC.Uilam Balam)

171

provide the prognostications associated with each one of the 20 days which follow one

another with different numerals, until the cycle

nature of the

new being was

is

completed.

It is

in this

manner

that the

advised of the future: he would be wise, an assesin, bad, med-

dlesome, dishonest, a "devourer" of his wife and children, an adulterer, stupid, judicious,

Piramide del Adivino ("Pyra-

mid

of

the

Prophet")

in

scientists

es-

Uxmal. Mayan

tablished the duration of the

solar

year

with

far

greater

generous, a thief, courageous, imaginative, noble, undecided, lascivious, according to what

precision than that which

the day might be and thus portend.

found on the Julian calendar.

Furthermore,

his activites

could be anticipated or

would be rich, poor, a master

of all the arts, a merchant, a healer, a carpenter, a weaver, a hunter, someone with a brilliant
future or with absolutely nothing. Taking into account that a great number of the days
perhaps

it

would be

possible to orientate

them from

birth: he

exercised an unlucky influence, certain arrangements could be

that the exact
in the

172

temple.

day of the birth was overlooked and

in its stead

made with

was the day of

the priests so
their presence

is

The

solar calendar

The calendar of 365 days,

or haab,

is

of an astronomic nature and related to agricultur-

who

from organized cultivation. The

observation on the rising of the sun on the horizon, the site of which is shifted from North
to South and afterwards from South to North until it reaches the point more to the north in
the summer solstice and more to the south in the winter solstice, enabled one to determine
exactly the duration of the solar cycle. Considering the 365 days that elapses between two
consecutive repetitions of the same extreme position of the Sun at the break of day, the
ancient Mesoamericans conceived a division of this lapse which is more logical than ours:
18 months of 20 days, plus 5 days "left over" considered unlucky instead of our months
of 30 and 31 days, which ought to alternate but which do not do so twice a year, and a
strange month of 28 days which every 4 years has 29 days.
The Mayas knew that the duration of the solar cycle lasted more than 365 days, but
they did not correct their calendar to insert one day every 4 years. As soon as they recorded
a date on some inscription, they used to announce that it was necessary to add a certain
number of years, months and days to that date in order to compensate the accumulation of
the fraction of the annual day not computed since the date on which their calendar was
initiated until that moment (the secondary series). According to the calculations of specialists, the correction
in this calendar which the Mayas made, was more exact to the tenthousandth of a day each year than that of our calendar with the insertion of a leap year.
al activities,

The

that

is,

invented by sedentary people

lived

calendaric wheel

The learned Mayas

realized that

it

was

feasible to integrate the religious calendar of

260 days with the civil of 365, in view of the fact that 73 tzolkines (260 x 73) resulted in
the same number of days as 52 civil years (365 x 52), that is to say, 18 980 days. It was
necessary that this lapse of time would occur, so that the correspondence of one day determined by the tzolkin with a day also determined in some of the months of the haab
would continue to repeat itself. It is not known what the name of this period was, but the
Mayan specialists designate it "the calendaric wheel". Other Mesoamerican peoples, including the Mexicas, used to consider it as the greater cycle, believing that the world could end

when that arrived at its time limit.

The Mayas had a very different concept of time, of an abbreviated form of 52 years.
They were able to envisage periods of thousands and millions of years, virtually the eternity
of time, through the use of the system that we refer to as the long count. It is very likely
that they inherited such a system, since Stele "C" of Tres Zapotes in the Olmecan area
records a date of the long count more than three centuries before the most ancient Mayan
29 of Tikal) with the same manner of recording time.
The long count is formed by a series of cycles, the basic unit of which
the day (Kin):
stele (Stele

Uinal

Tun
Katun
Baktun
Pictun

Calabtun
Kinchiltun

Alautun

The Alautun

=
=
=
=
=
=
=

20
18
20
20
20
20
20
20

tunes

pictunes

calabtun
kinchiltunes

144

880
57 600
1 152 000
23 040 000

represents approximately 63 millions of years.

only refer to mythological

periods. All the dates

naturally,

20 days

kines
uinales

katunes
baktunes

is,

It is

360
200
000
000
000
000
000

days
days
days
days

days
days
days

clear that its use could

recorded in the system of the long count

173

which marks the beginning of its calendar. With the correlation more
generally accepted by investigators, between this calendar and ours, this date would correspond to the 12th of August of the year 3113 B.C. (13.0.0.0.0, 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu). On the
inscriptions, the initial series, the name by which one frequently refers to the long counts by
their position at the beginning of the hieroglyphic texts on the monuments, usually do not
indicate periods of time greater than the Baktun.
refer to a date-period,

The supplementary
After the

series

initial series

a variable

number of glyphs

usually follow (eight as the maxi-

mum). They constitute what we are accustomed to refer to as a supplementary series, and
which are known by the following letters: G, F, E, D, C, X, B, A. They appear in the order
shown although at times some can be lacking. The supplementary series comprises an esoteric cycle and the lunar count.
The glyph G, of which nine forms exist, each one with a number of variants, which are

174

The Tower of

the Palace in

is another example
of the buildings given over
entirely to astronomical ob-

Palenque

servations.

the
to

It

is

believed that

upper part was

isolate

the

utilized

astronomers.

designated as Gl, G2,

G3

G9, corresponds to the nocturnal deity of the day recorded.

This series of nine symbols has to be equivalent to the series of nine deities which accompany the days on the Mexican calendars (tonalpohualli) and which one assumes are the
Nine Lords of the Night, probably with esoteric function. Each deity exercises an influence
...

on the auguries associated with the day. The nine glyphs always follow each other in the
same order and without interruption, in the same way as the seven names of the days of our
week, and in the beginning they alluded to natural influences on them. It is not known just
what the glyph F actually means, which immediately follows G, and which is frequently
fusioned with it. It is possible that both are terminated in order to make definite the meaning of the function of the nocturnal "companion" (Caso refers to this as "accompanied")
of each day.

The lunar count

principal ones

is

is

expressed by means of a number of glyphs. The signification of the

interpreted with absolute certainty.

When we

refer to the astronomic

knowledge of the Mayas we are recalling that, according to the tables of the Dresden Codex,
the lapse between two consecutive new moons had been estimated by them as having been
29.53086 days. Presently we deduced this theoretic estimate, but in practise the computation of the lunar cycle was obtained in a very simple form. Since its duration is for somewhat more than 29 and a half days, it created the need of alternating one month of 29 days
with one of 30, and when it was noted that the calculated date did not coincide with the
real phase of the Moon, that led to a succession of two months of 30 days each. The lunar
series was recorded in the following manner: glyph D was used as the coefficient up to 19
when the age of the Moon, during the month of its course, did not reach 20 and in its place
the glyph E was used with the coefficient of
to 9 for more than 20 days. With glyph C (a
possible numeral from 2 to 6) the lunar months were indicated which had elapsed in the six
months' period, since the lunar month was divided into two semesters and each month was
reckoned from the beginning of the new moon. The glyph A (with the numeral from 9 or
10) was used to show if the lunar month in force had 29 or 30 days. With regard to the
glyphs X and B it seems beyond any doubt that they were related to the lunar computation,
but their specific meaning remains unknown.
As for astronomy, we mentioned the knowledge that the Mayas had about the cycle of
Venus and the form in which they divided it, in so far as it is possible to appraise that from
the tablets pertinent to this planet which form part of the Dresden Codex. Although some
glyphs of Venus may appear in the inscriptions recorded on the monuments, it is not possible to speak of their use on any calendar pertaining to Venus, but rather of possible references to "points of greater brilliancy or greater elongation" as Teeple suggests.

The

cycle of

When

819 days

Eric

Thompson analyzed many monuments

with hieroglyphic inscriptions, he

recognized the existence of an esoteric cycle of 819 days which could have originated from
the belief in seven terrestrial deities, nine from the infraworld and thirteen celestial, since

819 equals
define the

7 x 9 x 13.

combined

The

allusions in this cycle for a determined date

influences of the deities in that

would pretend

to

moment.

The ends of the periods

Although the dates recorded on the monuments do not correspond to a calendar that
differs from those we have mentioned, they can appear in an abbreviation of the system of
the long count. These dates are known as "ends of the periods". When it is shown that it is a
matter of an end of a Katun, of which the numeral is mentioned and which is accompanied by
the calendaric wheel of the day recorded, such a date does not occur before 949 Baktunes

175

have elapsed, that is, some 375 000 years. When in a date which coincides with the end of
a Katun, the numeral is not precisely indicated, th-at is, its position within the long count,
the recurrence would be at the end of 949 Katunes, which is approximately 19 000 years.
As one can judge, these dates of the ends of the periods, although abbreviated, have a
tremendous precision for the express purpose of placing the events within the historic
framework of the ancient Mayas.

The

short count

At the end of the 9th century of our era much later dates are recorded by means of
the system of the long count. At this time the decline of Mayan culture is placed in the
central area at the time of the arrival of foreign invaders. As a result, much of the knowledge which applies to the complex calendaric system is lost. We have no record of the dates
over a period of some six centuries although the Mayan priests continued computing the
passage of time in a very abbreviated form, as it is revealed in the Libros de Chilam Balatn,
Landa's Relation, and other documents of the XVI century. The system which the Mayas
used to refer to as u Kahlay Katunob, we designate as the "short count", but for them it
was "the count of the Katunes". A cycle or "wheel" of a Katun consisted of only 13
Katunes, for which a specific date was repeated when this series of 13 Katunes was over,
that is something more than 256 years. The Katun was named for the day Ahau on which it
customarily terminated.

The Maya-Christian

correlation

The loss of the use of the long count for many centuries before the Spanish conquest
has rendered extremely difficult the possibility for correlating, with any degree of certainty,
the Mayan calendar with ours. In point of fact, some events mentioned in Landa's Relation
and in other colonial documents refer to Mayan dates within the system of the short count
and

in

some

cases the Christian year

is

them within our

problem still more

indicated, being feasible to place

some contradictions in a number of sources make the

arduous. Various correlations between both calendars have been proposed. Some are based
on astronomic data, which are supposedly associated with the dates, but which leave out
historic information. Until now the correlation most accepted by the Mayan specialists,
which regards historic data and possible astronomic associations, is the one which Goodman
first proposed and which Martinez Hernandez later modified to three days and which
Thompson finally left to one day. Nevertheless, other investigators prefer the one that
Morley had offered in the very beginning and which Spinden had improved upon. Between
the two correlations there is a lapse of about 260 years, for which the possible verification
of a date through the CI 4 test of materials related thereto (proof which implies a margin of
plus and minus from 50 to 100 years, that is, from 100 to 200 years), does not yield any
definite result. In this way, some lintels of wood from Temple IV in Tikal, which bear
dates, gave Spinden recognition for his correlation by a first test, while some time later a
tenth of tests on lintels from the same temple coincided with the dates recorded according
to the Godman-Martinez-Thompson correlation.
It is deplorable that the problem of Mayan-Christian correlation has not been able to
be solved in a satisfactory, certain form, and that the Mayan dates, so exact within the
framework of Mayan time, cannot be placed in our computation of time with the same
calendar. Besides,

precision.

History

The complexity of the Mayan calendar, its incredible zeal for accuracy, its scope of
thousands and millions of years in the past, led investigators to the conclusion that it was
a matter of a unique invention in the history of the peoples: the creation of a most complicated instrument for spiritual and metaphysical purposes.
At the beginning of the century, Charles Bowditch had logically felt when he was in

176

front of Stele

number

its contents had to be of a historic nature and

on the life of the personage represented there, such
as the date of his birth, of the beginning and end of his initiation, of his ascension to the
throne and of other high points of his reign. Morley, on the other hand, when he began to
1

of Yaxchilan, that

that the inscriptions provided the data

Mayan inscriptions, maintained that their contents were fundamentally hisand that the greatest number of the dates had to correspond to actual facts. However,
as he was unable to decipher something more than the dates and calendaric calculations, he
drastically changed his opinion and emphatically affirmed that the Mayan inscriptions never
recorded anything connected with historic happenings.
On the basis of the inability to comprehend even the calendaric aspect, it was decided
that everything was relative to the passage of time, and it was invented that the ancient
Mayas used to practise a singular philosophy of time. For that reason Morley was able to
establish that the inscriptions "did not contain in any form the glorification of a person ...
no reference is made to actual conquests, nor do they record the progress of an empire; they
neither extol nor do they exalt, nor glorify anyone: they are so impersonal, not individualistic, that it is possible that no name of a man or woman may ever have been recorded".
Spinden, with the same criterion, affirmed that "not even the name of one place or one
person has been definitively recognized and translated. we don't know among the hundreds
of glyphs of Copan and Palenque the actual names of these cities, nor even their symbols".
Thompson, who elaborated the idea of the philosophy of time among the Mayas, said that
"as far as our knowledge reaches out, the Mayan monuments with their inscriptions deal
exclusively with the passage of time, with data about the Moon, about the planet Venus,
about calendaric calculations and references to the gods together with the rituals associated
with these problems". And, in order to understand with greater clarity the attitude of the
Mayas faced with the events of time, Thompson himself explained that it was "as if we
would erect a monument every five or ten years, and that we record on that the corresponding date, as, for example, Sunday, December 31, 1950; Saturday, December 31, 1951; etc.,
with the information about the position of the Moon and the deities associated with it".
By idealizing the Mayas in attributing to them a special cult or worship of time, it was
denied that they had had any historic conscience, or any concern with recording facts which
they considered important in the course of their life. However, their actual concern for
history is unquestionably beyond any doubt, as there are more than enough manifestations
of that. The Spanish chroniclers as Landa, Lopez Medel, Ciudad Real, Lizana, Cogolludo
and others, in referring to their "books" written with letters or characters, specify that,
decipher the
toric

among

other things, they contained "their histories". It is, however, certain that the content of the three only Codices which escaped the religious fanaticism of Landa has nothing
of a historic nature, but rather only ritual, calendaric and astronomical. In any case, the
assertion of the chroniclers is still, of course, authentic. Its veracity is established by the
chronicles which, in different Mayan languages, were written by cultured people after
the conquest, when the friars had taught them the Castillian alphabet. In some cases, too, as
with reference to the Popol Vuh, the author specifies that whatever he is referring to "was
in an original work written in ancient times, but its vision remains obscure, without understanding for the investigator".
In this way, in The Books of Chilam Balam of Mani, Tizimin, and Chumayel, certain
facts pertaining to the groups that invaded and settled in Yucatan, are recorded in a very
simple, unadorned form and with chronologic references (Katunes), which could be placed
in our calendar. The history of the Xiu embraces two and a half centuries, from 849 to
1106; that of the Itza is a little more detailed and extensive, covering a period of almost
six centuries, from 415 to 987, and it relates their presence in Bacalar; the discovery and
establishment in Chichen-ltza; the abandonment of the place; the journey to Chakanputun,
and the return to Chichen-ltza. With reference to the later period, from 987 to 1520, mention is made of the supposed Mayapan Alliance with the Xiu who occupied Uxmal, the Itza

of Chichen and the

Cocom

of Mayapan; and

in similar fashion the struggles

between these

177

The hieroglyphic inscription

on the perron of one of the
courtyards of the Palace in
Palenque, Chiapas. Calendaric

which refer to the

months and days appear on
signs

^.

'-A

>

*^

that inscription.

groups, with the destruction of Chichen and

much

later

of Mayapan. Finally appear the

Spanish conquerors, and the authors of these documents express their anger and animosity

which the Mayas had been subjected to, and the state of submission which
was imposed upon them. Some of the happenings of the colonial period were recorded
later, the last one going back to 1610.
The Manuscript (Manuscrito) or Chronicle of Oxkutzcab {Cronica de Oxkutzcab), although written in 1685, by a member of the Xiu family, is a copy, according to the author's
statement, of "an ancient book, principally in characters which is called Andres" (it ought
for the repression

to be Analtes, as they called the Codices).

dates of the

Mayan

The

historic information, associated with the

calendar and the Christian years, narrates events which had taken place

there, such as illnesses; massacres of those

"who made

the offerings of water",

among whom

there was a Tutulxiu; hurricanes; the foundation of Merida; the battles against the Spaniards;

the beginning of Christianism, etcetera.

men,
and descendents, the foundation of towns, the struggles
with other groups, the power of the Quiche reign, the names and posts of the principal
heads, and the ancestry of the Quichean kings by lineages, including those who were ruling
at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards and those who later bore Spanish names and surnames. The list of these lords extends up to the fourteenth generation for the descendents
of Balan Quitze. The historic facts or events are not correlated with chronologic references.
In the

mention

178

is

Popol Vuh,

made of

after the mythological stories of the creation of the first four

their children

large part of the

Memorial de Solold or Anales de

los Cakchiqueles deals with the

about the migrations, indicating many of the places through
which they passed; the names of kings and their own chiefs or enemies; the rivalry and wars
with the Quiches and other groups; the conquests; the revolts of the Quiches; epidemics; the
succession of their kings; the arrival of the Spaniards; the murders of their governors by

history of this people.

It tells

the Spaniards; the plundering and cruelties of the conquerors, and the complete vanquish-

ment of

the country. For

more than

a century,

from the end of the XV to the beginning of

name of the day) and with the

the

XVII, the events are dated in the Cakchiquel calendar (the

day,

month and year which correspond

to our calendar.

The information pertinent to the last

as it is restricted to the mention of

50 years has an increasingly local and familiar color,

marriages, births, deaths, incidents and quarrels of neighbors, even including adulteries and
drinking bouts with their respective punishments. The histories which the ancient Mayas
wrote after the conquest, recording an infinite number of facts, an innumerable number of
names of personages and places, and, in some chronicles, dates, could hardly have been retained solely through oral tradition. They must have been recorded in prehispanic times, as
some of their authors clearly specify: in painted books and sculptured monuments. From
them till now it would seem to us incredible how the historic contents of the inscriptions
could have been denied and ignored for such a long time. In treating the problem of the
decipherment of Mayan writing we have mentioned how the antihistoric dogma had been
attacked and destroyed by Heinrich Berlin, Tatiana Proskouriakoff and David Kelley among
such, and by the one who signs. Contrary to what was maintained during almost half a
century, it can be affirmed that there are concrete references to the Mayan centers (glyphsemblems) in some forms; to the names of the principal figures; to the dates of their birth,
enthronement, and death; to the events during their reign, such as wars and conquests; to
kin alliances, marriages and lineages; to ancestors and descendents; to posts and hierarchical
titles, etc. The names of Escudo-Jaguar (Shield-Jaguar), Pdjaro-Jaguar (Bird-Jaguar), Crdneo
Enjoyado (Jewelled Skull), and Ah.au for Yaxchilan; or a possibly dynasty Caan in Quirigua
and of Uoxok Ah.au in Palenque, if they do not correspond exactly to those which the alluded rulers to had, at any rate, offer a high degree of verisimilitude. Of course, in this interpretation one should not discard either the information or the hieroglyphics, that is, the
iconographic interpretation associated with
the

man

buried

the

in

tomb of

the

it.

One should

Temple of

remains of the individuals whose history

is

also not ignore, as in the case of

the Inscriptions in Palenque, the material

intended to be deciphered, and the analysis of

which ought not to contradict the reading of the glyphs.

The substantiation of the existence of a true historic conscience among the ancient
Mayas coincides with what we know of the other Mesoamerican peoples. To cite only a few
examples, we can recall the existence in Monte Alban (Building "J") of stones which refer
to historic events, probably conquests of peoples by those of that locality. In this same
manner, a number of Mixtecan Codices of Oaxaca narrate in pictographs and with precise
dates, the history of various dynasties for a period of ten centuries,
birth, the

names of

conquests, enemies
their death.

From

mentioning the date of

the fathers and the descendents, marriages, political alliances, struggles,

who were

taken prisoners, together with the date and circumstances of

the Mexicas

we have knowledge of

the so-called Tirade

la

Peregrinacion,

with the place of origin and the stages of Aztec migration up to their arrival to Chapultepec.
The obsession of the Mayas for recording the passage of time has no bearing on meta-

They did not endeavor

homage

most definitely did

want to construct a system which could assure the maximum exactness in the computation
of time, which is precisely what they did accomplish so that the data of their history, fixed
in form, remained so precise that not the minutest possibility of error was left.
physics.

to render

to time itself, but they

179

While to us such zeal may seem exaggerated, it can be explained through the outlook
they had of everything in the world and on life. In Berthelot's conclusions on what he designated "astrobiology", he analyzes a universal tendency which occurs "between the neolithic
and the recent triumph of modern European science", and which he considers as characteristic of the Asiatic thinking, associating it with the development of an advanced agriculture.
In the astrobiologic conception the "vital action" (the biologic phenomenon) and the "mathematical regularity", which is based on the laws of the movements of the stars, are fused.
In this conjunction, knowledge still in its incipient stages, with regard to astronomy and
botany, intervenes, wherein observation can readily corroborate the numerical and chrono-

Within this conception which embraces space, time and all the terrestrial
phenomena, everything is organized with relation to the calendar: the movements of the
stars, terrestrial phenomena; human, animal and vegetable life; and the succession of historical facts. Such a way of thinking, applied to the history of man, tends to raise this above the
myth, anil to transform it into chronology and science. In the conglomeration of this cosmovision, the course of the celestial bodies in the heavens, the vital development of plants, the
existence of man and the historic happening follow fixed rhythms from then on and for all
times. If the deeds which affect a community have to be repeated in an implacable form at
definite periods of the calendar, then it is necessary to be able to propitiate them if they are
favorable and try to avoid or reduce their effects to a minimum if they are detrimental.
Through the mediation of the priests it was feasible, at the very least, to cherish the hope
that the gods take part in these events which the march of time reproduced at definite intervals. For that reason, the imperious necessity of knowing the date of its advent, and thereby,
to know with the greatest exactness when they had occurred in the past, were all that mattered. The conjuntion of the astronomic calendars (that is, the solar, lunar and Venutian),
and the rituals [Tzolkin, the series of the nine nocturnal companions, the cycle of 819 days)
of the long count and later of the Katunic wheel, were the means for providing the priests
with the chronological and necessary esoteric elements so that the inevitable repetition of
the events would have a more benevolent aspect, the least fatal for the population.
logical regularities.

Medicine
For the ancient Mayas the causes of illnesses could be either natural or supernatural. It
was customary to treat the first type by means of applying empiric knowledge, which they had
as far as the curative effects of plants are concerned. But in the event that they had been
caused by "bad winds", or sent by enemies, or provoked through errors committed by the
lack of fulfillment of religious obligations, or if they had whatever other miraculous origin,
they pertained to the dominion of magic and had to be cured only through witchcraft.
Landa observed this dichotomy, but without having been able to differentiate between
the scientific and the magical, for which reason he combines what pertains to both when
reference is made to "surgeons, more accurately called sorcerers, those who cure with herbs
and many superstitions", and also "...the priests, the doctors and sorcerers who were all one
and the same". The chronicler mentions the practise of bloodletting in the aching parts of
the body, still accepted by medicine today (phlebotomy); the use of massage and steam
baths; and further provides some curative prescriptions made of balche, many different kinds
of herbs, leaves, fruits, sap of plants, and also medicaments from such animal matter as the
fat from some birds and the excrements of the iguana. Numerous treatises on this subject are
known dated from the XVIII and XIX centuries, but some have to be late copies of more
ancient documents. The so-called Libros de Chilam Balam by Ixil and Kaua include medicinal texts. Many manuscripts are completely devoted to the presentation of prescriptions for
alleviating and curing illnesses, and, although it is possible to observe the contribution from
Europe, the greater part is of indigenous origin. As a matter of fact, the Spaniards were
amazed at the effects of the plants, and introduced many of them into the European phar-

macopoeia.

Among
180

the principal texts

we

will

recall

some

that Tozzer mentioned, such as the

Page VI of the Codice de

Dresde ("Dresden Codex").
It

contains tzolkins or calend-

of 260 days; counts of

365 days for the divinations

ars

and worship, tablets pertaining

to

the

eclipses,

to

the

cycle of Venus and to the pro-

phecies for the year and the

katun.

famous Book of the Jew (Libro deljudio) which is attributed to Ricardo Ossado, who would
also wrote Herbs and Sorceries of Yucatan {Yerbas y Hechicerias del Yucatan); the manuscript of de Vidales, which would be the most ancient that is known thus far (XVII century);
others are anonymous, as the Book of the Jew from Sotuta [Libro del Judio de Sotuta),
Mayan Medicine (Medicina Maya), The Notebook of Teabo (Cuaderno de Teabo), Notes on
Various Plants (Noticias de varias plantas), and The Book of the Doctors [Libro de los Medicos). The manuscript of Pio Perez, entitled Indian Prescriptions in Mayan, Indexes to
Medicinal Plants and the Diseases they Cured [Recetarios de Indios en lengua Maya, Indices
de plantas mecidinales y de enfermedades coordinados), is a most important work.
The Ritual of the Bacabs deserves very special mention. It is a Mayan text and an English
version of a manuscript which mentions one date: 1779, but which must be considerably
more ancient. Ralph Roys, who made it known, has suggested as a possible date that of the
beginning of the XVII century or perhaps even
attitude that the ancient

earlier.

Mayas had with regard

This work confirms the dual vision or

to diseases and, consequently, of the

manner

and means for curing them. In this text the magical invocations and medical prescriptions are
mixed, integrating an "empirical and magical therapeutics". It becomes more than evident
from all this literature that the curanderos established an authentic symptomatology of diseases according to which they prescribed remedies of vegetable and animal matter, prepared
by infusions, decoctions, cataplasms and ointments, the effectiveness of which had been
empirically established as well as confirmed.
ics

The curanderos frequently applied

a therapeut-

based on an elementary principle, actually ingenuous, parallel to the similia similibus cu-

something similar, but for the Mayas

the similitude was superficial, since actually it was a matter of comparing the color which
could be associated with a specific symptom, with that of the plant to be used for the cure.
Thus, yellow flowers were utilized against jaundice or bilious extravasations, and red flowers
for hemoptysis or dysentery. Some other examples, still in practise, which Roys presents in
his extremely valuable work, Ethno-Botany of the Mayas (with 437 names of medications
and their corresponding applications), have to be of prehispanic origin. From among these
we will quote the use of nests of wasps pounded into some skin eruptions similar to the sting
of a wasp, and of some grapevines with extensive ramifications which suggest serpents,
against snake bites. The work of Roys is completed with lists of Mayan names of plants and
animals and of their equivalents in the scientific nomenclature and in the popular language
as well. Among the prehispanic curanderos, the same as among the present day practitioners
of this category, there existed a specific professional differentiation according to specialities,
as it can be perceived from the following: the bone specialists treated every kind of contusion, dislocation and bone fractures; the midwives attended to childbirth with the help of
idols connected with the goddess Ixchel, the patronness of medicine. The surgeons, whom
Landa affiliated with the sorcerers, were capable of undertaking difficult operations, such as
that of trepanation; although they were not always successful according to the archaeological
evidence. With regard to the "suprainiana" lesion localized in the occipital bone, for some
authors that would be the result of surgical intervention in the form of the scraping of the
bone, that at time would reach the point of perforating it, perhaps to remedy "a dissection
of the osseous tissue in the area affected by the deforming pressure". Its association with
the craneal deformations seems proven but some authors, like Carlos Serrano, do not believe
that it was intentional, but rather produced by the osseous irritation and the necrosis during
the deforming process,
rantur of homeopathy, that

Utilization of scientific

is,

to cure the similar with

knowledge

With the exception of medicine,

182

as

much

in its empirical as magical aspect,

which

Mayan

writing,

codices,

steles,

dispersed

in

gravestones,

sculptures, ceramics, perrons,

buildings, etc., has until

now

had its "Roseta

Stone", which may provide
the key to the understanding

not

yet

of this society.

applications were intended to benefit the population at an individual level, the other sciences

of the Mayas monopolized by the ruling

class,

ultimately constituted a form of power to

assure the functioning of society, the preservation of the collective established norms, the

continuity of the system and the domination of this class on the great masses of the population. Integrated into a global vision of the

cosmos and

life,

these sciences demonstrated that

the universe, created by the gods, functioned in perfect and unalterable order.

The move-

ments of the stars in the heavens, their conjunctions, appearance and disappearance, yielded
to precise rhythms, and the succession of the seasons and the corresponding agricultural
labors gave way to this mechanics. Mathematics permitted the priests to make the calculations which provided them with the necessary information to announce celestial phenomena.
Everything known was written in hieroglyphic texts, but only the select specialists among
the priests were able to interpret them.
The calendar, a complex result of astronomical observations and esoteric lucubrations,
served as the pivotal axis around which all the celestial and terrestrial beings revolved, in
exactly the same way as the natural phenomena; the life of the individual and that of the
collective unit; the appearance of favorable periods and cataclysms, and the happenings
already experienced in the past. The knowledge of the calendaric system and its manipulation by the sacerdotal class assured a restrictive power that had no limitations or bounds. The
priests "knew" everything that had occurred and would recur again and again. They also
"knew" how to obtain from the gods what is good and how to try to avoid what is evil.
They were the only ones able to implant hope and fear. To be in the good graces of the gods
it was indispensable that the people fulfill their obligations to them, so as not to alter the
worthwhile progress of that mechanism which had been created by the gods and entrusted
to the priests which enabled them to exact complete, absolute submission of the people.
And the populace, desirous of a life free of cares, in which nothing essential and indispensable for their existence would be lacking, was disposed to accept all the orders or
those who interceded with the divine beings "to give them health, life and maintenance".

183

The

If in

that

man

Religion of the Mayas

our time, that

is,

the

XX

century, in spite of the outstanding scientific knowledge

has attained, no less in the immensity of the heavens than in the most infinitesimal

corporal particles, religion

including those

still

continues to play an important role in the

among whom even atheism

understand what

it

would have meant

in

has an official character,

it

life
is

of the people,

not difficult to

some periods of time which we could regard

as

prescientific.

no doubt that the Mayas knew how to calculate the cycles of the stars, but for
Through experience they knew the effects that the
sun, the rain and the wind produced on their sowing, but they regarded those phenomena as
deities. In addition, the very earth, the plants they were accustomed to cultivate, the animals
they used to hunt or domesticate, all had a divine aspect.
Through religion everything was made comprehensible, that is, the universe in its totality of celestial bodies, the natural forces, beings and things. And, in as much as everything
was ruled by the gods, since everything, good and evil, that happened was sent by the gods,
and since it was feasible to obtain their favor through obedience to their representatives on
Earth and through the ceremonies and rites which they taught them, the Mayan, with fervent
There

Mayan

religion played a very

essential

role

in

the

life

of

The Mayas, scienand priests, knew the

effects of the natural forces
and, in spite of that, they
this people.
tist

deified almost everything that

pertains

to

nature; the sun,

the rain, the wind, the earth,

plants

and

divine nature.

animals

had

is

them

the astral bodies were supernatural.

faith,

surrendered himself completely to religion.

could be anticipated, had many points in common with the

Mesoamerican peoples, since all of them were integrated into one and
the same basic culture and were found at a level of development more or less identical. The
bonds that united the faiths of those people embraced not merely general concepts but also
specific deities, practises and rituals. It is in this way that all or almost all of their religions
had a pantheon integrated with numerous gods; some of them were benevolent to man, others
hostile, but this dualism was able to exist in one and the same deity. The distinction of the
cardinal points determined the possible division of one divinity in four likenesses, each one
associated with a color suited to each direction, which did not always have its correspondence

The Mayan

religion, as

religion of the other

185

obviously the same for all these peoples, created

gods with an analogous cult and at times with similar representations. The existence
of deities who were the patron saints for the principal posts is another feature common to
in the different cultures; the natural forces,

parallel

the Mesoamerican religions. However, there

is

no doubt that Mayan

religion created

many

aspects that were peculiar to general concepts, as well as to the deities of a very specific

nature within the frame of their material and intellectual needs.

The religion that a people elaborate reflects not only the physical

medium which serves

environment and from which they live, exploiting their natural resources, but definitely also the social medium from which it stems and over which it acts. In the previous
chapters we emphasized the classicist nature of Mayan society, its division in groups differentiated not only with regard to the production and distribution of goods, but also, and consequently, with reference to the standard of living, of activities, of access to political power
and cultural acquisitions. Two fundamental strata can be considered by simplifying the
social picture: the great mass of the producers "free" and slaves and the nobility lords
and priests. We are going to find in the Mayan religion two levels well differentiated, in its
conceptions, in its pantheon, in its practises of worship and among the priests: that of the
common people and that of the ruling class.
them

as

Popular deities

The peasant,

at the

popular

level, believed in

many gods which

personified the basic

elements of his existence, that is, his most vital products and the natural forces which had
an influence on his acquiring them. The Earth was a deity with lacking flesh features, associated with death, as among the peoples of the Mexican altiplano, despite the fact that life
also sprouted from it. Its macabre aspect was due to the fact that her bosom embraced the
infraworld in which not only the bodies of the deceased, but also of the astral bodies, such
as the Sun in the late afternoon and the Moon and the stars at the break of day, were going
to stay there. Thompson believes that Earth is represented in the Codices by the god which
Schellhas designated F and to which Thompson himself put the letter R. He likewise considers
the deity of numeral 11 as corresponding to that, since both bear the sign on their face, that
is, the form of a curl which characterizes the glyph for the day Caban, the symbol for Earth.
On the monuments it is very likely the god of Earth which is found on the lower part of
Stele 40 in Piedras Negras, receiving grains of corn which a priest is scattering; in like manner
his hideous mask without flesh, which in Palenque serves as a pedestal for the stucco figures
on the pillars of the facade of the Temple of the Inscriptions, and which is also the
cruciform motif on the tablets of the Temples of the Cross and the Leaf Cross. The seat on
which the person sculptured on the sepulchral stone is reclining, in the crypt of the mentioned Temple of the Inscriptions is simultaneously the same hideous evocative mask of Earth.
The Sun, Ah Kin or Kinich Ahau (Lord Countenance or Solar Eye) or also Kinich Kakmoo (Macaw, the Solar Countenance of Fire), is probably represented in the Codices by the
God G of Schellhas; it is also the deity of the numeral A on the glyphs which represent
variations of the head. His symbol is a four-petalled flower which the said deity can show on
the forehead and which, generally, accompanies it in the glyphic texts of the Codices. On the
monuments it is represented frequently adorning the shields which important personages are
carrying; by an old man with large oval or square eyes, whose pupils are, at times, in the
inner corners, above or below the eyeball, to give the impression of strabismus; the upper
incisors the only dental pieces which due to the well advanced age are conserved are cut
down in the form of the glyph for the day Ik; a spiral wound around the nose and in somewhat like a hook form which emerges from it from the corners of the mouth, complete
the characteristic features of the solar god. At times he can also appear like a young man,
personifying the glyph of the day Ahau. Although venerated for being indispensable for the
growth of plants, it seems that he was more feared than loved, since the droughts which he
was able to provoke in case of a lack of rain were fatal to the harvests and, eventually, also
to the survival of the population.

186

The

Baroque style of the

symbols on the stelas has provoked many difficulties for
the understanding of the contents of these stelas. However,
we do know that hundreds of
elements formed part of the
religion which was handled

by

a cultured

political elite,

who

ap-

grave-stone

of

such as the priests,

pear

on

the

Templo

the

de

la

Cruz

("Temple of the Cross")

in

Palenque.

Rain was of tremendous importance for the

life

of the

Mayan

peasant, above

all in

the

when the rain is very limited in its period of duration and low in precipiFor
that
very
tion.
reason the god Chaac is the most represented in the Codices and on the
monuments in Yucatan. He is the god B of Schellhas and is characterized in the Codices by
his long, hanging nose, his eye surrounded by a spiral, the pupil in the form of a comma as

septentrional area

mouth or with only one upper incisor, and

frequently with a hook which protrudes from the mouth towards the tront and another towards the back, since the juncture is visible in profile. He can be represented in the form of
spurts of rain or navigating in a small canoe or emptying out a bowl of water. He usually
it

has a volute around the nose, the toothless

one hand, possible symbol of the thunder, and, at times, a torch (a

On the monuments of the central area he constitutes
the scepter what personages of importance in different localities are carrying as a symbol oi
their hierarchy, as in Palenque, Yaxchilan, Tikal, Xultun, Quirigua, etc., one ot his legs turncarries a stone ax in

thunderbolt or a threat of a drought?).

On
head

the

of

following page,

the

serpent one of
the animals most venerated in
a

Mesoamerica which is found

at the foot of one of the
beams of the Pyramid of
Kukulkan in Chichen Itza.

ing into a serpentine handle of the insignia. In the buildings of the septentrional area the

mask of

huge nose, similar to a question mark (which travelers in the past century had
confused with the snout of an elephant), with its mouth together with its threatening canine
a

teeth; the pupil

marked by

present motif, and

still

in

a square

many

eye and the very adorned earflaps constitute an omni-

cases only a

mere decoration of the

friezes

and

crestings. In

18"

some

cases in Kabah, hundreds of masks decorate the fagades; in others, as in the Rio Bee
and Los Chenes, the enormous mask occupies the central part of the same fagade and its

mouths provides

the entrance to the temple.

Animals, such as the frog and the turtle, were associated with the god of rain; the
former because it announced the rain through its croaking, and the latter because it was

assumed that its crying provoked it. The Mayas believed that there was a Chaac in the firmaments for every cardinal direction and of a determined color: Chac Xib Chaac, the red man
of the rain, in the East; Sac Xib Chaac, the white man of the rain, in the North; Ek Xib
Chaac, the black man of the rain, in the West, and Kan Xib Chaac, the yellow man of the
rain, in the South. In Yucatan the Mayas further believed that the god lived at the bottom
of the cenotes, and for that reason, to obtain his favors, they used to throw in offerings and
sacrificed human beings (children, by preference, since they perceived a relation between
their sobbing and the rain). Another magical means to call forth rain was to produce abundant black smoke by burning rubber or powder, since that was similar to the dark clouds that
were loaded with rain. In the Highlands of Chiapas and in Guatemala, the god of rain and his
servants, the flash of lightning and thunder, used to live in the caves in the mountains. In the
classical period, in some large important centers, Tlaloc the god of rain, appears, proceeding
from the Mexican altiplano (Tikal, Copan, Uxmal), as a probable influence from Teotihuacan in the high priestly spheres, but which did not reach the vast popular strata.
Phenomena less linked to rain are wind, lightning and thunder, which can accompany
the rain although that is not necessary. Some historic sources mention the Pauahtunes,
which sent the winds from the four cardinal points, each one related to the color that corresponds to its direction (Chacpauahtun, red, to the East; Kanpauahtun, yellow, to the
South; Ekpauahtun, black, to the West; and Sacpauahtun, white, to the North). These supernatural beings would live below the earth and seem more likely to have been the servants of
the Chaacoob than autonomous divinities or even apellations of the gods of rain, since, according to the beliefs of the Mayas the winds are produced by the rain. Special rites were
carried out when the underbrush was burned in the preparatory step to get the earth ready
for planting, so that the wind would help and not cause detriment extending beyond the fire
that had been foreseen. We have no knowledge of any representations of a god of the wind
either in the Codices or in the monuments, but in the glyph for a day of the religious calendar,
Ik does mean "wind" and, by analogy or extension, also "air" and "spirit". Besides its use
on the Inscriptions, this sign was also utilized in the architecture of Palenque, precisely to
give form to small openings in the walls of the buildings, perhaps in the belief that the glyph
would bring about a greater amount of air that would then enter the inside.
It seems that no specific deities for lightning and thunder had also existed, but they
would rather have been envisaged as powers emanating from the Chaacoob or perhaps
regarded as simple instruments or tools of these powers. The ax which the Chaac frequently
wields in the Codices, through the blow it produces when it is applied, would symbolize
thunder, and through the sparks which are provoked by striking another stone would thereby
represent the lightning. In the same manner, the drum which the Chaac sometimes plays in
the Codices

may probably

allude to thunder.

The goddess Ixchel occupied an important

place in the

Mayan pantheon because of her

multitudinous functions and through her connection with the

of the people. In the Codices

represents the

this

goddess

Moon whose name was U

is

vital

aspects of the activities

designated the goddess

in the

/.

Fundamentally, she

Mayan language of Yucatan.

In the series of

numerals of the head in the calendaric inscriptions she would be the young goddess of 1,
and her hieroglyphic is frequent since the dates recorded used to involve the lunar calendar.
She was looked upon as the wife of the Sun and was considered to have had a sensuous

188

SI

189

led her to commit adultery with the planet Venus; her conjugal conflicts
provoke the eclipses, according to modern popular beliefs. A sanctuary dedicated to this
goddess is known to exist in Cozumel, and it is possible that Tixchel (the place of Ixchel) in
the region of Acalan would also have been consecrated to her.
The interest in the Moon was not determined solely by the nature of her astral brilliancy, but because of the influence which it was supposed that she exerted on the growth
of plants and the health of the people. For that reason she was also the goddess of medicine,
apart from the fact that she could also provoke certain types of diseases. Possibly because of
the licentious temperament attributed to her, she was associated with procreation in its different phases, i.e., sexual intercourse, pregnancy and parturition. An idol which represented
her, was placed under the straw mat of the woman in labor to facilitate childbirth. This
goddess was also the patroness of weaving. In reality, Ixchel can be considered, in general, as
a divinity associated with women in their physiologic life and principal activities.
In some form, the goddess was also linked with water and, independently of her
nocturnal journey through the firmaments, was present in the natural deposits of water, that
is, lakes, lagoons and cenotes
In the Ritual de los Bacabes, which text appears to be dated
from the colonial period, but that most definitely has to be based on some information collected originally a little after the conquest and, therefore, with prehispanic concepts, reference is made to four goddesses Ixchel, linked to the four colors of the cardinal directions.
Thompson believes that Ixtab (that is, that of the cord), the goddess of those who committed
suicide, who appears to be hanging on the tablets of the eclipse in the Dresden Codex, would
easily be able to be not merely one specific goddess, but a possible apellation of Ixchel.
The intimate relationship which unites the Mayan goddess Ixchel to the Mexica goddess
Tlazolteotl (Toci) is obvious. Both goddesses are linked with the Moon, medicine, weaving,
sexuality, pregnancy and parturition, a set of concepts most assuredly very ancient in the
religious way of thinking among the Mesoamericans.
Another goddess who, according to Thompson, would be designated Ix Chebel Yax
(the goddess associated with paint brushes), and who would be very closely aligned to
Ixchel, on the basis of her aspect in the Codices and because of her function, would be the
goddess O in the classification presented by Schellhas. Her glyph is the same as that for
Ixchel, except for the fact that her face has many wrinkles and, at times, she has only one
tooth to indicate her old age. The same author believes that she would be the wife of
Itzamna and the mother of Ixchel, Being associated with the Chaacoob, she can be represented pouring out water from ajar or even urinating while standing. Just as Ixchel, she too
would be the patroness of weaving, of painting and of embroidery. On the last page of the
Dresden Codex she appears in a malign form, with claws on her feet, a skirt adorned with
crossed bones and a serpent tied around her head; she is seen contributing to the innundation caused by a flood which gushes forth from a celestial monster, while she personally is
pouring out water from an upturned receptacle. The sign oiCaban on her glyph, as on that
of Ixchel, indicates that both goddesses, in one form or another, were associated with the

temperament which

Planet Earth.

Maize, the basic alimentation for the Mayas and, according to the Popol Vuh, the flesh
men who had been formed by the gods to give body to an ultimate humanity, necessarily had to be deified. This corresponds to the god of Schellhas in the Codices. There he
is represented as a young, handsome man, whose head is extended to form an ear of corn
or it is seen surrounded by the leaves from the maize. He frequently appears actively engaged
in some form of agricultural work. In spite of the fact that a number of authors have given
the name of Yum Kaax, the Lord of the Brush, to the maize deity, Thompson questions the

of the

autenticity of this designation and asserts that, on the basis of several sources, the god would
be called Ah Mun (the-tender-corn). Other names are given to the plant in the chronicles,
such as Kauil (probably from Cauil, the second harvest of maize), which Thompson interprets as "abundance of sustenance". The deity is the patroness of the numeral 8, which in

190

The Temple of Xlabpak, Yucatan,

decorated

with

masks of the god of

huge
rain,

Chaac. The inhabitants of the

Peninsula of Yucatan reached
a

point in

made

which they had

was almost

a cult that

an obsession with regard to

this divinity.

the various forms of the head

is

presented having the face of a young god. The day

name means
symbol thereof. One of

also associated with the plant since the

this

day

is

considered as a

Kan

is

"ripe maize", and the hieroglyphic for

human sacrifice, that of

was among the peoples of the

the rites of

would be linked to the worship of maize, as it

Mexican altiplano according to the chroniclers. In a scene from the Dresden Codex, a
decapitated head to which homage is being paid is precisely that of the god ; the decapitated heads which bear, instead of ears of corn, the cruciform motif between leaves from the
maize this motif is from Palenque and is known as the Cruz Foliada (Foliate Cross) being
designated in this manner in the temple seem to refer to the same practise.
decapitation,

Deities of the elite

Another plant that was deified was cocoa, but we do not know if the adoration ot this
would correspond to the common people or to a higher social level. It is, however, well
known that the cocoa bean was used as money, and it is highly possible that its cultivation
would have been in the form of a monopoly, up to a certain point. Ek Chuali, the god of
cocoa, the god A/ in the classification of Schellhas, depicted with the body painted in black,
the mouth red and a long horizontal nose, frequently carries a load on his shoulder and a
cane in his hand, signs which identify him as a merchant since he was the deity ot this type
of work. The merchants, as we explained in a previous chapter, used to belong to the nobility or were closely aligned to it. Therefore, the god Uk Chuah, in order to represent money
as much as a socially privileged group, as tar as worship is concerned, would probably be
quite tar removed from the popular class, honored only by the owners of cocoa plantations and rich traders.

Thompson thought

that Itzamna

would have been

a deity venerated

as being superior to all the others; he was, in addition, the creator

by the hierarchs,

of everything

in existence,

191

of the gods, the heavens and

all contained therein: the stars, earth and all the beings
knowledge and of the matters of man. However, this deity
have been very popular, at the very least in Yucatan, for his favorable disposition

that

is,

who

dwell there, as well as of

seems to
to

man

all

in all his different aspects.

