A DMA Flint and the Phenomenological Turn

EMBODIED MATERIALS OF THE CLASSIC MAYA:

A D.M.A. FLINT AND THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL TURN

Harper Rose Kennington

APPROVED BY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE:

______Mark Rosen, Chair

______Sarah Kozlowski

______Michelle Rich

Harper Rose Kennington

For Jim

EMBODIED MATERIALS OF THE CLASSIC MAYA:

A D.M.A. FLINT AND THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL TURN

HARPER ROSE KENNINGTON, BA

THESIS

Presented to the Faculty of

The University of Texas at Dallas

in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements

for the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS IN

ART HISTORY

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

December 2019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Foremost, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to my committee members. I thank

Professor Mark Rosen, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies of the School of Arts and

Humanities, for his willingness and faith in my abilities. I also thank Professor Sarah Kozlowski,

Associate Director of the Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History and Director of The Center for

Art and Architectural History of Port Cities at La Capria, Naples, for her foresight and passion.

The expertise and inspiration provided by my third committee member, Dr. Michelle Rich, The

Ellen and Harry S. Parker III Assistant Curator of the Arts of the Americas, Dallas Museum of

Art, shaped and informed this thesis. My success is made possible by their continuous support, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. I could not have wished for a better set of advisors and mentors.

Besides my advisors, I would like to thank the rest of the Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art

History staff: Professor Paul Galvez for coordinating, guiding, and facilitating our efforts, as well as Heidi Kessell, Lauren LaRocca, and Pierette Lacour for their tireless zeal, attention, and kindness. They all contributed to making EODIAH feel like a family, and I will cherish the time we spent together.

My sincere thanks also go to Mike McBride, Hill Country Archaeological Association

President, for connecting us with Curtis Smith and to Curtis for demonstrating flintknapping techniques so that I might see first-hand what went into producing my objects of study - a rare, insightful and delightful experience.

I thank the Dallas Museum of Art staff, including Fran Bass and Elena Torok, for their professional insight, and for showing me the flints first-hand. I also thank the Museum of Fine

Arts, Houston staff, including Chelsea Dacus and Professor Rex Koontz, for sharing their time and understanding of the flints in their collection.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my mother, Teresa, for her strength and support. I would also like to thank my husband, Jim, for his love and management of our twelve-paw household while I completed this effort.

November 2019

EMBODIED MATERIALS OF THE CLASSIC MAYA:

A D.M.A. FLINT AND THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL TURN

Harper Rose Kennington, MA The University of Texas at Dallas, 2019

ABSTRACT ABSTRACT

Supervising Professor: Mark Rosen, PhD

Elaborate chipped-stone artifacts or eccentric flints constitute luxury items of ancient

Mesoamerican cultures. For the Classic Maya, a variety of social, religious, and ideological pressures motivated the creation of these artifacts. Although recent object-based studies provide material analysis and detailed interpretation of context, a vast majority of flints lack any verified archaeological context. The paucity of data surrounding these objects limits possible interpretations by the archaeologist. Moving forward, an embodied archaeology of flints and flintknapping techniques provides a wellspring of insight into their significance to the Maya. By taking the sensual body as subject, an embodied archaeology grants agency to the ancient flintknapper’s visceral experience. This perspective facilitates the creation of cultural biography and historical psychology behind the eccentric flint now in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, labeled in their catalog as Eccentric flint depicting a crocodile canoe and passengers

(1983.45.McD).

vii TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... v

ABSTRACT ...... vii

LIST OF FIGURES ...... x

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...... 1

CHAPTER 2 RECONSTRUCTING MEANING ...... 5

CHAPTER 3 WHAT IS FLINT? ...... 11

CHAPTER 4 THE COLLECTED OBJECT ...... 15

CHAPTER 5 MAKER OR MAKERS? ...... 19

CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY OF DEPOSITED FLINT MATERIAL ...... 23

CHAPTER 7 OBSERVATION AND MATERIAL ANALYSIS ...... 26

CHAPTER 8 ICONOGRAPHY ...... 30

CHAPTER 9 THE FLINTKNAPPER'S SENSUAL EXPERIENCE ...... 37

CHAPTER 10 FLINT IN THE MAYA LANDSCAPE ...... 43

CHAPTER 11 CONCLUSION ...... 49

APPENDIX FIGURES ...... 53

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 68

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 72

viii CURRICULUM VITAE …………………………………………………………………...……73

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Eccentric flint depicting a crocodile canoe and passengers, Maya, 600-900 CE, flint, 9 3/4 x 16 3/16 x 11/16 inches, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., in honor of Mrs. Alex Spence, 1983.45.McD. Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art...... 53

Figure 2. Flint nodules with white cortex, Harper Kennington, 2019...... 54

Figure 3. Diagram of a flint core and flake. Curved lines of flake scars indicate conchoidal fracture. Lithic illustrations modified from published drawings by Amy Henderson in Whittaker, J.C. 1994. Flintknapping. University of Texas Press, Austin...... 55

Figure 4. Eccentric flint with heads of K'awiil, Maya, 600-900 CE, flint, 14 3/4 x 10 1/2 x 3/8 inches. Dallas Museum of Art, bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence S. Pollock, Jr., 2009.26. Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art...... 56

