World Creator and World Sustainer: God N at LYNN FOSTER UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LINNEA WREN GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE

During the ninth century, the site of Chichen Despite his importance, First Father has not Itza in northern Yucatan emerged as the center been identified with certainty in art. First of a powerful state that spread its influence Father has been identified with God D, known throughout much of . As attested as (Taube 1992), and with by the art of Chichen Itza, the success of the pol­ (Pickands 1980). He is known in the Popol Yuh ity depended not only on stridently militaristic as and in the Late Classic inscrip­ policies, but also upon fervent religious beliefs. tions as Hun Ahau and as the Maize God, Hun The murals, sculptures and other forms of repre­ Nal Ye (Schele 1992a:21). He is depicted as a skull; sentational art of the site demonstrate that at the he is resurrected as the youthful Maize God. Yet same time that the people of Chichen Itza boasted he remains at times practically indistinguishable of their dominance over defeated polities and from his Hero Twin Son, Hunahpu. He seems to captive peoples, they also acknowledged their be everywhere at once but remains elusive. No obedience to the powers that in­ single in Maya sculpture has consistently fused their existence and that determined their been depicted with a set of iconographic at­ destiny. tributes that fully symbolizes the supernatural Among the gods to whom the populace of aspects of First Father. Chichen Itza gave their reverence was the eld­ At Chichen Itza, a complex of visual motifs erly male supernatural (fig. 1) identified as God associated withGod N suggests that the deity was N (Forstemann 1901; Schellhas 1904; Thompson understood as a manifestation of First Father. 1970a; Taube 1989a, 1992). It is the contention of One element in this complex of visual motifs is this paper that at Chichen Itza, God N can be the compositional pairing of God N and identified as First Father, the primordialmale god o on the piers of the Lower Temple of the Jag­ of Maya cosmology. uars. The female supernatural (fig. 2) is depicted According to Maya beliefs of both the pre­ with death motifs including a skeletalized face conquest and post-conquest periods, First Father and long skirt decorated with crossed bones and played an important role in shaping the cosmos death eyes. Similar death motifs are frequently (Edmonson 1971; Tedlock 1985; Schele and associated in the codices with Goddess 0 whose Freidel 1990; Schele 1992a; Freidel, et aI, 1993). identify as the ancient genetrix of creation has Like First Mother, the female deity who was his been well established (Joralemon 1981; Taube consort, First Father was born before 4 Ahau 8 1992). Kumk'u, the date on which the fourth cycle of A second element in the complex of visual cosmic creation was begun (Schele 1992a:120). motifs at Chichen Itza that identifies God N with Through the supernatural agency of the primor­ First Father is the serpentine umbilical cord as­ dial couple, the natural world was formed, the sociated with each of the ancestral . First younger gods were conceived, maize was Father, as well as First Mother, possessed procre­ brought into cultivation and humankind was ative powers of a supernatural magnitude. Late modeled from com dough. Creation was com­ Classic period figurines (Robicsek and Hales pleted when shamanism and kingship, the essen­ 1981:fig. 67; Taube 1989:fig. 24-12c) and vessels tial institutions of , were established (Robicsek and Hales 1981:vesseI12a) frequently by the ancestral deity couple (Schele 1992a:163­ depict young women being fondled by an eager 165). God N (Coe 1973; Schele and Miller 1986). In

259 Fig. 1 God N. Lower Temple of the Jaguars. South Fig. 4 Goddess O. Lower Temple ofthe Jaguars. North Jamb. Chichhl Itza. Tozzer 1957, v. 12:fig. 614. Pier. North Side. Chichhl Itzti. Tozzer 1957, v. 12:fig. 195.

Fig. 2 Goddess O. Lower Temple ofthe Jaguars. North Fig. 5 God N. Lower Temple of the Jaguars. South Pier. North Side. Chichhl Itza. Tozzer 1957, v. 12:fig. Pier. West Face. Chichhl Itzti. Tozzer 1957, v. 12:fig. 196. 615.

Fig. 3 North Temple. North wall. Chichhl Itzti. Drawing by Linnea Wren.

