Eduard Seler COLLECTED WORKS in MESOAMERICAN LINGUISTICS
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Eduard Seler COLLECTED WORKS IN MESOAMERICAN LINGUISTICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY English Translations of German Papers from GESAMMELTE ABHANDLUNGEN ZUR AMERIKANISCHEN SPRACH- UND ALTERTHUMSKUNDE Made under the Supervision of CHARLES P. BOWDITCH Published with the Permission of TOZZER LIBRARY, PEABODY MUSEUM, HARV ARD UNIVERSITY Owners of the Original Translation with Slight Emendations to Volumes V and VI by J. ERIC S. THOMPSON Edited by J. Eric S. Thompson and Francis B. Richardson and Illustrated with all the Original Figures, Maps, Plates, and Photographs Second Edition in Six Volumes* • FRANK E. COMPARATO General Editor LABYRINTHOS /1996 This report by Eduardo Seler on animals of Mesoamerican art has been put into electronic format in memory of Frank Comparato. Frank Comparato was the Field Director of the mapping and research at Lake Yaxha and Topoxte Island in the 1970’s (of which Nicholas Hellmuth was the project director, and Miguel Orrego was the co-mapper of Yaxha). The most important result of these five seasons of work (in addition to all the maps) was the achievement of having Lake Yaxha and Lake Sacnab named a Parque Nacional (many years later Guatemalan individuals helpfully had this park enlarged to include Naranjo and other sites). But I am honored to have been a visitor to Guatemala whose heritage is an entire area saved from total destruction. This work at Yaxha was funded via FLAAR. For many years after this Frank Comparato was Manager of FLAAR, in California. During these years he formed his own publishing house, LABYRINTHOS. Frank Comparato edited and published many important scholarly publications on the Maya and on related cultures of Prehispanic Mesoamerica. What I especially respect is that this work was not done to gain commercial profit, but the purpose was to make material available to students, professors, and the interested lay public. We thank Charles Comparato, the son of Frank Comparato, for giving his okay for us to scan this important document prepared and published by his father. The pages were scanned by Senaida Ba, one of the Q’eqchi’ Mayan student interns who helps us do the scanning. She worked over a period of two months. Each page was scanned manually. Since normal scanning software scrambles the text, she had to proofread every word and correct all the scanning errors, manually. We estimate she has found about 90% of the scanning errors, but its tough for one person to notice every single error. FLAAR has a policy of providing these electronic documents in an open- PDF format (so not a locked format). This is so that students can copy- and-paste into their term papers. Comments by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR, February 24, 2016. *With this volume the decision has been made to publish the Collected Works in Mesoamerican Linguistics and Archaeology in six volumes instead of five. Some cross references in Volumes l-IV to Volume V should be to Volume VI, and references to Volume VI (North and South America) should be to Volume VII. Seler / COLLECTED WORKS IN MESOAMERICAN LINGUISTICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY, Vol. V Published with the assistance of the Getty Grant Program Special contents copyright (c) 1996 by Labyrinthos All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, e1ectronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Card Catalog No. 88-82627/ ISBN 0-911437-32-0 (6 volumes) Printed in the United States of America on acid-free tex! paper @ LABYRINTHOS, 3064 HOLLINE COURT, LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA 93535 CONTENTS [Volume V of the present edition comprises Volume IV of the Abhandlungen] Foreword……………………………………………………………………………………………...…vii Caecilie Seler-Sachs The Antiquities of Canton Tuxtla in the State of Veracruz……………………….................................ix Plates I- VII Caecilie Seler-Sachs A. MYTHS AND RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT MEXICANS 1. The World View of the Ancient Mexicans ......................................................................................... 3 Figures 1-18 2. Creation of the World and of Humans, and the Birth of the Sun and Moon ................................... 24 Figures 19-32 3. The First Humans and the World of the Stars .................................................................................. 39 Figures 33-74 4. The Principal Myth of the Mexican Tribes and the Culture Heroes of Tollan ................................. 59 Figures 74*-126 5. Uitzilopochtli, the Talking Hurnmingbird ........................................................................................93 Figures 127-133 *B. SHORT ARTICLES AND LECTURES 1. On the Toltec Question .................................................................................................................. 