WEAVING THE PAST: AN EXAMINATION OF BONES
BURIED WITH AN ELITE MAYA WOMAN
A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Faculty of
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts
with a
Major in Art History
by
Chelsea Dacus
(B.A., Mount Holyoke College)
December 10, 2005
1
Copyright (2005)
Chelsea Dacus
All Rights Reserved
2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I could not have completed this thesis without the help of several people and
organizations including, first and foremost, my advising professor, Dr. Adam L. Herring,
who has guided me to many wonderful opportunities in the field of Maya art and whose
advice on this thesis and my career has been invaluable. I would also like to thank Dr.
Sandra Noble for her kindness, welcoming nature, and assistance, without whom I would
not have had the occasion to visit many Maya sites in Guatemala. In addition, I must
express my appreciation for the advice and research Dr. David Freidel has so graciously
provided. Many others have been invaluable for their counsel and support in this process
also; the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc., Eileen
Coffman, Dr. Karl Taube, Dr. Federico Fahsen, Dr. Annemarie Weyl Carr, Carol
Robbins, the Art History Department and the Graduate Council of Southern Methodist
University, Mary Dell Lucas, and my family.
3
Dacus, Chelsea
B.A., Mount Holyoke College, 1999
Weaving the Past: An Examination of Bones
Buried with an Elite Maya Woman
Advisor: Professor Adam L. Herring
Master of Arts conferred December 10, 2005
Thesis completed August 12, 2005
Weaving has been a succinctly female activity in the Mesoamerican region of
Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and the other countries of Central America for hundreds of
centuries. For the modern Maya the fabrics and patterns woven are at the core of a woman’s
identity and a crucial source of family sustenance. For the ancient Maya cloth and fabric
were used in their tribute activities – gifts of food and cloth created ties, alliances, and
allegiances. The symbol of ascending to rulership in ancient Maya writing and sculpture was
encapsulated in the action of tying on a cloth headband. Clearly, the production of fabric was
an essential activity performed by Maya women.
This study examines a set of bones inscribed with glyphs calling them the bone pins
of an elite Maya woman. These bones were probably specifically meant for use in weaving
and were given a place of honor, indicating their significance and worth as elite objects and
tools, by being buried with her as funeral goods along with a cache of valuable and elite
objects. Using a categorical and iconographical analysis and utilizing the clues left behind in
the glyphs adorning these bones, this study uncovers who this woman probably was and what
her role might have been in the royal household she lived in. She was probably a royal
woman, maybe a princess, or even a queen, who had ties with a ruler of Naranjo, a city in
4
northeastern Guatemala near the border with Belize. She shares titles with some of the
prominent queens of that city, and is labeled as a royal woman of high status by these titles as
well.
The number of bones buried with the lady of this analysis may signify that she was a
master weaver. Since fabrics and their distribution were so important to the political system
of the ancient Maya it is logical to believe that fabrics by certain weavers who had proved
themselves as masters would have been sought after, much in the way that ceramic vessels
from certain workshops of high quality were desired. Along with monuments from Naranjo
and other city-states, which tell of women acting as rulers, ambassadors, and politicians,
these unique utensils, rare in the archaeological corpus, suggest that the role of elite women
was integral to the function of rulership and Maya society.
5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................... viii
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1
2. THE CACHE .........................................................................................................12
3. DISCUSSION OF THE BONES AND THEIR CORRELATIONS .....................29
4. EXAMINATION OF THE BONES AND THEIR QUALITIES ..........................43
The Inscribed Bones ........................................................................................43
The Non Inscribed Bones.................................................................................62
The Fragments .................................................................................................69
Conclusion .......................................................................................................78
ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................................80
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................124
6
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure
Page
1. Cache: Bone embroidery needle, eight of the jade objects including head,
2 rings, 2 shark’s teeth, 2 lip plugs, and three small round objects .......................78
2. Cache: All jade diadem objects, four small round objects, and two
shark’s teeth ...........................................................................................................79
3. Cache: Two rings, two lip plugs, and two of the stingray spines ...............................80
4. Cache: Four stingray spines ........................................................................................81
5. Ceramic figurines of the goddess of weaving or an elite woman dressed as
the goddess .............................................................................................................82
6. Vase with complex mythological scene involving the Moon Goddess ......................83
7. Cache: Spondylus shell covered in cinnabar with incensario inside ..........................84
8. Cache: Bones One through Twelve ............................................................................85
9. Cache: Bones Thirteen through Twenty-Four ............................................................86
10. Cache: Fragments One through Fifteen of bones from the Cache..............................87
11. Examples of backstrap loom weaving in progress with lease and pattern
sticks inserted .........................................................................................................88
12. Examples of the different decorative ends..................................................................89
13. Example of the hollowed out head decorative end .....................................................89
14. Carved bone from Dzibilchaltún with a similar inscription to the one on the
bones from Naranjo ...............................................................................................90
15. Yaxchilán Lintel 24 ....................................................................................................91
16. Yaxchilán Lintel 25 ....................................................................................................92
7
17. Bonampak Murals: Structure 1, Room 1, west wall, detail ........................................93
18. Bonampak Murals: Structure 1, Room 3, east wall, detail .........................................93
19. The Princeton Vase .....................................................................................................94
20. Stela 8 from Naranjo, back .........................................................................................95
21. Stela 8 from Naranjo, front .........................................................................................96
22. Stela 19 from Naranjo, back .......................................................................................97
23. Aj Maxam Vase Inscription ........................................................................................98
24. Stela 13 from Naranjo, back .......................................................................................99
25. Stela 14 from Naranjo ...............................................................................................100
26. Fragment of a Stela now at the Museo del Radio Petén in Flores ............................101
27. Bone One ..................................................................................................................102
28. Bone Two..................................................................................................................103
29. Bone Three................................................................................................................104
30. Bone Four .................................................................................................................105
31. Bone Five ..................................................................................................................106
32. Bone Six....................................................................................................................107
33. Bones Seven through Ten .........................................................................................108
34. Bone Seven ...............................................................................................................109
35. Bone Eight ................................................................................................................110
36. Bone Nine .................................................................................................................111
37. Bone Ten ...................................................................................................................112
38. Bones Eleven and Twelve ........................................................................................113
39. Bone Twenty.............................................................................................................114
40. Bone Twenty-Two, decorative end...........................................................................115
41. Quetzal Bird ..............................................................................................................115
8
42. Fragment One ...........................................................................................................116
43. Fragment Two ...........................................................................................................117
44. Fragment Three .........................................................................................................118
45. Fragment Three, comparison with thumb .................................................................118
46. Fragment Four ..........................................................................................................119
47. Fragment Five ...........................................................................................................119
48. Fragment Six .............................................................................................................120
49. Fragment Seven ........................................................................................................120
50. Fragments Eight through Fifteen ..............................................................................121
9
To Dad and Julian
10
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
To the ancient Maya, the practice of weaving and cloth production was an
essential and life affirming process necessary for protection from the elements, for use in
accession ceremonies and tribute rituals, as well as burials and temple dedications.
Indeed, the manufacture of fabric and cloth has been a vital element in all human
societies throughout history, and has remained a way for bonding mentally, emotionally,
and religiously throughout the passage of time.1 The significance possessed by the
actions of weaving and the fabrication of cloth is clearly conveyed in the art of the
ancient Maya, where images of cloth and clothing are ubiquitous, and figures of
goddesses and elite women engaged in the process of weaving abound. The intricate
patterns of weaving and embroidery are recorded in careful detail on many monuments of
the Maya from the Classic period, and their ceramic vessels document the offering of
bundles of cloth from vassals to lords and from lords to vassals in a confirmation of their
relationship, which was central to the operation of Maya society. In fact, this distribution
and gifting of cloth and fabric is the most commonly featured theme in these gifting
ceremonies recorded in the images on Maya ceramics and carving. The vibrant murals of
the Maya city of Bonampak demonstrate the variety of colors and types of fabric which
1
Dolores Bausum, Threading Time: A Cultural History of Threadwork (Fort Worth: TCU Press, 2001),
viii.
11
existed as fundamental elements of ritual and ceremony.2 The act of a lord’s accession
into the office of ruler was marked by the crucial process of tying on a headband of cloth,
which was a predominant sign of rulership. The phrase for accession (k’al hun) translates
into the act of tying on this headband and the glyph for accession takes the form of a
human or bird head wearing the headband. Traditionally in Maya culture, weaving has
been symbolic of a woman’s crucial procreative abilities, as demonstrated by the
powerful ancient Mesoamerican goddess of weaving and childbirth, Ixchel.3 This vital
position weaving played for the ancient Maya is also confirmed by a fascinating set of
inscribed bones taken from the tomb of a royal Maya woman.
Sadly, due to the climate of the warm and humid tropics, very little is left of the
majestic fabrics the ancient Maya wove. Yet from the evidence left in their art we can
imagine the incredible weavings they must have made to adorn their homes, thrones and
themselves as well as to trade and exchange in important tribute rituals. Rulers may have
used swaths of fabric like a curtain to set themselves apart, and as a backdrop on which to
stage their rituals. Rulers are often shown on painted ceramics seated on thrones with a
gathered bundle of cloth above their heads. Evidence exists in the form of tie holes by
doorways that screens of fabrics were stretched across doors and parts of the building to
create rooms and a degree of privacy, though also to allow discreet regulation of the
2
Robert J. Sharer, The Ancient Maya, 5th ed . (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994), 724-726,
fig. 15.45.
3
Karl A. Taube, The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan (Washington, D.C.: The Dumbarton Oaks Research
Library and Collection, 1992), 99-105; Margot Blum Schevill, Maya Textiles of Guatemala (Austin:
University of Texas, 1993), 64; and Mary A. Ciaramella, “The Weavers in the Codices” in Research
Reports on Ancient Maya Writing No. 44 (Washington, D.C.: Center for Maya Research, 1999), 46-48.
12
conversations of those living and working in, and visiting the home or palace.4 Tents of
fabric could also be stretched out from the façade of a building to create additional
space.5 Rulers and their families are frequently portrayed on vessels and monuments
wearing clothing with elaborate and intricate patterns, which have echoes in the colorful
textile creations of today’s modern Maya.
In order to fashion such outstanding works of art, the Maya would have needed
many different kinds of weaving tools. These we have in relative abundance in the
archaeological record in the form of a variety of spindle whorls, pins, needles, and
weaving picks, often called awls, from the ruins of ancient Maya cities6 and in the
archaeological and iconographical evidence from other ancient American cultures as
well,7 though not often in profusion or in the context of a burial cache. These tools are
most often made of ceramic, and much less commonly wood or bone. The survival of
these latter two materials is extremely rare due to the difficult conditions for survival in
the hot and humid tropics of the ancient Maya region. Many of the objects related to
cloth production are found within elite households and constitute the evidence of the
4
Merle Greene Robertson, The Sculpture of Palenque (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,
c1983), volume 2, 11, 36-40; and Mary Miller and Simon Martin, eds., Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya
(New York: Thames and Hudson, 2004), 22.
5
Ibid.
6
Julia A. Hendon, “Women’s Work, Women’s Space, and Women’s Status Among the Classic-Period
Maya Elite of the Copan Valley, Honduras” in Women in Prehistory: North America and Mesoamerica,
eds. Cheryl Claassen and Rosemary A. Joyce, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997);
Jennifer T. Taschek, The Artifacts of Dzibilchaltún, Yucatan, Mexico: Shell, Polished Stone, Bone, Wood,
and Ceramics (New Orleans: Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, 1994); and
Clemency Chase Coggins, “Painting and Drawing Styles at Tikal: An Historical and Iconographical
Reconstruction” (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1975) present a few examples of the corpus.
7
Byron Hamann, “Weaving and the Iconography of Prestige: The Royal Gender Symbolism of Lord 5
Flower’s/Lady 4 Rabbit’s Family” in Women in Prehistory: North America and Mesoamerica, eds. Cheryl
Claassen and Rosemary A. Joyce, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), 153.
13
daily activities of the inhabitants leading to the possibility that emphasis was put on an
elite woman’s ability to create fabric for tribute.8
There is a unique set of carved and inscribed bones deposited in the tomb of a
Maya woman as special items meant to honor and accompany the deceased. This
assemblage of 24 inscribed bones and 15 fragments discussed in this study are rare
examples of such weaving tools for several reasons. They were found in a burial with a
group of other elite items rather than in a domestic setting. Though the practice of
depositing carved and inscribed bones in burials is well documented in Maya
archaeology, the bones are primarily from the tombs of male rulers, and as such exhibit
masculine themes related to ritual, rulership, and mythology. The bones in this study,
however, have a distinctly feminine motif. The weaving tools typically discovered are
not inscribed as well. Weaving tools such as the ones in this paper with inscriptions
which title them as weaving bones are extremely rare. Their abundance is also
extraordinary. Such weaving tools are usually found scattered and discarded few and far
between in the context of living spaces where the Maya performed their daily activities,
not in concentrated bundles given special account and status by being covered in cinnabar
and deposited in a burial. Though the context of the burial is obscure, all of these items,
including the bones, were covered in cinnabar that is more than 78% mercury, giving
them a shared archaeological and ancient origin.
From the inscriptions on them and the other items included in the tomb it can be
ascertained that they are from a grave deposit rather than any sort of dedicatory cache for
a building or monument. Inscribed with glyphs describing them as u puuhtz’ and u
8
Hendon, 45; and Hamann, 167.
14
puuhtz’ b’aak9 or "the needle of" and “the needle bone of,” the bones also give us the
name of a royal lady as the owner. Such possessive inscriptions are usually given only to
items included in the tomb of a specific personage – in this case, a royal woman. The
objects which accompany the bones include jade pieces from a diadem or necklace, lip
plugs of a white stone like alabaster, stingray spines for bloodletting, bone needles, and
flint blades, as well as a large spondylus shell with a miniature jade bead, possibly a
censer. All of these items are often included in burials, in conjunction with ceramics and
other personal items such as carved or inscribed bones, deer antlers, or other materials.10
These bone tools are unique from other weaving tools found in the Maya region not only
because of their number, rarity of material, or their derivation from a mortuary context,
but also because they were found in the burial of a woman, which are rare discoveries in
Maya archaeology.
Though scholars have translated the word puuhtz’ as meaning “needle” or “pin”,11
the meaning is not that of our modern western culture. Puuhtz’ indicates a tool related to
cloth production, though it could specify a weaving tool, or several different kinds of
weaving tools. The Maya had needles for sewing and letting blood, but the particular
bones of this study are too blunt, long, and thick to be the kind of needles used by the
Classic Maya for those purposes. Instead, they resemble weaving pins or picks used by
9
The spelling of words used here, throughout this document, and in the translations of the inscriptions on
the bones in the catalogue are taken from Notebook for the XXVIIIth Maya Hieroglyphic Forum at Texas
(Austin: University of Texas at Austin, 2004) by the Maya Workshop Foundation.
10
Michael Coe, Piedras Negras Archaeology: Artifacts, Caches, and Burials (Philadelphia: University
Museum, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1959); and W. B. M. Welsh, An Analysis of Classic Lowland
Maya Burials (Oxford, England: B.A.R., 1988), 102.
11
Karl A. Taube, personal communication. See also A Preliminary Classic Maya-English/English-Classic
Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings
(http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/vocabulary/Vocabulary.pdf, Jan. 2002) compiled by Erik Boot.
15
the modern Maya in the fabrication of brocade,12 as well as by ancient weavers in the
Andes exhibited in half woven looms with the cloth still attached and the weaving
instruments still inserted.13 The survival of ancient looms and weaving tools in the
Andes is unique to that region due to the dry climate. The same is not true of the Maya
region unfortunately, and though we have ceramic representations of women weaving on
the backstrap loom, one of the most ancient types of looms used throughout the history of
human civilization, the figures are not detailed enough to demonstrate the use of tools
such as these or they would have been so small that they were likely lost to time.
Though we lack the iconographical images of these tools in use in the Maya realm
from the first millennium A.D., the likelihood is that they were utilized in the context of
cloth production through correlation between cultures that have used the backstrap loom
throughout history, such as the ancient and modern Andean cultures, the cultures of the
Philippines and Indonesia, and the modern Maya, all of whom demonstrate the use of
tools made of wood or bone which closely resemble those of this study in weaving with
backstrap looms, in addition to the glyphs carved on them, titling them as weaving bones.
It is possible that some of the bones lacking the puuhtz’ (needle or pin) glyph or an
inscription altogether, and even those that include it, were utilized for other purposes
such as hair pins, clothing pins, makeup applicators, or some other daily usage, though
there is sadly little evidence. On many painted vases it does appear that some kind of
similar long pins were used to bind the hair up of the women and even the men, however
Cherri M. Pancake and Suzanne Baizerman, “Guatemalan Gauze Weaves: A Description and Key to
Identification,” Textile Museum Journal 19 and 20 (1980-1981), 3-4; Marilyn Anderson, Guatemalan
Textiles Today (New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1978), 100-101; and Hildegard Schmidt de
Delgado, “Aboriginal Guatemalan Handweaving and Costume” (Ph.D. thesis, Indiana University, 1963),
26-27.
13
Adele Cahlander with Suzanne Baizerman, Double-Woven Treasures from Old Peru (St. Paul,
Minnesota: Dos Tejedoras, 1985), 47.