260 contemporary Maya , God N has survived when the raising of the World Tree separates the as the licentious character know as , whose earth and sky (Freidel, et al. 1993:42). The sky­ clowning challenges the rigid conventions of so­ bearing Pauahtun may also be understood as a cial behavior (Stresser-Pean 1952). His public "stand up sky lord" because the Cordemex Dic­ displays of lewd and undignified behavior make tionary entry for bacahb is 'stood up' (Barrera Mam an affectionate target of Maya humor. God Vasquez 1980). N was the pre-conquest patron god of the five­ The separation of the earth from the sky is day Uayeb period, whose acts ofbuffoonery were evidently portrayed in Late Classic vessel scenes depicted by the Maya with great relish. In this in which the World Tree grows out of the skeletal aspect, he was often shown with traits adapted head of First Father (Coe 1978:vesseI16; Robicsek from the opossum mam (Taube 1989b:fig. 24-1). and Hales 1981:vessel 109). A similar scene is Despite the apparent incongruity of associ­ represented in relief at Chichen Itza on the bal­ ating the clowning opossum god with the vener­ ustrades of the North and South Temples, struc­ able First Father, sexual potency is an essential tures located at the ends of the Great Ball Court element in the cosmological role of the ancestral (fig. 6). The moment in the creation drama at couple. Located on the central axis in the basal which First Father is decapitated and buried in band of the north wall of the North Temple at the ballcourt is described in the . A Chichen Itza is a reclining female figure (fig. 3). similar ritual of divine internment has survived Two serpents emerge like a bifurcated umbilical among the Kekchi Maya 0. E. S. Thompson cord from her abdomen. These paired serpents 1970b:299). The Kekchi celebrate the end of their apparently refer to the Maya interpretation of the Easter ceremonies by the burial of a modem im­ umbilical cord, not only as the bond that connects age of a . These ceremonies appear to par­ ,the mother to her unborn child, but also as the allel the Uayeb ceremonies, which have been rec­ living rope that linked the supernatural sphere ognized as re-enactments of creation itself (Taube to the natural world in the early period of cre­ 1988). The identification of God N as the Bacab, ation (Miller 1982). with First Father as the "stand up sky lord," may At Chichen Itza the figures of both Goddess explain the prominence of God N both as patron o (fig. 4) and God N (fig. 5), represented on the of and participant in Uayeb ceremonies. entrance piers of the Lower Temple of the Jag­ The cosmological motif representing the uars, are superimposed in front of serpent bod­ separation of the earth from the sky is seen at ies. These serpentine bodies twist behind the Palenque in the Temple of the Foliated Cross supernatural torsos. Dropping like umbilical (Schele 1979:fig. 16). The tablet from this temple cords between their legs, the serpents connect the depicts a Maize Tree growing from a skull that deities to the world below. sprouts vegetation. The skull has been inter­ A third element in the complex of visual preted by David Freidel as the severed head of motifs at Chichen Itza that identifies God N as First Father, while the Maize Tree has been inter­ First Father is pose. Whether reclining preted as a the manifestation of First Father as (Proskouriakoff 1970:fig. 15), kneeling (SeIer 1902­ the resurrected Maize Lord (Freidel, et al. 23, v. 5:301) or standing (SeIer 1902-23, v. 5:296), 1993:359). The identification of First Father with God N figures raise one or both arms to support the Maize Tree is suggested by the presence on the realm above their heads. These atlantean the upper stalk of the com plant of a full-frontal poses identify God N with the quadripartite, mask. This mask has been assigned the phonetic world-sustaining deities who are known in their value tzuk, a term that means 'partition' and that youthful aspects as and in their aged as­ also serves as one name for First Father (Grube pects as Pauahtuns (Tozzer 1941:137; Coe 1973:15; and Schele 1991). Schele and Miller 1986:122). The function of God The Maize Tree can also be identified as a N as the world-sustaining force can be equated manifestation of God N. A pair of tzuk masks, with the world trees placed at the comers and shown in profile view, can be seen at the base of center of the universe. According to the Chilam the com plant. Since only one side of the Maize Balam ofChumayel (Roys 1933:100), the world tree Tree is visible, it is possible to infer the presence in the cosmic center was called Yax Che, or First of a fourth tzuk mask placed symmetrically with Tree. In Late Classic hieroglyphic texts, First Fa­ the full-frontal mask (Freidel, Schele and Parker ther is called the "stand up sky lord" because his 1993:360). The implicit representation of four tzuk rebirth coincides with the moment in creation masks apparently refers to the kan tzuk, that is,

261 Fig. 8 Maize God emerging from witz head. Lower Temple ofthe Jaguars. South Pier. East Side. Upper Panel. Chicken !tw. Seier 1902-23, v. 5:fig.192.