His importance and complexity

is

firmly established through the countless references

which the colonial sources provide. Besides being the maximum creator and celestial god,
whose representation would correspond to the god D in the scheme of Schellhas, he was
very closely bound to the vegetal life and to the phenomena which affect it, an aspect
in which he would be identified with the god K.
In his quality as a universal creator he would be the same Hunch Ku or his son as some
authors consider him to be. During the postclassical period Hunab Ku (the only god) seems
to have been for the priests of high rank, a metaphysical concept more than a concrete deity,
since, according to the information of the chroniclers, no temple had been constructed in
his honor nor was homage paid to him, which has been interpreted erroneously as a monotheistic tendency. Thompson even suggests that the Christian influence, from the time of the
conquest on, would not be far removed from this interpretation.
Fundamentally, Itzamna was the god of the heavens; he represented the firmament in
its immensity and eternity, and the heaven of the day and night. His name would mean "the
house of the iguanas", which Thompson, amplifying the meaning of "iguana", assumes that
it refers, in general, to celestial monsters and to such reptiles as lizards and serpents which
had lived in the heavens and on earth. The terrestrial surface would constitute the floor of
the house and th sky would form the walls and the roof. Eventually everything which proceeded from the sky, depended upon Itzamna: that is, solar heat, for which he is linked as
the lunar influences, which would take effect through his wife Ixchel; the rain directly provoked by Chaac (Cogolludo states that Itzamna claimed to be "the dew of heaven"), and, as
a result of such natural forces, the harvest.

was presented as a toothless old man and as a

deity who regulated vegetation (); its hieroglyphic shows some leaves which sprout from
his forehead; in the Codices they form part of a complicated and very adorned nose. Itzamna,
symbolizing the sky, is the bicephalic monster (lizard) of the Dresden Codex (IV-V), the
serpent with the head of the same god in the Codice Trocortesiano (XXXI), the bicephalic serpents on the monuments of Palenque(the board of the Temple of the Cross, the sepulchral
gravestone in the Temple of the Inscriptions) and the geometric stylization of these same
bicephalic serpents, known as "ceremonial levers" which important personages on the
classic monuments of various places (Copan, Yaxchilan, Naranjo) are carrying. For Thompson the bands with the signs of celestial bodies (the Sun, the Moon, Venus, and probably
other planets) would be additional representations of Itzamna, which serve as a setting for
the personages or scenes modelled in stucco on various buildings in Palenque; each setting
would eventually be a synthesis of the cosmos, the earth and the sky integrated, forming a
quadrangular area: the "house of the iguanas". The same author presents the bicephalic
lizard of Altar D of Copan as the naturalistic representation of Itzamna, regarding the lizard

As

a celestial

as a species

As

is

god and creator

(D), he

of iguana (itzam).
fitting for

deity with multiple attributes, Itzamna was frequently invoked

on fixed dates and in the course of several months, to

and provide good health. This god is referred to by
many names in the colonial sources, and these very names allude to his universal functions.
The celestial pantheon of the Mayas comprised other gods, whose worship cannot
to prevent collective calamities and,

assure rain, to

moderate the

solar heat

always be specifically determined, that

as a whole. One

192

of them

is

is,

if

he pertained to the ruling

the god a Ch.icch.en, the

god

class or to the

people

of Schellhas, the patron of the

numeral 9, whose glyph represents a young man (in the Codices he also appears as a woman):
and eventually, with feline features (the very spots on the skin of the jaguar around the
mouths, the whiskers of the jaguar). This deity was associated with the rain, that is, closely
related to or subordinated to the Chaacoob. For this reason it is more than likely that his
worship was of the popular kind, as still continues to be in actuality that of the gods Chicchanes, the serpents who provide the rain according to the beliefs of the Chorti.
With more certainty one can consider the Lahun Chan (the Ten Heavens) as a divinity
reverenced by the priestly class. This deity personalizes the planet Venus. It seems that, in
actuality, there were five gods corresponding to Venus, and Lahun Chan was only one of
them; another would be the black god L in the classification of Schellhas. His presence in the
Dresden Codex was linked to the tablets pertaining to the planet when, according to Thompson, he comes back to appear in the heavens after a nether conjunction with the Sun. He is
represented as aggressive, armed with darts and a shield, and his victims are the gods K, /:', a
jaguar and a turtle, which suggest elements bencficient to man threatened bv the apparition
of Venus upon leaving the world of the dead; the glyphic text appended hereto would
comprise, according to Thompson, unfavorable prophecies.

Another

deity, probably not of a popular nature,

would be

the

god

of Schellhas.

frequently represented in Codices and on the inscriptions of monuments, but without being
able to arrive at its original meaning with any degree of exactitude. In fact, his functions

him Xaman Ek, the name of the polar star, perhaps because ot
its relation to the North. Schellhas, however, was of the opinion that it was more likely to
be the Osa Minor, since its glyph seems to be the pugnosed face ot a monkey. The constellation would have been envisaged as the figure of a monkey whose prehensile tail would be
attached to the Pole, making it possible for the constellation to rotate around a fixed point,
which would be the Polar Star. In such a case the merchants would render homage to the
god C. Thompson accepts his association with the North, but recalls that he can be represented with the signs of the four cardinal points, which makes the interpretation that
unites it exclusively with the Scptentrion more doubtful. On the calendaric inscriptions he
is the first companion (glyph Gl) of the scries of the Nine Lords, and besides, he is p.irt of
were

diversified.

glyph

allied to

Morley

calls

of the lunar series.

water and the Sun.

To conclude
will recall the

who would

In

other hieroglyphic contexts, the god

with the deities

existence

in

the

who

lived in the

Mayan pantheon

ol

(.

seems to be closely

heavens or were connected with

it.

we

the Oxlahun-ti-ku, "the thirteen ^ods",

was assumed that the heavens had been

divided into that many levels. Thompson believes that they were the patrons of the numerals
from
through 13, the function of which on the ritual calendar of 260 days reveals their
importance; their association with the thirteen basic numerals ot the variants ot heads is also
feasible. It is fitting to suppose that the worship ot thirteen celestial gods would, however,
have occupied the thirteen

levels.

It

be restricted to the priestly class only since, besides their function, pertinent to the numera
tion and the religious calendar, their mythical character and their participation in Cosmo
gonic struggles would have kept them tar apart from the concerns ot the people as a whole.
Their antagonists were the Bolon-ti-ku, "the nine ^ods"'. who dwelt on the nine levels
which made up the intraworld, a place in which the mortal enemies ot man lived those who
made diseases and caused death), and where the deceased were accustomed to go to sta\
there. Their malign influence on lite and human acts would be manifested through the
calendar by means ot the series ot the nine nocturnal companions expressed b\ the different
glyphs for (.'. In the books of Chilani Balam, the rivalry between the Bolon-ti-ku and the
/

Oxlahun-ti-ku culminated

would mark the end

in

-J

the victory for the former,

the provokers ot

cataclysm which

one ot the humanities successively created bv the gods. As that ot

the worship ot the nine subterranean gods would form part
of the concerns of the hierarchy which manipulated the cosmogonic beliefs.
the

thirteen

celestial

of

gods,

193

Calendaric relation between the deities and the prophecies

Other

,.

religious
.

i-ii-i
concepts which did not

11
reach the common

bas-relief of one of the

footways to the ball-eame at
'
,.
r L
Chichen Itza, in which
is

we

presented the decapitation of

and chronologic periods. In treating some

possible association with numerals and days. Thompson,

to the deities, in regard to numerals

have referred to their

than anyone
the

work of other

in the

194

else,

form of

deities

far better

established these relations very definitively, basing his ideas, in part, on

investigators.

a graphic picture,

At

this

point

we

11
people
rr were the ones related
i

are going to

with some minor modifications:

make

resume of

his ideas

personage from whose neck

spring serpents, in the

'

'

lnes ' blood,

form

Concepts associated with them

Numerals

Days

Gods

Caban

Ixchel

Etznab

Cauac

Itzamna (K)

The wind and

Ahau

Ah Kin

The Sun and

Imix

Mam

Ik

Chaac (B)

Rain and vegetation

Akbal

Jaguar

The

Kan

Ah Mun

Chicchan

Chicchan (H

Serpent

10

Cimi

Yum

Death

11

Manik

12

Lamat

13

Muluc

Serpent and Water

14

Oc

Dog of

15

Chuen

Monkey and

16

Eb

Destructive rain

17

Ben

Tender maize and food

18

Ix

Jaguar

19

Men

20

Cib

When we

talk

(1)

The Moon and

(Q)

Human

(G)

(N)

(E)

Cimil (A)

Lahun Chan

about the

sacrifice

the rain

the day

Earth

(R)

Ix

the Earth

Chebel Yax (O)

night and the infraworld

Maize

Mountain, deer and hunting

Venus

the infraworld

handicrafts

The Moon, weaving and

the deer

we mention the fact that tor each day there was

Vazquez and Rendon, utilizing the contents of various
which provides the names of the animals, plants and specific

ritual

calendar

a corresponding prediction. Barrera

chronicles, present a relation

attributes associated with the twenty days ol the religious calendar, besides the auguries for

each one of these days. At

this

point

only with the prediction related to

we

are going to

a specific

summarize

this data,

but we

will deal

day:

195

KAN
CHICCHAN
C1MI

Rich, master of

all

His spirit

of

is full

the arts, learned.

fire, his

Assessin, his destiny

is

destiny

is

bad, assessin.

very bad.

MANIK

His hands are full of blood, he too

LAMAT

Drunk, meddlesome, gossipy, insincere

is evil.

in

what he

says,

one

who sows

discord.

MULUC
OC

Devourer of
Adulterous,

his children

without

and

his wives,

common

he also

kills

opossums,

rich.

sense or judgement, also a sower of

discord, lacking in understanding.

CHUEN
EB

Skilled

worker with wood and

rich

his life,

all

in weaving, master of all the

everything he would do is good, sensible.

Rich, his riches are within the

from the community, generous,

arts,

very

community; good rich; his property is

a good man, he will not be niggardly,

very good.

BEEN
IX

MEN

Wretched, plebeian, poor.

Ferocious jaguar, his mouth
devourer of meat, assessin.

master of

all

is

bloody, his claws are bloody, a butcher,

the arts, very good, he will speak soon, the holy

word

for him.

cm

thief, the

temperament of a hunter, brave, but

out a good destiny,

CABAN
EDZNAB

CAUAC

AHAU
IMIX

also a murderer, with-

evil.

Learned and prudent

in business, bloodletter

and

healer, healthy, brave.

Bloodletter in fevers, bloodletter and healer, healthy, brave.

Very imaginative, noble.

Rich, judicious, brave, good.

Libidinous sinner; dishonest, the most wicked of men, indecisive, hesitant.

IK

AKBAL

The

Dishonest, very lascivious man, a bad destiny.

Wretched, plebeian, without a future, poor, hunter.

influences of the days of the ritual calendar on the individual destiny also had

their effect, in

some form, on

the destiny of the

community,

that

is,

that certain signs were

favorable for determined activities, or, on the other hand, were dangerous or detrimental.

196

But the action of the passage of time on beings and events was not limited to the day
only. All the calendaric periods contributed to interweave the most complicated net in
which the destiny of each one and of all was trapped.
The day of the ritual calendar (which had 260 days) on which the civil year began,
was of great importance in determining what could be expected or feared during the 365
days of that year. That day, which in the course of time could not be more than one of
four (Akbal, Lamat, Ben or Etznab) which followed one after the other indefinitely, was
called by the Mayas Ah Cuch Haab, "The Year-Bearer". For reasons which we do not know
as yet, these "bearers" were changed, and immediately after the conquest they were designated Kan, Muluc, Ix or Cauac.
The last days of the Tuns, Katuns and Baktuns also signified something or much for
which the priests established their prophecies. The most important was the day on which
the Katun ended and which provided the denomination for it, day which was inevitably
Ah.au, and whose numeral changed in a descending order: 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8,
6, 4, 2, 13, 11, etc. Los Libros de Chilam Balam ("The Books of Chilam Balam") provide
us with a katunic series with their corresponding prophecies, not always intelligible to us,
since they are expressed in the metaphoric language used

propitious katuns, the greater part of

misery, wars, carnal

The

sin,

by the

priests.

them presage misfortunes such

as

Apart from some

droughts, plagues,

shame, etcetera.

deity of death

We

have attempt to classify the deities into two forms: the popular and those of the

However, one of them provoked, doubtless because of the tremendous terror it inspired in all, irregardless of their social class, a generalized attitude of repulsion, and that deity
was the god of death.
He appears as one of the most represented in the Codices and is also present on many
monuments. According to the classification of Schellhas he is the god H. He is known by
diverse names in different historic sources: Cizin. which Thompson interprets as "stench",
but which could more appropriately signify etymologically, "to make very stiff"(?), according to the linguist Maria Cristina Alvarez; Vac Mitun Ahau, which Landa cites, the literal
translation of which is "the lord of the seventh wheel" (that also coincides with the idea
of the linguist just mentioned), seems to suggest one of the circles or levels of the infraworld, which Thompson, however, assumed was erroneously transcribed bv the chronicler
for Chac Mitun Ahau, and which, according to him, would be equivalent to "a great infernal
putrefaction"; Hun Ahau, the calendaric name of "1 Ahau" with which Venus is frequently
mentioned, considered dangerous for all when it appears from the world of the dead after
having disappeared from heaven for some time and who, in addition, was in Landa's opinion,
the "prince of all the demons"; Ah Puch, whose authentic name could be Ah Pucuh, "the
Lord of Hell" in the Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Tojolabal languages according to Thompson,
but which could also be written Ah p'uch, "the one who strikes hard things", or. Ah puch
"the one who crushes, breaks soft things" according to Alvarez; in both cases reference is
made to the destructive action of death. Finally. Yum Cimil, "the Lord of Death" and he
is still designated in this form in Yucatan.
His identification in the Codices is so exact that there is no room left for errors. The
body is generally naked; the vertebral column visible and the apophysis exaggeratedly
projecting, with the skull and black points from decomposition spread over the whole body.
Among the elements of their dress the most constant are some probable bells similar to
those from metal tound in the cenote of Chichen Itza, and which can be worn in the hairdo,
on a golilla (collar) and, mainly, on the ankles and wrists; at times they emerge from his

elite.

19-

mouth
a halo

as well.

As earrings he customarily uses

of light material (cotton?) with

bells, or

a large
it

bone; the hair-do was arranged

hardly identified and which Schellhas assumed represented a snail.

article
is

like

can be a head of an animal which can be

When

wearing some

of dress such as a skirt or cloak, he displays ornaments from crossed bones. The deity

associated with the numeral 10 and the day Cimi which signifies "death"; in both cases

the hieroglyphic reproduces the face of a dead person, with lean features and at times with

which seems similar to our % on the cheek or in place of the skull. In one case limited
to the Dresden Codex, the deity is female.
In the Codices the connection of this deity with the god which Schellhas denoted as

a sign

/',

is

frequent. This latter

is

associated with war and a violent death in the form of sacrifice,

and who, according to Thompson, was a god of Earth, to whom he affixed the letter R. At
times, the god of death goes about accompanied by a dog, which assisted the deceased in
the journey to the infraworld, according to Mesoamerican beliefs, and by an owl, whose
nocturnal cry

and

activities

is

of

considered an unpropitious
this

omen everywhere

in the world.

The

attitudes

god are very varied throughout the pages of the Codices: he can be
hand some object (a bag, a lance, an offering in a receptacle, the

alone, grasping with his

Kan

hieroglyphic

for corn or the glyph for the Sun, or the glyph for the

day

Ik);

doing some

kind of work such as weaving with

a hand-frame or with a loom attached to a tree; offering

and grains of corn to a deity in the form of a serpent; falling from the
sky with some of his limbs ended in vegetable matter; seated in front of a fire-place, or
inside a temple, or on top of a throne made from large bones, or also on the hieroglyphic
for Tun; lying down on the hieroglyphic Cuban (Earth) and smoking; cutting down a tree
with his axe; motionless under the rain with his huge axe in his hand; holding up with his
hand a trap which closes, as a roof, a kind of sepulcher; breaking either a forked prop
planted in the ground, or a cord; grasping the head of a deceased; wetting the point of a
stick in a receptacle which perhaps contained paint; burning a bee or threatening a deer with
a burning torch. We have already mentioned his association with the god of war and death in
sacrifices, which is manifested by the presence of both gods in the very same scenes, at times
they are seated facing each other, and in one case present at a human sacrifice; in another
case the god of death is associated with four representations of the god F, all of whom are
taking hold of god K; in another scene, the god F appears disguised as god A and is destroying a temple. We are also acquainted with a scene in which the god of death is transporting
god B [Chaac) in the rain, seated on his throne. Finally, the deity of death appears with
some woman, since he is sitting in front of a naked, dead woman, also seated; or on the
shoulder of a woman who can be the goddess Ixchel, a scene which is repeated a number
of times.
On the Mayan monuments the allusions to death or to the god which symbolizes it
are not many, except on the calendaric inscriptions, in which, as we have already said, one
of the days of the tzolkin, Cimi (death) and the numeral 10 are very frequently utilized,
especially the second which, in addition to its own numeric value, enters into the composition of the ciphers from 1 3 to 19 in the variants of heads. We also have to make mention
in this way, of the emblem-glyph of Palenque, a skull, which is present in almost all the

a decapitated bird

hieroglyphic inscriptions of this place.

For representations with the actual feeling of death we can recall only the following:
Altar 5 in Tikal on which between two priests kneeling on both sides of an altar, a bare jaw
is lying
on several tibias, and this jaw is apparently holding up what seems to be a cranium
of an animal Monument 1 in Bilbao, in which death appears associated with the ball-game and
the human sacrifice by decapitation, which is also expressed in Monument 3 of the same
place, although in a somewhat different form, and perhaps on Monument 13; the Column
;

198

A
in

platform with rows of skulls

bas-relief, or

tzompuntuli,

located in Chichen

Spanish

chroniclers

that above

Itza.
tell

The
us

that were placed

-incrustated on pickets-the

heads of those who had been

conquered in war.

of the arcade
for

Temple XII of Paleinjue in which the bare mask would serve as a pedestal
figure made out of stucco, disappeared by now; the Boards of the Cross and the
Cross in Palencjue, in which the huge mask of the god of the Earth and of death
in

some

Foliate

supports the central element ot the composition, the cruciform motif, carrying out thereb)
the symbolism of earth-maize or death-rebirth; a similar representation, although more

emphatic

the large

mask on which

presumably

backward, the personage o\

the sepulchral grave-stone in the crypt of the Temple of the Inscriptions of Palenque, the
huge mask in which a second jaw without flesh, provided with large lateral branches which
is

lies,

falling

199

extended upwards, encloses not only the effigy of the deity of death and earth, but also
of man, aesthetically trapped by death.
The god of death in the Mayan beliefs dwelt on the lowest level of the infraworld, the
Xibalba or the Metnal, according to the different groups. The second denomination has to
be a late one, since it is made up of a deformation of the Nahuatl word Mictlan. It was a
gloomy place in which one came after traversing a long and arduous road full of dangers. We
do not know what vision the Mayas of the classical period may have had of the life beyond,
and the historic information which is at our disposal is not necessarily valid for that. In
actuality, the picture which the chroniclers present us implies the probable action of a double
syncretism: the intrusion of concepts pertaining to the world of the Nahuas from the beginning ol the X century, and of the Christian beliefs six centuries later. Through the Toltec
invaders the idea of a paradise for those who were sacrificed had possibly originated, and
from the Spaniards the notion of a heaven for the good and a hell for the evildoers. With
reference to the supposed paradise for the warriors who had died in combat and the women
who had died in childbirth, which some distinguished Mayists attribute to the way of thinking of the Nahuas, we do not find in any historic source any information to support such an
existence. Homage was not rendered to the godof death, but the other deities were implored
are

to put off their inevitable arrival for as long as possible.

Guild and animal deities

While the agriculturists, in order to obtain the supernatural help that would assure them
good harvests, venerated innumerable deities capable of controling the elements, that is,
earth, water, sun, moon, wind, rain, maize, etc., those in other occupations sought protection through other specific gods. In this manner the hunters paid homage to Zip, the deer;
the fisherman to Kak Ncxoc, "the shark with a tail of fire"; the apiculturists to Hobnil, one
of the Bacabs; the weavers to Ixchel; the merchants and owners of cocoa plantations to Ek
Chuah; the curaiuleros (healers) to Ixchel, Itzamna and Kinich Kakmo, and the warriors to
Cit Chac Coh, "red puma father", and to Kakupacat, "the look of fire".
In the course of this chapter we have mentioned some animals to which the Mayas
rendered homage, but there are many others which, in some form or other, were linked with
religious, mythological and astronomical concepts by way of deities or representatives of
them. These animals also appear as objects of offerings, sacrifices or propitiatory rituals, or as
images which entirely or only partially were elements of the hieroglyphic writing. Among
the main ones we can refer to the following: the jaguar, the serpent, the owl, the quetzal, the
vampire bat, the macaw, the vulture, the turkey, the heron, the dog, the monkey, the deer,
the peccary, the puma, the armadillo, the lizard, the frog, the iguana, the turtle, the fish, the
oyster, the snail, the spider, the bee and the butterfly.

Cosmology
The Mayas were accustomed

by an
The firmament was supported by the gods,
Bacab, at the cardinal points or in the corners of the earth. Each Bacab was accompanied by
a tree and a bird and had a specific color associated with him (red for the East, white for the
North, black for the West and yellow for the South). They also conceived of the firmament
to represent the earth as a square surface, sustained

aquatic monster which floated on the waters.

dragon or a colossal iguana (cf. Itzmana). It seems that the thirteen layers
which constituted it were not found superposed, but rather formed steps which went up as
far as the seventh and then went down to the level of the ground. In the infraworld the
arrangement of the nine layers was similar: they went down in stairs or steps until the fifth
then to return and go up again to the surface of the earth. A ceiba tree would indicate the
as a bicephalic

fifth direction.

The ideas of good and evil were associated, respectively, with the heavens and the
infraworld; on the other hand, the heavens were considered on the level of a masculine being
and the earth pertained to the feminine

200

sex.

perron which provides ac-

cess

to

of the tomb of the

Inscriptions

("Templo de

Inscripciones")

The

room
Temple of

the sepulchral

discovery

in

of

pulchral space was

las

Palenque.
this

se-

made by

Ruz and resulted in a

tremendous contribution for
Dr.

the

future

of archaeological

investigations which are being

carried out in that area.

20]

Cosmogony
one makes a comparison between the data contained in the indigenous chronicles
and the Spanish ones of the XVI century, which deal with the concept that the Mayas had
with regard to the creation of the Earth, of the celestial bodies and the appearance of
man, with those that the historic sources of other Mesoamerican peoples provide, and more
concretely those of the Mexicas, the cultural relationship that existed between them is
absolutely confirmed. Many such concepts reached us directly through the myths.
Although with some variations the versions which the Popol Vuh of the Quiches offer,
the Ancles de Solola of the Cakchiquels and the Books ofChilam Balam of the Yucatecans,
which deal with the creation of Earth and man, all are sufficiently similar. The successive
attempts of the gods to create beings capable of sustaining and worshipping them failed
until maize appeared. Only with the mass of maize did the creators succeed in producing a
humanity which would respond to their designs. Men would be able to live and reproduce
to the extent that they would fulfill their obligations, that is to say, to provide food for the
gods, to render homage to them, to offer them their own blood or that of the victims
sacrificed to them and to completely obey their representatives on earth. The discovery of
maize also gave place to parallel myths: hidden under a rock, it was known only by the ants
which, between the crevices reached the grain, until a fox became aware of their secret which,
much later, other animals also discovered, and finally, man himself.
The birth of the Sun, the Moon and Venus, and their adventures, constitute a great part
of the Mesoamerican mythology. The solar star is presented as a cultural hero who participates
in the struggle against the forces of evil and death. He dies, he is resuscitated and finally
turns into the Sun. His twin can be Venus or the Moon, and among many peoples the Moon
is the wife of the Sun and her licentious nature leads her to commit adultery with her
if

brother-in-law.

Ritual

The information of the chroniclers as well as the representations in Codices and on

monuments, as also the archaeological findings, enable us to reconstruct something of the
ritual through which religious beliefs were manifested. It is known that to obtain food and
long

some

life

(their vital concerns)

individual, others

they were able to celebrate different kinds of ceremonies,

the gradation of which would be adapted to the cir-

communal,

cumstances. These rites were as follows: fasting and abstinences; prayers; offerings to the
images of the divinities, offerings which could be in the form of flowers, fruits, foods
prepared from vegetable or animal matter, live animals or those that had just been sacrificed;
incense burning; self-sacrifice in which the individual drew drops of blood from himself,
primarily from the ears, the tongue or the sexual organs; and sacrifices of human beings.
The sacrifices were made in accordance with distinct techniques, which were also practised
in the rest of Mesoamerica and some which perhaps came from the Mexican altiplano:
flt'chamiento (death by arrows), decapitation, skinning, hurling from a height, immersion in
cenotes or lakes, and cutting out of the heart.

accompanied all the activities of the community and

of each individual. The agricultural labors, in their
principal stages, motivated such rituals (burning, planting, and harvesting); others were
related to the existential cycle (hetzmek), for example, when for the first time the child was
carried astride on the hips when he was three or four months old; another ceremony when
he was four or five years old consisted of putting a bead or a shell as a sign of purity; still
another was at the time of reaching puberty, which consisted of removing these objects and,
of course, there were others for matrimony and, finally, deajh.
In the funeral rituals, the chronicles reveal a differentiation in the treatment which is
given to the corpse, according to the social category of the individual: incineration for the
lords and important people whose ashes were kept in earthenware urns or in wooden statues;
Ceremonies of

the important

202

a religious nature

moments

in

the

life

a simple grave, below or in back of the hut for the common people. Archaeology has
succeeded in defining an entire scale of values for the different kinds of burials, in accordance with the level which the deceased occupied in society: a simple burial in an open grave
in the ground, a grave lined on the inside with stone slabs and closed with a stone and a
chamber with walls and a domed roof. The grave can be found below the floor of a hut,
inside a platform or inside a civil or religious structure, or in the interior of a mound built
with funeral ends; some were decorated with mural paintings. The burial could be individual
or communal, and in the latter case it is easy to recognize the remains which correspond to
the principal personage and those of his companions, the victims sacrificed to attend him
in the beyond. The number and quality of the objects deposited as offerings vary also according to the same scale. The maximum funeral construction that we know in all the
American continent is, beyond any doubt, the impressive crypt constructed on the inside
of the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque, which contains a colossal sarcophagus of stone
covered with low reliefs which provide indications of the lord buried there. The richness of
the architectonic unit, of the grave and offerings, throw light on the political, social and
religious importance that he would have had.
Religious festivals were celebrated for the New Year, in the course of which the image
of the god who was the protector for the previous year was substituted for the year which
was just beginning; others took place each months, in honor of the patron saints of the
diverse occupations (such as that of the doctors, the priests, the hunters, the fishermen, the
papiculturists, the warriors, etc.), or associated with certain activities (such as the renovation
of domestic equipment, the fabrication of idols, diversions, etc.). The end of some periods of
greater importance the Katun, for example was celebrated in an unusual form. On the
whole all these celebrations included dances and usually finished in drunken brawls throughout the community.

and

The

role

of religion

As we have already remarked in previous chapters, while describing the Mayan society
and emphasizing the utilization that the ruling class gave to the scientific knowledge which
it
monopolized, it is obvious that religion fulfilled a powerful and specific role among the
ancient Mayas.
All the questions that the people were able to ask themselves with regard to the world
which surrounded them, the earth and the sky; the natural phenomena (of which they were
the spectators or the victims); the biologic processes that they observed in plants, in animals

themselves as well; the existence of the universe and their own personal experiences, all
concerns found the replies they sought in the beliefs, in the dogmas and in the myths.
On the other hand, the priests, although not retaining the political power in some
exclusive form, always constituted the prevailing authority in the exercise of their profession, and thus religion worked as a decisive weapon. We have already seen how. through the
calendar of 260 days. everything was precisely determined, from the name oi the individual
up to the work which he ought to do; which rites and ceremonies accompanied him in the
fundamental stages of his vital cycle ami in his daily occupations; what his domestic lite was
like, regulated by unbreakable religious practises; what the agricultural labors were, which
were associated with the civil calendar, and the cyclical concept which the priests applied to
the historic development, implied the possible repetition of mishaps which had occurred long
before, that only their intervention could avoid or, at least, reduce to a minimum wherein
their eventuality served as a constant threat to make the populace accede to complete submission. The construction and functioning of hundreds of ceremonial centers, of thousands
of buildings destined for religious worship and for the dwelling place of the gods and their
representatives, signified permanent and total control over the entire population. The pa)
ment of a tribute in every class of products completed, in an implacable form, their dependency with regard to those who governed, supposedly in the name ot the gods, and so the
people was entrusted to serve them and obtain their compassion.

and

in

their

203

v^

"

'*,K.

*^^^

The Art of

the

Mayas

Generalities

A little more than twenty-five

"Among all the human phenomena
the classifications and

in

the

years ago,

we wrote

the following in a short article:

refractory by their very essence in the inflexibility of

dogma of

theories, art

may perhaps

be the most remote.

To

catalogue artistic manifestations always involves an act of forcing through excess ot sim-

comprehension when it is not through an actual mutilation. Fluid and

complex, that product of the most intimate vibrations of man flees in front ol every ex
planatory intent and succeeds in escaping amid the networks of the most rational theses".
After such an elapsed period of time, and with a more ample personal perspective, as
plification

well as a

much

or of

more

precise focussing,

we

believe that

we now understand

is

the product of a unit of

complex

the social, the cultural and the geographic aspects as

phenomenon

complexity. This is due to the

which embraces the historical,
determined by each people. With regard

better but without disregarding the perception of

fact that art

the artistic

its

factors

to the individual contribution to the artistic fulfillment or execution, the creative disposition

of the

artist is

not born from nothingness nor

is it

of divine origin,

but

it

is

rather condition-

which the artist has had to live. With difficulty will it be able to
in the quality of the work, and that in spite ot the norms, the pressures
and limitations which are imposed upon him.
The different factors which determine the aesthetic phenomena do not work on the
same level nor with the same intensity, nor even simultaneously. The last takes place when.
for example, in a certain period some forms which correspond to a historic event from earlier
centuries and which are copied or synthesized are used. The geographic means alone pro
vides directly the materials and occasionally the landscape, the flora and fauna as models or
climatic conditions which are favorable to certain motivations. There is no doubt at all that
historic conditions, more than geographic, influence the artistic creation, but as Bastidc
says, in the event that a determinism would exist, this is the soeiologic one.
ed by the circumstances

in

be manifested, only

The Mayan-Toltec
was the result of

style

which

a fusion

of

techniques, architectonic conceptions,

ideas

sensibilities

clearly

and

artistic

of ethnic groups

differentiated,

is

pre-

sented in the clearest and most

brilliant

chen

manifestation in Chi-

Itza.

205

Art as a social product

It

goes without saying that

it

is

not possible to deny a certain margin of autonomy to

which, without being the exact reflection of a society,

art

Above

all

it

is

a social

nevertheless,

immersed

in

it.

product, the result of the action of the entire society through

its

is,

same time that' the result

is also the cause, their effects contribute to the functioning of a society from which it is
derived, fulfilling the needs of the community. An individual creation has meaning in itself
and is practicable within a specific social context, without its having to imply any limitation
in its genesis to the simple social conditions or omitting what could be equivalent to a
historic moment, the cultural scope or extent, the geographic frame and the very own
creator impetus of man.
Intimately linked to society, art will manifest itself in works which concern the whole
global humanity in which it is born, if it is a matter of a community of a tribal level on which
a social stratification may not as yet have been developed. It is the case of rupestrian, paleoeconomic,

lithic art:

political, religious

and cultural mechanisms. But,

the paintings express, through the

at the

medium of beliefs

which gyrate around the problem inherent to the

common

in

magic, the concerns of

all,

survival through hunting.

Art for serving the dominating class

more advanced society

socio-economic aspect, in which groups exist that

are differentiated among themselves by definite relations which bind them to the process of
economic production, that is to say, classes with interests that are not only varied but also
In a

as for the

antagonistic, since the majority of the population has to produce an excess of materials in

order to maintain the minority which directs, exploits and oppresses them, art will respond

fundamentally to the aspirations and conveniences of the minority, and,

in the

second place,

of the social conglomerate. Thus, the artist is utilized by the ruling

contribute to the maintenance of the system and to the intensification

to those of the majority

class so that

of

its

he

may

power.
In

describing the qualities of

we determined

Mayan

society which

we presented

that such a society could be considered a transition

in

an earlier chapter,

between

communitarian

organization which survived in the peasant population, and an organization with definite

which there already existed a centralized, aristocratic power which, at the same
time, dominated the economic, political, social, religious and cultural aspects. This power
was in the hands of the priests, in a form which was most probably absolute over a long
period of time and later perhaps would have been distributed or shared between the priests
and civil heads, intimately related among themselves through their social origin and their
interest, while the community was increased and diversified. This means that the Mayan
rulers made up a theocracy which had its origin in the class of the nobility, to which the
clerical high officials as well as the lay officials belonged, and it was assumed that their
authority proceeded directly from the gods. They were, in actuality, the representatives of
the divinity on earth, the intermediaries through whom the relation between the people who
supplicated them, and the divinities who made the decisions was established. Their dominion
over the population was effected in the name of the latter, as Stele II of Yaxchilan, to which
we have already referred, expresses in a very aesthetic form in which the individuals of lower
classes in

rank, prostrated at the feet of the ruler,

do not

see the

human

face, only that of the solar

god molded into the mask which he wears.

The worship of the gods and the chiefs is one sole adoration. Temples and palaces were
constructed for both of them in the ceremonial centers. These buildings were adorned in such
a way as to get into the good graces of divinities and to extol the chiefs. That is the reason

206

why Mayan

art is both religious and profane at the same time. The themes which it treats
embraces the images and symbols of the supernatural beings who direct the elements and
also the effigies of the rulers, following norms which they impose upon the artist to emphasize their dominion: in order to appear luxuriously attired and adorned, with a majestic air,
but frequently besides a slave or a prisoner, or receiving vassals, prisoners and slaves from
his throne, or merely witnessing the humiliation, the punishment or torture imposed on enemies. The purpose is obvious: the self-glorification of the ruling class.
It is easy to imagine the feelings of the common populace on finding itself in the midst
of a ceremonial center for the celebration of important rituals on determined dates, advancing between grandiose buildings, spiritually overwhelmed by the imposing architectonic
masses, by the colorful masks, by the vibrant ornamentation of colors. The spectacle in which

lords and priests, brilliantly decked out used to participate,

masses of the superiority of the former and the

used to

live

together with the gods, of those

latter,

would convince the peasant

who

of the divine essence of those

who were

and were considered

their equals

divine beings.

But the socio-political factor was not only a determining factor with regard to the
thematic that the ruling class imposed on the artists, but it was rather implicit in the nature
or character of the expression, in the form itself. It was necessary that the artist followed
the tradition established in the principal centers of the different states in which the authentic
regional schools were founded. The aesthetic conservativeness is so evident that it is much

Mayan

by provincial styles than by chronologic stages, in spatial rather

than temporal terms. Each one of these styles establishes and respects through the time, a
easier to classify

art

certain aesthetic language, rigid formal conventionalisms.

When

in

some

place the historian

of art believes that he recognizes a certain tendency to successive changes, up to the point in
which he tries to define or set up a stylistic evolution, the features that otter possible
modifications arc,

of slight importance, and the traditional continues, predominat-

in reality,

ing throughout the centuries.

Stylistic differences

The

political division

differences to which

of Mayan territory

we have

autonomous

in

alluded. Generally,

in

criteria in all aspects, including art, while the picture

the central and septentrional areas are of

more

especially in the formal expression.

states explains the stylistic

an empire, the metropolis imposed

which

classical

manifest diversification
stone slab

Mayan

in

from Palenque,

art

presents in

the thematic and

a lintel

its

still

from Yaxchi-

from Piedras Negras, from Tikal or Copan, are readily placeable within the regionwhich corresponds to them.

lan, a stele
al

style

Historic factor
It

is

obvious that

it

is

not possible to dispense with the historic factor to explain the

genesis and the development ot

Mayan

Long before Mayan

was integrated
as such, during the preclassical period diverse elements reached the Mayan area coming trom
the South of Veracruz and the North of Tabasco, attributed to the Olmecan culture, among
which are the construction of steles, the association of steles with altars and the theme of
the jaguar. Probably trom Oaxaca the practise ot keeping chronologic records was spread
to the

Mayan

area, even

hieroglyphic writing and

many
its

art.

civilization

centuries prior to the classical period, as also the idea ot

use to

commemorate

historic events.

to the central area just as to the North of the Peninsula of

Much

later there

came

Yucatan the objects associated

with the religion of Teotihuacan, more specifically the effigy ot the god Tlaloc and the socalled "sign of the year", without this intrusion appearing to have influenced profoundly

207

disk made from a mosaic

of turquoise, shell and flint
which forms part of the great
quantity of objects found in
the Cenote Sagrado of Chichen Itza.

the thematic aesthetics, nor probably the essence of the autochthonic religion and culture.

On

the other hand,

in

the meridional area and especially in the important site of Kaminaljuyu,

the presence of techniques, motifs and styles of Teotihuacan

is

very strong and persistent,

which thereby suggests the presence of leaders from the great metropolis of the Mexican altiplano, or at least their political dominion associated with the economic and ideologic ones.
For the same reasons of a historic nature, Mayan art of the postclassical period was
subjected to influences which came from the incorporation of foreign personages in the
representations of sculpture typically Mayan (the Putun heads in Seibal), up to their global
utilization by invaders (the Toltecs, the Pipils and the Mexicas) to express concepts and
themes remote from the Mayan culture, and, in addition, to impose their own styles.

Geographic factor
At the beginning of

this

chapter

we

stated that the geographic

medium

only provided

the artist with materials with which he had to express himself and occasionally with motifs
inspired and taken from the landscape, the flora

and the fauna; but

this

environmental factor

from the North of

the Peninsula of Yucatan in which the profusion of masks of the god Chaac on the monuments, is due to the importance of worshipping him to compensate the scarcity of pluvial
precipitation and the almost non-existent hydrography in that region, in contrast to that
which occurs in the central area, of humid climate and land rich in aquatic currents.
can, in addition, act indirectly, as in the case of the classic decorative art

Mayan and Mesoamerican

Mayan
from the

art,

in

art

many of

its

manifestations, shows that

it

is

not possible to separate

it

of Mesoamerica, and that obviously did not have its origin nor was it developed
in an airtight frame, as Morley had supposed. It is part of the Mesoamerican culture and as
such expresses concepts which are common to all the peoples that had taken part in that
culture, and it reflects social and political conditions that existed in a similar form also

among

art

the peoples referred to.

But it is also evident that Mayan Art presents characteristics that are completely their
own and which easily distinguishes it from the art created by other cultures. By examining
their architectonic, sculptural and pictoric modalities we vvill try to synthesize the elements
which constitute their individuality or singularity, within the multiplicity of styles which
characterize the different regions of the

208

Mayan

area.

ARCHITECTURE
Generalities

The

basic principles of

Mayan

architecture are found in the housing of the peasants:

the hut, which in the course of thousands of years had remained fundamentally unchanged,

previously described in the chapter that dealt with the subject of housing.

on

low platform

The hut

to avoid the effects of inundations in the rainy periods,

and

protect the difference in the levels between the ground and the floor of the hut.

can be simply from packed

of housing

down

earth or

smoothed out stucco. The

generally rectangular, but in Yucatan

is

it

can also be

is

erected

few steps

The

latter

floor plan of this type

eliptical

with only one door

and without any windows nor openings on the roof. The walls are from posts
are interwoven with reeds; they are coated with clay and frequently whitewashed outside and inside. A strong frame of beams, crosspieces and pebbles support the roof which is
made from dried palm leaves and hay, provided with two longitudinal slopes that are somewhat more than a 60 gradient, and two slopes still nearer to the vertical on the sides corin the front

and

responding to the width of the hut which becomes semiconical for the

eliptical designs.

space inside, due to one single narrow door and the lack of other openings,

is

The

very enclosed

and obscure with a predominance of height over width. These conditions and the fact of
having to count only on a roof from vegetable material sufficiently compact to prevent
the intrusion of the rain, and at the same time light and not airtight, assure a freshness in the
dwelling so that

The

it is

neither too hot nor too cold.

Mayan constructions

as homes for the priests and

on platforms which varied in
height and the masonry of which were coated with stone and mortar. In the upper preclassical period the bases were transformed into pyramids with steps, the result of the superposition of a number of platforms. The building E-Vll-sub of Uaxactun. in spite of its rich
decorations of huge masks out of stucco, supported a temple which did not exceed the
first

for

ritual

governors were also simple huts but their

size

of

a hut.

Subsequently, having learned

dome,

purposes or

size varied: also

the

Mayan

how

builders continued to

make
make the
to

from rubblcwork, but still not the

roots from palms as can be continued by

walls

building K-5 in Piedras Negras.

The Mayan dome

complete the transition from the hut to the architectonic type ot building.
the Mayan constructors decided to replace the palm root with one of stone, inventing the
dome which has been designated false, salient, or simply Mayan. Similar domes were also
Finally, to

On

the

following

an

page,

view of the city of Palenque. Within the diverse

aerial

invented by peoples of the Old World several thousands of years before (mycenaean), and
several centuries after the

architectonic styles that can

be found in the three areas of

the

Mayan

region, Palenque

is

The Mayan dome

of the

lintel

is

mayas (khmers).

made by surrounding

of the doors), superposing rows

ol

the walls

stones

at a specific

in

such

way

height

directly

that each

on top

row may

jut

one of the few which actually

has a style of its own, designated as that of Palenque, the
influence of which reached

out from the one immediately below, until a small space is left in the upper part, that space
being closed with a small tile or slab. This type of construction resulted in difficulties since.
if the incline was excessive, the dome, through the force of gravity, could collapse, lor a
long time the greater part ot the early classical period use was made ot large stone slabs,

other

superposed, strongly or firmly built into the nucleus, and from which only the end project-

places

located

in

the

same geographic basin, from

the Usumacinta River to the
East,
until
much beyond
the

West.

Grijalva

River,

to

the

ed.

With time, however, they utilized shortest stone

slabs,

then blocks ot stone light 1)

carved, until they reached the stage ot ashlars, sufficiently small, ot short parts of blades

the form of a boot and with

in

form the oblique plane ot the surface ot the

The factor which allowed functioning ot this kind ot

face beveled to

walls through simple superposition.

>09

EOT* ^r"

**

%
41 f

iff"

i
^

<i
*>

''tt^H

'-jafci

W *?*
ft*

i >k

a.

dome was

the knowledge of lime mortar already used in the walls which gave cohesion to

made possible the adherence of the stones in

The roof thus obtained was similar on the inside to

the nucleus and

the decoration.

and
determined a transversal court in the form of a triangle or trapezium. But the phantasy of
the Mayan architects led them to conceive variations such as the curvilinear dome which
in some cases came to be almost comparable to the Romanesque, the inverted form of
steps, the arch in the

One

has to

form of

remember

that utilized for the hut.

a bottle, etcetera.

dome in temples and palaces marks

known in which the same method of

that although the use of the

some

the beginning of the classical period,

construction had already been utilized

the very important difference that

it

cases are

many

centuries before in preclassical tombs, with

had been

matter then of covering spaces of reduced

widths from 50 to 60 centimeters, and that were easily closed with three or tour rows of
tiles. In

any

case, such

attempts were based on the same principle.

The Mayan dome, which

the other

Mesoamerican peoples had no knowledge

of,

was,

without doubt, the most suitable solution for Mayan buildings, of greater duration than the
level roof of the flat roof on top of beams and pebbles, since wood does not last for any

humid climate

low

and does not resist the destructive action of termites. Besides, the greater height of the inner space and the thickness of the
roof assured a temperature sufficiently fresh and invigorating.
There was, however, some inconvenience in this since it enabled the roofing only over
narrow spaces, as for rooms of greater breadth the necessary height to guarantee the stabil
ity of the dome would have been excessive. However, in some special cases, this was done
as in the funeral crypt of the Temple of Inscriptions in Palcnquc, and in the transversal
passageways that separate the central building of the Governor's Palace from their lateral
long period of time

annexes

in

in a

in

tropical lands,

Uxmal.

The pyramids
At the beginning of this chapter we referred to the step, from the simple platforms for
the huts and afterwards for the first temples, to the so-called pyramid, which came about
from the superposition of various platforms, th.it is to saw from trunks of the pyramid
without ever terminating

in

geometric volume really pyramidal,

as

had been the case

in

Egypt with the exception of that of Sakara. The idea of the natural hill as the place tor the
of the rain, the wind, the rivers, in other words, as the dwelling-place of the natural
forces which had been deified, ought to have been present in the minds of the Mayan constructors who had conceived the pyramid. Fundamentally the function of this is to serve as
origin

>*

the base and pedestal of the temple, thereby getting nearer and nearer to the firmaments; but
it

i#'*

also

had

although

in

funeral function, generally of secondary importance and as a subsequent use,

Temple of Inscriptions in Palcnque the purpose was to convert the

an imposing mausoleum, at the same time that it was also a base of the temple.

the case of the

pyramid into

The temple
The temple

is

quadrangular

shape with vertical walls having one, three or five en

rooms, whether directly or first through a portico, when

in

one or many
number of doors. The entrances were closed by means of curtains or draperies or
rush-mattings tied on the inside to some built-in rings, three at each side of the entrance. On
the whole, the temples lack windows, but in some cases they were able to have small open
ings in a rectangular form or imitating the sign Ik, which means "air". There was a great deal
trances which lead
there are

to

of difference

in

the inner space of the temple, from that of the very small sanctuaries of

Petcn to that of the greatest amplitude

in

Palenque.

