Archaeology Magazine - March/April 1985 - 62

pieces of world art, and ceramic sculptures, including the sophisticated products of the figurine workshops of the
Jaina tradition, stretch onward in a
seemingly endless procession. The exhibition even includes one of the few surviving wood carvings -a marvelous lintel from the Barbachano collection that
has never before been exhibited or reported in the scientific literature.
Recent advances in the translation
of Maya hieroglyphic writing add to the
significance and excitement, for some
of the objects can be attributed to the
tombs of rulers whose names are now
known and whose careers can be outlined. Photomurals and architectural
models help supply a sense of the architectural splendor that was the setting
for these artistic masterpieces, an element that is often missing in museum
exhibits.
The Merchants and Warriors section
in the Postclassic period demonstrates
that although the Maya artistic tradition was transfigured after the collapse
of Classic culture, the production of
masterworks by no means ceased. A
chacmool and an Atlantean figure from
Chichén Itzá show the influence of Mexican ideas on the Maya tradition. Fragments of incense burners from the late
site of Mayapan (a.D. 1200-1440) introduce a vigorous bold use of color that
savors slightly of the barbaric. The first
examples of the metalworker's craft also
appear in the Postclassic section, highlighted by the wonderful gold necklace
of jaguar heads from the site of Iximché,
the home of the Cakchiquel kings of the
highland Maya, and by examples of the
golden treasures rescued from the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá.

The final section of the exhibition
deals with a tragedy that increasingly
threatens Maya sites- the wanton destruction being wrought by looters who
supply the illegal traffic in antiquities.
One cannot help but be appalled at photographs of stelae shattered beyond reconstruction by clumsy attempts to saw
them into pieces small enough to be
smuggled, or at archaeological sites that
look like moonscapes as a result of
robbers' pits. Perhaps worst of all is the
irreparable loss of historical information.
Whole dynasties of Maya rulers are
being obliterated from the historical record as their tombs are destroyed, and
the saleable objects in them are scattered among dealers and collectors where
their origins are falsified and their associations will never be known.

This outstanding Late Classic Tepeu
2 phase (a.D. 700-830)painted cylinder
was recovered from Hokeb Ha, Belize.
Height , 21 centimeters .

This modeled figurine whistle of the
Late Classic (A.D.550-800)Jaina tradition depicts a rotund elderly gentleman. Height , 14.8 centimeters.

The Tikal collections
The exhibition provides an unusually
strong representation of the art of several important Maya sites. One of these
is Tikal, located in northeastern Guatemala near the center of the lowlands.
Recognized since the late nineteenth century as probably the largest of all Classic sites, Tikal holds a central position
in the minds of archaeologists, and,
since its opening to tourists in the 1960s,
in the imaginations of travelers. It is
also among the most thoroughly investigated of the Guatemalan sites, thanks
to a fifteen-year program of research by
the University of Pennsylvania between
1956 and 1970, and to a project of the
Guatemalan government that has been
in operation since 1978. As specialists
in Maya hieroglyphic writing uncovered
keys to the historical sections of Classic

period inscriptions in the 1960s and 70s,
Tikal's importance was confirmed by
what the Maya themselves had written.
Tikal's emblem glyph is mentioned in
the inscriptions of other sites more times
than that of any other center, and the
Sky family, who ruled Tikal for hundreds
of years, proves to have intermarried
into other royal families across the length
and the breadth of the Maya lowlands.
When excavations penetrated the
temples at the site, tombs that befitted
the reputations of the Tikal rulers began
to appear. Some of their contents, recovered by the University of Pennsylvania
project under the direction of William
R. Coe, have already become acknowledged masterpieces of Maya art. The
ceramic sculpture of the Old God, seated
on a throne made from human leg bones
and holding a severed head in his hands
as an offering, was unearthed in the
tomb of the fabled Early Classic ruler
Curl Nose (a.D. 378-425). The tomb of
the most important Late Classic lord,
Ruler A or Ah Cacau (a.D. 682-733)was
also recovered. Hidden beneath the pyramid that supported Temple 1 on the
east side of the Great Plaza, Ah Cacau's
tomb demanded two seasons of patient
tunneling before yielding its location
and contents to excavators.
A splendid painted cylinder found
buried with the Ah Cacau, showing an
enthroned ruler receiving homage from
a kneeling subject, is displayed in the
exhibit. Another remarkable polychrome
vessel from a tomb in a structure at the
southwest edge of the Great Plaza also
shows a throne scene with a ruler in
earnest conversation with a man wearing a fantastic headdress with a giant
bird holding a snake in its mouth. BeThis Early Classic (a.D. 250-550)
jadeite pendant was found in a cache
at Altun Ha, Beize. Height, 10.5 centimeters.

Archaeology Magazine - March/April 1985

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - March/April 1985