Fig. 6 World Tree. North Temple. Balustrade ofUpper Stairway. Chichen !tzti. Marfig. 192. Marquina 1951:fig.30.

Fig. 9 Manikin scepter in hand of God N. Lower Temple of the Jaguars. North Jamb. Chicken !tzti. Drawing by Linnea Wren.

the quadripartite partitions of the cosmos, and to the quadripartite manifestations of God N as the Bacabs/pauahtuns which sustain the cosmos. At Chichen Itzei the God N equivalent of the icon represented at Palenque in the Temple of the Foliated Cross can be found on the piers of the Lower Temple of the Jaguars. Here Pauahtun, in place of the First Tree, stands atop a skull. Waterlily vines and flowers substitute for the optic nerves and death eyes as extrusions from Fig. 7 God N. Lower Temple of the Jaguars. South the eye sockets (fig. 7). Freidelhas identified First Pier. North Face. Chichen !tw. Drawing by Linnea Father as the World Tree (Freidel, et ai. 1993:358­ Wren after Seier 1902-23, v. 5:fig. 290. 9). At Chichen Itzei, Pauahtun, wearing the Yax

262 means 'maternal grandfather' as well as 'opos­ sum' (Coe 1973:14). The highly suggestive an­ cestral meaning of the name Mam is reinforced by the recent identification of Pauahtun as a lin­ eage deity at Copan. Both William Fash (1989) and Claude Baudez (1989) have identified three architectural sculp­ tures as Pauahtuns on the House of the Bacabs at Copan (Fash 1989:fig. 64). On the lower band of the north facade the two damaged figures are seated within skeletal serpent jaws. These fig­ ures, who wear beaded waterWy pectorals and hold shell inkpots, can be identified as Pauahtuns. The ancestral significance of these architectural sculptures is confirmed by the decorated ahaus that were attached to the snouts of the skeletal maws and which may signify 'father' (Fash 1989:67; Schele, et al., n.d.). In the upper entab­ lature of the facade of the House of the Bacabs Fig. 10 Turtle shell with emergent Maize God. the central figure wears the waterlily headdress Robicsek and Hales 1981:vessel 117. Drawing by of a Pauahtun. Fash (1989) and Baudez (1989) in­ Linda Schele. terpret the central figure as the living embodi­ ment of the patron god Pauahtun. The possibility that God N represents a lin­ sign of the central First Tree in his headdress, eage deity not just for scribes but also for ruling substitutes for the tree. Pauahtun, like First Fa­ families is raised by the pervasive presence of ther, is the axis mundi1; the Pauahtuns are direc­ waterlily motifs associated with Pauahtun tional aspects of First Father as the World Tree 2• throughout Copan and by the appearance of Otherelements in the complex of visual traits waterlily motifs with rulers in other Maya sites at Chichen Itza that identify God N with First (Baudez 1989:78). At Palenque the tied waterlily Father are the references to lineage and lordship. headdress emblematic of Pauahtun (Thompson Representations of God N on the entrance jambs 1970a:299) is wornby the living Pacal on the Oval of the Lower Temple of the Jaguars depict the Palace Tablet, Pacal's accession tablet (Schele and deity as holding a manikin scepter in his right Miller 1986:fig. 11-5), and by the dead Pacal on hand (fig. 1). Admittedly, the object held by God the Palace Tablet, the accession table of Pacal's N on the southern jamb is difficult to identify, son, K'an Hok' Chitam (Schele andMiller 1986:fig due in part to its partial destruction and in part 11-7). to its confused rendering in the published draw­ The central figure in the upper entablature ing. However, the identical object in the hand of of the House of the Bacabs at Copan is flanked God N on the northern jamb is better preserved by two figures wearing ears of com in their head­ and can be identified as a scepter surmounted dresses (Fash 1989:fig. 64). These flanking fig­ by a long-nosed, bearded deity head in profile ures have been interpreted as younger lineage view (fig. 9). Goddess 0 in the Lower Temple of members, often called 'sprouts' in Classic period the Jaguars (fig. 2) wears a jester god headband. texts (Schele 1992:141). According to modern in­ In addition, depictions of God N and Goddess 0 terpretations of Maya cosmology (Freidel, et al. on the entrance piers flank the jaguar throne lo­ 1993:42), First Father entered the underworld cated on the central axis of the Lower Temple of during creation. There he was transformed into the Jaguars (Cohodas 1978:fig. 11). the Maize God who sprang as a living plant from It is from First Father that often the cleft earth into the human sphere. The sub­ claimed descent as justification for their right to stitution of the com for waterWy motifs in two of govern (Schele and Freidel 1990:116; Freidel the figures in the upper entablature of the House 1992:99). God N in his Uayeb role of opossum of the Bacabs suggests an analogy between First actor is often known ethnohistorically by the Father as the reborn Maize God and God N as name Mam, a word that in the ancestral father of the living sprouts.

