Maya Narrative Arts by Karen Bassie-Sweet Nicholas A. Hopkins

Author:Karen Bassie-Sweet, Nicholas A. Hopkins [Karen Bassie-Sweet, Nicholas A. Hopkins]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Anthropology
ISBN: 9781607327424
Google: UP-CDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Published: 2019-01-15T04:15:13+00:00

Figure 5.4. Place names from Tres Islas Stela 1 and Stela 2, after Ian Graham.

The examples discussed above demonstrate that many motifs found in Maya art represent words. This lack of distinction between text and image is well demonstrated on the Early Classic panel on the façade of the Copán Margarita Structure. The right panel of the structure illustrates the doorway of a building (figure 5.5). Arching over the doorway is the double-headed Milky Way Crocodile, much like the double-headed Milky Way Crocodile that decorates the actual doorway of the adjacent Structure 22. A Chahk deity wielding a thunderbolt axe is juxtaposed with the rear head of the Margarita crocodile. The upper corners of the doorway are marked with bak’tun birds. The doorway itself contains a full figure rendering of the name of the Copán king K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’ as discussed in chapter 1. The words k’uk’ “quetzal” and mo’ “macaw” are represented by a quetzal and a macaw whose necks are intertwined. The quetzal bird has the characteristic crest, green feathers and red breast while the macaw is distinguished by its beak. Despite the difference in size between an actual quetzal (40 cm) and a macaw (96 cm), each of the Copán birds is depicted with the same-sized body. Both birds are illustrated with large talons and with wings that are conflated with a serpent head. Each bird has a yax sign attached to its head and a sun god representing the word k’inich emerging from its mouth. The birds perch on a well-known mythological place name that is found in numerous contexts in Maya art (Kubler 1977; Carlson 2007–2008). In its fullest form, the place name is composed of a zoomorphic head, the glyph for blood, and two footprints, and it is prefixed with the number nine. We refer to it by the nickname Nine Place because of the uncertainty of its decipherment. The Nine Place is often associated with Period Ending events such as on Copán Stela D, where it designates the location of 9.15.5.0.0 Period Ending event of the Copán ruler Waxaklajuun Ub’aah Ka’wiil. The presence of the Nine Place name, the bak’tun birds, and the Milky Way Crocodile on the Margarita panel suggests that the scene represents an abbreviated reference to a Period Ending event performed by K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’. His full-figure name phrase takes the place of his portrait in a tour de force of text and image interplay.

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