!11

This difference

is

due principally to the cresting which consists of a

tall

building set up

on top of the roof of the temple. The greater part and, some times, the entirety of the
decorative symbolic elements is added to the cresting. The interior space extremely reduced
in size is due to the thickness of the walls when they have to support the tremendous
weight of a solid cresting which is very tall and with a wide base. On the other hand, when
the cresting is made from one or two limestone walls, the weight is much less and the
space on the inside is considerably more ample.
When the temple contains various rooms behind the portico, the central part is the
sanctuary and the lateral parts must have been the cells for the priests. In a number of
regions a sanctuary was built in the central room, being provided with walls, roof and an

212

Two

styles

are

distinguish-

Chichen Itza: the

Puuc and the Mayan-Toltec.
In the Templo de los Guerreros is found an example of
the latter in which one becomes aware of the presence
of the serpentine columns
able

in

with

the

raised

rattlesnake,

and the walls made on an incline and a projecting panel.

entrance whereby greater importance was given to the core of the temple,

in

which the deity

was represented, in the form of bas-reliefs.

The palace
Without being able to establish with absolute certainty the function of the buildings
which were not for religious worship, and which in their generic form are designated
"palaces", it is, however, probable that they were used as dwellings for the priests and lords,
perhaps also for the functionaries of a certain category and for important merchants: it is
also possible that some were used as administrative buildings and storehouses. They were,
for the most part, situated on top of a platform and could consist of one or more rows of
passages, divided by transversal walls into extended rooms. Some of them form buildings

We

of several storeys.
entitled Housing.

The steam-baths,

have already referred

at greater length to the

"palaces"

in

the chapter

integrated with the buildings for housing, or as independent buildings,

found provided with drainage and in some cases with furnaces to burn fire-wood in the
interior of the steam room. We also know about some buildings tor sanitarv purposes with
perforated stone seats and drainage.

are

The

field for the

ball-game

The greater part of the places had one or more ball-games. The classic Mayan game was
made up of two extended and parallel platforms, in the middle of which the match took
place; sculptured elements such as disks or heads of animals would perhaps constitute the
goal to be touched with the b; 11. The rings seem to be a Toltec contribution. On their inner
facade the platforms had a kind of footway, a more or less inclined slope which formed
part of the field.

The observatory
In

quite a

number of

centers, observatories in the form of towers, of circular or rect-

angular floors, have been found which were provided with an inside stairway leading to the

observation-room. The staircase can ascend

Chichen It/a and Mayapan, or

can form straight flights of stairs as in Palenque. In Uaxactun the arrangement of various
buildings of Group E suggests the intent to determine lines of vision, which correspond to
the points of the horizon through which the sun emerges during the solstices and equinoxes.
in a spiral as in

Funeral architecture

The

funeral type of architecture presents variants which comprise the following: an

without any upper protection: a rectangular

pit or tomb coated on the inside with stone slabs and covered with one or more tombs: a
room with walls and domed roofs which eventually were decorated with mural paintings
irregular cavity delimited

or stucco reliefs; a

by stone

mound

tuffs {cist a),

apparently built to enclose one or more tombs of the kinds

ready mentioned; an unusual unit such as the tomb-pyramid-temple

in

al

Palenque.

Orientation

The orientation of

the buildings in the

Mayan

area during the classical period rends to

coincide with the cardinal points, but due to the irregularities of the terrain, occasionally

brought about by the course of the

rivers,

the

topography

in

which low mountainous

country and ravines abound, many architectonic units had to be adapted to these accidents.

Classic style

We

have assumed that the diversity of styles offered by the

Mayan

area in regions

which flourished simultaneously, with its apogee in the late classical period, has to be
interpreted as a consequence of a territorial division into provinces or autonomous states.
It is believed that during this period the Mayan centers of the central and septentrional
regions could be grouped on the basis of style in the following regions: Peten, Motagua,
Usumacinta, Palenque, Rio Bee, Chenes and Puuc.

Peten

Guatemala and extending up to the meridional tip of the

Mexican States of Campeche and Quintana Roo, this region comprises many sites, among
which we will mention the following, enumarating them from South to North: Ucanal,
Yaxha, Uolantun, Naranjo, Nakum, Tikal, Holmul, Uaxactun, Xultun, La Honradez, Naachtun, Balakbal, Uxul, El Palmar and Calakmul. Some were occupied since the preclassical
period and during the early classical period, but all had at some time experienced the
greatest brilliancy of the late classical period. Their capital could have been Tikal, a place
which has the tallest pyramids and temples in all the Mayan area, vast building-units, an
ample expanse, and a semiurban character.
Temple IV, for example, extendes up to some 70 meters from the base of the pyramid
to the top of the cresting, somewhat taller than the Temple of the Sun in Teotihuacan and
the "Templo Mayor" in Cholula, with a much greater verticality since the Pyramid which
sustains the Temple of Tikal has only 59 meters on the side, while that of Teotihuacan has
225 meters and that of Cholula 320. The stairway of the temples of Peten had to be extremely elevated, exceeding a 60 gradient in Temple V.
The solid crestings, reclining on the upper half of the temples needed an excessive
thickness in the walls, as much as 7 meters, in order to support the tremendous burden,
and leaving a minimum space, completely out of proportion with the entire volume of
the structure of something hardly more than a meter in width for the sanctuary. The results
is an architecture which can be designated of frontage, functional for the goals intended,
since it was a matter of impressing the populace that came together at the foot of the
Located

in

the North of

temples but never entered them.

we mentioned the great variety in the arrangement

ot the rooms in the palaces of Tikal. One single building could contain as many as 50 rooms,
spread out in parallel corridors or around a yard; some are of several storeys.
In a

previous chapter, Housing,

Certain details characterize the architecture of Peten: the corners of the pyramids
are inserted in relation to the face or surface of the buildings, the walls of the temples with

protruding sections and others recessed; the profile of the building of the pyramid formed

by

a small incline at the base, a

narrow space, and

a greater incline above.

Motagua

The principal sites of this region are Copan in Honduras and Quirigua in Guatemala,
contemporaneous centers and possibly politically connected, but the second depending
on the first.
The architecture offers a noteworthy contrast with that of Peten, as it lacks the tall
pyramids and the raised temples with enormous crestings to which we have already referred.
However, Copan has an imposing acropolis, made up of various pyramids, platforms, terraces,

214

/jj*

m. nt&I

Vf

Codz Pop

Kabah, Yucatan,

In

the footing, walls and frieze

covered

are

with

presenta-

temples and yards, grouped together, so

tions of the huge mask, of the

god ofc
,

rain,

Chaac.

as

to result in

numerous superpositions. Access

was possible through the ample steps of Temple II or by a ladder of 63

scu pture d steps which gathers about 2 500 hieroglyphics,
_

c
c
Strangely enough, some features snow similarities to the Puuc style or construction
c
r
in the North or Yucatan, as, for example, the use ot ashlars very well carved on walls and
domes, as well as the huge masks of the god of rain placed in the corners of Temple 22
and obtained through elements independently built in the nucleus ot the rubblework,
In the small Ball Game in Copan, the heads of the macaws built in the slopes would
to the acropolis
.

......

'

215

'*=-~^-

perhaps have served

as goals for the

game. Below the

visible structure are

two other more

ancient buildings; the second bears a date which pertains to the beginning of the sixth

century A.D., for which reason

since

it is

the

it

is

most ancient game known

more
until

likely that the first

now

in the

Mayan

was of the

fifth

century

area.

Next to the Templo de los

("Temple of the
Warriors") in Chichen Itza,
there is a building which also
is
part of the Mayan-Toltec
Guerreros

Quirigua the buildings appear to have been of the same style as those of Copan,
although with smaller dimensions and with much simpler decorations; the architecture

style,

of both places, however, with more ample space in the interior than those of Peten, was

the

In

utilized for

216

more human purposes than

in this region.

las

that

is

the

Templo de

Mil Columnas ("Temple of

Thousand Columns").

Usumacinta

The region surrounded by the Usumacinta River and its tributaries extends for more
than 400 kilometers in a Southeast-Northwesterly direction, and was probably divided
into various autonomous states, the capitals of which could be Yaxchilan, Piedras Negras,
Tonina, Palenque and Comalcalco. Cities dependent upon them would have been Chinkultic,
Seibal, Altar de los Sacrificios, La Mar, Bonampak, Pestac, Chinikiha, Chuctiepa, El Tor-

many more.
seems that the region, regarding architecture, came under the influences of Peten,
but, on the other hand, one of its centers, Palenque, radiated its own stimuli. In Piedras
Negras, for example, as some of the features from Peten, we can refer to the pyramids with
the inserted corners; the profile of the corpus with a lesser and greater incline, both separated by a space between the two moldings; the solid crestings which rest on the upper part of
the temples and which determined the extreme thickness of the walls, which was at the
expense of the space intended for the sanctuary. However, these features can be combined
with a portico having three entrances, which could have originated in Palenque. In Yaxchilan the elements of Peten have almost completely disappeared and are more similar to the
style of Palenque, such as the calada crestings of a very reduced weight which rest on
the middle part of the roof whereby the inner space of the small temples is augmented. In
any case, the builders of Yaxchilan failed to put up their cresting in the center of the dome
in a number of buildings of a single bay, and had to add, on the inside of the sanctuary,
crude columns in the form of buttresses to withstand the burden at the weakest point of
tuguero, Reforma, Balancan, Jonuta, and
It

the roof.

Palenque

Although Palenque probably belongs to the Usumacinta basin, we believe that it deserves to be treated as the center in which an architecture with very distinctive features
of its own was developed, features which reach, global or partially, to other places fairly
distant, but within the same geographic basin from the Usumacinta River to the East,

beyond the Grijalva River to the West.

The principal characteristics of this architecture
special

circumstances,

five

are a portico with three or,

entrances through the construction of wide columns:

under
small

room which forms an architectonic unit of its own with

and roof, the function of which was to guard the symbol of the worship
to which the temple was dedicated; small lateral rooms probably used as cells for the priests;
the roof and wainscot inclined; the architrave forming very projecting caves and with a
water channel to prevent the water from penetrating the stucco reliefs in the facade; the
cresting made up of to calado walls which become closer in the upper part and adorned
with stucco reliefs added or built in; openings in a variety of forms (trapezoidal, like the
eye of a lock, or trilobate) on the inside surface of the domes, to provide better ventilation
for the back rooms; small rectangular openings in the form of a "T" (the hieroglyph Ik
which, as we have already said, signifies "air") in the posterior and lateral walls, forming
very effective ventilations; abundant use of stucco reliefs in the adornment of buildings.
sanctuary within the central rear
its

walls, entrances

Rio Bee
This

name

has been given to the region located towards the South of the States of

Campcchc and Quintana Roo,

since it is one of the centers with which it is integrated. The

main regions, besides the Rio Bee, are Becan, Chicanna, Cojunlich, Xpuhil, Culucbalom,
Payan, Pcchal, and still others. Because of their geographic location, this region came under

21-

the influences from the South (Peten) and from the North (Chenes).

As features characteristic of Peten the following can be noted: the solid crestings on
top of the back part of the temple; inside walls made of unpolished stone slabs; elevated
staircases; an imitation of the temples of Tikal, in the form of solid towers situated at the
ends of the facade and occasionally in the posterior part, provided with an almost vertical
stairway, that is in the form of very narrow stairs leading to a solid construction which is a
complete reproduction of the facade of a temple for purposes which cannot be more than
decorative. Elements originated in the region of the Chenes would be the use of ashlars, well
carved, on the outer walls; vertical instead of oblique friezes; the decoration on the fagade
resembling many of that region. Other characteristics or features which are found in the
Chenes ought to have had their origin in the Puuc region, to which are attributed the columns and small columns used as support or merely as motifs in the decoration.

Chenes

The designation for this region can be attributed to the fact that many people have
names which end in the word chen which means "well", to indicate the presence of wells in
a zone in which water is found only at a sufficient depth. It is located at the borders between
the States of Campeche and Yucatan, and comprises, among other centers: Hochob, Dzibilnocac, El Tabasqueno, Santa Rosa Xtampak and Dzehkabtun. Their geographic position
explains the interrelation of the features common to them and the Puuc region, although
is not possible to determine the exact line of the influences since both zones were contemporaneous.
As characteristics of their architecture we will mention the scarcity of crestings; vertical
friezes; walls made from well carved ashlars; small columns at the footings of the buildings
although the column, as support or frequent of the decoration motif does not appear. The
peculiarity which especially arouses attention is the utilization of the central door of the
temple as the mouth of a huge mask, an innovation which may have originated in this region
and then went over into Rio Bee region, and ultimately to Puuc as well.
it

Puuc
In Yucatecan Maya this name means "mountainous country" and refers to the area of
which cut through the peninsula at the borders between the States of Yucatan and
Campeche. Some of these main centers are Edzna, Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, Labna, Xlabpak,
Chacmultun, Holactun, Xculok and Kiuic.
The actual Puuc style ought to have been developed over the course of a number of
centuries. The first stage, that of the seventh century A.D., should correspond to Edzna
and to the oldest buildings in Uxmal, Sayil, Labna, and Kabah, all of which are provided
with crestings above the central wall or which is a prolongation of that of the facade but with
very little decoration. In a later stage, that of the eighth and ninth centuries, there flourished the style with sumptuous decoration on the friezes and the disappearance of the cresting;
the final stage, began in the tenth century, with the intrusion of some Toltec decorative
hills

elements.

As

Puuc architecture one can take note of the following:

buildings in which horizontal lines predominate over vertical ones; walls of ashlars well
carved and well joined, which hardly penetrate the nucleus of the rubblework, forming a
characteristic elements of the

kind of overlay; domes of beveled stones; smooth walls for the facade with decorations only
in the form of friezes; a vertical entablature in which the frieze is delimited downwards (architrave) as much as upwards (cornice) through beveled moldings and a listel in the middle; a
footing which surrounds the base of the buildings frequently decorated with colonnades;
the use of the column monolithic or with sections of drums provided with the capital of a
column of a square section, in order to divide the bays from the entrances or to form
porticoes.

218

One of the
istics
is

principal character-

of the style of Palenque

the presence of a portico

which usually has three entrances, but under exceptional

circumstances has

one can see

las

in the

Inscripciones

five, as

Templo de
("Temple

of the Inscriptions").

The Puuc style did not remain restricted to the region to which it owes its name,
since contemporary buildings with some of these same characteristics are found in Chichen
Itza [Akabdzib, Templo tie ires Dinteles ("The Temple of the Three Lintels"), ChicchanChob, Las Monjas ("The Nuns"), La Iglesia ("The Church"), and Dzibilchaltun], and existed
in Mayapan prior to its late blossoming.

Postclassical styles

the course of the tenth century A.D., foreign groups

In

came

to the

Mayan

area.

The

were the Putuns or Chontals from the Gulf Coast,

during the first half of the century, and the Toltecs towards the end of the same century.
In the meridional area were the Pipils, the bearers of the Toltec culture, and much later
the Mexicas. These invasions left their impact which gave birth to a hybrid culture which
first

to arrive in the septentrional area

characterized them for almost six centuries before the conquest by the Spaniards.
treat briefly the results

some of the main centers

Itza, Mayapan and Tulum.

to

Chichen
if

caste

in

which they are more

easily appreciated, that

the

first

on the

surges of

is,

in

Chichen

to the Peninsula of Yucatan,

whether the Xius,

only served to introduce symbols of their religion or figures of their military

friezes in

(snail)

non-Mayan people

Uxmal and some

of Chichen

buildings in

Itza, the great tide

Kabah and perhaps

to construct the

of invaders coming directly or indirectly from

ancient Tollan (today Tula, in the State of Hidalgo) served to transform

in

will

Itza

Itzas or Putuns,

Caracol

We

of such influences on Mayan architecture while limiting ourselves

Mayan

architecture

the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

The Toltecs brought new techniques in construction,

the architects, probably Mayas, adapted them to their own

concepts and forms, but

ideas, attaining an extraordinari-

Among

ly fructiferous fusion.

of the buildings with

spatial

the new elements we can mention the following: orientation

deviation at an angle of 17 to the East, from the astronomic North;

on the bases and pedestals,

on the pyramids; the use of decorations on the roofs, erroneously designated
"merlons"; hypostyle vestibules at the foot of the pyramids which formed galleries parallel
with the arched roof resting on wooden beams supported by columns or pillars; columns on
the inside in which were also combined the Mayan dome with the columns and beams which
had served in the altiplano to support a flat roof; the field for the ball-game closed at the
ends and with rings; the extended base of the walls forming the ashlar; footways and altars
with completely inclined decorations for the cornice; square platforms with a stairway on
each side, the decorations of which form the ashlar and the projecting panel; round buildings; the floor of the principal temple of Tula reproduced in the Temple of the Warriors.
The techniques continued to be Mayan with regard to the construction of walls with
ashlars well cut and joined together, and the beveled stone domes, the practise of delimiting
the frieze by means of an architrave and a cornice of three splayed moldings and a flat listel.
the use of the ashlar and the projecting panel for the decoration

as well as

Mayapan
In

the second half of the postclassical period (from the thirteenth to the fifteenth

apogee of Chichen Itza flourishes Mayapan, where the Toltec constructions of that center were reproduced. But although the form was given every consideration
and although it was faithfully copied, the technique is most certainly inferior and the result
quite mediocre.
centuries), after the

220

distinguishing element

the Puuc style

is

in

the presence

of columns. These can be

found in the corners of the
walls,

ones

and

in

entrances

the

temples,

the

or

to

smaller

the

in the footings, cornices

friezes,

with

single,

double

or triple links or even without

that, as in the Palace

of Sayil.

<-i.
.

mmSm

W*~\T *,

V^JBt"

221

In

view of the inferior style

which one can observe in the

buildings in Tulum, the style
of this center has been rated
decadent.

of more than 8 kilometers in expanse, the site of Mayapan was really

a city, and the arrangement of approximately 4 000 buildings conform to the letter to the
description which Landa gives and which we reproduced only in part in our chapter on
Enclosed by

a wall

Dwellings, while talking about the location of the population. Approximately

buildings correspond to the huts of the

homes ol the
ship. Twenty

common

people; a

little less in

two thousand

stone buildings the

lords and those of a sufficiently high status and a

hundred buildings for worcenote. provided all the needs for water for eleven or twelve thousand inhabitIrregular
paths and narrow paved streets made possible both the circulation around
ants.
the temples and the access to them.
As an imitation of the buildings of Chichen ltza we will refer to what was probably the
major temple, known as /;'/ Castillo as the one which served it as a model. The pyramid has
the same number of parts, a stairway on each side, and the floor of the temple, identifiable
despite the fact that the building itself was destroyed, coincides precisely with the construction of Chichen. In Mayapan there is also a round building, apparently similar to the Observatory (Caracol) of Chichen ltza, apart from a number of small circular portable altars. The
porticoes with colonnades recall the hypostyle galleries of the so-called Mercado (Market).
However, the materials employed, the very deficient techniques for the masonry, the
mediocre mortar of the limy sand (sascab), were responsible for the inferior quality of
the buildings, the defects of which were concealed under the thick layers of stucco and
which now stand out since the coating has disappeared. For example, the flat sections of the
columns are stone slabs which do not become circular and are barely smoothed. The roofs
were almost all flat and, of course, have dissapeared for quite some time. To justify the state of
deterioration in which Mayapan is found, one has to remember that it was razed in 1441 A.D.

Tulum
The center
walls, but

it

has

since the fourth

of
a
is

Tulum on the East coast of the Peninsula of Yucatan is also fortified with
much lesser expanse. The fortification surrounds it on three of its sides,
formed by the cliff on the coast. The expanse of the center is 380 meters

from North to South and 165 from East to West.

In spite of the fact that Tulum is contemporaneous with Mayapan and that it also presents imitations on the Mayan-Toltec of Chichen ltza, Tulum and other places on the coast
have a style of their own and are distinguished from all the others reached by the influence
of the Mexican altiplano.

222

As typical characteristics of its architecture we can mention the coexistence of flat roofs
and domes which frequently have the shape of the neck of a bottle, and can begin from the
base of the wall; reinserted lintels; friezes delimited by flat moldings although they can
ultimately be used as beveled moldings with the central listel as in the Puuc style; substitution of the Puuc frieze by an entablature which adopts the profile of the architrave or of the
cornice in that particular style; the frieze cut to half the height by a flat molding; walls
deliberately made to lean or lose their vertical position towards the outside, and trapezoidal
entrances; small sanctuaries, constructed as inPalenque, form an independent unit within the
structure; shrines which ought to have been used for the safe-keeping of the sculpture that
would be venerated from outside, in view of the fact that because of their dimensions they
did not give the people access thereto; porticoes with columns made from rubblework and
coated with stucco.

The meridional

area

among whom are Kidder and Morley, the Highlands or

of the Pacific do not form part of the area that can be adequately
since they lack what are considered distinctive elements of Mayan culture,
namely, a calendar completely developed, a precise hieroglyphic writing and the use of the
dome known as false, salient or simply Mayan. Personally we accept the more ample focussing of Eric Thompson and do not exclude the meridional area from our study. There is no
doubt that, in the course of centuries, the culture that had been developed in these regions
at the level of ruling hierarchy, never had the characteristics mentioned, because of the fact
that its population, unquestionably Mayan, was apparently constantly dominated by outside groups, the bearers of different cultures: Olmecan,Teotihuacanian,Totonacan,Toltecan
and Mexican. But it seems to us rather unfair to disregard from the cultural Mayan area, the
peoples who not only spoke Mayan languages but who have actually left us many valuable
cultural proofs as means to comprehend Mayan thinking, such as the Papal
uh and the
Anales de los Cakchiqueles.
In referring to the architecture we have to take cognizance of the fact that during the
preclassical period important centers had flourished, to mention only a few as Kaminaljuyu
in the Highlands of Guatemala; Monte Alto, Bilbao and Abaj Takalik on the littoral or the
Pacific of the same country; lzapa on the coast of Chiapas, and Chiapa de Corzo in the central depression of Chiapas. The architecture comprised tuneral mounds, extended platforms,
altar-platforms, pyramidal bases and pedestals to support the temples made of materials
which readily deteriorate (wooden sticks, bajarcque and palm roofs). The nucleus of the
structure consisted of earth plus round, smooth pebbles with a coating from mud. Ramps or
stairways provided the means of approach to the upper part. During the early classical period
some of these centers continued to be important as, for example, lzapa, Chiapa de Corzo
and Kaminaljuyu. This latter, situated on the outskirts of the city of Guatemala, ought to
have played an important part in the Highlands. It had platforms and pyramids coated with
sun-dried clay bricks or pumice stone, with a profile which, in some cases, coincided with the
classical Teotihuacanian combination of the slope and the projecting panel, the latter ultimately decorated with painted motifs; funeral mounds built from earth or the dust from
white rock and sand; temples with sun-dried clay brick walls and possibly also from rubblework, and with palm roofs.
It is possible to recognize a number of sites tor the postclassical period in the Highlands
of Guatemala, which present architectural elements from the center of Mexico (Tula, Xochicalco, Tenayuca, Tenochtitlan-Tlatelolco): pyramids supporting twin temples and provided
with a double ladder; stairways with beams which end vertically in the upper part; use of
pillars and columns; walls witli an inclining foundation; temples with flat roofs, or palm roots;
extended buildings with numerous entrances formed by pillars; fields tor ball-games enclosed
on one or both sides. As one can readily perceive, the architecture shows many elements which
have their origin in the altiplano, differing completely from the classical Mayan period.
For many Mayan

Guatemala and the

designated Mayan,

specialists,

littoral

SCULPTURE
Generalities

what had been the structure of society

in which it was born and developed, then the fine arts, and especially sculpture, provide us
with the image or portrait, set for eternity, of important aspects of that society. Through the
analysis of Mayan architecture, in its civil and ceremonial aspects, we are able to confirm
the tremendous role that religion had played, as the fundamental stimulus and primordial
goal for constructing thousands of ceremonial centers. That analysis also enlighten us about
the division into social classes that were well differentiated, with a majority exploited, whose
dwellings or materials that deteriorate rapidly did not even attain the architectural level and
a ruling minority that had built residences which to our way of thinking were far from
if

architecture suggests enough

for

us about

comfortable, but very impressive ones.

Sculpture makes

it

possible for us to attain an enfocussing of greater clarity

fundity with regard to the different planes which

replying to our questions of what, how,

why and

the

Mayan

whom

was

this art, offers us a series

for

pictures of authentic exactness of the society which created

executors of the same had perceived

and pro-

composed

it,

society. Its study, in

of

such as the promoters and

it.

Techniques

To

Mayas knew and made use of all the techniques of

sculpture: incision, engravings in bas- and high-reliefs, round and molded busts. To make
small objects of the kinds that we will speak about in treating the art of making gravestones,
they employed obsidian, silex, jade and other hard or semi-precious stones, the shell and
bone. In their principal works of sculpture they used especially calcareous rock and eventually wood. Their instruments were of hard stone with which they traced, cut, carved and perforated. The gloss was obtained by abrasion which resulted from the use of powder or dust
from stones, and sand as well as water. Many of the sculptures, if not all of them, were
painted in different colors, of which vestiges are still found.
The sculptured pieces, such as the slabs, the tablets, the lintels, the jambs, the columns,
the stairways, could form an integral part of the buildings or constitute units, the functions
of which were closely bound to the constructions themselves, that is, as altars, sanctuaries,
thrones and tables, or even to be associated in an isolated form with architectonic wholes
such as squares, platforms and temples (stelae).
a

higher or lesser degree the

Themes
The product of

by the ruling class a religious

and civil entity sculpture had to materialize some themes for the purpose of strengthening
the system in force: the omnipotent existence of the deities which created it and were accustomed to keep a vigil over it for their adequate functioning; the might of those who
supposedly were the representatives of these same deities and were directly responsible,
apart from the beneficiaries, for the fulfillment of the obligations of all to assure divine
a socially stratified structure, directed

benevolence.

The gods abstract beings were symbolized

anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, phytomorphic, geometric, hieroglyphic, or by a combination of such elements.

One of the most frequent forms used to represent them was that of the huge mask in which
human and animal features were conglomerated, made of stone or more commonly from
stucco. The huge mask was integrated with the decoration on the temples in the sites of the
greatest splendor: the cresting, the frieze, the corners of the facade above the entrances. But

224

in

diverse ways:

The Mayas knew and made

use of a great variety of tech-

niques

which

sculpture,

in

they did with taste and

re-

finement.

The objects which

are

still

conserved

not

only

artistic

quality

concept that

had

about

express

well-established

but also the

this

people had

themselves

and
Ma-

their universe.

There

yan urn

Archaeological

Museum
basco.

in the
in

is

Villahermosa, Ta-

225

one also finds them on

on the base of the

altars,

stelae,

on the

inscriptions, or decorating the

apparel, or as the attributes of the personages.

The

ruling caste

showed

other structural forms,

if

their

the

dominion

monument

in the stelae, the

stone slabs, the lintels and

represented only one personage then possibly his

sumptuous fashion, if the scene

most important one was set up at a greater height than
the others, frequently standing or seated above some subject or prisoner, and his attitude
obviously gave proof of his superiority.
It is highly probable that not always did one seek to particularize some priest or other,

duties were idealized and he was always dressed in a very

dealt with several participants, the

or lord, but to glorify the ruling class, although

we

believe that

many

of the sculptured

on the monuments or many of the faces modeled in stucco must be the portraits of
hierarchs who really existed and whom they had to resemble. With regard to the common
people, the slaves and captives, the meagerness and simplicity of their clothing as also
their very posture, as the artist had meted out to them, clearly reveal, without any room for
doubt, their inferior condition and position.
figures

The

classic styles

The dual character of Mayan art reflects its socio-political structure in which a theocracy dominated combining the civil with the religious powers, along with the geographic,
historical and political factors, in particular, the territorial division into autonomous states;
they are the justification for the differentiation of the styles which were developed in the

Mayan

area but with predominance, in accordance with the regional traditions, of the aesthe-

or the dynamic, the symbolic or the historic, the geometric or the realistic, the divine

tic

presence or the man.

For the study of sculpture we shall follow a route similar to what we had utilized for
architecture, namely, for the classical period in the central and septentrional areas, the
styles of Peten, Motagua, Usumacinta, Palenque, Rio Bee, Chenes and Puuc. Then we shall
treat the postclassical styles in the septentrional area and in a separate section, in view of
its

very special conditions, the meridional area.

Peten

From the end of the preclassical period we know the building E-VII-sub in Peten from
Uaxactun, the corpuses of which, arranged at regular intervals, were decorated with huge
masks out of stucco. These, in the form of heads of serpents and jaguars, symbolize some
During the entire classical period the religious themes, always molded in stucco,
constitute the decorations on the friezes and crestings.
Since the beginning of this last period, the governors of Peten were represented by a
hieratical attitude, luxuriously attired and the elements of their dress and the importance of
their positions within the hierarchy carefully detailed. In the most ancient stelae the whole
body is seen in profile, then the legs and the face, and ultimately only the face. The lintels
from wood in the main temples present the same theme of the self-glorification of the rulers,
attained in an extraordinary manner. Hieroglyphic inscriptions accompany the figures, which
undoubtedly refer to the name, the title, the date of birth and the most important events
of their reign. Some Teotihuacanian motifs as that of the face of the god Tlaloc and the sign
for the year appear as decorations around the fifth or sixth century A.D. When we discussed
architecture, we already mentioned the names of the principal centers of Peten.
deities.

Motagua
Within the framework of the different Mayan

226

classical styles, that

of the region of the

Motagua River is particularly distinguishable from all the others. Its representative center is
Copan and the numerous sculptured monuments which it has conserved correspond, almost in
their entirety, to the late classical period and constitute a magnificent collection of examples.
Analyzing these monuments, many of them dated by means of calendaric inscriptions,
Tatiana Proskouriakoff established a

of

this evolution, the sculpture

stylistic

evolution in different stages, but independently

of Copan demonstrates a strong tradition which

is

maintain-

ed throughout centuries, and the changes which are observed in the technique utilized do
not modify the thematics nor do they alter the fundamental characteristics of the style.
The personages represented on the stelae had to form part of the highest hierarchy and
although their faces, like masks, monotonously repeat a solemn and placid indifference,
many of them have distinguishing features which suggest the intent of perpetuating individuals

who had

really existed.

The

aesthetic attitude follows a hieratical pattern in

which the

bodies are seen from the front, covered by an overdressed attire which leaves only the legs

and face uncovered, the latter in high-relief.

The most important change depends on passing from the bas-relief to one which is each
time more profound, in an effort to arrive at a round bust which is almost attained in the
ultimate stelae in which the personage appears as though placed against the block of stone
from which it was almost completely released. In this way it is possible to see as much of
the profile as of the front and there is an attempt to present the feet in an oblique position.
The arms are folded over the chest with the forearms almost vertical in the oldest sculptures
and later horizontal, always maintaining the hierarchich attribute of the ceremonial bar, the
symbol of heaven which terminates in the head of a serpent at both extremities. This attribute is hanging in the most ancient stelae thereby suggesting a flexible material, which

became rigid and horizontal in the following phases.

The vestuary is rich beyond all description, and the sculpture has reproduced it with
preciosity up to the minutest details. Enormous headgears stand out, decorated with a feline
mask or the superposition of various masks. Secondary elements complete the attire, executed with incredibly minuteness in a genuine horror in vacuo, some of them hanging in an
absolute separation from the surface of the stone block. Very frequently one can note that
which represent personages, are sculptured on the largest surfaces
while the hieroglyphic text is on the edges of the stone.
Numerous zoomorphic altars with serpents, felines, turtles, or heads of mythological
animals and motifs integrated with the architecture, complete the rich sculpture of Copan.
The Teotehuacanian factor in the mask of the god Tlaloc can, in some cases, adorn a headdress or what is hanging from a loincloth.
Quirigua, a center more than likely dependent upon Copan, developed a style reminiscient of that of this last site, at least with regard to the thematics and the composition, but
not in the technique since it is limited to the bas-relief with the exception of the faces of the
hierarchs, and never attempted to attain the round shape, with the exception of the zoomorphic altars. The faces show features which differentiate one from the other. The ceremonial
bar was generally substituted by the scepter of the god of rain and the solar shield. Worthy
of note are the zoomorphs and some altars associated with them, such as the altars of the
zoomorphs referred to as O and P which reveal a remarkable dynamism in the extreme
the stelae, in

all

the faces

richness of their decoration.

Usumacinta
While

in

rulers only

their attire

Peten and the valley of the Motagua river the sculptured works glorify the

through their
is

effigies,

emphasized

executed

as a sign

in a serious hieratical

of their high hierarchy,

pose in which the Hnery of

in the

Usumacinta basin

new

::~

228

representations of

the

Left:

the sculpture of the

show
new in

Usuma-

cinta style

an element

which

the central

is

of objects
which exalt a

area; the presence

and

activities

bellicose spirit.

On

the page:

the

in

miniature

sculpture

made from clay,

was elaborated with realism
and faithfulness to the physical
characteristics
which
generally

show

the

ordinary daily

as-

which
from the Isle of Jaina
where a woman is weaving
with a loom around her waist
(The National Museum of

element comes to the fore which adds to the figures of the chiefs, sufficiently imposing in
themselves, the obvious manifestations of their vast power in a historic context, generally
with

a bellicose significance.

One can assume that this region at the Western border of the Mayan area would have
been more subject than others to violence, and that its centers would have had to be defended against the neighboring invaders. But the war could also have been the consequence of
rivalries between lineages, or have a repressive character in order to dominate internal disturbances. These different alternatives all seem probable, and the fact is that the sculpture
serves to record frequent scenes of

war

in a realistic

and dynamic manner.

Despite the fact that the personages are so richly attired, nevertheless the silhouette of
their bodies

is

clearly visible.

They

are animated, engaged in dialogues with their equals or

and pass sentence on

them; they receive objects from the hands of their women; they sacrifice themselves and live before our very eyes in their role as omnipotent chiefs and conquerors.
The technique employed is always the same, that of the bas-relief. The stroke is decisive and vigorous; the bodies well delineated; the composition of the groups very well

pects, as in this figure

giving orders to subordinates; they threaten, struggle, take prisoners

is

them

Anthropology).

or

kill

achieved, yet the

movement

is

hardly expressed with genuine realism.

Picdras Negras, Yaxchilan,

lia,

Bonampak, Jonuta, Balancan, Morales.

El

Caribc, La

Ame-

La Florida, La Mar, Altar de Sacrificios, Seibal are the principal localities which cor-

respond to this region. In some of them the elements from Teotihuacan, the presence of
which we already showed for Peten and Motagua the masks of Tlaloc and the year-bearer

229

sign also appear as adornment for headdresses, shields, and loincloths. In Seibal, the foreign
element is clearly perceived in some late stelae in which the physical type of the personages,
while clearly not Mayan, continue to dress in that fashion; the Mexican calendaric hiero-

according to historic sources, ruled

Maya-Mexica, invaded

a large

them suggests

name of

the Cipaque family which,

which groups of a hybrid culture,
expanse of the Mayan area at the end of the classical period.

glyphic Cipactli associated with one of

in the

the

Chontal region

in

Palenque

As we have already stated when we analyzed the style of architecture of Palenque, this
it is in the Usumacinta basin, created an art of its own, different in many respects from what was developed in the rest of the region, in the sculptural
as well as in the architectonic aspect, for which reason we are treating that separately.
The artists from Palenque worked the calcareous stone into a flat relief, with very little
depth, and besides they had a special interest in molding stucco, a plastic material which,
because of its excellent qualities, was particularly suited to a refined sensitiveness of expression. On the other hand, they feigned ignorance of the round form for which we know only
center, in spite of the fact that

some

limited fragments of the pieces in stone or stucco.

Furthermore, they had no concern for producing stelae or other special monuments
such as altars, except for some rectangular or circular tables. Their bas-reliefs from stone
formed slabs, panels, gravestones, affixed to their buildings, principally to the inside walls.

The stuccoes were

also integrated to their buildings, externally decorating the bases

and

and crestings and the walls inside. Small gravestones, beautisharp point, probably from obsidian, show images of deities and hiero-

pedestals, the pillars, the friezes,

fully carved

with a

glyphic inscriptions, delicately traced with cursive lines.

In

stucco the bodies were modeled in the nude, and the scanty clothing together with

the adornments were applied afterwards; finally they were painted in different colors, those

of which traces have been found are red for the body and the face; black for the

hair,

and

blue for ornaments and attributes.

The themes

treated comprise, in the main, compositions of groups; although individual

personages are also found isolated on the top of

The scenes depict

pillars

and heads on the inside of medallions.

the enthronement of the ruler, the veneration of personages or of religious

symbols, a series of

vassals, a possible ritual dance,

human

sacrifices,

symbolic compositions

alluding to death and resurrection, religious and astronomic motifs, hieroglyphic texts, the

The heads out of stucco which ornamented

undoubtedly record with stupendous realism the characteristics
and features of individuals who had played an important part in the political and religious
contents of which
friezes, crestings

life in

The

is

and

calendaric and historic.

walls,

Palenque.
sculptors of Palenque were distinguished by their great technical mastery, then-

moderation and elegance with which they handled the themes assigned
to them. Here we feel that we are in an artistic environment very distinct from that of
Copan, Peten and even the rest of Usumacinta. The human body which captured the attention of the artist, stands forth almost nude, naturally presented, whatever its posture
may have been: standing, seated, kneeling, sitting on his haunches, in profile, the body or
only the face. The attire is usually limited to a simple loincloth, elegant headgears which can
be panaches fluttering with a light movement, or floral motifs slightly elaborated necklaces a
fine sensitivity, the

special type
skirts

always

of earrings and bracelets. Some wear cloaks from feathers or from jade plaques;

only suggestive by the rhomboidal motifs which ornament them, but the body
visible,

almost completely, which gives an

dual and the scenes in which they figure.

230

air

of realism and naturalness to the

is

indivi-

The

show simultaneously the intent at faithful reproduction and a stylwhich induces to exaggerate, for example, the cranial deformation and to turn
the knitting of the eyebrows into an artificial line of the nasal arch which is extended over
part of the forehead. The human figures are graceful, well proportioned, and even in the

istic

more

facial features

tradition

static scenes the position

of the arms, a certain flection in the

legs, a light inclination

of the head, break every aspect of affectation of solemnity or pompousness.

It is possible to summarize the art of Palenque with only a few words: equilibrium,
naturalness, realism, discreet

dynamism, moderation and refinement.

Rio Bec-Chenes

For these regions we have put together in one single section what we handled separately
in the chapter on architecture, but which integrate one and the same stylistic region as far
as the sculpture is concerned. We have already referred to the principal centers of the Rio
Bee: Chicanna, Xphuil, Becan, Rio Bee, Hormiguero, Culucbalom. Of the Chenes we can
mention Hochob, Dzibilnocac and El Tabasqueno.
Both regions are characterized by the almost absolute lack of special sculpture. We
have found reference to only five or six stelae in Rio Bee, Pasion del Cristo and Pechal,
which were very eroded and apparently belonging to the tradition of El Peten.
On the other hand, sculpture had a function closely associated with the buildings and
therefore it is found integrated with architecture. In the decoration on the facades of the
temples which in Hochob attained a tremendous overload, a combination of stone and
stucco was utilized, completing the motifs formed by carved blocks with a thick layer of stucco
which not only covers the rock-like frame but even adds details and provides a definitive
finish. The fundamental motif is the huge mask of the God of Rain, the presence of which
on the facades is closely associated with the lack of superficial water and the scarcity of a
pluvial system. The huge mask can occupy a large part of the facade in all its verticality,
with the mouth sufficiently open to provide the entrance. Very large eyes surround the
nose which is suspended above the lintel, and the ferocious or canine teeth come down
vertically, parallel to the jambs so as to extend on the base and constitute a threatening law.
Decoration is completed with huge masks of the front and profile arranged in columns
in the corners, stylized serpents, spirals, simple and complex frets, lattice-works, small
columns, peasant huts, and finally human presentations in the form of masks out of stucco
or rows of bodies also molded in stucco, which are superposed to constitute the cresting,
as in Hochob.
We are acquainted with this aspect of the huge mask covering the entire facade and the
mouth of which is the entrance to the temple, exceptionally related to the Puuc style
(Uxmal and Chichen Itza) and in Copan.

Puuc

The region

so designated embraces approximately

the Western half

of the State of

Yucatan and the septentrional part of Campeche. It comprises a number of centers ot which
we can mention Edzna, Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, Labria, Xlabpak, Xcalumkin, Xculoc, Oxkintok and Chacmultun.
The tradition of erecting stelae continued in Puuc while, as we have just seen, it remained virtually discarded in Rio Bee and Chenes. Important personages, very attractively attired,
were represented in these places, mainly toward the middle and end of the late classical
period. Proskouriakoff has suggested the possibility of a regional style thus tar

or

known. Many of the open pieces were found

in the

by the natural elements or through the burning of the

little

studied

worst possible conditions, erosioned

fields.

231

In

addition

the

to

stelae,

columns,

pillars,

The much

generally in bas-reliefs to glorify the rulers.

decadent

style,

jambs and
later

were also sculptured,

lintels

monuments

disclose a definitely

with the figures crudely delineated, improperly proportioned and anatomic-

composition

ally distorted; the

rigidly or crudely attained, the intent

of which had been to

movement. The stroke is uneven, and many of the smaller motifs of attire were
marked by cut lines, not in relief, with a prevalence of straight over curved lines. Toltec
features are apparent in Uxmal and Kabah as an evidence of the first invasions during the
indicate

course of the ninth century.

This tradition of free sculpture does not characterize the Puuc style; the architectonic

stamp on the region, which is, concretely in the form of ornamentation on the facades. These show a perfect equilibrium in the contrast between the
flat surfaces of the walls and the exuberance of the friezes. While in other regions such as
Peten, Usumacinta or Palenque, only some huge masks out of stucco used to ornament the
upper part of the facade, in the Puuc style the frieze became a stone mosaic of the richest
form, the composition of which was ingeniously conceived by an artist, and the execution
of that was attained through the collective work of the community, since the intent here
was not to glorify the individuals of the ruling class, but rather the God of Rain whose
importance, it was supposed, was definitely that of remedying the lack of superficial currents of water and the limitation in time and volume of the rainy season. However, it is
absolutely certain that as a last resort it was the minority of the ruling class which benefitted most from the gifts from heaven.
The effigy of Chaac in the form of a huge mask, repeated thousands of times with
a minimum of variations, is basically characterized by his long nose which projects like a
horn, hanging or straight; it appears above the entrances, in the corners, and on top of
the friezes, and the obsession in representing that reaches its climax in a building in Kabah
where the facade was completely covered with hundreds of such masks from the tooting
sculpture confers

its

special

all

of them geometric, such as the lattice-work, the simple or complex

to the cornice.

Other motifs,

drums, the small columns, smooth or with fastenings, broken and

serrated sashes which can form rhombuses, corrugated serpentine bands complete the
ornamentation. These elements are harmoniously combined, serving as the background to
highlight the God of Rain, at times crowning the huts of the peasants. Human representafrets,

the very small

tions are rare except

The Puuc

style

when they correspond

to later intrusions from a foreign source.

manifested outside of the region, up to the septentrional end of

is

the peninsula (Dzibilchaltun) and sufficiently to the West (Chichen

period, that

is,

the late classical,

it

was also followed

in

ltza);

in

Mayapan. The sculptural

art

the

same

of Puuc,

an integral part of the architecture, of an abstract contents and geometric expression,

unquestionably a religious

art in

which the individual cedes

His place as

such

in

is

favor of

the deity.

ceramic polychrome piece

from

Jaina.

The

headdress and the jewels

it

clear that she

Postclassical styles

clothing, the

is

make

woman

of

'

we

n dealing with architecture,

who

succeeded

in

imposing

their

Mayan area
Mayan hierarchy

referred to the arrival in the

domination, displacing the

of foreigners
at the

end of

high social rank; in addition

the tenth and beginning of the eleventh century, preceded by a former surge the imprints

also an artistic

Q f which wc already mentioned with regard to Uxmal and Kabah in our previous statement
l
^ r>
j
^i
c
c
-ijCi
w
Puuc, ~i
about
that is, ttie plumed serpent on the frieze of the western building of Las Monias
anc^ on tnc surraces or t ie ie 'd for the ball-game in Uxmal, and the Toltec warriors on the
jambs of the rear facade of Codz-Pop, of Kabah. The culture which the invaders brought was
undoubtedly Toltec which, in being combined witli the Mayan gave rise to the creation ol

to that,

piece of
.

it

is

work which we would

,

be able to classify as perfect

and even exquisite (The National Museum of Anthropology).

riTr-uriin
'

111

>

.1

233

relief

on stone which shows

the distinctive physical feat

ures of the Mayan.

tion

of the

and

political

come down
such
tion.

234

social,

descripreligious

phenomena have
to

sculptured

us

through

representa-

Mayan-Toltec

style

which persisted

more fused with the

until the arrival of the Spaniards, although each time

We

manner the sculpture of three

places which characterize the septentrional part of the Peninsula of Yucatan in the course of
the postclassical period: Chichen Itza, Mayapan and Tulum.
Chichen

native culture.

will analyze in a rapid

Itza

The occupation of Chichen Itza until the middle of the thirteenth century by invaders
with a Toltec culture is still more evident in the sculpture than in the architecture. It cannot
be asserted that in the sculptural art of that period the Mayan form would have disappeared,
as it did not even disappear in the form of construction; it was not a matter of a substitution
of styles but rather a fusion of them. Certain specific features were recognized by Proskouriakoff, which are reminiscent of the details of the classical monuments, especially in what
was designated "The School of Oxkintok", as, for example, some types of tufts of feathers
on the headdresses. The presence on the Toltec buildings of the huge masks of Chaac, which
are identical with those of the Puuc style, enlightens us about a political situation in which the
invading minority that took over the helm, nevertheless realized that it was obligated to
respect the creed of the immense Mayan majority.
Apart from the fact that the themes which were dealt with in Chichen Itza were inspired by the Toltecs, the hand of the Mayan artist that executed them is evident, and gives
an unmistakable stamp to the work in its superiority over that of the sculptor of Tula. In
Chichen Itza the very same representations of a jaguar, an eagle, a chac-mool or a warrior

acquired a special quality through

a greater technical

ness which were not typical in

place of origin.

ence

is

in the

more impressive

its

perfection and a

Some of the

are the sculptured warriors

more refined

sensitive-

sculptures in which the differ-

on the jambs of the Templo de

los Tigres,

Juego de Pelota, the faces of which show a modeling never attempted even

in Tula.

one of the features of the Mayan-Toltec

style is the replacement of individual representation of personages by that of groups, whether in one and the same scene or in isolated compositions which integrate a single purpose
such as the pillars of the colonnade of the Templo de los Guerreros, independent units which
compose a coherent and significative whole: an assembly of warriors which has some inferIn contrast to the styles of the central area,

ence to the probable function of the locale. The content of the scenes

and symbolizes myths or

The

is

primarily religious

rituals.