263 Fig. 11 God N emerging from witz head. North Colonnade. Chichen ltza. Taube 1992:fig. 48a.

Fig. 13 Warrior wearing quechquemitl. Northwest Colonnade. Column 575. Chichen ltw. Drawing by Linnea Wren.

Still another element that identifies God N as First Father is the turtle carapace that is worn by Pauahtun in one of his roles as world bearer. At Chichen Itza God N frequently appears in guises that include conch shells, spider webs and insect bodies, possibly those of dragon-flies3• The primaryimportance of the tortoise carapace guise for the identity of God N, however, is indicated by the set of four God N figures on Structure H­ 17 in Late Post-Classic Mayapan. Although the Chichen Itza precedent of representing God N as a quadripartite set is continued at Mayapan, the Fig. 12 God N impersonator/captive. Northwest iconographic variation is eliminated. Each of the Colonnade. Column 335. Chichen ltw. Morris, four God N sculptures is shownwith a turtle shell Charlot and Morris 1931:plate 100. (D. E. Thompson 1955:282). The turtle shell, which can substitute for the tun glyph in the name of Pauahtun (Taube Additionalelements in the complex of visual 1992:fig. 46a),4 has been shown to act as a meta­ traits at Chichen Itza that identify God N as First phor for the trickster figure in Father include references to maize. Directly (Kurbjuhn 1985). This figure is also the arche­ above the pilasters and piers of God N and God­ typal creator, ancestor, and magician. The turtle dess a in the Lower Temple of the Jaguars, the shell is also a symbol for the constellation Orion Maize God rises from a cleft witz head (fig. 8), and for the surface of the earth. It apparently confirming the cosmological identity of the su­ refers to the cosmological scenes in which the pernatural ancestral couple. Taube (1989a:41) has Maize God springs into the natural world from noted a bowl of tamales placed at the feet of the Underworld (Taube 1985). A cleft carapace GodN. can substitute for First Father's skull in creation

