The President and Fellows of Harvard College Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology

Kings of Stone: A Consideration of Stelae in Ancient Maya Ritual and Representation Author(s): David Stuart Source: RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, No. 29/30, The Pre-Columbian (Spring - Autumn, 1996), pp. 148-171 Published by: The President and Fellows of Harvard College acting through the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20166947 . Accessed: 27/03/2011 17:32

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http://www.jstor.org 148 RES 29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN 1996

Figure 1. Stela 3. Aguateca, Guatemala. Photo: Courtesy of IanGraham. Kings of stone

A consideration of stelae in ancient Maya ritual and representation

DAVID STUART

stone Among the varied types of Maya monumental From the outset it should be stressed that Maya a amount sculpture, the stela is perhaps the most well known and monuments display considerable of stylistic a commonplace (fig. 1). During the Classic period and formal variation?anyone who visits few soon (approximately A.D. 250-850), nearly all Maya archaeological sites will become conscious of this. are kingdoms of the southern lowland region displayed Many flat, upright slabs of limestone bearing royal on one or stelae in ceremonial plazas and temple precincts. Most portraits two faces. Where the texture of the stone can assume a more of these upright stone slabs or statues bear portraits of local permits, stelae much or as at royal figures along with hieroglyphic texts rounded statuesque appearance, Copan and commemorating important stations in the Maya Tonina. Curious blank stelae in the form of undecorated or are calendar ("Period Endings," as they are usually called). slabs columns found throughout the region, and some some in According to the inscriptions, calendar rites several prominent sites, including Palenque and involved ritual bloodletting and dancing by the king, the Puuc region, lack stelae altogether. So-called "altar" among other ceremonial acts. However, many newly stones are perhaps more widely found, although this is a deciphered texts also reveal that royal ceremonies somewhat vague term applied to sculpted boulders, or centered on the placement and dedication of the cylinder pedestals, tables; each type should perhaps a stones monuments themselves. Rather than being simply be considered separately. Often these smaller were as medium for the commemoration of royal deeds and placed before stelae, probably pedestals for the other events, stelae played very direct and active roles display of censers, ritual fires, and other offerings. Stelae in ancient Maya ritual life. may have been among the largest and most public of as But what precisely were these roles? What ideas and monuments, but the ensuing discussion will show, use as some meanings underlay the production, placement, and their role ritual objects probably overlapped in of these conspicuous monuments? Despite the obvious degree with altars and other types of stone monuments. importance of such questions to the understanding of never Classic Maya religion and politics, they have been answered with much or clarity precision. Recently, Tuns and time-keeping however, deciphered hieroglyphs in the texts upon Any consideration of the role of stelae and other stelae reveal much new information about portrait stones in Classic Maya ritual practice must begin with stelae and their roles as active "participants" in the an assessment of their function in calendrical reckoning ceremonial landscape. These new decipherments and record-keeping. The significance of stones in the elucidate ancient Maya notions of portraiture and native conception of time has long been known, representation and how these complex notions bear on principally due to use of the Mayan word tun, "stone" the ancient display of political authority. or "precious stone," in reference to the basic calendrical Iwould like to acknowledge Stephen Houston for his important period of 360 days (Justeson and Mathews 1983; Long contributions to of the ideas our many expressed here, especially 1925:579; Thompson 1950:144). Native historical collaborative effort to arrive at a more and nuanced satisfactory chronicles from colonial Yucatan, such as the Books of more understanding of the word bah. A refined presentation of this Chilam Balam, make use of tun in decipherment and its implications for the study of the Maya "self" will routinely temporal a statements such as "in the first tun . . or "in the appear in forthcoming issue of RES. Bridget Hodder Stuart read .," me to . . a several early drafts and forced clarify many points. Adam twelfth tun .," custom that has led Maya scholars of Yale offered a number of constructive Herring University comments, to ubiquitously translate tun as "year" when found in and our discussions on of the included herein have many topics calendrical contexts (in these documents, tuns enriched of them. Karl Taube and an twenty my understanding anonymous a a me comprise unit of time called k'atun). reviewer also suggested several improvements and pointed toward larger it iswell worth that no important citations. Great thanks are also due to Francesco Pellizzi However, noting early dictionary comments or and Cynthia Elmas for their thoughtful and editing. of Yucatec Maya any other Mayan language cites 150 RES 29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN 1996

"year" as a meaning for tun. Rather, the widely attested with the "seating" sign (probably CHUM) to refer to word for "year" in the purely temporal sense is hab or "stone-seating" at the inception of each k'atun period in some cognate form of this root. Ibelieve, therefore, that the Long Count calendar (fig. 2b). With the passing of the translation of tun as "year" is a modern one having every 360 days, a tun is added to this reckoning, so that or arisen from a scholarly misunderstanding of the the glyphs "13 Tun" "15 Tun" specify specific stations esoteric terminology that surrounded native Maya within a k'atun period (fig. 2c). Justeson and Mathews timekeeping. Maya record-keepers, when composing suggest that tun in such cases is to be understood as such temporal statements in their texts, referred to "year," but there is no reason to dismiss the notion that specific numbered "stones" that in some way actual stones were in some way used to reckon the represented periods of 360 days. passing time periods, much as inYucatan several The ethnohistories of Yucatan support this literal centuries later. In fact, their overall argument that tun interpretation by discussing the ritual use of stones in means "year" in the Classic texts rests on incorrect connection with calendar ceremonies. The Books of readings of two hieroglyphic contexts whose values are Chilam Balam, for example, often mention the now well established.1 As in the later histories of no establishment of "stones" in certain towns at the end of Yucatan, there is strong evidence that ancient glyphs each k'atun (twenty tun) period. In the Book of Chilam for tun ever refer to "years" in the abstract sense. Balam of Chumayel, for example, we read: "12 Ahau. Despite the considerable time-depth of these The stone was taken at Otzmal; 10 Ahau. The stone was temporal records, the precise symbolic connection taken at Zizal; 8 Ahau. The stone was taken at between funs and time units of 360 or 7,200 days, Kancaba," etc. (Roys 1933:142-143). A sixteenth while evidently extremely close, remains poorly century source known as the Cr?nica de Chicxulub understood. What kinds of stones are being referred to? describes somewhat cryptically the placement of stones In the Classic inscriptions, tun refers to stelae (Justeson in connection with k'atun periods: "In this year the and Mathews 1983) or, alternatively, to the so-called Katun ended, and then ended the putting in place of the "altars" often dedicated with them. For example, Stela E town-stone, for at each twentieth stone they came to from Quirgua, Guatemala, erected on the Maya date place the town-stones, formerly, when the Spaniards 9.17.0.0.0 13 Ahaw 18 Cumku, is named the "13 Ahaw had not yet come to Cuzamil, to this land; since the tun." Here the stone is named for the Period Ending on Spaniards came, it has ceased to be done." The idea of falling 13 Ahaw. Such names immediately recall the stone "placement" to mark time was evidently important, so-called "giant Ahaw altars" encountered at some sites, assume for Collogudo in his Historia de Yucatan notes: which the form of flat stones bearing large Ahaw day-signs on their upper faces. These are literally The lustres coming in periods of five years, which made as "13 Ahaw tuns," "7 Ahaw tuns," and so on, twenty years, which they call 'katun,' they placed an presented stone another which was Period dates (Satterthwaite engraved upon also engraved, marking specific Ending and set itwith lime and sand in the walls of their temples, and of the houses of their priests, as we still see them today in the houses in and in some old walls in our question, 1. Fox and Justeson (1984:51-52) and Justeson and Mathews convent in over which are some cells. Merida, (1983) argue that the TUN logograph (T528 inThompson's [1962] cited in Tozzer 1941:38 catalog of signs) is polyvalent, also carrying the value HAB, "year," in some contexts. The evidence they cite in support of the HAB value There is considerable evidence that the Classic Maya now appears weak in the face of more recent decipherments. also used stones to mark the of From a as passing years. Specifically, they argue that sign that they read h- when placed serves as a early in this century, Mayanists have been aware of the atop the putative HAB phonetic complement: (h-)HAB. Their h- is, however, not a and is attached toT528 ancient custom of dedicating stelae on so-called separate sign, only in the context of four Maya month As early dates, on the of specialized glyphs. "period-ending" especially endings of these month demonstrate, the h k'atuns or smaller within the k'atun examples glyphs supposed periods (e.g., element is iconic in origin, representing the tied-hair bundle of the In their on the Morley 1920:577). important paper early rain deity Chaak. This god is featured in the animated forms of these Maya stelae cult, Justeson and Mathews (1983) offer month glyphs. valuable information on the of the root tun in I agree with Fox and Justeson that the glyph used in the Long history even Count for a period of 360 days is read HAB, though it is nearly Mayan languages, and, most importantly, establish called the "tun" sign. The HAB glyph stands for the doubt the ancient with the value ubiquitously beyond any hieroglyph abstract "vague year" in numerous other types of temporal statements, TUN At the sites of (fig. 2a). neighboring Palenque, including distance numbers. This sign never, however, overlaps with Pomona, and Chinikiha, this sign is used in conjuction TUN; their distribution is mutually exclusive. Stuart: Kings of stone 151