Figure 5. Ceremonial Flint with K'awiil and Two Lords in a Monster-headed Canoe, Maya, 600- 900 AD, Chert, 5 1/2 x 12 5/8 x 5/8 inches, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, museum purchase funded by Alice Pratt Brown Fund, 91.332. Image in public domain...... 57

Figure 6. DMA flint under artificial white light shows minute traces of residue. Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art...... 58

Figure 7. MFAH flint under an artificial white light shows no trace residue. Harper Kennington, 2019...... 59

Figure 8. Tan cortex located at the distal end of the DMA flint. Harper Kennington, 2019...... 60

Figure 9. Opposite side depicting tan cortex at the distal end of DMA flint. Harper Kennington, 2019...... 61

Figure 10. Detail depicting red residue found on surface of DMA flint. Harper Kennington, 2019...... 62

Figure 11. Fran Baas and Elena Torok in the Object's Conservation Lab at the DMA. Harper Kennington, 2019...... 63

Figure 12. XRF spectra depicts spike at iron (Fe). Courtesy Dallas Museum of Art...... 64

Figure 13. Scolopendra gigantea. Image courtesy R.D. Sage...... 65

Figure 14. John Montgomery, Chapat (Centipede) Hieroglyph, Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs (New York: Hippocrene Books, 2002)...... 66

Figure 15. Flintknapping Demonstration by Curtis Smith, Harper Kennington, 2019...... 67

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Acquired by the museum in 1983, Eccentric flint depicting a crocodile canoe with passengers (1983.45.McD) (Fig. 1) is regarded as one of the most significant masterworks in the expansive Mesoamerican collection at the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA). The fascinating object continues to stoke the curiosity of new generations of viewers to the museum. Its striking appearance leaves us with little reason to wonder why.

Knapped from a single piece of stone, the silhouette of the flint belies the immense skill and knowledge of its maker or makers. The undulating edge of the composite creature demonstrates a consistent and relentless battle with the material. Each scar created by this subtractive method builds on the next until a distinct surface appears. Light catches along the peaks and valleys of this surface, creating a striking contrast with the flint's vibrant cocoa color.

A crescendo of scars rushes to meet the edges to form the proud heads, puckered lips, and gaping maw of the composite form. This delicate tapering wraps the object in a transparent ribbon of light. A creature emerges from the darkness, forming a single, elegant arc.

Although scholars describe a variety of chipped-stone artifacts as eccentric flints, the term “flint” is often used to describe artifacts composed of obsidian, chert, or chalcedony. Each of these flinty materials possesses varying degrees of hardness. Pure chert, or flint, is marked by its unyielding strength, razor-sharp edges, and a smooth, opaque surface. The adjective

“eccentric” serves to single out these elaborate and non-utilitarian flints from more

straightforward and utilitarian tools such as blades, flakes, and points.1 This impervious material yields to the intentions of a knapper through the process of flintknapping. As a set of percussive techniques, flintknapping engages the knapper's sensual understanding of the material in order to create a distinct form.

Entering the Arts of the Americas A.H. Meadows Galleries, a labyrinth of vitrines and pedestals guide the viewer deeper into an imaginary chronology of Mesoamerican art. At the heart of this display appear several small-scale objects and prestige materials created by the

Maya peoples of Mesoamerica. The Maya, whose population numbers six million today, are the descendants of the ancient Maya, whose civilization shares a common origin with the diverse cultures of Mesoamerica. The Maya occupied the entire Yucatán Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the western portion of Honduras and El

Salvador.2 The Central and Southern Lowlands constitute a fertile cultural zone of primary investigation for the Classic period, 250-830 C.E. Classic period Maya shared a common written language, religion, and concept of time. Artists and craftspeople working under the auspices of the ruling elite captured these beliefs in a complex system of images, manifesting in a broad range of artistic expression. During the Classic period, artistic practice depicting the Maya’s

1 The term "eccentric" reveals a greater deal about archaeologists and collectors of these artifacts than it does their creators. Henceforth, it will no longer be used to refer to such objects unless appropriate. 2 Michael D. Coe, The Maya, 8th ed., Ancient Peoples and Places (London: Thames & Hudson, 2011), 1.

cosmic vision flourished across a variety of media.3 Sophisticated art and architecture developed and spread throughout the Maya landscape. As artisans whose production techniques lacked the use of metal tools, the properties of available materials determined stylistic development.4

The preponderance of these sophisticated products in elite, ritual contexts motivates their interpretation as symbols of legitimate or divine kingship.5 Scholars often interpret objects such as the DMA’s flint in the same manner. However, the majority of these interpretations overlook what the object is. The properties of the natural material, its process of manufacture, and relation to the sea of materials in Maya art appear to bear little importance to previous explanations.

Additionally, the majority of these objects possess no verifiable or disclosed archaeological context. This precludes the opportunity to discover meaning derived from the physical properties of an object, some of which may be inferred from the archaeological sites in which they were found. Instead, scholars must reconstruct these circumstances by marshaling the limited evidence available and considering new perspectives from which to examine it.