Chichen Itza are the following:

feathered serpents (interlaced with the beams and adorning bases and pedestals, and platforms); serpentine columns and pillars with the head above the floor, the body erect and the
tail of the cascabels doubled so as to maintain the lintel; individual warriors on the pillars
and jambs, or forming processions on the reeds and altars; processions of jaguars; telamons
supporting the gravestones of the altars; standard-bearers; eagles and tigers eating hearts; the
motif of the "man-bird-serpent"; statues of individuals reclining, erroneously called "chacmools"; effigies of the gods Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, Tlaloc, and Tlalchitonatiuh; scenes
of sacrifices in which hearts are being torn out. The engraving on the bas-reliet or the round
bust was utilized according to the purpose of the monument. The Mayan-Toltec art of
Chichen Itza reproduces a number of new concepts imposed upon them by the invaders,
which are of a religious and narrative character. It reflects a culture that is both foreign and
grafted into the Mayan trunk but which conserved the most basic of the native religion in
its thematics and which, in its execution, bears the indelible mark of the artistic genius.
principal motifs of the Toltec culture brought to

Mayapan
Although

all

the

buildings which

remain as vestiges

in

Mayapan

pertain to the late

235

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rftMBT

^^^jr-

Vk

'

I
-

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*

from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, an earlier occupation, contemporaneous with the Puuc style, that is, of the eighth and ninth centuries, is
identified by the presence of some huge masks of Chaac. These were originally used to
decorate buildings; many fragments of these and other motifs of the friezes in the Puuc style
were used as simple materials in the construction of the walls from rubblework.
On the basis of their inscriptions or their style some stelae correspond to the end of the
late classical period and show a relationship with those of Puuc, or those which Proskouriakoff associated with "The School of Oxkintok". They are crude in their execution, and the
interior elements or their ostentation are not in relief but are cut. There are stelae on which
the space prepared for the glyphic text duly squared was not sculptured, and other monuments remained unadorned (more than 25) which suggests that they could be totally or
partially painted on a layer of stucco, or, rather that important events had prevented them
from being finished. Some figures show sufficient similarity to that of the Paris Codex.
The greater part of the sculptural material from Mayapan stems from the ornamentation
on the architecture: serpentine columns on which the unadorned shaft would be stuccoed
and painted; the tails of the cascabels, doubled at a right angle to support the lintels, carved in
stone, are also the heads of serpents, also sculptured in stone and found at the foot of the
beams or on top of the higher platforms in imitation of those from Chichen Itza but with
interlaced bodies, probably painted on the beams; traces of human figures in a natural size,
made from stucco in high-relief and which were placed near the foot of the columns; others
were provided with shanks so that they could be embedded; human heads also with a shank,
some in the style of the Mayas, vestiges of the classic occupation. Representations of animals
such as monkeys, jaguars, dogs, lizards, and small lizards decorated the jambs and columns.
Turtles with human heads used to form small altars. Motifs painted on the stucco were used
to complete the decoration on the buildings. Like the rest of Yucatan, the sculptural art
postclassical period, that

236

is,

(Above) The original style of

the work in Palenque makes
pieces

their

or elements in

architecture

and

sculpture

does this
huge mask out of stucco which
distinguishable

is

as

found on one side of the

in Palenque. At the

Palace
side

the

monumental mask

from stucco which is found in

Cojunlich in the zone of the
Bee River. This place was
recently discovered, and many
archaeological

investigations

have been carried out there.

237

of Mayapan is of a symbolic-religious nature. As the architecture, so too the sculpture connotes a decadent period in which it was a matter of copying the
Toltec form, in which there still remains a Mayan classical substratum of that on the Peninsula, and in which one can readily take cognizance of an evident connection with the style
of the eastern coast of the Peninsula.

which characterizes the

style

Tulum

On the eastern coast of the Peninsula of Yucatan one finds any number of places,
some of which we can refer to, citing them from north to south: El Meco, Nisucte, Playa del
Carmen, Palmul, Akumal, Xelha, Tancah, Tulum, Xcaret, Punta Soliman, Chacmool, Ichpaatun, besides those that are found in Islas Mujeres, Cancun and Cozumel. All of them
present features in common but we shall confine ourselves to the place most known and
explored: Tulum.
Few open sculptured monuments are known from this region; among them some stele
and fragments come from Tulum. Stele 1 bears a date from the sixth century A.D., while
the ceramic information clearly places it in the late postclassical period, that is, from the
thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. We believe that this monument was originally erected
in another center, perhaps Tancah, which was occupied long before and is five kilometers
distant from there, somewhat northward from Tulum. On the basis of its composition it is
associated with the classical

Mayan

sculptures: the personage

is

richly attired, with the

body

by some priests of
Palenque, a ceremonial two-headed bar made from flexible material and hanging over the
chest as in the most ancient stele of Copan. All the other vestiges of stone sculpture are
probably contemporaneous with those of Mayapan. What is characteristic of the sculpture
of Tulum and for the coast as a whole is the use of stucco and its integration with the architecture. Its principal expressions, all achieved with stucco in a form sufficiently coarse, are
as follows: serpentine columns in which the stuccoed shaft was painted; the head above the
floor and the cascabels raised in order to support the lintel; human figures standing or seated
in niches above the entrances; a deity descending head down, the legs open above, the hands
joined below the face, the arms and shoulder equipped with wings, possibly a representation
of the Mexican tzontemoc (the sun setting in the late afternoon); huge masks in bas-relief in
the corners of the friezes between two horizontal moldings and at times severed by these
moldings; human heads in bas- or high-relief on the inside walls; a man falling, caught in an
interlaced band, a statue of the type designated "chacmool" found in a locale with this
name; heads of serpents to decorate the beams unearthed in Niscute.
facing the front and the face in profile, a long skirt similar to that used

The contents of

from the Eastern coast is both religious and symbolic. Its characteristics are such that one can speak of a regional style very closely aligned to that of
Mayapan, in so far as it imitates the Toltecan and that technically is of a quality very much
inferior to that

the art

of the

classical

Mayan

sculpture.

The meridional area

In

the formation of the

part since

extent, as

Mayan

culture the meridional area played a

was the link between that and the Olmecan, from which
are all the other cultures of Mesoamerica.
it

During the preclassical period the

it is

most important
derived to some

and of the Highlands

of Guatemala and Chiapas, as, for example, Bilbao, Izapa, Kaminaljuyu and Chiapa de Corzo
were occupied. Olmecan engraved sculpture on stones up to six meters in height, represent-

238

localities along the Pacific littoral

of jade typically Olmecan, were found on the coast

is, in Pijijiapan, Ocozocoautla.
Towards the end of the same period, that is, the upper preclassical and protoclassical,
colossal heads were sculptured in huge blocks, cruder than those of La Venta and other
Olmecan localities, the so called Izapa's style was developed in a locale also on the coast,
close to the border between Chiapas and Guatemala. A number of stelae are known of which
the greater part is from Izapa itself and the others from Santa Margarita, San Isidro Piedra
Parada, Bilbao, El Baul, El Jobo, Monte Alto, Abaj Takalik, Chocola, and in the Highlands,
that is, in Chiapa de Corzo and Kaminaljuyu. This style reveals strong resemblances to that
of La Venta and Monte Alban I, whereby their Olmecan origin is firmly and unquestionably
established, and, at the same time, also some features which later came to be classic in
ing diverse scenes,

as.

also figurines out

of Chiapas, that

Mayan

sculpture.

The themes handled on

the

stele

are of a mythological nature

and comprise human

figures which generally are integrated with the scenes, real or mythological animals, plants,
geometric and symbolic motifs with an abundance of volutes. The technique most utilized is
the bas-relief, but there are also altars and other monuments in a round form. The association of the stele and altar is already common. The thematic aspect offers a rich variety of
compositions: an individual who seems to be fishing and carrying water (the motif of water
appears repeatedly); descending figures; the tree of life in a mythological complex; an anthropomorphic god accompanied by a serpent; a jaguar suspended over a fire; personages
around a hearth; a man falling head downward into the water; a crocodile erect, facing a man
is supporting a bird; a reclining skeleton out of whose stomach emerges the umbilical cord,
which is maintaining a winged figure; an individual in a canoe; scenes of decapitation. In
some cases, two men seated facing each other are, nevertheless, separated by a column of
hieroglyphics. Stele number 1 of El Baul presents a personage which can be associated with
the ancient date ot 36 A.D., previous in more than 260 years to the first stele, certainly
Mayan. Another stele of the same center depicts a ball-player, duly attired and with the
mask of an animal. Stele number 11 of Kaminaljuyu shows a hierarch richly attired and
armed, which permits us to assume that since the more advanced preclassical period a ruling
class was accustomed to auto-glorification through sculptured monuments. A deity with a
hooked nose, associated with the water, has to be the antecedent of the Mayan god of rain.

The early classical period is manifested in the meridional area through the continuation
of the occupation of such centers as Izapa, Chiapa de Corzo and Kaminaljuyu; the latter
came strongly under Teotihuacanian influences, especially with reference to architecture
and ceramics. As far as the late classical period is concerned, it is characterized by the
peculiar style of the region of Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa which flourished in Santa Lucia
of the same name and numerous localities of the district of Escuintla, in Guatemala in such
regions as Bilbao, El Baul, Palo Gordo, etc. Classic Maya, Teotihuacanian, Totonacan and
Toltec elements are recognized in this style. The monuments comprise stele, rocks or
enormous cut stones which had been utilized in the bas- and hig-reliefs as well as in the
round shape. Among those executed in the latter technique figure human and mythological
heads, and of animals such as serpents, macaws, jaguars and monkeys, all of them provided
with a shank for the purpose of being embedded in the buildings. The contents is symbolicreligious with numerous narrative scenes, some rather complex in that a number of individuals take part; actions performed in the ball-game; players duly attired and with yokes like
that of belts; human sacrifices through decapitation or the extracting ot human hearts,
associated with the ball-game; the frequent presence of death in the form of skeletons,
skulls, and men with seeming ribs; human figures seated on a throne probably portraits of
dignitaries; obese and fat-cheeked men; human heads in the fauces of serpents; the solar disk
and god descending enwrapped in flames, probably representing the sun; mythological
animals and beings such as serpents, turkey buzzards, the deer-feline, man-crab, man-eagle, etc.

239

combination with these themes there are frequent hieroglyphics which correspond to a
system of their own, distinct from that which the classical Mayas used, where one can recognize the signs of the twenty days of the Mexican religious calendar. We will add that in
this region appeared many pieces which pertain to the Totonacan culture, such as the axes
designated votives and the yokes, the latter smooth or sculptured.
In

In the

meridional area the postclassical period

as well as qualitatively.

From

the

is

very poorly represented quantitatively

few examples of sculpture which we

recall, a

number of

them were discovered in connection with buildings intended for the ball-game: "markers"
form of a human head inside the fauces of a serpent [Mixco Viejo (Old Mixco)], heads
of jaguars in a round form and provided with shanks as the cited "markers" (Chalchitan), a
gravestone in crude bas-relief which was placed near the center of one of the lateral walls
of a ball-field (Chichen), an anthropomorphic figure out of stucco found in another gamefield (Huil). In addition to that, a number of altars and a stele from Tajumulco are known,
which depict jaguars, eagles, solar disks and crude human figures, apparently a degeneration
of the style of Cotzumalhuapa. In these regions of the Highlands of Guatemala the "Mexiin the

can" influence

is

obvious.

The sculpture of the meridional area clearly reflects

of different periods, were imposed in the field of art on
cans,

the Teotihuacanians,

shows how

as

the classical

the

Mayan population by

the

Olme-

and
Mayan sculpture disclosed, it was nourished by Olmecan

the Totonacans, the Toltecs

during the preclassical period.

240

the influences which, in the course

the Mexicas; in addition,

it

art

stone relief of a personage

in a sitting position

who

voices and messages.

emits

The

fig-

is not finished in the best

manner, neither in its norms
nor in its proportions. At the
side, a stone-relief which belongs to the style from Usumacinta in which two personages are shown. The one at
the right, of a major hierarchy
bears a miniature scepter with
the figure of the solar god

ure

on

it.

PAINTING
Generalities
Painting, with

its

richness of color, the possibility for depicting scenes in which several

participate, and the greater facility for animating them, brings us

of the Mayas than sculpture does, and, in addition, introduces us directly to

life

of

living, if,

then

we can

on referring

we had

to sculpture

said that

state that painting presents us scenes in

it

way of
their mode

closer to the

still

offered us fixed portraits of society,

movement, some

like strips

of animat-

the technique

employed

ed drawings, others like authentic documentaries in color.

Technique
It

has not been possible to determine with complete certainty

if

for mural paintings was the fresco on top of something smoothed with lime and still humid,
or a tcmpora painting on a surface already dry. Both methods may have been followed since

was practicable to use either or both of them. From the analysis of some murals it has been
first the contours of the figures and the principal internal lines were
traced with a light paint (red in Bonampak); then, the different colors were applied, each
one over its determined area, but generally covering the interior outlines which were finally
rcskteched with black paint, somewhat diluted, in order to permit the complementary details to stand out. Some parts of the bodies are more obscure than others, but it does not
seem that the differences in tonalities would cede to the purpose of obtaining a tridimensional effect. Nor is the intent observed for representing the perspective in the scenes which are
executed on a number of planes. The interest of the artist is concentrated on the line, and
the outline really shows the great mastery of the painter who has failed only in some foreit

possible to establish that

shortened figures.

The

colors used, of a vegetable and mineral origin,

embrace an ample gamut:

red, pink,

orange, yellow, green, light and dark blue, purple, sepia, and coffee in addition to white and
black. Mixtures of colors in a greater or lesser solution resulted in a very rich coloring.

Themes
There are unfortunately very few mural paintings which had resisted the inclemency of
weather
the
and the passing of time over the centuries. Only some of them were known and
copied, of which quite a number disappeared after they had been discovered during the last
few decades. It is very likely that the majority of the temples did have paintings with historic,
religious

and decorative themes.

We

shall

confine ourselves to review

some of the most im-

portant discovered in the following periods and places: for the classical period, Uaxactun

and Bonampak

in the central area;

early postclassical period,

all

Chichen

Chacmultun and Mulchic

Itza,

and for the

in the septentrional; for the

late postclassical,

Santa Rita and Tulum,

of them in the septentrional area.

Uaxactun

An incomplete

section of a mural was discovered in a

room of

Structure

B XIII which

probably sometime in the fifth century A.D.

ceremony, apparently of a civil nature in which important personages are
taking part; it is divided into double lines some of a more important hierarchy than others,
judging by their attire and their place in the scene. A very schematic room gives the tone to
the representation. In this painting, until now the one of the greatest antiquity in the Mayan
area, there is revealed from that time on, the mastery and dexterity of the painter in the
composition of the scene, the firmness of the line and the capacity for expressing movement

had been
It

built during the early classical period,

deals with a

242

by the participants to communicate the realism of the happening. Hieroglyphics, possibly

titular, complete the pictorial narrative.

Bonampak
1946, the discovery in Bonampak of a building with completely painted walls on the
inside, from the level of some footways near them up to the closure of the dome, provided
In

example of what the pictorial art of the Mayas had been during the
classical period. The three rooms of this building ought to have been painted at the end of
the eighth century A.D. The fairly good state of conservation made it possible to attempt
to copy and anlyze them in detail.
the greatest and best

The paintings of Bonampak, in addition to their incalculable artistic value, have a tremendous historical importance since they present vivid scenes of some critical events of the
Mayan civilization. A number of interpretations of their contents have been presented: a) an
encounter between the lords of Bonampak and those of some rival center; b) an incursion
by the people of Bonampak in a village, in order to obtain prisoners to sacrifice
them for their rituals; and c) the repression of a peasant uprising. We, however, believe that
the first two alternatives can be discarded for the following reasons: 1) the enemies that are
wounded, dead or prisoners lack arms and from their colorful dress they are obviously not
lords; 2) before they died, the prisoners were tortured, which contradicts everything that we
know about the considerate treatment that captives received before they were sacrificed,
apart from the fact that a raid to obtain victims intended for immolation would not have
any relevancy and would not merit becoming part of history. On the other hand, the third
alternative seems to us to have been confirmed, or, at the last, justified through the context
of the paintings: the enemies of the lords of Bonampak, who were easily conquered, are
common people and before they were killed, they were punished by torture, through tearing
out the nails, as can be observed. The date in which the murals were painted corresponds
precisely to the end of the late classical period, a little before the woeful decline of the
Mayan civilization in the central area, the end of the cultural activities and the physical disappearance of the priests which is deduced from this. Besides, it together with Thompson
and other investigators we believe that true peasant rebellions put an end to this civilization,
it is perfectly credible that the first attempts at freedom had tailed and that the ruling class
decided to commemorate the repression as an example for all, so that such uprisings would
carried out

not recur again.

From

the thematics of these paintings a sequence

is

interred:

room, under the protection of the gods who are seen in the upper part of
the dome, the halach uinic, his relations and their three batches are getting ready to attend.
1

in the

In the east

company of

the highest personages of the court of

Bonampak,

procession of musi-

cians and dancers; in an intermediate fascia the merchants or servants are presenting jade

jewelry and jaguar skins; another fascia contains

complete the
2.
(it

hieroglyphic inscription which ought to

pictorial narrative.

In the central

room

the gods were substituted

in

has been suggested that they could be the painters),

part by

who

human

figures in cartouches

alternate with the captives and

animals; almost the entirety of the surface depicts the battle, the sentencing, the torture

and the death of the prisoners.

3. The deities again occupy the upper part of the dome, while the halach uinic, his
family, the batabes and the other remaining members ot the hierarchy arc present at a
colorful dance which is performed on top ot the steps ot a platform tor the purpose of
expressing thanks to the gods for the successful conclusion ot the social conflict.
The historic nature of the event which provided the basis for the murals painted in

24 3

Below, page LXXIV of the Codice de Dresde ("Dresden Codex") which probably represents the destruction of the world; at the right, a partial reproduction
of the scene of room 2 of the Building of the Frescoes
in

Bonampak which with

ment and realism depicts

244

singular coloring,

a battle.

move-

Bonampak

The

and dynamic while it communicates the dramatic

intensity of the happening which the participants, the lords and the peasants, had experienced.
All these aspects were presented by the artist it would be more correct to say by the
artists- with authentic naturalness, each one for the part he had to represent: as observers
is

obvious.

style

is

realistic

or directors, engaging in a dialogue, imploring, punishing, playing musical instruments, dancing,

being tortured, sacrificing oneself, in few words, dynamically living their historic drama.

Palenque
In

number of

buildings of the Palace in Palenque traces of mural paintings were

discovered; the greater part of

ated "E", that

is,

them

in the

worst possible conditions. In the Building design-

of the southwestern yard, the facade was painted from

in the east gallery

the base up to the level of the lintels. Seventy-five decorative motifs of a geometric form were

estimated around one hundred and

fifty

according to the imprints they had

northwestern interior corner of the same building the presence of a mural,

human

On the
very much

left.

had been appraised. The northern entrance still

retains part of what had formed an inside frame; the lateral motifs could represent a symbolic aquatic fascia or the body of a serpent which is accompanied by fish.
destroyed, which comprised a

In the

"C"

Building, that

is,

figure,

in the

western gallery of the northeastern yard, the painter

was able to reconstruct hypothetically, with very limited identifiable elements, a

scene of offering similar to that on the gravestones of the Palace and of the Slaves. In the
northern gallery of the same yard, he copied a painted hieroglyphic inscription which was
contained in a fascia forming a square, but which had unfortunately deteriorated very much.
Being the fragment of a possible chronologic inscription it appeared on the last flight of
stairs of the tower.
Villagra

Chacmultun
Although at a distance of more than three hundred kilometers from Peten, this locality
Puuc region conserves paintings thematically and stylistically related to what we
have already mentioned with regard to Uaxactun, yet both are separated in time by several
centuries. It is evident that the tradition of historic painting had wide diffusion during the
in

the

classical

period in the central area as well as in the septentrional. Several rooms in two build-

Chacmultun, constructed in the late classical period, were painted with murals on
the inside and on the domes. Various ceremonies, probably of a civil nature, were represented in them, divided into sections in which a number of personages participate, who seem to
have some connection with the silhouettes of the architectonic structures (platform, stairway, temple or room with a roof from palm leaves). Apart from the headgears, sufficiently
varied although with few panaches, the individuals wear little clothing; they do carry arms,
parasols and other objects. Some are standing motionless; others are walking, going up the
stairs, picking up arms, making gestures, giving orders in a simple composition on one single
ings in

plane, but well organized.

Its

relationship with the classic

Mayan

painting

is

evident from the narrative and histor-

which the outline shows the

professional excellence of the artist. One can note that the movements were rather ingenuously emphasized, that the style is quite provincial as the locale ought to have been
within the political framework to which it belonged; however, these murals constitute a
good example of the classical pictorial art in the septentrional area.
ic

contents expressed in a

realistic

and

pictorial language, in

Mulchic
While the paintings of Chacmultun are sufficiently similar to those of Uaxactun, the

246

murals of Mulchic, a small place in the Puuc region at a short distance from Uxmal,

recall,

modest way, the paintings of Bonampak which were more or less contemporaneous with them. The themes are fairly similar since, in the main, they call forth
memories of a battle and the sacrifice of the prisoners. However, some differences suggest
that the warlike conflict could have been due to causes quite different from those which we
believe had taken place in Bonampak. On the one hand, only common people are taking
part in the combat and they are almost naked without any appurtenance which would
indicate a high social rank. The fight between these individuals takes place without there
having been any recourse to more sturdier weapons than thick round stones which they
throw at each other, but which have already caused some victims, stretched out on the floor;
a number of men have been hanged. In addition to the group which is struggling, a man
seems to be disguished as a monkey; his body is painted black; he is threatening with a knife.
although

in a very

On

both sides of this scene there are a number of personages, richly attired with a long,
smooth headgear which terminates in feathers (similar to that of a figure in a stele in Uxmal);
a mask out of the mouth of which a serpent is emerging; many adornments and protective

bands on the arms and legs. It is not known precisely what relation there is between these
lords and those in the fight among the mazehualoob, but in the scene on the opposite wall
two sacrificers, painted in black and each one armed with knives, are getting ready to immolate two individuals of high rank who are lying on the floor. As a hypothesis one could
accept that the historic event which

it

was desired to commemorate was not,

as in

Bonam-

pak, the uprising of the peasants against the rulers, but rather that of the batabes of Mulchic

Uxmal. The lords of both places did not take part in the combat,
but the leaders of the rebellion which had been unsuccessful were sacrificed.
Once again we are in front of a painting which relates a historic happening of such
importance that it was considered necessary to have it made known to posterity, probably
as an example for preventing its recurrence. With much more modest means than those that
the artists of Bonampak had used, the painter of Mulchic created a composition which
transmits the dramatic impact of an event in the history of a small center, whose governors
had apparently wanted to oppose, in vain, the domination of the metropolis on which the
center depended.
against the governors of

Chichen

Itza

For Yucatan the passing from the classical to the postclassical period meant the substitution of the ruling Mayan class by foreign governors who were the bearers of the Toltec
culture with which we became acquainted in Tula (state of Hidalgo', the old Tollan accord-

imposed
which was

ing to the historical sources. In addition to their political domination, the invaders

new

beliefs

and

deities, different artistic concepts, distinct

techniques,

all

of

fused with the ideas, customs and practises of the Mayas. Such changes are reflected

in

the

we have already found them

in architecture and sculpture.

With the exception of some few vestiges discovered in the building of Las Monjas
("The Nuns"), all the other murals correspond to the early postclassical period (from the
eleventh to the thirteenth centuries), and consequently clearly reveal their Toltec relationship through more than mere details as the mastery which the composition of certain scenes
show. However, the technical ability leads us to suspect that in many of these paintings the

paintings just as

were present. We shall refer later to the principal

murals found in these two structures superposed on the Temple of the Warriors and on the
Temple of the Tigers which form part of a unit in the Juego de Pelota ("Ball-Game-Field"
The name, the Temple of Chacmool, was affixed to the structure discovered below

hand

as well as the brush of

Mayan

artists

the

Temple of the Warriors. The

paintings, which had retained their brilliant color, were

24"

discovered among loose stones coming out of the walls that had caved in; the original
arrangement of them could be determined in part, and thus the stones were individually
copied and the scenes integrated therein were reconstructed. They formed part of the coating of some benches placed near the walls and which surrounded an altar, They represent
two types of personages, and the greater number of them are looking at this altar. Fourteen
at the southern side, possibly priests, are seated on benches covered with jaguar skins; their
clothing is luxurious and consists of smooth headdresses elaborated with panaches, of
feathers, some with masks from the mouths of which serpents emerge; and long skirts, some
with short capes; they are carrying shields, serpentine scepters and are presenting offerings
laden on plates. Those on the opposite benches are warriors, armed with darts and shields;
they are seated and can be seen in profile on thrones in the form of jaguars represented
from the front. Warriors and priests are physically characterized by their features which are
definitely not Mayan.
Now we are going to talk about the Temple of the Warriors, a superposed building
which a little later was called the Temple of Chacmool. The stones found in the rubble were
from the walls and their paintings had remained intact. From the various units, narrative and
historic contents could be reconstructed. The elements recovered from the western wing of
the wall, which divides the temple into two rooms, integrate two contiguous scenes in its
northern half with a third on a lower band which present the following motifs: a) an aquatic
surface is surrounded by a mottled fascia on which a loader is walking and several warriors
are fighting all of them have their bodies painted in horizontal reddish stripes; a temple and
a canoe probably occupied by a warrior; b) the huts of a village and a temple are being attacked by warriors who also have stripped lines on their body; c) a number of stripped
f)risoners are marching in single file, with their body also painted in stripes, their arms tied,
ed by their captors; the warriors are painted in black; a plumed serpent with its head raised
on the lower band. In the eastern wing of the same central mural in the southern section,
that is, inside the sanctuary, painted stones comprise a scene horizontally divided into two
parts, although they form only one single thematic unit. It deals with real events which are
related in a form harmoniously conceived and executed: below is the sea on which several
canoes are sailing, each one of which is transporting two warriors whose bodies are painted
in a dark coffee color and who are carrying darts, atlatl and shields, weapons which are
typical of the Toltecans; the oarsman's body is of a light color; the upper part represents a
village set up on the shore of the sea in which the inhabitants work; the roofs out of palm
leaves are in flames on a number of huts, as well as a temple constructed from palms out of
which a plumed serpent is emerging. These fragments belonged to a vast surface of painted
walls and the theme is related to the conquest of the northern part of Yucatan by the Toltecans. On the opposite side of the same wall, many loose stones represent a human sacrifice
in which a man with a light skin, held down by two individuals painted black, is about to
receive the blow which will split his chest, the blow is given by a nacom, also with a black
body, as his two confederates; the victim is lying on top of a plumed serpent that is apparently undulating, and this is used as the sacrificial stone. On the outer northern incline
of the same building one could note a procession of lean human figures, carrying knives,
decapitated heads and a burning brazier.
The small temple has been called the Temple of the Tigers; it is raised above the
eastern platform of the Juego de Pelota, with the representation of a procession of jaguars
appearing as the decoration on the facade. It consists of two rooms; the interior one was apparently completely painted. A number of scenes have survived in situ, but unfortunately
very damaged. The best conserved and most well known depicts a battle in which there are
more than one hundred taking part. In the upper part, a Mayan village with its working
populace seems to be cornered between a small group of warriors and the battle contingents.
Although on a small scale, this is a conglomeration of many combatants, armed with lances,
darts, atlatl, and shields. A great variety of attitudes express the confusion of the struggle;
lances which cross one another, etc., but all has been composed in a dynamic rhythm. In

248

another section of the same room a scene depicts a human sacrifice in which the nacom
cuts open the chest of the victim who is extended over a stone, while being held down
by arms and legs; groups of warriors are present at this ritual act; some, painted black, are
dancing around a prisoner. On another wall one can see a large canoe, painted red, carrying
a group of warriors.
In their greater part these paintings are of a narrative form and commemorate the
conquest of the north of the peninsula, especially of Chichen Itza by the Toltec military;
some are of a religious-symbolic content in which death or sacrifice are clearly perceptible.
The artists, Toltecans or Mayas, endeavored to fulfill the purpose of emphasizing the glorification of the military class while leaving for posterity the review of their exploits. With
a great economy of lines they limited themselves to the essentials, so that the different
groups in battle could be identified without going into details about their clothes and
adornments. In this way the artists succeeded in fulfilling their commision, principally as
for the battle scenes which are impregnated with the movement of a real war clash.
Santa Rita

Towards the end of the past century a number of mounds were discovered near Corozal, Belize. In one of them there was a building in which the outer walls had conserved
paintings that were copied, but shortly afterwards they disappeared. The murals of Santa
Rita transport us to a pictorial world completely different from that which we have dealt
with till now. Here no attempt was made to perpetuate a historic event for the glory of
its perpetrators, but rather to allude to a mythical world exactly as we have found also in
many pre-Hispanic codices. Under a symbolical celestial fascia, very similar to that of the
Mixtecan codices, a series of personages in a complicated form of attire are walking on top
of a terrestrial band, quite conventional, decorated with arrows, knives for sacrifice, and
flames. All of them are wearing helmets from animals, masks, and superposed garments of
clothing. These individuals are achieving acts which, only with difficulty, could be inter-

preted as part of a real, historic context. They are probably deities who are taking part in
the procession, some joined by a cord, others seated and engaging in a conversation; the
bodies and faces of all of them are painted. The most understandable scene combines two

drum decorated with

human

which ought to be singing,

judging by the double flow of dashes for the words which come out- of its mouths. On top
of the drum there is a solar disk with triangular rays, stellar eyes and the head of a reptile,
very similar to that known from the Mexican or Mixtecan codices. The one who is playing
the drum seems to be wearing a skull as a mask, and a smooth headgear which terminates
in a panache and serpent; his torso is not visible, as occurs with the greater part of the
figures, in view of the tremendous weight of the clothing, appurtenances and adornments.
The other individual, with a headdress consisting of an animal and a panache, and a very
complex attire, is offering the heads of two who had been decapitated to the macabre drum
or the drummer. Calendaric Mayan hieroglyphics accompany these representations in which
the sign Ahau predominates, joined to numerals which consist ot points and bars.
The paintings of Santa Rita, of a mythical-religious contents, were executed during the
late postclassical period in a style very similar to that of the Mixtecan codices and that of
the Borgia Codex, as are the paintings of Mitla which are also Mixtecan. For the artist the
human bodies lacked any importance; the emphasis had to be placed on the attire, the appurtenances, the facial decoration, that is, on all the elements which were used to characterize the deities. The movement which attempts to animate them is ungraceful.
individuals, separated

by

skull

Tulum

A number

have preserved elements of the paintings which

of their facades and their walls on the inside. We are
going to refer here to the murals of the temples called of the Dios Descendente ("God
Descending"), of Los Frescos and of The Castle. Once again we find ourselves in front ot
of buildings

had originally covered

in this locality

a great part

249

mythological-religious themes, expressed as in Santa Rita in a style very similar to that of

The motifs comprise small scenes having from only one up to three participants,
among whom a goddess of vegetation and the God of Rain predominates. In addition
to that, there is an ancient deity who can be Itzamnd. A goddess is grinding something with
a metate; a priest is wearing a mask from turquoise and nacre, a headdress decorated with a

gtyphic inscriptions; the relief

the codices.
deities

on one arm

bag for resin, and in a container which terminates with the head of a turkey he is presenting an offering. The many representations of offerings which are from maize
dough and other vegetable matter complete the scenes; there are also such animals as the
lizard, serpent and fish; celestial or marin fascias. The central theme seems to be that of
the dependence of vegetation on the rain, and the allusion to the necessary rituals for the
purpose of assuring good harvests. The scenes are delimited between horizontal bands which
shell,

The figures are less rigid and less overloadThe colors that were used were white, black,

intercross the vertical ones, forming small frames.

ed with attachments than those in Santa Rita.

turquoise, blue, and very rarely, red.

The murals of Tulum correspond

to the late postclassical period (from the thirteenth

end of the fifteenth centuries A.D.). There are authentic reproductions of the pages
from the codices, on the walls. They show marked foreign influences Toltec, Mexican
and Mixtecan; however, they are closer to the Mayan representations than to those of the
cultures mentioned.
to the

250

was
p

grave-stone

with

technique

hiero-

handled

CERAMICS
Generalities

When

a people

become

agriculturists,

they need some receptacles for cooking the

vegetable products, of which the hunter-collector was able to do without as far as the pre-

paration of his food was concerned. Besides, they have leisure time to dispose of which he

can utilize for making implements which are useful to him.

all

latitudes agriculture, the sedentary

way of life, and

It is

not by mere chance that

in

the fabrication of objects from baked

were precisely developed simultaneously. Among such objects the greater part is of an
nature and serves for cooking grains or vegetables; for conserving liquids; for
serving foods, etc. The forms of the containers are in themselves functional and are very
similar in all parts of the world, since they meet identical needs and are made from the same
materials. They consist principally of pots, tumblers, earthen bowls and plates with a variety
of designs, proportions and sizes. Apart from the use of ceramics for domestic purposes,
receptacles of better quality, finish and presentation, were elaborated for its use as offerings
clay,

utilitarian

in certain rituals,

such as the dedication or inauguration of a building, the veneration of

posthumous gift to the deceased.

on the whole, used to make use of the local clay although its lack in
some regions naturally obligated them to import it. To reduce the excessive plasticity of
the clay and to avoid its shrinking during cooking, particles for removing grease were added
which could be of mineral origin (as sand, fragments of volcanic rock, quartz, calcite, mica
or volcanic dust), of vegetable origin (such as very small seeds and fibers), or from animal
matter (such as shells, more or less pulverized). The Mayan artisans did not have the lathe
which was utilized in other cultures, although it is feasible that they did make use, as is still
the case among some of the peoples of Mexico, of two plates placed and joined by a convex
bottom, making the superior spin over the inferior one in an inverted position, thereby
obtaining a very rudimentary form of lathe. The ancient ovens from pottery must have been
similar to those which are still used in many regions.
deities or priests, the

Mayan

potters,

Technical and

stylistic

development

The study of ceramics through the centuries shows a logical development, that is, from
simplest forms and the most elementary decorative techniques of the lower preclassical

the

period, up to the greater variety in designs, finish,

classical period. In the

common

forms

and ornamental motifs of the

late

course of the preclassical period (from 1500 B.C. to 150 A.D.), the

are: globular pots

with or without a neck, simple or tripod; earthen bowls

with diverging sides; deep plates with diverging sides or with the edge turned upside down.

The

pieces are covered with a layer of slip obtained

from the same clay which had been

i.e., grey, black, cream, orange or red. Where

any decoration it is generally executed over the fresh clay before the baking, with
the pressure from cloth or textile, cord, and the stamp of a rocking chair; scrapped with a
shell; an incision with the nail or the point of an object; carved; the application of the
pastillaje (modeling technique). The motifs are in accordance with the material with which
the pressure or the incision is made, or they form parallel lines or intercrossed ones. Following this period, that is, during the protoclassical (from 1 50 to 300 A.D.), sophisticated forms
appear, such as the tetrapod plate with mammiform supports and the bichrome decoration

melted; these pieces are monochromatic,

there

(red

is

on yellow or orange), with simple geometric motifs (frets) or stylized animals.

In the course of the early classical period (from 300 to 600 A.D.), ceramics came under

the strong influence of Teotihuacan, principally in the meridional area but also in the central,
in

the form of cylindrical, tripod tumblers, from

smooth or plane bases and frequently

251

**V

Ceramic

objects

were made

provided with

round cover. Very characteristic of

this period

is

the element

which has been

not only to meet the domestic

designated "basal molding", the thickening of the side of the plates on their lower part,

needs but also for utilization

which stands out

as offerings in certain rituals.

To

the

left, a

beautiful

Mayan

from terra cotta which

comes from Jaina, Campeche
(The National Museum of
Anthropology). Above, to the
figure

left,

a cylindrical glass

broken
part.

To

band

in

with a

upper
zoomor-

phic receptacles (The National

Museum of Anthropology).

an angle. The decoration can be carved or painted, before or after the

baking, prcferrably with red and black on orange, also making use of such colors as cream,
coffee, beige, pink, grey and green.
stripes, triangles,

The decorative motifs are generally geometric (that

curved and undulating

lines),

is.

of a symbolic nature, implying serpents and

other stylized animals.

The

late classical period

(from 600 to 900 A.D.)

is

characterized in ceramics, just as

in

the other artistic expressions, by an extraordinary richness and variety in technique and

the

the right, a

at

Among

we

mention the following: a large shallow

pan with handles, jugs, plates without a base or tripods; earthen bowls with vertical sides.
divergent or convergent; cylindrical tumblers with tall sides, lightly convex or concave, of
an ovoid shape with a stem; tire-pans or urns with overabundant molded ornamentation. The
decoration runs the gamut for all the possibilities to which clay is adaptable: incision, engraving, impression, modeling, pastillaje, painting. We can add such colors as purple, blue,
yellow and flesh to those which we mentioned before for the earlier period. The motifs are
extremely varied and comprise geometric symbols, strias or parallel bands, points, disks,
stylistics.

the main forms of containers

will

hieroglyphics, animals, vegetables, deities, personages of different hierarchic ranks organized

in civil

or religious scenes.

The

figures can be ingeniously stylized or very naturalistic, the

scenes attained with a great deal of realism. Painted plates and tumblers are encountered
the entire

Mayan

area. Aesthetically speaking, the

most outstanding among

the

in

most valuable

number of locales in the Highlands of Guatemala: Kaminaljuyu (very Teotihuacanian), Chama, Nebaj, Ratinlixul, Chipal, Huehuetenango and Zaculeu. Among the principal
painted scenes we can recall the following: priests sacrificing themselves; the ritual in the
are

from

deer hunt; personages receiving offerings; the bat deity associated with hieroglyphics; an

important personage receiving vassals; a wealthy merchant being carried on a portable

form; hunters lying

In its first

in

ambush, etcetera.

phase (from 1000 to 1250 A.C.), the postclassical period

influences from invaders, the bearers of the Toltec culture, to Yucatan.

diffused

in

plat-

that period appear, although very

few are

common

is

marked by the

Many

ceramics very

to Tula: the so-called fine

orange -colored ceramics designated "X", and the "lead-colored" or of a metallic sheen one.

The

first seems to have originated on the Gulf Coast and the second in the Highlands of
Guatemala. The forms which correspond to the orange-colored ceramics are in the main the
tall cylindrical tumblers (the pot for chocolate) with the base for a pedestal; the plate,
earthen bowl and pot are tripods which sometimes have stands. Their decoration can be
painted in black with geometric or zoomorphic motifs; engraved or cut with floral elements

and volutes; or with the application of a molded element such as human or animal head. The
most common forms of the leaden ceramics are small pitchers, tripod earthen bowls and
zoomorphic containers. This is especially typical of Chichen Itza.
The last phase of the postclassical period (from 1250 to 1541 A.D.), shows a period of
technical and stylistic decline in ceramics, the Toltec influence and a return to specific
Mayan forms. In Mayapan, Tulum and Champoton the greater part of the ceramics encountered belongs to this period. Apart from some classical forms (such as the plate, the earthen
bowl, or tumbler without support or tripod, with or without the basal molding), and others

from the period of the Toltec influence (such as the jug or pyriform, cylindrical or ovoid
tumbler with a ring-shaped base or pedestal); the main forms are the following: large deep
shallow pans and high tumblers with handles; containers with effigies for handles, generally
of animals; abundant plates or tripod earthen bowls with anthropomorphic or zoomorphic
censers which may be cylindrical or globular over a tall, bellform of a sandglass, anthropomorphics in which the figure can be affixed
to the receptacle, seated on top of the cover which would cover it, or constituting itself a
hollow sculpture; effigy containers which comprise small simple or tripod glasses or tumblers
with masks of deities, or in the form of animals (turtles, birds and jaguars), up to huge
urns with an affixed figure in a round shape. The decoration can be monochromatic, black
over greyish or whitish clay, determining points and vertical sproutings or geometric elements, but the technique most used is the application by pastillaje of shots of clay with
finger prints, or produced by the extremity of a tube; small disks, little balls or cones.
Figures with a round form making up part of the fire-pans and urns, or independent, and
with articulate limbs, all of them polychrome, constitute the most characteristic of the
ceramics of this last period. The motifs represented are in the main that of deities, as much
Mayan (Chaac, Itzamna) as Mexican (Tlaloc, Ehecatl, Xipe-Totec, descending god).The clay
is coarse, of a thick grain and badly baked; the surface is barely or badly polished; the style
of the figures is realistic although the execution is frequently coarse and never attains the
level of perfection which we know, for example, in the containers with modeled decoration
of the late classical period which were discovered in Palenque, Teapa and Tapijulapa.
stands; quite a

shaped base

number of

in the

Figurines
In the

300

area from the lower and middle preclassical period (that

is,

from 1500 to

were manufactured from clay, but they were coarsely executed; their
features were obtained by means of modeling, incision, perforation and pastillaje, all

B.C.), figurines

facial

254

Mayan

Another artistic work in

which the Mayas expressed
their sensibility was in the
cutting and polishing of stone.
A huge mask of Chaac in the
form of a glass cut from
alabaster (The National Museum of Anthropology).

255

of which coincide with that of the other Mesoamerican cultures. Although stylistically different, the figurines of La Victoria are unquestionably related to the aforementioned
culture in technique, crudeness and finality. Their use had to be associated with an elementary phase of development of the beliefs, when those of a magical nature predominated in
order to explain the natural phenomena and in which worship was not institutionalized,
having been limited to a familiar standard and carried out in the intimacy of the home, in
the fields of cultivation and in the course of interments. As a people that had just gotten
started on farm production, the Mayas associated in a primary form the fertility of the
earth with the fecundity of woman. From then on the immense number of figurines may be
generally feminine and may be encountered in the corn fields, traces or remains of habitation, and burial places. Their disappearance in the course of the higher preclassical period,
their complete absence apparently during the early classical period, imply most assuredly
important changes in the process of the integration with the religion. Animistic beliefs in
natural forces were converted into a complete theological system which united many deities,
for the purpose of which the ceremonial centers were constructed and whose rituals were
directed by a specialized clergy.

The reappearance of the figurines

Mayan society had experienced

that the

in the late classical period

shows us the evolution

The figurines do

since the lower preclassical period.

not reproduce the elementary concept of magic any more, which customarily associated
woman with the earth and the human process of reproduction with vegetable germination.
The social structure had thus developed in the sense of an increasing complexity, and in a
stratification of the groups which comprise it; the clay figurines reflect this process in the
social aspect and in the beliefs. When reference is made to the natural forces, they reproduce
the conventional image of the deity or add some attribute which symbolizes it. The great
number of female figurines made in molds, reproducing one and the same attitude (the
hands raised) and the same vestuary, has to allude to the goddess Ixchel, the patroness of
procreation, gestation and parturition, as also of medicine; the mask of Tlaloc as a breastplate or ornament for the attire is obviously related to the God of Rain which, in its imported version, brought to the Mayan area from the Mexican altiplano, by way of the Atlantic
Coast; the huge eyes of some figurines identify the solar god, while the skull of some identify the

god of death.

But the greater part of the figurines do not try to refer to religious concepts or to
human beings of distinct social levels, vital activities and physical characterThe
men represented can be important hierarchs who are standing, or seated on their
istics.
thrones; priests, warriors, disguished dancers, ball-players, owls-men, old men, young men,
fat men, dwarfs, hunchbacked men deformed by hereditary defects or diseases. The women
are important ladies: pirestesses, old and mature; young dressed in clothes to fit them,
weavers with their loom; they can be accompanied by a tiger or a child, carrying astride a
man who holds on to their breast, or they can be seated near an old man leaning on their
leg or obviously engaging in an erotic dialogue. There are also figurines of such animals as
deities but to

the jaguar, the dog, the

monkey,

the deer, the bird, the turtle, etcetera.

The figurines can be modeled, molded or of a mixed technique, that is, the body is
modeled and the head molded, or else they can have adornments and other details applied.
They would probably all be polychrome. A number of pieces are hollow and were used as
timbrels or whistles; some are flutes. In the modeled pieces the anatomic proportions and
facial features are very realistic; in the molded ones the size of the head is very exaggerated
and the features more conventional. Many of the modeled figurines seem to indicate an attempt at individualization and the intention to be genuine portraits, although perhaps
somewhat idealized. The torsos and lower limbs are generally treated carelessly; the head
was striving to achieve to the greatest perfection.
Almost all of the figurines were found in tombs; they are known mainly from the
Island of Jaina, from the ceremonial centers of Peten, Copan, Palenque, Jonuta, Kaminaljuyu

256

With

most

the

elementary

instruments the Mayas were

able

to

objects,

make thousands of
the

greater part

of

which were intended to complete the attire of important

personages or to serve as offerings

in

the

burials.

The

Disk of Gold with the small

stone plaques which are
here,

reveal

attained
art

of

by

the
the

Mayas

lapidary

shown

perfection
in the

(National

Museum of Anthropology).

and La Victoria. The presence of the representations ot the goddess Ixchel on the tombs
would probably symbolize a future rebirth; the portraits would be associated with the
individuals to whom they had been entrusted; furthermore, there would exist a collection
of samples of different types from which the relatives would select the most adequate for
their deceased.