103 2. The End of the Toltec Period ……………………………………………………………………..109 3. Afterword by Dr. Walter Lehmann………………………………………………………………..112 4. Scenic Pictures on Old Mexican Mosaics ........................................................................................ 116 Figures 1-20 5. Totemism in Middle America……………………………………………………….………………130 *C. NOTES ON MEXICO, ITS INHABITANTS, AND ITS DISCOVERY 1. The Country of Mexico ......................................................................................................................135 2. The Native Peoples of Mexico………………………………………………………………………141 *For the titles of articles omitted in the present edition see footnotes on pages with an asterisk; for the original German titles of articles see endnote of each article. V vi CONTENTS 3.The Old and New Worlds and Their Connections with Each Other ......................................... 151 4.Considering the Isla de Sacrificios ............................................................................................ 157 5. Entrance of the Spaniards into the Capital of Motecuhcoma ................................................... 159 Figures 1-4 D. THE ANIMAL PICTURES OF THE MEXICAN AND MAYA MANUSCRIPTS Introduction 167 / Mammals 167 / 1. The Monkey 167 / 2. The Bat 173 / 3. The Jaguar and the Puma 176 /4. The Dog 179 / 5. The Coyote and the Fox 193 /6. The Cuetlachtli 194/7. Other Beasts of Prey 197 / 8. The Opossum 197 / 9. The Auitzotl200 / 10. The Rabbit and the Hare 203 / 11. Other Rodents 206/ 12. The Armadillo 206/ 13. The Navel Boar and the Musk Boar 209 / 14. The Alleged Elephant Pictures 212 / 15. The Deer 215 / 16. The Lightning Animal with Hoofs 220 Birds 222 / 17. The Parrot and the Macaw 222 / 18. The Quetzal Bird 225 / 19. A Blue or Green Quetzal-like Bird 228 /20. The Red-Crested Woodpecker 228 /21. The Hummingbird 231 / 22. The Raven and Other Sparrow-like Birds 237 / 23. The Eagle 237 / 24. Sparrow Hawks, Falcons, and Other Diurnal Birds of Prey 247 / 25. The Vulture 247 / 26. Owls 253/27. The Moan Bird 256 /28. The Turkey Cock 256 / 29. Yax cocah mut 260 /30. The Quail 263 / 31. The Grouse and the Pheasant 266/32. The Dove 269/33. The Heron and the Spoonbill 269 / 34. Aquatic Birds 272 Reptiles and Amphibians 273 / 35. The Crocodile 273 / 36. The Turtle 277 / 37. The Lizard 289 / 38. Serpents 293 / 39. Frogs and Toads 301 / 40. Fish 305 Insects and Other Lower Animals 313 /41. The Butterfly 313 / 42. Other Winged Insects 322 / 43. Spiders, Scolopendras, and Scorpions 331 / 44. Wingless Insects, Larvae, and Worms 337 / 45. Crabs and Other Crustaceous Animals 337 / Conclusion 339 LANGUAGE OVERVIEW OF MEXICO AND MIDDLE AMERICA (Oversize Map/Scale c. 1:5,000,000) Walter Lehmann Part E. THE ANIMAL PICTURES OF THE MEXICAN AND MAYA MANUSCRIPTS /455/ In Part 5 of the preceding volume of this journal’ Dr. W. that many cases can be determined more exactly through Stempell discussed the animal pictures of the Maya manuscripts statements in the literature. In view of the similarity in the thought from the standpoint of a zoologist. This work, undertaken at the process, which is also expressed not uncommonly by a similarity suggestion of the late Dr. Forstemann and Dr. Schellhas, I greeted in the conventionalized conception, it is therefore often possible with great delight. For in the discussion of archaeological and to use the more easily determined Mexican material for verifying allied problems it is of some importance whether we can deter- the interpretation of Maya forms. mine a species in the manuscripts or on the sculptures only This omission in the Stempell work has especially prompted superficially or with zoological exactness, or perhaps cannot me to review, in a style similar to his, the principal animals of the determine it at all. manuscripts and sculptures, not merely Maya, but also Mexican. Since as a general rule these animals are not merely As an archaeologist I also have so me objections to make to the ornamental, but play an important role as beings endowed with Stempell statements and interpretations. These I shall describe special powers and in part considered as more or less and attempt to substantiate. transcendental, it is of value also for archaeologists and I do not intend to go into details of modern zoological ethnologists to know their characteristics, and naturalIy the first nomenclature. It is quile sufficient to discuss in general terms the main question to ask is what kind of an animal is under species in question. /456/ For undoubtedly the same name was consideration. frequently applied to animals by the ancient races, and the same I have, however, deplored the fact that Dr. Stempell limited