The following analysis considers flints partially from the perspective of the maker or makers. More specifically, I examine how the process of knapping induces a physical connection between the knapper, the material, and the landscape. By understanding how flint behaves in a

3 Gerald Berjonneau, Rediscovered Masterpieces of Mesoamerica: Mexico-Guatemala- Honduras, eds. Gerald Berjonneau, Emile Deletaille, and Jean-Louis Sonnery (Boulogne, France: Editions Arts, 1985), 203. 4 Linda Schele, The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art (New York: Braziller, 1986), 30. 5 Rex Koontz, “Art of the Classic Period,” in The Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology, eds. Deborah L. Nichols and Christopher A. Pool (Oxford University Press, 2012), 808.

landscape of material, one can form an idea of what flint is. This understanding of the material is essential to a real understanding of the object as a masterwork of Maya culture. The landscape has an essential impact on the formation of a culture, influencing how people develop, and their views on religion and supernatural phenomena. Since the object is ultimately created by people, who have a degree of agency in the process of production, a thorough reconstruction of meaning must include an understanding of the visceral experience of the landscape in which the maker or makers lived. The relationship between the agent and landscape is what allows them to place their ideas into the material, which underpins any other meaning the object is intended to embody.

CHAPTER 2

RECONSTRUCTING MEANING

Isolated in glass boxes in a sterile museum gallery, archaeological objects appear as enigmatic masterpieces of a monolithic culture. The apparent gain in the orderliness of the presentation creates a loss of cultural nuance. This is especially true for flint artifacts. In addition to unverifiable archaeological origins, flints - as a subject of academic inquiry - are commonly subordinated to other elite materials such as jade and obsidian. The quotidian material of flint is often taken for granted. This minimal attention leads to less context provided for the piece in the gallery setting, contributing to an exaggerated sense of mystery. What circumstances allow these objects to go unexplored? How do we view these objects as a result? What we encounter behind the glass versus what an object is appears to lack a thorough consideration of remaining material consequences—the results of an object’s physical condition. For Mesoamerican antiquities collected during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the archaeological context, an object’s find-spot or provenience, cannot be verified.6 All that remains is the object itself, remarkably clean and devoid of intentional or lingering material traces or residues. This dramatically limits the potential of forensic analysis of the material to reveal contextual information that properly excavated objects would include, such as geographical location, or proximity to nearby objects.

6 While the terms "provenance" and "provenience" used to be considered interchangeable, archaeological trends now consider "provenance" to refer to the history of ownership after the time of an archaeological object's modern discovery and "provenience" as the specific location or find-spot of an object. I will insist on retaining this distinction. Patty Gerstenblith, “Provenances: Real, Fake, and Questionable,” International Journal of Cultural Property 26, no. 3 (August 2019): 285–304, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0940739119000171.

In the case of flints that have been properly excavated, like those from the southeast Maya area, objects belong to a cache of ceremonial offerings made in the event of a termination ritual for a

Maya monument or structure. A critical evaluation of the previous methodology applied to eccentric flints proves that such evidence remains essential in the process of reconstructing meaning. Further, this evaluation demonstrates how the availability of such data influences the choice of methodology.

Faced with finite data, many archaeologists choose to collaborate with a variety of scholars in fields including anthropology, art history, geography, history, linguistics, conservation science, and the natural sciences. This embrace of interdisciplinary study manifests in a mélange of novel and innovative theoretical approaches.7 In one such study, Protecting

Sacred Space: Rosalila's Eccentric Chert Cache at Copan and Eccentrics Among the Classic

Maya, Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle, Payson Sheets, and Karl Taube focus on a cache of nine flint artifacts excavated from a Honduran site in 1990. 8 The authors claim that these cached objects served to demarcate and protect sacred space. The inherent power of the material was enhanced by the fashioning of heads, representing the god of thunder and lightning. The artifacts are just one clue in the riddle for our understanding of the meaning and significance of the Rosalila

Temple. This interpretation reveals itself through layers of analysis. Beginning with formalism,

7 Manuel Gándara, “A Short History of Theory in Mesoamerican Archaeology,” in The Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology, ed. Deborah L. Nichols and Christopher A. Pool (New York, N.Y: Oxford University Press, 2012), 31–46. 8 Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle, Payson Sheets, and Karl Taube, Protecting Sacred Space: Rosalila’s Eccentric Chert Cache at Copan and Eccentrics among the Classic Maya, (San Francisco, CA: Precolumbia Mesoweb Press, 2016).

these contextualized, historically contingent objects reveal the Maya believed these objects possessed a sacred power.

Further, the material of flint contained and channeled that power. The authors go to painstaking lengths to demonstrate the complexity of the votive offerings made. Perhaps most significantly, their study makes a strong case for the possibility of multiple knappers, introducing a web of collaborative efforts. This complex and intentional action by the Maya, examined by the authors, sets an example for future studies of chipped-stone artifacts. It is from this effort that the following comparative analysis and material study take shape.

In the absence of such physical and chronological data, scholars must bring to bear a variety of perspectives in order to reconstruct meaning from the remaining body of evidence.