12
16
it would be difficult to prove that this was a purpose to which these particular bones were
put. For the variety of weaving patterns, thicknesses, and fabric ranging from thick
brocade to a gauzy lace-like textile, which we can see in the carved monuments and
painted murals and vessels of the ancient Maya, it is likely that they needed a variety of
tools, a diversity which is attested to by the bones of this analysis. Nevertheless, the
bones without the puuhtz’ glyph or inscriptions possess enough homogeneity with those
that are called weaving pins that they were all likely put to related use. For the purposes
of this study, we will concentrate on their utilization in weaving, and put aside the
question of their viable application in other labors.
There are twenty-four complete or only partially broken bones, though most of
the broken bones have been reconstituted by modern conservators since their unearthing,
and thirteen are incised with glyphs. There are fifteen fragments as well, which have
resisted reconstruction, seven of which have inscriptions of some kind. Two complete
bones and four of the fragments have lines which spiral down around them, a common
motif on weaving instruments and possibly related to the particular use of that kind of
bone. All of the bones and fragments have or had at one point in history decorative
finials in the form of hands holding bundled objects, bundled objects alone, hollowed out
round-cheeked heads, and, in the case of one aesthetically refined bone, a Resplendent
Quetzal bird. The more complete bones are anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five
centimeters long, and are very slender at three to six millimeters in width. The decorative
ends are larger at five millimeters to as much as one and a half centimeters in width. The
fragments are more delicate, varying only two to thirteen centimeters in length and less
than three to almost five millimeters in width.
17
Elegant and slim, these carefully constructed tools were finely carved artistic
ornaments to the person buried with them, though more functional than some of the more
elaborately decorated Maya bone objects which are included in the richly attired burials
of rulers.14 They are from the tomb of a royal woman from Naranjo, an ancient Maya site
located in the far North-Eastern region of Guatemala, near the modern border with
Belize, known for its activity between 300 and 900 A.D.15 Very little is known of
Naranjo’s development outside of that period due to a lack of archaeological work there.
The most information we have garnered from the evidence involves a fairly lengthy span
of time known as the Middle Period, during the first part of which Naranjo was governed
by a woman from 682 to 693 A.D. as regent for her son. She possibly even commanded
the site until 741 in support of or in addition to her son, the ruler, as she appeared on
several monuments as a victorious sovereign.16 Most scholars believe that the titles on
the bones under consideration here are variations of the titles for this woman. It is more
likely, however, for reasons discussed in the next chapter that they belonged to another
royal woman of Naranjo from this era or in the centuries following.
The activities of food and cloth production in ancient Maya society were two of
the crucial and time-consuming duties of ancient Maya women, and thus served as
defining elements of their social identity.17 The bones of this study were tools that would
have been used in such duties and hence were placed in the tomb of a woman. Items
similar to these, though rare, are also found in the tombs and decoration of royal and elite
14
Such decorated bones are well known in the archaeological corpus. One such group of famous bones
from the burial of Jasaw Chan K’awiil I of Tikal is well documented in Coggins, “Painting and Drawing,”
457-458.
15
Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties
of the Ancient Maya (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2000), 69.
16
Ibid., 74-77.
17
Hendon, 37.
18
burials and palaces, not only of the Maya,18 but also of other Pre-Columbian cultures
such as the Mixtec at Zaachila,19 suggesting that tools used in cloth production were
objects of significance to these cultures. Some of the bones found in the tomb for the
well known Lady K’ab’al Xoc in Structure 23 at Yaxchilan bear resemblance to those of
this study, though they are much smaller and lack the longer inscriptions and sheer
plenitude.20 Examples of comparable length and exhibiting analogous glyphs have been
identified at Mirador in Mexico and Uaxactun in Guatemala,21 as well as one example at
Dzibilchaltún,22 though their numbers remain few. The weaving tools pictured at
Zaachila are presented as goods which the woman, Lady 4 Rabbit, was bringing with her
into the marriage with Lord 5 Flower. They represented her adeptness in the art and her
ability to contribute to the gifting tradition of the Mixtec, a tradition corresponding to that
of the Maya. Her skill in creating textiles and thus to produce items for tribute was an
additional attraction as a royal wife.23
Weaving was a metaphor for the process of creating and birthing a child24 and the
tools used in the process of weaving had connotations of the act of procreation.25 A
woman’s crucial physical productive ability was likened to her ability to create fabric and
clothing. In addition, it has been found that while the emphasis for non-elite Maya
women seems to be on food preparation capabilities, the focus for elite women appears to
Roberto Garcia Moll, “Shield Jaguar and Structure 23 at Yaxchilan” in Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya,
eds. Mary Miller and Simon Martin (New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 2004), 268-270.
19
Hamann, 153-154.
20
Miller and Martin, 112-113, pl. 55.
21
Stephen D. Houston and David Stuart, “Peopling the Classic Maya Court,” in Royal Courts of the
Ancient Maya, Volume One: Theory, Comparison, and Synthesis, eds. Takeshi Inomata and Stephen D.
Houston (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001), 77 n.5.
22
Taschek, 150, fig. 16
23
Hamann, 153-154.
24
Ciaramella, 46-47.
25
Ibid, 47; and Hamann, 163.
18
19
be their skills in textile manufacture indicating that fabric production and fabric were
high status actions and objects within ancient Maya culture.26 An elite woman’s ability
to supply fabric to a household’s tribute paying capabilities and wealth seems to have
been of considerable concern, both to the Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures,
perhaps even as much as the injection of powerful bloodlines.27 Tribute and gifting
ceremonies where objects like cloth, food, ceramics, and other items were traded between
lords (ajaw) and retainers (sajal) were the primary means of cementing relationships for
the ancient Maya. Therefore, it is perhaps not so surprising that tools used in this central
activity of cloth production were deposited in the tombs of elite women. Due to the
scarcity of such buried evidence and the focused studies of them, however, the exact
meaning of such funereal repositories and what they mean in terms of the status and roles
of elite ancient Maya women remains somewhat of a mystery.
Little studied before now, the bone tools catalogued in this work can shed some
light on this puzzle. Relatively rare objects in a small corpus of bone items related to
weaving from a tomb in at Naranjo in Northeastern Guatemala, they arouse many
questions which this exposition will attempt to answer. Who was the woman who owned
these? How did she come to Naranjo? How did she use them in the act of weaving?
How often were they used? What is the purpose or meaning of their burial with her?
Through a careful iconographical, iconological, and categorical examination of the cache
with which they were found, and of each individual bone, including a loose translation of
Patricia A. McAnany and Shannon Plank, “Perspectives on Actors, Gender Roles, and Architecture” in
Royal Courts of the Ancient Maya, eds. Takeshi Inomata and Stephen D. Houston, (Boulder, Colorado:
Westview Press, 2001), 94-95.
27
Ibid., 96-97; Hendon, 45; Hamann, 167; and Susan D. Gillespie and Rosemary A. Joyce, “Gendered
Goods: The Symbolism of Maya Hierarchical Exchange Relations,” in Women in Prehistory: North
America and Mesoamerica, eds. Cheryl Claassen and Rosemary A. Joyce (Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1997), 199-203.
26
20
the glyphs inscribed on them, I hope to contribute further data in the ongoing discourse
elucidating the diverse positions of women in Classic Maya society.
21
Chapter 2
THE CACHE
The bones of this study are a noteworthy key to the world of the elite Classic
Maya woman. They were obtained as part of a group of objects that made up a cache or
part of a cache deposited in the burial of an elite woman (figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4).1
Similarities between the titles in the glyphs on the bones and fragments indicate that all
of the bones were found together. Additionally, all of the items in the cache including the
bones were bathed in cinnabar which was more than 78% mercury, giving them a shared
context and leading us to believe that they were discovered as a group. Cinnabar would
have been distributed throughout the tomb as burials of important dynastic ancestors were
often reopened and bathed in cinnabar in tribute to that individual.2 The cache includes
pieces of jade, flint blades, stingray spines, lip plugs and rings of a white stone, shark’s
teeth, and a spondylus shell. Such items are regularly found together in burials, often
accompanied by ceramics and other items worn by the deceased. The goods found in this
cache are prevalent in elite graves and indicate greater wealth of the individual interred
with them.3 Occasionally carved bones that have survived the tough conditions of the
1
All photographs and drawings unless otherwise stated are my own.
Taube and Miller, 62; Arnoldo González Cruz, “The Red Queen,” Mesoweb, 2000 [on-line resource for
Mesoamerican studies]; available from http://www.mesoweb.com/palenque/features/red_queen/08.html;
Internet; accessed February 25, 2005, p. 8 of 12. Ellen E. Bell, “Engendering a Dynasty: A Royal Woman
in the Margarita Tomb, Copán,” in Ancient Maya Women, ed. Tracy Ardren (Walnut Creek, California:
Altamira Press, 2002), 97.
3
Welsh, 146.
2
22
rain forest are found in tombs as well. Fortunately, enough osseous works of art have
been unearthed from burials to deduce that they were routinely included as tomb goods.
Though bloodletting items such as the flint blade and stingray spines and spondylus
shells with jade beads were also consistently parts of building dedicatory caches,4 the
inclusion of the bones, jade diadem or necklace pieces, the red beads, and white stone
jewelry, indicate treasure of a more personal nature as would be deposited in a tomb.
It can be surmised that the deceased was of an elite status because of the items in
this cache and the titles included in the inscriptions on the bones, as well as the deposit of
cinnabar. The female sex of the deceased can be conjectured from the fact that the bones
are inscribed with the title of a woman and are related to weaving by the glyphs upon
them. Weaving has been traditionally associated with women in the Maya culture and
civilization. In fact, one of the primary aspects of the moon goddess in Maya mythology
was that of a weaver and she was sometimes represented as a ceramic figure industriously
weaving away (fig. 5),5 and on ceramic vessels with spindles full of yarn in her headdress
(fig. 6). Many goddesses, such as Schellhas Goddesses I and O, sometimes had a
headdress made of a spindle wrapped with thread, suggesting that there was an
underlying assumption of women’s role as weavers.6
The woman’s elite status is first made apparent by the nine round pieces and one
small head of high-quality, apple green jade, which might have constituted the decoration
for a sophisticated and beautiful diadem or necklace (fig. 2). Jade was a precious mineral
4
Freidel, Schele, and Parker, 242.
Susan Milbrath, Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars (Austin: University of
Texas Press, 1999), 153. Linda Schele and Mary Ellen Miller, The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in
Maya Art (Fort Worth: Kimbell Art Museum, 1986), 143-144, pls. 51-52.
6
Julia Ellen Guernsey, “A Thematic Survey of Women on Maya Late Classic Ceramic Vessels” (Masters
Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1992), 110; and Taube, The Major Gods, 64-69, 99-105.
5
23
highly prized by the Maya, particularly jade of a certain light green color similar to that
of an apple.7 Mesoamerican jade is technically known as jadeite, though it sometimes
consists of other blue and green stones such as diopside, chrysopras, albite, serpentine,
and various combinations of these materials.8 It is extremely difficult to carve, even
more so than the jade of China and New Zealand, typically nephrite, which is not as
dense as jadeite.9 It is partly because of its durability that the Maya valued jade so highly
and why they deposited such large amounts of the material in the burials of royals and the
elite.10 The color of jade, which could range widely from a deep green, blue, or bluegreen to a light green, white or purple, also enhanced its significance. The green color of
the stone was identified in Mesoamerican thought with the green of maize plants, a staple
of the Maya diet, water, vegetation, fertility, and life.11 In images where a piece of jade
jewelry floats in front of the nose of a figure, it represented the royal breath of life,
immortality, and rebirth.12 Scholars have surmised that jade was used as a kind of
currency and it was certainly a sign of great wealth.13 Thus these valuable apple-green
elements of a diadem or necklace most likely signify that the deceased was at the very
least an elite and wealthy person.
Other objects buried with the cache include one flint blade, two shark's teeth, four
beads of a red mineral or spondylus shell, four stingray spines as well as fragments of one
7
The jade objects deposited with one of the most famous rulers from the ancient Maya world, Pakal the
Great of Palenque, were of this color.
8
Adrian Digby, Maya Jades (London: British Museum Publications Limited for the Trustees of the British
Museum, 1972), 14; Mary Miller and Karl A. Taube, An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of
Ancient Mexico and the Maya (London; New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993), 101.
9
Karl Taube, personal communication.
10
Digby, 14.
11
Ibid, 10; Miller and Taube, 102.
12
Clemency Chase Coggins, “Portable Objects” in Maya, eds. Peter Schmidt, Mercedes de la Garza, and
Enrique Nalda (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1998), 255.
13
Miller and Taube, 101.
24
or two others, and two rings with two small bent objects made of alabaster or another
glowing white stone, which were probably lip plugs (figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4). The flint blade,
shark’s teeth, and stingray spines were materials often used by the Maya in bloodletting,
which was, as a form of auto-sacrifice, an important ritual performed by rulers and their
families. They would pierce themselves and bleed onto pieces of bark paper, which
would then be burned, in order to contact ancestor spirits and the gods.14 Maya
monuments and vases often depict these instances where the ruler and/or his male and
female relatives perform blood sacrifice and thereby conjure up an image of their
ancestors or the gods to assist and advise them in their duties as rulers.15 Queens often
appear on these monuments assisting in these rituals by giving blood themselves, such as
on the Yaxchilan lintels and the murals at Bonampak. They also would cut themselves,
and are commonly portrayed passing a spiked rope through an aperture in their tongues as
part of the process. Though there have not been many female burials found, bloodletting
implements like the ones in this cache appear when a woman was of high status and
importance in society. Her lineage and position, her blood, would have been very
valuable in these bloodletting ceremonies. Stingray spines and other bloodletting tools
are normally only buried with men.16 In order for such items to be deposited with a
woman, she would have to be of the very highest rank of society and politics.
Jewelry and personal adornment are also important indicators of status. The lip
plugs and rings made of a white mineral resembling alabaster are similar to ones found in
14
Sharer, 539-540; and David Freidel, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker, Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years
on the Shaman’s Path (New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1993 [2001]), 202, 445-447 n.59.
15
Such depictions can be found in the well-known lintels from Yaxchilan, pictured in Schele and Miller,
186-187, 177-178; and Miller and Martin, 106-109, pls.49-51; and held at the British Museum in London.
See also Taube and Miller’s section on ‘Sacrifice’, 144-146.
16
David Friedel, personal communication.
25
the cenote at Chichén Itzá and in the burial of the queen at Waka’ also known as El
Peru.17 Other examples were also found at the Yucatan site of Dzibilchaltún.18 They
could be made of jade, shell, wood, and various other materials, but it is clear from their
status as burial objects with the elite and as precious sacrifices at Chichén Itzá that they
were objects of high value, which the wealthy and royalty would have owned. It can be
assumed, therefore, that a cache holding such things as the stingray spines and other
bloodletting tools, as well as jewelry elements such as rings and lip plugs made of
alabaster, would have only been buried with a person of royal status and some
importance.
Included in the burial was also a large spondylus shell dripping with cinnabar, a
material very important to the Maya, and a small circular and hollow jade bead or censer
with a pattern of holes drilled into it and a lid (fig. 7). The red beads (figs. 1 and 2) may
also be made of spondylus shell. The spondylus shell is the shell of a mollusk, also
known as a thorny oyster, found in the Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters of Central and
South America.19 The shell is very rough, spiked, and of a red coloration when the
interior layer of white shell is scraped away, which related the shells to the vital
substance of blood in the minds of the ancient American cultures.20 Adding to its
preciousness was the difficulty of its retrieval; red spondylus only appears at great depths
and only the most skilled of divers were able to dive deeply enough to salvage the
17
Clemency Chase Coggins, and Orrin C. Shane, Cenote of Sacrifice: Maya Treasures from the Sacred
Well at Chichén Itzá (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984), 238, fig. 8.1; David Freidel, personal
communication.
18
Taschek, 150, 164, figs. 16 and 30.
19
Allison C. Paulsen, “The Thorny Oyster and the Voice of God: Spondylus and Strombus in Andean
Prehistory,” American Antiquity 39, no. 4 (Oct., 1974): 597.
20
Taube and Miller, 153.
26
shells.21 Its watery origins and relations to blood and sacrifice also gave it an association
with fertility; Maya women are often shown wearing a spondylus shell at their waist and
covering their groin area.22 Spondylus shells with jade beads nestled inside were
regularly deposited in dedicatory caches for buildings as well as burials, both materials
being related to the Maize God and important to the Maya.23 The particular combination
of a jade bead inside a spondylus shell was an important trope of caches for the lives of
buildings and objects and the afterlives of deceased ancestors. It must have had a specific
meaning for the ancient Maya, though it remains unknown today. Though shells were
regularly left in the graves of all Maya, they are more numerous in the tombs of the elite,
and spondylus shells were reserved for the upper echelons of society.