2. uses in Figure The tun, "stone" glyph and its so-called "year counts." (a) The common spelling TUN-ni for tun. (b)CHUM-TUN-ni for chumtun, "stone seating." (c) 13-TUN-ni for 13 tun, "thirteen stones." Drawings: David Stuart.

1954). Curiously, the sites of Palenque and Pomona, fact, concern the ritual interaction between rulers and which feature the numbered tun counts described objects, stelae constituting a significant sub-group of the above, were not in the custom of erecting stelae or latter. Some stelae were even given their own personal names large outdoor altars. Clearly some other type of "stone" and might themselves be considered must be alluded to, perhaps even smaller types of ritual "participants" in ancient Maya ritual and historical stones such as jade beads or pebbles (reminiscent of the narrative. small stones are used by modern day-keepers and This model of Maya textual practice has emerged over a a diviners) although this would be impossible to verify. the last decade and half through series of For the time being, however, we can see that many related decipherments. In 1979, Peter Mathews of the same fan-centered ceremonies attested in the deciphered the signs U-tu-pa inscribed upon a jadeite conquest era have clear precedence in early Maya ritual earspool as u-tup, "his earspool" (Mathews 1979; see behavior as expressed in hieroglyphic texts. Moreover, also Justeson 1983). With this advance in mind, I we can conclude with some degree of certainty that posited in 1982 the reading U-ba-ki, or u-bak, "his a some abstract concepts of time-keeping and the bone," for glyph found on a set of inscribed bone terminology surrounding those concepts were directly artifacts excavated at Tikal.3 Stephen Houston and Karl connected in important ways with material stone Taube (1987) soon recognized U-la-ka, or u-lak, "his on objects, or tuns. Dedicated tuns, whatever form they dish," inscribed several ceramic plates. Itquickly took, served in some capacity as representations?one became apparent that various portable media with were name might even say "embodiments"?of time itself. glyphic texts commonly inscribed with such tags, and thus the process of identifying the hieroglyphs for other owned items became a straightforward matter. Deciphering the ancient term for "stela" Itwas soon found that certain hieroglyphs marked with or on Among the significant discoveries in the last decade the pronoun "his, her, its" consistently appeared a or of Maya epigraphic studies is the realization that great specific types of objects monuments with personal many texts possess a strong self-referential quality. That names of individuals (Houston et al. 1989). comes as is to say, texts that grace large public monuments and It little surprise, therefore, that hieroglyphs same even everyday portable objects such as pottery vessels incorporating the word tun function in much the on tend to simply record facts about the object in question: way stone objects. An unpublished carved jade from the dedication date of a stela, the name of the "owner" Tikal, excavated by the University of Pennsylvania, are an of a drinking vessel, and the types of ritual that used bears inscription introduced by the phrase U TUN-ni, I for "her followed a woman's name. to ceremonially "activate" these important objects. u-tun, stone," by would go so far as to say that sacred or important Often the same TUN element takes on certain concern objects are the principal of most of the extant is Marcus (1992). The textual texts, rather than the deeds and histories of propaganda recently argued by frequent Maya royal on rather than is discussed in more detail in of the texts that do record elite in emphasis things people figures.2 Many history, Stuart (1995). an 3. A decipherment circulated among colleagues in on unpublished 1983 paper entitled "Hieroglyphic Name Tags the more 2. The interpretation of inscribed texts as little than royal Tikal Bones." 152 RES 29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN 1996

modifying signs that specify the type of stone labeled, allowing us to classify Maya monuments according to a native typology, much like what has been done with ceramics (Houston et al. 1989). At the Maya site of Copan, for instance, an unusual set of monumental stone vessels with lids is labeled with the glyph reading saklaktun, which might be translated as "artificial dish stone" (fig. 3). These objects served as skeuomorphic versions of ceramic dishes used for the of burning Figure 3. Inscription on lid of stone incense burner (CPN 270). incense were in a (lak) and thus considered "artificial" Copan, Honduras. Drawing: David Stuart. sense. The inscriptions on these stone censers usually include the name of the royal owner (although this could be omitted as itwas understood to be the king) and a dedication verb referring to some act performed upon the saklaktun. This principal element verbal a hieroglyph represents the head of doglike animal embellished by certain distinctive characteristics (Macleod 1989). Precisely the same verb occurs in the dedicatory texts of many other inscriptions and on other types of stone monuments. Its reading is difficult to establish with much assurance, but one possible reading is wa', meaning "stand up," recalling one of the attested meanings we have seen for the dedicatory term ts'ap. Taken together, the inscriptions on the Copan censers would read "On [a given date] his stone censer

stood-up." A specialized term for "stela," also based upon tun, can be identified with some ease by its appearance in parallel dedicatory texts on stelae. Such dedicatory statements are very common and are widely distributed among Maya sites. For example, inscribed on Monument 30 from the site of Tonina is a typical example of a stela dedication record that is structurally identical to the phrase described above (fig. 4). A date introduces the inscription (details are illegible, unfortunately) and the verb is again the possible wa' glyph used for the saklaktun censers at Copan (fig. 4). A possessed noun comes next, which, as we might expect, is based on the word fun; there is a plantlike a sign in front of tun that appears to be modifying element. The individual who "possesses" this stone is named in the last glyph, a name that remains phonetically undeciphered, though Mathews (1982) has identified it as a Tonina ruler.4 The inscription therefore reads: "(Date), it is stood-up, it is his (plantlike modifier)

