Ninth-Century Stelae of Machaquilá and Seibal

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Seibal's later ninth-century sculpture

Twelve Seibal stelae were erected after Aj Bolon Haabtal's Structure A-3 program. They resist strictly sequential stylistic analysis, as they vary dramatically in appearance and several cannot be securely dated. Additionally, their texts tend to be brief and opaque, providing scant information for chronological sequencing and only vague, titular references to the patron-rulers responsible for their production. Still, several overlapping threads of visual continuity and patterns of script degeneration suggest a plausible, yet admittedly provisional, chronological sequence for Seibal's late stelae (Figure 19, shown above). For the sake of brevity, four stelae have been selected for summary consideration in this report: Stelae 1, 17, 3, and 13.  In general, stelae produced around the 10.2.0.0.0 k'atuun ending in A.D. 869, such as Stelae 1 and Stela 17, incorporated novel formal conventions and iconographic elements in compositions with strong ties to preceding Southern Lowland art. By the next k'atuun ending, 10.3.0.0.0 (A.D. 889), Seibal's stelae, including Stela 3, exhibited less continuity with Southern Lowland traditions while more overtly referencing non-Classic visual precedents. The coordination of Classic and non-Classic motifs became particularly awkward in the latest Seibal stelae, as exemplified by Stela 13.  Stelae 13 provides the strongest indications that the conventions of Classic Maya visual communication, including both text and image, lost their semiotic salience at Seibal, likely paralleling a more general degeneration of the Classic Southern Lowland socio-political 'system.'

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