The cinnabar that envelopes this spondylus shell also had connotations of blood,
sacrifice, and fertility due to its crimson color, and it was a highly valued substance for
the Maya. Cinnabar is the red sulphide of mercury. Mercury is produced when cinnabar
is heated and it was a liquid mirror substance included in offerings because the Maya
viewed mirrors as important tools in their rituals.24 Cinnabar was liberally distributed in
royal tombs by their descendents. The famous Red Queen of Palenque and the queen’s
burial found at Copán were literally bathed in the scarlet material.25 A similar spondylus
shell covered in cinnabar with a jade bead inside of it was found with an important
dedicatory cache in Copán26 and other examples have been found at Tonina.27 These
21
Paulsen, 597.
Taube and Miller, 153.
23
Miller and Martin, 119, pl. 62; and Freidel, Schele, and Parker, 242.
24
Friedel, Schele, and Parker, 244.
25
Taube and Miller, 62; Cruz, p. 8 of 12. Bell, 97.
26
Sharer, 311-313.
27
Miller and Martin, 119.
22
27
items and the inscriptions on the bones, which give royal titles to the woman they name,28
and the accompanying objects in the cache as well as the deposit of cinnabar make it
clear that the deceased with whom they were interred was a royal woman, possibly a
queen or princess.
Also of particular interest in connection with the bones are two small needles
made of bone, one approximately six cm in length and the other about three cm. They
are very thin and tapering, and each has a perforation at the thicker end. They are
extremely yellowed, smooth and polished from use. These needles were used for
embroidery, an important aspect of Maya fabric design in the Classic era and today, and
for stitching together pieces woven on a backstrap loom to make huipils, a king of blouse,
for women. Since the size of a piece of fabric on a backstrap loom is limited by the arm
length of the weaver, these pieces would have to be sewn together in order to make a full
garment, and so they were a necessary element of clothing fabrication. These needles not
only relate to the cloth production function of the weaving bones, but they are yet another
indication that the person buried with these bones was a woman.
One can imagine that the woman buried with these belongings was perhaps a
minor princess or even a queen in a royal household, buried wearing the diadem or
necklace of precious light green jade, and the glowing white jewelry through piercings in
her lips, with the tools that she utilized in the important rituals of her life, such as
bloodletters, weaving bones, and sewing needles, at her side. She would have
participated in certain important bloodletting activities using the stingray spines, shark’s
teeth, and flint blade. One of her major roles within the household would have been the
28
See pages 52-88 of this study.
28
weaving of important fabrics and the construction of clothing for important ritual
purposes.
The weaving bones are the most extensive, the most unusual, and interesting part
of the known cache. Not only are they distinct from other osseous deposits in burials
such as Jasaw Chan K’awiil I’s tomb at Tikal, but they are also more numerous than
other bone weaving tools found in any other context. In total there are twenty-four (figs.
8 and 9), some of which have been reassembled from broken pieces by modern
conservators, and fifteen fragments (fig. 10). Thirteen of the bones are inscribed with
glyphs giving us clues and hints as to who the woman they belonged to was and the
bones with inscriptions are inscribed on only one side. Eleven are not inscribed at all,
though two are carved with three lines spiraling down and around the bone. All of the
bones have or had at some point a top decoration consisting of either a large carved head,
a hand holding an object, bundled objects alone, or another decorative motif though these
objects have been broken off some of the bones. Eight of the bones are adorned with the
hollowed out head whose eyes and mouth are pierced through to the other side of it (figs.
12 and 13). In addition, these heads have a hole through the top of them into the
hollowed out area in which were probably inserted feathers or another form of
decoration, possibly bundles of cloth, or threads. Though without further evidence the
objects that were infixed in these heads can only be supposition.
Ten of the bones have delicate hands holding objects as their decorative tops (fig.
12), though the objects the hands hold vary, and are difficult to interpret. They could be
bundles of paper, small plants or water lilies, or even bundles of fabric, which would tie
in significantly to their purpose as weaving pins. Most of these hands have been pierced
29
through in the space between the object, the thumb, and the index finger. It is possible
that something could have been inserted here as with the heads, but due to the difficulty
of the position and the lack of wear this seems unlikely. Three of the bones have had
their whole tops broken off, while others have had only the objects held by hands broken
away. Two simply have the bundled objects at the top without the hands, and one very
intriguing bone has the identifiable shape of a quetzal bird, with the long tail feathers
trailing down and around the bone (figs. 40-41). These tops also tell us that the bones
would have been utilized as weaving implements – Hands and birds are common motifs
on the ends of pins or “awls” found by archaeologists to have been associated with
weaving and cloth production.
The bones range in length from fifteen to twenty-five centimeters and from three
to six millimeters in width for the body, while the fragments are about the same width
and much shorter, varying in length from two to thirteen centimeters. All of the bones
are extremely fragile at this point, especially the fragments. It is possible that the more
complete bones were within a fabric or hide wrapped bundle, which would have
protected them, and the fragments had either fallen out or were not part of the bundle
originally, leaving them to be exposed to and weakened by the elements. Some of them
were perhaps special bones which had a different purpose than the others. The fifteen
fragments are more of a puzzle than the whole bones, though they also give us clues as to
who the royal woman was and where she came from. Seven of them have glyphs related
to those in the inscriptions on the more complete bones, yet most are so damaged by the
passage of time that it is impossible to read them. Even those fragments with glyphs only
30
have partial captions. While some of them must have read similarly to the inscriptions on
the whole bones, others are very different.
Houston and Stuart propose that these bones were not used at all and that they
acted as “symbolic accoutrements of gender or as expressions of the queen’s idealized
domesticity.”29 While this is a possibility for some of the bones which are long and
unwieldy for practical use, and whose glyphs remain fairly clear, most of these were in
fact probably utilized, and rather frequently. Some bones of this collection exhibit wear
as if their owner utilized them often. The high polish on many of the bones that could
have been created by continual friction with a soft material such as the yarn used in
weaving or the hands of the weaver is one indication. Polish is a gentle type of wear on
objects which creates a smooth and shiny veneer covering the imperfections and cracks
by filling them in and wearing the edges down causing scratches and other blemishes to
disappear.30 It is considered to be small scale abrasion, on a molecular scale, which
burnishes the surface of the material.31 These cracks and striations are more than surface
deep and so can reappear if the polish is removed or tampered with,32 and the cracks in
the set of bones in this study could have reappeared with age and the stress endured
during entombment. The utilitarian points of these bones commonly display a greater
29
Houston and Stuart, 77 n.5. Bones Three and Seven have been drawn by Houston and Stuart and
included by them in a discussion on the role of elite women in the Maya court, 64-66, Figure 3.2. Their
discussion of these particular bones is limited to a few sentences, however, and the entirety of the
inscription has remained untranslated in published form. I have, therefore, made and used my own
translation in the discussion of the bones.
30
See Genevieve M. LeMoine’s Use Wear Analysis on Bone and Antler Tools of the Mackenzie Inuit, or
BAR International Series 679 (Oxford: John and Erica Hedges, 1997); and Jean Bouchud, “Les aiguilles en
os: Étude compare des traces laissées par la fabrication et l’usage sur le materiel préhistorique et les objets
expérimentaux,” in Methodologie Appliqué à L’Industrie de l’Os Préhistorique (Paris: Éditions du Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1977), 257-267.
31
LeMoine, 8-9.
32
Ibid.
31
degree of polish, indicated by a hard, sleek white surface, than the upper portions with
glyphs that are less smooth and have more cinnabar embedded in them, implying that the
hard points of these bones were in friction with some sort of substance more commonly
than the rest of the bone. The fact that only the more utilitarian portions of the bone and
not all of the bone are polished indicates that the bones were probably not given a polish
as a step in fashioning them, but were polished with use in weaving. The slick, glossy
surface of these bones, contrasting with the non gloss surface of areas that would not
have encountered much friction in their use, could have been created by a polishing effect
produced from contact with yarn and with the hands of the weaver.33
The inscriptions are also indicative of this polish during use – while on some
bones the glyphs retain hard incised edges, others, such as Bones Two, Three, and Six,
(figs. 28, 29, 32) are softer and even virtually disappear the nearer they are to the
workable end.34 On the inscribed bones where wear is apparent in the glyphs the
cinnabar is very faint and has not become imbedded in the incisions and the glyphs are
shallow with soft rounded and frictionless edges, indicating that the edge left from
carving the glyphs was worn down by polish, and thus that the bones were employed
frequently while the glyphs adorned them. Some of the other inscribed bones, on the
other hand, where the glyphs are vividly red with cinnabar and show a sharp and defined
edge, demonstrate little or no wear in the glyphs. The majority of the glyphs in the
inscriptions are small with unbroken edges; it is unlikely that they would have caught on
the threads of fabric during their application if they were used with the glyphs inscribed
on them. In any case, due to the fact that Maya rulers possibly depended heavily on the
33
34
Ibid.
Pages 54-56, 60 of this thesis.
32
production of fabrics by their wives, daughters, and sisters to supply the crucial tribute
material for their relations with their allies, superiors, vassals and conquered
subordinates,35 it is likely that a large part of the time of elite Maya women was taken up
with cloth fabrication, and the tools used in that activity were treasured possessions. It
can be deduced that most if not all of the bones of this discussion were actually used as
weaving utensils at some point, though if it was the woman herself who used them or
another is unclear. It is also uncertain if these bones may have been used in a variety of
other purposes as well.
Some of these tools may not have been used in weaving. They could have
behaved as symbolic possessions, were used rarely, were inscribed after the use had
ended and before the burial, or they were carved specifically for the burial of the
deceased they were deposited with. Evidence of use and condition varies from bone to
bone. Perhaps the bones lacking inscriptions were utilized more often, while those with
worn inscriptions were used less regularly or only for special occasions. They could have
been applied only to weave ceremonial clothing and cloth pieces used in important rituals
while the others were employed in the more frequent creation of cloth for gifting
ceremonies which occurred often. Some of the inscribed bones with the vivid and
unworn glyphs may have simply been ceremonial or elite objects never intended for the
actual purpose of weaving. Those that were utilized would have most likely been to pick
up and/or hold the pattern in the warp as the woman wove (fig. 11), acting as picks,
pickup sticks, lease sticks, or pattern sticks.36 Picks are often slender “awls” applied to
35
McAnany and Plank, 94-97; Hendon, 45; Hamann, 167; and Gillespie and Joyce, 199-203.
Norbert Sperlich and Elizabeth Katz Sperlich, Guatemalan Backstrap Weaving (Norman, OK: University
of Oklahoma Press, 1980), 33-34, 51-53, 101-118.
36
33
the warp, the threads which run lengthwise and through which the weft is passed, to pick
up a pattern through them, while pickup sticks hold a pattern change in the warp.37 Lease
sticks are placed at the top of the length of fabric and maintain the spacing between the
warp threads as well as the original cross of even and odd threads and they can also be
used to control the width of the material. They act as a guide for the basic cross and
layering of the warp, making the process of weaving easier, but they are not necessary. 38
Pattern sticks are additional, but smaller shed rolls which subdivide the warp kept by the
main shed roll or heddle using only a portion of the warp threads. Shed rolls are usually
large sticks made of a light wood which keep the even and odd threads of the warp
separated (odd warps up and even warps down) close to the area where the weaver is
working. 39 Pattern sticks can maintain an alternate crossing of warp threads for smaller
portions of the textile where a pattern would be made.
The shape of the bones lends itself to the conclusion that they were used in
weaving at least part of the time. Oval in cross section, the part of the bones where the
glyphs are carved is generally curved upwards with the part just below the glyphs bowing
back again. The polished hard tips often arc up slightly at the end. Such a shape lends
itself to the possibility that these might have been weaving picks, using the uplifted tip to
select threads in the warp while the woman wove and to lift them up so that a pattern
stick or pickup stick could be inserted. Though most of these bones are long, picks can
come in a variety of sizes40 and they might have been made longer and more elaborate in
design for their ceremonial and important purpose. They were probably not pickup
37
Cahlander and Baizerman, 47; Schmidt de Delgado, 27; Anderson, 100-101.
Ibid, 23-24.
39
Schmidt de Delgado, 26.
40
See the selection of bone weaving picks in Taschek, 168-169, figs. 34-35.
38
34
sticks, which tend to be rather wide, and generally thicker than the bones in this set.
Lease sticks were also larger and thicker. Pattern Sticks, however, are long and slender
tools. It is possible that some of these bones served one purpose while others served
different ends. Some, such as the longer, thicker bones, could have operated as pattern
sticks, while the shorter, more slender bones were used as picks. The Maya woman in
fig. 11, for example, uses a pick with a carved end that closely resembles Bone One (fig.
27).41 Picks, pickup sticks, and pattern sticks would have been crucial for the more
complicated and time consuming brocade patterns. Ikat fabric, a type of cloth woven
from yarn that is predied to a certain pattern and which is currently popular amongst the
modern Maya, requires a large number of these sorts of tools for weaving. In Indonesia,
where ikat fabric has obtained the greatest heights of development, looms are literally
festooned with dozens of these items. In the ancient world of Mesoamerica those fabrics
which displayed the most skill and dexterity made by elite women were probably highly
esteemed and operated as a demonstration of the wealth, abilities, fertility, and power of
the family to which they belonged.42 The tools used in the production of such fabrics
must have held the same esteem by association.
The tools used in weaving are held precious by the Maya weavers of today, and
were likely prized objects in the Classic period as well. The backstrap loom, one of the
oldest types of looms in constant use through the history of humankind, was utilized by
the classic Maya as is it used by the modern Maya.43 Among today’s Maya the important
and essential tradition of weaving is one handed down from generation to generation,
41
Pages 52-53 of this thesis.
See Gillespie and Joyce, and their discussion of what the production of fabrics and the giving of fabrics
meant to the sociocosmos of the Maya.
43
Ciaramella, 33. See also Schevill, xvi.
42
35
taught from mother to daughter and granddaughter.44 The modern Maya weavers are
unwilling to share their worn tools, which are passed down within a family, keeping and
using them as very special possessions. Many of those who have studied weaving with
the Maya have had to bring their own tools with them for this reason. Though it is
hazardous to assume a direct correlation over a period of over a thousand years, it is
highly possible, judging from the evidence of these bones left as a precious cache in a
burial, that these bones would have been of crucial importance to the woman who owned
them, reluctant to part with them even in death. The plenitude of elite objects in this
burial cache indicates that the bones were elite articles given special status and having a
significant connotation and meaning to the ancient Maya, probably in relation to women
and the roles they played within society, so much so that they were deposited in the burial
of a prestigious female figure. All of the jade, shell, and other items of this mortuary
treasure are related to the important actions and rituals performed by royal men and
women and to the adornment that they wore as a testament to status, save for the bone
weaving tools and sewing needles. The association of these esteemed elite goods with
those of the weaving tools and needles indicate a measure of veneration granted to them
as well.
This exposition cannot determine what kind of bone these objects were made
from, other than that due to their length and form the bone must be that of a large
mammal.45 They could have been constructed from the femur, tibia, humerus, or
possibly radius or ulna of a deer, a jaguar, a tapir or even a human. Without having more
44
Sperlich and Sperlich, xvi; and Tracy Bachrach Ehlers, Silent Looms: Women and Production in a
Guatemalan Town (Boulder; San Francisco; London: Westview Press, 1990), 53-56.
45
See Michael L. Ryder’s chapter on animal bone identification in Animal Bones in Archaeology: A Book
of Notes and Drawings for Beginners (Oxford and Edinburgh: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1969).
36
of the original bone shape or a DNA test, an expensive process unavailable for this
investigation and unreliable due to the degradation such materials often suffer in the
tropical climate of the Maya region,46 it is not possible to tell which one of the creatures
served this purpose or if it was human.47 All of the animals were sacred to the Maya,
however, and the Classic Maya considered them to be powerful spirits whose remains
could be used as totems or objects of authority. Picks such as these were often made
from deer ulna,48 so it is possible to surmise that the bones of this thesis were made of the
same material. The Maya also often exhumed the bones of revered ancestors for ancestor
worship,49 or other purposes, and possibly even carved them as totems and tools, 50 so
there is a small chance that the woman named on the bones was the donor of the
materials and they would have been used or treasured by a daughter of the household.
The probability is, however, that they were fashioned from the ulna of a deer. The gently
curving shape of the ulna echoes that of the bones in this cache and it is one of the most
customary substances used to create weaving picks in the ancient world.
There are many examples of carved and inscribed bones in the world of Maya art,
such as the beautiful and well-known bones from Burial 116 at Tikal, however few of
them are of a similar nature to our bones and there are only a smattering of works with
similar glyphs.51 The primary manner in which our bones and those of Burial 116 relate
46
David Webster, “Studying Maya Burials” in Bones of the Maya: Studies of Ancient Skeletons, eds.
Stephen L. Whitington and David M. Reed (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997), 8.
47
Ibid. See also Raymond E. Chaplin’s chapter “Bone Identification and the Establishment of Reference
Collections” in The Study of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites (London and New York: Seminar
Press, 1971).
48
Hendon, 39.
49
Patricia McAnany, Living with the Ancestors: Kinship and Kingship in Ancient Maya Society (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 1995), 60-63.
50
Webster, 6.
51
Coggins, “Painting and Drawing,” 456-489; Houston and Stuart, 77, n.5.