4. This ruler is called Ruler 5 in the dynastic sequence proposed Figure 4. Inscription on the back of Monument 30. Tonina, Peter A at by Mathews (1982). recently unearthed inscription Tonina, Mexico. From Graham and Mathews 1996:77. a Drawing: illustrated in Yadeun (1993:132), also names him as royal Peter Mathews. protagonist. Stuart: Kings of stone 153

stone, (ruler's name)." The inscription contains the familiar name-tag structure, allowing us to infer that, since it appears on a stela, the possessed noun based can upon "stone" is the glyph for "stela." We reasonably suggest such a meaning for the glyph without yet knowing its precise phonetic reading. The missing component is the phonetic value of the before tun. sign statement plantlike Figure 6. Dedication (ts'a-pa-ha U-LAKAM-TUN-li, The that the stone" 5) (a "his stela is Stela 35. El Peru hypothesis "plant glyph (fig. ts'ap-ah u-lakamtun-il, erected"). label of convenience and not a stands for translation) Redrawn after field drawing by IanGraham, Corpus of Maya on stelae "stela" is supported by its frequent appearance Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Harvard University. Drawing: throughout Maya inscriptions. Indeed, it is nearly David Stuart. seem exclusively found on stelae where itwould to tag these monuments in much the same manner as we find have to do with or trees? A leaflike labels of on smaller ritual It something plants simple ownership objects. element is seen at the of the at assumes readily upper right sign, should be noted that the glyph in question the end of a bent "stemlike" device. When the study of various forms determined by regional style and by the this in earnest in the late 1980s, Linda of the to sign began propensities Maya writing system manipulate Schele and I that the of the stela the constituent elements of a block posited reading glyph glyph by visually or was perhaps TE'-TUN, "tree stone"?an appropriate conflating them. Thus we sometimes encounter the it seemed, for a and and "stone" fused into what looks to be a description, freestanding upright "plant" signs stone column and Stuart 1986). This has a means (Schele reading single sign. This may simply be of conserving filtered into much Mayanist literature (e.g., Schele and text space, but the frequency of the combined signs Friedel 1990:71). However, on the basis of new that it has an almost as if suggests logographic function, I am now in to epigraphic evidence, the position reject itwere a single sign for "stela." For example, in the this earlier interpretation. inscription of El Peru Stela 35, recorded during As we now know, the of a of that site Ian we find that the pictorial qualities explorations by Graham, are a to hieroglyphic sign seldom firm basis upon which "stela" glyph is conflated, but the constituent signs propose a new reading. Not only is the image remain easily discernible (fig. 6). Here it takes the sometimes difficult to recognize, but without phonetic u- and suffix -//, it as a possessive pronoun marking clues we would have little basis for the noun. The name of the stela's owner follows establishing possessed word the A "tree" be as we saw on 30. Maya represented by image. might in the next glyphs Tonina Monument used to represent several different concepts. With this Does a clue to the decipherment of the plantlike said, it is now to move forward toward a modifier on tun lie in the of the itself? possible appearance sign at decipherment by looking at its varied contexts and Or, put plainly, could the word represented by this sign possible phonetic clues to the sign's reading. It is no means helpful that the sign in question is by a restricted to its pairing with TUN, appearing in number of other combinations. For example, it precedes name the sign HA', "water," in the ancient place associated with Palenque (Stuart and Houston 1993). It name a may also appear in personal names, as in the of noted sculptor from Piedras Negras, where it intercedes between K'IN-ni and cha-ki (respectively k'in, "sun," and Chaak, a deity name).5 In reviewing all of these -ma contexts, it is noteworthy that the phonetic sign is often attached to the bottom of the plantlike sign. This a -m a association strongly suggests that final is part of the sign's value. In another case, the sign la- is attached Figure 5. The stela glyph, read lakamtun (LAKAM-TUN-ni). see Redrawn after file drawing by Barbara Fash, CPN 19469, 5. For a discussion of the Piedras Negras sculptors, Stuart David Stuart. and most (1995). Copan, Honduras. Drawing: (1989) recently Montgomery 154 RES 29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN 1996

An additional piece of evidence for the lakamtun reading comes from the use of the stela glyph as a toponym, especially in inscriptions of the upper Usumacinta River area. At Yaxchilan, a captive named "Black Deer" (probably pronounced Ik' Chij) is said to be a "Lord of Lakamtun," suggesting that the word served as a place. In fact, there is a strong likelihood that this place name survived well into the Colonial 7. Probable stela (la-ka-ma-TUN-ni). Stela Figure hieroglyph period. A large tributary river of the Usumacinta has A. David Stuart. Copan. Drawing: long been known as the R'o Lacantun, a name that was a also applied to major indigenous settlement on nearby Lake Miramar. The extensive Late Classic site on an to the top of the sign in question, perhaps suggesting, island in this lake (Rivero 1992) could perhaps be the an though less strongly, that initial la- is also part of its ancient Lakamtun to which the inscriptions refer and phonetic reading. from which the captive "Black Deer" hailed.7 These simple clues lead us to the inscription on Stela A at Copan, part of which appears to be a dedication The "binding of the stone" record (fig. 7). The text refers to a "holy 'plant' stone," no name an owner a more secure but personal of follows, unlike the With understanding of the ancient same other examples described thus far. Later in this term for "stela" in hand, we can now approach some of a a inscription, type of stone ismentioned called the issues that remain concerning stelae as foci of ritual lakamtun, spelled la-ka-ma-TUN-ni. The hieroglyph is behavior. What were the actual uses of stelae in ancient largely syllabic, with the prefix lakam being ceremonies, particularly those associated with phonetically transparent. No other Maya inscription significant stations in the Maya calendar? We know they use makes of this syllabic spelling la-ka-ma in served to "commemorate" Period Endings in the Long association with "stone"; given the phonetic clues Count, but this is far from an adequate explanation of or associated with the "plant" "tree" sign (initial la- and why the Maya chose to emphasize these "big stones" I on final -m), suggest that Copan Stela A, la-ka-ma may and other types of monuments in their record-keeping. as function the actual phonetic spelling for the prefix in Their purpose was not simply to bear images and texts question. Any other interpretation of the lakamtun in a permanent way. In fact, many stelae were erected reference would render it absolutely unique in the without any decoration or inscription whatsoever?a corpus of Maya texts?possible, but not probable. curious phenomenon that we will soon return to. is not to seems Thus, it unreasonable propose that the stela Rather, it clear enough that the "dedicatory" texts common glyph in its form is to be read LAKAM-TUN, often aimed to explain and contextualize the very or "lakam stone." stones upon which they were inscribed. In effect, the The word lakam (or its cognate lokom) means "flag, medium was an essential part of the message. banner" in several Mayan languages. Most interestingly, As already noted, the ts'ap event deciphered by as it appears inYucatec part of lakamtun, meaning Grube is one of the more frequent stone-centered rituals or "piedra grande" "piedra enorme" (Barerra-Vasquez described inMaya texts: "so-and-so's big stone is 1980:434). "Banner stone" may refer as well to the conceptual origin of stelae as stone versions of the of Yaxchilan 11 a clear upright standards that once graced architectural plazas sculpture (Stela having particularly example), and terraces?not an uncommon in ancient held by individuals apparently engaged in ritual dance. It is possible sight a or a that the LAKAM sign originally depicted flag staff with hanging This interpretation, however, is difficult to graffiti. cloth, although this ?conic origin may eventually have been forgotten confirm at the most not too came as a present. Perhaps simple (if by Late Classic times when it to be reanalyzed vegetation revealing) explanation is that the ancient Maya word for motif. The early examples of the LAKAM sign, in fact, show no motifs whatsoever. stela translates as "big stone."6 plantlike 7. From its colonial usage, the name Lakamtun or "Lacantun" was to widely applied unconquered Maya in the slightly corrupted or seems 6. "Flag" "banner" may be the appropriate translation for the form "Lacandon." There good reason to suppose, therefore, that in some LAKAM name sign contexts, however. The motif represented in the the applied to the modern-day Lacandon derives ultimately on sign is sometimes pictured "flap-staff" banners depicted in the from the pre-Columbian name for stelae. Stuart: Kings of stone 155

