[Aztlan] Chac or Principal Bird Deity

[David Hixson]

[Note: most of the links I present below are from Barb McKenzie's "Maya Ruins" website at: http://www.mayaruins.com ]

Listeros,

I would have to agree with Karen Bassie on this.  The "Principle Bird Diety" (or PBD) concept encompasses a suite of characteristics that should not be mistaken for a singular entity.  Likewise, the structural "masks" that adorn buildings from the southern to the northern lowlands - from Copan to the Puuc - must be considered to have a range of likely candidates.

The reference Justin Kerr mentioned regarding Linda Schele's designation of the Uxmal and Kabah "Chac Masks" as the principle bird diety is an excellent case in point.  One of Linda's studies (Code of Kings: chapter 7) examined the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal.  She and I discussed this section before she published it, since I was conducting similar research at the same time.

The south building has mosaic "masks" adorning representations of traditional Maya thatched houses.

http://www.mayaruins.com/uxmal/j2_1824.html

These "masks" have snub-noses and vegetation growing from their heads - more representative of the bas-relief face at the base of Bonampak Stela 1 (often called a "witz" or mountain) rather than a traditional "chac mask" nor any representations of the PBD.

http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~dhixson/bonampak/stela1b.html

Linda translated the decorative flowers on the south building of Uxmal's Nunnery Quadrangle as "itz" - concluding the building was an "Itzam Nah".

On the North Building of Uxmal's Nunnery Quadrangle, the more proto-typical long-nosed "chac masks" were identified by Linda as "Itzam Yeh" due again to the flower in its headdress - and once again proclaimed the building an "Itzam Nah".

http://www.mayaruins.com/uxmal/j2_1829.html

While she and I agreed that the use of the "muyil" s-scrolls on the north building combined with the profile serpent imagery indicated the sky, she attributed this to complementary imagery (sky/serpents coupled with the PBD / Itzam Yeh) while I asserted the possibility that the "masks" were in fact frontal serpent representations with profile versions of their faces on either side (much like a Chenes doorway creates a frontal face out of two profile serpents).

http://www.mayaruins.com/uxmal/j2_1806.html

For me, the miniature houses on the north building tell it all...

http://www.mayaruins.com/uxmal/y1_016.html

These are miniatures of the north building itself.  With a throne in front (a life-sized one was discovered by Kowalski in the early 1990's in the Nunnery Quadrangle), the ruler would stand in the doorway, above the throne, with the stacks of serpents above, and a foreign mosaic face at the summit.  This exactly describes the north building with its life-sized jaguar throne, doorway, and its stack of "chac masks" with a foreign (Tloloc) "mask" at its summit.

But regardless of who was "right" in this discussion (I belive that none of us have a perfect grasp on the truth), one should look closely at the corner "masks" of Uxmal's Adivino (building phase 4) which clearly show other typical "chac masks" with rattlesnake bodies - not avian bodies.  I believe either the same artist or architect also designed Kabah's Temple 1A1 - as the exact same "chac masks" are depicted with intertwined serpent bodies, without any avian characteristics (see Pollock 1980).

Therefore, clearly not all "chac masks" were meant to portray the PBD (unless the Principal Bird Diety has a manifestation that is not a bird - which again supports Karen's assertion that these categories are not as monolithic as most would posit).

Finally, there are "chac masks" on the Great Temple at Uxmal that have tattooed human faces emerging from their mouths, again associated with "muyil" cloud imagery.

http://www.mayaruins.com/uxmal/j1_1724.html
http://www.mayaruins.com/uxmal/jp2_0078.html

This is decidedly NOT typical of PBD imagery.  The only other occurrence of humans emerging from the mouths of other creatures at Uxmal is on profile elongated serpents - each with the same eye, nose and mouth treatments as the "chac masks" (see the west building of the Nunnery Quadrangle and the "Queen of Uxmal" sculptures from the Adivino pyramid).

http://www.mayaruins.com/uxmal/j2_1832.html

The same eye, nose and mouth treatment, combined with an emerging anthropomorphic being is also found within serpent imagery of the codices and polychrome vessels - not PBD imagery.

Therefore, we must step aside from the notion that all of these "masks" convey the same meaning, within the same site or even the same building complex.  Some may be Itzamna, some may be Chac, some may be Itzam Yeh, some may represent more generalized serpents, and some may yet to be categorized.

I prefer to view these masks as composite zoomorphic (most often serpentine) figures that marked specific buildings with cosmological meaning - thus staying away from using the 16th century myths of the Popol Vuh to explain 10th century iconography.  One must therefore look beyond the "masks" themselves to what other iconography or landscape features might indicate a structural meaning.

Some "masks" may mark the building as similar to a Maya lord's headdress (I think there is much more work to be done on in this category).  Others may mark the open maw of an earth deity, much like an entrance to a cave.  Remember that there were also many late preclassic and early classic "masks" that may have represented celestial bodies (the sun, venus), and these inspirations cannot be ruled out for the terminal classic "chac masks".  But using a singular name or concept to describe all "chac masks" is clearly not the solution.

Like Karen, I would suggest Bardawil (1976), but also:

*Carlson and Landis (1985) Bands, Bicephalic Dragons and other Beasts
*Dunning (1994) Lords of the Hills: Classic Maya Settlement Patterns and Political Iconography in the Puuc Region
*Gendrop (1980) Dragon-Mouth Entrances: Zoomorphic Portals in the Architecture of Central Yucatan
*Gillespie (1993) Power, Pathways and Appropriations in Mesoamerican Art
*Kowalski (1987) THe House of the Governor: A Maya Palace at Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico
*Pollock (1980) The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan and Northern Campeche, Mexico.
*Schavelzon (1980) Temples, Caves or Monsters?  Notes on Zoomorphic Facades in Pre-Hispanic Architecture
*Seler (1917) Die Ruinen von Uxmal
*Sosa (1986) Maya Concepts of Astronomical Order
*Spinden (1913) A Study of Maya Art
     (1928) Ancient Civilizations of Mexico
     (1957) Maya Art and Civilization

And, again, for easily accessible photos Maya architecture, I would refer you all to my favorite Maya Photos webmaster: Barb Mckenzie, at:

http://www.mayaruins.com

Oh, and I should mention that just because I support Karen Bassie's recent post, this does not necessarily imply she would support mine ;-)

Saludos,

-Dave
____________________________
David R. Hixson
PhD Candidate
Tulane University
Dept. of Anthropology
chunchucmil at yahoo.com