Apart from the funeral function, the figurines would be venerated at family altars and
would be used for some rituals in the temples to judge from the fact that close to a thous-

and small heads and fragments of torsos, limbs and some complete pieces were found at
the foot of the Pyramid of the Inscriptions in Palenque, in its posterior facade, probably
cast from the temple after some ceremony.

257

THE ART OF CUTTING AND POLISHING PRECIOUS STONES

which
the Olmecan culture is attributed were already lapidaries, as the findings carried out in La
Venta disclose, which correspond to the middle preclassical period (from 800 to 300 B.C.).
Jade scientifically jadeite is a very hard material which was worked with very rudimentary techniques, in as much as the appearance of the metal in Mesoamerica was very
late (around the twelfth or thirteenth century A.D.). Without discarding the possible use of
very hard stones, it seems that the tools that the Mayas had utilized were principally from
wood (hammers, drills, knives); from bone (drills); from cords and fibers of henequen (saws).
Such tools were used for breaking, cutting, engraving and perforating; they were duly covered with abrasives (sand, dust from hard rocks or even jade itself) and glued together with
some vegetable gum. With the points from obsidian it was possible to make fine lines and to
obtain light incisions; polishing would be executed by means of jade or another hard stone
or else from hide to which some abrasive would be adhered.
With these elementary tools the Mayas made thousands of engraved objects in bas- and
high-relief, and in round shapes. The greater part of them were intended for complementing
the attire of important personages, or served as offerings which used to be buried in buildings, in tombs or in other places such as the cenotes of Yucatan, where it was believed that
the deities used to dwell. The pieces which entered into the composition of the adornments
for the hierarchs comprised diadems made from disks; small tubular pieces for separating
the hair into locks; earguards formed out of various elements; nose rings and rings worn
on the lower lip; necklaces, bracelets, rings, breastplates, adornments on the ceremonial belt
and short capes; spherical, cylindrical and tubular beads in the form of flowers and fruits;
masks made up like a mosaic; small heads and figurines. The motifs represented can be geoCenturies before the Mayas had fabricated their

first

pieces of jade, the groups to

metric, floral, animal (serpent, jaguar, turtle, bird, etc.),

profile.

The engraved

personages engaged

The main

in

plates,

human

figures in full face or in

used as breastplates, reproduced scenes with a number of

dialogue or carrying out a sacrifice.

which pieces of jade were found are Kaminaljuyu and Nebaj in

the Highlands of Guatemala; Uaxactun and Tikal in Peten; Copan in the region of Motagua;
Palenque, Jaina and particularly in the sacred cenote of Chichen Itza. In this last place
thousands of objects were recuperated and studied; they comprise pieces from the early
classical to the postclassical period which are recognizable by their themes and styles, and
were made during the Toltec occupation.
Besides jade, the lapidaries used to include fragments of shell and pyrite in the mosaics,
localities in

as well as turquoise

breastplates

during the post classical period, or they used to fabricate such objects as

from these materials.

THE ART OF EMBROIDERING WITH FEATHERS

What

sculpture, painting and the art of cutting and polishing stones offer in the pre-

sentations of important personages

obviously used to occupy the very

The working with

among

the ancient Mayas, the objects

first place, perhaps even of

still

made from

feathers

greater importance than

mention with admiration was

above all used to enhance the attire, but it was not limited to that only. As part of the dress
the feathers constituted primordially the headdress, whether it would be of only one large
feather, or if it were a colorful panache, or served as a way of finishing a turban or a complicated arrangement of some kind. We also see impressive panaches which resemble enormous
wings on the backs of the lords or dancers. Small feathers were used to make small capes,
those of jade.

258

feathers which the chroniclers

Little
istic

evidence exists of

art-

work which was done

with

through

However,
and

plumage.
the

paintings

sculpture, as in this case,

we

have had the opportunity to

become acquainted with

the

quality and beauty of this art

and to appreciate

it.

fringes

and

tasels.

Shields were lined with feathers, and lances as well as scepters were decor-

ated in this fashion. Fans, sunshades and canopies for the thrones of the chiefs were also

made from

feathers.

The

or glued with paste on

The abundance and

cient

feathers were interwoven with cotton cloths, were

wooden

great variety of birds, both terrestrial and aquatic, supplied suffi-

raw material not only

ation to other peoples

sewed on them,

or wicker frames.

who

for the necessities ot the

Mayan

aristocracy but also lor export-

lacked the more showy leathers. The most esteemed was that of

the quetzal, especially the feathers from the

tail

which, together with jade, were consider-

ed the most precious by the Mesoamerican peoples. Other feathers much sought after for
their vivid colors were those of parrots, macaws and large parrots; those of the turkey and
pheasant for their

brilliant iridescent colors

and

their tonal ciMnbin.it ions

and those ol the

doves for their delicateness.

!59

GOLD OR SILVER WORKS

We

are devoting a part of this chapter

on Mayan

fabricated from metals were discovered in the

Mayan

art to gold or silver

works, since pieces

Mayas
were two legs from

area in spite of the fact that the

were not goldsmiths. The only objects found in a classical Mayan locale
tombac but, although they were in the wadding of earth in a box for offerings associated
with a stele showing the Mayan date which corresponds to the year 782 A.D., the metal legs
had been deposited much later. Other objects were encountered in the Highlands of Guatemala (Tajumulco and Nebaj) and
with ceramics

known

as

in the valley

of the Motagua River, near Quirigua, together

"leaden" which characterizes the epoch of the Toltec dispersion

at

the end of the tenth century A.D.

The

greater

number of metal

cenote of Chichen
is

Itza. In

objects found in the

Mayan

area

come from

the sacred

the main they consisted of pieces of gold, copper, tombac, which

an alloy of gold and copper, and gilded copper. The techniques utilized were hammering,

smelting in a mold, soldering, gilding, covering one metal with another, and repoussage.
objects

embraced smooth or embroidered gold

disks; coiled laminas

The

forming tubes which

were useful for covering the handles of fans, scepters, dart-throwers or other instruments;
sandals, earflaps, pendants, disks and rings, goblets, masks, innumerable cascabels which
were simple, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic or in imitation of coiled wires; human and
animal figurines. All the pieces rescued from the cenote and fabricated by melting are of
foreign origin, principally from Panama, Costa Rica, the Mexican altiplano and Mixtec area;
and in a lesser quantity from Guatemala and Honduras. The more ancient are not before the
end of the tenth century A.D., when the Toltec invaders arrived. Their presence in Chichen
Itza has to be attributed to commerce. Nevertheless, the gold respousse disks on which battle scenes and human sacrifices were represented, in which Mayas and Toltecs took part, the
latter always as conquerors or sacrificers, were probably manufactured in the very same
place, perhaps by Mayan craftsmen under Toltec guidance, and utilizing metal coming from
imported pieces but hammered and repoussed in Chichen. The glyphs, numerals and other
Mayan features which accompany the scenes would most likely have lost their significance
by then and would be used simply as ornaments.

MUSIC, SONG, DANCE,

We

have grouped these

together. However,

we

THEATER AND LITERATURE

artistic activities

shall treat

together because they were obviously linked

each one of them individually.

Music
Apart from the information of the chroniclers about the presence of musicians at ceremonies and parties, and about the instruments they played, we find in the painting, that is,
on murals, in codices and ceramics, the aesthetic confirmation of such data. The archaeology,
in its turn, has also disclosed the material existence

as

is

of

many of

the instruments although,

quite natural, those which were fabricated from perishable materials are lacking.

Among the percussion instruments we shall refer to the tunkul, a drum from hollow
wood with two reeds which was played horizontally; another drum was the pax which is not
described; with regard to the large

drum from hollow wood, almost always with

stands and

which was played when it had been set up in a vertical position, the Mexican huelhuetl, we
have not been able to find its corresponding name in Mayan. There were also clay kettledrums of a globular, cylindrical and truncated form, small or medium, simple or double,
portables or propped up on the floor; some similar to those which the present day Lacandons

260

drums or very small drums bore the skin of the

monkey as drum-heads. Timbrels are also known, which can be large gourds with a wooden
handle or hollow figurines from clay in the inside of which there were tiny seeds, little balls
of clay or tiny stones; in the late period there were cascabels from gold or copper. We can
also make mention of the turtle shells which were beaten with the horns of a deer, and
the fluted scrapers, generally from bone and in some special cases from stone. The drums
were played with the hands or utilizing a long stick at the end of which was attached a small
call

kayum, "the

rubber

singer god". All these

ball.

Among

wind instruments, we can recall the large trumpets of the frescoes of Bonampak which were made from some perishable materials such as wood, the bark of a tree,
or the ditch reed, and they had, at times, a calabash at their extremity to obtain greater
resonance; the trumpets from marine snails; the flutes made from the ditch reed, bone, or
clay, simple and with diverse holes, of two or more tubes as the so-called flutes of Pan which
were composed of five tubes; the clay whistles, anthropomorphic or zoomorphic which constitute a great part of the figurines and, finally, the ocarinas which produce two or more
sounds and which also customarily represent human or animal figures.
the

Singing

With or without musical accompaniment, singing used to form part of many religious
ceremonies. The chroniclers allude to the songs during the rituals which were celebrated
with the change of the year-bearers (the days on which the year began).
they also used to sing to the rhythm of the

drum

On certain

occasions

and old customs of ancient

Although without the music, the folk
songs to the Sun, to the unlucky days, to the god Kukulcan, to the katuns and tuns of the
calendar, to the flower as a symbol of feminine virginity, etc., have come down to us.
In every community, a functionary, the ah holpop, was the main singer or the one who
used to teach music and singing; he was also in charge of taking care of the musical instruments and he directed the popol-na, the communal house where many activities for entertaining the people were celebrated.
history" which were written in

some of

"their fables

their codices.

Dancing
Music and singing used to accompany the dances. Important days of the calendar were
the ones that marked the beginning of their year of 365 days, and those days the bearerscould not exceed four {Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac, in Yucatan at the time of the Spanish
conquest). According to what day
the deity

who was

it

was, the nature of the dances was changed as also

the patroness, but the ritual itself

was not perceptibly

altered.

Among

the

dances connected with these ceremonies we can mention that of the warriors (holan okot),
in which more than 800 men participated and which lasted one whole day; also another
dance in which the dancers were old women; the dance designated Xibablbaokot or the dance
of the devil in which, among other things, fire was set to a vast amount of logs of wood
and the participants used to pass, dancing, over the live coals of this wood; another type of

dance was that carried out while the dancers were immobile on high stilts.
During the month of Zip the hunters used to celebrate their occupation with a festivity
which
in
they danced a dance called okotuil; a dance also used to accompany the sacrifice
by dart throwing, and the song for this is included in the Cantares de Dzitbalche. The colomche was a game with dancing and music in which a dancer hurled darts at another who

dodge them with a stick. Dances associated with animals were also celebrated, probably of a symbolic-religious nature: the bird puhuy, the weasel cux, the armadillo iboy, the
centipede itztzul. Landa mentions a dance, the naual in which men and women used to take
tried to

261

part-generally only
as

men

or only

women

participated and which the chronicler considers

"not very respectable".

The

theater

Independently of representations by dances of a ritual nature, others had only one

single purpose: that of entertainment, although it is very probable that they also had some

The chroniclers were admired for being

some of them which Landa considered "very elegant" and the actors as "charlatans who perform with much grace and charm". The dictionaries of the seventeenth century
give different names to designate the actors, according to their role, names which correspond
to nobles, to elegant fellows, clowns and magicians. The ezyah, for example, made visionary
numbers. They used to present legends and ancient stories, as also true farces in which they
displayed their charm through jokes and gibes. The profane nature of these comedies is
ethical message, although not precisely religious.

present at

confirmed

which

were presented "for the recreation of the

people". Some representations apparently used to be extremely vulgar, in which the actors
used to exaggerate "grimaces and the swaying of the hips" to make everyone laugh.
Landa alludes to two platforms in Chichen Itza which we now call the Platforms of
Venus, and of Eagles and Jaguars which, according to the chronicler were "two small
theaters from ashlars with four stairways, tiled or paved above, on which they say they
used to represent the farces and comedies".
In the popol-na, a theatrical director, the ah cuch tzublal used to collaborate with the
one already referred to as the master singer, the ah hol-pop, in the preparation and direction
of the works. The liking for the theater continued among the Mayas as among all the other
Mesoamerican peoples until after the conquest, but then it came to be orientated principally
by the friars and, of course, for the sole purpose of catechizing.
The Diccionario de Motul mentions Mayan names of some one-act farces very popular
in the seventeenth century, the origin of which is probably pre-Hispanic. Their translation,
according to Barrera Vasquez would be as follows: The cascabel of heaven, The seller of wild
in the chronicles

assert that they

The seller of pots; He who sells chiles; He who sells gossip or dirty stories; He who
entrusts governs the High Jagged Mountain; The macaw with the white mouth, or of
dishonest business; The little boy with the white head; The cultivator of cocoa bean...
Among the scenic representations of a pre-Hispanic origin which survived through the
centuries and the censure of the colonial system, the Rabinal Achi occupies an important
place. It is a Quichean drama-ballet in which the exploits of a warrior are narrated: his
capture, trial and sacrifice. The work, which unfolds up to the complete fulfillment of the
destiny which a man brought about through his actions, follows a slow pace in which
the speeches are repetitive and excessively drawn out; but in spite of the monotonous
cadence the interest is maintained and, in addition, it increases up to the fatal end.
turkeys,

Literature

on Mayan literature as we were able to do with

all the other arts. The pre-Hispanic texts which we have been able to acquire (the codices
and the inscriptions) are written in hieroglyphics which have been only partly deciphered.
More than real literature, they seem to be the summary in brief, ideographic, and phonetic
notes of data which the priest needed to record for effecting the ceremonies, for obtaining
calendaric dates, for foreseeing eclipses and predicting favorable or unfavorable periods
of time.
What we know as literary Mayan texts are documents written in a number of Mayan
It is

difficult for us to set a true value

languages as a result of the Spanish conquest,

262

when cultured indigenous

individuals learned

from the friars how to write their own language using the Castilian alphabet. As a consequence of the moment in which they were edited, these texts contain European contexts
which are fused with their own ideas and relate facts in which those genuinely pre-Hispanic
are confused with those which the conquerors had shown them. However, eliminating in so
far as possible the European interpolations, these documents constitute the only testimonies
of a Mayan literature. At the beginning some, perhaps, were recorded in codices, but it is
more probable that they used to pass from one generation to the next by oral tradition,
until they were ultimately transcribed by the natives in the course of the colonial period.
In one of the first chapters, when we referred to the native sources, we said something
about the contents of the Libros de Chilam Balam (The Books of Chilam Balam), of the
Manuscrito de Chichicastenango (Popol Vuh) and the Memorial de Solold (Anales de los
Cackchiqueles) [The Cakchiquel Annals). Besides these important documents we are familiar
with the folksongs, the prayers, the prophecies and the spells which are undoubtedly a part
of the oral literature and which originate, in the main, from the Yucatecans, Lacandons,
Tzotzils, and the Quicheans.

Taken
al,

as a

whole, these texts have a very varied, religious, magical, prophetic, mythic-

esoteric, historical

and epic contents and, although

their elaboration did not have

literary purposes, they actually constitute a very valuable

the sensitiveness of the

As we stated

Mayas created

in the field

intellect

any
and

of literature.

in relation to the native sources

thought stands out which emanated from

example of what the

of this literature, the authentic, the true

mind which considers

that the fundamental

is

the

and not the ratiocination. Because of that it is difficult for us to

it seems even completely impenetrable; but what is certain is
that in addition to contributing important information about the history and culture of the
Mayas, it transports us to a world which we can well designate as poetic.
It is beyond doubt that art in Mayan society fulfilled the vital role corresponding to it.
In the ceremonial centers the people found, where the artistic expressions were, the confirmation of the existence and authority of an entire system of which it formed a part and
which functioned for the better well-being of all. The deities that used to assure the harvests,
used to avoid the dangers, used to placate the evil intentions of the harmful beings, used to
protect their existence and guarantee the survival of the community, were there, present in
the temples which displayed their effigies. An active communication between the populace
and the supernatural world was established through music, singing, oral literature, dancing and
theatrical presentations. The common people used to talk with the gods; danced in their
company or facing them; enjoyed their presence, and with this form of living together they
found greater peace of mind and hope, and were certain that all would continue the course
planned by the creators forever.
magical-religious concept

understand

But

it

and, at times,

if art fulfilled its spiritual

function for the great masses, at the same time

it

trans-

mitted to them the social and political message of their rulers. The created order was maintained by

means of those who were the representatives of the gods, and

it

was indispensable

to continue the norms that they had established, to respect their orders with the most

complete submission. Only

As

art in all its

whom they

in

this

way could

expressions materializes

represented, with

whom

they could influence in a good or

it,

the priests intervene in favor of the people.

the intermediaries were as powerful as the beings

they were

in

manner.

intimate and permanent contact and

whom

form the governors utilized art to

strengthen their domain and to assure the preservation of a regime of which they were the
immediate and most favored beneficiaries. Mayan art, a product of a theocratic society,
acted effectively for the better functioning of it and for its eternal, everlasting continuation.
evil

In this

263

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The

Cultural History of the

Ancient Mayas

General ideas

attempt to synthesize the cultural history of the ancient Mavas we have to reiterate what we affirmed in a previous chapter ("Socio-economic Characterization'of Mayan
Society"): that we consider that the course of the historic development of any people
In the

whatsoever

is

not due either to the desire of the people, nor to fatality or chance, nor to

the influences of ideas.

moment
The

history of the Mayas, at-

tested to

by multiple

expressions,

by

is

artistic

distinguished

their forceful personality.

Many studious people have

endeavored to separate that,
under the heading of peculiarfrom their universal
ities,
context, and simultaneously
presenting it as something
completely unique. However,
this is an idea which is far
removed from historic truth.
A partial view of the Cuadrangulo de las Monjas ("Quadrangle of the Nuns") in
Uxmal. The Mayas, through
their purity and beauty with
which they had invested their
architectonic forms, have been

regarded by some
Greeks of America.

as

the

On

the other hand, however, neither

do we deny that

in

any specific

forceful personality, unforeseen circumstances or ideological currents can ac-

celerate, detain or deviate

from such

very limited in the historic sense.

We

development during some period of time, generally

are convinced that the material forces are the ones

which determine the road of history, motivate the sprouting of ideas or are embodied

in

extraordinary beings, and, that these same forces, within a greater or lesser lapse, bring

about the return to the normal course after some deflection has been effected. These forces
are intimately grounded in the economic process, in the ecological frame within which they
work, in the degree of technological advancement, in the demographic growth, in the relations which are established between those in the production of goods with those in their
distribution, in the contradictions which these relations continue to create and in the solutions with which an attempt is made or the surmounting of such contradictions is attained.
It is obvious that the historical process does not imply either an unilinear direction nor
the step through obligatory stages, nor a synchronic occurrence on the universal plane, but
it does yield to an inherent dynamics of all of human society. We do not make any preten-

form whatsoever of pigeonholing the cultural history of the Mayas within

preconceived schemes or of explaining it regarding to the history of the ancient peoples
of the Old World. On the other hand, we also deny all validity for its segregation from
universal history in the name of peculiar aspects which their culture presents, as occurs in all
sions in any

civilizations.

With an infinity of variations, with differentiations of

levels

which,

in

terms ot time

265

human history is one sole history in its inception of evolucited, we have presented our general ideas with regard to this
the conclusion that Mayan society could be compared with

can signify centuries of millenia,

In the chapter already

tion.

problem, and have come to

those of other peoples of the Old World with which

it

shares a

number of

basic elements;

in addition to that and in spite of its peculiarities, it can still be considered as pertaining to
one and the same socio-economic model, based on the mode of tributary production, also
designated "Asiatic" since it had been developed in China, Cambodia, India, the Near East,
and in addition also in Egypt, Crete and Mycenae. But let us see now what was the precise
process of birth, integration, growth and decadence of this society.

Lower

preclassical period

In the

Mayan

area

(1500-800 B.C.)

some exceedingly few

places were discovered, and only

time, which presented lithic evidence of a pre-farming occupation; but

it is

from time

to

quite possible

and colby agriculture. The most ancient

vestiges of an agrarian culture in the Mayan area were found in the locality of La Victoria, a
Guatemaltecan village close to the Mexican border, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It
that during the lower preclassical, in a slow but progressive form, hunting, fishing

lection were perfected and, to

some

extent, were replaced

can be accepted that, as in La Victoria, the

sedentary peoples established themselves

first

precisely on the shore and margins of the rivers, in order to continue their secular activities
and to complement them with the cultivation of maize. Afterwards, little by little, in the
course of the seven centuries which are attributed to this period, the economic basis passed
from that essentially of hunting, fishing and collecting to another in which the production
of food was the primordial occupation.
The population was still quite low and the technology employed very rudimentary, as
nc see it reflected in the monochromic ceramics of its first phases, of simple, functional,
plain forms and with fine decorations (application of textiles, chords, and shells on the fresh
clay), and on their stone tools, mainly carved. Nevertheless, it had assured their survival and
development by tooking advantage of the marine richness and the fertility of the riparian
lands. It was a matter of a small community, self-sufficient, which functioned through a
simple organization of a family type, in which all the members collaborated in the work of
production and the goods were apportioned fairly. Their religion was animistic with simple
magic rites which brought security to the people, at least to the extent of their being able
to obtain the essential products. The crude feminine clay figurines, with which they used to
try to obtain the fertility of the land by associating it with the fecundity of the woman,
fulfilled an important role in their beliefs and practises. They also practised a simple worship
of the dead.

Middle preclassical period (800-300 B.C.)

It is

very likely that even without fundamental technological changes during the middle

preclassical period, the productive forces were,-

however, very manifestly increased through

On the one hand, the cultivation of

was augmented by the natural genetic improvement while being cultivated)
and of other plants (such as beans, squash and chile), became the principal means of sustenance through which the population was assured of constant and better alimentation. On the
other hand, the immense Mayan territory offered unlimited space for a population which
was growing, and for that reason this period is characterized by the beginning of a tremendous expansion, which embraced the part from the littoral of the Pacific up to the north of
the demographic growth and agricultural development.

maize

(its

yield

the Peninsula of Yucatan.

At the same time, the transformation of the

266

social structure

had

also

been

initiated.

The magic

rituals linked to the

popular beliefs came to be the exclusive fulfillment of a group

supposedly endowed with supernatural powers (magicians and sorcerers) who,

came

to be separated

from the process of the production of foods

little

by

themto less laborious, but more advantageous activities, as much for material benefits, which
they obtained from the credulity of the people, as through the prestige which their positions
afforded them. In the towns and villages which arose as a consequence of the demographic
growth and greater concentration of the inhabitants, a humble dwelling bigger than the
others, erected on a more elevated platform located in the center of the agglomeration, was
dedicated to the rituals which before were celebrated at home and in the corn-fields. In any
case they still continued to make the clay feminine figurines for magical purposes.
Around the middle of this period, influences from the Olmecan culture, coming from
the coast of the Atlantic Gulf and through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, penetrated the
Mayan area, extending as far as the littoral of the Pacific and the Highlands of Guatemala.
These influences probably affected the ruling class; foreign groups which brought new knowledge (as that of the calendar, the long count, the beginning of writing, the jaguar deity,
sculpture in the form of colossal heads), made themselves felt and they utilized this knowledge to strengthen their own domain; but the life of the Mayan people continued along the
same lines as before, producing for its own sustenance and for the group which led them,
without difference if that was the Olmecan in the meridional area (that is, Kaminaljuyu and
little,

to devote

self

the Pacific coast), or the

and

Tikal),

Upper

and

Mayan

in the central area (Altar

de Sacrificios, Seibal, Uaxactun

in the septentrional area (Dzibilchaltun).

preclassical period (300 B.C.

150 A.D.)

upper preclassical period, a great part of the Mayan territory was occupied by a
population which had increased considerably with a rhythm parallel to the increase in the
lands cultivated and the production of foods. We do not believe that in this way a marked
technologic progress was produced, but it is probable that with the same agricultural tools,
basically limited to the stick used for sowing, they would more than meet the needs of all.
The social differentiation begun in the previous period, stood out with the increase of
the population and the diversification of functions established to guarantee the communal
order, the organization of productive works, the distribution of food, the carrying out of
public works and the fulfillment of religious duties. A higher class, a remote desccndent
of the original guild of the sorcerers of the earlier centuries, had changed their role as a
simple intermediary between the people and the forces of nature, into that of an institutionalized minority with the function of dominating and exploiting, in addition to living at the
expense of the people who produced the surpluses.
The ceremonial centers, in their turn, remained well differentiated from the original
grouping of the humble dwellings within the community. For the buildings dedicated to
religious worship, instead of elevating them with a simple platform, pyramids were constructed, the result of the superposition of a number of platforms. These pyramids still
sustained the combination of the temples and modest dwellings, but they had already begun
to be richly adorned with huge masks of molded stucco. Blocks of stones, stele and altars
were raised in which not only the features of their gods appeared, but even of those who were
supposedly representing them, together with a writing which comprised numerals and
In the

calendaric signs.

During

marks

this

period large centers flourished such as Izapa, on the Pacific coast, which

a transition

between the

arrival

Monte Alto and

El Baul, also

of Olmecan elements and those which came to be

Mayan

Other localities, such as Abaj Takalik,

prospered on that same littoral; in this latter one, a stele with

integrated in the formation of the

culture.

267

the date of the year 36 A.D. is almost a Mayan stele with its human figure and the columns
of chronologic hieroglyphics. In the Highlands of Guatemala, the Miraflores phase of the

Kaminaljuyu represents a magnificent example of the development attained

by Mayan society. The remains of important personages were found in a number of tombs.
It was known that they had been interred with the richest offerings of jade and ceramics
and with their servants who had been sacrificed to provide company for them in the world
of the dead. In Peten, such places as Uaxactun and Tikal also experienced a tremendous
growth, and the builders had discovered the manner and means for obtaining mortar by
mixing lime, sand and water, with which they had begun to make walls from rubblework
and to produce stucco which was very useful to the artists for reproducing masks of their
deities. The famous pyramid, E-VII-sub of Uaxactun, was then constructed as well as
structures and tombs that were erected and painted in Tikal. In the north of Yucatan the
sites of Dzibilchaltun, Acanceh and Mani had already been occupied.
The presence, on the one hand, of the bas-reliefs of human figures luxuriously attired,
probably the images of the rulers, shows us something about the preponderance acquired by
them. The absence, on the other hand, of clay figures of the earlier periods reveals important changes in the spiritual concepts: in point of fact, the natural forces, which the sorcerers
were accustomed to control, had been transformed into deities for whom the priests requested offerings and demanded frequent rituals and ceremonies.

K5

great center of

Protoclassical period (150-300 A.D.)

In the period referred to as protoclassical, the existent conditions at the
earlier period

were established

still

further;

Mayan

culture was close to

its

end of the

crystallization,

completely differentiated from the other Mesoamerican cultures. In actuality, only quantitative

changes characterize

this

period

still

included, until only a few years ago, in the upper

These changes were as follows: a greater number of ceremonial centers

consequence of the demographic growth; a greater number of buildings constructed; a
more general use of rubblework and of stucco decorations; stele with hieroglyphic inscriptions: dates and images of leaders and the social stratification each time more pronounced.
However, a new type of ceramics appeared, decorated in polychrome and with more sophisticated forms (tetrapod mammalian plates). Some simple tombs were also thatched; simple
narrow ditches with a number of rows superposed with stone slabs, which were put closer
and closer until they closed the cavity; that was the beginning of the Mayan dome which
had just been discovered.
preclassical period.

as a

268

drawing by Tatiana Pros-

kouriakoff in which structure

of Piedras Negras, Guate-

mala, has been reconstructed,

corresponding to the
period.

classical

Early classical period (300-600 A.D.)

works published about the history of the Mayas, it is described in detail that the
moment in which its culture crystallizes, that is, the beginning of its classical period, is
stamped by the appearance of the first recorded dates on their monuments; by the construction of roofed buildings with the so-called Mayan dome and by the fabrication of a polychrome ceramics with some specific forms, among which the one that especially stands out
is the tripod plate with the basal molding (the Tzakol phase). Reading some of the authors
who are Mayan specialists, one gets the impression that the classical Mayan period constitutes a sudden budding, a miraculous phenomenon without antecedents. In actuality it is the
culmination of a long process which embraces many more elements than the three we have
mentioned as representative. Besides, with reference to these last ones, it is fitting to recall
that monuments with calendaric glyphs, numerals with points and bars, and dates of the long
count were already accomplished facts on the Atlantic and Pacific shores many centuries
before the most ancient stele, most definitely Mayan (number 29 of Tikal), dated 292 A.D.
We shall also remember that the form of roofing with the Mayan dome began on some
tombs centuries before it had appeared on the buildings of the classical period. Likewise,
ceramics painted in various colors are known from the preceding period.
In the

When we
ized

speak of the culmination, we believe that the

by only the supposed appearance of some few

of a technological, economic, social, political,

result

regard to the aspect of agricultural technology,

is

tion in

is

features, but rather that

religious

we do not

the realm of tools was achieved, in which the sowing stick

what

classical period

and

artistic

not characterthe logical

it is

development. With

tremendous progress in
continued to be the basic and,

feel that

more, the only instrument; but with reference to the building of terraces for cultivathe mountainous regions in order to conserve the rain-water and to avoid erosion,

or of irrigation canals derived from a natural deposit lakes, lagoons, springs, rivers or an
artificial

we

one the

ravine coated with clay, the rudimentary channel. In citing these

are referring to the Highlands of

Guatemala and Belize

works

with some

(terraces), associated

Champoton Rivers, and

Tabasco and Soconusco). In an effort
to attain a more intensive cultivation than that designated "grubbing", it was also possible to
reduce the time in which the lands were left fallow, provided of course that the earth would
respond favorably to this shortening.
rivers

of the lowlands (the canals

in

contact with the Candelaria and

with specific specialized cultivations such as cocoa

in

on the one hand, the technological advance is obvious and very important, although it did not contribute to the motivation for the goods production intended for
the consumption of the majority of the population, but rather, on the other hand, to divert
thousands of arms from the necessary production to complete sumptuous works for the
In other fields,

benefit of the ruling minority. That

is

the case of the utilization of the

dome

for roofing,

with which the construction of ceremonial centers received a strong impulse and stimulated
architects to build imposing and, at times, daring structures.

The same can be

said

about the

notable advances which sculpture, the modeling in stucco, painting, ceramics, lapidary, and
the art of embroidery with feathers reveal the results of which are
ison with the expressions of the previous period.

more evident

in

compar-

The elaboration of a perfected hieroglyphic

and mathematical knowledge, and the integration of a

much more complex and exact calendaric system than that of other peoples in the earlier
periods, all these intellectual attainments, coincide to provide us with a cultural picture of the
classical period that is so much more complete and advanced than that of the preclassical.

writing, the progress in astronomical

The economic development was determined, more than through technological advances
principally

by an authentic demographic explosion, the reflection of which

is

adjudged

in

269

In

the

the

protoclassical

existent

already

conditions had

marked

lization of

period

the

Mayan

crystal-

culture as

from the other Mesoof

american cultures. Stele
Izapa, Chiapas, which represents a personage standing on

distinct

the

top of the heads of a

serpent

270

and

also

on water.

number of new ceremonial centers, or in the extraordinary growth of those which

had already existed. The increase in population was relatively easy in view of the expansion
the great

had started in the earlier centuries, which still encountered such virgin and cultivatable
lands in the immensity of the Mayan area (approximately 400 000 square kilometers).
The commercial interchanges also contributed to the economic motivation, and these
were established or increased within the Mayan area as also with the peoples who were not
Mayas, in order to fulfill the needs of some regions lacking articles which others did produce,
such as salt which comes from the western and septentrional coast of Yucatan; obsidian and
other products of volcanic origin such as basalt and ashes from the Highlands of Guatemala;
cocoa bean from a number of coastal zones; cotton, tobacco, etc. However, aside from some
articles of prime need, a great part of the interchange was limited to luxury items (such as
jade, quetzal feathers, and marine shells) destined for adornments and ritual appurtenances
of the ruling minority. For that very reason we believe that in that period the commercial
factor would have fulfilled only a secondary role, which is, however, highly exaggerated by
some authors in dealing with the development of the productive forces.
The extraordinary increase in the ceremonial centers in number and importance; the
setting up of many stele in which the deeds in the life of the rulers are narrated within a
chronological frame of great precision; the richness in the polychrome or engraved ceramics;
the luxury with which the high personages were represented on the bas-reliefs and in some
that

paintings;

all

that contributes to the presentation for us of the classical

Mayan

society as a

which the power was in the hands of a small group accustomed

and exploit the majority of the population in the name of gods, that is, they were

solidly stratified structure in

to rule

an integrated theocracy.
It is possible that this theocracy was born from an earlier form of power, to which
Sanders and Price refer as the chiefdom, which could have been the type of government
in force since the middle of the preclassical period and, with still greater assurance, in the

This political structure would have

between the domestic organization of a community form, of
the lower preclassical, and a more complex system with views to a division into classes. In
it the relations of kinship inherited from the original clan would have prevailed, in the breast
from which they sprouted, then, with the increasing complexity of society, the predominance of some lineages would have been accentuated which, at the outset, carried out the
more important functions on the civil level (production and distribution of the products),
religious (acts of magic), and perhaps military (the defense against invaders). With the passing of time and with the increase in the population and their subsequent needs, these
lineages strengthened their privileged position until they imposed themselves as the rulers,
and through that their functional power was transformed into a political force and one of
economical exploitation.

upper preclassical

come

as well as in the protoclassical one.

to be a transition

Large centers in all the Mayan area flourished during tins period. In the south Kaminaljuyu, under a probable domination from Teotihuacan, experienced an exceptional height of
splendor (Esperanza phase); the rulers from outside constructed pyramids surfaced with an
incline and slab in the style of the great metropolis of the Mexican altiplano; interments
were made in covered tombs which had roofs of palm, inside the pyramids, accompanied
by rich offerings of jade, pearls, polychrome ceramics, etc., and by the victims who were
sacrificed to wait upon them in the world beyond. In the localities of the central area, as
Uaxactun and Tikal, the Mayan rulers built large units which consisted of pyramids, temples
and palaces, and erected stele and altars for being represented in them, luxuriously attired and with multitudinous ornaments. Mural paintings adorned their palaces and sepulchres.
Ceramics initiated the fabrication of new forms and original decorative motifs, or adopted
patterns from Teotihuacan, which had been imported originally from the meridional area.
The septentrional area, although to a lesser degree of intensity, followed a parallel development of which we have, as important testimonies thereof, traces in Dzibilchaltun, Oxkintok and Acanceh.

271

The region of

Late classical period (600-900 A.D.)

This period clearly indicates the apogee of
attained their

maximum

Mayan

culture.

The productive

forces thus

development. But we do not believe that such development would

it is highly likely that the methods of cultiva-

be attributable to technological progress, since

tion of the earlier period continued in full force, perhaps

to the

demographic growth which

in its

time reached

its

on a greater

scale

it

was attributed

culminating point, at least

in the

In those centuries the

Mayan

territory

had to be practically occupied

in all its

expanse,

in some regions. The exploitation of the land would have

making use of the technique of grubbing and, in suitable places, of some
hydraulic works; it is also probable that the rhythm of cultivation was strengthened, thereby
shortening the periods of rest for the soil. At that time the Mayas had to have recourse to all
the alimentary products within their reach, complementing their diet of maize and beans
with tubers, vegetables, and flour which could be obtained from the small fruits of the
browse, and with the fruits of the cohune palm; the same is applicable also to the products
from fishing and hunting, and the collecting of crustaceons, mollusks, reptiles, and every

even to the point of saturation

class

its limit,

of uncultivated

fruits.

The exploitation of nature was completed by the overexploitation of man. This period
is characterized by a real waste and mismanagement of productive forces: natural resources,
human energy, technical and scientific knowledge, and intellectual as well as artistic creative
capabilities.

The fluorescence of hundreds of ceremonial centers on the

Pacific coast, in the High-

lands of Chiapas and Guatemala, in the valley of Motagua, Peten, the basin of Usumacinta

whole Peninsula of Yucatan show us

the extraordinary aspects which the demographic growth must have resulted in, during the
and

its

tributaries, the gulf coast

of Mexico and

in the

late classical period.

The construction of thousands of

272

is

buildings, imposing pyramids,

and temples which

Peten, where

situated,

is

one of

the greatest ceremonial centers

of the central area and was a

participant in the extraordin-

ary demographic growth which

took place

during

classical period.

central area.

reached

Tikal

the

late

reached such a height as 70 meters; terraces which maintained buildings of several storeys;
palaces with many tens of rooms; indigenous altars; ball-game fields; observatories, sepulchers which came to be luxurious constructions such tremendous frenzy for building signified
a waste of time and forces similar to that by which the edification of the Egyptian pyramids
had originated, as well as the Babylonian ziggurats or the Khmer temples. These sumptuous
buildings, extravaganzas, were complemented by the worthwhile works of thousands of
artists who decorated the structures with reliefs and paintings, as well as of the innumer-

who

commerce. With diverse

materials, great capability, and the use of various techniques, the Mayas had created an art
which is probably, in many aspects, the most refined of the American Continent.
In order to attain all these achievements, the quality and quantity of which are amazing
when one takes into account the unduly low level of the technological resources, it was
able artisans

fabricated precious objects for the rulers and

indispensable for a powerful centralized organization to function for the control of

all

the

aspects of the life of the community which embraces production, distribution of foods and
other goods; activities which were not productive but only of a ceremonial nature: public
works; beliefs and fulfillment of religious obligations. Such an organization would be
achieved by means of governments of the regional theocratic or dual aristocracies civil and
religious powers separated within an essential unity), and the domination would be exercised through a complex bureaucracy, the ultimate ramifications of which would penetrate
even the most reduced populations as well as those from the governing centers. The production of surpluses ought to have covered the needs of the artisans, who used to work to
provide everything for commerce; the needs of all who used to work in the construction of
the ceremonial centers, as well as the needs of the warriors and of the civil and religious
v

hierarchy.

The

collapse of the central area

brilliant apogee of the Mayan civilization in the central area was to have a tragic
probably
end,
even violent; their causes have provoked endless controversial discussions and
hypotheses. Natural phenomena such as climatological changes or earthquakes have been
suggested. Nevertheless it is known that the central and septentrional areas were outside ot
the seismic region of Guatemala and Chiapas, and in so far as supposed catastrophic rains in
Peten are concerned, which would have impeded the burning of the fields and the consequential cultivation, these have not been able to be established, neither the supposed mass
migration of the population which would have been occasioned by that.
Other hypotheses are to the effect that plagues and epidemics, as for example, yellow
fever and malaria, affected the population in such a way that it was necessary to abandon
the lowlands of the south. The presence of these diseases in pre-Hispanic times is, however,
not confirmed, and, once again, we repeat that the depopulation of the central area has
also not confirmed.
The exhaustion of the earth through excessive use, during centuries, of the grubbing
system which would have converted lands originally favorable to agriculture into wide
treeless plains, has been persistently insisted on. This theory has also not been established
and the presence of wide treeless plains seems to correspond to certain types of earth; on
the other hand, in the wooded regions utilized tor cultivation, the forest does not tarry in
being reproduced when cultivation is interrupted, but without being replaced by desolate

The

plains.
It has further been suggested that it was due to an intellectual and artistic decadence,
caused, to a considerable extent, by the intrusion of "exotic" ideas, religious beliefs and
foreign concepts which the ruling elite would have adopted, while the peasants would have

reproved it, faithful to their divinities and traditional practises. The popular inconformity
would have been able to provoke genuine rebellion against the rulers, but ideologic changes
and spiritual disagreement of the masses do not generate social upheavals if material conditions which favor a violent change are not present.

273

huge mask from stucco of

the acropolis north of Tikal

in

Guatemalan

Peten.

The

of Mayan classical
society, manifested in the
abandonment of the large
centers, presents today one of

decline

the greatest mysteries of this

civilization.

274

The invasion of

cultural groups other than

ferent regions of the central area: Peten,

Mayan undoubtedly

did take place in dif-

Usumacinta and Palenque, but

their local

dominion

was, on the whole, not of long duration, and through that came the decline (except for

some exceptions), as in the places which did not have any knowledge of the invasions. However, we have no doubts about the fact that external pressure and, in some districts, the
irruption of groups culturally remote, and the momentaneous conquest of power by them
ought to have helped the disintegration of the Mayan civilization in the central area.
According to our judgment, the cause of the tragic end of this civilization has to be
looked for in the contradiction inherent in Mayan society, in the antagonisms of origin which
the existent relations between its members presented, according to their position within the
process of the creating and distributing of goods, in a word, in the characteristic mode of
production which customarily sustained the social organism.
In attempting to explain the Mayan decline in the central area two facts have to be
taken into account:

were coming to an
end, that is, the construction of ceremonial centers and the building of pyramids, temples,
palaces, ball-game fields and the remaining structures dedicated to ritual or residential purposes; the erection of stele and other monuments with calendaric records, hieroglyphic
a)

In the course

of the ninth century of our era cultural

activities

and the representations of important personages and, at the same time, the
fabrication of decorated ceramics and jade objects also ceased. In short, everything referring
to priestly activities and to the needs of the ruling class came to an end.
b) The common populace continued to live in sections of the central area, occupying,

inscriptions

as in Palenque, the

native population
ly

ceremonial buildings or the environs.

was

groupped together

still

very important in a

in specific districts, as

When

number of regions.

Thompson

the Spaniards arrived, the

It

could have been dense-

affirms, while conserving a political

organization that was centralized and imperious (as that of Potonchan and the coast of

Tabasco, Nito, Naco and the zones adjacent to the Gulf of Honduras, Chetumal and the
neighboring

province of Copan, the Alcalan-Tixchel area, Tayasal and the banks

on the other hand, the population could be dispersed in small towns
with a simple organization on a communal level and without more

localities, the

of Lake Peten-Itza),

or,

or independent villages

than modest dwellings, but somewhat larger than the huts, dedicated to religious worship

(as

Mopan, north of Peten, Belize and Lacandon regions).

On the basis of the two facts to which we have just referred, it is only possible to
deduce one other alternative: the disappearance of the Mayan ruling class or its substitution
by foreign chiefs. When the ruling Mayan class disappeared, the people of the towns occupied
the ceremonial centers which extended up the jungle which had sprung up and which compelled them to leave; from then on they survived in a scattered form, as we have already
stated, with an economy of self-sufficiency and a system of the communitarian type. When
in

the Choi,

foreign domination surged,

Palenque and Seibal, or

it

it

could have been destroyed

in a relatively short time, as in

could have lasted until the Spanish conquest, principally

in the

from Tabasco up to the Gulf of Honduras.

The disappearance, probably physical, of the ruling aristocracy resulted from an attempt on the part of the Mayan people to settle the antagonism inherent in the mode of
production. At the end of six centuries this antagonism would have reached a crisis because
of the waste of the productive forces and the overexploitation of the working class. The
attempt to find a solution to the existent contradiction between the productive forces
and the relations of production was manifested by means of the annihilation ot the ruling
class which, in its turn, had produced the disorganization of the economic regime and the
political system, the end of the creation of works of art, of the recording of dates, ot
places along the littoral of the Yucatan Peninsula

275

the representation of important personages and the account of the deeds of their reigns in

hieroglyphic texts. With the finish of the

Mayan

aristocracy in the central area, the high

culture also died which had been created at the cost of the exploitation, the misery, the

ignorance and the religious fanaticism of the people.

The intentional pre-Hispanic mutilation of numerous
rulers

and the disorderly abandonment of

The

stele

monuments which

depict the

broken by blows, can be the reflection of

Bonampak,

as we have already referred to them in a

previous chapter, can well testify to the repression of one of the first peasant uprisings at
the beginning of the ninth century when the decline of the classical ceremonial centers began.

a popular rebellion.

paintings of

Early postclassical period (1000-1250 A.D.)

While at the end of the ninth and beginning of the tenth century A.D., Mayan civilizaits dramatic decline in the central area, in the other areas the course of
history continued, although altered by the intrusion of groups of culture that were not pure
Mayan, groups that were infiltrating during the tenth century. In the Yucatan Peninsula it
is probable that the first invaders proceeded from the region occupied by the Chontals and
Putuns, concentrating themselves principally around the Lagoon of Terminos and the mouth
of the Grijalva and Usumacinta Rivers. Their culture was hybrid, Mayan-Aztecan, and they
already had occupied a peripheral position within the Mayan area and the border area with
the people who spoke Uto-Aztecan. According to Thompson, the Putun groups consisted
of those who, following the Usumacinta and its tributaries, brought the foreign cultural
aspects to such localities as Seibal, Altar de Sacrificios and some others at the end of the
classical period, and even succeeding in dominating the region politically. The ltzas, according to the author mentioned, were of the same Putun origin and had occupied Chichen Itza
around the year 918, proceeding from the eastern coast of the peninsula to which they had
previously come by a maritime route. Another much later surge of the same Itza group
reached Chichen under the leadership of the Toltecan caudillo Quetzal-Kukulcan, who was
accompanied by his warriors, priests and servants after their expulsion from Tula in the year
987. In the Highlands of Guatemala and on the Pacific Coast the invaders were the Pipils,
whose culture, as that of those who had invaded Yucatan, was connected with the Toltecs.
In actuality, however, the subjection of the Mayan people to chiefs who were not
autochthonous did not signify any change of great importance in the development of the
productive forces. The peasant continued to work the lands, the products of which were
then canalized for the Itza, Putun or Pipil rulers. In any case, one important factor helps to
explain the apogee which Chichen Itza then knew, a place in which the cultural transformation that had been provoked by the invaders was valued to a much higher degree than in
any other place. The invaders were concentrated there for the express purpose of imposing
their domination on them. The architectonic richness of such buildings as El Castillo ("The
Castle"), El grupo de las Mil Columnas ("The group of the Thousand Columns"), the Temple of the Warriors and the monumental Ball-Game Field attest to the power and strength
of the new rulers.
The factor to which we referred to is the mercantile development which effected the
production of the artisans, to a great extent not intended for meeting the needs of the Mayan
dominant class, but rather to bring about interchanges over a wide expanse. The merchants
would have had a role of the first magnitude, very closely linked to the nobility and, at
times, even part of that. Numerous places along the coast served as ports of interchange for
articles proceeding from the altiplano and the Gulf of Mexico, and which were exported to
Central America, and also for the exportation of such raw materials as salt, honey, incense,
cotton and cocoa, produced in the Mayan areas of Campeche, Yucatan, and Tabasco. The
traffic of slaves from the Mexican altiplano took part in the transactions between the Mayan
country and those of Mesoamerica and Central America. The increase in commerce' had to
augment the pressure on the producers of raw materials and manufactured articles, everything to the benefit of the new ruling class which, in addition to its growing economic
tion had reached

276

**

Mayan

society had perceived

the approach of the downfall

of the great ceremonial centers

Palenque in which the

as

decline

was

accelerated

by

power, counted on the help from its military force. It is very likely that the exploitation and
oppression of the Mayan people were then much greater than in the earlier period which
resulted in the heightening of the contradictions in the relations of production.