erected." However, such texts, prevalent at Copan and El Peru among many other sites, really do little to explain what such rituals involved and why they took place. Other "dedicatory" events offer more in the way of explicit information. One such event I suggest may be deciphered as or a k'altun, "stone-binding," for want of more precise was translation. Stone binding a ritual that, judging from its frequency in the inscriptions, was particularly common in the Classic The for this event period. glyph a (fig. 8) has sometimes been called the "fun-over-hand" glyph, in reference to itsmost common visual form, but we know that this is in fact a graphic combination of a two signs, one verb root represented by the hand, and the other the familiar noun tun, which is the verb's subject. When these occur separately, the hand verb a assumes more complete form with a "mirror" element we shown resting on its palm.8 As will see, the same occurs nouns verb glyph with other beside "stone." The "mirror" element that is placed above the hand b (so identifiedby Schele and Miller [1983]) deserves special consideration. The sign probably is not a mirror, as was earlier, but rather derives from the thought Figure 8. The "tun-over-hand verb/' possibly for k'al-tun, of an stone "celt" similar to those representation oblong "stone binding/' (a) Panel 1. Pomona, Mexico, (b) Stela 1. on stelae from the belts of rulers. portrayed hanging Sacchana, Mexico. Drawings: David Stuart. Several Maya examples of these flat, oblong stone objects bear figurai portraits and hieroglyphic texts and we closely resemble what might be called miniature stelae K'AL (much like saw the initial la- working before (Porter 1996). The famous Leyden Plaque is perhaps the the LAKAM logograph above) (fig. 9b). By means of this we best-known example of this type of object, and its substitution evidence may arrive at the reading similarity in format and presentation to early stelae is K'AL-TUN for this ritual event phrase. quite striking. The "celt" sign is often an important The term k'altun should sound familiar due to its component in the proper names of stelae at Copan and similarity to k'atun, the name given in the Yucatec a Quirigua, perhaps making direct reference to ethnohistories for the period of 7,200 days (20 tuns). as or same monuments "celts" at least linking them The ancient hieroglyph for this time period, some conceptually in way. The dedicatory passage from however, was probably never read k'atun in Classic . . . Stela C from Copan, for example, states that "the times, for phonetic complements suggest a value name stone 'celt' is the of his big stone." beginning with wi- (possibly for winikox winak, both some as common The k'altun reading deserves comment, it words for "twenty" inMayan languages). It has has not been published before now. In the inscriptions long been assumed that k'altun means "twenty tuns," as of Chichen Itza and northern Campeche, the hand k'al is the word for "score" in Cholan and Yucatecan mirror verb is replaced by the syllabic sequence k'a-la, languages, but the etymology is somewhat more as a suggesting the logographic value K'AL (fig. 9a). In complex. K'al also carries the meaning verb "to a another much earlier inscription from the Bonampak fasten, enclose." It is interesting that parallel case region, the hand "holds" the syllable k'a, where it exists in Tzelatalan languages, where the word for a presumably serves as phonetic complement in k'a "twenty," tab , also means "knot, tie." This connection or may have its origin in the tying bundling of things counted in units of but this is sheer 8. In twenty, speculation. the combined form, the "mirror" is in effect hidden by the one Whatever the case, the for k'atun in the tun glyph. This is of many examples known from the Maya entry Diccionario Cordemex that the name of the script of one sign being "superimposed" atop another in order to suggests conserve space. time period originated not simply as a numerical term 156 RES 29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN 1996

Figure 9. Evidence for the k'al-ah ("is bound") value of the mirror-hand glyph, (a) k'a-la-ha substitution for mirror-hand. Column 1. Zcalumkin, Mexico. From Graham and Von Euw 1992:173. (b) k'a-K'AL-ha verb from Early Classic panel of Stuart. unknown provenience. Drawing: David

more as or but precisely "piedra que cierra," "closing stone" (Barrera-Vasquez 1980:386). Following this suggestion, I suggest that the term k'altun can also be translated as "stone binding" and that this came to be used as the later Yucatec name for the period of scene. 7,200 days. Figure 10. Stela binding Carved peccary skull. Tomb 1, Note the K'AL-TUN in the lower left of the The hieroglyph I read as k'altun, "stone binding," Copan. hieroglyph text. Barbara Fash. seems to describe a special calendar ritual associated accompanying Drawing: with stelae and other monuments. If "stone-binding" is the correct interpretation, what does it signify, precisely, in to the ritual event? A regard probable representation k'atun endings. At the great lowland site of Tikal, the of the ritual on the famous skull appears peccary stelae erected in the so-called twin pyramid groups? in 1 of In the central a unearthed Tomb Copan (fig. 10). each built and dedicated on particular k'atun ending cartouche on the two engraved peccary skull, figures (Jones 1969)?bear inscriptions that feature the k'altun are shown a marked with flanking large upright object glyph.9 In each twin pyramid group, a dominant pair of "stone" elements?the distinctive marks of the TUN pyramidal platforms defines the eastern and western The and size of the central in a sign. shape large object sides of large plaza. To the south of each plaza, a scene that it is a most the strongly suggest stela, and, vaulted range structure with nine doorways was built, to our it to be with a significant inquiry, appears wrapped and to the north, large walled enclosure inwhich one bands of tied cloth. Shown before the upright stone is a carved stelae with an associated altar was erected. The "altar" in the tradition of some of the altars zoomorphic stelae each bear a portrait of the current Tikal ruler visible in main The Copan's plaza. hieroglyphic caption engaged in a so-called "scattering" ritual (Stuart 1984) this scene the new that accompanies reads, applying and make prominent use in their inscriptions of the of the event "1 Ahaw 8 Ch'en interpretation glyph: (is) k'altun glyph under consideration. The imposing walls the The initialdate stone-binding (of) [ROYALNAME]." built around these stelae may refer to their "enclosing" to the Period on 8.17.0.0.0 corresponds Ending (21 (an attested meaning of k'al, as well)?perhaps a sort of October a.D. the skull 376). Thus, peccary image architectonic "bundling" or "binding." The text of Stela k'altun ritual overseen two depicts the by nobles, 31 of Tikal includes several examples of the k'altun to demonstrating that the rite refers the fastening of glyph, each in direct association with a k'atun Period cloth around the stone monument. We assume that may Ending (fig. 11). The pattern is very similar to that found the ritual relates in some manner to the more general or religious practice of wrapping bundling sacred 9. These are Stela 16 (9.14.0.0.0), Stela 19 (9.18.0.0.0), Stela 20 with cloth. objects (9.16.0.0.0), Stela 22 (9.17.0.0.0), and Stela 30/Altar 14 (9.13.0.0.0). the Classic records of this a Appropriately, period For full discussion of the Twin-Pyramid Groups at Tikal, see k'altun ritual are strongly associated with records of Jones (1969). Stuart: Kings of stone 157