The DMA flint, for example, lacks any geographical or cache data, and thus requires a broader analysis than the immediate physical context of the object. However, current literature regarding the artifact and the majority of such objects remains limited to symbolic and iconographic studies--a summary of which is discussed in a subsequent chapter. These interpretations further implicate the significance of material but stop short of the consequences mined from a closer examination of the flintknapping process and the role of the creator or creators. After a thorough examination of these other perspectives, their drawbacks, advantages, and ultimate potentialities to reconstruct meaning, I found the techniques used for the Copan flints to be insufficient for the object at hand, more so a consequence of the lack of data rather than the viability of such a methodology. As a result, the challenges posed by the DMA flint spurred me to use analytical techniques that had not previously been applied to such artifacts, namely those of embodied archaeology.

In their third edition of Reading the Past: Current Approaches to Interpretation in

Archaeology, Ian Hodder and Scott Hutson introduce readers to a debate about archaeological methodology. The authors begin their review by assuming three principles: (1) Material culture possesses meaning; (2) material culture and social exchange theories require consideration of willful agents; (3) archaeology retains close methodological ties with history. The scholars weigh past and recent trends in archaeology which meet these tenets within varying degrees.9 As methods in archaeological analysis evolve and grow, so too should our understanding and appreciation of prestige objects such as the DMA flint. In their discussion of the Marxist archaeology method, Hodder and Hutson describe how such an ideological method opens the door to embodied archaeology. The following analysis of work by Takeshi Inomata demonstrates why such a method, while constructive, is insufficient and, perhaps, inappropriate for the object of this study.

Inomata's discussion in "The Power and Ideology of Artistic Creation" suggests that social relations give rise to forces of production and that these forces are reflected in the objects produced. An archaeological interpretation after Inomata places the symbolic function of elite crafts at the site of production. Using evidence from excavations at Aguateca, Guatemala,

Inomata refines his theory of craft specialization, which distinguishes between Maya patterns of independent and attached specialization. 10 His cogent work demonstrates that most skilled craft

9 Ian Hodder, Reading the Past: Current Approaches to Interpretation in Archaeology, 3rd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 23. 10 Takeshi Inomata, "The Power and Ideology of Artistic Creation," Current Anthropology 42, no. 3 (June 2001): 321-349, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/320475.

production in Classic Maya society was the result of attached production—production for elite patrons or rulers who controlled craft production and derived their power and prestige from influencing such processes.11 Inomata concludes that the creation of elite crafts may have been significant to consolidating power and prestige for Maya elites.12 As a result, the creation of these elite crafts is ideologically significant. The same could be said for the production of eccentric flints. However, if one adopts this approach, Inomata's emphasis of power over material versus granting power to the material lacks adequate consideration of agency on the part of the flintknapper - which I argue as a necessary component to the study of these objects and as the second principle assumed by Hodder. The emphasis on labor in the Marxist analysis of production, in which eccentrics are reduced to products of labor, ascribes a degree of commodification to the eccentrics themselves. Treating eccentrics as commodities necessarily omits many of the intrinsic properties of the objects from which a broader analysis might make considerable insights. The objects become static props whose meaning lies solely in the forces of production rather than the process of production. Consequently, the transformative power of the flintknapper and the flint in the knapping process loses its symbolic importance. This is not necessarily a critique of Marxist archaeology; instead, Hodder goes on to emphasize that Marxist archaeology places importance on the power, practices, agency, and body. All of these components are fundamental to the construction of an embodied archaeology, paving the way for

11 Jeanne E. Arnold and Ann Munns, "Independent or Attached Specialization: The Organization of Shell Bead Production in California," Journal of Field Archaeology 21, no. 4 (Winter 1994): 473, https://www.jstor.org/stable/530102. 12 Inomata, "The Power and Ideology of Artistic Creation," 333.

agency and body to take a more central role--a methodological development made possible by studies such as those by Inomata.

With a physical, embodied connection to their observable universe, the ancient Maya drew no boundaries between the inner self and the outer world. Although the Maya possessed a diverse set of beliefs, they shared a monistic phenomenology.13 It is for this reason that one should begin with the object's formal properties.

13 Stephen Houston and Karl Taube, “An Archaeology of the Senses: Perception and Cultural Expression in Ancient Mesoamerica,” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 10, no. 2 (October 2000): 261–94, https://doi.org/10.1017/S095977430000010X.

CHAPTER 3

WHAT IS FLINT?

Reconstructing meaning from material culture relies on a deep understanding of an object's elemental components. Although this requirement appears imperative for a study of materiality, such studies appear to lack this practical consideration. In his argument to reverse the emphasis on materiality over materials, Tim Ingold asserts that definitions of materiality prioritize theoretical debate, often letting the more fundamental aspects of materials and techniques escape our attention.14 In the case of the DMA flint, current interpretations neglect these material properties. I found these features of the object to be essential to the reconstruction of meaning, as they provide a unique insight into the process of flintknapping. Difficult to codify, an understanding of material requires direct engagement with these properties, which I discuss below.