The apogee which

characterizes the period of Toltecan occupation in Yucatan probably

the mutilation and intentional

can be justified by the commercial and military nature of the domination of the invaders.

deterioration of the buildings

This brilliant epochs demonstrates something about the worsening of generalized slavery to

and sculpture. A nocturnal

view of the Tower of Pa-

which the Mayan people would have been subject, upon

the production of surplus goods for the maintenance of the

lenque.

provisions for the merchants, changes in their beliefs,

the increase of

human

whom

it was imposed, besides

and warriors, and also the
the veneration of new deities and

rulers

sacrifices.

The sudden end of Chichen

around the middle of the 13th century, is perhaps not

due exclusively to the conquest by the people from Mayapan as is deduced from the contents of the historic sources. The participation of the same Mayan people, weary of such
oppression, in a violent and hopeless action similar to the one that had put an end to the

Mayan

Itza

classical civilization in the central region, constitutes a

babilities

of

its

hypothesis with

many

pro-

certainty.

277

Late postclassical period (1250-1524/1541 A.D.)

,

-.
manifested

IT

-ji
characterized by
,

r j-

iiriirii

which is
11
in the economic, political and cultural aspects. The tall or Chichen Itza marked
the end of the intense trade organized by the Putuns and Itzas, a trade which over a period of
various centuries had created commercial ties with the people of the altiplano of the Gulf
of Mexico and of Central America. From this time on, the political and economic hegemony
went over to Mayapan where the commercial interest appears to have been orientated
principally towards the eastern coast of the peninsula which had experienced then the
1

he

height of

The

last r
pre-Hispanic
period
r
r
.

its

is

a process or disintegration

fluorescence.

future socioeconomic structure of the classical period, reinforced

rulers in the early postclassical period, presented

profound flaws

by the Toltecan

in the late postclassical

The possession of land had undergone some modifications of considerable extent,

and many communal pieces of property had come to belong to the producers of cocoa
period.

bean and other plants such as cotton and henequen, to the rich merchants and, very probably
to the warriors with their right to awards for their merits on campaigns. Among the ancient
states divided into chieftanships frequent difficulties arose, regarding the question of the
borders which naturally created a bellicose atmosphere. For that reason some of the centers
were surrounded by walls as was the case in Mayapan, Tulum and Xelha, among others. The
same phenomenon obligated the people of the Highlands of Guatemala to construct their ceremonial groupings on the top of hills and in places protected by such topographic accidents

278

With the decline of Chichen

Itza the political and econ
omic power otc the Peninsula
Q f Yucatan passed into the
hands of the ruling family of
Mayapan.
.

The

atmosphere

bellicose

of the postclassical period

brought about the fortification by means of walls around

many
Tulum

cities;
is

in

way

this

protected,

taking

advantage of the natural accidents

which

of

a wall

the

terrain

to

was added.

and rivers. The wars accelerated the disintegration of the life of the Mayas, a
which reflects the cultural decadence manifested principally in the architecture,
sculpture, painting, and ceramics.
This process culminated in a new popular rebellion. This is no longer hypothetical as
had, however, been what we suggested to explain the fall of Chichen Itza, but is explicitly
referred to in the historic sources. In 1441, it was that rebellion that provoked the destruction of the superiority of Mayapan and the annihilation of the ruling family, Cocom, in
spite of the fact that they had depended on the military help of Mexican mercenaries.
In the decades that followed, the economic standard had to be considerably lower
than that of the earlier period, although the peasantry continued to produce more food
not only for their own sustenance but also in the form of surpluses to provide commerce,
which still throve, and for their local caciques. On the political ground the deterioration was
accentuated by the lack of supremacy in Mayapan. Besides, plagues, epidemics and hurricanes, which the chronicles mention, contributed to making the conditions of life more
disagreeable. The cultural activities which correspond to this epoch are almost nil.
When the Spanish galleons in the successive command of Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de
Grijalva and Hernan Cortes appeared, proceeding from Cuba, they were plagued by the Mayas.
The foreigners, in those years, scarcely touched Mayan land as they went to the center of
Mexico. Afterwards, with Tenochtitlan conquered, the conquest of Guatemala was effected
as also that of Yucatan. The Mayan people was going to experience a new era of domination.
as ravines

situation

279

The Mayas: From

Conquest

the

to the Present

Time

THE CONQUEST
Discovery

From

moment

which the Spaniards trod on Mayan territory, they were able to

perceive that the people who occupied it were not going to let themselves be dominated
the

in

We are not referring to the unfortunate members of Valdivia expedition who in 1511,
upon returning from Darien, were shipwrecked in front of the eastern coast of Yucatan.
There is no doubt that they perished as sacrificial victims, with the exception of two of them
who, with regard to the conquest, were going to assume antagonistic attitudes. Those two
were Jeronimo de Aguilar, who facilitated this conquest as the interpreter of Cortes, and
Gonzalo Guerrero who, as advisor of the cacique of Chetumal, tried to impede it.
easily.

Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, in

command

of the

first

expedition, which was in

1517, was able to judge what the resistance of the natives would be

For the Mayas the conquest

did not represent liberation
but rather the recrudescence

of a situation which they had

been enduring for a long
time. The wall and cliff of
Campeche was erected by the
Spaniards during the colonial

Cape Catoche,
after a few days of cordial welcome to Islas Mujeres, he lost twenty-six of his men in combat,
and in a very short time his enterprise came to a tragic end in Potonchan (Champoton),
where the cacique Moch Couoh and his hardened troops inflicted so cruel a defeat on him
that he, battered and thirsty, had to withdraw in order to return to Cuba and to die shortly
afterwards as a result of his wounds. The Spaniards called the Cove of Champoton, Bahia
de la Mala Pelea in memory of the calamity suffered there.
like. In

Juan de Grijalva, after having traversed the eastern and septentrional coast of
the peninsula, disembarked in Campeche to get some water supplies. He had a very difficult
encounter with the inhabitants, the result of which was one dead and forty casualties on his
side, with a vast massacre of Indians.
In 1518,

period to protect their riches

and

natural

resources

English piracy.

from

In the following year

Cortes reached

crossing along the littoral, until he

came

to

Mayan lands. There were no difficulties in his

the mouth of the Grijalva River. There in Centla

281

he suffered a bloody battle which, in spite of

hundred

natives, victims of the fire-arms

and the

its

short duration, cost the lives of eight

cavalry.

Conquest of Guatemala

The conquest of

the

Mayan

area was initiated

many

years afterwards,

when Cortes

had already seized Tenochtitlan and a large part of Mesoamerican territory. In December,
1523, Pedro de Alvarado departed frorh Mexico bound for Guatemala, and wrought much
havoc on his way to Soconusco, when he stumbled against the resistance of the populace.
He was then confronted with the Quiches and personally killed in battle the chief, Tecun
Uman. After that he assesinated the Quichean kings in Utatlan, defeated the Tzutuhils in
Atitlan and annihilated the town of Escuintla. In the course of a few months, through the

Guatemala and
on July 25, 1524.

strength of arms and the fear he had instilled, he succeeded in dominating

established the city of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, the capital,

Attempts

at

conquest

in

Yucatan

The conquest of Yucatan had, however, not yet begun. It was started in 1527 when
Francisco de Montejo, the Governor, disembarked on the eastern coast of this territory.
He was well received by the Mayas, but many Spaniards very soon became ill because
of the extremely hot climate and the closeness to the swamps, source of malign fevers, in
the place in which Salamanca de Xelha was founded. In a short time the twenty sick whom
Montejo had left in Pole before penetrating deeper into terra firma,had died. While this was
going on, the Governor lost a dozen of his men in the chieftanship of Chauac-ha, in the
course of an impetuous attack on the part of the Mayas. Somewhat later he was subjected
to another battle in Ake, in which his troops had a number of casualties in return for a
multitude of natives who had lost their life. The first phase of the conquest had ended
without more success than the recognition of the littoral up to the Ulua River and the
establishment of a weak garrison in Salamanca de Xamanha.

second attempt did not

fare

much

better. It

is

true that the region of Tabasco, the

margins of the Lagoon of Terminos and the province of Acalan had been pacified; for

this

reason the invasion of the peninsula was started, this time, from the extreme southwest.

Montejo sent Davila in order to cross that section towards the eastern coast. He succeeded
in doing that without having any encounters with the inhabitants. In Chetumal he founded his Villa Real but he had to make frequent incursions in order to conquer the resistance
of the natives. To intimidate them Davila attacked them in Chequitaquil, near Chetumal,
where the cacique of Uaymail, apparently advised by Gonzalo Guerrero, was preparing a
campaign against the Spaniards. Davila succeeded in dispersing the Mayas, but the cacique
and Guerrero escaped. He sent to Montejo the modest spoils of war which his attack yielded
him, with a number of messengers who would have to give a report about him and his
position. But the messengers never reached their destination: in Chinante (Hoya), the town
of the Cochuah.es, they were intercepted and murdered.

knew

had been constructed and that

warriors were assembling; thus he took the square by surprise and from then on wanted to
penetrate the territory of "Cochuah", but such a resistance was encountered in the town
where the messengers had been murdered, that he realized the necessity for his returning
to Chable with half of his troop unable to take part in any combat. The populace was waiting for him for a real war; but again Davila recovered the square by a surprise attack and
returned to the Villa Real in Chetumal. They spent there several months, without resources, and harassed by a populace resolutely hostile. Finally, disheartened, they decided

282

little later,

Davila

that in Chable fortifications

to go along the coast towards Honduras,

where they arrived

after a very difficult

and hazard-

ous journey which lasted almost seven months.

was not making much progress in his endeavor to conquer YucaCampeche and Champoton, which he was occupying. However, even
in spite of the growing hostility of the people in Campeche and of the Cupules, the Governor
and his son decided to establish a Ciudad Real in Chichen Itza, a place which had apparently
been discovered in the previous campaign. They reached it by means of the septentrional
littoral, and were well received, but when Montejo el Mozo headed for Chichen Itza, he
began to be subjected to attacks from the Cupules in successive form and each time more
intense. The cacique, Nacon Cupul, who at the beginning had received the Spanish Captain
very cordially, did not need too much time to be convinced of his intentions to dominate,and
Montejo,

in his turn,

tan, starting out with

moment of carelessness, tried to murder him, but the Spanish soldiers

him in the act.
The Montejos set themselves up in Chichen Itza, converted into Ciudad Real (15321533) and, believing that the natives were going to accept his authority docilely, began to
divide the towns among his captains, designating them encomenderos. The Mayas appeared
to accept the subservience which this encomienda with a paternal disguise represented, but,
in actuality, they were getting ready to defend their threatened liberty. Some towns refused
to pay the tax; others openly rebelled. The communications with the outside remained cut
off; provisions dwindled; every attempt the Spaniards made to leave, they found themselves
up a stone wall. An attempt of greater importance also failed and resulted in one hundred
and fifty dead Spaniards as against a slaughter of hundreds of Indians. Finally, the Montejos
abandoned the place one night, availing themselves of the trick of tying a dog to a bell
which continued to ring for many hours as the animal wanted to follow its masters and to
reach the food that had been left out of its reach. Harassed afterwards on their retreat, the
decimated troop somehow managed to reach the coast and set sail for their destination,
Campeche, in order to return to Mexico later. The resistance of the Mayan people had once
again conquered the plans of the invaders; the second campaign for conquest had failed as
taking advantage of a
killed

the

The

first

had.

fulfillment of the conquest

Beginning

in

1535, and continuing for a number of years, the Spaniards were dominat-

ing the peninsula after

overcoming enormous

difficulties.

They succeeded

mentally because of the unquestionable superiority of their weapons,

in

in that,

funda-

particular their

and devastation which the cavalry had produced, and

also the action of the friars who had begun, by means of the gospel, to predicate submission
to the invaders and to offer the promise of an inviting heaven after a life of slavery. But in
Champoton, Tenosique, Sihochac, Tixpeual and Tho, the Montejos and their captains still
continued to suffer defeat. Groups of hostile caciques were uniting against the Spaniards;
others submitted. Finally, Tho was occupied and on its ruins Merida was established in
1542. In spite of the resistance of Nachi Cocom and the desperate struggle of a people
disposed to every sacrifice, laying waste to their own lands, abandoning the towns, obstructing the wells, hiding the food, fleeing to the woods and dying in desperate attacks, each one
of the chieftanships were failing one after another.
With the greater part of their territory dominated, the Mayas still tried a number of
uprisings, as that of the Cupules and Tazes in the eastern part of the peninsula (1546-1547),
the siege of Valladolid. Finally, with the pacification of the Dulce Gulf (1547-1549), the
conquest was virtually consummated after a terrible struggle which had lasted more than
twenty years. However, the Itza troop, under its chief, Captain Canek, still resisted in Peten
fire-arms; because of the impression

283

every attempt of the

century, that

is,

in

enemy

to penetrate their territory.

Only

end of the seventeenth

capital, Tayasal, on the rims

at the

1697, were the Castilians able to take their

of Lake Peten Itza. The impressive collective suicide of a great part of the population,
which threw themselves into its waters, preferring death to slavery, gives testimony to the
heroism of the Mayas in their fatal meeting with a civilization technologically more advanced than theirs.

THE COLONY
Economic changes
The

economic subon which the existence of the Mayas had depended, as had happened with all
the Mesoamerican peoples. The first impact on the productive forces had a negative value
and a tragic character: death in combat of thousands of men; terrible reprisals against the
civil population as punishment for resisting the conquerors; physical annihilation of entire
villages; desparate flight of the indigenous to inhospitable regions, and collective suicide in
structure

284

colonial regime was to determine the fundamental changes in the

The conquest of

the Mayas
was slow and laborious: the
they had
resistence which
manifested made the complete
dominion of the territory

impossible

until

the

XVII

of Lake
Atitlan in Guatemala, a geographic mark of the Mayan
century.

view

culture in this zone.

But the greatest mortality was still caused by new diseases brought by the conquerors. Epidemics of small-pox, measles and infections of the respiratory tracts caused

some

cases.

terrible devastations

of

among

many towns were wiped

eases

the indigenous population, so that virtually

out.

It is

of the inhabitants

also likely that malaria, yellow fever,

and perhaps amebiasis appeared

among

all

after the

hookworm

dis-

conquest and became endemic diseases

the undernourished people.

Eric

Thompson, who had studied the Mayan demographic problem of that time and
some impressive information about the depopulation of the

after the conquest, discloses

territory as a result of wars, rebellions, epidemics

and endemic

diseases.

great part of

Mayan area lost approximately 90 per cent of its inhabitants in periods ranging from
20 to 200 years.
However, the productive forces were going to increase considerably in other aspects,
upon the introduction of new vegetable products and livestock. Among the imported
plants we can mention a number of fruit trees such as lemon, lime, orange, fig, pomegranates, dates, cocoanuts and bananas; melons, sugar cane, grapes; garden products such
the

285

as lettuce,

cabbages, turnips, onions, cucumbers and radishes, and in addition to that,

wheat.

With regard to the livestock, the breeding of horses, mules, donkeys, pigs, sheep, goats,
cows and chicken was begun, without taking into account the domestic animals that lived
together with the Spaniards, as cats and new races of dogs.

European technology modified some works and introduced others. Metal tools from
iron, bronze and steel such as axes, large heavy knives, picks, shovels and plows subsituted
the stone and wood implements.

Animal traction to transport loads or pull vehicles with wheels took the place of
human loading. With the use of the iron crowbar and gunpowder it was possible to excavate
wells of relative profundity and, in some specific cases, provide them with chain pumps.
Freighters and fishing boats were constructed in the dockyards. Sugar mills were also set
up for the purpose of extracting the juice from the sugar cane.
In contrast to this,

few factories were

never developed to any great extent.

We

up during the colonial period and they were

can, however, mention the cord maker's shops
set

from henequen, the alcohol distilleries, the soap factories, the blueing factories, the starch
ones and the tanneries. There was an increase in the exploitation of palo de tinte, of blueing,
of cotton, of grana, of henequen, of incense, of deer-skin, of honey and wax; in the extraction of salt; in the felling of trees of precious

The

cultivation of tobacco

wood; and

was fomented

through the Mayas and also that of

in the

in fishing.

eighteenth century already

known

rice.

Guatemala and Honduras the mining industry sprang up, especially the gold and
silver ones. The extraction and process in the elaboration of these metals were rigidly controlled by the authorities. The gold and silver works, but especially that of silver, then
flourished to a vast degree. The arts and crafts industry reached a new high of development
in some regions. We can refer to the elaboration of many types of textiles and to the art of
quilting, as well as to religious sculpture, all of which brought fame to Guatemala. With
appropriate tools imported from Spain, work-shops for shoe-makers, tailors, carpenters and
blacksmiths were set up, which were able to satisfy the demands of the Spaniards.
In

Commerce, directed towards Spain and

its

colonies in the Caribbean, received a strong

impulse. Exportations comprised principally cotton blankets, cocoa bean, blueing, honey,

wax, palo de tinte, and salt in large quantities; other

cords from henequen, henequen branches, fine woods,
Some products were imported from Europe, but they
had been accustomed to use: wheat, sugar, oil, wine,
furniture, paper, silverware, porcelain dishes,

products were deer-skins, sacks and

meat and

and hats.
what the Spaniards

salted fish, shoes

were, above

all,

vinegar, spiritous

weapons and

liquors, clothes,

agricultural tools.

such mercantile operations had slight significance for the people of the

Mayan

The

result of

area. This

monopolizing aspect which the authorities imposed on them, and

amounts of the importations which exceeded the exportations.
entirely due to the

It

was

to the

did not take very long before the possession of land was also modified since, thanks

to the royal grants, the conquerors received lands for their ownership.

The

Castilian laws

provided that the common lands for community use be respected, but in spite of these
arrangements private property was growing at the cost of the communal property, giving
rise to the creation of estates, which the Spaniards used for breeding bovine livestock and
hogs, and also for the cultivation of maize.

The

relations of production

population, that
in

is,

any modification for

286

were

also

for almost the entire

their benefit:

changed, although for the majority of the

Mayan populace,

their exploitation,

these relations did not result

which was even strengthened,

consequently continued, but with one major difference: everything was

beneficial to the conquerors and their descendants.

now

exclusively

Tributary impositions

On

the estates the peasant had the obligation to turn over to his master half of his

crops, besides working without pay every

weekly

rick of sheaves

Monday;

in addition to that,

he had to give a

arrangement of the principal house; the cleaning of the

streets and roads; the weeding and irrigation of the orchards. Actual or supposed debts
which the peasant never succeeded in liquidating, and which were hereditary, all these made
man into a virtual slave of the landowner; although after a legalized slavery, in the first years
for the

of the conquest, the laws to protect the Indians had prohibited such acts.
There was another institution which assured the complete alienation of the Mayan
Indian: the encomienda, that is, the villages and the people themselves were given to the
Spanish colonists by royal decree. The supposed justification, hypocritically paternalistic,

of the encomienda stipulated that "to be instructed and taught the good uses and customs
both in the faith and Christian doctrine, and in order that the Spaniards could make use of

them

as free people, the priests

who

have to accompany them on

all

the expeditions can

commission the Indians among the conquered inhabitants". In exchange for the religious
education which was imposed on them and independently of the services that they had the
obligation of giving to the encomenderos "as free individuals", the peasants had to pay
tribute for that in the form of corn, beans, chile, chickens, wax, honey, pitchers, caceroles,
ropes and blankets. Their services comprised agricultural work; the care of livestock; the
construction of public works (official buildings, churches, convents and roads), and private
homes; the transport of merchandise to such places as neither animals nor vehicles were
able to pass through; and the domestic service as well.
But other obligations also weighed heavily on the shoulders of the Mayan Indians.
Such obligations arose from the so-called repartimientos ("distributions") which consisted
principally

in

the delivery

of a number of products

in return

for insignificant salaries.

Naturally, the beneficiaries of this system were the Spanish authorities, the priests, the

encomenderos, and the

traders.

The "perquisites" that at the beginning of the evangelization were the charities by
which the Indians voluntarily helped the Franciscan for their sustenance, with the time
they became obligatory and excessive.
As if all these burdens were not sufficient, the population used to pay personal contributions to the Crown, to the clergy, to the Court of the Indians, to the fund for the communities and for the defense against attacks from pirates. The "brotherhoods" were supposedly
estates of the Indians, but, in actuality, the clergy obtained the land and used to organize
these estates for corn-fields and cattle, extracting from them the gains which served to
defray the cost of religious celebrations, especially of the patron saint of the population.
Social and political structure

The
its

social structure

very foundation,

how

which was established on

artisans, salt dealers, miners, fishermen, etc., all

An

this

economic substructure shows us, in

mass of workers, peasants,

in the pre-Hispanic period, the great

of them belonged to the native ethnic

level.

composed of mestizos and mulattoes, united the small businessmen,

some professionals. Their influence came to be felt but only
at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries. The higher class,
the greater part of the white race, was formed by the encomenderos, landowners, merchants,
intermediate

class,

the employees, servants and

functionaries, friars, priests and the military.

287

The

on

authorities comprised,

political

their highest level,

the King of Spain, the

Audiences and the Representatives of Royalty: the viceroys, governors and

who submitted and collaborated with the conquerors, were kept at the head of their peoples; honors were bestowed upon them and

Courts, the

commanders-in-chief. The indigenous rulers

privileges
in

were conceded them; they remained incorporated to the colonial government

dominate the Mayas. The Church possessed its own hierarchy, from the

their goals to

Pope

in

Rome

to the

most humble parish

priest; the

Bishop was the highest religious author-

ity in colonial territory.

Spiritual conquest

The

spiritual conquest, at the root

of the military conquest and also during that, was

been attained by the regular clergy and later also by the secular. Among the
religious orders the Franciscans stood out in Yucatan, as they had been the first to arrive,
followed afterwards by the Jesuits and the Conceptionist nuns; in Chiapas and Guatemala
the Dominicans worked while to a lesser degree there were the volunteers and the Jesuits.
Divergences were frequent among the friars and the priests for the spiritual control of the
indigenous population and, naturally, for the material benefits which that provided. Some
initiated, having

friars tried,

although they achieved

it

only

curb the insatiable greed of the con-

in part, to

worked for a common

and were more concerned

querors, succeeding in denouncing their outrages and crimes. Others

accord with the encomenderos, landowners and

civil

authorities

with the enrichment for the Church as well as with their personal well-being,

than for the

saving of souls.

Diego de Landa defended the Yucatecan Indians against the excesses of the encomenthem for their customs which he considered sinful; he also presented

deros; he denounced

denunciations against the secular clergy and the

civil

and

religious authorities. But,

above

all,

he dedicated himself to the fight against the native beliefs of the indigeous. His fanaticism

induced him to commit the criminal auto da

which thousands of people were

tortured, 1 50 of them dying, and in the course of which he had made to disinter more than
one hundred cadavers belonging to supposed idolaters. In his violence, Landa ordered the
destruction of thousands of idols, altars and gravestones, of more than twenty codices and

many

other valuable objects of

In a

Mayan

fe

of Mani,

in

culture.

constant and intense effort to erradicate the concepts of the indigenous and to

destroy their faith in their divinities which they had been accustomed to worship for centu-

were inculcated in them. Nevertheless, the priests or monks were successful

and the result was the elaboration of a syncretism in which, under the appearance of accepting the Catholic creed, the Mayas continued to venerate their gods. During
the entire colonial epoch the clergy was entrusted not only with the teaching of the Christian
ries,

new

only

in part,

beliefs

some occupations. In
spiritual conquest was con-

doctrine, but also with the practical preparation for the practise of

any case, in spite of the partial rejections and distortions, the

summated, assuring the conquerors the full economic, social and
conquered peoples.

political

domination of the

THE INDEPENDENCE
Objective causes

iii-

_
j
.\
a

the structure orC

At the end or the eighteenth
and beginning ot the nineteenth century, a
D
r
1
r
the colonial society or which the Mayan people formed a part, had undergone quite a number
of alterations. On the one hand, the native population, decimated because of the conquest,
had turned to increasing their number, although perhaps their previous number would still
.

.1

.i

i_

288

The spiritual conquest accompanied and followed the

armed conquest. The Franciscans were tne

M avan
for

r'

lrst

to reach

territory in their search

ways to indoctrinate

people profoundly religious.

not be reached; the

number of

Spaniards, natives of the mother country, was relatively low,

but that of the Creoles, Spanish born

in the

colony, and of the mestizoes was increasing. The

negroes imported as slaves to supplement the insufficiency of

others, the result of racial mixtures,

man power,

the mulattoes and

completed the ethnic picture. In the census of 1790, the

population of Yucatan did not reach even 400 000 inhabitants, approximately the same

number

Guatemala, according to the census of 1778.

On the other hand, we have seen that the natural resources had been increasing with
the acclimitization of new plants, with the introduction of livestock breeding and of mining,
and through a greater development of products already utilized by the Mayas, which had
been made possible by the application of metal instruments.
The lands which before were in their greatest part communal, were now principally in
the hands of the Church, the Government and the owners of large estates.
The organization of work did not mean for the Mayas more than a greater exploitation
for the benefit of the white population. The taxes bore down heavily upon them. The encomienda had been abolished but, as Cardoza y Aragon had said, "the old nightmare continued
as in

pyramid the Mayan civil and religious hierarchy had been substituted by another still more complex and oppressive which squeezed the people without
mercy. The civil functionaries managed the collection of the tributes without any justification; they utilized the work of the Indians in agricultural and domestic labor; they committed abuses of every kind and implanted venality and corruption in the public administration.
Many of the priests were seeking their personal gains or enrichment for the Church; only a
very small number lived with the indigenous, sharing their poverty, procuring to help them,
and trying to teach them. But it was the landholders who possessed the greatest part of
the workable lands, which had been converted into estates, cattle ranches and farms. Some
industrialists controlled the salt mines, the elaboration of henequen and mining. The wholesale merchants became rich. A middle class had been born and began to make itself felt in
the economic, social and political aspect; it was composed fundamentally of small businessmen, small shopkeepers, artisans and intellectuals (a limited number of doctors and surgeons,
clerks, attorneys, judicial employees, students, etc.).
In spite of all this, the social mechanism still did not function well. New Spain, the
colony of one of the most retrogressive of the European countries in that period, had hardly
been able to aspire to a brilliant development. At the end of the eighteenth century the
colonial structure presented deep flaws and had begun to crack. The very contradictions of
the system were coming to a critical point. The mother country had imposed strong restrictions on commerce, both on the inside as well as on the outside, and a strict vigilance was
exercised over the quality and prices of the merchandise as well as for its transportation.
In the course of two and half centuries, the royal monopoly did not permit the American
colonies to progress. In Guatemala the creation of state monopolies which prohibited the
free sale of products caused serious upheavals. The state monopoly on gun-powder affected
the pyrotechnists, whose activities were closely linked with the religious ceremonies of a
for the Indian". In the social

popular kind. The state monopoly of tobacco, the forbidding of its planting

in

many

regions,

and the extreme vigilance of its traffic caused tremendous inconveniences for the population.
The state monopoly on spiritous liquors suffered the most serious consequences, complicated by the subleasing and proliferation of tobacconist's shops, which led to the manufacture
and clandestine sale of alcohol; the result was that the consumption increased noticeably
at the cost of the normal yield of work and of the general state of drunkenness, with its
natural consequences: quarrels and crimes.
The increase in taxes, the obstacles on internal commerce, the obligation of interchanging merchandise only with Spain, all these negative circumstances with reference to the

290

M*>_

An

engraving which shows the

port

city

of Campeche,

important point

in

an

the mer-

development of the
Peninsula. Fven prior to the

cantile

of

decline
the

middle

colonial
class

Spain,

of Yucatan

requested free assembly, the

abolition of the

taxes

and

payment of

monopolies,

the

to foment indusand the predominance

-v

was at
the same time liberal and Protestant, which was each time interposing itself more and more
on world commerce. The popular discontent was growing and the impoverishment affected
also many of the white people who had settled on Mayan territory. But it the Spanish colonial empire was breaking, the British, in its turn, had suffered a tremendous blow through
the Independence of the United States. Concomitantly, the feudal structure, which to a
great extent had survived in the European monarchy, was also crumbling apart. New ideas
were invading the world and had come also to the Mayan country. It was possible to consider
them among the bizarre, but they responded to the restlessness of the illustrated personages.
increase of the colonies, were aggravated with the rise of an aggressive England that

possibility
tries

of

individual

interests.

liberties

Subjective causes: liberalism

and

Liberal thinking, intimately bound with the development of the bourgeoisie, found an
echo in Guatemala and Yucatan. In the former, the Economic Society of Friends ot the
Country formed a group with those who were criticizing the regime and tried to provoke an
economic and cultural development. It clamored for tree assembly, tor the abolition of
tributes and of the state monopolies, for the promotion of industries, tor the predominance
of personal over collective interest, and tor freedom tor the individual. It did not take long
before it came to be considered subversive and was liquidated. The reforms accorded by the
Spanish Courts in Cadiz encouraged the liberals who demanded their application. The struggle between the liberals and conservatives became worse and worse.
In Yucatan the Association of Saint John called together in Merida the ones that were
not in agreement. The abolition of repartimientos, of the payment for perquisites, of forced
labor and other burdens which oppressed the Indian were demanded; his liberation from
ignorance and fanaticism was also insisted upon. The momentaneous reestablishment of
despotism through Fernando VII and the abolition of the liberal Constitution of 181 2, were

291

converted into serious reprisals against the

liberals.

Many

years later Freemansonry grouped

together the liberals and the dissatisfied; the Constitution was restored, but the liberals were

not

in

all

unison, and in Yucatan a Patriotic Confederation of a heterogeneous composition

was formed.
Independence, the
In

the

culminated

result

of the war

in

Mexico

meanwhile, the armed struggle which had been started in Mexico in 1810,
the Plan of Iguala; Yucatan adhered to that, declaring itself independent

in

from Spain. In Guatemala independence did not come as a result of an actual war against
the mother country; only the liberal voices of some politicians were given some attention.

The liberals were, almost in their entirety, Creoles who always had been discriminated against
by those of the peninsula; they belonged to the small burgeoisie in which also the mestizoes,
and very few Indians, participated. It is logical that the movement of non-conformity was
led by those who had material interests, which depended upon the modification of the old
colonial structure.

The annexation of Guatemala

and to Mexico in 1821, resulted in a

triumph for the conservatives who had come to understand that the colony had reached its
end. The later independence of Central America in 1823, with one of its immediate consequences, the abolition of slavery and of the privileges of the Church, brought about great
discontent among the nobility and the clergy. The triumph of liberal ideas responded to the
eagerness of the capitalist bourgeoisie, who desired greater facility for their industrial and
commercial activities in order to produce riches, to increase their properties and to have a
to Iturbide's empire

principal part in the political ground.

But for the Mayan Indian, indifferent, except on rare occasions, faced with the process
which culminated in independence, life would continue in the same way, with only the
transfer to other

hands of the instruments which had subjugated him

till

then.

FROM INDEPENDENCE TO THE PRESENT DAY

The

crisis
i

and contradictions

in

Guatemala

ne political independence from Spain was going to determine important changes in

the economic and political structures of the people in the

ed parallel lines

in

Guatemala

as well as in

Mayan

area.

Yucatan with regard to

These changes follow-

their general orientation,

but secondary phenomena sufficiently differentiated, originated to justify that both regions

be analyzed separately.

Guatemala, the first half of the nineteenth century was marked by a tragic economic
situation in which agriculture (the cultivation of the indigo plant, and particularly of cocoa
In

bean) declined; the

commerce through exportation was almost paralyzed;

capital, for lack

of security, went out of the country, and public finances were disorganized because of the
suppression of state monopolies and taxes.
Economic liberalism, which took the place of the colonial, monopolistic regime, provoked, on the one hand, changes, and, on the other, it maintained the feudal structures. The
abolition of slavery and the declaration of the freedom of the individual did not actually
alter the regime of agricultural work, in which the peasants were compelled to work on the
farms. The expropriation of the properties of the clergy and the distribution of unfilled lands
which individuals acquired, set up the basis of development of a rural capitalism in favor a
minority while, through the bad distribution of the land, the common lands proved insuf-

mass of the peasantry. However, they did succeed in increasing the

production of the grana to supply the flourishing textile industry of France and England,
ficient for the great

292

from the cochineal was substituted by anilines. The

in
decadence, and commerce with Spain was on the road to be
replaced by that with England. On the other hand, the five States which had integrated the
Confederation of Central America were alienated in sterile struggles among themselves, which
culminated in the dismemberment of the aforementioned Confederation. Meanwhile, the
Mayan Indian continued to be dedicated to the cultivation of maize for his precarious
survival, plunged into the same state of misery that had prevailed in the colonial period.
until the coloring matter elaborated

mining industry was

full

Development of the capitalism

The second

Guatemala

marked by an economic rebirth: mining was reimproved public finance and international commerce was increased as

half of the century was

covered; foreign loans,

a result of the vigorous

tion brought to

in

development of English and French capitalism.

power the

who

nationalist liberals

reformist revolu-

propitiated the strengthening of national

capitalism.

The uncultivated lands were auctioned off and

the credit concessions gave the impulse

to create average agricultural enterprises; the expansion of the small

common

lands was

A new cultivation was supplanted to the producand reached the point of being the basis for the economy of Guatemala: coffee.
Its intensive cultivation was stimulated and its exportation to Europe permitted the official
hacienda to prosper, and the public works to be accomplished, among which were the
construction of railroads. The economic advances depended, ot course, on the prices of
coffee in the international market. European immigrants did not delay in becoming owners
of coffee and sugar plantations.
New industries absorbed a part of the labor force. The integration of a middle capitalistic class, white and mestizo, was accentuated. At the beginning of our century, the exploitation of coffee, to which was later added that of bananas, rubber, chicle and precious
woods, was the very basis of the economy of Guatemala. It was, to a large extent, in the
hands of foreign companies, the majority of which were Northamericans.
But the Mayan Indian of Guatemala and Chiapas remained almost completely alien to
the integration of the national systems, or rather remained integrated in opposition to his
own desire and interests, to a system which offered him no advantages. Legally he was tree
and was able to dispose of his labor force but, as a rule, his communal lands went into the
hands of private owners, and he had to work as a laborer for the owners of large estates. Far
from being liberated with the political changes and economic development, the indigenous
class, as Solorzano describes, "there began for that group the most arduous period of illtreatment and arbitrariness". The cultivation of coffee, and the extraction ot chicle and
rubber resulted in the inevitable emigration of indigenous nuclei which had inhabited the
Highlands up to the torrid and unhealthy low lands. The resistance of the Mayas to abandon
their native soil was of slight avail: with such stratagems as the apparently voluntary conincreased while the larger ones decreased.
tion of grana

tracting, obtained during festive occasions

when they were drunk and through an advance,

or with violence, they were recruited legally or illegally, and were sent to farms in gangs of
prisoners, the indigenous,

lamentable existence

was

similar to

one's

own

life

made

in a slavery

into an agricultural proletariat continued to eke out his

hardly occult. His participation

what he had experienced before

in the

the independence.

production ot goods

The freedom

ot deciding

existed only in the official texts.

Exploitation and repression of the Guatemalan people

What did the twentieth century mean

est

part of Mayan Indians and mestizoes?

to the
It

Guatemalan people, made up

tor the great

signified the progressive appropriation ot the

293

resources of the

economy by

the Northamerican monopolies;

the exploitation of the peasant class;

of

whom

were from the military,

interests of those

engaged

buildings and lines of

in

it

it

signified the continuation of

signified the succession of rulers, the greatest

who conducted

monopolies;

communication

to

number

themselves as servile defenders of the

signified the turning over of lands, railroads,

it

the powerful United Fruit

Company, and

excessive, cruel repression of any attempt of liberation or of simple protest.

the

Manuel Estrada

Cabrera, Jorge Ubico, Carlos Castillo Armas, Miguel Idigoras Fuentes, Enrique Peralta Azurdia, Julio

Cesar Montenegro, Carlos Arana and Eugenio Kjell Langerud are the names of the

presidents to

whose governments

are attributed, if not the direct organization

of the slaughter

of peasants, workers, students and professionals, most certainly their complicity or support
in

not impeding or punishing those responsible.

The

victims are always accused of social

dissidence and of being Communists, a designation which, in an indiscriminate form, has

come

to be applied to

anyone who denounces

injustices, outrages,

and the lack of liberties

accorded by the laws.

Some attempts

at democratization, at

implanting a legislation to assure the rights of

labor and the participation of the opposition parties in the electoral process, and which

accomplished in the agrarian reform, were initiated during the governments of Juan Jose
Arevalo and Jacobo Arbenz. These men were immediately condemned by the monopolies
and the Northamerican Government as pro-Communists and had to endure the attacks from
the criticisms and the consequences of such conspiracies. Arevalo was faced with the only

Ambassador of the United States and Arbenz, who had had the
temerity to expropriate the lands from the United Fruit, was overthrown because of an
invasion which had proceeded from Honduras with the help of Northamerican planes in a
military operation which the ambassador of the United States himself had directed.
Driven on by desperation, guerrilla groups had actuated in the Guatemalan fields for
some fifteen years, recognizing the firm decision of a people who had the right to put an
end to a secular exploitation.
alternative of expelling the

The

crisis

and contradictions

in

Yucatan

Yucatan independence was also followed by a period of economic and political crisis.
The alienation oi uncultivated lands and of the properties of the clergy, the expansion of
the common land, and the formal abolition of slavery and tributes, unavoidably had rein

Merida and Campeche brought about serious conflicts,

The

between
and the resistance of the Yucatecans

percussions in the production and in the incomes for public finance.

rivalry

to their integration in a politically controlled system, while preferring the establishment of

independence to which Santa Anna

war and the sending of troops.
However, the social structure remained intact. The hacienda continued to be the basis
for such a structure, exactly as it had been in colonial times in spite of the fact that liberalism declared itself in favor of freedom and equality. With manual labor tied down by debts
and advance payments which were payed up, provided in salaries, with the minimum of
goods for the survival of the indigenous (foods, blankets, and spirituous liquors), and of which
not only the execution of agricultural labors were demanded but also the obligation of
gratuitous works for the benefit of the farm, the landowners were able to procure without
any restrictions every exploitation and domination in accordance with their desires.
The indigenous masses, kept at arm's length from the political struggles of the whites,
hoped only to conserve their common lands or ejidos so as to be able to work them, but in
point of fact they continued to live in the same abominable conditions of servants and slaves.
Although the Mayas are pacific by nature and tradition, they used to revolt when, because of
a peninsular federalism, culminated in a declaration of

replied with

294

During the third decade of the

XIX century the exploitation
of henequen, which had been
going on since prehispanic
times, received

pulsion.

strong im-

drought, hunger became insupportable.

course of the centuries from the very

Numerous

moment

(it

uprisings of a partial nature arose in the

the conquest on; one of them,

portant than the others, was directed by Jacinto Canek

when he was taken

The

caste

who

in

761

more im-

was cruelly martyrized

prisoner.

war

Political

circumstances were going to provoke an explosion of rancor accumulated

during centuries, on the part of the Mayan Indians against their oppressors. Some guerrillas
were organized in order to struggle against the troops who were coming horn the center of
Mexico, these guerrillas were provided with arms; their constituents were ottered exemption
from civil contributions. But, when this promise was not completed, the existent conditions
of poverty they were in became more aggravated. The petitions of the Mayas were minimal:

295

These paintings in the most

primitive of styles, which are
exhibited

in

the

National

Museum of Anthropology and

History,

show

the bellicose

aspects of the so-called Gue-

de Castas ("War of the

through which the
Peninsula of Yucatan had
lived during the XIX and the
rra

Castes")

beginning of the

reduction of taxes, especially that of the personal tax, and the request for the rights to celebrate

marriages and baptisms. Antonio Trujeque, supposedly in favor of

against Merida, rose in arms in

Tihosuco

in

Campeche and

1846, and occupied Peto and Valladolid, achiev-

Other caudillos followed his

example and a battle was started, known;as "the caste war", which was characterized by
hideous cruelty on the part of both groups. The rebellious Indians succeeded in dominating
almost the entire peninsula, with the exception of the cities of Merida and Campeche, the
bordering villages and the real road which united them. Nevertheless, because of differences
among the chiefs, because of the fear that the aforementioned cities would set up an unbreakable resistance, on account of the lack of ammunition and perhaps, as has been suggested,
because of the proximity of the rainy season which was going to determine the moment for
preparing and sowing the milpas, the Mayas were withdrawing towards the east of the peninsula. The war had finished in its active phase, which was followed by a terrible repression
against the rebels, many of whom were sold to Cuba as slaves. But the resistance remained
latent and nothing was able to be done about that until 1904.
ing in this latter a cruel massacre of the white population.

The henequen

fashion

Since the third decade of the nineteenth century attempts had been
planters

to

cultivate

much more henequen

to incite the

than what had been done since pre-Hispanic

when

more complete industrialization was

and England increased more and more. When the

times. This cultivation received a strong impulse

begun; exportation to the United States

made

war was terminated in the middle of the century, the cultivation and manufacture of
henequen increased considerably. The demand for this from the outside was also increased,
and it was necessary to get a greater surface for its cultivation as well as a greater of workers.
caste

296

XX

century.

The

planters tried to obtain uncultivated lands or those supposedly available at what-

ever price and in whatever form, legal or otherwise.

urgently required more manual

was established. Especially

them

fell

work and,

for those

who

in

The

increase in the large landed estates

spite of the laws, a

system of forced labor

used to work only half the week or

less; upon
become inwork excessive;

the accusation of loafing and, as a result, they were compelled to

corporated

in

the farms.

The

salaries

were exceedingly low: the hours ot

the alienation through advance payments and debts insurmountable; the corporal punish-

ment frequent

(the stocks

and

flagellations): the lack of

any

real

hygiene manifest: the

nil, and liberty practically abolished. In actuality the laborer on the henequen
was a slave.
During the government of Porfirio Diaz, this situation still persisted in all its apogee,
but it was on the point to reach a crisis. Some outbreaks of rebellion on the part of the
peasants and workers accompanied Madero's campaign; stores that sold arms were assaulted
and a number of political chiefs assasinated.
The fall of Diaz brought about the abolition of the common laborers; the right to
contract for work; the suppression of the payment of debts through work, and the end
of corporal punishment.

education

estates

Ref(orm ru lers

The

military governor of Yucatan, Salvador Alvarado, was going to

make

reality

out

of legal precepts and to attempt to achieve ample reforms, since he was sincerely concerned

with the miserable conditions of the Mayas. He offered

unable to

fulfill):

a distribution of

lands (which he was

he assured personal and laboral liberties; he created schools; he struggled

297

against alcoholism

Arbitration,
In spite
his

and

of that,

and

clerical fanaticism;

abolished

he founded the Tribunals for Conciliation and

serfdom, the labor force not remunerated on the estates.

of reform contained serious contradictions in themselves. Within

"Socialism of the State", the lands ought to have been used to ad-

his policy

conception of

vantage by "the most apt", who, in this case, were the capitalists

means
machinery

the

to acquire

and exploit them;

in addition,

who had

at their disposal

he demanded the use of agricultural

was available only for the rich, national and foreigner

ones. In other words, he was dreaming of a harmonious and Utopian collaboration between
capital and labor, under the paternalistic management of the State.
for the peasants, but

it

After Alvarado, Felipe Carrillo Puerto tried to solve in a radical fashion the serious
agrarian problem.

