Ninth-Century Stelae of Machaquilá and Seibal

Machaquilá after the fall of the Mutal polity

In what is still a poorly understood series of events, the last known king of the Mutal polity, K'awiil Chan K'inich 'went out' of the Petexbatún region on 9.16.9.15.3 [17 January 761]. 8   This marked the decline of the Mutal polity, which fell into endemic warfare in the final decades of the eighth century. 9   In the remaining decades of the eighth century, lords of other sites in the region, characterized as 'petty kingdoms,' attempted to fill the void left by the dissolution of the Mutal polity.10  While several of these kingdoms claimed the Mutal Emblem Glyph as their own, others continued to use their own Emblem Glyph, proclaiming their continued autonomy. Cancuén, on the other hand, usurped power from Machaquilá and claimed dominion over the upper reaches of the Pasión River and its tributary, the Santa Amelia/Machaquilá.11  However, this Cancuén/Machaquilá kingdom, united under Tajal Chan Ahk of Cancuén, did not last into the ninth century, as only five years later a new Machaquilá king, Ochk'in Kaloomte' Aj Ho' Baak, erected Stela 2 (9.18.10.7.5 [9 January 801], Figure 4, shown right), reclaiming his, and the Machaquilá polity's, political autonomy.

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Although Stela 2's sculptor implemented the same basic composition and figural pose as used on Stela 18 and 19, he also incorporated a secondary figure, possibly an allusion to Cancuén, and a broad, densely-accoutered figure whose costume bore strong references to the stelae of the Petexbatún Mutal polity. Through these visual allusions and the use of the K'aloomte' and 'He of Five Captives' titles, Ochk'in Kaloomte' Aj Ho' Baak presented himself as a full-fledged, regionally powerful K'uhul Ajaw, one comparable to the past kings of the Petexbatún Mutal dynasty. This bold political proclamation may not have accorded with actual political history, however, for Ochk'in Kaloomte' Aj Ho' Baak did not erect another stela and Machaquilá's sculptural record fell silent for fifteen years.

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Following this hiatus, the king Si(j)yaj K'in Chaak II directed Machaquilá's visual discourse inward with his two stela commissions. Stelae 3 (9.19.5.11.0 [6 January 816]) and 4 (9.19.10.12.0 [30 December 820]) synthesized iconography, formal conventions, and compositional precedents from Stela 2 and earlier Machaquilá stelae. Stela 3 (Figure 5, shown above) exhibited a number of significant formal adjustments to the visual discourse of extant Machaquilá stelae: (1) the figure's proportions were more slender, with longer legs and a narrower body; (2) the narrower form of the stelae shaft more closely followed the relief composition within; (3) details of costume and implements were reduced, though without any decline in the quality of execution; and (4) the hieroglyphic text was more brief than on Stela 2, focusing almost entirely on the period-ending and stela consecration ceremonies, associated both with the ho'tuun ending proper and with the locally distinctive 1,825-day anniversary interval. Si(j)yaj K'in Chaak II also took the name of an earlier local king, may have stressed dynastic continuity by using the poorly-understood 'foundation' (wite' naah) collocation in the inscription, and claimed regional political power by using the prestigious Kaloomte' title.

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Si(j)yaj K'in Chaak II's second commissioned stela, Stela 4 (Figure 6, shown above), presented the king in the same guise and pose as Stela 3 and implemented a suite of formal adjustments that echo the relations between Stela 3 and its precedents, including further modification of human proportions and simplification of motifs (Figure 12). Stela 4 also reintroduced the quatrefoil shell-and-Imix basal motif and its text shifted back from a 1,825-day interval to a 1,820-day interval for the stela consecration timing, both of which were last implemented on Stela 18.