Flint is a specific variety of chert, an extraordinarily dense or compact cryptocrystalline silica, composed of the mineral quartz. Deposits of chert and flint form in nodules and masses in other sedimentary rocks like limestone and chalk (Fig. 2). Comparable in strength to modern steel, flint’s unique hardness results from its crystalline structure.15 This crystalline structure forms a lattice of inner planes, which allow the material to split into thin, sharp splinters called flakes or blades when struck by another hard object. This subtractive process is referred to as

14 Tim Ingold, “Materials against Materiality,” Archaeological Dialogues 14, no. 1 (June 2007): 1–16, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203807002127. 15 "Flint," in Dictionary of Gems and Gemology, ed. Moshen Manutchehr-Danai (Berlin: Springer, 2009), 115.

flintknapping.16 The Maya were expert flintknappers, as evidenced by the preponderance of elaborate chipped-stone artifacts collected from the broad reaches of the Maya archaeological zone. Additionally, their consistent mining, mass production, and circulation of flint tools from the Preclassic period onwards suggest an intimate knowledge of flint's material properties.17 The majority of this expertise developed through a practical engagement with the material, though not much is known about how this knowledge was propagated. It is known, however, that this expertise consisted of a deep understanding of flint versus other knappable materials, such as obsidian.18

What sets flint apart from other varieties of knappable chert is that flint is exceptionally fine in quality. This means that it possesses a more homogeneous makeup and fewer impurities.

This internal uniformity has a few critical materialist consequences. Primarily, pure flint breaks more homogeneously and predictably. This allows for more precise control over the development of new details in the material. Using his or her knowledge of flint's internal structure and tendencies, the flintknapper is more likely to achieve their intended outcome. Also, because the structural homogeneity of flint gives it a higher density, it is, therefore, better suited to the manufacture of useful tools such as arrowheads, spear tips, blades, and hand axes. In

16 John C. Whittaker, Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2014). Whittaker provides a detailed guide to flintknapping history and techniques. His text is written from an archaeological perspective. 17 Richard Keith Meadows, “Crafting K’awil: A Comparative Analysis of Maya Symbolic Flaked Stone Assemblages from Three Sites in Northern Belize" (PhD diss., The University of Texas at Austin, 2001), 4, http://search.proquest.com/docview/304721284/abstract/8D97FFB4E8084451PQ/1. 18 David M. Carballo, Obsidian Reflections: Symbolic Dimensions of Obsidian in Mesoamerica (Boulder, Colorado: University Press of Colorado, 2014).

comparison to obsidian, flint's hardness allows for a variety of knapping techniques. Whereas obsidian’s brittle nature causes it to shatter and create dangerously sharp flakes, flint's more forgiving malleability permits the creation of more nuanced structures.19

Beyond its internal structure, flint possesses aesthetic features that set it apart from other types of chert. Their smooth and glassy fracture surfaces distinguish exceptional specimens.20

Individual specimens also tend to possess a more vibrant, deeper color, a desirable trait for the formation of silhouetted figures. Thin flakes of flint appear golden brown, especially when lit.

The transparency of an eccentric flint is connected to its thickness. The DMA’s flint demonstrates all of these material qualities. The homogenous nature of the material allowed the knapper or knappers to work the stone predictably, thus enabling a complex shape with the thinnest of edges. As a result, a warm glow appears to encircle the object as light shines through the outermost edges. Through acquired knowledge of lithic material, the maker or makers were able to select a specimen that draws out flint’s most desirable aesthetic qualities. A combination of material quality and technical refinement allowed for the execution of a sophisticated, blended design. Other chert specimens are typically opaque, dull, and come in a variety of colors. Also, the higher amount of impurities within chert material causes it to break in a more heterogeneous and unpredictable manner. Therefore, it is unsuitable for the creation of such sophisticated designs as those of elaborate chipped-stone artifacts. The DMA flint utilizes a superior specimen of flint. Its uninterrupted color allows us to contemplate its surface without distraction. This

19 Whittaker, Flintknapping, 25; 97-100. 20 Ibid., 100.

surface is composed of hundreds of repeating, curvilinear planes. These curvilinear planes are categorized as a type of mineral cleavage—the tendency of a material to break along flat planar surfaces as determined by the structure of a material’s crystal lattice.21 Conchoidal fracture is the natural result of mineral cleavage in flint, quartz, and obsidian. More specifically, the conchoidal fracture is a type of shell-like mineral fracture that gives a smoothly curved, concentric ribbed surface (Fig. 3).22 This concentric pattern occurs as a result of many, if not all, flintknapping techniques. Once a desired area of material is successfully removed, the remaining flake scar forms in this conchoidal pattern. As an innate characteristic of flint material, it serves both productive and non-productive purposes. Regarding the DMA flint, conchoidal fracture suits both aesthetic and practical purposes. The repeated pattern generates a rhythm or harmony when reading the surface of the material. From a practical standpoint, the curvilinear pattern of the fracture allows the silhouette of the form to bend and curve. As a result, the conchoidal fracture of the flint material grants the object the appearance of marvelous complexity.

21 James Dwight Dana, Cornelis Klein, and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Manual of Mineralogy, 19th ed. (New York: Wiley, 1999), 183. 22 "Conchoidal Fracture," in Dictionary of Gems and Gemology, ed. Moshen Manutchehr-Danai (Berlin: Springer, 2009), 104.