same The general idea is arguably at work with regard to stones that are "wrapped" on or near Period Ending dates. From what we know of the importance of cloth wrappings and bundles inMesoamerican ritual (Benson 1976; Stenzel 1968; Stross 1988), it is reasonable to suppose that the purpose of the k'altun ritual was to protect and contain the divine essence held within the stones that embodied time and its movement.10 Stelae, like rulers, possessed this divine soullike quality (what the present Maya call ch'ulel ) and were in some way considered living things invested with ch'ul, "holiness." This is indicated, Ibelieve, by the occasional labeling of monuments as ch'ul lakamtun, "holy big stones." The or possibility exists as well that the idea of wrapping a enclosing a sacred monumental stone derives from far older shamanistic tradition of containing small divining stones or crystals in bundles, what the modern Quiche call baraj (Schele et al. 1993:226; Tedlock 1992:65). At the very least it is interesting that both ancient stelae and stones of divination are intimately tied to the practice of time-keeping. Ido not wish to overstate the importance of stelae in the k'altun ritual, for "altars" found in direct association with stelae seem to have also been the focus of this rite at some sites. At Copan, the circular altar of Stela I is decorated with carved images of knotted bands, a providing a compelling view of "bound" stone (fig. 12). Again, in support of our interpretation, the accompanying inscription records the k'altun glyph as the principal dedicatory event. A number of other altars can at Copan display similar decoration, and I only surmise that they were the ritual stones used in such 11. a ritual at "Fire Figure Passage recording stone-binding Period Ending ceremonies. A related image is found in Mountain" on 8.18.0.0.0 (8 a.D. 396). Stela 31, Tikal, July several repetitive depictions on the monuments at Guatemala. Drawing: David Stuart. Yaxchilan where a ruler is shown spilling his blood?the material of holiness and divine rulership?from his In with "stone seating" glyphs, also featured in association outstretched hands (fig. 13) (Stuart 1984; T?te 1991). a with k'atun ending dates, and perhaps it is not all of the scenes, the blood stream falls upon squat coincidental that both the "seating" and "binding" of "pedestal" enclosed by knotted strips of cloth. The size stones recall the terminology of royal office-taking. of this image relative to the rulers' figures suggests that are As noted above, "binding" is a concept that has they the short circular "column altars" found in considerable religious importance inMesoamerica. The throughout the site of Yaxchilan, again usually placed use of cloth or paper, especially, as a wrapping material close proximity to the stelae. Very often these altars bear I for sacred objects and bundles iswell attested both in hieroglyphic texts with Period Ending dates. They are, ancient and modern custom. The intent may be to venture, the tuns shown bound with cloth in k'altun or some protect a holy object or substance to contain rituals, later apparently sanctified through the sacred essence held within (Stenzel 1968). The bloodletting of the king. metaphor of "bundling" a ruler at his accession iswell attested among the Classic Maya (Schele and Miller Stross and this have rise to the a 1983; 1988), may given 10. Hendry (1993) offers fascinating comparative treatment of use of the headband to "wrap" the divine king in office. the importance of ceremonial wrapping in traditional Japan. 158 RES 29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN 1996

Figure 12. Altar of Stela I (partial roll-out view of the perimeter) with carved representations of knotted cloth bindings. A probable k'altun glyph appears after the first date in the inscription. Copan. Drawing: David Stuart.

In our order to conclude discussion of the k'altun media for royal portraits?a role that perhaps ought to we a rite, ought to briefly turn to similar and historically be reviewed in light of these more specific ritual documented ritual found elsewhere inMesoamerica. contexts. So common are portraits on stelae that one This is the xiuhmohpilli ("Binding of the Years") might easily be tempted to assume that these ceremony that was among the more significant rites monuments were little more than stone "billboards" for performed by the Mexica Aztec at the time of the royal history. No doubt this would be a gross Conquest (Sahagun 1953). As noted, N?huatl xihuitl oversimplification, for such an interpretation does and Maya tun seem to be related in their common nothing to explain the numerous blank or uncarved meanings of both "precious stone" and "year." stelae found at many sites, none of which appear to as Xiuhmohpilli, equally translatable the "binding of have ever been decorated with painted or stuccoed precious stones," referred to the rite of cosmic renewal ?mages. Clearly, then, we face a complicated task in at the close of the fifty-two year cycle, when the "new attempting to explain stelae as ritualized, self-reflective was fire" drilled at midnight atop the hill of Citlaltepec. monuments, on the one hand, and as objects that was The event celebrated by the burning of ritual "presented" and celebrated the royal image, on the bundles consisting of fifty-two reeds lashed together in other. To address this issue with any satisfaction, we must a a rope (see Pasztory 1983:165). If connection to the begin to address the complex relations between the royal a Maya k'altun rite exists, itwould have to be distant person and the monumental object?connections that go one, of course, for the Mexica ceremony was centered to the heart of what Ibelieve to be the Maya and upon the fifty-two-year cycle of the Calendar Round Mesoamerican notions of figurai "representation." and not the Maya concept of the twenty-year k'atun; the According to numerous inscriptions on stelae, were two cultures separate in both time and space. monuments were "owned" by particular individuals However, there is enough ideological continuity in the and, on certain occasions, even deities. One example is an Mesoamerican culture to render this similarity Stela 3 from El Zapote, Guatemala (fig. 14). This is a one. interesting small Early Classic stela distinctive for bearing a portrait a of deity, in this instance the rain god, on its front side. This is unusual Classic monuments from the Extensions of the "self" among royal we lowlands, where usually find body-length portraits seen serve as We have that stelae probably of historical, contemporary kings. The inscription on the on elaborations the tuns mentioned in Classic Maya back of the El Zapote stela bears a long count date and serve as a temporal records and also the foci of important familiar dedicatory statement: ts'ap-ah u-lakam-tun-il, as calendar rituals such the k'altun ceremony. However, "his big stone is erected." The owner in this case is not a more stelae have much obvious and public role as a historical person, but is specified as YAX-HA'-CHAAK, Stuart: Kings of stone 159

Figure 13. Bound altar stone at the ruler's feet. Stela 4, Yaxchilan. Drawing: David Stuart.

Yaxhal Chaak, "Clear Water Chaak," the name of a prominent aspect of the rain deity (Taube 1992:19). There can be no doubt that Yaxhal Chaak names the supernatural figure portrayed on the front of the monument. Later in the same text we find a retrospective account of the same dedication event, which states, "Yaxhal Chaak was erected." Here it is not just the stela that is dedicated, but rather Yaxhal Chaak himself (Stephen Houston, pers. comm.). From this example, we are compelled to view the named "owners" of stelae not as those that simply commissioned monuments and oversaw their dedication, but more precisely as specifying the identity of the portrait subjects. Inmy survey of references to "owned" stelae, I have found that all bear portraits in this way and that the named individuals, whether they be persons or gods, correspond to the figurai representations. Likewise, Monument 30 of Tonina (fig. 4) is labeled as the lakamtun of a ruler who is on the stela. portrayed Figure 14. The front of Stela 1. El Zapote, Guatemala. As on Tonina the text is as many monuments, glyphic Redrawn after field drawing by IanGraham, Corpus of Maya as unobtrusive possible, running down the back of the Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Harvard University. Drawing: can David Stuart. figure where it only be read once the viewer is 160 RES29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN1996

