 |
FAMSI © 2007: Bryan R. Just |
|
Ninth-Century Stelae of Machaquilá and Seibal
Stela 13 Although it cannot be dated specifically, Stela 13 (Figure 23 and Figure 24, shown above) was likely the last known stela erected at Seibal. The stela presents a single figure, clad only in simply jewelry, a serpent belt, and a loincloth from which additional serpents emerge. As John Graham proposed, these serpents may be literal, naturalistic renditions of the stylized serpent apron frets common to Southern Lowland iconography.25 As literal 'translations' of conventionalized Maya motifs, they are similar to the knotted serpents of the headdress on Stela 1 (Figure 20). The serpents are rendered distinctly from that sculpture, however. Some scholars have drawn comparison between the serpents on Stela 13 and sculptures from the Northern Lowlands.26 However, their rendition at Seibal is distinct and serpent clothing elements are depicted in other places as well, such as at Bilbao on the Pacific piedmont of Guatemala.27 A sinuous scroll, adorned with circular elements, extends from his mouth. This same 'speech scroll' also appears on Seibal Stela 19. The figure's left hand is replaced by another set of elaborate scrolls emanating from a rectangular base. Although fairly rare in Maya art, there are precedents for depictions of humanoid figures with severed arms or hands. Karl Taube noticed that a human figure, likely the hero twin 1 Ajaw, is depicted with his arm severed on the Protoclassic Izapa Stela 25.28 In the sixteenth-century Quiché Maya manuscript the Popol Vuh, 1 Ajaw (Junajpu in colonial Quiché) and his brother Xbalanke tried to forcibly humble the arrogant, bejeweled avian deity Wuqub Kaqix – Wuqub Kaqix bit off 1 Ajaw's arm in the process.29 Based particularly on the presence of the sinuous scrolls, Proskouriakoff thought that the sculptor of Stela 13 must have been "schooled in the Classic Maya tradition of draftsmanship."30 These scrolls, however, stand out among the otherwise novel treatments of the figure and costume elements, suggesting that the scrollwork may have been added specifically to give the work an air of 'Classic Maya' tradition. It is notable in this respect that the 'Classic' scrolls are implemented to depict the key component of a Classic Maya theme, namely the severed arm. The character of the largely undecipherable hieroglyphic text above lends some support to the possibility that some elements of Stela 13 served as tokens of Classic Maya conventions. The text opens with the second example at Seibal of a square-cartouched calendrical glyph. In contrast to the stylized Cipactli motif of the square glyphs on Stela 3, however, the glyph on Stela 13 consists of a rather naturalistically rendered, wide-lipped jar. As with the Cipactli glyphs, there is no known clear analog to the 'pot' glyph, and its relation to Maya calendars or any other Mesoamerican calendar is unknown.31 Moreover, given the lack of an accompanying 365-day calendar date, this presumably tsolk'in-like date would have recurred every 260 days, allowing for a great variety of potential correlations.32 The 'seven' coefficient above this glyph is positioned slightly off-center of the main sign, apparently to ensure its full presentation on the carved surface. The following glyphs do not yield to decipherment. Blocks B1 and C1 present a string of syllabic signs reading 't'u?-pu?-?-?-ba / e-je?-ke-ni-ta.'33 Stephen Houston considered this string the most extreme example of the increasing ineptitude of Seibal's scribes, thus proposing a very late date for the sculpture, possibly in the early tenth century.34 Contrastively, the final glyph block presents a perfectly constructed, mixed logographic-syllabic rendition of the Ochk'in Kaloomte' (west overlord/warrior) title, which was likely an explicit copy of the same collocation on Machaquilá Stela 3 (Figure 5).35 Houston's insightful observations raise the question – why were presumably nonsensical Maya glyphs even included on Stela 13? As suggested for Stela 13's scrollwork, the inscriptions may have been included to make the sculpture look 'Classic Maya.' The use of syllabic elements in particular, as well as their distinctly rounded forms, stand in maximal contrast to the logographic or pictographic, non-Classic square-cartouched glyph. It may not be coincidental that while the initial calendrical glyph is modified to appear fully within the relief surface, the Ochk'in Kaloomte' title is overlapped by the outer frame. This subtle difference in presentation may reflect relative social and communicative value given the non-Classic and 'Classic Maya' glyphs. Such a rationale for the inclusion of the 'Classic Maya' portion of the hieroglyphic inscription implies a drastic shift in the semiotic function of the glyphs. Instead of transparently conveying historical information to literate Maya, they may have suggested 'Mayaness' to an illiterate, presumably 'non-Classic' audience. Further, they serve a semiotic function of characterizing the non-Classic initial glyph as 'non-Classic.' The scrollwork included in the imagery may serve a comparable role. It is not implemented on Stela 13 to enliven negative space or balance visual activity as it did in late eighth- and early ninth-century Southern Lowland sculpture. Instead it seems to appear as a token of 'Classic Maya' visual discourse. Traditional Classic Maya features, such as scrollwork and syllabic writing, seem to have been incorporated primarily to contrast the dominant non-Classic features. During this late sequence, then, Classic Maya conventions of visual discourse played a gradually shifting role, first serving as the primary framework into which non-Classic references were incorporated, but ultimately becoming tokens of a virtually 'defunct' communicative system. The ultimate step in this process was likely the discontinuation of stela erection.
|
||
|
Text links to all pages at this site are available at the FAMSI INDEX |
||