CHAPTER 4

THE COLLECTED OBJECT

In a letter from John Lunsford, the former curator of the African, Oceanic, and American collections at the DMA, to then-director Harry S. Parker III and deputy director Steven A. Nash,

Lunsford indicated that he received news of a considerable ancient American, specifically pre-

Columbian collection that would be coming to market. The seller, Peter Wray, quietly amassed the impressive collection over a decade and was motivated to sell to help cover losses in his substantial agriculture and ranching business that extended throughout much of Arizona and

New Mexico.23 Though unfortunate timing for Mr. Wray, Lunsford noted that this offered the museum an unusual opportunity to expand its collection of rare ancient American objects.24

The letter, later compiled by Carol Robbins, the former Ellen and Harry S. Parker III

Curator of the Arts of Americas and the Pacific, included further information about Mr. Wray's collection, indicating that the opportunity to acquire a piece of considerable quality was quite tangible. A reflection of his wide-ranging and unusually broad interests, Mr. Wray's collection contained many unique objects that would be valuable additions to the DMA. The collection offered a plethora of ritualistic and funerary Maya objects, including several eccentric flints.25

23 Rita Reif, “Antiques View; an Abundance of Pre-Columbian Art,” The New York Times, April 8, 1984, https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/08/arts/antiques-view-an-abundance-of-pre- columbian-art.html. 24 Carol Robbins, “In Focus - The History (Provenance) of the Maya Eccentric Flints [1983.45.McD and 2009.26]," Dallas Museum of Art, https://www.dma.org/object/artwork/5088601/. 25 Ibid.

On his return, Lunsford wrote to Parker and Nash that "picking the three or four greatest pieces from such an exceptional collection is most difficult since the quality of the top fifteen percent is consistent. ...There are in the Wray collection easily thirty to forty pieces of the highest excellence which would grace any collection."26 Of the menagerie of ancient American treasures,

Lunsford selected two, which would later be recognized as essential pieces of the DMA

Mesoamerican collection. First, he recommended the Olmec seated figure with upraised knee, now titled Seated ruler in ritual pose (1983.50) and second, he chose the DMA flint

(1983.45.McD) - the subject of this study.

According to information provided in 1983, the DMA flint was found in a cache in

Guatemala with two other flints, one of which was later collected by the museum. Referred to as the Pollock flint, Eccentric flint with heads of K'awiil (2009.26) (Fig. 4), exhibits a distinct design from the former. The third flint is now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts,

Houston (MFAH), Ceremonial Flint with K'awiil and Two Lords in a Monster-headed Canoe

(91.332) (Fig. 5). This is supported by the provenance of the MFAH flint, which originated from the Jorge Castillo collection in Guatemala before 1979, at which time the DMA flint

(1983.45.McD) was sold to the Wray collection.27

Little is known about Jorge Castillo outside his capacity as a collector of antiquities. His vast collection was amassed over several decades in private; however, later in life, Castillo

26 Robbins, "The History (Provenance) of the Maya Eccentric Flints." 27 Anne-Louise Schaffer, Unpublished notes on eccentric flint, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1991.

decided that he wanted his collection to be visible to the public and other significant collectors.28

In collaboration with the Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala City, Castillo had his collection thoroughly cataloged and ordered chronologically, and updated his will to reflect a commitment to donate the vast majority of the objects to the university. After his death in 1977, the bulk of the collection was transferred to a new building explicitly dedicated to housing the objects at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín, called El Museo Popol Vuh, with a small subset of items being sold to individual collectors. The MFAH flint was one of these objects, and we are fortunate to be able to study it, and the other two flints from the cache, in the United States today in light of the international policies surrounding the protection of cultural heritage that were enacted around the same time.

In the early years of Wray's collecting activities, the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization's 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and

Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property established specific international legal standards that aimed to protect the archaeological context and cultural information of antique excavated objects.29 One of the methods by which the agreement sought to accomplish this was by preventing the unauthorized sale of such objects of artistic and cultural value. The purchase and collection of such objects was a primary motivation for illicit looting - a process that destroys all valuable contextual data. This convention, while a positive force for the

28 "Historia," Museo Popul Vuh, Universidad Francisco Marroquín, accessed October 25, 2019, https://popolvuh.ufm.edu/el-museo/historia/. 29 Katherine D Vitale, “The War on Antiquities: United States Law and Foreign Cultural Property,” Notre Dame Law Review 84, no. 4 (February 2009): 42, http://ndlawreview.org/wp- content/uploads/2013/07/Vitale.pdf.

protection of cultural patrimony, had a chilling effect on the private market for antiquities, where many eccentric flints and other ancient American objects were acquired, being gifted later to universities and museums in the estates from private collectors. This reduced the overall population of eccentric flints to study in the United States, which is a reasonable price to pay for the protection of cultural sites as well as the accompanying archaeological detail but increases the uniqueness of the flints housed at the DMA and the MFAH. It cannot be understated what a unique opportunity it was to have the three aforementioned flints available for study within such a small distance from the University of Texas at Dallas; the skill and taste of collectors such as

Wray, Castillo, Levy, and Pollock, as well as the excellent timing of curators such as Lunsford, ultimately made the following comparative analysis possible.

CHAPTER 5

MAKER OR MAKERS?