text "On disengaged from the frontal image. The reads [unreadable date] it is stood up, big stone of [ruler's sense text name]." Here again, perhaps, the of the is that it is the king, the stelae's owner, who is "stood up" as at in ritual on the given day. The emphasis, El Zapote, as a appears to be on conceiving the stela "body" of the or represented subject, be it god ruler. were ^^^HI^S^S??&i?^^^^^^H?^^^^HII^^^^^??^ii??hI^bH?^b Many of the Tonina figurai sculptures found in association with inscribed disklike altars placed in front we seen at of the king's statue (fig. 15a-b). As have other sites, these altars bear large Ahaw day signs that correspond to particular Period Endings, recalling labels such as the "12 Ahaw stone." The royal portraits at Tonina are often posed with hands outstretched toward the disks inwhat appears to be the "scattering" gesture. In this arrangement, the altar is directly "acted upon" by or the king, receiving the blood incense that fell from his hands (both substances were used in the "scattering" rite). The result is a three-dimensional arrangement reminiscent of the Yaxchilan images of royal sacrifice Tonina monuments and (fig. 13). I suggest that these as others like them might best be viewed not static action. I "portraits" but as direct representations of ritual so as to stone "dioramas" of might go far call them stone royal ceremony. The circular altars bear evidence of of burning in many cases, suggesting that the image the ruler may have tended ceremonial fires associated with the Period Ending. The altars, with their large central Ahaw date glyphs and running texts around their some circumferences, bear a striking resemblance to painted bowls (fig. 15c), and it is likely that the disks were conceived as stone receptacles for ritual fire and sacrificial blood (fig. 15d). Taube (in press) has stone altars persuasively suggested that other types of as whose are probably best interpreted skeuomorphs shape derives from cornais (ceramic cooking pans) and censers. If the stela-and-altar complexes are rituals "in in stone"?perpetual enactments of royal ceremony, effect?we are led to interpret many of the stelae themselves as in some way embodiments or extensions of the royal person. This interpretation is suggested by several lines of evidence. One of the most important of these concerns is yet another hieroglyph that is nearly in ubiquitous in connection to figurai representations stone, paint, or ceramic (fig. 16a). This, all epigraphers reads or its translation a agree, U-ba-hi, u-bah, although Figure 15. Stela and altar complex at Tonina suggesting some time. When u-bah has been debated for "diorama" of royal ritual. Typically the king's ?mage stands name name accompanies portraits, the hieroglyphic of the before a stone "plate" (lak) bearing the "Ahaw" of the current time Monument 30. Photo: IanGraham. subject follows directly. Tatiana Proskouriakoff, although period, (a) Stuart: Kings of stone 161

Figure 15. (b)Monument 135 bearing the central date "7 Ahaw." Photo: Peter Mathews. (c) Painted plate with Ahaw day name in center. Private collection. Drawing: David Stuart, (d) Figure showing bloodletting into ceramic bowl. Panel 19. Dos Pilas, Guatemala. Drawing: David Stuart. 162 RES29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN1996

ignorant of the glyph's phonetic reading, nevertheless reasoned out one of its possible meanings:

. . . because it is used in a wide range of contexts, and almost always occurs at the beginning of a passage, and often appears in direct association with individual figures, itmust stand for some widely applicable expression, such as . . . Figure 16a. The glyph u-bah, "his/her self" of "his/her for example: 'Here is (or recorded)' person." portrayed David Stuart. 1968:247 Drawing:

some More recently, have argued that u-bah is a verb (Bricker 1986:136; Schele 1982:26; 1996) connected to or bloodletting possibly meaning "he goes." Such are readings unlikely, for the glyph almost surely a u- common a represents possessed noun, being the of tutelary god of Copan who seems to be word for its" in on "his, her, lowland Mayan languages. "impersonated" the stela by the Copan ruler Bah is a noun root in "self" widespread Mayan meaning Waxaklahun Ubah K'awil ("Eighteen are the 'Selves' of and in a related to the Chorti, language strongly Classic K'awil") (Houston and Stuart 1996). The "celt" sign that it carries the texts, meaning "body, person" (Fought here qualifies bah is not yet deciphered, but it is As in recent collaborative 1971:91). suggested work by tempting to consider that it is related to "image-related" and myself Stephen Houston, this translation makes terms similar to those already mentioned. Whatever more considerably sense for the hieroglyph in question the case, there is little doubt that bah here refers to the as itwould label and as on portraits figurai images "the fact that the stela the king is "representing" the 'self of. . ." or "the of. . ."11 more body tutelary god or, perhaps precisely, the god's as a Bah appears part of wider set of terms closely "body" or "self."12 connected to of in on concepts imagery and representation To shed further light this body/image relation, we InYucatec is can a Mayan languages. Maya, bah the basis of turn to related concept expressed in N?huatl, the related terms k'oh-bah (from k'oh, "mask, ixiptla. This word is usually translated as "substitute" or and win-bah numerous representative") (from win-ik, "man") both "representation" and is used in indigenous or bah is texts to to meaning "?mage" "portrait." Indeed, glossed refer "images" of gods, be they cult effigies, ?n as a also Classical Yucatec "cosa semejante otra" human beings in costume, or wooden frames with InTzotzil (Martinez 1929:123). Mayan, the specific masks (Hvidtfeldt 1958). Many such of ixiptlas existed of "face" or is to as in meaning "visage" applied ba, concurrently inMexica-Aztec religious life, all being anichimal ba anichimal sat, a phrase of ritual prayer to present manifestations of sacred power or teotl deities meaning "thy beautiful visage, thy beautiful (Townsend 1979).13 By means of such materialized face" (Laughlin 1975:76). All of these translations are forms, the essence of teotl could be contacted, felt, and conceptually related, it seems, and they reveal the close 12. connection between ideas about the body, the self, and Houston and Stuart (1996) discuss the impersonation of deities In that bah is translated as the "representation" of people. by Maya royals. article, "image" reflecting a We see this close association in the ancient sources provisional and somewhat less precise understanding of the term. 13. Clendinnen has observed some of the difficulties as well. A on the back of Stela 4 Inga cogently fascinating inscription in conceptualizing the N?huatl word into our own sense of what at makes use of the Copan (fig. 17) typical dedicatory ?mages do: verb "is in of the ts'ap-ah erected," yet place expected I suspect that the words between which we strive to choose? lakamtun we find that the is referred to glyph stela by 'representation/ 'substitute/ 'impersonator/ 'image/ a a and useful: the word bah with "celtlike" prefix (perhaps 'representative'?are equally misleading equally sometimes not. But to a reference to the stela as a "celt"). The of the appropriate, sometimes given that modern "possessor" ear the notion of 'representation' can carry the suggestion that monument is recorded in the following glyph, the name that which represents is quite distinct from that which is represented, and given that 'impersonation' and 'representation' imply pretense rather than 'the rendering present by simulation/ 11. Our coauthored "The The paper, Living Word, Living Image: which is closer to the Mexican view, perhaps 'god-presenter/ 'that Animation and in Classic Art and was Vitality Maya Writing," which enables the god to present aspects of himself/ best Houston at the Dumbarton Oaks on "Pre presented by symposium approximates the N?huatl term. Columbian States of Being" in April, 1996. 1991:253 Stuart: Kings of stone 163