37
is in their gender specificity. As will be seen in Chapter Four, a close examination of the
bones and translation of their inscriptions, the context and use of this set of bones and
those of Burial 116 are entirely different. The shapes, purpose and inscriptions of the
Burial 116 bones seem to be closely tied to the deceased’s role as ruler of a large and
important city state and the actions performed within that context as well as the male sex
of that ruler. While some of the other objects in the cache contained in the burial of our
lady such as the flint blade, stingray spines, and shark’s teeth were likely used for ritual
bloodletting, a practice primarily left to male leaders in the documents and images we
have from the ancient Maya, it is highly unlikely that the bones of this study were applied
to that purpose, serving a very different and much more specifically female end. The
occurrence of bones specifically tied to the production of cloth and found in a burial such
as these is rare in Maya art. One other bone with a similar inscription and shape was
found in a burial at Dzibilchaltún, Mexico (fig. 14), but there are no others from that site.
A few other similar examples have been identified from Mirador in Mexico and
Uaxactun in Guatemala by Karl Taube,52 but such bones remain scarce. This unusually
large set of osseous weaving tools contributed to a tomb of a royal woman as treasured
objects, therefore, deserves to be examined closely.
52
Houston and Stuart, 77 n.5.
38
Chapter 3
DISCUSSION OF THE BONES AND THEIR CORRELATIONS
In order to interpret these artful and fascinating bones further, several questions
must be posed. How are these items specifically female? How do male burial treasures
differ from these? Who was this royal woman? When would she have lived? What do
these things tell us of who she was? It is only through answering such queries as these
that we can hope to understand the bones and the woman who owned them. In turn, this
understanding may help elucidate the roles of elite women in Classic Maya society in
general.
Houston and Stuart note that Karl Taube has found other examples such as these,
including a bone from Dzibilchaltún.1 These bones all include the phrase u puuhtz’ as
well, and have all been identified as weaving bones. Taube has proposed that many
bones from other burials will turn out to be weaving bones when closely examined.2 This
is probably true in the case of the graves of women. It is doubtful, however, that any
weaving bones will be found to be from the tombs of Maya men. Take, for example,
Burial 116 at Tikal. This resting place of Jasaw Chan K’awiil I, one of the most powerful
rulers of Tikal, was filled with one of the richest and most extensive burial deposits found
in the history of Maya archaeology. These items included a large amount of jade
1
2
Houston and Stuart, 77 n.5.
Ibid, 77-78 n.5.
39
ornaments as well as spondylus shells, stingray spines, pottery, and an extraordinary set
of bones, over 89, all modified and many finely incised with scenes and inscriptions.3
Though not as large as the mortuary deposit at Tikal, what we have of the burial cache for
our lady also includes jade ornaments, a spondylus shell, and stingray spines as well as
carved and inscribed bones; all elements of an elite grave.4 Though both tombs enclosed
exemplary sets of incised bones, it can be seen that due to the sex of the deceased and
their roles in the society, the bones have very different iconography and import.
Coggins notes that the bones buried with Jasaw Chan K’awiil I primarily record
the dates of deaths of important individuals, perhaps rulers, and that one at least was used
as a calculating tool. She suggests that these bones were used by Jasaw Chan K’awiil I in
his role as the leading religious figure for Tikal.5 They might also have related to his role
as a ruler who took and sacrificed captives from other city-states and who led the city in
its military and secular activities as many of the bones carry the glyph b’aak, which can
mean “prisoner” as well as “bone” and some contain the emblem glyph of Palenque
perhaps indicating an alliance. Though they also come in pairs and groups with some
reappearing inscriptions like the bones of this study,6 they clearly have a very different
theme, not to mention shape. Even the more slender bones contained in the Tikal burial
are short and squat with sharper points. They are not as long and slim as the bones of this
study, which end in flattened sloped points and are not at all conducive to the possible
purpose of bloodletting. Additionally, slim bones from Burial 116 such as those
Coggins, “Painting and Drawing,” 457-458.
Welsh, 146.
5
Coggins, 459.
6
Ibid, 458.
3
4
40
discussed by Coggins7 continually contain only the phrase u b’aak as the introduction,
whereas u puuhtz’ (pin or needle), or u puuhtz’ b’aak predominates for the set of bones in
this discussion.
Many of the bones of Burial 116 are also covered in figural scenes – some with
captives, or incredibly fine tableaux of a canoe rowing to or through the watery
Underworld, and others picturing the jaw of the Celestial Serpent, the figure of K’awiil,
god of lightening and thunder, associated with royalty, his serpent leg reaching along the
length, or figures sitting in cartouches, among many other themes. These are themes
associated with male rulers and their duties. The taking of captives was one of the
primary objectives of monarchs. The canoe rowing into or through the Underworld
echoes the myth of the Maize God who was rowed from the Underworld to his rebirth,
and with whom Maya leaders were often associated. Figures of K’awiil are grasped
repeatedly in the sculpted reliefs of the ancient Maya as a symbol of a lord’s right to rule.
These figures, called Manikin Scepters,8 are also occasionally clasped by queens in
reliefs, but the god is primarily associated with the masculine aspect of sovereignty.
None of the bones of this study have any images carved upon them resembling a figural
scene other then the hollowed out heads as the tops. The figural images on the bones of
Tikal are spectacular in their fine delineated details, demonstrating a very skilled hand at
work on some of the best examples of osseous design from the Maya world. They are
much finer than the bones of the woman in this study, a royal female of a much smaller
city-state, and thus less exalted than a male ruler of one of the grandest cities of Classic
Maya history.
7
8
Ibid, 459-460, fig. 108a-b.
Miller and Taube, “Manikin Scepter,” 110.
41
So who is the lady that was buried with this set of bones and what must have been
a lavish burial deposit, albeit modest in comparison with Jasaw Chan K’awiil I’s? Clues
lie in the titles on some of the bones and fragments. The glyphs on Fragment Three
create a link with one of the rulers of the city state of Naranjo,9 which is situated in
Guatemala near Tikal and the Belize border. The emblem glyph for Naranjo is given at
the end of that fragment, forging a clear connection with that site. There is also the
possible Chan Chaahk name preceding that emblem glyph on Fragment Three. These
two names, chan meaning serpent or sky and Chaahk being the name for the Maya Rain
God, are the last part of the name, the god name as it is sometimes called, for four of the
known rulers of Naranjo, including the renowned K’ahk’ Tiliw Chan Chaahk, ruler
during one of the greatest periods of Naranjo’s history, c. A.D. 693-728. It is for this
reason that scholars have proposed that these bones belonged to K’ahk’ Tiliw Chan
Chaahk’s mother, Lady Six Sky (Ix Wak Chan).10 Other glyphs included in the titles of
the woman named on these bones indicate that it is not this queen, however. It is
unfortunate that we are missing the rest of the bone, which would have undoubtedly told
us more of the deceased’s relationship to the unknown Naranjo king. We know that she
was a royal woman from the evidence of an untranslated feminine title which appears
consistently as one of her titles on most of the bones. This title consists of an image of an
over turned pot preceding the glyph for “Lady” and is used for many queens throughout
the Maya world. The revered queen Lady Sak K’uk’ from Palenque in Mexico, mother
of Pakal the great, is given this title in many of that city’s inscriptions, such as the one on
9
Page 80 of this study.
Though her Maya name is understood by scholars, she is most commonly identified by the translation of
her name, Lady Six Sky. For that reason, I have chosen to use that name in this essay.
10
42
the Oval Palace Tablet. This title is given to the clearly very important Lady Tunte
Kaywak11 on Altar 5 from Tikal, which records the disinterment of her bones and their
reburial, an event that was momentous enough to pause a war. The title also appears on
many of the stelae at Naranjo detailing the exploits of Lady Six Sky (682-741), the
famous queen who came from Dos Pilas and rejuvenated the royal line. The lady who
owned the bones of this study is in superior company when it comes to those who shared
this title.
One other clue from Bones Seven through Ten12 gives us a firmer understanding
of who she possibly is. Though her titles do include the untranslated feminine title, there
is also the addition at the end of the glyph phrase on Bones Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten,
the Wuk Tzuk, or “Seven Provinces(?)” title. Though not fully understood, this title is
particularly associated with the Naranjo/Yaxha region of northeastern Guatemala and is
seen on Naranjo’s Stela 8, Stela 13, Stela 19, on a vessel by the artist Aj Maxam, a son of
the Naranjo king K’ahk’ Ukalaw Chan Chaahk, c. A.D. 755-780, and his wife, and
possibly on several other monuments and fragments, all primarily in parentage statements
and in relation to queens of Naranjo. This title is also seen in Tikal on at least three
monuments in reference to a captive of the Tikal ruler Yik’in Chan K’awiil, probably
documenting Tikal’s defeat of Naranjo and capture of Naranjo’s king in A.D. 744.13
Though this title on the Tikal monuments is evidence of the defeated king’s ties to the
Naranjo/Yaxha region, on the stelae of Naranjo and the ceramic vessel it appears almost
11
Maya Workshop Foundation, Notebook for the XXVIIIth Maya Hieroglyphic Forum at Texas (Austin:
University of Texas at Austin, 2004), 48. This queen has previously gone unnamed.
12
Pages 60-67 of this thesis.
13
Martin and Grube, 79.
43
solely in relation to the queens named as the mothers and wives of the kings in the
Middle Period and the following century.
On Stela 13 (fig. 24) this title accompanies the name of Lady Une’ B’ahlam of
Tuub’al, wife of K’ahk’ Tiliw Chan Chaahk, c. A.D. 693-728, the great ruler of the socalled Middle Period in the early 8th century, and mother to K’ahk’ Ukalaw Chan
Chaahk, c. A.D. 755-780.14 Her marriage to the king was most likely intended to
strengthen authority over the conquered city of Tuub’al, which scholars believe lay to the
west of Naranjo.15 She is assigned the untranslated feminine title on this monument as
well, indicating her important status as a queen. Assumably Lady Une’ B’ahlam is
present again on the back of Stela 19 (fig. 22) where the eroded image of a woman
passing a spiked rope through her tongue is accompanied by a short inscription
containing the soft outlines of her name connected with the Wuk Tzuk title once again.
Here she appears in relation to her son, K’ahk’ Ukalaw Chan Chaahk, who resides on the
front of the stela. Outside of these two statements, however, little else is known of her.
The parentage statement given on the very beautiful black on cream vessel by the
artist Aj Maxam (fig. 23), whose parents are named as the king and queen of Naranjo,
begins with the yal, “child of woman” glyph followed by the untranslated feminine title.
The name of a queen, which Dorie Reents-Budet interprets as Lady Water-Venus,16
comes next with a repetition of the glyph for “Lady” preceding the Yaxha emblem glyph,
a statement of direction “of the west,” and the Wuk Tzuk title at the end. Yaxha was a
rival city-state of Naranjo’s which was located nearby to the southwest. These two cities
14
Ibid, 74, 80.
Maya Workshop Foundation, 44.
16
Dorie Reents-Budet, Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period (Durham, N.C.:
Duke University Press, 1994), 65, fig. 2.33.
15
44
repeatedly warred with each other, but two of Naranjo’s kings are known to have married
women from that town, probably in an attempt to establish dominion and political ties.17
This queen, also known as Lady Shell Star, was the wife of the king K’ahk’ Ukalaw Chan
Chaahk whose mother, the aforementioned Lady Une’ B’alam of Tuub’al, also used the
Wuk Tzuk title, and mother of Itzamnaaj K’awiil, c. A.D. 784-810.18
The name of Lady Shell Star of Yaxha appears again on the back of Stela 8 (fig.
20) in a parentage statement for the ruler Itzamnaaj K’awiil, who must have been a
brother of Aj Maxam, the artist who painted the famous vessel mentioned above. Though
the inscription is eroded, enough remains to discern the Wuk Tzuk title in the glyph block
at F6, on the far mid right. The relief on the front of Stela 8 (fig. 21), however, it is a
curious anomaly. Though it has the parentage statement for Itzamnaaj K’awiil on the
back, with the name of Lady Shell Star, the front image depicts a different woman,
possibly the wife of Itzamnaaj K’awiil, performing the main act recorded there, though it
is not clear what exactly that action is. The first part of her name resembles that of Lady
Une’ B’ahlam of Tuub’al, grandmother of Itzamnaaj K’awiil and wife of the famous
K’ahk’ Tiliw Chan Chaahk. Her name has resisted translation, but it is conceivable that
the glyph in B4 is the Wuk Tzuk title as well. Parts of her appellation resemble the name
of the Yaxha king K’inich Lakamtuun who was defeated by Itzamnaaj K’awiil as
documented by Naranjo Stela 12. She was possibly another princess of the Yaxha
domain married by the ruler of Naranjo to reestablish reign over Yaxha.19
17
Martin and Grube, 82-83.
Ibid, 81.
19
Maya Workshop Foundation, 76.
18
45
Itzamnaaj K’awiil was prolific in his erection of stelae, most of which detail his
lineage. In Stela 14, which also contains a parentage statement on the back (fig. 25), it is
possible that the Wuk Tzuk title appears again at E6, though very faintly, probably in
relation to Lady Shell Star of Yaxha. Additionally what is presumably another parentage
statement for Itzamnaaj K’awiil is present on a fragment of a stela now in the Museo del
Radio Petén in Flores (fig. 26).20 In the upper right hand corner of the fragment is the
name of a woman of Yaxha which it is reasonable to assume is also Lady Shell Star,
though her name has broken off, with the remnants of the Wuk Tzuk title.
These women were all prominent queens of Naranjo. Two were married to kings
whose names ended in the Chan Chaahk appellation. One of these kings was the famous
king of the Middle Period, K’ahk’ Tiliw Chan Chaahk, son of Lady Six Sky, the queen
who came from Dos Pilas to restore the lineage and rulership to Naranjo, and who
practically ruled the city for much of her time there. Though scholars have proposed that
the names in titles on these bones were an alternative version of Lady Six Sky’s name,
the Wuk Tzuk title does not endorse that identification. The Wuk Tzuk title has not been
firmly translated, but it seems to be a title related to location and origin and appears
repeatedly in relation to queens of Naranjo who came from towns under Naranjo’s
dominion such as Tuub’al and Yaxha. The girlhood home of Lady Six Sky, however, is
always identified as Dos Pilas. Her origination as a princess of the powerful Dos Pilas
was important in connecting the authority of Naranjo’s new dynasty with that of Dos
Pilas.21 It would be strange, therefore, to suddenly give her the title of Wuk Tzuk on these
20
21
Ibid, 69.
Martin and Grube, 74.
46
bones and not at all in line with the pattern established of this title appearing with queens
who came from towns in the same region of Naranjo.
The wives of K’ahk’ Tiliw Chan Chaahk and K’ahk’ Ukalaw Chan Chaahk, Lady
Une’ Bahlam of Tuub’al and Lady Shell Star of Yaxha, would both have been buried
with extensive burial deposits. They appear prominently on the few monuments we
know of from this site in relation to these two kings, and it is probable that further
research and investigation at Naranjo would reveal additional references to and
appearances of these two queens. Though the names given on the bones are not the same
as the names given for either of these queens or of the unknown woman on the front of
Stela 8, it is reasonable to assume that the weaving implements of this catalogue were
buried with one of these ladies or another princess or queen from this period of time, c.
A.D. 746-810. Rulers and their queens were known to adopt a variety of titles and names
as exhibited by one of the monarchs of Naranjo, K’ahk Ukalaw Chan Chaahk, who is
also known as ‘He of Flint.’22 It is conceivable that the names included on the bones are
the alternate monikers of one of these queens due to the evidence of the other glyphs
included with them.
We know from the history and monuments of the courts of Naranjo and other
city-states of the ancient Maya that women played an important role in Maya society. In
Naranjo, Lady Six Sky basically governed as ruler for several years, performing the
calendrical rituals and leading wars against other city-states in the reestablishment of
Naranjo’s power. In Yaxchilan several queens, especially one in particular, were
accorded a great deal of honor and respect indicated by the number of monuments carved
22
Martin and Grube, 81.
47
with their images and the buildings dedicated to them. The buildings at Yaxchilan
dedicated to the queens are stated to be located at the literal and figurative heart of the
city center in the inscriptions upon them.23 At Tikal we know that a woman once ruled
for an extensive length of time, though not much is left in the way of evidence or
documentation and she was commonly accompanied by a male ruler in her monuments.24
Piedras Negras has several monuments bearing the image of Lady K’atun Ajaw, wife of
K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II, who is prominently pictured on at least three stelae faces, and
their daughter, indicating that the queen and perhaps the daughter held a significant
amount of political clout.25 Two queens at Palenque are noticeably featured on several
monuments, one a queen in her own right with the full range of titles for twenty years and
the other a progenitor of one of the most eminent rulers in Maya history that we know of,
K’inich Janaab’ Pakal the Great.26 She was also possibly a ruler at Palenque during a
short period preceding Pakal’s reign.27
A throne back at the Dallas Museum of Art from the mysterious Site Q, a site of
unknown location somewhere in the Petén region of Guatemala or Mexico, demonstrates
that women acted as diplomats as well, traveling to other city states to demonstrate power
and authority.28 Other monuments, such as the two panels in the Cleveland Museum of
Art, one from El Perú and another from an unknown site, as well as another wall panel
located at the Dallas Museum of Art are also indicative of the diplomatic and ritual roles
23
McAnany and Plank, 106-107.
Martin and Grube, 38-39.