According to the information collected in 1983 at the time of the DMA's acquisition, this group of flints was found together in a single cache at Río Azul - a heavily looted Classic period site in northeastern Guatemala, close to the borders of Mexico and Belize.30 However, this claim concerning the location of the cache cannot and will not be examined given the lack of verifiable archaeological evidence. This lack of provenience does not preclude the possibility that these flints were placed in a cache together. Nor does it eliminate the possibility of the flints as having been knapped by the same individual, a claim made in past comparative interpretations of the

DMA's flint (1983.45.McD) and the MFAH flint.31 In the absence of archaeological data, direct observation and comparative analysis of flake morphologies may yield insights into the collaborative potentialities of these flints.32 However, the following comparison of the two flints puts their association as created by a single knapper into question. By thoroughly examining the flake morphologies and other physical nuances that occurred in the process of their production, it is probable that a number of knappers with different levels of knowledge and skill contributed.

Beginning with the DMA flint, one can observe the complex combination of techniques at first sight. By imagining a line that bisects the length of the arc, it is clear that the knappers worked the flint from several directions. Layers of flake scars meet like a crescendo until the

30 Robbins, "The History (Provenance) of the Maya Eccentric Flints." 31 Daniel Finamore and Stephen D. Houston, Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea (Salem, Mass: Peabody Essex Museum, 2010), 153.

32 Agurcia Fasquelle et al., Protecting Sacred Space.

form appears. One scar reinforces the other until the concavities create a uniform and distinct surface. Large flake scars punctuated by smaller scars create a seemingly beveled edge, thus reinforcing the outline of the forms. The sculptors exploit the circular shape of the conchoidal fracture to create curvilinear silhouettes of the necks, lips, and the gaping maw of the creature.

The arch of the flint itself mimics the pattern of a conchoidal fracture. This self-similarity reveals the fractal qualities of the material, whose physical patterns and shapes recur at progressively smaller scales. The artists thereby demonstrate the material’s greatest potential by working in a reductive process from wider, thicker flakes removed from the main body to the smallest ridges left by the thinnest flakes. The random surface pattern and shifting flake scars combine to form the appearance of a liquid. The light which reflects off the angular planes enhances the illusion further.

Each flint specimen in the set of three cached objects possesses its peculiar character.

This character speaks through the knappers' handling and manipulation of the surface. The flint mentioned above exhibits the highest technical refinement of the three flints. By working within the inherent structure of the material, the artists yield a high degree of elegance. However, their ability to work against this conchoidal structure reflects a superior understanding of flint's elusive potential. It is probable that an expert knapper or experienced knapper contributed towards the final touches of the DMA flint. The refinement of the other two flints could be limited due to the stone's natural impurities, as evidenced by the grey and brownish banding.

However, what unites these three eccentric flints is the intelligent handling of each specimen.

This is evident in the MFAH flint (Fig. 5).

The MFAH flint represents a masterful demonstration of material knowledge. The knappers leveraged the piece's complex character rather than attempting to obscure or design around it, as evidenced by the exploitation of the specimen’s unique pattern of colors. They placed the head of each silhouetted figure to take advantage of the darkest bands of color.

However, the greyish-green banding simultaneously interrupts the viewer's appreciation of the object's silhouette. Instead, the shifting colors draw the viewer's attention to the undulating surface of flake scars and fractures. The stone's impurities result in a messy pattern of conchoidal and oblique fractures. Rather than working the material from many directions, as in the case of the DMA flint, the main knapper reduced the material from a single direction. The flake scars, with their strict verticality, create a stiff appearance. This forceful execution, while lacking the elegance of the DMA flint, presents a striking, stylized depiction of the subject.

The Pollock flint (2009.26) also demonstrates intelligent handling of material (Fig. 4).

Shaped as a scepter rather than an arc, the form of this flint demonstrates an expansive knowledge of flintknapping techniques. The flint falls between the DMA flint (1983.45.McD) and the MFAH flint (91.332) in terms of material quality. The homogenous, grey color of the stone is interrupted by darker bands of color in a minute number of places. However, the knappers exploit these impurities just as well as in the MFAH flint. By knapping the object's shape to keep the most solid impurities along the central axis, the artist draws the viewer's attention to the central head. Just as the flint's curvilinear shape guides the viewer's eye, so too does the flintknapper's controlled reduction technique reinforce the circular movement of the scepter. The regular and repeating conchoidal fractures, in combination with the radiating points along the edge of the ring, create a rhythmic pattern. As a result, the object possesses an

energetic or dynamic quality. The stylistic achievement does not stop here. The contrast between positive and negative serves a complex stylistic purpose. By encircling the central head with negative space, the makers enhance the outstanding quality of the form's silhouette. The line which forms the silhouetted head makes the shape of the cavern, which encircles the head. The flintknappers achieve a complex representation through the simplest of means. This flint also shares material similarities with the DMA's first flint, which differentiates them from the MFAH flint. Both objects use the conchoidal fracture to its utmost potential, generating rhythm and an elegant curvilinearity. Both eccentrics also possess vestiges of the hard encrustation surrounding the flint material, called cortex, whereas the MFAH flint does not.

As a set, the three flints in the DMA and MFAH collections exhibit the unique and often unpredictable characteristics of flint material which experienced flintknappers observed, analyzed, and responded to in their navigations of material. While their differences do not entirely negate the possibility of their placement in a single cache, the subtle differences in technical refinement examined in this section call their single authorship into question. I hypothesize that the set of flints, while possibly conceived or designed by a single individual, would have most likely been executed by a number of individuals who possess varying degrees of knowledge and skill of flintknapping.