16b. Ruler in association with u-bah. 22. Figure portrait Top of Stela Naranjo, Guatemala. From Graham and Von Euw 1975:55. 164 RES 29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN 1996

of many "souls" ethnographers have described throughout the region. Like the idea of teotl, these essences of human beings are multifaceted and can be realized in very different and often extrasomatic ways. Inmany Mayan languages, the processes by which something or some essence may change from one state of being into another are called k'ex. Often this is translated as "change" or, as a noun, "substitute," but again these may account for only part of the term's intricate meaning. In their study of highland Maya religion, Carlsen and Prechtel discuss how k'ex and related concepts form "a single system of transformation and renewal" (1991). Specifically, theTzutujil Maya conceive of a dualistic process of change called jaloj k'exoj. This is derived from two complementary words that specify different types of transformation: jal denotes temporal change based upon the life cycle and k'ex refers to the transfer and continuity of life across 1 7. with stela named as "the 'ceW-bah" o? an Figure Passage generations?the transmutation of certain "personas" 4. impersonated god. Stela Copan. Drawing: David Stuart. over time and space. The k'ex concept is an important feature of some modern Maya curing and sacrificial rituals. One such rite the Zinacantan is even manipulated and coerced through ritual and important among Tzotzil of known as to sacrifice. Often teotl is imprecisely translated as "god" simply k'exolil, "substitute," referring the in but, following Hvidtfeldt (1958), itmay be more chickens sacrificed house dedication and curing accurate to translate it as something akin to "mana" or rituals (Vogt 1976:91-93). These birds substitute for the are to in to "divine entity." InMayan languages a very similar, if not lives of patients and offered the gods order For some time identical, concept is conveyed by the word k'uh or placate them. during curing rituals, the a common ch'uh, which refers not simply to idols but to holy bodies of the patient and the chicken share a notion of things in general?items that are charged, sometimes identity, seemingly reflecting transformation like A even fleetingly, with a sacred essence (Houston and and exchange that found among the Tzutujil. Stuart 1996). number of other k'ex rituals exist in other parts of the in This overarching concept of a divine essence and its Maya region, reflecting the antiquity of this concept ritual belief as Karl multifaceted expression through material objects indigenous and, Taube (1994) has appears to be a major foundation of Mesoamerican shown, many essential elements of these ceremonies can be to religious thought. But this, Iwould argue, is a logical traced pre-Columbian Maya iconography I part of a more broadly conceived outlook wherein involving birth and curing. would suggest, however, a essences of many types can change states of being and that broader conceptual framework underlies the role in yet retain some essential shared identity or unity. It is of corporeal substitutes such rituals and perhaps the artistic not simply teotl or k'uh that can operate in this way. role of images. In Mesoamerican art in Rather, a variety of beings, including people, could Maya art, and general, or entities were seen as participate in this transmutating universe, manifesting portraits of people, gods, other themselves in different forms on different occasions. extrasomatic manifestations of individual identities or is to Mesoamerican Glimpses of this pliable nature of being can be found in personas. That say, images realize in a sense. term numerous Mesoamerican ethnographies, although it has their subjects very literal The bah used in hardly received the attention it deserves, partially due, inscribed portrait captions?"the body/person/self no doubt, to its fundamental place in the often hidden of"?suggests this essential correspondence between the not tenets of traditional religious practice. Perhaps itsmost depiction and the depicted. Such captions do an or out studied aspect is the concept of the animal companion simply label ?mage identify the person acting some or event spirit or nagual "soul," which could journey out of the episode but may convey the body and reside in animal form. Yet this is but one type understanding that the image embodies that figure. This Stuart: Kings of stone 165

on a an idea hinges notion of "extrasomatic self," which stone "bodies" is universally applicable; we must Gossen (1996) recently discusses as fundamental to immediately consider the considerable number of stelae Maya thought. that bear more than one figurai image. Sometimes a we a a If consider that stela portrait renders ruler single stela will represent two nobles engaged in a ritual we present, then may view the ruler's bah or person activity or, much more frequently, show a war captive in a as a a manifested by stone existing in perpetual state of the company of standing or seated ruler (fig. 16b). In ritual action. According to this understanding, the stela such cases, the carved image alone ismeant to capture as an would serve avatar of the royal body. The one's attention with little, if any, consideration of the a sprinkling of blood, the dancing in godly guise, or the stone-as-image as we find at Tonina or Copan, for conquest of a rival are frozen in time as ever-present example. Iwould venture to suggest that multiple documents of royal power and divinity. Portrait stelae portrait stelae are somewhat aberrant in the history of as stand quite literally rituals in stone. In light of this lowland Maya stelae carving. Early monuments at we more view, should consider than just the stelae Uaxactun and Tikal clearly emphasize the single, themselves and also consider the settings inwhich they standing ruler with captives and ancestors consistently were a placed. The locations of stelae often coincide with relegated to "secondary" tier of representation. In architectural locales where rulers most likely performed these and the vast majority of cases, the sense of were in ritual events. Stelae often positioned in rows correspondence between the stone and the portrait is before pyramids, on terraces, or even on temple quite discernible. stairways (fig. 18). So, rather than viewing such stelae as monuments, it is more correct to freestanding perhaps Rulers of time see as them "substitutes" for, or extensions of, the royal person engaged in a ritual activity?standing before a The intimate identification of monumental stone on a or on pyramid, terrace, a stairway. To cite one portraits with the "selves" of royal persons forces us to example, a set of stelae from Dos Pilas individually revisit certain aspects of Maya calendar ritual touched "depict" dances of the local ruler Itsamnah K'awil on upon at the outset of this essay. We are familiar with the several important Period Ending dates.14 These ways inwhich stelae were used to mark the stations in were on a monuments placed a terrace platform before the Maya calendar, particularly the Long Count. Stones as a large pyramid complex known "El Duende," setting erected on particular Period Endings were often named was a that itself probably place for ritual dance.15 for those periods as in the label "6 Ahaw tun" applied on Significantly, the text captions these monuments? to Stela A of Quirigua, erected on the Period Ending as a and the vast majority of stelae whole?are 9.17.5.0.0 6 Ahaw 13 K'ayab (29 December a.D. 775). presented in incompletive voice. In narrative terms, the Such stone monuments not only were markers for time action is ongoing (Houston n.d.). Ifmy interpretation is periods, but perhaps stood in some way as material correct, these and similar stone ?mages, all bearing embodiments of those periods, like the numbered tuns dates and descriptive text captions, do not simply mentioned in the inscriptions or in the native chronicles commemorate past events and royal ceremonies but of Colonial Yucatan. Having just argued that portrait serve to perpetuate the ritual act into eternity.16 stelae can be seen as embodiments of the royal self, I Icannot as claim that this interpretation of stelae would now like to explore the overlap between these two intricately related types of embodiment and 14. This Dos Pilas ruler is otherwise known as "Ruler 2" (Houston representation. The name here is based on a secure of to 1993). presented reading the Central understanding the connection between two names name god that constitute the personal of the king: funs and the self is the belief that rulers were Itsamnah and K'awil. themselves embodiments of time and its passage?a 15. The murals of Room 3 at show an elaborate dance Bonampak was to on role that fundamental the performance by elites and near terraces similar in some respects to cosmological the environment where the El Duende stelae were erected. 16. The of stelae as "stone bodies" be to as scenes conception may traced understood "faces." The headbands appear above figurai in the in area. very beginnings of the stela tradition the Maya Several many instances, leading us to conclude that it is the stone that "wears" Late Preclassic monuments a from the highlands and Pacific slope the headband, much as ruler would. This early evidence would of Guatemala bear that such an seem to to or region designs explicitly suggest be related the notions of stone wrapping binding that comm. interpretation. Karl Taube (pers. 1993) has pointed out that a was described above in connection with the k'altun ritual. To reiterate, number in of these stelae the Izapan style "wear" carved the verb k'al in the Classic inscriptions refers both to the wrapping of of as were representations royal headbands if the front of these stelae stones in cloth as well to the tying of headbands onto rulers. 166 RES 29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN 1996