25
Ibid., 146-147.
26
Ibid., 159-161.
27
Ibid.
28
David Freidel and Stanley Guenter, “Bearers of War and Creation,” Archaeology January 23, 2003 [online features]; available from http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/siteq2/index.html; Internet;
accessed November, 2003.
24
48
that royal women occupied. Increasingly we are coming to understand that women were
not just bit players in Maya politics who occasionally contributed bloodlines or cemented
alliances through marriage. They were individuals capable of ruling and whose
contribution was essential and respected, despite the patrilineal and patriarchal primacy
of the culture. This position has more overt and explicit authority than that of women in
other patriarchal cultures where the overt instances of females as rulers and diplomats is
much more rare. The fact that women in the ancient Maya world appeared continuously
and prominently as rulers and diplomats who led wars and cemented diplomatic ties
indicates that their standing was not as limited as has been assumed. Their participation
in courtly rituals, contribution to ritual goods for the gifting economy, and performance
of other courtly and political duties were vital to the functioning of Maya rulers and the
city-states.
Scholars previously dismissed the importance of women in the Maya society as
peripheral to the concerns associated with male dominance, but as more monuments and
archaeological evidence come to light, the extent of women’s authority among the
ancient Maya is becoming clearer. In Gender and Archaeology Rosemary A. Joyce
argues that the roles of women and men, at least as displayed on major monuments, were
complementary, much as they were in other ancient American societies.29 We cannot, of
course, make a universal statement that crosses the boundaries of place, time, and social
status about the importance of women’s roles in Maya society due to restricted
Rosemary A. Joyce, “The Construction of Gender in Classic Maya Monuments,” in Gender and
Archaeology, ed. Rita P. Wright (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996), 167-195. Irene
Silverblatt, Moon, Sun, and Witches: Gender Ideologies and Class in Inca and Colonial Peru (Princeton,
New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1987), 40-66.
29
49
archaeological evidence.30 For example we know that elite women appear to have been
closely associated with weaving while lower class women seem to be associated with
food production.31 We can, however, see in the art of the time and archaeological
evidence of special events and daily activities the importance that the products of
women’s labor held. The queen buried with these bones was clearly of a high status due
to the items buried with her. She lived in a city-state where a woman had recently
functioned as a ruler and war leader and during a time when women were featured
prominently on monuments of the town. Thus, as a queen, she may have been a woman
of a great deal of political clout and strength, and these bones may have represented a
part of that authority.
Clothing and fabric are so important to the identity of the modern Maya that, until
recently, it was possible to determine to a limited extent the home town of a modern
Maya woman by the pattern of the fabrics that she wore.32 Textiles are markers of
identity and objects of pride and economy. For many groups of contemporary Maya the
image of a woman at her loom is important not only for financial reasons of support of
her family, but also for the cultural meanings as the guardian of familial values and the
glue that holds the family together.33 Their society remains patriarchal, but Maya women
have achieved an economic authority through their crafts which is equal or greater than
that of their husbands. Though this modern tradition is far removed from that of their
Maya ancestors, the importance the ancient Maya attributed to weaving and other forms
30
McAnany and Plank, 94-95.
Hendon.
32
Carol Hendrickson, Weaving Identities: Construction of Dress and Self in a Highland Guatemala Town
(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995), 51-66. See also Schevill, 7-14.
33
Hendrickson, 151.
31
50
of cloth production seems clear in the numerous images they made of tribute scenes with
tall stacks of fabric, of women offering large bundles of cloth, and of women weaving.
The bone weaving implements of this study, carefully carved with glyphs and titles,
including the title of a ruler of Naranjo, and buried with a royal lady of that city state, are
a testament to the consequence that weaving, and thus the cloth production activities of
women, held in Maya society.
The women of elite and royal households must have woven together in groups
and all were required to contribute to the wealth of the home and to clothe both
themselves and their male relatives. It is conceivable that some women or some of these
groups emerged as master weavers whose works were of a higher quality and a greater
degree of virtuosity in terms of design and technique. As finer examples of the art, their
weavings might have had a greater value and been more sought after, much as the finer
painted ceramic vessels appear to have been widely traded and appreciated.34 It is
conceivable that a woman who demonstrated greater skill in her production of fabric
would have been a great asset to her household with a certain amount of authority and
respect accorded to her. Alternatively, the head of one of these weaving groups of the
royal household, which could have been the primary wife of the ruler, may have been
endowed with prestige and admiration for the work of herself and the women under her.
Though the paucity of the archaeological evidence limits the ability to determine such
distinctions, it is possible that the number of weaving implements buried with our lady
are an indication of her skill as a weaver or as a head of an esteemed weaving group of
the royal household. These tools, important to her art, her identity and her role as a
34
Dorie Reents-Budet, presentation at the 29th Maya Meetings, UT Austin, 2005.
51
woman in an elite or royal household would have been essential treasures to be buried
with her, a testament to her high status not only within society as a whole, but also within
her household and her class.
52
Chapter 4
EXAMINATION OF THE BONES AND THEIR QUALITIES
The Inscribed Bones
Bone One:
Delicately laid out, the first inscribed bone is also one of the most fragile and the
smallest of all the complete bones. The top of Bone One has been incised into three
different sections with the very top broken off, which might have been a hand holding
one of the bundled objects. It is 17.3 cm long, but an astonishingly slim 3 mm wide and
the glyphs are necessarily limited and small. They read u b’a-k(i) K’UHUL IX (fig. 27),
or u b’aak K’uhul Ix, which is a shortened version of the longer inscription found on
some of the other larger bones. It means essentially “The bone of Holy Lady.”
This inscription is interesting in the form it takes since the artist has chosen to put
a significant distance between the b’a- and ki- glyphs, which form one word, and to
conflate together the glyphs for the two words K’UHUL, “holy,” and IX, “lady.” As we
will see in the other bones’ inscriptions, the b’a- and ki- are often placed next to or
conflated with each other and the K’UHUL and IX logograms are each separate. The
convention of allowing greater distance between two syllabograms which form one word
is used on ceramics as well. This is perhaps an indication of the importance accorded this
particular bone by the owner. The distance between the two glyphs which make up the
word b’aak might place emphasis on the bone itself as a tool used in a particular aspect of
53
weaving. It is also possible that this bone, not graced with the puuhtz’, “needle,” term,
may have been used primarily for another purpose than weaving such as for the hair,
bloodletting, or any number of other functions.
Only part of her title is given here apparently due to the confinement of space.
Neither her full name nor other elements of her title appear as in the other bones. Her full
name and titles, as given primarily on Bones Seven through Ten and somewhat on Bones
Eleven and Twelve, are K’uhul Ix Way Ch’een Ix Chak Tok Wayib Wuk Tzuk, which
roughly translates to “Holy Lady Nahual Cave Lady Great Cloud Resting Place Seven
Provinces(?).” The bone is highly polished and is slightly yellowed in color, though its
brightness seems to indicate a dazzling brilliance in years past. Its shape is significantly
different from the others in this study, being straighter and less curved and does closely
resemble the modern picks used by Maya women in weaving today. It may have served a
different purpose in weaving than did many of the other bones. The polish created by
wear points toward significant use and its size indicates that it was possibly utilized for
small variations in a pattern or for very fine textiles, such as the lacy fabric seen worn by
Lady K’ab’al Xoc in Yaxchilan Lintels 24, and 25 (figs. 15 and 16) and by the women in
the Bonampak murals (figs. 17 and 18).114 This bone is one more likely to have been
used without an inscription, which was added when the bone’s use had ceased, before
burial.
114
For a description of these fabrics as represented in the Bonampak murals, please see María Teresa
Uriarte, “Dressed Lords and Ladies,” in Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya, eds. Mary Ellen Miller and
Simon Martin (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2004), 242-243.
111
Bone Two:
Bone Two is much larger than Bone One, being 6 mm wide in the body, and 7
mm wide in the decorative end; a hand that was holding an object at one point, but which
has been broken off. It is 21.75 cm long and width and length have allowed the
inscription here to be less limited than with Bone One. The much longer inscription
reads u p’u-tz’(i) (feminine title) K’UHUL IX aj-la(?) tzi-l(a)?, u puuhtz’ (feminine
title) K’uhul Ix Ajal Tziil(?) (fig. 28). This inscription is a little difficult to translate, but
it might mean “The Needle of Holy Lady Dawn? ?.” The first glyph is the “fish-head”
form of the possessive syllable u. The second glyph is a conflated form of the pu- and
tz’i- syllabograms.115 Scholars have read the word puuhtz’ as “needle” or “pin”,116
though this does not necessarily mean that it worked as a needle in the way that our
culture conceives it. For reasons discussed in Chapter 1 the meaning intended is likely
“weaving pick” due to the evidence of its shape, which gently arches where the glyphs
are, recedes, and then comes forward again at the tip. The next two glyphs come after a
considerable blank space along the bone. Together they are an as yet untranslated glyph
identified as an introductory element of a female title.117 This female title was used by
several of the queens from various city states such as Yaxchilan and Palenque. After
another considerable empty region of the bone, there are another two glyphs; the full
forms of K’UHUL and IX. These two, unlike on the very small Bone One, have not
been conflated and are separated out. The last two glyphs again follow a vacant stretch.
115
Michael D. Coe and Mark Van Stone, Reading the Maya Glyphs (London; New York: Thames &
Hudson, 2001), 159-160.
116
Boot, 68, “putz’.”
117
John Montgomery, How to Read Maya Hieroglyphs (New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 2002), 200.
112
They appear to be the name Ajal Tziil(?). The first glyph seems to be one of the names
of this lady, ajal, pronounced “a-hal,” which can mean “dawn,” or “conquest.”118 There
is also the possibility that this glyph block reads ajaw, the word for “lord.” If so, then
Tziil(?) would be a location, and it is feasible that this bone is giving this woman title as
ruler of Tziil(?), whatever that location might be. Tziil(?) is untranslated, however, or the
reading is mistaken. In either case, it is unclear what this last glyph block means.
The inscription is very fine with a calligraphic quality, almost as if it had been
painted instead of carved. The smooth flowing line gracefully changing from thick to
thin resembles the glyphs found on some of the finest painted vases (fig. 19). The bone
of which this needle is made is of very high quality, gleaming white, and is highly
polished with a smooth, glossy surface over much of the bone. It is unbroken except for
the very top. The bottom two glyphs have become so smoothed, probably from the
polish that use creates as discussed above, that the red pigment has barely adhered to
them. Due to the polished wear of these lower glyphs, it is likely that this bone would
have been inscribed during its use. It is of high quality workmanship and must have been
a treasured object either for its purpose or for its intrinsic value and meaning.
Bone Three:
The same inscription is on the third bone as well (fig. 29). It is topped by one of
the large heads, which had been broken off and is now reattached, but it is otherwise
similar to the second bone. Stylistically the overall design for both bones also seems to
be the same while that of Bone One is different. Slimmer than the second bone at 5 mm,
118
Boot, 13, “ahal.”
113
Bone Three is also slightly longer at 22.1 cm. The bottom two glyphs are slightly more
worn as well, so much so that they are almost indiscernible. Judging from the high
degree of polish on these two bones and their similar inscriptions, they were cherished
and possibly favorite bones for use in weaving. Despite the polish it is not as pure in
color or condition as Bone Two and there are some small cracks and discoloration,
another indication of use, but also of a weakness of the bone itself.119 The style of the
glyphs shares the same calligraphic quality as Bone Two; both look as if they could have
been painted. The sixth glyph of IX is less finely carved than the other logograms for IX
on either bone. The titles she has been given on both bones indicate that she was
considered to be a very important and holy individual, probably a member of the upper
echelons of the royal family of her city state. The untranslated feminine title, which
resembles an upturned pot infixed with a k’in sign, is a tricky glyph that is most often
considered to indicate a very important, holy status for a woman, usually a queen. It can
be found, for example, in the titles of Lady Six Sky of Naranjo, who acted as ruler of
Naranjo for several years until her son came of age, and even then she appears to have
continued to rule in his name.120 Several other queens of Naranjo, wives of Lady Six
Sky’s son and grandsons, were given this title. The famous Lady Sak K’uk’ of Palenque,
mother of K’inich Janaab’ Pakal, probably the greatest ruler of Palenque, also bore the
title in some inscriptions.121
119
LeMoine, 7-9.
Martin and Grube, 74-77; and Rebecca Lynn Herr, “Women of Yaxchilan and Naranjo: A Study of
Classic Maya Texts and Contects” (M.A. Thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 1987), 565-567.
121
Martin and Grube, 161.
120
114
Bone Four:
Bones Four and Five greatly differ from Bones Two and Three, as they do from
the other bones in the cache. The inscription on each of them is unusual and the quality
of the glyphs is cruder than that on many of the other bones. The decorated ends differ as
well. There is no hand holding an object or a carved head at the top of Bone Four, but
just the object itself, which resembles the image of corn silk emerging from the top of an
ear of corn or some kind of flower. The top end of the side with the inscription is smooth
and rounded, with the object rising above it as if from a sheath. The glyphs read u putz’(i) b’a-k(i) K’UHUL IX chi-ch(i)(?) K’UHUL IX (fig. 30), u puuhtz’ b’aak K’uhul
Ix Chich(?) K'uhul Ix, which roughly translates to “The needle bone of Holy Lady
Rabbit(?) Holy Lady.” The glyph work is very deeply, but carefully carved, though the
glyphs have a blocky appearance, differing from the calligraphic quality of the other
bones, and the seventh glyph block is very difficult to identify. One possibility is that
this glyph block reads chich, or rabbit(?), though it could also be chik, for bird, or even
coatimundi.122 They exhibit an etching like quality and this style is an atypical way for
the Maya to carve their glyphs. The glyphs are blocky and the line is square, blunt, and
regular, not at all the graceful, curvilinear lines of the inscriptions of Bones Two and
Three, or even One. The bone itself is of a pure and glowing color, with a few striations
from weakness inside the bone, and highly polished. The glyphs are not worn down at
all, their edges are still clear and etched, and they are deeply embedded with cinnabar.
There are two likely possibilities for the state of the glyphs with such a polish. One is
122
Boot, 26-27, “chich,” “chik.”
115
that the bone was well used but not adorned with an inscription during its use, and was
only carved with glyphs after the owner no longer used it, either because of death or
some other reason. The other is that the bone was made, polished and carved with glyphs
specifically for the burial of the deceased. The bone was broken across glyph three, but
has been reattached by modern restorators. It is one of the longest bones at 24.6 cm and
it is of the typical 6 mm width at the widest part of the body.
Bone Five:
Like the fourth bone, the fifth has no hand or head for the decorated end, but an
object which resembles an ear of corn. It was broken and reattached across the top of the
second glyph and the upper portion of the bone is not as polished or pure in color as Four.
The top half of the bone is much weaker and appears to be porous and full of striations,
as evidenced by the high degree of cinnabar embedded in the pockmarks and cracks,
though it is highly polished towards the bottom. Five is another of the longer bones at
24.2 cm and is 6 mm wide in the main part of the body. The carving style on Four and
Five is very similar, though the inscriptions differ slightly. It is likely, however, that the
same artist or workshop inscribed both bones and none of the others, as none of the other
inscribed bones bear any resemblance to this style of carving. In fact, like Four, the
inscription on Five is extremely unusual. The glyphs are blocky and non-calligraphic
with a regular, unmodulated line. Most of the glyphs are difficult to identify and they
create a very different sort of caption than what is on any of the others.
It seems to read a-ALAY TABAY yi-ch(i) u pu-tz(i) b’a-k(i) K’UHUL IX (fig.
31), alay tabay yich u puuhtz’ b’aak K’uhul Ix. It appears that this caption is a dedicatory
116
formula, also known as a Primary Standard Sequence (PSS).123 The first glyph is the
introductory glyph to a PSS, whose exact transliteration has not been determined, but
which seems to mean “here is” or “here it is.”124 The second glyph is the head of God N
and has been spelled as tab’iy and tabay, though it essentially has the meaning of
“ascended” or “it is raised up.” These two glyphs together constitute the introductory
phrase, which can be interpreted as “came into being, was presented, was blessed.”125
The next word, yich, usually comes before or after another phrase meaning “his/her
writing” or “his/her sculpture,” but is here present alone. Yich literally means “its face”
and is presumably speaking of the surface of this and/or the other bones.126 This
introductory phrase is followed by the possession phrase of the other bones, “The needle
bone of Holy Lady.” Such a statement of ownership often operates as a closing statement
in the PSS.127
This PSS could be for Bone Five alone, or for the entire set of bones. It is my
inclination to believe that this PSS was meant for the entire set of bones, since the polish
and wear on the glyphs is the same as that on Four and so it is likely that the inscription,
and possibly the bone, were carved upon the event of the burial of the deceased as a
dedicatory action, while the bone may have been used during lifetime without an
inscription. Though such PSS records are commonly known from ceramics and some
See Coe and Van Stone’s chapter on ceramic texts, 98-107. Though their study focuses primarily on
those Primary Standard Sequences which appear on ceramic vessels, such texts appear on other objects as
well.
124
David Stuart, Sourcebook for the 29th maya Hieroglyphic Forum (Austin: Department of Art and Art
History, The University of Texas at Austin, 2005), 122.
