The most elaborate relief decoration, not made in moulds, seems to have been applied to censers, and the large specimens in cylindrical form which have been found from the Chacula district to that of Coban, are particularly bold and vigorous in treatment (Fig. [71]). In the case of vessels of this type much of the ornament appears to have been applied, but fragments of censers of another pattern, with handles, and conforming more closely to the type shown in Pl. [IX]; p. 82, have been discovered, perhaps more frequently in Vera Paz. These exhibit considerable artistic and technical skill in their construction; the handles are hollow, and usually terminate in a grotesque face, the eyes and mouth of which form apertures connected with the cavity in the handle. The numerous fragments of figurines of rather coarse unburnished clay found throughout British Honduras seem in most cases to have formed part of large vessels, which probably served as censers (Pl. [X, 3]; p. 108). Free use was made of applied details in this district, as can be seen from the illustration on Pl. [X, 3]; p. 108. From the Pokomam region come peculiar circular dishes, with broad flat rims, the vertical walls of which are studded with conical projections; it is possible that these vessels also, which appear to be characteristic of the district, were censers. In the Uloa valley fragments of vases of a peculiar type have been found, distinguished by lugs in the form of animal heads. Pots of this description are usually further decorated with painted designs of good quality in yellow, orange, brown and black (as Fig. [67]; p. 311). Pottery figurines, serving as whistles, with one or more finger-holes, are not uncommon, especially in the Uloa valley. As said before, the majority appear to have been made in moulds, but the funerary figurines of British Honduras (Pl. [IX, 7–11]; p. 82), also mentioned above, seem to have been modelled by hand. Large solid hand-modelled heads have also been found in Vera Paz, and were probably the heads of idols, since Landa states that the latter were frequently made of clay among the Maya. A fine specimen, which, to judge from the peculiarly cut teeth, may be identified with the sun-god, is shown in Fig. [72]. Smaller solid figurines, but mould-made, have been found at Copan, Tikal and other ruined sites; many of these show traces of paint, including a turquoise-blue, and the details, though less bold, belong to a higher type of art and correspond very closely with those of the stelæ.
Fig. 72.—Pottery head of the sun-god; Nebaj, Guatemala.
(Fleischmann Collection)
An interesting peculiarity of the Vera Paz representations in pottery of the human face lies in the fact that beards and even moustaches are not infrequently shown. The former class of adornment can be paralleled in the ancient stone carvings, but the moustaches on the latter are rather problematical, and in any case are not nearly so full as those of the pottery faces of Vera Paz. Another find in the same district, highly interesting from the point of view of technique, consists in a number of spherical pottery beads, overlaid with gold-foil of extreme thinness. The process by which the gold was applied to the clay constitutes a problem of some difficulty, though the specimens themselves recall the wooden beads, similarly overlaid, discovered in the Totonac region (p. 144).
A certain amount of pottery has been discovered in the caves, both in Yucatan and in the neighbourhood of Copan, which show traces of human occupation. This pottery is peculiar in the fact that it appears in no case to bear any definite relation to the other pottery of the district. The Copan cave-pottery is for the most part in bottle form, with faint gadroon mouldings or impressed key-patterns; while fragments from a cave at Loltun, in Yucatan (immediately south of Uxmal), seem to be in the main of bowls, sometimes with small ring-handles, and usually with fine incised linear designs. The ware of the latter is black and thin, and fragments of figurines occur, the technique of which recalls that of British Honduras.
As stated before, the material is not sufficient to furnish support to important theories, but the close connection of the Vera Paz pottery with that of Sacrificios appears obvious, a connection which extends through to the Chacula region. But too much stress must not be laid upon this, because many forms and details of ornament connect the Vera Paz area with the Copan district, notably the engraved, mould-made and painted pots which bear glyphs. The practice of cutting away the background extends from the Totonac country, through Vera Paz and the Chacula district up into Oaxaca, but no trace is found of the champ-levé work discovered at Sacrificios, Teotihuacan and in the Tarascan country. The turquoise-blue colour occurring on pots in the last style is rare in the Maya area, and is limited to the pottery of British Honduras and certain figurines which seem to bear a close relation to the early culture to which the ruins belong. The ware of the Uloa valley, which has been investigated with some care by Gordon, displays technical qualities which are identical with that of Copan, but is distinguished by a number of features, principally relating to ornament, which give it a character of its own. Many features suggestive of Totonac influence appear in the pottery of British Honduras, and though the ware is, to speak technically, of inferior quality, considerable artistic skill is shown in the modelling of the human face (e.g. Pl. [X, 3]; p. 108). The attribution of forms, as given above, to different districts can however only be regarded as tentative, and will probably have to be modified in the light of subsequent discoveries. The most pressing need is an accurate classification of Maya pottery, together with a careful investigation of the various qualities of paste employed in different districts. The latter is particularly important, since it would afford far more valuable evidence regarding centres of pottery manufacture than a mere study of the forms. Community of form after all only implies connection, and often merely trade-connection which may be second, third, or fourth hand; but a careful investigation of the material will often reveal the actual locality of manufacture, and when this has been fixed for a number of centres, the main lines of trade and the artistic influence exerted by one locality upon another can be estimated with some degree of accuracy.
CHAPTER XIII—THE MAYA: ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS
The architectural remains exemplifying the early Maya culture are scattered over a wide region, roughly between 87 and 94 degrees of west longitude, and between 14 and 22 degrees of north latitude. The western portion of the area consists of the high plateau, intersected with river-valleys, and distinguished by much relatively open country. Over this ground various tribal migrations have passed, but the ruins do not show a culture of so high a type as those of the country further east. Between the plateau and Yucatan, buildings of the highest type are found, in low-lying alluvial country, densely forested, in which stone is, practically speaking, only procurable where the hills approach the rivers. In Yucatan, material for architectural construction was ready to hand in the soft limestone of which the peninsula is formed, and the action of the underground streams in causing the land-surface to collapse in places, had broken up the limestone into slabs of all sizes, almost as if to suit the convenience of the builder. But the Yucatec buildings belong on the whole to a later date than those of the central region, and though technically they may equal the latter, yet signs of artistic decadence make their appearance in over-luxuriant conventionalization, and indications of foreign influence are seen at certain sites, notably at Chichen Itza.
In a book intended mainly as an introduction to the study of Mayan archæology a full description of the many ruined sites is out of the question, and this chapter will be limited to a consideration of the main points of Mayan architecture, with illustrations taken from the chief groups of remains. Those who desire fuller details may be referred to the magnificent plates of Maudslay, and the extremely valuable and illuminating descriptions of Palenque, Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Mitla (besides Monte Alban and Teotihuacan) of Holmes. Spinden’s monograph on Maya art should also be studied, as well as Seler’s book on the ruins at and around Chacula.