Figure 18. Stelae placed on the terraces and stairway of Structure B-l. Altar de Sacrificios, Guatemala. From J.Graham 1972:fig. 2.

underpinnings of divine kingship. We find this influences on daily life. Among the present-day Quiche or expressed most directly by the overt solar symbolism Maya, each day has its own "face" identity, and they that surrounded the office of Maya kingship. Individual are commonly addressed directly by diviners with the sun rulers were closely identified with the and its honorific title ajaw, "lord," as in "greetings sir Lord 8 as are personified manifestation the god K'inich Ahaw, Batz" (Tedlock 1992). Concepts of divine days well "sun-faced lord." A shortened form of this honorific, documented among the communities where the 260 k'inich, is often applied to Maya rulers at Palenque and day calendar has survived, especially in the are several other sites. At Yaxchilan, deceased rulers Guatemalan highlands, but the idea of animated time is depicted within the distinctive solar cartouche and their hardly restricted to this region and period. As consorts within that of the moon (T?te 1992). In embodiments of Win, rulers in their calendrical duties sun mythical representations and in iconographie settings, may have been considered "faces" of the and of wears the Maya sun god himself often the time in a more general way. accouterments of rulership, including the cloth In the Classic Maya calendrical scheme, the was headband, suggesting that he considered the ruler twentieth day, Ahaw, stands out in importance. All of the heavens. Period Ending dates of the Long Count calendar?when The word k'in is customarily translated as "sun" or tuns were dedicated?fell on the twentieth day Ahaw, more "day," but itsmeanings can be much general and "Lord." The day Ahaw was thus the "face" or "lord" of are abstract. "Time" and "divination" equally applicable the Period Ending, an association that may go far on our glosses, depending the context of use.17 For toward explaining why the day-name "Lord" appears one more purposes here, however, of the important only in the Maya area; elsewhere inMesoamerica, as a aspects of the Mesoamerican concept of the "day" where the Long Count calendar was not used, the time period is its animate quality (Thompson 1950:96). corresponding day-name is usually "Flower." That is, the names Individual days held personal attributes, and the twentieth day is named "Lord" only when it could names for days were the of entities that exerted certain "rule" over a Period Ending. we a In the iconography of Maya calendrics, find clear identification of the day sign Ahaw with portraits 17. For a discussion of k'in and its meanings, see Leon-Portilla of political rulers (fig. 19). In several examples, portraits (1973:17-20). A more specialized and nuanced discussion is found in of within cartouches as Tedlock (1992:2-3). One of the most thought-provoking discussions of kings appear day full-figure time in modern is found in Gossen of Maya thought (1974). Ahaw hieroglyphs explicitly linking the person the Stuart: Kings of stone 167

with the current king "lord" of time. The cyclical many examples, notes that "Katun 11 Ahau is set upon reappearance of the Ahaw day at each Period Ending in the mat, set upon the throne, when their ruler is set the Count calendar was not a renewal of . . same Long only up ." (Roys 1933:79). The metaphor is implicit time a in cosmological but also renewal, effect, of the in Classic iconography where the calendrical rulers (the institution of of kingship?an elaboration the day bearing the name Ahaw) and the political ahaw of the ruler and the sun as a conceptual equation already could be fused under common identity. touched ancient an upon. Throughout Mesoamerica, This might seem interpretive leap were it not for certain time were over periods believed to "reign" the explicit textual statements that establish a common and in cosmos, Postclassic Yucatan, the chronicles identity between time and the rulers. On Stela 22 of state this with to explicitly regard Ahaw dates and Naranjo (fig. 16b), the inscription reads 7 Ahaw 3 k'atuns. The Chilam Balam of Chumayel, to cite one of Cumku u-bah K'ak' Tiliw Chan Chaak ..., which could be interpreted as a literal expression of a common identity: "7 Ahaw 3 Kumk'u is the 'self of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Chaak." The ruler is shown enthroned above a supplicating captive, perhaps conveying that on this day "7 Ahaw 3 Kumk'u" is also "enthroned" into its office as ruler of the present k'atun. Similarly, on Stela 9 of a Calakmul, the inscription above portrait of a royal . . . woman begins u-bah 11 Ahaw 8 Ch'en. Here the seems date to replace the customary royal name, labeling the portrait as "the 'self of 11 Ahaw 18 Ch'en." If this particular reading is correct, it appears that consorts of the I ""?,ff-.1.^ U.^^^'!;v. l^'^v.' .; ^;'^i^^Hr^.!v^^:' :'^ king (also worthy of the ahaw title) shared some of the fundamental connections with Period Ending rituals. This is reiterated by an important Maya vase that bears two day-cartouche portraits, one male, the other female (fig. 20). We can presume that are on they Ahaw days, based numerous parallel examples. The captions both begin with u-bah and include references to the Period Ending date 10 Ahaw 8 Yaxk'in (the k'atun ending 9.12.0.0.0). The woman's caption reads: U-bah ti 10 Ahaw [NAME], or "her 'self as 10 Ahaw." From texts and symbolic portraits such as these, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that Maya royal a figures were, in meaningful way, embodiments of as were time, the funs that represented the kings and as queens extensions of the royal "self." Such were conceptual equations constantly expressed through ritual stelae and altars and constituted a powerful political and religious statement of royal authority.

Afterword

In this essay I have touched upon several different yet intimately connected ideas surrounding stelae and their use. ritual Following traditional lines of thought, stelae may be regarded as a subclass of ceremonial stones in Figure 19. Ruler portrait as the Ahaw day sign. Stela 13. employed calendrical reckoning, specifically in the Ian Graham. count of Machaquila. Drawing: 360-day "years" and larger time units 168 RES 29/30 SPRING/AUTUMN 1996

an Figure 20. Female figure as Ahaw day sign, with text caption, from exterior of unpublished cylindrical vase. Drawing: David Stuart.

did time and its renewal at the center of composed of these periods. The rituals acts that the Maya place it at some in texts surrounded such tuns included their binding or their ritual life and discussed length inscribed the ceremonial tuns. itwould "enclosing" in cloth {k'altun) under the auspices of upon Perhaps a be more correct to consider that the ideas in royalty, a rite that no doubt held significance similar expressed to reconcile the earlier to the tying of the headband on the king's person. This this essay help "timekeeping" the more modern one connection between stone and the royal self is seen paradigm of Maya studies with that the records of and their ritual most clearly in the identification of the stone ?mage emphasizes kings Once we understand that the ancient ahaws with the person {bah) of the king. Stelae, along with life. time in an there is "altars," concurrently served the related purposes of embodied important way, perhaps little reason to between the manifesting individual time periods and of embodying distinguish substantially came two of view. of the royal self. In this way, the king to be points explicitly identified with the temporal mechanisms of the cosmos. Admittedly, many of the ideas expressed in this essay need to be further pondered and evaluated, for they touch upon a wide array of topics, at times only sense superficially. Nevertheless, the overall of these interpretations may give us pause when considered in light of the history of Maya studies over the last half century. Current scholarship rightly celebrates the historical paradigm that quickly emerged in the 1960s when the seminal contributions of Proskouriakoff and Berlin overturned previous notions that Maya inscriptions treated the passage of time and little else. as Considering the ancient meaning of stelae described here (no doubt oversimplistically at times), one wonders if some essential truths of such earlier scholarship were too easily dismissed or overlooked with the acceptance of the historicity of Maya inscriptions. As we have seen, Stuart: Kings of stone 169

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