125
Ibid, 261-262.
126
Boot, 37, “ich.”
127
Montgomery, 267-269.
123
117
stone monuments, we are increasingly seeing them in the images of textiles, such as at
Bonampak, and in portable objects like jewelry.128
Bone Six:
Bone Six (fig. 32) is like Two and Three in style and carving. The inscription is
very calligraphic and is in the same form as the other two. It is so fine that it almost
appears to be painted, the scribe’s touch so light and yet so sure that he gave the glyphs a
fluidity and movement. The inscription reads like that of Two and Three also: u pu-tz’(i)
(feminine title) K’UHUL IX aj-la tzi-l(a)?, u puuhtz’ (feminine title) K’uhul Ix Ajal
Tziil(?) or “The Needle of Holy Lady Dawn? ?.” There is a hand holding an object at the
decorative end as with Bone Two, but the object has not been lost here. This bone is
highly polished as well, demonstrating some wear in the last two glyphs whose edges are
smooth and worn, but not as much as Bones Two and Three. It has developed a slight
yellow color with age and appears to be somewhat porous, exhibiting a few cracks and
weak areas where the cinnabar was able to penetrate deeply despite the high sheen of the
polish. Despite the weakness of the bone demonstrated by the porosity, the polish
indicates that it was highly utilized before being rubbed with cinnabar and deposited in
the burial. It was broken across the top of the second glyph. It is 22 cm long and 6 mm
wide in the body and the hand holding the object is eight cm wide.
128
Ibid, 269.
118
Bone Seven:
A different type of carving from that which adorned the first six bones is evident
in Bones Seven through Ten (fig. 33). This new form has a very calligraphic element, yet
it does not seem to be as light or as fluid as that of Two, Three, and Six, or as blocky and
unusual as that of Bones Four and Five. The scribe has chosen to bunch all of the glyphs
together in one long string rather than putting them two at a time as with the previous
bones and the forms of the glyphs for k’uhul, ix and puuhtz’ are more detailed. The
inscription on all four reads essentially the same, but the glyphs take a different form
each time. Sometimes they are carved individually and sometimes they are conflated
with glyphs that are placed before and after them on the other bones. This style seems to
be the most dominate of the different styles however as it is on the greatest number of
bones, and I believe it gives us the most complete form of the lady’s titles, though this
title differs from those on the first six bones.
Bone Seven (fig. 34) appears to read u pu-tz’(i) IX wa-y(a)? CH’EEN-n(a) IX
CHAK to-k(o) WAY-IB WUK tzu-k(u), u puuhtz’ Ix Way Ch’een Ix Chak Tok Wayib
Wuk Tzuk, which roughly translates to “The Needle of Lady Nahual Cave, Lady Great
Cloud, Resting Place, Seven Provinces(?).” This is by far the longest inscription yet,
giving a full list of titles and names for this important woman. It begins with the usual
glyph coupling with which Bones Two, Three, Four, and Six began, that state the
possession of this pin or needle. After that, however, the inscription is completely
different. The b’aak glyph has been left out and our lady is given the title of ix again, but
without the k’uhul title before it. The IX glyph has been conflated with the glyphs for the
word way. Way has several possible meanings, including room, quarter, water(-surface) ,
119
nahual, co-essence, alter ego,129 or spirit. Nahuals (pronounced nawals), or co-essences
were anthropomorphic beings which acted as spirit counterparts to elite individuals130 and
this seems to be the most common translation. Caves were seen as portals and entrances
to the underworld.131 Since the word following way is ch’een, the word for cave, the
‘nahual’ translation seemed best suited to the name.
Following this title she is given the further appellation of Ix Chak Tok Wayib, or
“Lady Great Cloud132 Resting Place.” Chak is typically the word for the color “red,” as
well as “rain,” and the god Chak.133 Here though it means “great” and is part of a royal
title which has not been well studied, chak tok, or “great cloud.” Wayib’ is generally
agreed to mean “resting place,” usually given to a location where the elite might have
been able to dream or elicit dreams of their spiritual co-essence.134 The likelihood is that
this addition of wayib’ and the wuk tzuk glyphs that follow it declare where the woman
came from or where she is buried. Though tzuk may not mean “province” and may not
even be a term for location, the phrase wuk tzuk does appear to be associated with the
denizens of a particular area of the Maya realm. Wuk Tzuk, or “Seven Provinces(?)
(Partition or Segment?)”135 is a title commonly included in the titles of the wives of at
least two successive rulers in inscriptions from Naranjo, such as on Stela 8 and Stela 19,
as well as the vessel from Naranjo by Aj Maxam (figs. 20-23).136 Two of these women
Boot, 85, “way.”
Sharer, 619.
131
Ibid., 524.
132
Boot, 76, “tok.”
133
Boot, 23, “chak.”
134
Coe and Van Stone, 133.
135
Ibid., 78, “tzuk;” Maya Workshop Foundation, 86; Stuart, 89.
136
Ian Graham, Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions v.1, pts.1-2 (Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum
of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Museum, 1975-), Stela 8, Stela 19; Reents-Budet, Painting, 61,
fig. 2.30, and 65, fig. 2.33.
129
130
120
were from Yaxha, a city to the southwest of Naranjo, and one from Tuub’al, though Wuk
Tzuk appears in the titles of a Naranjo king defeated by Tikal as well. The inclusion of
this phrase in these bones likely means that she was a noble from the area of Naranjo.
On many of the monuments associated with these women (figs. 20-26) the term
Wuk Tzuk is preceded by a directional glyph which means “West.” Whatever function
that term serves in those inscriptions, as an indication of origin or other qualification, it is
possible that the word wayib’ has the same function in the inscriptions on these bones.
All of the glyphs are deeply and clearly incised and there seem to be fewer slips of the
hand or mistakes than are present in the previous bones’ inscriptions. Though the line of
the glyphs is certainly more flowing and variegated than Bones Four and Five, they are
not as calligraphic as Two, Three, and Six, though they equal those three captions in
quality. At the top of Seven is one of the hollowed out heads, but it is one of the smallest
of the set at 1.3 cm wide. Seven is one of the longer bones at 22.3 cm, but the width of
the main body is narrower than most at 5.5 mm. The end of seven is highly polished,
evidence of a good deal of use there. The upper portion of the bone, however, exhibits
some polish and smoothing of the edges of the glyphs, but also a good deal of porosity
and striations where the bone has deeply yellowed and the cinnabar has penetrated
deeply. There has been some discoloration on this upper part of the bone and the
gleaming white of the decorated end has faded here to a dingy yellow.
Bone Eight:
Bone Eight is very like Seven, though it has lost its decorated top (fig. 35).
Broken through the seventh glyph and reattached, Eight demonstrates a polished sheen,
121
though not as much of one as Bone Seven. There is a greater degree of yellowed
discoloration all over the bone, but Eight reveals about as much porosity. It is of about
the same width at 5.5 mm wide, but shorter at 21.5 cm long. The inscription is slightly
longer, giving even more titles. It reads u b’a-k(i) (feminine title) K’UHUL IX wa-y(a)
CH’EEN-(na) IX CHAK to-k(o) WAYIB WUK tzu-k(u), or u b’aak (feminine title)
K’uhul Ix Way Ch’een Ix Chak Tok Wayib Wuk Tzuk. This inscription has almost the
same meaning as bone Seven but here our lady has had the feminine title and the k’uhul
from the captions on Bones Two, Three, and Six given back to her – “The Bone of
(Feminine Title) Holy Lady Nahual Cave, Lady Great Cloud, Resting Place, Seven
Provinces(?).” The initial u has been given a different form that that of Seven, and the
word b’aak has been substituted for puuhtz’, which does not appear at all in this version
of the inscription. The meaning or purpose of this switch is uncertain. As discussed
above it is possible that those bones lacking the puuhtz’ glyph were used for functions
other than weaving. It is interesting to note that on all of the bones except for Four and
Ten, either the “fish-head” form of u accompanies the word puuhtz’ without including
b’aak, as on Seven, or the other form of u, as represented on Eight, is coupled with the
word b’aak alone without the addition of puuhtz’. Though the u is formed differently and
the feminine title and k’uhul are included, many of the other significant glyphs from
Bones Seven and Eight, such as the conflated forms of Ix Way, Ix Chak Tok, Wayib, and
Wuk Tzuk are drawn in exactly the same way. The calligraphic use of line in the glyphs
on both bones is also very alike.
122
Bone Nine:
Bone Nine (fig. 36) is in almost the same style as Seven and Eight. As on those
two bones the glyphs on Nine are very deeply and finely incised with a smooth and
modulated line. The glyphs on Nine are also not as calligraphic as those on Bones Two,
Three, and Six, though they are more flowing and painterly than those on Bones Four and
Five. As with Seven, the “fish-head” u precedes the word puuhtz’, and the form of putz’(i) is the same, as is CH’EEN-(na), wa-y(a), WAYIB, and WUK tzu-k(u). The
glyphs are also relatively small and it appears that very few mistakes were made; the
lines are all clearly delineated and there are almost no carved elements out of place. This
bone has some of the clearest and most finely carved glyphs of the group. The
inscription reads like Seven and Eight, though many of the glyphs have been separated
and have not been combined into one glyph block, which makes the inscription slightly
longer. It reads u pu-tz’(i) (feminine title) K’UHUL IX wa-y(a) CH’EEN-n(a) IX
CHAK-k(a) to-k(o) WAYIB WUK TZUK or u puuhtz’ (feminine title) K’uhul Ix Way
Ch’een Ix Chak Tok Wayib Wuk Tzuk.
This caption means almost the same thing as those of Seven and Eight. It
translates as “Her Needle (Feminine Title) Holy Lady Nahual Cave, Lady Great Cloud,
Resting Place Seven Provinces(?).” In Nine the u is different from either Eight or Seven,
IX has not been conflated with CH’EEN-(na), and the IX and CHAK-k(a) to-k(o) glyph
blocks have not been pressed into one either. In addition, a fin form ka- glyph has been
placed between the CHAK and to-k(o). This glyph is used as a phonetic element,
emphasizing that Chak ends with the –ka sound.
123
Oddly, even with all the glyphs separated out and the longer inscription, Nine is
the smallest of the three bones at only five mm in width and 20.2 cm in length. Like
Eight, the decorated top of Nine has been broken off. Nine’s color is close to pure white,
and it has a high degree of polish, possibly from wear. It does not demonstrate the
measure of yellow discoloration exhibited by the other two. Its surface has been polished
to a high sheen, though the edges of the glyphs seem fairly unworn. The cinnabar has
embedded deeply in the glyphs, though not into the surface of the bone which displays a
low degree of porosity.
Bone Ten:
The top of Bone Ten has one of the largest decorative carved heads in the set at
1.4 cm in width (fig. 37). Like Nine, Ten is highly polished with a color near white over
most of the bone, though the glyphs are somewhat faded and difficult to read at the
beginning of the caption owing to the degree of porosity, like those of Seven and Eight.
The inscription is very similar to that of Nine, though the glyphs are not as clearly
inscribed. The caption on Ten reads u pu-tz’(i) (feminine title) K’UHUL IX wa-y(a)
CH’EEN-(na) CHAK-k(a) to-k(o) WAYIB’ WUK TZUK, u puuhtz’(feminine title)
K’uhul Ix Way Ch’een Chak Tok Wayib’ Wuk Tzuk, which translates to “The Needle of
(feminine title) Holy Lady Nahual Cave, Great Cloud, Resting Place Seven
Provinces(?).” The u is the same as that on Eight and the form of puuhtz’ is identical to
that of Nine and Seven. This inscription is one of only two which combines the non“fish-head” form of u with the word puuhtz’ rather than b’aak. On the only other bone
which has this configuration, Bone Four, the puuhtz’ is actually followed by b’aak. It is
124
not so in this caption, however. The rest of the inscription and the form of the glyphs are
virtually the same as those of Nine, except that Ten lacks the second IX/IXIK glyph
before the CHAK-k(a) to-k(o) glyph block.
The cinnabar is deeply set in the glyphs of Ten, but it is also not as vividly red as
that covering the previous three bones. It is of a darker, more burgundy tint. Though the
glyphs are not as clear as those of Nine, they are, however, not as worn or smoothed as
those on Seven and Eight, and all four bones are very similar to each other in terms of the
inscription and the style of the glyphs relative to the other inscribed bones. We can
propose from this similarity that the same hand or workshop has carved at least these four
bones, though making any further suggestions on the different artists that might have
carved the other bones is a delicate matter.
Bone Eleven:
Bones Eleven and Twelve, on the other hand, are quite unusual for this set (fig.
38). Though they have a similar inscription as the preceding four, at least a shortened
version of it, the carving is of an extremely poor and amateurish quality. They are deeply
incised in places, but at times it is almost too deep. The glyphs are not very clear and
contain many mistakes. There are elements out of place, and even though these bones are
wider than most of the others, there is much less detail in the glyphs and parts of the
lady’s title have been left out. It almost seems as if the artist of Eleven and Twelve is
attempting to copy the inscription from Bones Seven through Ten, but the skill and
experience required to create the beautiful and very fine contours and edges is not there.
The glyphs on Eleven and Twelve do not look as practiced or finessed as those on any of
125
the other inscribed bones, not even the unusually blocky glyphs of Four and Five. This
can be seen in the very uneven carving depth of the strokes, which ranges from extremely
deep to very light in a random manner and non calligraphic manner, unlike any of the
other incised bones or even the fragments. The line is also uneven and sketchy. It
contains none of the fluidity, calligraphic quality, or solidity that characterize the lines on
the other bones.
The inscription on Eleven appears to read u b’a-k(i) IX/IXIK wa-y(a) CH’EEN(na) CHAK to-k(o) WAYIB-(?), or u b’aak Ix Way Ch’een Chak Tok Wayib’ (fig. 38).
As can be seen, the text of the inscription is not very different from that on Ten. It reads
“The Bone of Lady Nahual Cave, Great Cloud, Resting Place. It has, however,
eliminated the untranslated royal feminine title, the Wuk Tzuk title, some of the IX/IXIK
glyphs present in the previous four bones, and the -ka present in Bones Nine and Ten.
Like the caption on Eight, the non-“fish-head” form of u has been used with the word
b’aak. The glyphs exhibit only the simplest and basic of elements to identify them,
however. The detail given to the captions on all the other inscribed bones is essentially
missing in this example. The top of Eleven is another hand holding an object, also
fashioned somewhat more crudely and simply than the hands on the other bones. At 7
mm wide it is one of the widest bones in the group so it creates quite a contrast with Bone
Nine, one of the thinnest bones with one of the most finely carved inscriptions. The hand
measures 8 mm across and the bone is 22.1 cm in length. It is polished, but not as highly
as the other bones, and it exhibits a good deal of porosity, as the cinnabar has filled many
cracks and voids in the surface of the bone. This implies a lower quality of bone. It was
126
broken below the glyphs and has been reattached, and is discolored a bit more than the
other bones, though not as much as Bone Eight.
Bone Twelve:
Bone Twelve’s decorative end is also a hand holding an object, which is of about
the same rough quality as that topping Eleven, but is 6 mm wide in the body, 7 mm wide
at the hand, and 22.65 cm long. The glyphs on Twelve (fig. 38) are even more poorly
done than on Eleven and exhibit an obvious amateur quality to them. Mistakes and
misplaced lines of carving abound. The glyphs are not finely incised, and are barely
discernible with fewer details than the inscriptions of the other bones. Twelve was
broken through the 6th glyph and is polished, but is still rather porous at both ends,
indicating a poorer quality of bone. It is slightly discolored though not as much as
Eleven, and it is unusually straight in comparison with the other inscribed bones. It
exhibits almost none of the curvature present in the others. The inscription appears to
read u b’a-k(i) IX/IXIK wa-(ya) CH’EEN-(na) CHAK to-k(o) b’i U B’aak Ix Way
Ch’een Chak Tok Wayib’(?), which translates to “The Bone of Lady Nahual Cave, Great
Cloud, Resting Place.” Like Bone Eleven, this is a similar inscription to the earlier four
bones with some differences. Besides the same variations as Eleven where the royal
feminine title, the Wuk Tzuk title, and many of the Ix titles have been eliminated, wayib’
has apparently been simply shortened to the syllabogram for bi-, which alone can mean
‘road’, ‘name’ or ‘line’ (of writing).137 It is likely that it has simply been included as a
substitution for the more complicated Wayib’ glyph in this case. This simplification,
137
Boot, 20, “b’i,” “b’ih.”
127
along with the other qualities of this particular caption and that of Bone Eleven indicate
that an unskilled hand likely carved and incised these two bones. The reason why bones
of such quality would have been included in the cache of an important elite woman is
unclear, but their enclosure would seem to imply that they had some sort of meaning to
the owner or those who buried her.
Bone Twenty:
The last inscribed bone, Bone Twenty, is incomplete (fig. 39). It appears to have
an inscription like that of Bones Seven through Ten, and the style of at least the first two
glyphs also seems similar. It looks to be missing a large part of the inscription, however.
