The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras

by Thomas William Francis Gann

SPINNING AND WEAVING

Judging by the great number of spindle-whorls found in the mounds and on village sites, cotton spinning must have been practically universal among the women. Oval perforated stones of a size suitable for loom weights have been found, and it is probable that they were used as such, as they do not seem to be adapted to any other purpose. With this exception we learn nothing of the art of weaving from the contents of the mounds. Henequen fiber was doubtless used for the manufacture of rope, mats, hammocks, and other objects, as grooved flat stones for beating the pulp from the fiber are common.

GAMES

The appliances for at least two distinct games have been found.[18] The first consists of a large spherical block of limestone, nicely polished, and about 1 foot in diameter, found associated with 6 to 12 smaller spherical stones, each about 3 inches in diameter, of very light material somewhat resembling pumice stone. The second consists of a number of small disks of shell, about three-fourths of an inch in diameter. Collections of these have been found together on several occasions; they might have been used as beads or ornaments but for the fact that they are neither perforated nor decorated with incised figures as shell beads usually are.

RELIGION

Of the 15 gods of the codices classified by Schellhas five may be recognized in this area with a fair degree of certainty. God A, the god of death, in the form of a human skull, decorates the outside of not a few small pottery vessels, and is depicted upon the painted stucco wall at Santa Rita. God B, the long-nosed god, is usually identified with Cuculcan. Representations of this god are found throughout the whole area in great abundance, painted upon pottery and stucco, incised on bone and stone, and modeled in clay. This god is associated with the cities of Chichen Itza and Mayapan, and is supposed to have entered Yucatan from the west; indeed it is possible that he may originally have been the leader of one of the Maya immigrations from that direction. He appears to have been by far the most popular and generally worshiped deity in this area, and it is his image which is found on nearly half of all the incense burners discovered. God D, probably Itzamna, appears in the codices as an old man with a Roman nose, shrunken cheeks, toothless jaws, and a peculiar scroll-like ornament beneath the eye, to the lower border of which are attached two or three small circles. In some representations a single tooth projects from the upper jaw, and in a few the face is bearded. This god is not infrequently found associated with the serpent. A typical representation of him is seen upon the Santa Rita temple wall;[19] here he is depicted standing upon intertwined serpents, holding in his right hand a feather-plumed serpent. This god is represented upon some incense burners, and is found not infrequently associated with Cuculcan.

God K, the god with an elaborate foliated nose, often closely associated with God B, his face in some cases forming the headdress ornament of the latter god, is unmistakably depicted upon the Santa Rita temple wall.[20] God P, the Frog god, is found on some small pottery vases, and on a few incense burners. Nothing found in the mounds proves definitely the practice of human sacrifice in this area, but that it existed is almost certain, as Villagutierre refers to it as prevalent among the Itza of Peten at the time of their conquest,[21] at the end of the seventeenth century, and Landa mentions it as occurring among the Maya at the time of the coming of the Spaniards.[22] Near the headwaters of the Rio Hondo a mound was opened, which contained, in a stone-walled chamber, a number of human skulls unaccompanied by other bones. It is possible that these may have been the remains of sacrificial victims, as it was customary to remove the head of the victim after death, which became the perquisite of the priests.

Human sacrifice among the Maya was probably a somewhat rare event, taking place only on extraordinary special occasions, as in times of public calamity—for example, during the prevalence of famine, war, or pestilence—when it was felt that a special propitiatory offering to the god was called for. This practice was confined to one, or at most to a very small number of victims, never reaching the proportions which it did among the Aztec, by whom it was probably introduced into Yucatan. The main offering of the Maya to their gods seems to have consisted of an incense composed of copal gum and aromatic substances. Landa mentions this as largely employed at the time of the conquest; Villagutierre encountered it among the Itza at the end of the seventeenth century; and Tozzer found it in use among the Lacandon Indians at the present day. The incense itself has been found all over this area, as well as great numbers of incense burners.