[Aztlan] "The Maya had no Wheel...."

[Greg Sandor]

Supposing that the wheeled animal figures were to serve as

"a vehicle to carry the dead to rise in the morning as the sun"

If
"All the animals that have wheels are associated with the sun, "
"These animals associated with the sun include the dog, jaguar, deer, and
monkey. "

And
"The Mayas were not using the wheel the way we do...."

Then why wouldn't they carry the spirit of the deceased on their backs, in
the manner of the human porters carrying people and cargo, on four or two
legs?

Why would this technology be reserved exclusively for the spirit realm?  Why
not also transfer earthly loads to the backs of animals and (i.e. hitch deer
to wheeled sledges or sleighs)?


Regards,

Greg

(614) 517-7204
greg at gregsandor.com
http://www.gregsandor.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <DWirth8851 at aol.com>
To: <AZTLAN at lists.famsi.org>



Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 3:03 PM
Subject: [Aztlan] "The Maya had no Wheel...."


> I agree with Jean-Paul Herveg re: the "wheel" in Mesoamerica, that  "The
> Mayas were not using the wheel the way we do...."
>
> More than 70 terracotta wheeled figures have been  found in Mesoamerica,
the
> earliest dating to c. 100 B.C. Previously termed  "toys", they have been
found
> in burials of both adults and children.

All the  animals that have wheels are
> associated with the sun, and since they were buried  with the dead,
probably
> had to do with rebirth--in other words, a vehicle to  carry the dead to
rise
> in the morning as the sun. These animals associated with  the sun include
the
> dog, jaguar, deer, and monkey.
>
>     In addition, Mesoamericas were not novices in the  use of axles. Due
to
> the fragile organic nature of wood, no axles survived to  our day, but
scholars
> report that five ways to attach wheels were used. For  references to the
> wheel in Mesoamerica, see below:
>
> Gordon D. Ekholm, "Wheeled Toys in Mexico," American Antiquity  11/3
(1946).
> Staney H Boggs, "Salvadoran Varieties of Wheeled Figures,"  Contributions
to
> Mesoamerican Anthropology, Pub. No. 1 (1973).
> Stephan F. Borhegyi, "Wheels and Man," Archaeology 23 (January  1970).
>
> Diane E. Wirth
>
>
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