The restorer of the bones has put these two halves together, though due to the fact that
most of the caption is missing it is not clear whether these two halves actually belong to
each other. It is apparent on the other hand that the entirety of the Lady’s name and titles
for this bone are lost. The first two glyphs appear to be the “fish-head” form of u and a
conflated form of puuhtz’ and b’aak, so it seems to initially say what many of the other
bones do, “The Needle Bone of…” The last glyph just after the break looks to have a niappended to the bottom of it, but it is unclear what the top glyph is or if it is similar to
anything else we can see on the inscribed bones. The lines to the left of the main glyph
might make a bar indicating the number five, but whether this is a date or another
syllabogram is unknown. The bone itself at its current length is 19 cm, though it is
probable that it would have been much longer with the full inscription. It is 6 mm wide
in widest part of the body, and the hand holding the object at the top is 7.5 mm wide.
This hand, however, presents the object with the palm towards the glyph side of the bone,
128
whereas on the other bones with inscriptions and a hand holding an object for the
decorated end they all have the back of the hand towards the glyphs. Despite the large
missing mid section, the remaining glyphs do demonstrate a high degree of quality, with
a varying, smooth, and calligraphic line, and the bone is a gleaming polished white. In
fact it is whiter than all the other bones except perhaps Bone One, and it demonstrates a
remarkably low level of porosity. As we can see, however, it has been broken in at least
two places, which indicates a certain amount of weakness of the bone.
The Non Inscribed Bones
Bone Thirteen:
The other eleven complete bones in the set are not inscribed with glyphs, yet they
are still intriguing (fig. 9). Undistinguished by glyphs, many of them are exceptional for
their decoration and can attest to the elite status of this woman. Bone Thirteen for
example has another hand holding a bundled object as a decorated end, though like the
incised Bone Twenty, the palm of the hand is turned slightly upwards, towards the more
detailed and decorated side. Instead of glyphs there are three lines spiraling down around
the bone three times, as the spirals thin and eventually diminish. It was broken at some
point about halfway down through the third spiral, which indicates some weakness at that
point. Indeed, the bone seems to skew suddenly in a different direction at that point. The
bone itself, however, is polished and extremely white with very little permeability,
suggesting that this was a bone of good condition and well used. The area from the tip to
about eight cm up seems to be exceptionally polished and hardened as if this bone was
employed often. The incised edges of the spirals are also slightly softened and smoothed,
129
though not smoothed enough to prevent the cinnabar from embedding into them. The
owner might have utilized it frequently in her endeavors.
This bone is also thicker than the other bones at about 4-5 mm, whereas the other
bones are almost all about 3 mm thick. The hand measures 8.5 mm in width, the body
6.5 mm, and it is the longest bone at 24.7 cm. The sturdiness and quality this bone
exhibits in its thickness, width, and length might have made it a favorite for use,
especially with thick brocades and complicated weaves that might have needed a stronger
pattern stick or bobbin.
Bone Fourteen:
Bone Fourteen, on the other hand, is very small, and it has the smallest head of all
the others as a decorative top. Other than the head it is a very plain bone with no
decoration. Despite this, however, other factors imply a high degree of use by the owner.
Like Thirteen it is highly polished with a shiny hard white surface. It was perhaps
another favorite bone as well, but for a smaller finer kind of weaving, such as the gauzy
garments apparent in the Bonampak murals. It is not very absorbent or permeable, as
little cinnabar has sunk into the surface. Such a quality was likely a positive
characteristic, since the less porosity, the fewer the cavities, and the stronger and more
durable the bone. The features of the head are very small and worn smooth as if
whatever work the bone was employed in would have caused wear all the way to the top
end of the bone. The bottom tip, however, is broken off, though the area there seems
very worn and more highly polished as if from exceptionally frequent utilization.
Fourteen also does not exhibit the curvature present in many of the others and is
130
unusually straight. Another exceptional feature is that it is round instead of the ovoid
flattened shape of the other bones, such as Bone Thirteen. It is one of the smallest bones
at 5 mm wide in the body, 8.5 mm wide in the head, and 14.9 cm long, though it appears
to have kept a certain thickness at 5 mm. With the tip that was broken off Fourteen
would have been longer, perhaps as long as Bone Sixteen, which Fourteen resembles in
decoration and shape.
Bone Fifteen:
The fifteenth bone is similar to Bone Thirteen though it is thicker and wider.
Fifteen measures in at 7 mm in width in the body and 9 mm in width with the decorative
end, also a hand holding a bundled object. It is one of the longest at 24.6 cm, almost as
long as Thirteen. Like Bone Thirteen, it is an unusually thick bone, but even more so at 6
mm, indicating possible use in weaving very thick and heavy designs and fabric. These
two bones would likely not have been used for something delicate or small, the way
Fourteen probably was. Their thickness and apparent sturdiness would have best
employed in the production of thick and durable fabrics. Bone Fifteen has three lines
spiraling down and around it like Thirteen. The hand on top, however, has been switched
to a mirror image of Thirteen’s top. The palm is still slightly turned upwards, but the
hand is to the right of the object rather than the left. Though Fifteen is extremely porous
in the upper portion and has been very permeated by the cinnabar, the tip past where the
spiraling lines end is worn smooth and polished like that of Thirteen. These similarities
would seem to imply that these two bones might have been a pair in their use. Fifteen is,
however, not as curved as Thirteen, and it seems unusually straight where many of the
131
other bones have a certain amount of curvature to them, likely dictated by the shape of
the bone from which they were carved.
Bone Sixteen:
Like Fourteen, Bone Sixteen has a head worn smooth for its decorative end. The
head is small in size relative to those other bones with heads, but the body is thick again
like Thirteen and Fourteen. In fact, it seems as if those bones that are not carved with
glyphs are actually thicker, though not necessarily wider, than those without glyphs. The
bones with glyphs appear to be slightly hollowed out on the non-engraved side, but this is
not the case with those lacking captions. Sixteen is actually not as wide as many of the
other bones at only 5 mm, but the thickness of the body is greater at 4 mm. Like Bone
Fourteen again, it has a more rounded shape and less of the ovoid one present on other
bones. It also demonstrates low degree of permeability and even the head has retained
very little cinnabar relative to the other bones, though the body is somewhat more porous
than Fourteen. It is polished smooth and looks to have been well used. It is probable that
Bone Sixteen would have been used to weave delicate fabrics, in the way that Fourteen
likely was. Like Bone Fifteen, it demonstrates an unusual straightness, and it does not
curve as the others do. The head at the top is 9.5 mm wide and the bone is 21.4 cm long.
It is possible that Fourteen was about the same length at one time, due to the other
similarities between the two. From the tip to a few centimeters above the tip the bone is
worn extremely smooth, and has developed a highly polished and shiny look.
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Bones Seventeen and Eighteen:
Bones Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, and Twenty-One are all similar, varying
only in the tops and slightly in measurements. They are all very porous over most of the
body and slightly yellow in color. Like Bone Fifteen they are porous over the majority of
the bone except for the tip which appears polished and fairly unpermeated by the
cinnabar. Seventeen is topped with one of the hollowed out and pierced heads, but the
head itself exhibits a minimal amount of wear in comparison with some of the others
such as Bones Fourteen and Sixteen. The bone was broken off near the head at a point
where there seems to be greater evidence of absorption of cinnabar and thus weakness,
but it has been reattached. The cinnabar on Bone Seventeen has permeated the surface
deeply, demonstrating the bone’s porosity, but the color of the bone turns towards a pure
white color as it nears the tip. The tip of Seventeen is worn like the other non-inscribed
bones, and the very end that curves as it does on many of the others has been broken off.
It is of an average width and height at 5.5 mm wide in the body, 1.2 cm width in the head,
and 23.4 cm in length, and it demonstrates the increased thickness that many of the other
uninscribed bones do as well. Bone Eighteen is very similar to Seventeen, except with a
hand holding an object as the ornamental top. The carving of the hand does not seem to
be as fine or detailed as it is on many of the other hands and it is very permeable, having
turned a deep red color from the cinnabar, about the same as Bone Fifteen. Like
Seventeen, the adorned end was also broken off at a point where the bone displays greater
permeability through the amount of cinnabar embedded in the bone. The body of Bone
Eighteen is very thick also, and it is exceptionally long and unusually straight where
many of the other bones have a slight S-curve to them, though Eighteen does bend about
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halfway down. The tip is worn and polished hard as if it was well used, but it is not as
white in color as Seventeen. At 25.2 cm long Eighteen is one of the longest bones, and it
is 6 mm wide in the body and 8 mm wide at the hand.
Bones Nineteen and Twenty-One:
The head which crests Bone Nineteen is the smallest of all the heads. Its width at
8 mm is that of many of the hands, such as Bone Eighteen. The head is slightly smoothed
and polished as well. The bone is worn and seems to display about the same permeability
as Bones Seventeen and Eighteen. It was also broken at about the same point in the
body, though this point of breakage does not exhibit the same weakness as the other two
as indicated by the amount of cinnabar absorbed into the surface. The body is very thick
in the same way as the other two, but not very wide at 5 mm. The area near the tip is
highly polished and appears well used like those of Seventeen and Eighteen, but the
remainder of the body of the bone is also more impermeable than the other two, with a
whiter coloration. Bone Twenty-One is much like the previous three, though the hand
that tops it holds the bundled object by grasping the stem of the object firmly, which then
descends down the side of the bone for a short distance, rather than delicately with the
fingertips like the others. This feature makes it appear as if the object is actually a flower
whose stalk is being held. It is very long at 25.2 cm. Bone Twenty-One, like the other
non-inscribed bones, is very thick, but it is only 6 mm wide in the body and 8 mm wide
in the unusual hand form. The tip also appears to be well worn, and the body of TwentyOne is very porous, having been well permeated by the cinnabar. It does not exhibit the
s-curve of many of the other bones, though it does curve slightly throughout.
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Bone Twenty-Two:
Bone Twenty-Two has a very unusual top is one of the most intriguing bones yet.
It is of average size at 22.1 cm in length, and a large 7 mm width in the body. But the top
is unlike any of the others. All the other bones have the hands holding bundled objects or
heads at the top, but Twenty-Two has a quetzal, a bird highly prized by the Maya for its
beautiful iridescent green-blue feathers (figs. 40-41). It is as if the bird has perched there
on the top of the bone, allowing its long tail feathers to trail down the top of the bone. At
the very top, directly underneath the bird’s body and right where the tail feathers begin,
the bone is pierced completely through by a neat round hole, as if meant as a place to
attach some kind of decoration or for holding something useful in weaving. The body of
the bone is very white and hard, and it appears extremely smooth and polished near the
functional tip. It is thinner than the other bones without glyphs, but the quality of the
bone is exceptionally high. Its bright white gleam demonstrates very little permeability,
though the carving at the top where the bird is perched appears to be weaker and shows
the remains of a good deal of cinnabar. The bird is somewhat worn and smooth,
however, and the face and beak of the bird have almost been smoothed away. TwentyTwo is also unusually straight, and the quality of the bone, combined with the coloration
and evidence of polish indicate that this bone was likely another favorite for use. It was
possibly used for a different purpose in weaving than the others.
Bones Twenty-Three and Twenty-Four:
Bones Twenty-Three and Twenty-Four, the last two whole bones of the set, are
much like the other non-inscribed bones. Their surfaces both appear to be very
135
permeable, perhaps more so than any of the other bones. In fact Twenty-Three’s surface
is so porous it looks to be solid red in some areas, completely saturated with the cinnabar
or hematite. Twenty-Three has another hand holding an object for its decorative end,
though parts of the hand and the object seem to have been worn down to smoothness so
that the delineation of the carving is not as sharp as it is with some of the others. TwentyThree is very long and is one of the straightest bones of the group, measuring in at 25.2
cm in length. Like the other bones without glyphs, it is very thick and the tip has been
worn smooth and white with use or handling. Though worn smooth, the tip also
demonstrates a good degree of degradation, which appears to have come from its years of
burial, since almost no cinnabar has penetrated there. Bone Twenty-Four is a much
shorter bone as its tip has been broken off like that of Bones Fourteen and Seventeen.
Topped with a head, it is only 16.6 cm in length and 6 mm wide in the body. The head is,
however, the largest of the uninscribed bones at 1.5 cm in width and it remains unworn
and pervaded by cinnabar. The bone does appear worn and polished at the tip before the
break, however, and it does not seem to be as absorbent in that region either. What is left
of its length looks as if it was thick and relatively straight like the others.
The Fragments
Included with this amazingly large set of lovely bones are fifteen fragments of
bone that look to be the remnants of whole bones much like those above (fig. 10). Seven
of these fragments are inscribed with glyphs. There appear to be two decorative endings,
both hands, though one is a hand holding an object with glyphs on the main body of the
bone and the other is a fist with a spiraling design down the body somewhat like Bones
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Thirteen and Fifteen. Including the piece with a fist, there are four portions of bone with
spiraling lines, three of which might possibly be part of the same bone. It is difficult to
tell, however, since the pieces do not fit together easily. Two of the spiral fragments are
from the part of a bone near the tip where the lines end, so only one or the other of those
two could be part of a whole bone with the decorative end and the fragment that could be
a middle piece. Four of the fragments are extremely fragile and seem to be virtually
disintegrating. Three of those have glyphs that are barely discernible and the fourth
could have had glyphs, though it is so damaged that it is impossible to say at this point.
As stated previously in the introduction to the entire collection, it is likely that the
fragments which suffered a good deal of damage, such as Fragments One, Four, Six,
Seven, and Eight, had fallen out of whatever bundle that the others had been preserved in,
thereby exposing them to the elements of soil and water erosion. All of the fragments are
generally thin, thinner than the whole bones, and so it is possible that their small width is
one reason for the breakage.
Fragment One:
Fragment One is a decorative end with a hand holding an object (fig. 42). The
object has basically disintegrated and the hand shows a good amount of damage, but
some of this injury seems to have been sustained in antiquity due to the way the cinnabar
has adhered to the surface. It is likely that the hand was already worn when it was buried,
but the object has fallen apart during its time underground. Cinnabar fills the cracks and
crevices of the worn object the way it fills the lines of the inscriptions, whereas the areas
which appear to have been broken off after having been buried are white and lacking in
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any sort of traces of cinnabar. The inscription, which is partially obscured by a large
abraded area, is similar in both style and form to that of Bones Seven through Ten. The
first two glyphs read u puuhtz’, with the glyphs all following each other closely rather
than two at a time. The line is also extremely graceful and calligraphic. The third glyph
is almost unreadable due to damage sustained by the bone, though it can be surmised that
it is either the glyph for b’aak as on Bone Four, the feminine title glyph such as on Bones
Nine and Ten, or an IX/IXIK. It is difficult to tell if the harm incurred was from
antiquity or from a more recent occasion of erosion, but the cinnabar does fill the many
abrasions which cover the surface so it is possible that these wounds are from antiquity
before the bone was interred. Fragment One is slim at 4 mm in width at the widest part of
the body, and 5 mm wide in the hand, and the length is 28 mm, or 2.8 cm. Despite these
small dimensions, it is one of the widest fragments, demonstrating just how small these
other bones must have been and how fragile. This fragility might explain why these
particular bones have fallen to pieces. Though some of them do demonstrate wear and
polish, they are extremely thin and delicate, and so it would have been necessary to use
them with care, if they were used at all. As with Bones One and Twenty-Two, it is
possible that the bone this fragment comes from was used for a different purpose in
weaving than the others in the set.
Fragment Two:
Unlike Fragment One, Fragment Two has maintained very clear, fine glyphs (fig.
43). It appears to be from near the end of an inscription and it follows the pattern of
Bones One through Six of putting two glyphs together and then allowing a large blank
138
space before the next two. The reading of the inscription on the other hand, is for the
most part that of Bones Seven through Ten. The first glyph is ch’een, which followed
way on Bones Seven through Ten, and after a long distance a conflated form of Chak Tok
Wayib’ is clearly visible. The last glyph on this fragment, however, differs from any on
all the other bones and is difficult to identify. It is possibly the date on the Maya solar
calendar of 10 or 15 Yaxk’in, though the event this date marks is unknown. It is possible,
although unlikely due to the slimness of the bone at this point, that there were further
glyphs on another portion of this bone after the ones we see here. This fragment of the
bone is also very slender, fine and small. It is only 3.3 mm in width, though it stretches
to 43.4 mm, or 4.34 cm in length.
Fragment Three:
Fragment Three is even finer and more diminutive (fig. 44), being a fraction of
the width of a person’s thumb (fig. 45). The top glyph has been destroyed by abrasion,
but the others appear to read b’a-y(a) CHAN(?)-n(a) cha-k(a)? K’UHUL Naranjo
AJAW. These seem to form the title of a king of Naranjo. The bottom three glyphs,
Chan Chak K’uhul Naranjo Ajaw, are epithets that were traditional to many of the kings
of Naranjo.138 They were part of the designation for at least four kings spanning the late
7th to the early 9th centuries A.D.139 The word b’ay, which might mean “fat,”140 does not
seem to be a part of any known king’s name, and without the rest of the inscription this
makes it impossible to know which king the caption is referencing. This term could also
138
Martin and Grube, 68-83.
Ibid.
140
Boot, 20, “b’ay.”