264 imagery (Freidel, 5chele, and Parker 1993:47). On subservience towards their captors (Dillon 1981; one vessel, which depicts the birth of the Maize Schele 1984). At Chichen Itzc1, in contrast, cap­ God, the carapace and the skull appear together, tives are richly laden with marks of high status superimposed on each other (Freidel, et al. and prestige (fig. 12). The depiction of captives 1993:fig. 2.4; fig. 10). at Chichen Itzc1 suggests that the use of a godly A cleft carapace also substitutes for a witz impersonator as a sacrificial victim, a practice head in depictions of the emergence of the Maize observed in Aztec society, may have originated God. As previously noted, such scenes of super­ in the Maya lowlands. Thus, the transformation natural transformation are found in the monu­ in the ritual practices and ideological functions mental sculptures ofChichen Itzc1. On the jambs surroundinghuman that hasbeen attrib­ and piers of the Lower Temple of the Jaguars, the uted to the of the Late Post Classic period young Maize God is represented wearing ears of (Demarest 1984) may have actually occurred at com in his headdress and holding fruited and Chichen Itzc1 during the Terminal Classic period. flowered vines (fig. 8). In depicting the god as Among the Aztecs, great religious festivals he rises from the cleft witz head, these scenes evi­ climaxed with the sacrifice of the living images dently illustrate the passage in the of the god to the supematurals. Godly imper­ of Chumayel that refer to "the birth of him who sonators intended for sacrifice played an impor­ was hidden in the stone" (Roys 1933:190). In tant role in ceremonial practices. Chosen from this scene, and in others where the Maize God is among the prisoners captured in war because bom from a turtle carapace (op. cit.:fig. 2.4 and they possessed no physical blemishes, the godly 2.27c), God N can be identified as one of the impersonators, called teixiptIas, were considered paired profile heads emerging from the sides of upon the moment of their selection to have been the witz head; he may personify the place where rebom and to havebecome visible manifestations maize was bom. This image suggests the "three­ of the gods, called teo tIs (Hvidfeldt 1958; comered precious stone of grace" which was Townsend 1978:28). Their physical worthiness formed during creation and which combines the to be presented as offerings was increased by the Maya utilization of stone monuments as memo­ godly behavior they were expected to exhibit rials of the gods with the Maya reverence for com during the ritual period, usually one year in as the basis of human life (Roys 1933:107). Also length, preceding their sacrifice. Conducting atChichen Itzc1, on the columns of the North Col­ themselves as models of elegant deportment and onnade, God N substitutes for the Maize God, exquisite refinement, the handsome teixiptlas and he himself emerges from the witz head (fig. embodied the qualities attributed to the gods and 11). were treated with the deference due to the gods. The monumental art indicates not only that According to Sahagun (1950-69, 3:66; quoted in ritual performances at Chichen Itzc1 invoked the Hvidtfeldt 1958:86), supematural deities of creation, but also that The teixiptla was looked at as our lord, was treated ritual performers enacted the supematural deeds as our lord, people asked for favors from him with of First Father. Distinctive costume elements sighing, before him they prostrated themselves, wom by God N at Chichen Itzc1 include the shell before him people kissed the ground. pendant and hangingcross-hatched belt elements So elevated was the status of the godly im­ (fig. 1). Five piers in the Temple of the Warrior personator that the captive selected for this ritual complex depict God N impersonators who incor­ role was dressed with gifts of splendid clothes porate these distinctive elements in their cos­ and precious omaments by the emperor. Him­ tumes (Morris, et al. 1931:Temple of the self regarded as godly, the emperor, it was re­ , col. 6W; Temple of the Warriors col. ported to Sahagun (1950-69, 3:66; quoted in 19N; Northwest Colonnade cols. 4N, 4W,45, 325, Hvidfeldt, 1958:87), "considers the teixiptla full 335, 37E). In three instances (Morris, et al. surely his precious teotl". At the end of the des­ 1931:Northwest Colonnade, cols. 325,335, 37E), ignated period, the godly impersonators, now the God N impersonators can also be identified solemn and sometimes weeping, were led in a by their bound wrists as captives (fig. 12). dance-like procession through the ritual precincts Maya art has a long tradition of displaying of Tenochtitlan. Ascending to the summit of the bound captives. Inmost instances, however, cap­ pyramid, they met their deaths. tives are stripped of most or all of their clothing The Classic Maya engaged in many forms of and are displayed in postures indicative of their impersonation. A large percentage of the figures

