[Aztlan] Maya figurines

[Wayne Harrison]

Greetings All,

In his book DISCOVERIES AND ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL AMERICA (CHARLES
SCRIBNER'S SONS ,NEW YORK. 1929), at page 170 THOMAS GANN gives the
following description of some clay figurines he found at Lubaantun in
what was then British Honduras.


"The ruins of Lubaantun are distant, as the crow flies,
probably not more than 25 miles from Chumuchk,
though, travelling by the only route open, the journey
takes not less than three days in fine weather, and a good
deal more in the rainy season. We found there great
pyramids, terraces, and substructures, all faced with
beautifully cut stone, together with innumerable small
clay figurines of men and women of all classes, from the
priest, in his elaborately decorated ceremonial robes, and
the noble in his jewel-covered head-dress, maxli, and
sandals, to the labourer, in his breech clout and apron.
We saw, perpetuated in clay, all the innumerable forms
of dress and coiffeur in vogue amongst the ladies, and
women of the lower classes. But in addition to these we
found, modelled in clay, with the utmost fidelity and
wonderful artistic skill, scenes from the daily life of the
people : a woman carrying and suckling her baby,
another carrying a plate of cakes, a hunter giving the
coup de grace to a deer with his flint knife, a gorgeously
dressed noble being borne along in his hammock by
high-hatted attendants, warriors in vizor-like helmets,
who might have stepped out of the Middle Ages, and
many others."

Has anyone ever seen any of these figurines?


Wayne Harrison