139
139
be a statement of relationship or another title like b’a yal, which means “first born” and is
also an elite title.141 This fragment is significant because we do know that the owner of
these bones might have had a connection to a king of Naranjo, enough of one to be given
or allowed a bone such as this, though whether she was a sister, a wife, a mother, aunt, or
just an elite acquaintance is unknown. Other factors, such as the Wuk Tzuk title given to
her on the whole bones, point to this as well. Another miraculous feature of this bone is
its small size at only 2.8 mm in width at its largest point, and yet the incredibly fine and
calligraphic quality of its glyphs. Though only 24.7 mm, or 2.47 cm, in length, this is
one of the most noteworthy bones of the collection because of the concrete link it creates
between our deceased lady and the city of Naranjo and its king. Clearly our lady held a
high position in her society.
Fragment Four:
Fragment Four (fig. 46) is extremely worn, though relative to the other fragments
it seems to have been fairly thick at some point. Even worn it is about the same size as
Fragment One at 3.7 mm in width. The glyphs are so ruined that they are barely visible
and pieces of it flake away at the slightest touch. Though it seems that virtually no
cinnabar has become embedded in the bone, some glyphs are discernible, despite the poor
condition. It is part of the title of the lady as seen on Bones Seven through Ten stated yet
once again, IX wa-y(a) CH’EEN, Ix Way Ch’een. The bone is exceptionally porous and
its coloration is slightly yellowed. Its exposure to the elements through the years it was
in the tomb has made it exceedingly fragile and the lines of the inscription have become
141
John Montgomery, Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs (New York, Hippocrene Books, 2002), 43, “B’A
YAL.”
140
shallow and indistinct. It looks as if it would have been part of an average sized complete
bone, perhaps like Bones Seven or Eight, since it is almost 4 mm wide and it is near the
end of the longer inscription found on those bones. The length of this brittle fragment,
however, is only 25.7 mm, or 2.57 cm.
Fragment Five:
Fragment Five is worn, though not as much as Four and it has some red pigment
still set in the inscription (fig. 47). Five seems to come from what was the top portion of
the bone as it has the opening glyphs of the captions from the whole bones at the top, U
pu-tz’(i), u puuhtz’. After the bat-head tz’i- glyph is the top of what appears to be a
K’IN sign within a cartouche, meaning that this is probably the top of the glyph for the
undeciphered feminine title that precedes IX as in Bones Two, Three, Six, Eight, Nine,
and Ten. The calligraphic quality of the glyphs also resembles the first three of those
bones, though the glyphs have all been brought close together as in Bones Seven through
Twelve rather than paired as twos and separated by long blank spaces. The glyphs for
pu- and tz’i- have also not been conflated as they were in Two, Three, and Six, but are
instead laid out separately one after another. Like Four, Fragment Five is yellow and
extremely worn despite the legibility of its glyphs. There are depressions covering the
surface where parts of the bone have chipped away, and though it seems to have faired
better than Fragments Four, Six, and Seven, it is also extremely brittle. In comparison to
its compatriots, it is also fairly thick at 4.2 mm in width, and it was probably from a bone
of an average thickness, though it measures only 21 mm, or 2.1 cm, in length.
141
Fragment Six:
The glyphs are hardly discernible on Fragment Six, due to its current state (fig.
48). It seems to have a pu-tz’(i) at the top and so begins in the way of the other captions.
Other than that first glyph however, the damage the bone has suffered through the years
prevents observation of any other glyphs. It is extremely brittle and is in even worse
condition than Fragment Four. It has become especially yellowed and it flakes very
easily. At its widest point Six measures in at 4.2 mm, the same as Five. Six, however,
tapers throughout its short 21 mm, or 2.1 cm length, to 3.73 mm, where Five remains
constant in width.
Fragment Seven:
Fragment Seven (fig. 49) is in an even poorer state of repair, and the glyphs on it
have become vague suggestions and are virtually indistinguishable from the degradation
the bone’s surface has suffered. It is apparent at least that it was carved with glyphs at
some point as several of the dips in the surface appear to have too much of a regularity to
have been nature made. There might be an IX/IXIK glyph at the top. Its color is an aged
yellow and Seven remains extremely fragile as well. Despite this brittleness Seven is the
widest fragment at 4.7 mm, and its length is 19.1 mm, or 1.91 cm.
Fragment Eight:
Seven’s vulnerability is even slightly better than Fragment Eight (fig. 50), which
appears as if it could have been inscribed with glyphs at one point, but it has so
deteriorated that the entire surface has crumbled away. It is a yellowed color and is
142
extremely brittle. It is possible that this is a stingray spine in very bad shape but the level
of corrosion has made it difficult to tell. As the most deteriorated fragment, Eight is also
the smallest at 3.3 mm wide and 13.1 mm, or 1.31 cm, in length.
Fragments Nine through Twelve:
Fragments Nine through Twelve all have the same design incised upon them.
They were not inscribed with glyphs but instead were encircled with spiraling lines as
Bones Thirteen and Fifteen were. Some of these fragments could have come from the
same bone, though it is difficult to fit them together, and Fragments Nine (fig. 50), 3.2
mm in width and 42 mm in length, and Ten (fig. 50), 2.8 mm in width and 26.1 mm in
length, come from the same area of a bone where the design ends near the tip, making it
impossible for these two fragments at least to be from the same bone. They are both a
strong white color and appear highly polished, durable, smooth and impermeable.
Cinnabar has embedded itself only in the spiraling incisions on these two bones.
Fragment Eleven (fig. 50) appears to be from somewhere in the middle of a whole bone,
as the twisting lines extend from end to end. It seems to be more permeable than Nine
and Ten due to the amount of red pigment absorbed in its surface, though not as
absorbent as some others. It is almost as yellowed by age as some of the most decayed
fragments, and it demonstrates a good amount of degeneration. It is from a slim bone at
2.8 mm in width and 26.1 mm in length. Fragment Twelve (fig. 50) is the top of a bone
in the form of a hand clenched in a fist. This clenched fist is different from the other
hands evident in the complete bones where all the hands are uniformly holding an object,
but it is very similar to other bones of this type found at other locations such as
143
Dzibilchaltún. It is also of a white coloration with a polished strong surface which seems
relatively unblemished, though there does appear to be some degradation. It is a slim
bone at 3.3 mm in width at the widest part of the body and 3.73 mm in width in the hand.
Twelve is, however, a short fragment at 15.9 mm in length.
Fragments Thirteen through Fifteen:
Fragments Thirteen through Fifteen are the ends of bones and any of them could
have been the tips of some of the other fragments or perhaps the tips of the complete
bones which have had their ends broken off, such as Bones Fourteen or Twenty-Four.
Since they are the ends of bones, they are the thinnest of the fragments. Fragment
Thirteen (fig. 50) is 2.8 mm in width, Fourteen (fig. 50) is 2.57 mm in width, and Fifteen
(fig. 50) is 1.87 mm to 2.1 mm in width. They are all still in fairly good shape with little
degradation, however, though they do show some signs of brittleness and flaking. Their
color is still mostly white and their polish is high. It does not seem that they have
endured the same weathering or poor conditions that Fragments Four through Eight have.
Thirteen demonstrates some deterioration towards the broken end, but is otherwise
relatively impermeable with very little cinnabar absorbed into the surface. It is one of the
longer fragments at 29.87 mm, or 2.987 cm, in length, and the polish of wear on its
surface along with the gently rounded tip seem to indicate a good deal of use for the bone
of which this fragment was a part. Fragment Fourteen is more pure in color than Thirteen
and shows less decay than almost all the other bones. It is highly polished, with a
smooth, hard surface, which indicates that it was likely used often. It is very similar to
Thirteen though it is in better condition, and it is only 33.13 mm, or 3.313 cm, in length.
144
Fifteen is probably the worst preserved bone and is probably made from a weaker bone,
as it demonstrates a very yellow color from age and a high degree of porosity revealed by
the amount of red pigment absorbed into the surface.
It is the longest fragment at 88.67
mm, or 8.867 cm, in length.
Conclusion
Overall, many of these bones exhibit a great deal of craftsmanship and skill in
carving, though the inclusion of some bones, such as Bones Eleven and Twelve, in the
burial deposit are puzzling because of their apparent lack of skill in carving not only the
decorative ends but the glyphs as well. Two of the inscribed bones, Bones Four and Five,
could have been used as uninscribed bones during the lifetime of the deceased, but were
apparently incised with glyphs after their daily use had ceased due to the clear and
unworn quality of the glyphs. It appears that there were at least five styles utilized, and
perhaps five different artists or workshops at work, on the different inscriptions for these
bones. Bone One has one style unto itself. Bones Two, Three, and Six have a second
form, while Bones Four and Five have a design completely distinct unto them. Bones
Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten have some similarities to the grace of the second style, yet
their inscriptions have a complexity not seen in Bones Two, Three, and Six. Bones
Eleven and Twelve, however, are completely lacking in the skill and experience that
seem to be present in the other bones. Bone Twenty initially appears to partake of the
fourth style in Bones Seven through Ten, but too much of the bone is missing to be
certain. It is possible that a different artist could be assigned to each style, though that is
a difficult thing to determine for certain, and it could be that these were carved by the
145
same artist at different periods in his training. In addition, due to the fact that different
titles are used within each style, it is possible that a different woman is named by each
title. This is difficult to determine, however, since the elite could and often did use more
than one title. It is clear, however, from the craftsmanship of these bones, and the
inscriptions upon them, that the woman with whom they were buried was an elite and
likely very important woman.
Though only half of the bones and fragments have glyphs, the beauty of their
carving and incisions and the slender elegance of their forms alone is enough to express
their importance. Through an examination of the qualities, the inscriptions, and the
meaning of the bones as we have laid them out here we may come to a greater
understanding of what they indicate about the society in which they were created.
Clearly, the woman with whom they were buried was of a high status, and though we are
unaware of many of the other objects that were likely buried with her, one of her critical
duties, or one of the significant signs of her eminence, was weaving.
146
Figure 1. Cache: Upper left, bone embroidery needle; center, from top to bottom, eight
of the jade objects including the head, and three small round rings made of a reddish
stone; right, from top to bottom: two rings, two shark’s teeth, two lip plugs.
Photograph © Justin Kerr, K8019e.142
142
All images unless otherwise stated are my own photographs and illustrations.
147
Figure 2. Cache: Right, from top to bottom: eleven jade objects, including the head, and
two of the rings of reddish material above the head, and one to the lower left of the head;
upper left, two sharks’ teeth.
148
Figure 3. From the upper right in a clockwise direction: two rings, two lip plugs, two of
the stingray spines.
149
Figure 4. Four stingray spines.
150
Figure 5. Ceramic figurines of the Goddess
of Weaving or of an elite woman dressed as
the Goddess in the process of weaving on a
backstrap loom. In two of the images the
woman is accompanied by a bird, a common
motif of such figures.
Photograph © Justin Kerr, K2019, K6000,
K6766a.
151
152
Figure 6. Vase with complex mythological scene involving the Moon Goddess, who wears spindles of wool in her hair.
Photograph © Justin Kerr, K1485.
Figure 7. Cache: Spondylus shell covered in cinnabar with the jade bead or censor
nestled inside. The deep red color is due to the cinnabar covering it and not natural to the
shell which is normally a lighter pinkish red.
Photograph © Justin Kerr, K8019.
153
Figure 8. Cache: Bones One through Twelve
154
Figure 9. Cache: Bones Thirteen through Twenty-Four
155
Figure 10. Cache: Fragments One through Fifteen
156
Figure 11. Example of backstrap loom with lease and pattern sticks inserted. The woman
is using a pick with a decorative end which resembles Bone One.
Reprinted, by permission, from Marilyn Anderson, Guatemalan Textiles Today, fig. 109.
Photography by Marilyn Anderson. © 1978 by Watson-Guptill Publications.
157
Figure 12. Examples of the different decorative ends.
Figure 13. Example of the hollowed out head
Photograph © Justin Kerr, K8019b.
158
Figure 14. Carved bone from Dzibilchaltún with a similar inscription to the
one on the bones from Naranjo.
Photograph and drawing by Jennifer T. Taschek, courtesy of the Middle
American Research Institute, Tulane University.
159
Figure 15. Yaxchilán Lintel 24
Photograph © Justin Kerr, K2887.
160
Figure 16. Yaxchilan Lintel 25
Photograph © Justin Kerr, K2888.
161
Figure 17. Bonampak Murals: Structure 1, Room 1, west wall, detail.
Reprinted, by permission, from Mary Miller and Simon Martin, eds., Courtly Art of the
Ancient Maya, fig. 74. Photograph from the Bonampak Documentation Project. © 2004
by Thames and Hudson.
Figure 18. Bonampak Murals: Structure 1, Room 3, east wall, detail.
Reprinted, by permission, from Nikolai Grube, ed., Maya: Divine Kings of the Rainforest,
fig. 378. Digitalized photograph by AKG, Berlin. © c2001 by Könnemann.
162
163
Figure 19. The Princeton Vase
Photograph © Justin Kerr, K0511.
Figure 20. Naranjo Stela 8, back. The arrow points out the Wuk Tzuk title.
Stela 8, back from Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Vol. 2, Part 1, Naranjo,
reproduced courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
164
Figure 21. Naranjo Stela 8, front. The arrow points out the Wuk Tzuk title.
Stela 8, front from Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Vol. 2, Part 1, Naranjo,
reproduced courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
165
Figure 22. Naranjo Stela 19, back. The arrow points out the Wuk Tzuk title.
Stela 19, back from Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Vol. 2, Part 1, Naranjo,
reproduced courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
166
Figure 23. Inscription from the Black on Cream vase by Aj Maxam. The Wuk Tzuk title
has been highlighted.
Reprinted, by permission, from Dorie Reents-Budet, Painting the Maya Universe, fig.
2.33. Illustration by Barbara MacLeod. © 1994 by Duke University Press.
167
Figure 24. Naranjo Stela 13, back. The arrow points out the Wuk Tzuk title.
Stela 13, back from Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Vol. 2, Part 1, Naranjo,
reproduced courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
168
Figure 25. Naranjo Stela 14, back. The arrow points at the Wuk Tzuk title.
Stela 14, back from Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Vol. 2, Part 1, Naranjo,
reproduced courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
169
Figure 26. Fragment of a Stela now at the Museo del Radio Petén in Flores. The remnants
of the Wuk Tzuk title have been highlighted.
Reprinted, by permission, from the Maya Workshop Foundation, Notebook for the
XXVIIIth Maya Hieroglyphic Forum at Texas, page II-69. Illustration by Nikolai Grube.
© 2004 by the University of Texas at Austin, Department of Art and Art History.
170
Figure 27. Bone One.
171
Figure 28. Bone Two
172
Figure 29. Bone Three
173
Figure 30. Bone Four
174
Figure 31. Bone Five
175
Figure 32. Bone Six
176
Figure 33. Bones Seven through Ten
177
Figure 34. Bone Seven
178
Figure 35. Bone Eight
179
Figure 36. Bone Nine
180
Figure 37. Bone Ten
181
Figure 38. Bones Eleven and Twelve
182
Figure 39. Bone Twenty
183
Figure 40. Bone Twenty-Two,
decorative end
Figure 41. Quetzal Bird perched in a tree.
Courtesy of Lou Hegedus
184
Figure 42. Fragment One
109
Figure 43. Fragment Two
110
Figure 45. Fragment Three,
comparison with thumb
Figure 44. Fragment Three
111
Figure 46. Fragment Four
Figure 47. Fragment Five
112
Figure 48. Fragment Six
Figure 49. Fragment Seven
113
Figure 50. Fragments Eight through Fifteen
114
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Weaving the Past: An Examination of Bones Buried with an Elite Maya Woman
Weaving has been a succinctly female activity in the Mesoamerican region of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and the other countries of Central America for hundreds of centuries. For the modern Maya the fabrics and patterns woven are at the core of a woman’s identity and a crucial source of family sustenance. For the ancient Maya cloth and fabric were used in their tribute activities – gifts of food and cloth created ties, alliances, and allegiances. The symbol of ascending to rulership in ancient Maya writing and sculpture was encapsulated in the action of tying on a cloth headband. Clearly, the production of fabric was an essential activity performed by Maya women.
This study examines a set of bones inscribed with glyphs calling them the bone pins of an elite Maya woman. These bones were probably specifically meant for use in weaving and were given a place of honor, indicating their significance and worth as elite objects and tools, by being buried with her as funeral goods along with a cache of valuable and elite objects. Using a categorical and iconographical analysis and utilizing the clues left behind in the glyphs adorning these bones, this study uncovers who this woman probably was and what her role might have been in the royal household she lived in. She was probably a royal woman, maybe a princess, or even a queen, who had ties with a ruler of Naranjo, a city in northeastern Guatemala near the border with Belize. She shares titles with some of the prominent queens of that city, and is labeled as a royal woman of high status by these titles as well.
The number of bones buried with the lady of this analysis may signify that she was a master weaver. Since fabrics and their distribution were so important to the political system of the ancient Maya it is logical to believe that fabrics by certain weavers who had proved themselves as masters would have been sought after, much in the way that ceramic vessels from certain workshops of high quality were desired. Along with monuments from Naranjo and other city-states, which tell of women acting as rulers, ambassadors, and politicians, these unique utensils, rare in the archaeological corpus, suggest that the role of elite women was integral to the function of rulership and Maya society....Read more