265 depicted in the Temple of the Warrior complex at cosmos, the gods anxiously queried, "How... can Chichen Itzei wear masks, headdresses and gar­ we be invoked and remembered on the face of ments which signal highly charged ritual mean­ the earth?" At Chichen Itzei, invocation and re­ ings. Inaddition to identifying costume elements membrance ofboth the human actors and super­ associated with Chac, Tlaloc and other deities as natural deities was attempted in stone. well God N, it may also be possible to identify a triangular cape called the quechquemitl (Morris, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS et al. 1931:Northwest Colonnade, cols. 57S, 61S). Although worn by males, the quechquemitl may We would like to express our appreciation to signal the presence of a mother goddess imper­ Nikolai Grube and Linda Schele for their com­ sonator (fig. 13). According to Anawalt (1984), ments on the epigraphic arguments presented in the quechquemitl functioned as a memory garment this paper. We would also like to thank Susan which was used almost exclusively to cover effi­ Milbrath for hercareful reading of this paper and gies and to costume impersonators, male and fe­ for her comments on our discussions of iconog­ male, of the mother goddess. raphy. Andrea Stone (1991) has argued that imper­ sonation functioned both in the political arena as REFERENCES a strategy for the consolidation of power and in the spiritual arena as a means to open a channel Anawalt, Patricia R. of communication between human society and 1984 Memory Clothing: Costumes Associated the gods. Among the Maya, forms of elite im­ withAztec Human Sacrifice. In Ritual Hu­ personation in which males assumed fe­ man Sacrifice in Mesoamerica, edited by male gender roles were prominent. The switched Elizabeth H. Boone, pp. 165-195. Washing­ gender roles observable at Chichen Itzei in the ton, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks. depictions of warriors wearing quechquemitls may Barrera Vasquez, Alfredo, ed. be attributable to the same reasons which caused 1980 Diccionario Maya Cordemex: Maya-Espanol, Maya rulers to assume other female garments, Espanol-Maya. Merida: Ediciones including the netted costume (Stone 1991). Elite Cordemex. males strove to place themselves at the center of Baudez, Claude F. the natural reproductive cycle and thereby to 1989 The House of the Bacabs: An Iconographic personify the forces of agricultural and human Analysis. In The House ofthe Bacabs, Stud­ fertility. ies in Precolumbian Art and Archaeology No. The files of figures sculpted in the surfaces 29, edited by David Webster, pp. 73-81. of the Great Plaza of Chichen Itzei appear to de­ Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks. pict rituals ofprocession, dance and sacrifice that Brown, Betty Ann united the populace and that propelled the rise 1984 Ochpaniztli in Historical Perspective. In of the polity. The depiction of bound God N im­ Ritual Human Sacrifice in Mesoamerica, ed­ personators argue that some captives at Chichen ited by Elizabeth H. Boone, pp. 195-210. Itzei became godly impersonators of First Father Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks. and that their sacrifice re-enacted the descent of Coe, Michael D. the ancestral male into the underworld to ensure 1973 The Maya Scribe and His World. New York: the emergence of corn into the natural sphere. The Grolier Club. The presence of a possible impersonator of First 1978 Lords ofthe Underworld: Masterpieces ofClas­ Mother suggests that the rituals depicted at the sic . Princeton: Princeton Great Plaza, like the Aztec festival of Ochpaniztli, University Press. combined the celebration of agricultural fertility Cohodas, Marvin with the exaltation of military success (Brown 1978 The Great Ball Court at Chichen ltza, Yucatan, 1984). Mexico. New York: Garland Press. At Chichen Itzei, the sheer magnitude of ar­ Demarest, Arthur tistic endeavor and the overwhelming number 1984 Overview: Mesoamerican Human Sacri­ of depictions both of human and supernatural fice in Evolutionary Perspective. In Ritual subjects recalls the question asked by the gods in Human Sacrifice in Mesoamerica, edited by the Popol Vuh (Tedlock 1985:79). Faced by the Elizabeth Boone, pp. 227-247. Washington, transitoriness of existence and mutability of the D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks.

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NOTES

1 Identifying God N with the World Tree, the Yax Che, may explain why he is the head variant for the Mayan number five U. E. S. Thompson 1971:133-4): he is the fifth and central direction. 2 God N's importance as a symbol of the quadripartite and centered universe may explain why his profiled face is a logogram for the so-called dedi­ cation verb. MacLeod (1990:331-347) has read the pho­ netic form of this verb as hoy, or 'to make proper', 'to circumambulate as in rituals to the various world di­ rections'. Friedel, Schele, and Parker (1993:40-41; 357n.19) agree with her reading of this verb, and em­ phasize its meaning as centering, ordering, and parti­ tioning-the very things done by the bacabs. As they point out, it also is what First Father as Hun Nal Ye ''Tzuk'' does at Palenque where the God N logogram substitutes for the verb in the Temple of the Cross cre­ ation text (ibid., 41-42; fig. 2.7b, 2.8a). 3 I am grateful to Susan Milbrath for this sugges­ tion (personal communication). 4 Taube (1989b) has convincingly demonstrated that God N's name is not merely two syllables, pauh, or pa, and tun, but rather three. The third, middle element is a corn curl motif, translated as wah, which by the SpanishConquest, meant tamale. Although the Cordemex has no entry for pa, it does have romper for pa',(Barrera Vasques 1980). Based on this reading, a tentative meaning of Pa-walz-tun could be 'broken maize stone'.

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