Considered together, the stelae commissioned by Si(j)yaj K'in Chaak II participated in a notably restricted, local visual discourse, drawing iconographic, compositional, and hieroglyphic inspiration exclusively from local precedents while making consistent adjustments to the formal 'conventions' of that discourse. These features may indicate Machaquilá's political isolation during Si(j)yaj K'in Chaak II's reign, reflect his desire and/or need to affirm his dynastic legitimacy and Machaquilá's right to polity status, and/or constitute an expression of the polity's stability in a time of regional socio-political turmoil.

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The next and final K'uhul Ajaw of Machaquilá, Juun Tsak Took', was responsible for the production of four stelae, Stelae 8, 7, 6, and 5.  His first commission, Stela 8 (9.19.15.13.0 [24 December 825], Figure 7, shown above), closely followed the works commissioned by his predecessor. Certain features of Stela 8 were more like Stela 3 than the intervening Stela 4, including the active pose, stressing the confident brandishing of the K'awiil scepter, and the presentation of additional inscriptions on the frame of the relief. These features were likely selected to stress Juun Tsak Took's legitimacy and power on his inaugural, accession stela. Stela 8 also further modified the formal qualities of the local visual discourse with its more slender figure and reduced detail. The subsequent Stela 7 (10.0.0.14.15 [2 January 831], Figure 8 and Figure 9, shown below) continued this discourse, drawing formal and iconographic inspiration from preceding Machaquilá stelae, simplifying further the rendition of motifs, refining the figural proportions, and hieroglyphically associating the stela's consecration with multiple calendrical intervals. For the first time since Stela 2, the inscription of Stela 7 included a 'Captor of …' title, possibly indicating a shift in the nature of regional political interaction that warranted explicit reference to Juun Tsak Took's regional power.

      
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This possibility seems likely in light of the notable iconographic shifts that occurred on Juun Tsak Took's last two stelae, Stela 6 (10.0.5.16.0 [1 January 836], Figure 10, shown above) and Stela 5 (10.0.10.17.5 [30 December 840], Figure 11, shown below). Each of these sculptures omitted the K'awiil scepter, replaced the Water Lily Serpent headdress with an animal headdress, and substituted a new pectoral for the standard necklace. Juun Tsak Took' also donned a tubular nose ornament, which may have derived from the nose bar worn by the Water Lily Serpent on the masks of the preceding stelae.

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These motifs may have been new to Machaquilá's local visual discourse, but all of them find precedents in Southern Lowland Classic Maya art. Contrary to previous claims, Juun Tsak Took's gesture of 'reception' on Stela 6 is not submissive but dominant, and may reflect greater attention given to non-local audiences paralleling the 'updating' of the site's insular visual discourse with new iconography. At the same time, however, the artist incorporated these new ideas into the local visual discourse, as evidenced by the recurrence of various costume elements, the reference to the locally peculiar 1,820-/1,825-day intervals for the timing of the stela consecrations, and the continued adjustments made to human proportions and degree of detail (Figure 12, shown below). Ultimately, Juun Tsak Took's attempts to diversify and reconnect with regional politics failed, as the sculptural record at the site fell silent after the production of Stela 5.

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To review, the iconographic, hieroglyphic, and formal homogeneity among Machaquilá's ninth-century stelae, produced between A.D. 801 and A.D. 840, contrasted sharply with the variety of its early eighth-century stelae. The consistent ninth-century Machaquilá stela 'template' consisted of: (1) a formulaic hieroglyphic text associating each stela with multiple, alternative calendrical intervals; (2) portraits of rulers impersonating the Water Lily Serpent deity; (3) other normalized costume elements; and (4) the display of the K'awiil scepter. This 'template,' derived from Machaquilá's early corpus, first coalesced with Stela 18, erected in A.D. 775.

Following the demise of Dos Pilas, the primary capital of the Petexbatún Mutal polity, other sites in the region vied for political dominance. This power grab affected Machaquilá directly, as the polity fell prey to conquest by the Cancuén polity in the final years of the eighth century. Soon thereafter, however, Ochk'in Kaloomte' Aj Ho' Baak reclaimed Machaquilá's political autonomy. His single stela commission, Stela 2 (Figure 4), incorporated several costume elements attested on stelae at Dos Pilas into the local compositional format, presenting the new ruler as comparable in status and power to the past Mutal kings.

