UC Riverside Archaeologist Part of Team Studying Early Maya Mural
Written by Xiuhcoatl
Dec 13, 2005 at 06:02 PM
UC Riverside Archaeologist Part of Team Studying Early Maya Mural
Karl Taube helps interpret the imagery concerning the creation of the
world, people, and the origin of kingship as well as a highly developed
hieroglyphic script
(December 13, 2005)
Archaeologists at an ancient Maya ceremonial site in Guatemala have
uncovered the final intact wall of a large Maya mural dating from 100
B.C. that shows the mythology surrounding the creation of the world and
a highly developed hieroglyphic script. A team that includes UCR
Professor Karl Taube is in the midst of a five-year project to uncover
the mural and reveal its story.
Before the excavation of the vividly painted mural, there was scant
evidence of the existence of early Maya kings or of their use of
elaborate art and writing to establish their right to rule.
The site, known as San Bartolo, contains a pyramid complex and several
buried rooms. To the west of the pyramid where the mural room was
discovered, archaeologists led by Guatemalan Mónica Pellecer Alecio
found the oldest known Maya royal burial, from around 150 B.C. The
latest finds at the site will be reported in the January 2006 issue of
National Geographic magazine.
Project director William Saturno, of the University of New Hampshire
and Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, said the
mural room’s recently excavated west wall is a masterpiece of ancient
Maya art that reveals the story of creation, the mythology of kingship
and the divine right of a king. The 30-foot by 3-foot west wall mural
shows two coronation scenes — one mythological, the other the
coronation of a real king.
As project iconographer, Professor Taube's primary task is to identify
and interpret the complex imagery appearing in the San Bartolo murals.
He said the murals provide an unparalleled view of the early
development of Maya mythology and art. “All too often such carvings are
broken or heavily eroded,” he said. “In contrast, the murals at San
Bartolo are in brilliant polychrome and extend for many meters along
the chamber walls. Elaborate red spirals indicate wind, breath and
aroma and can be seen exhaling from the mouths of serpents and other
beings, and at the edge of bird wings to denote movement. The maize god
appears no less than seven times in the currently exposed portion of
the mural, giving us an unprecedented understanding of his attributes
and mythology at this early date.”
Archaeologists have determined the mural is about 200 years older than
originally thought. The team is in the midst of a five-year project to
uncover the mural and reveal its story. The work at San Bartolo has
been supported by grants from the National Geographic Society, the
National Endowment for the Humanities, the Peabody Museum, the
Annenberg Foundation and the Reinhart Foundation. The work is
authorized by the Guatemalan Institute of Anthropology and History.
“It is in the interest of the Guatemalan state to support the
archaeological research, the mural restoration and conservation program
undertaken by Dr. Saturno and his team. We are also interested in
implementing a conservation project with the objective of preserving
the murals,” said Ervin S. Lòpez Aguilar, director of the Department of
Prehispanic Monuments.
The first part of the west wall mural shows the establishment of order
to the world. Four deities, variations of the same figure — the son of
the maize god — provide a blood sacrifice and an offering in four
cardinal directions as they set up the physical world. The deities move
through the Maya universe. The first god stands in the water and offers
a fish, establishing the watery underworld. The second stands on the
ground and sacrifices a deer, establishing the land. The third floats
in the air, offering a turkey, thereby establishing the sky; and the
fourth stands in a field of flowers, offering fragrant blossoms, the
food of gods, and establishing paradise in the east, where the sun is
reborn daily.
The next section of the mural shows the maize god establishing the
world center and crowning himself king upon a wooden scaffold. The
final section traces his birth, death and resurrection, bringing
sustenance to the world. The last scene shows a historic coronation of
a Maya king, named and titled, receiving his headdress from an
attendant. By acceding to the throne in the company of gods, the mural
likely shows the king is claiming the divine right to rule from the
gods themselves.
“The artistic and physical evidence of the Maya’s earliest kings
revealed at San Bartolo is among the most important finds in Maya
archaeology in the last few decades,” Saturno said. “It has opened a
window into the very origins of Maya civilization. As we excavate the
site further and piece together more images and glyphs from the mural
fragments we have discovered, new surprises could be revealed.”
Related Links:
# National Geographic News
# Harvard University Peabody Museum
# San Bartolo Maya Mural Project
# Background for Prof. Taube
Additional Contacts:
# Barbara Moffet, (202) 857-7756, National Geographic
# Karl Taube, UCR archaeologist, (951) 827-3917
The University of California, Riverside is a major research
institution. Key areas of research include nanotechnology, genomics,
environmental studies, digital arts and sustainable growth and
development. With a current undergraduate and graduate enrollment of
more than 16,600, the campus is projected to grow to 21,000 students by
2010. Located in the heart of inland Southern California, the nearly
1,200-acre, park-like campus is at the center of the region's economic
development. Visit www.ucr.edu or call 951-UCR-NEWS for more
information. Media sources are available at
http://www.mediasources.ucr.edu/.
News Media Contact:
Name: Kris Lovekin
Phone: 951.827.2495
Email:
Last Updated ( Dec 13, 2005 at 06:06 PM )
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