Ninth-Century Stelae of Machaquilá and Seibal

Directions for future investigation

In lieu of offering definitive socio-historical explanations or descriptions of the interactions among artists, patrons, and audiences, the present study of the visual discourses of Machaquilá's and Seibal's ninth-century stelae poses a range of possible interpretations and questions that merit further consideration. As suggested by the numerous references to sculptural precedents both within and beyond the Southern Maya Lowlands, comparable close analysis of contemporaneous sculpture at these locations could provide insight into the art and history of Machaquilá and Seibal, as well as into the complex social history of this era throughout Mesoamerica. For example, visual and hieroglyphic evidence suggest the rulers of both Machaquilá and Seibal interacted with Maya polities to the east. Numerous polities in the eastern portion of the Southern Lowlands produced stelae in the ninth century, and hieroglyphic evidence suggests complex political interactions among them. Further analysis of the stelae programs at these eastern sites could prove insightful to our understanding of ninth-century history and political interaction, including with the Pasión region. In addition, several contemporaneous cities outside of the Southern Maya Lowlands, including Chichén Itzá, Cacaxtla, and Xochicalco, shared with Seibal a propensity for visual heterogeneity. The precedents the artists drew upon for inspiration, and the manner in which they integrated their eclectic references, however, are distinct. More generally, Esther Pasztory noted a pan-Mesoamerican penchant for 'style juxtapositions,' that is, for the use of multiple 'visual communicative systems' in both the artistic programs of cities and in single works of art.⁴¹  Assessing these phenomena as heterogeneous visual discourses could prove particularly informative on a theoretical level, providing a deeper understanding of the ways distinct visual 'systems' interact when integrated into single works or programs.⁴²  Mesoamerica offers a rich body of material for further investigating the discursive nature of visual culture.

Endnotes

41. Pasztory 1993:124.

42. Cf. Just 2000; 2004.

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