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1 Postclassic Maya Ceramic Iconography at Lamanai, Belize, Central America Jennifer Ruth John Volume 1 Submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University College London 2 Abstract This thesis studies Postclassic ceramic iconography from Lamanai, Northern Belize, Central America. Lamanai sustained occupation through the ‘collapse’ and demonstrates a continuous building program and ceramic production during a time when other major sites of the Classic Period found themselves in the process of decline or had already been abandoned. Study of the transition period provides potential answers to broad social questions that concern how and why Lamanai was successful during the turbulence which caused some of its neighbours to fail. Findings show that Lamanai’s survival involved an ideological shift, expressed in its cultural material. The research described herein constitutes the first analysis of Lamanai ceramic iconography. Ceramics from elite primary contexts provide the source of iconography at the site and are presented in an extensive catalogue. Readings for Lamanai motifs are proposed, some of which are new and applicable to motifs found throughout the Maya Lowlands. The iconographic record studied extends from the Terminal Classic to the Early Historic Periods (ca. A.D. 800 - 1700), which permits the assessment of ideological and stylistic continuity and change expressed in Lamanai’s cultural material. This study increases our knowledge of the Postclassic Period, about which far less is known than the Classic florescence. It is my hope that it serves to enrich our understanding of the socio-cultural contexts of Postclassic life. Furthermore, comparison of Lamanai symbolism with that of other Mesoamerican sites permits an initial establishment of the site’s cultural interaction sphere within the Maya Lowlands. 3 Contents Volume 1 Chapter 1: Introduction and research aims 30 Research questions 21 Contents summary 23 Chapter 2: Post-classic Lamanai in its environmental and historical context 25 Lamanai within its historical contexts 25 Lowland geography 26 Climate 27 Vegetation 28 Subsistence 28 Lamanai within its political context 29 Phases of Maya chronology 29 Phases of Lamanai chronology 33 Lamanai's interaction sphere: trade and exchange 38 The background to the Postclassic Period 41 Postclassic international style 41 Postclassic symbol sets 42 Early Postclassic international symbol set 43 Late Postclassic international symbol set 45 Late Postclassic regional styles 46 Manifestations of Postclassic styles in the Maya area 48 Codices 48 Murals 48 Theories of Mexicanisation or Mexican influence 49 Coastal Maya mural style 50 Tulum 51 Tancah 51 Santa Rita 51 Mayapan 52 Chapter 3: Methodology 55 Part 1: Methodology 55 Iconographical analysis 56 Meaning and function 57 Iconography as a visual language 58 How to read iconographical language 58 Iconographical analysis of Lamanai ceramic art 63 Iconography: motifs – isolation and categorisation 63 Iconography: motifs – combinations/substitutions (paradigmatic sets/syntagmatic chains) 64 Calculation of co-occurrences 65 Contextual analyses of Lamanai ceramic art: archaeological and socio-cultural 68 4 Material context 70 (1) Objects – relationship between motifs and pottery types 70 (2) Archaeological contexts 71 (3) Socio-cultural context 73 Presentation of methodological results in thesis chapters 75 Part 2: The Lamanai sample and its contexts 76 Lamanai the site 76 Vessel morphology 80 Lamanai Terminal Classic to Early Historic vessel typology 83 Chapter 4: Isolation and categorisation of motifs 84 Definition and justification of motifs and their families 84 Motifs, formal analysis and semantic analysis 84 Style 85 Motif groups 85 Imagery 86 Iconic motifs 88 Animals miscellaneous 88 Anthropomorphic 89 Bird 91 Feline 91 Reptile 92 Zoomorphic 95 Feather 97 Flower 98 Organic 100 Shell 100 Geometric motifs 101 Arch 101 Cross 101 Cross-hatch 102 Oval 103 Rectangle 103 Scroll 104 Triangle 107 Motif bands 107 Arc band 108 Intertwined band 108 Triangle band 110 T-shaped band 111 Rectangle band 112 Plain bands 112 Horizontal band 113 Vertical band 113 Miscellaneous motif group 113 Glyphs/pseudoglyphs 113 Other motifs 114 5 Chapter 5: Terminal Classic ceramics (Terclerp phase; ca. A.D. 800 - 1000) 115 Sample 115 Individual motifs 115 Motif combinations/substitutions (key paradigmatic sets) 115 Motifs and motif combinations related to the vessels on which they occur 116 Definition of style 116 Lamanai polychromes 116 Black cylinder vases 117 Bichrome dishes 118 Molded-carved vessels 119 Material and socio-cultural contexts (iconographical content) 120 Archaeological-contextual analysis 120 Socio-cultural contextual analysis 121 Iconic motifs 121 Anthropomorphic