As

known

a cooperative

for grouping together

all

the producers, he created

Henequeneros de Yucatan ("The Growers of Henequen of Yucatan"); he established the common lands for the cultivators of henequen, he expropriated
the association

298

as

The splendid
itecture

is

viceregal arch-

the evidence of the

process of evangelization to

which the Mayas were subjected.

general view of the

remarkable atrium of the Convent of Izamal, Yucatan.

abandoned estates and united the workers' unions in one Central League of Resistance,
whose members formed part of the Socialist Party of the Southeast. But in 1924, when
he was ready to distribute the lands for these cultivators, he was murdered. Somewhat later
Alvarado met with the same fate.
Only in 1937, was it possible to attain the delivery of lands to the Yucatccan peasants,
which was ordered by Lazaro Cardenas. From then on there was organization for the
common land for which the exploitation was collective, and the services for the owners
of such lands improved to a great extent, especially with regard to the aspect of sanitation.
But these measures provoked the irate resistance of the landowners, supported by politicians and even by some labour unions organizations. Once again there was a recurrence to
the

Communism. Among the hostility of the ex-owners of the haciendas who

continued to manufacture fiber as the owners of the machinery which had been returned
to them, the exorbitant commissions of the intermediaries, the immorality of the authorities'
and the fall in price on the international market, the hencquen industry suffered a tremendous crisis. The surface cultivated became considerably less; the yield and quality of the
product was lower and inferior, and the salary of the peasant went down and down, according to Gonzalez Navarro, to the amount of two or three pesos per week in 1943. The
agrarian reform had failed completely and the state of the common land owners vegetated
miserably; the only ones who had benefited had been those integrated in the "'gilded caste*',
which controlled industrialization and exportation without having to be concerned with the
cultivation. Thirty years later, Lazaro Cardenas recognized that the miscrv of the Mayan
peasant was still a reality.
Despite all that, for some time the conditions of existence of some Mayan groups did
improve due to the apogee of the exploitation of the chicle in Campeche and Quintana Roo,
as also that of timber dealers in the woods of the south of the peninsula. The intensive
extraction of chicle, at the cost of a difficult and hazardous work in inhospitable regions,
and the participation in their exploitation of some Mayan rebel caudillos established the
pacification of the zone, in which the conquered in the caste war had been concentrated.
In the course of the last years, an intent to diversity agriculture, a certain impulse for
cattlebrecding, and the creation of an infrastructure for the development of the tourist
trade, principally that of foreign tourists, had improved the standard of living tor a minority
of the population. However, the secular problems of Mayan farming had not been worked
out. As Gonzalez Navarro calls to our attention, the political parties, that of the official
group as well as that of the opposition, coincided in affirming just a feu \ cars ago, in referring to Yucatan, that "the sickness of the State is hunger" (PR1, Partido Revolucionario
Institucional, that is, the Institutional Revolutionary Party), and that "the misery is more
acute in the fields" (PAN, Partido Accidn Nacional, that is. The National Action Party
the accusation of

The incomformity of

the Yucatecan village

Consequences of the seriousness of the problem which affects the Mayas of Yucatan
the frequent, energetic and, at times, violent protests of the owners of the

common

are

lands; the

manifestations and mutinies against the actions of the Agrarian Bank in which, for example,
a puppet representing the president is burned; the physical detriment to the functionaries oi
the same institution; the clashes between the owners of the common lands; the tumultuous
encounters with the highest federal authorities: the conquest of the municipal presidency of
Merida by the opposition party, of conservative ideology (PAN), and the taking ot the city
halls. All these acts reveal the increase of the tide of popular discontent, ot the accumulated
anger against a system which had not succeeded in settling vital questions inherent in the
socio-economic structure.
A unit of destiny issues from the chronicle of the Mayas from the conquest till the
present. In distinct geographic environments, with their own ecologic circumstances, within
differentiated historical contexts, their existence evolves fatally under the ignominious sign
of exploitation and misery.

299

The Mayas

The Mayas
lonial period

Many

Today

resisted the tragedy of their conquest, of the terrible oppression of the co-

and of the

political

changes brought about by independence and

still

continue alive and suffering. In the present chapter

a brief

panoramic view,

have to

make

it

aftermath.

forms of
responds

life

in

summary of

we want to give,

the facts which ethnology provides us with.

in

We

quite precise that industrialization, the opening of highways and, in general,

the process, each time

more

accelerated, of

economic development were rapidly altering the

we are summarizing here cor-

for the Mayas. Actually, the information that

many

cases to a situation that

is

not present at this time, but rather valid for the

half of the twentieth century. However, this very information

in the

its

times they had cherished, although in vain, the hope that their conditions of life would

improve, but they

first

of

is

what

is still

presented

most recent ethnological compendiums.

Population

The Mayan population,

that

is

languages or in addition to Spanish

to say, those
(a

who

exclusively speak

some of

the

Mayan

Spanish generally very limited, hardly adequate for

the most indispensable dialogue on simple mercantile relations), can be estimated at about

500 000 individuals. Our information for the Mexican territory was provided by the
Geographic Institute of the Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico and corresponds
to the census of 1970; the information dealing with the groups of Guatemala proceeds from
the published essays contained in the Handbook of Mesoamerican Indians and refers to the
census for 1950 and 1960. However, Otto Schumann, the linguist, believes that the total
population of the peoples who speak the Mayan languages has to be more than 4 000 000
persons. Their geographic distribution appears on the map which is included in the chapter
entitled "The Mayan Men". In this same chapter the somatic and psychologic features are
1

The somber and dubitative

expression of this Lacandon
Mayan synthesizes the drama
of a people

who had expemany of

rienced the loss o f

their ancient values

and which

have not attained the understanding of those

tain to a society

him

out.

who

per-

hich leaves

also studied.

The ethnologic information emphasizes

a vast variety in these elements,

determined by

301

their

environment geographic and ecologic by the

historical contingencies; but

is

it

level

of economic development and by

also obvious that, fundamentally, the

Mayas lead

a life

and Guatemala as in Peten, in the Basins of

Usumacinta
and
the
the
Motagua and on the Peninsula of Yucatan. This relative existential
uniformity can be explained on the basis of a common origin of the Mayan groups, through
their historical development, more or less parallel, and their economic as well as present
cultural level which are not differentiated to any great extent. The variations which are
sufficiently similar in the Highlands of Chiapas

observed

among

the different

Mayan peoples

are due, basically, to their extent of integra-

tion with the systems which are socioeconomical

and national. It is evident that to the

aforementioned systems corresponds the greater disintegration
of indigenous norms, and that the groups which conserved their own culture with the least
greatest integration with the

possible alterations or modifications are those

On

who

live

marginally.

the basis of having presented the culture of the

than distinct

we can

features,

from that a general synthesis without omitting to

offer

mention the principal regional or

Mayan groups more along common

local peculiarities.

Technology
In

and

Mayan

the entire

area the

same

tools are used for agricultural labors: axes, machetes

and
plow drawn by

sticks with a metallic point for sowing. In the Highlands they also use the scythe

the grub hoe and, in

yoke of oxen.

flat

places dedicated to the culture of wheat, the simple

Guatemala and Chiapas, where textile labors constitute a very important

activity they still use, on a family basis, the waist loom, while for industrial production they
work with mechanical looms. In Yucatan there are primitive apparatuses which are used to
scrape the fleshy part of the henequen to obtain the fiber with which the peasant family
makes hammocks or nets. In the altiplano the rudimentary sugar mills serve to extract the
sugar from the cane.
a

In

Exploitation of natural resources

In the

tion that

is

Mayan

area the wide diversity in the climate determines an agricultural produc-

sufficiently varied.

The low hot lands can provide sugar-cane,

bananas, oranges, lemons, annonaceae,

mamey,

coffee, cocoa bean,

sapodillas, papaya, chayotes, yuccas, sweet

potatoes, jicamas, peanuts, watermelons, melon, cotton, henequen and tobacco.

The High-

lands, temperate or cold, are especially suitable for the cultivation of vegetables such as rice,

wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, peaches, pears and apples. However, both in the hot zones as
well as in the temperate or cold, basic vegetables are

the Mayas.

They

are maize, beans, squash

and

chile.

produced to provide alimentation for

Agriculture, the primordial activity

what each community needs for its own

consumption; with the surpluses the Mayas can acquire clothing and domestic tools; some
towns, on the other hand, specialize in specific cultivations for their commercial purposes.
Apart from cultivation, food is complemented by what can be obtained by hunting
some animals (the deer, wild boar, rabbit, and birds), although it is more akin to a sport than
a productive activity; together with fishing on the marine, lacustrine and river littorals, and
with the collection of vegetables and small animals.
The raising of fowl, on a small scale a dozen hens, as a maximum is a secondary recourse which provides a limited source of products used for exchange in case of some minor
of the Mayan Indian,

is

practised essentially for

whom
later

302

it

is

resells

(at

the most, two), bought

afterwards resold

when

to the peasant the

it

when very

the

distinct

groups

which integrate the presentday Mayan society are found

the Tseltals whose appearance and clothing we are able
to take note of here. Accord-

small from a half-breed merchant to

Otto Schumann, the Mayan population

consists of more than four

merchant

million people distributed over

necessity or reserved for celebrations or curative rituals.

family to raise a pig

Among

It is

attains a suitable weight.

quite

common

In, his

turn,

for a peasant

the

meat from the hog which has fattened, thereby deriving

ing to the linguist

an extensive territory.

*t

many benefits from the different phases of the operation. Rarely will the peasant be able to
own one or two cows as a small reserve in case of some greater need for money. In Yucatan,
which the Mayas had practised before the conquest, has come to be an important
economy. Honey and wax from the apiaries of the peasants come through intermediaries, to the national and world markets.
agriculture,

staple of the

Groups of Tzeltals from the

Valley of Amatenango, ChiaThe textile industry,
pas.
conducted with
artistic

especially

Highlands

Guatemala.

Industry

Independently of the making of some women's apparel most certainly on the point of
disappearing such as blouses and huipiles, the industry as a whole, whether on a family
basis or that of a manufacturer, is devoted only to commerce. Although certain articles are

manufactured

in

many

and, in addition, there are

304

Mayan area, others are

towns which make a specialty of a

regions of the

typical of only

some of them,

definite product in particular.

taste

sensibility, has

and
been

developed in the
of Chiapas and

and Guatemala the

In the Highlands of Chiapas

textile industry

is

especially developed.

made from cotton, and other articles such as

blankets, jackets and sarapes are made out of wool. In Yucatan the making of embroidered
huipiles has a very special importance. With fabrics from such hard fibers as ixtle, pita
and henequen, they make bags, nets, riatas, belts, and hammocks.
In many places, both in the high- as well as in the lowlands, with plaited bulrush they
make mats, baskets and hats; those made from palm the jipijapa in Yucatan, are especially
fine and considered of unusual value.
Tanning and the manufacture of sandals are very widespread, and each time more use
In those places blouses, shirts or huipiles are

is

commonly being made of old

tires for soles.

Pottery-making continues to be an important activity in some regions or, more concretely, in some towns, especially in the Highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala. However,

what was

the quality of the ceramics no longer maintains a basis for comparison with

fabricated in the classical

for domestic use

and

Mayan

and very few

period; the receptacles are intended almost exclusively

now

are

decorated. In addition, the use of caceroles, glasses

spelter plates as well as plastic receptacles

is

becoming

a general practise for replacing

the clay ones.

In

the Highlands the production of metates

is

in progress,

still

although

gradually diminishing, being substituted by small mechanical mills or by the

of taking the maize to the nixtamal

mill, the proprietor

of which

is,

its

use

is

new custom

in general, a half-breed.

With the juice from the sugar cane extracted, as we already mentioned, by primitive
sugarmills in the warm lands, the dark sugar, not the refined, is made in a conic or pyramidal
form, known by the name of pane la or piloncillo, which means brown or unrefined sugar.
In woody regions the timber is elaborated principally for making furniture, and wardrobes to safeguard the clothes;

wood

in the

in

some

particular

towns one can

also find a special use for

production of guitars.

For building houses the people of the Highlands are accustomed to make sun-dried
clay bricks, and in certain regions the carved tiles for roofs. The preparation of charcoal
is

also very widespread.

Yucatan and Campeche the Mayan artisans devote their time to the elaboration of
and gold or silver-work objects, more concretely, gold filigree jewels.
The Lacandons continue to make bows and arrows which, as is supposed, are not intended for hunting, but which they sell to tourists as souvenirs from the jungle.
In

turtle shell objects

Commerce
Frequently ethnologists tend to present a vision of complete or almost complete

from the

life

integrated in

Mayan communities,

Mayas had been excluded

of the country. In point of fact, through commerce, the Mayan Indian is fully
the regional economy and by means of that, in the national life. As Stavenha-

margination with regard to the

as if the

gen remarks, the Mayan people are neither self-sufficient nor

The

is

theirs a closed world.

extensive diversity in the climate and ecological environments accounts for the

great variety in

their products,

although some

may be

lacking in a

number

of specific

regions, while in others they will be excessive.

In the

for

ions of
is

indigenous market, celebrated

him and acquires such products

little

as

in the villages, the

he does not have;

all

Mayan
that

is

sells

what

is

accomplished

importance, similar to those done before the conquest, only that

used instead of exchanges. The Indian exchanges what he has no need of

superfluous
in transact-

now money

in the

form of

maize, coffee and cocoa bean for manufactured articles clothing and household goodssalt

and sugar.

305

Apart from the interchange

in the tianguis

(market places), the surpluses of the peasant

by the half-breed merchant who, in his turn, brings his

products to channels of greater population and even cities; many of these are brought also
to the international market. The submission of the producer to the merchant has a twofold
advantage: the products that the former sells are acquired at a low price, and those that he
buys he acquires at a high price. Consequently, the profit for the merchant is also twice
as much. In addition, he lends the Mayas items when there is an urgent need of them and
they do not have the necessary means, and when they return the equivalent, an interest is
charged because of the "favor" he did for them. According to the verbal information of one
investigator, loan in maize is returned in the same quantity of coffee, which is a product of
a much higher value. With such types of operations the benefits of the merchant increase,
or the domestic artisan are acquired

while the producer

The

is

despoiled.

more than obvious: in the economic process, through commercial relations with the half-breed group, the Mayas exceed their communitarian framework and are
clearly included in regional structures which, in their turn, are part of the national economy,
the ramification of the world market. But within this mechanism the Mayan finds himself
on a lower step which is, of course, a very unfavorable situation.

The

result

is

pattern for settlements

As we have already stated

settlements
actual

in

in

another chapter, there were different types of

the pre-Hispanic period, a diversity which

economic and

is still

human

apparent, modified only by

political conditions.

The most frequent pattern

still

continues to be the dispersed form in which the peasant

and small hamlets, more or less remote from the municipal

administration, in which they are grouped around or in the vicinities of a square, the town
hall, the church, and the commercial stores; at times there are also some homes of the
indigenous in the urban nucleus, but in such cases their economic and social position is
superior to the general standard of their neighbors. The population constitutes what has
been designated a "vacant town", since the bulk of the community does not live in it and
only visit it to participate in civil acts and religious ceremonies, and also to take part in the
population

lives

in villages

market. This situation

is

typical of the Highlands, but

it

also prevails, although with greater

infrequency, in some of the lowlands.

Among

the Lacandons, the small groups that live in the caribales scattered throughout

the jungle, do not recognize any head and represent the most elementary form of settle-

ment. In some regions of Yucatan the scattered nuclei are accustomed to group themselves
together near a well or cenote.

The heads can present an aspect more

or less

modern on

integration in the regional and national structures.

houses of the half-breeds present an aspect that

is

Among

the basis of their degree of

the Chols, for example, the

quite up-to-date for the villages.

the Chontals, the heads are absolutely modern; the streets

marked with

Among

intersections to

form squares, and buildings which consist of the church, the municipal palace, public buildand good stores and inns; besides all that they have water service, electric lights, mail,
and telegraph service. The riverside towns, which depend on these centers, are generally
restricted to one single street which runs parallel to the river, with the addition of groups
of dispersed humble dwellings.
The Mayas of Quintana Roo live in small scattered towns without streets, in which the
houses are grouped together by families; they have no civic center nor stores, and the only
building which distinguishes itself from all the others is the popol-na, the house of the people
of the village in which are celebrated the meetings of neighbors and, in addition, other acts
ings

306

of interest for the population

as a

whole. The head

is

at the

same time

also the sanctuary

contains the most important temple, the dwelling of the "great father", the

house, the quarters of the military companies, and some huts. The

and

community

pattern for the

most

henequen zone in Yucatan, that is to say, around Merida and along

the real road which unites Merida and Campeche. There one finds compact villages with
streets having intersections, in the center of which the administrative offices are grouped
together as well as the church and the commercial stores. In the same region a part of the
population continues to live on the ancient estates.

modern settlement

is

the

Dwellings

The type of dwelling

and the
geographic environment together with the economic and social standard. Under the best of
circumstances it would be possible to place the homes with stone walls, tiled roofs, with a
number of rooms and up to two storeys, in the most important centers of the Highlands
varies in accordance with the degree of acculturation,

of Guatemala. As the most lowly type we would have the flimsy and uncomfortable huts of
the Lancandons,

some of which have

from thin trunks and branches; others lack walls

and have a palm roof which extends almost to the ground. The walls can be from refuse or
sun-dried clay bricks with a flat layer of lime or without it in the Highlands, or from plaited
cane and mud as is the general case in Yucatan. In some of the villages in the wooded and
cold regions they are accustomed to set up boards placed vertically. The roofs, except for
those mentioned of tile, are, on the whole, from palm (guano) or dried grass, forming four
slopes and terminating in a ridge, but every day it is becoming more frequent to substitute
the palm roof for zinc sheets. Almost always the floor is from earth that had been solidly
packed down; on rare occasions it is coated with lime. The plan is rectangular or square,
with the exception of those in Yucatan which have a prevailing oval form.
The Mayan dwellings have no windows, and the only openings they do have consist of
the door at the front of the house. Generally they are built on a platform of slight elevation
to which there is access by means of several steps. The interior may consist of one single
room in which the entire family lives, as is the case in Yucatan. It may also be divided into
two sections, one serves as the kitchen and anteroom, while the other is the dormitory as
in the Highlands. The kitchen can also be annexed to the house. Almost always an awning
or canopy serves to protect objects as for the storage of the ears of corn. Among the Chortis
multiple types of dwellings are found, which provide living quarters for a number of related
families; but the general rule is to have a house for only one family.
Every house has various annexes such as the hencoop, the pigsty, the corral, the granary
and, at times, a steam bath (temazcal), and in Yucatan, an apiary. It is quite customary for
each dwelling unit to have its garden with vegetables and fruit trees.
In proportion to the economic development of a village and its integration in the
national community, the homes from rubblework and roofs from tiles or sheets are grouped
in the center, while the dwellings from plaited cane and mud with palm roofs are on the
walls

periphery.

Household appurtenances

now too the household appurtenances are extremely

whether in the Highlands or the lowlands, is the cooking stove with three
stones with its dish for cooking tortillas, the metate on the floor or on top of a bench (Yucatan), some small seats, a small table and a ramrod. The clay receptacles are beginning to be
used less and less, being replaced by spelter plates and goblets, or by metallic or plastic buckets; even the metate is giving up its top first place in favor of the nixtamal mill.
As

limited.

it

was

The

in pre-Hispanic times,

usual,

307

For sleeping, the Mayan male of the Highlands utilizes a bed made from boards, placed
on top of two crosspieces held together by four props; on top of that he spreads his mat and
covers himself with the sarape. In very warm climates the hammock made from cotton thread
from henequen fibers or from canvas serves as the bed. Baskets, boxes or wooden trunks to
keep clothes and something else like a small chair, a tray suspended from the roof for comestibles, or a washtub for washing clothes (Yucatan), all these serve to complete the household appurtenances. In the more developed towns, a radio or television antenna is seen
protruding from the roof; one can also see a bicycle leaning against the facade, and a sewing
machine, all of which can form part of the household goods of the home.
Clothing

The

and local level, is truly

noteworthy; but the most extraordinary phenomenon is the increasing tendency with the
exception of the more marginated and more conservative groups, as the Lacandons and
the Mayas of Quintana Roo to replace much of their clothing now for manufactured items,
the use of which will become more uniform with the time throughout the Mayan population, especially the masculine element. The blue cloth pants and shirt, in their universal
generalization, has not escaped attention in the Mayan area.

308

variety presented

by the indigenous

dress, at the regional

The regional markets,

a

great

attraction

tianguis,

for

the

predominant
market
of
the Mayas
in the
economy. One of the most
typical and known is that in
San Cristobal de las Casas,
tourist, are

Chiapas.

still

Naturally one cannot deny that clothing

is

completely different in the

that in the torrid countries. Articles of clothing

al

from wool

of the former and constitute complete outfits for the

as jackets

frigid

lands from

and ponchos

men complemented by

are typic-

hats, and, in

the rainy season by palm leaf capes; in the torrid zones, however, the shirt and cotton trousers are sufficient.

The

trousers are held in place tied with a sash of red cotton; the hat

is

from palm and the sandals from leather. In Yucatan the short trousers and apron have disappeared almost completely with the exception of Quintana Roo. For parties the simple
undershirt, which is used every day, together with the loose-fitting men's shirt make up the
entire attire; the sandals or simple hemp sandals are now substituted by a shoe with a heel
and thick sole. The women use skirts from cotton or wool according to the geographic
environment, with more or less long blouses and ample huipilcs and shawls; they are accustomed to go barefoot, except in Yucatan where the use of house-slippers is common. In
general they deck themselves out with necklaces from glass beads in the Highlands and with
jewels from gold filigree in Yucatan.
Nutrition

The

nutrition of the

Mayan indigenous

squash, seasoned with chile. Maize

is

eaten in

is

customarily confined to maize, beans and

tortillas

and tamales, or

it is

drunk

in the

form

of a mixture from corn and sugar, or prepared with corn-meal gruel, or like a "drink" to
which cocoa is added. Only on rare occasions is meat eaten, at most once a week or on

among the more prosperous Mayas of the larger

some form of meat from hunting (deer, rabbit,

However, eventually
they do get
armadillo and birds). On the
shores of the sea, rivers, lakes and lagoons, fishing provides an important nutritional element
in the diet. Of course in some regions of the torrid lands, tubercles, mainly the sweet potato
and yucca, complete the foods available.
It has become a custom to drink black coffee, sweetened only with unrefined sugar. As
alcoholic drinks we have already mentioned balche used in Yucatecan ritual ceremonies;
chicha of the Chortis, and the strong commercial spiritous liquor from brown sugar in the
Highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala.
festive

days

centers.

Land tenure
Through the time and on

the extension of the

Mayan

area, a process of transformation

has been in operation with the private properties of the land, which, prior to the conquest, had
belonged in its greatest part to the community as a whole. Communal lands of the calpules
and ejidos (that is, the common lands), are each time more divided up and have been going
into individual hands, especially
villas

and

and

cities.

scarcer,

The lands which

that of the half-breed nuclei, established in the towns,

the

communities had been able

to conserve are

now

scarcer

and they are limited to the least fertile; they hardly serve for pasture grounds,
and the obtaining of wood. The lands of the calpules or those

for the collection of fruits

that pertain to the large families are being divided up and are frequently purchased by the
half-breed. The common lands, worked individually, are subjected to the same phenomenon
of excessive division and are not even sufficient to assure the maintenance of a family.
The development of private property, which was initiated with the conquest and
was increased by the Laws of the Reform as well as by the expropriation of the goods of
the clergy, constitutes the natural process which reflects the growth of capitalism among the
peasantry. The Mayan Indian, stripped of his land, becomes a rural worker on a lower salary,
level than that which prevailed under the system of exploitation. The insufficiency of cultivable lands compelled the Mayan Indian to work on the properties of the coffee plantations
owners, or, eventually, in such activities as those connected with timber or the extraction ot

309

the chicle. In the

Lacandon

jungle,

which

offers,

still

although perhaps for very

little

more

time, possibilities of lands for cultivation, a seminomadism predominates which compels the
peasant to look for new lands and to burn sections of the woods.
Social organization

The

traditional system of kinship relationships evolved parallel to the general process

of acculturation;
process.

In

them

this

is

especially the case in the

communities most integrated with

this

the class stratification tends to wipe out the vestiges of the traditional

system and place the indigenous society close to that of the mestizo.
In Stavenhagen's analysis, the stratification does not exist within the indigenous groups
but it is assuredly encountered in the half-breed groups, in which it is revealed by the level
of riches in lands and goods; by the degree of education; by the type of manual or profes-

some

by the feeling of belonging to an aristocrat lineage of

is noteworthy, definite and irreversible, is the
one that rules over the relationships between the mestizoes and the indigenous.
The barrier which separates some from the others is not of an ethnic nature, but
fundamentally of an economic and cultural character, however this situation coincides with
sional occupation and, in

cases,

colonial ancestry. But the stratification that

the ethnic division.

The indigenous always

by the mestizo without difference

if

he

finds himself in states of inferiority; exploited

sells

him something or buys something from him;

treated despotically or paternalistically according to the circumstances, with few opportunities to

ascend the social ladder due, on the one hand, to the rejection and oppressions from

the higher class and, on the other hand, because of their firm adhesion to their

own com-

munity. Only some Indians who, perhaps through a small scale commerce, succeed little by
getting out of their misery will be able to become mestizoes according to the extent

little in

that they sever the ties with their

It is

own

group.

clear that this stratification started with the conquest (substituting the pre-Hispanic

and that

was strengthened in the colonial period, persisting in actuality

with all its implications: economic, cultural, social and political. The colonial relations, as
Stavenhagen emphasizes, turned to class distinctions, giving place to what has been called
"internal colonialism" in the framework of a national society.
As far as the kinship relations within the indigenous groups are concerned, they present
local variations of a general pattern. In many villages of the Highlands, patrilineal exogamic
clans correspond to the capulli, subdivided into lineages with indigenous surnames (nicknames). In other villages there is a dual division, with endogamy in each sector, without
stratification)

clans or lineages.

later

The community can

also be divided into districts similar to the calpules,

with bilateral kinship.

In
ly

accordance with the regions, for example

in the

Highlands, the family

In the

patrilineal

it is

patrilocal

lowlands the family organization

and with

the large size family

still

is

patrilineal.

customarily bilateral, but by preference

a residence for the paternal side. Basically the family

is

tending to disappear.

patrilineal, divided into lineages bearing the

who had

and the inheritance

preferential-

The residence can be on

nuclear or rather extensive and constitutes the only social entity.

a bilocal basis, but almost always

is

Among

the

is

Lacandons the exogamic clans

names of animals

it is

like a nucleus;

are

the process of "acculturation"

(similar to those of the Tzeltals

which does not seem to terminate and provokes conflicting

and singular situations. That
is the case of these two in-

existed at the beginning of this century), and they are in a most advanced state

of disintegration.
In

summary,

it

can be affirmed that there

the kinship relationships in the

310

already the progressive disintegration of

Mayan indigenous communities and

by class stratification of
time more integrated.
stituted

is

a national society

Nowadays the indigenous Mayan population continues with

that they are being sub-

with which these communities are each

digenous wearing a hat, shirt

and

traditional

pants; how-

ever, their shoes are obviously

of outside

origin.

Political organization

Within the same

phenomenon of

integration

among

the indigenous groups with the

economic structure, the political integration is realized little by little, although

Highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala a mixed system of government survives. In
Yucatan the communities are completely incorporated in the municipal system, which
functions with a president at the head and commissaries or agents in the villages or places
depending on them. However, one exception to this is the theocratic-military government
of the most conservative villages, concentrated in Quintana Roo. The highest political chief
is, at the same, the High Priest and his title in Yucatecan Maya [nohoch tata) means "Great
Father". His functions comprise the supervision of ceremonial rights, the vigilance over
discipline, as much for the priests as for the military, and in a general form the absolute
political control of the populace. A hierarchy of secretaries and scribes works under the
orders of the chiefs and among their obligations are the care of the sacred books (among
which the ethnologist Villa Rojas found the Chilam Balam of Tusik). All the married men
are grouped together in companies directed by three heads and their principal mission is to
take care of the sanctuary where the cross is kept.
national

in

the

In

some of

respected old

the villages of the Chols and Chontals, "principals" or "masters",

men

well acquainted with

the

common

who

are

problems, act as advisors of the

municipal authorities; this is a survival of an indigenous government which has disappeared.

But in the lowlands this form of government no longer exists, nor is any system of offices in
effect which is similar to that of the Highlands.
In the latter as in

the rest of the national territory, a city council functions;

it

constitu-

and Federal administration, and usually comprises a mayor, various

syndics and aldermen with their assistants, a secretary, a treasurer, various constables, a file
clerk and rural guards. Some of these offices, as that of mayor, syndics and aldermen, are by
election, while the rest are by appointment. An attempt is made to see to it that indigenous
functionaries take care of the indigenous matters and the half-breed functionaries of their
own. However, the occupation by mestizoes of specific posts, as that of secretary, treasurer,
file clerk and rural guards, reveals the dominating nature of the half-breed minority, since
the functions which these offices imply are decisive in the municipal organism although the
mayor may be indigenous, whose office is more along the lines of a representative than that
of an executive.
tes a part of the State

The indigenous government functions

conjunction with the city council, with the

powers simultaneously political and religious, since it takes part in the civil matters of
the community and in the maintenance of the beliefs. In the calpul, apart from the municipal functionaries, the indigenous!hierarchy| plays an important role since the "principal",

who

acts as chief,

embraces

all

in

the latter ecclesiastical functionaries.

Among

these function-

and the mayordomos as well as the

constables. The priests, the magicians and witch doctors complete the picture of the complex organism which controls the political and religious life of the community. The political
power which traditionally was in the hands of the "principals", the old men of great prestige
and wisdom, has been passing, little by little, to the indigenous government which is intearies are the treasurers,

the majors, devout persons,

grated through a roster of offices.

System of

offices

of the community with

the active participation of a great part of the population. The offices carry an obligatory
nature and imply strong distributions of property and wealth, which very frequently signify
the getting into debt for a number of years of their owners without more recompenses
than the prestige acquired and the increase in the power of their corresponding nahuales.
These offices are on different levels and the step from one to the other is duly established. The individual who does not accept an office would be in a very difficult situation in

The system of

312

offices regulates the political

and religious

life

of the community and would expose himself to reprisals through some of the
under the supposed inspiration of their nahuales-.
The fundamental obligations comprise the care of the temple and of the saints, the expenses involved in religious festivals, the fulfillment of the orders coming from the town
council and the participation in judicial activities. Although the system is tending to decline,
it still continues in full force in many towns of Chiapas and Guatemala.
As a result of the conquest, the indigenous hierarchies, at least the most compliant
caciques, were utilized as the links between the conquerors and the conquered. Later on, in
order to obtain a better control of the indigenous population, the system of offices was
created through the participation of its own members. The control was not only of a political nature, but also religious, since it served the Church as a means of imposing its dogmas and
beliefs, regarding that the formation of an indigenous clergy was considered hazardous. For
the Mayan populace the system permitted them to assume functions in the colonial administration, to conserve their unity and, in part, their beliefs, since on accepting the external
aspects of the Catholic religion and adopting them to their own credo, they were able to
continue venerating their secular gods. In the political aspect, the connection between the
indigenous and the municipal structures guaranteed the conservation of the former, avoiding
in the heart

chiefs,

their disappearance within the national frame.

The system of offices, with the expenses one presumes are needed for those who occupy them, undoubtedly determines an economic leveling within the indigenous community
and serves as an impediment for nurturing the formation of economic and social layers
which would be advantageous to them. But the vast expenditures inherent in the offices do
not contribute anything to benefit the indigenous population. The beneficiaries, that is, the
half-breed, are those who provide the enormous quantities of spiritous liquors, and rockets,
and the extravagant clothes for the saints, and, in this way, through the ritual ceremonies
contribute to exacerbate their religious fanaticism and strengthen their subjection in a frame
of misery and lack of culture. The existence of the offices, as Stavenhagen emphasizes, is an
important factor which reaffirms the difference in class between the indigenous and the
mestizoes.

The Peruvian peasants have grasped the meaning of this problem. One of the obstacles
over which agrarian reform stumbles is precisely the system of offices. Hugo Neira Samanez
has familiarized us with the opinions of an agrarian leader, Saturnino Huillca who bitterly
recalls: "In order to acquire the positions we had to sell young sheep, little cows... In this
way the people became completely impoverished. For that reason no one now wants to have
the offices. Having them we were unable to provide an education for our children; the
money that we obtained was to enable us to pay for the offices. For that reason they have
disappeared and we no longer want them". And he caustically concludes: "The office is our
enemy. It has nothing connected with truth for us. We all have throught over. And the
positions are disappearing. Not only here, but also in other towns. They are disappearing
completely". The Peruvian peasant leader understood that the offices were utilized lor the
benefit of the oppressors. "The landowners tell us that offices are available. They say that
we hold the masses for the Lord and the Virgin because they are divine. But we have already
realized. Consequently, we take no note of us then".
Would that the Peruvian experience would be of use for the peasants of Chiapas and
Guatemala, so that they would break with a system that was created to subjugate them
and keep them in ignorance and misery.
Religion

The

Mayas of today consist of a mixture of elements, beliefs,

both indigenous and Christian. The Mayan believes in God, in
Christ, in the Virgin Mary and in the Saints; he participates in masses and processions; he
celebrates the ceremonies and holidays which are indicated on the calendar of the saints*
days; lie says his prayers, litanies and the prayers for the dead. But in the same way he pays
practises

religious ideas of the

and

rituals that are

313

The

among some of
Mayan groups of

cross,

present

central and

the
the

northern areas,

is

something more than

symbol of the Passion of
Christ. During the Guerra de
las Castas ("War of the Castes") it was thought that there
existed crosses which spoke
the

and transmitted prophecies

well as divine orders.

as

"Mother Earth"; to the Moon who is the

Virgin Mary. The Chortis venerate the Chicchan who control the winds, the spirits, death and all the natural phenomena. The Mayas of the Yucatan
peninsula keep on worshiping the Balames and Pauahtunes who protect the people, the
corn-fields and the mountains, and so they worhip also the gods of the jungle and the multi-

homage to "Father Sun", who

"Grandmother Goddess" or the

tude of supernatural beings

is

who

also Christ; to

are integrated with the Yuntzilob, the owners, the masters

or "worthy lords". Chaac, the god of

and religious practises.

rain,

continues to occupy

first

place in their beliefs

The Lacandons, in addition to venerating them, also pay homage to Kin (the Sun),
Ixchel (the Moon), Kisin (the Infraworld) and Mensaback (or Metzabac), who is the goddess
who makes the rain, sends fever and guards the good souls in a cave near the lake which
bears her name; they represent their gods in crude figures modeled on their hearths and they
bring them offerings in the archaeologic sites where they believe that they still dwell (Yaxchilan, Bonampak, and Palenque).
As far as the cross is concerned, it is something more than the symbol for the passion
of Christ: it has come to be a real god among the Mayas of Quintana Roo. Among them has
sprung up a Messianic movement with the hope that the Messiah will help them return to
the times in which they did not yet know the oppression from the whites. The cross is the
patroness of each village and the Most Holy Cross has its sanctuary in the principal position.
There were crosses that talk to transmit (with the help of an occult ventriloquist) the prophecies and divine orders.
For the Mayas there exist supernatural beings who protect animals, springs of water,
lagoons and cenotes; a whole invisible world with beings and gods, both favorable and adverse, among whom figure, in Yucatan, the aluxes, playful little genii, of the Xtabai, who
seduce men in order to steal their souls. In the Highlands, the mountains are sacred, since in
them live the spirits of the ancestors, and many other natural places are an object of worship
and are marked with crosses; such places are hills, crags, caves, wells, springs of water and
lakes. In the Altiplano

homage

is

also paid to the souls of the departed.

Pre-Hispanic concepts survive

ities

in the

which were destroyed by floods,

as

cosmogony, such as the belief in successive humanin Yucatan, and others in which the indigenous and

who

the Christian are confused, as in the case of the Chinautlecans

believe in a deluge for

were saved who lived in a paradise from

which, however, they were driven out, since they had not resisted temptation; afterwards,
they were set up in Chinautla and thus provided the founding of its population.
The cosmological concepts also resemble the pre-Hispanic concepts: in Yucatan they
believe that the earth is flat, quadrangular, with a god in very corner sustaining the heavens
(which also has deities in the corners), and in the Highlands in a concave heaven sustained
by columns. The infraworld is a place where a certain kind of earthly life subsists and constitutes the Metnal, the kingdom of Kisin, the god of death in the lowlands, and the Katib^k
forty days from which only one

in

boy and one

girl

the Highlands.

We

have mentioned the worship of the Sun and the

such a cult does not exist

in the

for the agricultural process, for procreation

of diseases. The eclipses are explained

Moon

Moon

in

lowlands, but the lunar influence

and

for childbirth,

as the result

Chiapas and Guatemala;

is

considered important

and besides also

as the

cause

of arguments between the Sun and the

due to monsters which consume the star in Yucatan; it is supposed that these phenomena produce spots on the skin, moles and deformities in the new-born
and are particularly dangerous to pregnant women.
Rituals, ceremonies and holidays associated with religious beliefs embrace all the
aspects of the family and communal life. Routine or improvised acts customarily accompany
in the Highlands, or

315

made

prayers. Prayers are

The supernatural
what nature refrains

incessantly as are also expressions of gratitude.

beings are invoked to compensate, with their benevolent intervention,

from doing or denies: health and good harvests. Divine help

is

sought for the protection of

the child and the corn-field. Before starting out on a journey prayers are said. Rituals are

when

going to fall in, when the woods are set fire to and upon
water in the event that the rains are insufficient (ChaChaac) and to celebrate the harvest. Naturally, they also pray to the gods in the time of
illnesses, plagues or any other misfortune.
celebrated

starting the

the mountain

sowing

is

as also to ask for

The holidays and ceremonies organized by brotherhoods or administratorships of estates- are especially closely bound to the patron saint of the village, but also to many other
by the

saints as well favored

faith

of the inhabitants.

Civil events,

authorities, or religious ones, such as the carnival celebration,

such as the changes in the

Holy Week,

All Saint's

Day

and the Day of the Dead, Christmas and the New Year, all provide a basis for public festivities which go for many days, with the presentation of dances or works of the traditional
theater, inspired by historic or religious narratives in which masks are very important. PreHispanic musical instruments, and colonial as well as modern, accompany the dances; these
instruments, depending on the regions, can be drums, turtle carapaces beaten with the bone
of the deer, marine snails, timbrels, flutes, marimbas, shawns, crude guitars and including
even battery radios and phonographs. In these celebrations pyrotechnists have to take an
active part and throw hundreds of their artifacts into the air; and as a primordial element,
not for stimulating or evoking joy, but rather as part of the ritual, great quantities of spiritous liquor are imbided, which produce a general state of heavy drunkeness. To fulfill the
religious mandates in the traditional fashion signifies, after all, an incredible loss of time,
useless expenditures and inhebriation, with their customary consequences of brawls and
frequent violent acts.
is

ly

It

has to be taken cognizance of that the diffusion of Protestantism

marked by a great effort in the attempt to remedy the calamity from alcoholism, so
bound to these ceremonies and religious celebrations.

firm-

Nahualismo
and Guatemala where that peculiar phenonahualismo is encountered, which must have very remote roots as far as
concerned. In the lowlands there still survives among the Chols and Chontals the

It is

essentially in the Highlands of Chiapas

menon known
time

is

as

To them they attribute sicknesses, terrors and, in general, all misfortunes which supposedly have their origin in magic. However, the action of brigades and
of medical offices among the Chontals is contributing substantially to a reduced degree
belief in the nahuals.

with reference to the belief that diseases are caused by witchcraft.

when

born, simultaneously there comes into the

world an animal (a cat, dog, fox, jaguar, bat, sparrow-hawk, etc.) which will be its nahual,
that is to say, its companion and whose life will be indissolubly bound to his. The nahual can
also be a deformed being or a dwarf, or even a ball of fire; the nahuales are invisible and
only act at night. The nahual continues to acquire power in accordance with the extent that
his master rises in the social scale and comes to be feared by the rest: it is the nahual who
informs his chiefs about the actions of the members of the community, about their private
life and their participation in communal activities. The nahual is the powerful being who
sends diseases and misfortunes to those who deviate from the rules of the community and

The indigenous

believe that

a child

is

commit such crimes as robbery, homicide and illicit sexual relations. It is hazardous to attemp to go beyond the common standard to acquire a corn-field that is larger than the usual
or to acquire lands that are not indispensable; to construct a large or more attractive house or
to buy a horse. The nahual also denounces anyone who is accustomed|to|gossip, to|defame
anyone of the inhabitants or to reveal intimacies of families. When the infraction of these
rules comes to the knowledge of any of the indigenous authorities, their nahuales thrust all
the weight of the supernatural sanctions against the guilty. The nahualismo functions as a

316

factor of control in maintaining the social order, maintaining respect for the traditional
standards and communal life within a rigurous frame of morality.

The calendar
The pre-Hispanic calendar disappeared

in the lowlands but it still remains in force

Highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala. The Tzotzils and Tzeltals use the calendar of
365 days, divided into 18 months, with twenty days in each, leaving five surplus days
considered unlucky. This calendar is used to determine the exact dates for farming tasks, for
the festivals for the calendar of the saints' days and religious events; for the changes in the
rulers; for the appropriate periods for the construction of houses; for the realization of
the works of the artisans or the migration to the estates of the coffee planters. Among the
different groups in the Highlands of Guatemala (the Mam, Kanjobal, Chujand Ixil), the same
calendar of 365 days with the Mayan names for the 18 months continue to be used for
purposes of divination, as a chronologic basis for accomplishing the work in the field, and
also for the ritual acts. As in the pre-Hispanic epoch, the change of the "Year-Bearer", the
day on which the year is initiated, is commemorated through a ceremony. With regard to
the religious calendar of 260 days (tzolkin), it has been conserved in only a very few comin the

munities.

The

cycle of

life

When comparison is made between the customs and ceremonies associated with the
events which mark the successive phases of the life of the individual, a great similitude can
be observed in the entire Mayan area. That points to a common background for all the
Mayas in which the system of beliefs was perceptibly the same. However much the process
of acculturation tends to be obliterating these practises, their survival through the centuries
reveals the profoundly conservative nature of this people.

As

all

sons, that

the indigenous peoples, the

is,

strength which

in

the future will help

the maintenance of the family until they

reason the birth of a child

For the parturition

is

Mayas too
in their

desire to have

them improve

many

all,

or, at the very least, assure

turn can support their

rarely avoided through abortions

children, above

own

families.

produced by

For that

specific herbs.

customary to contract the services of a mid-wife. Frequently,

been cut, it is left on the top of an ear of corn which is later
sown. It is also a custom to put it under the cooking stove which will play an important part
in life, if it is a girl, or on the branch of a tree so that, if it is a boy, he may grow tall and
strong; or even to leave it in the corn-field so that he may be a good farmer; or also in the
temazcal. The idea of safe-guarding it in a warm place such as the kitchen stove, or in a
sacred place, in which case it is left on the crosses, is still practised in a number of towns.
it

is

after the umbilical cord has

During infancy every effort is made to assure the greatest protection for the child, not
only so that no material harm can come to him, but also that he may not lose his soul;
magical means are utilized for this as, for example, to put a small wax ball on his head or a
colored ribbon on his wrists, as is done in Chiapas. In the Highlands, a ceremony is celebrated when the baby is three or four months old; in the course of this ceremony a name is
given to the child and he is presented to the saint who will have to protect him. In Yucatan
at the same age they still celebrate the ceremony of the Iwtzmek (xckmcke among the
Chontals), which consists of carrying the baby for the first time astride on the hips, in accordance with the Yucatecan custom. It also serves as the act for presenting objects to the
child which he will utilize when he is older: a machete, an ax, a book, a pencil, it it is a boy;
scissors, needles and the nictate if it is a girl.

The traditional marriage is arranged by the parents or a professional intermediary,

without the consent of the interested parties. However, among the more cultured Chontals,
it is not unusual for the affianced to decide on their wedding and even to run away in order
to marry later or live in a free union. It is the custom for the family of the fiance to make

317

a gift to the family

wife", the

of the fiancee, which

dowry which

in

some

villages

consists principally of food

is

referred to as "the price of the

and drinks, such

as the following:

and spiritous liquor in the Highlands; or jewels,

blankets, ribbons, cigars, bread, chocolate and rum, which is typical of Yucatan.
The wedding is an excellent pretext for a festivity to which the relatives and friends
are invited, and which, as all the other parties, terminates in a general binge. As if that were
not enough, in towns of the Highlands the party and the gifts are repeated at specific
intervals for as many as two or three times. To remain in the home of the bride's family for
a period ranging from six months to a year is the rule in the Mayan area: the young husband
thus works for his in-laws.
The Lacandons celebrate marriage in a very simple form which probably has its origin
in pre-Hispanic times: the couple is presented to the gods in the form of their effigy which
is shaped over the hearth pozole and balche are offered as a toast to them.
Due to the moral control to which we have already referred when we were treating
the nahualismo, cases of polygamy are rare among the Mayas, with the exception of the

tortillas,

eggs, pozole, meat, beans, chile

318

The
not

religious rituals have

disappeared

present

Mayan

from

still

the

population.

Magic and the deification of

natural forces; "nahualism"
and other elements continue
to be in vogue in many regions
as in the case of this painting
by Raul Anguiano which represents a

(The

Lancandon

National

Anthropology).

ritual

Musem

of

Lacandons, for the simple reason that the men are far less than the women, and also for
the fact that women need to have protection, which begins from their infancy if they have

no

Yucatan it is quite normal for

and then, each one can enter into a marital union with another mate.
Landa observed this act in the sixteenth century and he attributed it to the early age at
which they then married. But it seems more likely to be due to a certain indifference on the
part of the Yucatecan Mayan as far as sexual relations are concerned.
The many diseases which are imputed to the inhabitants of the Mayan towns have their
origin fundamentally in malnutrition, in lack of hygiene, general unwholesome conditions,
contaminations through the water and contact with animals, independent of the natural
environment which is often hostile because of excessive heat, sudden changes in the temperature, and the insects which are the transmitters of viruses. However, only very partially are
the illnesses considered as occasioned by natural phenomena and in these cases are treated
in an empiric form by means of remedies, the basis of which is principally herbs; the efficacy of this type of treatment has been confirmed by centuries of tradition. In general, an
illness is a harm sent by supernatural beings or witches through the malign nahuales and as a
punishment for having offended the gods or the spirits, or for having infringed upon the beliefs
and good customs; it is also believed that they proceed from pernicious "winds". The work
of divining the magic cause and recommending the remedy is the task of the sorcerer.
Among the inherent properties in medicine much importance is given to what may be termed
"hot" or 'cold", concepts which are not in any way related to thermic conditions; in the
same way reference is made to meals which does not imply actual temperatures of the food.
For some definite Mayan peoples, death is not considered a natural phenomenon, but
rather always as a detriment sent by someone, or as a supernatural punishment. The fear of
the spirit of the dead is general, being especially dangerous in the moment in which the dying
expires (Yucatan), that is as much applicable to inanimate objects as household goods, or
food, as to people; for that reason they are removed from the room; in other regions, the
father. Divorces are also relatively infrequent although in

a couple to separate

danger continues to be even greater for a number of days.

is made in a coffin, mat or a simple canvas cloth, with the body dressed in
and accompanied by objects which pertained to him; it is supposed that he
will continue its use in the life beyond, and foods which he will have need of, and even some
money. Those who take part are accustomed not to manifest their sorrow "so as not to distress the dead", but it is frequent for the relatives, at certain times of the vigil and during
the journey to the cemetery, to break out in shouts and lamentations. The watch is usually
accompanied by music, the burning of incense and sufficient distribution of spiritous liquor.
In some regions the dead are buried below or near the family shed. The Lacandons set up
in each corner of the ditch a dog made out of braided palms. Among the Tzotzils it is

The

its

burial

best clothes

believed that the souls of the children are lodged in a tree with

while those of the

women who

many

breasts full of milk,

died in childbirth are going to a solar paradise and are

throughout their trip by day and by night. The other souls go to K,itibak, the infraworld which they reach by crossing a river with the help of a black dog, and

accompanied by

a star

there they remain a definite time, suffering temporary torments before being reunited with
their relatives in a place of eternal happiness; that

are burned.