Machaquilá's subsequent ruler, Si(j)yaj K'in Chaak II, commissioned two stelae, Stelae 3 (Figure 5) and 4 (Figure 6). Compared to Stela 2, they each drew more exclusively on local visual precedents, exhibited reduced detail in the rendering of motifs, depicted the ruler with a longer, leaner body, and, in their brief hieroglyphic inscriptions, focused more intently on period-ending and stela consecration rites. All of these qualities also characterized the first two stelae commissioned by Machaquilá's next and last known ruler, Juun Tsak Took', namely Stelae 8 (Figure 7) and 7 (Figure 8 and Figure 9). Although Juun Tsak Took's subsequent two stelae, Stelae 6 (Figure 10) and 5 (Figure 11), introduced new costume elements to the local 'template,' they reflect continued interest in the reduction of detail, lean human proportions, and the locally peculiar calendrical timing of consecration rites. Stelae 6 and 5 thus reflect not a foreign invasion of the site, as some scholars have argued, but the changing objectives of Juun Tsak Took' and/or his artists, together with a continuity of local visual idiosyncrasies and hieroglyphic rhetoric.

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Both the uniformity of the late series and the regularity in kind of the changes made from one stela to the next at Machaquilá closely resemble traditional expectations of 'stylistic development.' The artists responsible for Machaquilá's seven ninth-century stelae, working within limited compositional and iconographic parameters, made subtle, formally consistent modifications to the design of each new work. The reduction of detail in the rendition of motifs, as exemplified by the renditions of the figures' pectorals (Figure 13, shown above), was limited to superfluous detail – the diagnostic features of the motifs remained and, in fact, became more legible. The reduction of detail also enhanced the visibility of the human form, drawing attention to the long, lean body. It is notable and, among Maya polities, exceptional that at Machaquilá the perceived artistic 'improvements' involved a consistent set of formal issues for forty years. From our distant and encompassing perspective, we may be tempted to explain Machaquilá's visual discourse as an inevitable 'stylistic development', which sequentially progressed 'toward' some singular goal of iconographic efficiency and perfect human proportions. However, as James Ackerman cautioned in his famous treatise on style, "what actually motivates the process is a constant incidence of probings into the unknown, not a sequence of steps toward the perfect solution."¹²  Each successive stela at Machaquilá drew heavily on local precedent and its producers likely perceived in the relations among preceding works a pattern of formal modifications. It is unlikely, however, that Machaquilá's patrons and artists perceived some ultimate, perfect realization of this 'trajectory' yet chose instead to produce an intermediary, imperfect stage. Rather, each stela involved revisions to the local 'template' considered appropriate by its ruler-patron and artist.

Endnotes

8. Schele and Grube 1995:59; Martin and Grube 2000:63.

9. Since the 'going out' of K'awiil Chan K'inich was recorded at Tamarindito, it is possible that the Tamarindito/Arroyo de Piedra polity played some organizing role in ousting K'awiil Chan K'inich and the subsequent destruction of Dos Pilas. As Stephen Houston notes (personal communication via email, June 14, 2005), this important series of events in the history of the Mutal polity remains poorly understood.

10. Martin and Grube 2000:64-65.

11. Machaquilá seems to have been conquered by Tajal Chan Ahk of Cancuén on or just before 9.18.5.5.19 [10 January 796], before Machaquilá Stela 17 could be completed. Cancuén made clever use of Machaquilá's curious calendrical patterning in its sculptures commemorating the conquest, implying that it prohibited Machaquilá from completing the calendrical period as an autonomous polity. For more on this conquest, see Schele and Grube (1994), Guenter (2002), Fahsen and Jackson (2003), Kistler (2004), Zender (2004), and Zender and Skidmore (2004).

12. Ackerman 1963:175.

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