motif 121 Feline (jaguars and flowera) 121 Structure N10-12, 1st, caches 122 Cache N10-12/8: Night-time (jaguar) sun offering 122 Cache N10-12/2: Day-time (flower) sun offering 123 Cache N10-15/8: Night-time (jaguar) sun offered to, or descending into, the otherworld 124 Antiquity of ceremonial practices surrounding celestial themes at Lamanai 126 Jaguar and flower summary 128 Organic motif (supernatural eye) 129 Geometric motifs 133 Crossa 133 Conclusions: the Lamanai Terminal Classic context of elite ceremonies surrounding celestial symbolism 134 Inter-site relationships 134 Lamanai polychromes 135 Black cylinder vases 135 Bichrome dishes 135 Molded-carved vessels 136 Chapter 6: Early Postclassic ceramics (Buk phase; ca. A.D. 1100 - 1250) 137 Sample 137 Burial/cache sample 138 Individual motifs 138 Motif combinations/substitutions (key paradigmatic sets) 138 Motifs and motif combinations related to the vessels on which they occur 138 6 Definition of style 139 Complex imagery scenes 141 Geometric motif bands 146 Appliqué-modelled iconic motifs 147 Motifs marking other motifs 149 Material and socio-cultural contexts (iconographical content) 150 Archaeological-contextual analysis 150 Summary of archaeological readings 151 General interpretations 152 Specific interpretations 153 Principal burials 153 Burial positions 154 Aquatic burial paraphernalia 154 Copper bells 155 Evidence of burning 155 Motif related to archaeological context 155 Socio-cultural contextual analysis 156 Iconic motifs 156 Animals miscellaneous 156 Amphibian (toad or frog) 156 Monkey 157 Turtle 158 Anthropomorphic 162 Group 1: Identifiable deities 163 Chac 163 Itzamna 165 Specific deities that elude secure identification 169 ‘Upended’ figure 169 ‘Long-nosed’ deities 170 Group 2: Unidentifiable supernaturals, deities and/or deity impersonators 170 Bird 171 Reptile 176 Identification of Dragons on Early Postclassic Lamanai ceramics 178 Lamanai Dragon example LA 95/7 181 Lamanai Dragon example LA 68/4 182 Lamanai Dragon example LA 176/2 183 Lamanai Dragon example LA 243/21 184 Lamanai Dragon example LA 102/2 185 Lamanai Dragon example LA 95/6 185 Dragon as the ‘consumer’ of the breath soul of elites 186 Dragon as the cosmos (cosmic bands) 187 Lamanai Dragon example LA 48/2 187 Lamanai Dragon example LA 127/3 188 Classic Period comparative data 189 Postclassic Period comparative data 190 Dragon as linking the realms of the Maya cosmos, supernaturals/deities to humans and ancestors to humans in a ritual context 192 Classic Period comparative data 193 Postclassic Period comparative data 194 Crocodilian and serpentine aspects embodied within the Dragon 195 Crocodilian traits 196 Crocodiles representative of the earth and related to time 197 Crocodiles related to the sky, rain, wind and fertility 198 Serpentine traits 200 Serpents associated with the sky and rain 200 Serpents associated with blood, sacrifice and fertility 201 Serpents as supernatural conduits (media) 201 Reptile summary 204 7 Flower 206 Flowera 206 Flowerb 208 Flowerc 210 Geometric motifs 210 Cross 210 Crossb 210 Crossc (grater bowls) 212 Cross-hatch 217 Cross-hatch marking the surface of the earth and creatures forming the surface of the earth 218 Cross-hatch marking deities associated with the earth and its access 220 Cross-hatch marking objects associated with the earth 221 Cross-hatch summary 221 Oval 222 Scroll 223 Scrolla 223 Scrollb 228 Scrollc 228 Scrolld 228 Motif bands 229 Intertwined band 229 Part 1: Intertwined band as conduit between the natural world and otherworld 229 Transference of life associated with birth 232 Transference of life associated with death, rebirth, sacrifice and offerings 234 Part 2: Mat symbol as conduit of rulers’ power and association with intertwined band 235 Intertwined band summary 237 Triangle band 238 T-shaped band 240 T-shaped band marking otherworld portals 242 Part 1: T-shaped band marking interface to otherworld waters 242 Part 2: T-shaped band marking otherworld portals associated with earth themes 243 T-shaped band in funerary context 243 Early Postclassic Lamanai T-shaped band in context 244 T-shaped band marking elite offerings to the gods 245 Conclusions: the Lamanai Early Postclassic context of the Maya Dragon 248 Inter-site relationships 255 Southern iconographic-interaction sphere 257 Lamanai iconographic-interaction sphere 257 Peten Lakes iconographic-interaction sphere 259 Northern Chichen Itza ceramics 262 Chapter 7: Late Postclassic ceramics (Cib phase [and Gatah]; ca. A.D. 1250 - 1450) 270 Sample 270 Cib phase ceramics 270 Sample 270 8 Individual motifs 270 Motif combinations/substitutions (key paradigmatic sets) 271 Motifs and motif combinations related to the vessels on which they occur 271 Definition of style 271 Material
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