Among

the

is

not the case with criminals as their souls

Mayas of Yucatan the good

Metnal, where they are tortured; finally, however,

souls go to Glory
all

and the bad ones to

return to earth, being incarnated

preferibly in new-born children, and other in animals or whirlwinds.

As can be clearly perceived, the beliefs with regard to death and the life beyond among
Mayas of today, as also their entire system of concepts, present one of the richest and
most interesting amalgams of Christian and indigenous elements.
the

319

Epilogue

Material and intellectual achievements

Without arriving at the dithyramb of Morley, for whom the Mayas would have been
"the most brilliant on the planet", there is, nevertheless, no doubt that this people stand out
as the creator of one of the greatest civilizations of antiquity. In this work we have tried to
sketch their history and their most trascendental attainments.

We

have seen how, through the development of their productive forces,

it

was possible

to go beyond the formative horizon in which the Mesoamerican culture had still not succeeded in attaining their diversification and had been maintained on a level of elementary
knowledge, in which the economic life was self-sufficient for each community and the social
organization was based on kinship relations. There was not a real political system in which

each one accomplished his tasks and received

in

exchange

his just share

of the production

of goods.

During more than a thousand years (the lower and middle preclassical periods) Mayan culture was slowly forming itself through its own motivation and contributions from other
cultures as well, until
a

As the gilded light which is

reflected
from the central
personage on the central slab
of the slaves of Palenque, so
in this way "a light of hope
has begun to appear on the

horizon
peoples

Mayas,

of
of

the

indigenous

America.

among them,

The

anguish-

ed and impatient are awaiting

their hour".

number of

pleted

its

it

crystalized in the classical period: this latter anticipated a lapse ol

in which it comremained clearly differentiated from the other contempocommon background provided a relationship between them.

centuries (the upper preclassical and protoclassical periods',

integration, until

raneous cultures although

it

An enormous demographic growth,

the progressive occupation of the entire area,

probable although limited technologic advantages; gigantic efforts of a people animated

by a profound religious faith and directed by an omnipotent minority; efficient control

of the population through political and religious organisms; an intimate struggle in order to
respond to the challenge of an unpleasant climate and a nature, hostile in main parts, are
some of the causes which explain what has at times been designated as "the Mayan miracle".
In the construction of

hundreds

of

ceremonial centers, which contain thousands of

321

many

buildings,

was on

architects discovered the advantages of the vaulted roof

and

their daring

with their imagination. High pyramids; temples crowned by crestings which

a par

much

70 meters; structures of a number of storeys; dwelling units

and perhaps administrative units with tens and tens of rooms, without counting the places
for ball-games; typical temples of the indigenous; sepulchers; dams; pits; wide roads; all of
attain a height of as

these
the

show

as

us the variety, the richness,

ceremonial units real

cities

the high level attained in

Mayan

architecture.

were integrated which consisted of several thousands of

inhabitants; in these units not only the dignitaries and their servants lived but also the
civil

To

many

and religious bureaucrats, the military leaders, the traders and specialized artisans.
The thousands of buildings were decorated with care. Crestings, friezes, walls, columns,

molded
were set up in

bases and pedestals, lintels and other elements were covered with bas-reliefs of

stucco or cut from stone, probably

front of

many of them. The

embraces

all

hierarchs,

polychromatic. The stele and altars

sculptural art offers a genuine magnificent aesthetic quality and

the techniques; in like

religious

all

manner

the regional styles are also very varied. Gods,

symbols and hieroglyphic texts provide us with a

or palatial scenes,

synthetic view of what the ruling class had been concerned with.

The

pictorial

Few

art

of the Mayas

is

not inferior to their architectonic and sculptural

examples which time and the inclemency of the jungle have left us,
number so that we may admire the talent of the Mayan painters.
For example, the murals of Bonampak can be compared to those that we know from Egypt
and India. The qualities in the observation of nature, the faithful reproduction, the fine
sense of composition, the audacious phantasy and the ability to stylize what characterizes
expressions.

are the

but definitely a sufficient

Mayan

sculpture, are also present in the paintings.

which we designate "minor", we are again going to recognize the genius of

In ceramics we see simple or complex forms, bare or profusely decorated through techniques which range from the simple incision to the modeled complex, going
through the relief, just as the use of paint which was applied over a fresh background after
In the arts

the

Mayan

artists.

the baking, or integrated into the paste during the baking.

The

ritual containers, a source

of

wealth because of the information they have to offer, constitute, in addition, an inexhaustible reserve for aesthetic pleasures.

The

clay

figurines deserve

special

mention because of

their technical perfection

because of the genuine humanity which exudes from them on different hierarchic

levels,

occupations, ages and physical particularities, by means of the phantasy of the beings into

which the human and animal are combined.

The Mayan lapidaries were also great artists; they manufactured without metal instruments beautiful jewels out of jade: diadems, complex earcaps, nose rings, necklaces, breast
guards, rings and masks, all carefully elaborated.
But the Mayas were not only outstanding in material accomplishments. What amazes
us is the fact that without instruments for observation which, for example, the scholars of
Sumeria, Egypt, China and Greece did possess, yet with the most primitive means at their

and eagerness to acquire knowdetermining the duration of the solar

disposal, they succeeded through their constancy, precision

ledge in the attainment of such incredible results as

year in a form which

the cycles of the

is

more exact than that of our calendar; to define with exactness

Venus, and to predict the dates on which the eclipses would

moon and

take place.

Something similar to that can be said also with regard to their mathematical knowledge. With a means so limited as a system of vigesimal numeration is, and the positional
value of the ciphers, they were still able to calculate accurately astronomical quantities
which embrace up to millions of years. In addition to that, they understood the need for a

322

Below the impenetrable

ures

feat-

of this beautiful mask

from precious stones aie hidden many of the enigmas of

Palenque. A piece found in
the sarcophagus which was
discovered by Dr. Ruz in the
Tutnba de las Inscripciones

("Tomb

of

Inscriptions").

numeric value, that is, the zero, which they realized many
centuries before the Hindus had, to whom Western civilization through the Arabs-owes
the use of such a sign.
sign to indicate the

absence of

all

and astronomical calculations motivated them to

They probably had some knowledge of an incipient writing that
other people had utilized before them, but they invented their own which proved to be far
superior to all the writings of the American Continent. Although it has not yet been thoroughly deciphered, from what we do know about it we can appreciate its complexity and
the ingenuity with which it had been elaborated.
With a system for establishing the information obtained by the astronomers, the Mayas
were able to go on to the following stage: the creation ot a calendar or, more accurately
expressed, of a most complicated calendaric system. Apart from lunar and solar computations, they felt the need for another, independent ot the course ot the stars, created by their
intellect and ot a purely esoteric nature: thus they invented the Tzolkin ot 260 days. In

The need

to record their observations

invent a system of writing.

their eagerness to integrate

all

the independent parts ot their system in

whole, they

first

what we designate the "calendaric

wheel", and then they invented the astonishing chronologic series to which we give the
name of the "long count", in which the cycles are connected and constitute an attempt to
approach the concept of temporal infinity, since that enables a computation ot millions ot
years. Superposed upon this system they added two cycles more, but ot an esoteric con
tents: that of the nine nocturnal companions and that ot the eight hundred and nineteen

combined

the solar calendar with the Tzolkin, obtaining

J2

number of deities associated with the heavens (13), with earth

with
infraworld
and
the
(7),
(9).
But the Mayas did not restrict themselves to using their writing only for recording
dates, calculations and astronomical references, as was believed until very recently. With it
they wrote their history, a synthetic, direct and probably exclusive history of their elite
ruling class. On the stele and lintels numerous texts which deal with the life and feats of
the rulers still have to be deciphered: until now we have hardly begun to be surprised at this
archive of information on the history of the dynasties that had ruled the Mayan centers.
Their religion shows us that it was a very rich polytheism in which the deities, the
representatives of the natural forces, were venerated by the peasant population which expected life and health for their beneficience, to make up for the lack of technical resources
which allowed them a much higher level of life. Other deities of an abstract nature personified numeric and calendaric concepts, and only the members of the priesthood and the
civil hierarchy paid them homage for that. Their religious concepts together with their
beliefs about the formation of the world and of the living beings, with regard to the mechanism or celestial bodies and the passing of time, were integrated in a cosmic vision of life in
which everything was duly regulated by the gods and which would go on functioning to
eternity, always provided that they fulfilled their obligations which their representatives
and intermediaries on earth, that is, the priests, marked out for them.
When one compares the Mayan civilization with others of the Old World, one observes
a number of similitudes among them in the form of material and spiritual realizations:
cities with large ceremonial centers, spectacular architecture, art of a magnificent quality,
scientific advances, writing, elaborated religious conceptions, and commerce to remote
parts. In this aspect there is no doubt that Mayan civilization has the right to be considered
one of the greatest cultures of antiquity and, as some of them, has the exceptional merit of
having been developed in an environment naturally hostile.
However, the Mayan civilization is distinct in one fundamental aspect: while those
flourished starting out with a technological level sufficiently advanced for their time, the
Mayan lacked the very elements which could have been considered as indispensable requisites for attaining so high a level of civilization, among which we can mention again the
wheel, the plow, and metallurgy. These technological lacks confer a greater worth on
Mayan culture since, with so much less in the form of technical resources, it succeeded in
becoming equipped as those of Asia and of the littorals of the Mediterranean, and even
surpassed them in many respects, for example, the use of the zero, or the calendar.
days, a combination of the

The Mayas, the creator of goods

For

all

for foreign benefit

of these reasons, Morley referred to the Mayas as the "Greeks of America",

which has been frequently repeated. But we do not believe it necessary to

determine that in the same way as the Greeks did not consist solely of philosophers and
sculptors, the Mayas also did not comprise only scholars and artists. In order that these
exalted minorities of intelligence and sensitivity could have been able to exist and realize
a designation

their works, they required that the

in the quality

of actual slaves or

immense majority of

in a situation

the population

worked arduously

very similar to that of slavery.

Without the laborious work of the peasants, the fishermen and the Mayan artisans,
power would never have been able to undertake the
works which humanity today admires. This elite lived from the surplus of production, and
from those who participated physically in the creation of goods which only served to
benefit that group and to assure the continuity and the strengthening of its domain. The
surplus, because of the lack of an advanced technology, was obtained through the implacable
the privileged elite that retained the

324

control of the populace, and the greatest exploitation of their forces within a

production

in

which an

all

powerful State dominated

in all the aspects

mode of

the agrarian

com-

munities, through the process of what has been called "generalized slavery", with a tribut-

ary system. Besides that, the people directly participated in sumptuous works, since from
their

bosom emerged

the simple workers for ordinary constructions and also the creative

artists.

In the course of centuries the

is

to say, the lords

last centuries,

and the Mayan

Mayas had gone on creating

priests; the caudillos

riches for their rulers, that

of other ethnic groups

who

in the

before the Spanish conquest, substituted those in power (the Toltecs, the Pu-

tuns, the Mexicas); the Castilians for

more than

three centuries; the Mexican landowners

and the industrialists, businessmen and politicians of today. Always

creating goods which were never of benefit to them; living in misery, ignorance, religious
fanaticism, and unsanitary conditions: always exploited.
It is a fact that in Mexico the official work of those supporting the interests and welfare of the indigenous had succeeded in aliviating the situation of the Mayas, but it is faced
with economic structures which have political support; and besides that, it is also necessary
to state, with the restraint on their own traditional systems of beliefs and internal organization. Without fundamental changes in the economic and social structures of the country,
the good proposals of those who gave every support to the indigenous will not go beyond
that of palliatives, of superficial and temporary remedies, although they unquestionably
help in that the Mayan populace is taking cognizance of their actual conditions.
The situation of the Mayas of today is identical with that of the other indigenous
peoples of Mexico and of all the American Continent. It is also not very different from the
situation of the population of other continents, which still suffer from political colonialism
or that are found subjugated by a neocolonialism of an economic root. However, since the
middle of our century, more or less, the world has witnessed important changes which
permit the cherishing of a hope for a future, the proximity or remoteness of which no one
can predict, but which is definitely inevitable. Colonized or semicolonized peoples have
shaken off the yoke of the imperialistic powers: India, China, Vietnam, Cambodia in Asia:
almost all of the African States and, in America, Cuba.
A light of hope has begun to appear on the horizon for the indigenous peoples of
America. The Mayas, among them, anguished and impatient, await their hour.
after independence,

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ABREVIATIONS USED

IN

THE BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carnegie Institution of Washington

Handb. of Mid. Amer.

Ind.

Handbook of Middle American Indians

Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia

Middle American Research Institute
NWAF New World Archaeological Foundation
Peabody Mus. ofArch, and Ethn. Peabody Museum of Archaeology
INAH
MARI

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CEM

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Amer. Ethn.

Bureau of American Ethnology

Centro de Estudios Mayas

Publ.

Publication

UNAM

Universidad Nacional

Autonoma de Mexico

Onomastic and toponymic index

Abaj Takalik, 223, 239, 267

Becan, 71, 217, 231

Centla, 282

Academy of

Berlin, Heinrich, 166, 168

Center of

Sciences of Soviet Union, 164

Acalan, 77, 79, 190, 282, 285

Belize, 14, 39, 51, 52, 95, 97, 125, 126, 249,

Acanceh, 268, 271

269, 275
Berthelot, Rene, 170, 171, 179

Ah Kin, 195
Ah Mun, 190,
Ah Puch, 197

Beyer,

Alcalan, 275

108,

Chac Coh, 200

Ciudad Real, Antonio,

44, 177

Cizin, 197

Bolon-ti-ku, 193

bonampak,

Cimi, 198

Cit

Hermann, 166

Bilbao, 198, 223, 238, 239

Akumal, 238

Studies, 168

Cipaque, 168, 230

Aguilar, Jeronimo de, 42, 108, 281

195

Mayan

Coba, 77
1

10,

12, 139, 217, 229, 242,

243, 246, 247, 261, 276, 315

Cocom,

79, 123, 177,

Codz-Pop,

279

102, 233

Altar de Sacrificios, 217, 229, 267, 276

Borgia, Codex, 249

Coe, Michel, 23, 24, 96, 98, 127

Alvarado, Pedro de, 47, 282

Borhegyi, Stephan, 97

Cogolludo, Diego Lopez de, 44, 79, 93,

Alvarado, Salvador, 297, 299

Bourbourg, Brasseur de, 161

Alvarez, Maria Cristina, 168, 197

Bowditch, Charles, 158, 166, 176

Amatitlan, lake, 52

Brainerd, George, 12, 15, 16, 17, 129, 143, 151

Colima, 39

Andrews, Edward W., 166

Bravo, River, 52

Colon, Cristobal, 79

Andrews, George, 98, 99

Brinton, Daniel, 167

Comalcalco, 217

Apenes Ola,

Bronson, Bennet, 83

Comas, Juan, 56

171

Apoxbalon, 123

121, 133, 136, 177

Conil, 77

Arana, Carlos, 294

Copan,67,

Arben/, Jacobo, 294

47, 166, 178,

Arevalo, Juan Jose, 294

223, 263

226, 227. 230, 231, 238, 258, 275

Cordan, Wolfgang. 162

110, 214

Ascension, Bahia de, 53

Calderon, Hector, 162

Cordoba, Hernandez de, 279, 28

Calkini, 45

Corozal, 249

Atitlan, 282
Atitlan, lake of, 52

Ay Suytok

192.207.214.215,216,

Copilco, 39

Armillas, Pedro, 83

Calakmul,

110, 114, 132. 153. 155, 162, 168,

171. 177, 189.

Cachi, 77
Arbolillo, 39
los,

Campeche,

39, 51, 52, 53, 64, 67, 74, 110,

Xiu, 15

Cortes, Hernan, 42, 77, 108, 279, 281, 282

214, 217, 218, 231, 276, 281, 283, 294,

Costa Rica, 32, 67, 77, 260

295, 296, 299, 305, 307

Cot7umalhuapa. 240

Ayala, Maricela, 168

Cancun, 238

Co\arrubias, Miguel, 33

Bacab, 200

Candelaria, River, 52, 71, 269

Coxcatlan, 31

Bacalor, 77, 110, 177

Canek, Jacinto, 283, 294

Cozumel,

Campech, 283

Cresson, Hilborne, 162

Cardenas, Lazaro, 299

Cuba, 42, 279, 281, 296, 324

Bacabes, Ritual de

Bahia de

la

Mala

los,

190

Pelea, 281

Balkbal, 214

Cardoza y Aragon,

Balam, 45, 129

Carnegie Institution of Washington,

Balan Quitze, 178

Barrera Vasquez, Alfredo, 164, 195, 262

Casas, Bartolome de

S.,

163, 167

12, 15,

Culucbalom, 217, 231

Chaac, 135, 187, 189, 192.

58
Carrillo Puerto, Felipe, 298, 299

Thomas

77, 190, 238

Cuicuilco, 39

Luis, 290

Balancan, 217, 229

Barthel,

18.

Cojunlich, 217

Bullard, William, 96, 97, 128

Cakchiqueles, Anales de

las,

44

Casas Grandes, 39

Bartra, Roger, 144

Caso, Antonio, 34, 35, 175

Bastide, Roger, 205

Castillo

Armas, Carlo, 294

193.

198,208.233.

235. 236, 254. 315. 316

Chable. 282

Chac Mitun Ahau.

Chacmool, 238

197

Chacmultun, 218. 231. 242. 246

337

Chahuaca, 77

Dzibilnocac, 218, 231

Guthe, C.E., 158

Chakanputun, 177

Dzitbalche, Cantares de, 261

Guzman

Ebtun, Titulos de, 119

Haviland, William, 127, 129

Edzna, 71, 98, 110, 218, 231

Heine-Geldern, 33, 34

Egypt, 16,33,

Herbert, 144

Bockler, Carlos, 144

Chalchihuites, 39

Chalchitan, 240

Chama, 254
Champoton,
Champoton,

18, 77,

281

river, 53, 71, 254, 269,

13,

283

143,155,158,211,266,322

Herrera, Antonio de, 79, 112

Ehecatl. 254

Chan, 129

Ek Chuah,

Chapman, Anne, 79

Chesneaux, Jean, 144

72, 77, 275,

282

Chiapa de Corzo, 223, 238, 239

5

Hochob, 218, 231

El Caribe, 229

Holactun, 218

El Jobo, 239

Holmul, 214

El

Honduras,

Meco, 238

El

Hormiguero, 231

Tabasqueno, 218, 231

El Tajin, 39

Huehuetenango, 231

El Tortuguero, 217

Huil, 240

England, 290, 292, 293, 296

Huillca, Saturnino, 313

Escalante, Roberto, 168

Hun Ahau,
Hunab Ku,

1,52, 56, 77, 125, 127,189,

223, 238, 239, 272, 273, 288, 293, 305,

309, 310, 313, 315, 316, 317

Chicanna, 217, 231

Escuintla, 239, 282

Chicchan, 192, 193, 195

Chichen-Itza, 14, 15, 18,

32, 39, 51, 52, 55, 77, 79, 214,

260, 275, 283, 286, 294

El Palmar, 214

Chi, Antonio, 44, 118

Chiapas, 39, 44,

Hobnil, 200

33, 34

El Baul, 13, 139, 239, 267

161

Chenes, 218, 226, 231

Chetumal,

Hidalgo, 220, 247

200

Ekholm, Gordon,

Chapultepec, 179

Charnay, Desire,

191,

197

192

Estrada Cabrera, Manuel, 294

19, 42, 58, 67, 72,

Evreinov, E.V. 164

77,79,98,103,110,114,123,155,166,
177,

Ichpaatun, 101, 238

197,213,220,222,231,233,235,

236, 240, 242, 247, 249, 258, 260, 262,

276, 277, 278, 279, 283

Chichicastenango, Manuscrito de, 45

Isla

Fdrstemann, Ernesto, 157, 158, 166

of, 15, 17, 171, 176,

France, 292

Fuentes y

Mujeres, 67, 238

Iturbide, Agustin de, 292

Itza, 123

Fuentes, Miguel Idigoras, 294

Chihuahua, 39

Chilam Balam, books

India, 33, 158, 266, 322, 324

Fernando VII, 291

Itzamkanac, 77

Guzman, Antonio, 44

Itzamna, 190, 191, 195, 200, 250, 254

177, 180, 193, 197, 202, 263, 312

Ix

Chebel Yax, 190, 195

Childe, Gordon, 67, 96

Gallenkamp, Charles, 22

China, 33, 144, 155, 158, 266, 322, 324

Garcia de Palacio, Diego, 44

Chinautla, 315

Gates, William, 166, 167

Chinikiha, 217

Geographic

Chinkultic, 217

Girard, Rafael, 23

Chipal, 254

Godelier, Maurice, 144

Izapa, 223, 238, 267

Chocola, 239

Gomara, Francisco, 79

Jaina, 110, 112, 113, 114, 115, 256, 258

Cholula, 214

Gonzalez Navarro, Moises, 299

Jalisco, 39

Chuctiepa, 217

Goodman,

Jonuta, 217, 229, 256

Chumayel, 45

Grece, 155, 322

Institute

of the

Ixchel, 182, 190, 192, 195, 198,200,256,257,

315
Ixtab, 190

UNAM,

301

Izabal, lake, 52

Izamal, 42, 77

J.T., 164, 166, 176

Grijalva, Juan de, 42, 279, 281

Grijalva, river, 52, 77, 217, 276, 281

Kabah,

Darien, 41, 281

Guanajuato, 39

Kak Nexoc, 200

Davil, Alonso, 282

Guatemala,

Diaz, Juan, 42

15, 22, 39, 44, 45, 47, 51, 52,

55, 56, 63, 69, 70, 72, 77, 93, 97, 101,

77, 98, 102, 188, 218, 220, 231, 233

Kakupacat, 200
Kaminaljuyu, 95, 208, 223, 238, 239, 254,

Diaz, Porfirio, 297

105, 123, 131, 132,

Diaz del Castillo, Bernal, 42

239, 240, 254, 258, 260, 267, 268, 269,

Katibak, 315, 319

Dresde, Codex, 47, 156, 157, 158, 164, 175,

271, 272, 273, 276, 278, 279, 282, 286,

Kava, 45

288, 290, 291

Kelley, David, 163, 168, 179

191, 192, 193, 198

Dupaix, Guillermo, 161

Dzehkabtun, 218
Dzibichaltun, 95, 98, 99, 101, 103, 149, 220,
233, 267, 268, 271

338

189,214,223,238,

292, 293, 301, 302, 305,

307,309,310,313,315,316,317,318
Guerrero, 39

256, 258, 267, 268, 271

Kiddler, A.V., 51, 223

Kin, 315

Kakmo, 200

Guerrero, Gonzalo, 41, 281, 282

Kinich

Gurvich, 63

Kirchohoff, Paul, 32, 33

Mesoamerica, 29-40, 58, 67,

Kisin, 315

Kiuic, 218

142, 153, 160,

Knorozov, Yuri, 163, 164

75, 83, 105, 132,

161,202,208,238,276

Mexico, 22, 23, 24, 33, 37, 39, 42, 47, 51,

Kosarev, Y.G., 164

55, 56, 63, 72, 77, 95, 96,

Kroeber, 34

18, 120, 139,

223, 251, 279, 282, 283, 292, 295, 324

Kukulkan, 261

Ocozocouautla, 239

Ola Apenes, 171

Oppolzer, 158

Ossado, Ricardo, 182

Oviedo, Juan A. de, 79

Mictlan, 200

Oxkintok, 77, 110, 231, 235, 236, 271

Michoacan, 39

Oxlahun-ti-ku, 193

Miramar, lagoon, 52

La Amelia, 229
Mitla, 39, 249

La Florida, 229

Mixco

La Honradez, 214

Moctezuma,

La Quemada, 39
20, 39, 239, 258

Labria, 231

Lacandonia, 275

Lahun Chan,

213, 214, 217, 223, 226, 230, 233, 246,

179, 239

254, 256, 258, 275, 315

Montejo, Francisco de, 282, 283

Palerm, Angel, 70, 83, 143

Montenegro, Julio Cesar, 294

Palmul, 238

Mopan,

Palo Gordo, 239

77

river,

52

Lagartos, river, 53
193, 195

Morales, 229

Panama,

Morgan, Lewis,

Panuco,

67, 142

Morley, Sylvanus Griswold,

Landa, Diego de, 24, 42, 44,

58, 61, 69, 73,

17, 18,

12, 13, 14, 15,

19,20,23,24, 51,55,

56, 72,

74, 79, 82, 83, 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 96,
82, 83, 84, 86, 96, 129, 132, 143, 153,
101, 102,104, 108, 110, 112, 113, 115,

159, 166,176, 177,

193,208,223,231,

118, 121, 133, 135, 139, 149, 161, 162,

Motagua, 14,21,

220, 261, 262, 288, 319

Lerma,

river,

131, 132, 135,214,226,227,

Motagua,

river, 52, 77, 226, 260, 272, 286,

302

32

Lipschutz, Alejandro, 139

Ramos, Cesar,

166, 171

Peralta Azurdia, Enrique, 294

la,

179

Perez, Pio, 182

Ludendorff, 171

Nacon Cupul, 283

Nachi Cocom, 283

Perez Martinez, Hector, 93

Peru, 67, 313
Pestac, 217

Peten, 14, 15, 19, 21. 55, 83, 84, 95, 97, 98,

Nah, 45
297

101, 131, 132, 135, 153,

Nakum, 214

Madrid, Codex, 47, 73

233, 246, 257, 258, 268, 272, 273, 275,

National Institute of History and Anthropo-

Mani, 45, 268, 288

logy, 168

Martinez Hernandez, Juan, 176

144, 146

Peto, 295

Nebaj, 254, 258, 260

Pictun, 166

Neira Samanez, Hugo, 313

May, 129
,

102, 103,

New

Empire,

283, 285, 302

Peten-ltza, river, 52, 275, 284

Nayarit, 39

Martir de Angleria, Pedro, 44, 121

168,211,214,

216, 217, 218, 226, 227, 229, 230, 231,

Naranjo, 110, 192, 214

Malinche, 42

42, 79, 95, 98, 100, 101

Pech, 129

Peresiano, Codex, 157

Naco, 77, 275

Mayapan,

Pauahtunes, 188

Peregrination, Tira de

Lopez Medel, 177

Marx, Karl,

Pasion del Cristo, 231

Mulchic, 242, 246, 247

Naachtun, 214

I.,

166, 236

Perdida, lagoon, 52

Long, Richard, 166

Madero, Francisco

Codex, 47,

Pasion, river, 52

Motul, Relation de, 87

Lizana, Bernardo de, 44, 177

Lizardi

32

Pechal, 217, 231

229, 258

Langerud, Eugenio, 294

Paris,

67, 77, 260

river,

Payan, 217

323
163, 164, 176, 177, 180, 182, 183, 197,

192,198,199,203,207,211,

187, 191,

281

Monte Alban, 39, 159, 170,

Monte Alto, 223, 239, 267

Labna, 102, 218

river,

115,132,155,161, 168,177,179,186,

32

river,

Moch Couoh,

La Victoria, 256, 257, 266

Lacantun,

Palenque, 70, 102, 103, 104, 110, 112, 114,

Mixteca, 260

La Mar, 217, 229

La Venta,

Palacios, Enrique Juan, 166

Viejo, 240

14,

18, 23,

Piedras Negras,

131

Nicaragua, 32, 77

10, 112, 132, 168, 186, 207,

209, 217, 229

Pijijiapan, 238

104, 105,139, 149, 155, 177,213,220,

Nilo, river, 33, 154

Piste, 58

222, 233, 235, 236, 238, 254, 277, 278,

Nisucte, 238

279

McQuown, Norman

Plan de Iguala, 292

Nito, 77, 275

Playa del Carmen, 238

A., 55
Nuttall, Zelia, 171

Meinshausen, 158

Pole, 77

Mensaback, 315

Ponce, Alonso,

Merida, 42, 77, 178, 283, 291 294, 296, 299,

,

307

Oaxaca,

19, 34, 39, 55, 77,

179, 207

159, 160, 170,

Popol Vuh,

15,

79

12, 47, 51, 162, 177, 178. 190,

212, 223, 263

339

I'nitilla-Leon, Miguel, 44

Seibal,

Price,

JO, 72, 83,

10,

14, 168, 208, 217, 229, 230, 267,

275, 276

Potonchan, 77, 275

110, 132, 149, 173, 176, 187, 189, 198,

Seler, 166

143, 271

Tikal, 71, 74, 79, 84, 95, 98, 101, 102, 103,

207, 214, 218, 258, 267, 268, 269, 271

Ebtun, 119

Serrano, Carlos, 182

Titles of

Sihochac, 283

Tixchel, 190, 275, 285

Puebla, 72

Sinaloa, 39

Tixpeual, 283

Puleston, 84

Sinaloa, river, 32

Tizimin, 44

Punta Soliman, 238

Smith, 98

Tlalchitonatiuh, 235

Puuc,

Soconusco, 72, 123, 269, 282

Proskouriakoff.Tatiana, 127, 168, 179,227,

231, 235, 236

15,

214, 215, 218, 223, 226, 231, 233,

235, 236, 246

Solola,

Quetzalcoatl, 47, 235, 276

Quintana Roo,

39, 51, 52, 53, 98, 214, 217,

299, 306, 308, 309, 312, 315

Quirigua,

10,

14, 168, 179, 187, 214, 216,

227, 260

Ratinlixul, 79, 254

Memorial

Tlaloc, 189, 207, 226, 227, 229, 235, 254, 256

de, 47, 178, 202, 263

Tlapacoya, 39

Solorzano, 293

Tlatelolco, 223

Spain, 286, 287, 290, 292, 293

Tlatilco, 39

Spinden, Joseph Herbert, 11,20,23, 166, 176,

Tlazolteotl, 190

Tollan, 47

177
Starr, 56

Tonina, 217

Stavenhagen, Rodolfo, 305, 310, 313

Torquemada, Juan

Steggerda, Morris, 56, 58, 60, 61

Tovilla, Martin Alfonso, 44

Steward, 83

Tozzer, A.M., 55, 180

Sumeria, 322

Tres Zapotes, 12, 173

Swadesh, Mauricio, 55, 56

Troano, Codex, 161

Reina, 82

Trocortesiano, Codex, 192

Rcmesal, Antonio de, 44

Rendon, Juan Jose,

Trujeque, Antonio, 295

168, 195

Tula, 39, 47, 220, 223, 235, 247, 254, 276

Rios, Bee, 189, 214, 217, 226, 231

T-ho, 77, 283

Tula, river, 32

Ritual de los Bacabes, 190

Tabasco, 39, 51, 52, 53, 67, 69, 72, 77, 123,

Tulum,

170, 207, 269, 275, 276, 282, 285

Rivet, Paul, 22

Aymar

162

Tacana, 52

Zamora, Jeronimo, 44

Tajumulco,

Rochefocauld,

Roman

de, 115

de

la,

101

103, 104, 220, 222, 235, 238, 242,

249, 250, 254, 278

Tusik, 45
52, 240,

260

Rosny, Leon de, 162

Tancah, 238

Roys, Ralph, 79, 118, 182

Tapijulapa, 254

Ruppert, 98

Tayasal, 277, 284, 285

Tuxtla, 13

Uac Mitun Ahau,

Teapa, 254

197

Uaxactun, 95, 102, 155, 209, 213, 214, 226,

Tecun Uman, 282

242, 246, 258, 267, 268, 271

Sahagun, Bernardino de. 79, 89

Teeple, 156, 157, 158, 166, 171, 175

Sahara, 211

Tehuacan,

Salamanca de Xamanha, 282

Tehuantepec, istmo de, 267

Salamanca de Xelha, 282

Tekax, 45

Uk, 129

Salinas, river, 52

Tenayuca, 39, 223

United Fruit Company, 294

Salvador, El, 39, 51, 52, 56

Tenochtitlan, 39, 98, 101, 223, 279, 282

San Isidro Piedra Parada, 239

Tenosique, 72, 283

San Pedro Martir,

Teotihuacan,

river,

52

31, 34

16,

17, 37, 39,

Terray, 144

Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa, 239

Texcoco, 39

Santa Margarita, 239

Tezcatlipoca, 235

Santa Rita, 166, 242, 249, 250

Thomas, Cyrus,

Santa Rosa Xtampak, 218

Thompson,

Eric, J., 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,

24, 55, 108, 143, 144, 151, 163, 166,

192, 193, 194, 197, 198, 223, 243, 275,

340

river, 52, 77, 217, 272, 275, 276,

285, 302
158, 162, 163

Sayil, 98, 102, 218, 231

Schumann, Otto, 301

Usumacinta, 14,21, 131, 132, 135, 139,217,

226, 227, 230, 233, 275

167, 168, 175, 176, 177, 186, 190, 191,

193, 195, 198

Ustinov, V.A., 164

Usumacinta,

Satterthwaite, Linton, 160

Schelhas, Paul, 167, 186, 187, 190, 191, 192,

United States, 33, 39, 60, 61, 291, 294, 296

Uolantun, 214
101, 214

Terminos, lagoon, 53, 74, 77, 276, 282

Caballeros de Guatemala, 282

52

Ucanal, 214

Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de, 294

los

river,

Ubico, Jorge, 294

Sanders, 30, 72, 83, 96, 98, 143, 271

Santiago de

Uaxactun,

Utatlan, 282

Uxmal,

15, 77, 98, 103, 177, 189, 211, 218,

220, 231, 233, 246, 247

Uxul, 214

276, 285

Ticoman, 39

Valdivia, 41, 93, 281

Tihosuco, 295

Valentini, Phillip, 161

162

Valladolid, 283, 296

Xoconusco, 77

70, 73. 74, 77, 79, 83, 85, 89, 90, 92,

Veracruz, 39, 56, 170, 207

Xochicalco, 223

93, 98, 101, 102, 105, 112, 114, 118,

Vidal-Naquet, 144

Xpuhil, 217, 231

119, 123, 129,131, 132, 133, 135, 137,

Villa Rojas, Alfonso, 118, 312

Xultun, 187, 214

164, 177, 189, 192, 197, 207, 209, 216,

Vogt, 128

218, 231, 238, 247, 248, 254, 258, 268,

Vollemaere, Antoine Leon, 163

271

Xahil, 47

Xaman, Ek,

193

Waldeck, I.F.M., 161

283, 285, 288, 290, 291 292, 294, 297,

West

299, 302, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309,

Indies, 104

312, 315, 317, 318, 319

Whorf, Benjamin, 162

Xcalumkin, 231

Willey,

Xcaret, 238

Willson, Robert, 157, 158, 166

Yum
Yum

Xculok, 218, 231

Wittfogel, 70, 83

Yuma, 30

Xelha, 238, 278

Wolff, Werner, 83, 143, 162

Xelha,

272, 275, 276, 277, 279, 281, 282,

Gordon

R., 96, 97, 101

Cimil, 195, 197

Kaax, 190

river, 53

Xibalba, 200
Xicalango, 77

Ximenez, Francisco, 44, 47, 89, 90, 93

Zacatecas, 39

Yaxchilan 110, 112, 132, 135, 150, 168, 176,

179, 187,

192,206,207,217,229.315

Zacatenco, 39
Zacaleu, 254

Xipe-Totec, 254

Yaxha, 214

Zimmermann, Gunter,

Xiu, 123

Yaxuna, 77

Zinacantan, 77

Xkaret, 101

Yucatan,

Xlabpak, 218, 231

12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 22, 39, 41, 42,

44, 45, 51, 53, 56, 58, 61, 66, 67, 69,

167

Zip, 200
Zorrita,

Alonso de, 44

341

General index

INTRODUCTION: RECORDS AND AIMS

11

MESOAMERICA

29

The Population of

THE MAYAN MEN

Ethnolinguistic

the

American Continent

Groups

55

55

Somatic Features

56

Psychologic Qualities

58
63

29

29
30

THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE MAYAS

Mesolithic
Neolithic

31

Products from Vegetable Matter

63

Definition and Borders

32

64

Cultural Characteristics

32

Products from Animal Matter

Products from Mineral Matter

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

69

Agriculture

69

Collection

73

Hunt

73

Fishing

74

Prehistory: Paleolithic

Origin

32

Chronologic Horizons

36

Principal Cultures

36

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

41

64

Spanish Historic Sources

41

Indigenous Historic Sources

44

Domestication

74

Archaeologic Sources

47

The

76

Ethnographic Sources
Linguistic Sources
Comparative Sources

49
49
49

Commerce

76

ORGANIZATION OF WORK

81

THE MAYAN AREA

51

Division according to sex

81

work
Productive work and construction of ceremonial

82

arts

and

crafts industry

Collective

Meridional Area
Central Area

52

Septentrional Area

53

52

centers

Full-time workers

82

86

343

Management of

labor activities

Distribution of the products of

work

87

Social stratification

87

The hypothesis of an organization without

The tribal system

121
classes

125

129

CHARACTERISTICS OF ALIMENTATION

89

Foods of vegetable origin

Foods of animal origin

89

POLITICAL, SACERDOTAL, JUDICIAL

90

AND MILITARY ORGANIZATION

131

Seasonings

93

Drinks

93

Mesoamerican empires

131

Food customs
Anthropophagy

93

Autonomous

132

93

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF HOUSING

95

The location of the town

The Highlands
The Lowlands of the Central Area

95

Yucatan

98

The

98

Mayapan

97

99
100

Process of urbanization

100

Types of dwellings

101

Palaces

102

Huts

105

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

CLOTHING OR DRESS OF THE MAYAS

107

Social Differences

107

Feminine clothing

110

Jewels

112

Care of the body and adornments for the body

Tattoo

112

The

hair

Facial

down

Deformations and mutilations

THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

OF THE MAYAS
Economic basis
Land tenure
Lands of the State
Lands pertaining to the people
Lands of partial ownership
Lands through lineage
Lands of the nobility
Special lands

Usufruct of the products

344

Political organization

132

Sacerdotal organization

133

Judicial organization

135

Military organization

139

THE SOCIOECONOMIC QUALITIES

OF MAYAN SOCIETY

141

Universality and singularity

141

Economic substructure
The contradiction between the substructure
and the superstructure

142

96

east coast

Dzibilchaltun

States

113
113

114
115

Mode

of productions

144

mode of production
The mode of production among

146

Asiatic

the

THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

OF THE MAYAS
The need for
Astronomy

scientific

143

knowledge

Mayas

148

153

153
155

Mathematics

158

Writing

160

The phonetic school

161

Sovietic investigations

163

The calendaric school

The ideographic school

164
167

Historic content of the inscriptions

168

119

The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The

119

History

176

119

Medicine

180

120

Utilization of scientific

117

117
1

18

118
118
118

ritual

170

calendar

solar calendar

173

calendaric wheel

173

supplementary

174

series

cycle of 819 days

175

ends of the periods

short count
Maya-Christian correlation

175

knowledge

176
176

182

THE RELIGION OF THE MAYAS

185

Popular deities
Deities of the elite
Calendaric relation between the
and the prophecies
The deity of death
Guild and animal deities

186

Motagua

191

Usumacinta
Palenque
Rio Bec-Chenes
Puuc

The

226
226
226

classic styles

Peten

deities

194
197

200

227

230
231

231

Postclassical styles

233

Cosmology

200

Chichen

235

Cosmogony
Ritual

202
202

Mayapan
Tulum

The

203

role of religion

THE ART OF THE MAYAS

205

Itza

235

The meridional area

238
238

Painting

242

Generalities

242

Technique

242

Themes

Generalities

205

Art as a social product

206

Uaxactun

242
242

Art for serving the dominating class

Bonampak

243

Stylistic differences

206
207

Palenque

246

Historic factor

207

Chacmultun

246

Geographic factor
Mayan and Mesoamerican

208

Mulchic
Chichen Itza
Santa Rita

246
247

Generalities

The
The
The
The
The
The

art

208

209
209

Arquitectura

249
249

Tulum

Mayan dome

209

Ceramics

251

pyramids
temple

211

Generalities

251

211

Technical and

palace

213

Figurines

213

The
The

field for the

ball-game

stylistic

art cutting

development

251

254

and polishing precious stones

258
258

Funeral architecture

213
213

Gold or

Orientation

213

Music, song, dance, theater and literature

260
260

Classic style

214

Music

260

Peten

214

Singing

261

Motagua

214
217

Dancing

261

The

217

Literature

262
262

THE CULTURAL HISTORY

OF THE ANCIENT MAYAS

265

observatory

Usumacinta
Palenque

art

embroidering with feathers

silver works

theater

Rio Bee
Chenes
Puuc

217

Postclassical styles

220

Chichen

220
220

General ideas

265

Lower

266

222

Middle preclassical period (800-300

223
224

Upper

Escultura
Generalities

224

Early classical period (300-600 a.d.)

268
269

Techniques

224

Late classical period (600-900 a.d.)

272

Themes

224

The

273

218
218
Itza

Mayapan
Tulum
The meridional area

preclassical period (1550-800 B.C.)

B.C.)

preclassical period (300 B.C.- 150 ad.)

Protoclassical period (150-300 a.d.)

collapse of the central area

266
267

345

Early postclassical period (1000-1250 a.d.)

276

Late postclassical period (1250-1254/1541 a.d.)

278

THE MAYAS OF TODAY

301

Population

301

Technology

302

Exploitation of natural resources

302

THE MAYAS: FROM THE CONQUEST

TO THE PRESENT TIME

281

Industry

304

The Conquest

281

Commerce

305

Discovery

281

The pattern

Conquest of Guatemala
Attempts at conquest in Yucatan

282

Dwellings

307

282

Household appurtenances

307

The fulfillment of
The Colony
Economic changes

283

Clothing

308

Nutrition

Land tenure

309
309

Social organization

310

Social and political structure

284
284
287
287

Political organization

312

Spiritual conquest

288

System of offices

The Independence

288

Religion

Objetive causes

288

Subjetive causes: liberalism

291

Independence, the result of the war in Mexico

292

Nahualismo
The calendar
The cycle of life

312
313
316

From Independence to the present day

The crisis and contradictions in Guatemala

292

Development of the capitalism in Guatemala

Exploitation and repression of the Guatemalan

293

the conquest

Tributary impositions

for settlements

306

317
317

292

EPILOGUE

321

294

Material and intellectual achievements

321

295

The Mayas,

296
297

benefit

Bibliography

327

299

Onomastic and toponymic index

337

293

people

The crisis and contradictions in Yucatan

The caste war
The henequen fashion
Reform rulers
The incomformity of the Yucatan village

the creator of goods for foreign

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324

Art. 1913; Ancient (UuRvaTion or iviexicu miu ^eimai

srks of a general nature were
America, 1913\v
tffl
van Civilization, especially that
written about tl

Kf/on, 1947), and that.

by Morley (The
ne _jtc
rtompbuii
1959), which have been turned into manuals not only
for students but specialists as well who have been w5rk
ing or are working on this particular subjet. The most
recent work which brings everything up to date is that
by Coe {The Maya. 1966). However, during all these
years no investigator, whose native tongue is Spanish,
has produced a work of such scientific magnitude and
i

duly brought to light which, at the same time, was

within reach of an extensive public. When Dr. Ruz
Lhuillier wrote The Mayas, he filled this great gap, not
origin,
it is the first work of Latin American
the
questions
he
addition,
in
because,
but also
universally
been
had
that
deductions
hypotheses and
accepted. Through the works of Morley and Thomp
son, translated and published in Mexico, concepts now
obsolete as well as prejudices and focussing were
dominated which, while they were able to have been
justified twenty or thirty years ago, have now, in ac

only because

on

to the great progress in investigative work

this subject, lost their force to some limited extend

or

even completely.

tuality,

due

Among other aspects,

to present

these authors have endeavored

Mayan civilization as a unique case in

univer

which
any form to other
cultures; whose intellectual attainments would far sur
pass those of whatever other people of ancient times
and whose socio political system would set up a model
of equilibrium, wisdom, efficiency and harmonious liv
ing among all Mayan civilization would present an exceptional civilization in that the spiritual values would

sal history,

would

the

emergence and development

no way be attributable

in

of

in

up the norms for their structure, their functioning

and would even determine the course of their history.

set

Without denying the peculiarities or special aspects

of Mayan culture and their intellectual as well as their
artistic accomplishements, Dr. Ruz emphasizes that
not possible to idealize their culture nor to isolate it
all the other Mesoamerican
cultures, nor to separate it from a universal context
as though it were completely removed from our planet.
it

is

from the development of

and this explains the title of the present

the other investigations of this subject mat
ter, a personage, the Mayan people, is lacking
because Mayan society was not only integrated whith
without which nothing
artists, astronomers and rulers
In addition,

work,

that

in all

we admire in the vestiges which have come dowq

to us,

would ever have been produced.

Mayas; to determine their role; to

that they had with the ruling
relations
the
establish
of their scientific knowledge
the
use
clarify
to
groups;
religion;
to show the problems that
of
function
and the

To

identify the

which were
Lhuillier,
Ruz
that
themes
achieved, are some of the
treats
focussing,
traditional
at times on the very edge of

affected

them and the

historic solutions

in this

momentous work.

Finally,

j^^^^Aayas

endea^^^Hp/
a
til

there

is

a remarkable spirit

and

the continuity of their existence as

peoj^^^^Hd been conquered,

rJ^^^K^ssed;

colonized and, un

the battered survivals of their

p attitude, at times submissive, at times
n which the yesterday and the today are
ly fused.

-'

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