[Aztlan] RATS - Thank You

[kim Goldsmith]

Hi All!

I want to thank all of the people who sent me
information about rats.  I only wish that everyone
would have sent them to the board, because at least I
myself found the replies very interesting and I think
others would have too.

Several people sent me scans of the tablet so I could
see it for myself.  The animals are often so highly
stylized in Maya art (as compared to the Valleys of
Teo. and Mexico where I mostly work), that even though
I know a lot about general Meso. iconography it is
often hard for me to distinguish certain things I'm
not familiar with.

I got several opinions on whether or not any type of
rat was indeed native to the Americas, so in my mind
that is kind of still pending.

Other folks mentioned the rat in the Popol Vuh...duh! 
Don't know how I forgot about that.  But then I got my
copy out thinking that maybe the original translation
might not have been right.  However, the rat is
mentioned in one spot and then the opossum is
mentioned in a totally different spot, so obviously
these are two different animals.

The last straw was when I called my 20-year old over
to the computer and asked her cold what animal she
thought the picture was of.  First she said a jaguar
because of the clothing, but I told her to look at the
face.  She immediately said, "a rat".  She's been
around both archaeology AND all kinds of animals here
on the farm all her life, so I guess the rat wins.

Nonetheless, I would like to know if anybody knows of
any other rats in Meso ARTWORK, as opposed to strictly
oral history.

What do you all say??

Just finding it all interesting.................

KIM