CHAPTER 6

SUMMARY OF DEPOSITED FLINT MATERIAL

The majority of elaborate chipped-stone artifacts found throughout Mesoamerica constitute ritual offerings placed together in a cache. However, flint and other chert debitage, the remnant shards produced during the knapping process, also comprise a variety of ritual deposits. In their study of classificatory terms such as “cache,” Kunen et al. argue that ritual deposits form a spectrum rather than mutually exclusive categories.33 The practice of caching, or the placement of votive offerings, forms part of the ritual actions that consecrate spaces and imbue them with cosmological meaning. They suggest that a better approach to understanding ritual deposits is to examine how burying, caching, and disposing of trash can all establish sacred spaces.34 The arguments by Kunen et al. bridge the material gap between more common settings and the salient presence of flint material across a variety of contexts.

In the first detailed technological analysis of chert, flint, and chalcedony material from a

Maya tomb context, Zachary Hruby and Michelle Rich fill in the gap for understanding lithic production techniques and the symbolism of lithic debitage in elite burial contexts.35 In this context, the role of the objects is non-utilitarian. As the detritus from the production of lithic

33 Julie L. Kunen, Mary Jo Galindo, and Erin Chase, "Pits and Bones: Identifying Maya Ritual Behavior in the Archaeological Record," Ancient Mesoamerica 13, no. 02 (2002), 197-211. 34 Kunen et al., "Pits and Bones," 197. 35 Zachary Hruby and Michelle Rich, "Flint for the Dead: Ritual Deposition of Production Debitage from El Perú Waka' Burial 39," in The Archaeology of El Perú-Waka': Performances of Ritual, Memory, and Power, eds. Olivia Navarro-Farr and Michelle Rich (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2014).

artifacts, the material deposited in a ritual fashion seems to serve an illustrative purpose. The authors note that flint, chert, and obsidian debitage are a prominent feature of several Classic-era royal and elite interments.36 The abiding presence of the natural material across ritual contexts elevates its cultural significance and justifies the need for a more concentrated material study.

For instance, an analysis of the lithic material found in El Perú-Waka’ Burial 39 revealed the presence of biface fragments at varying stages of completion. This discovery signifies the chert debitage found in the tomb resulted from the retooling of flint bifaces.37 The scholars offer a probable hypothesis, suggesting that the debitage was saved especially for tomb reentry or termination activity. Similar to the dedicatory offerings used in the termination rites at Copán, the flint substance serves as a symbolic marker. However, the value of the debitage material, neither functional nor formed into eccentrics, lies in the technical process of creation. The multiple stages of technical production represented by the lithic deposit place emphasis on the material’s rejuvenation capabilities. Lithic tools worn down through their use or broken in the production process possess the capability to be reworked into usable forms. In their symbolic interpretation of the presence of this technical process, the authors argue that rejuvenation flakes may represent a duality of death and resurrection.38 The material’s capacity for reworking or rejuvenation into new forms creates symbolic associations with rebirth. This analysis brings the focus of flint’s symbolic meaning to the site of its production. In addition, the scholars express the innate qualities of the raw and worked material, which generates meaning in a particular ritual context. Therefore,

36 Hruby and Rich, "Flint for the Dead," 168. 37 Hruby and Rich, "Flint for the Dead," 180. 38 Hruby and Rich, "Flint for the Dead," 181.

one can claim that the material properties are imbued with symbolic meaning through the act of production.

Of the more than three thousand eccentrics studied by researchers in collaboration with

Dumbarton Oaks, researchers John E. Clark, Fred W. Nelson, and Gene L. Titmus concluded that while the artifacts could possess a wide variety of contexts, their materiality serve a vital role in their purpose, function, and reason for being.39 Reconstructing this meaning requires a historical understanding of the material--a process which Whitney Davis argues begins with a subjective formal description.40 Tools of scientific analysis allow scholars to partially reconstruct this historical formalism. In the case of the DMA flint, the cleanliness of the artifact limits possible methods of analysis. However, the most basic observations, as detailed in this next chapter, yield a significant amount of information.

39 William Fash, John E. Clark, Fred W. Nelson, and Gene L. Titmus, “Flint Effigy Eccentrics,” in Ancient Maya Art at Dumbarton Oaks, eds. Joanne Pillsbury, Miriam Coutriaux, Reiko Ishihara-Brito, and Alexandre Tokovinine (Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2012), 274-281. 40 Whitney Davis, “Subjectivity and Objectivity in High and Historical Formalism,” Representations 104, no. 1 (Fall 2008): 8-22, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/rep.2008.104.1.8.

CHAPTER 7

OBSERVATION AND MATERIAL ANALYSIS

In an effort to ascertain a more sophisticated understanding of the DMA (1983.45.McD) and MFAH (91.332) flints, I performed a comparative analysis of both their material qualities: first, those resulting from the flintknapping process, and second, the absence or presence of secondary materials. Often cited as objects from the same cache and knapped by the same individual, a closer examination provides strong evidence towards my claim that the two are dissimilar in both material and technical refinement. Specifically, the flake morphology or the character set of properties, including hatchure lines, ripples, scarring, and errailure, of the two objects, is distinct (Fig. 3). These features can serve to uniquely identify one knapper, or style of knapping, from another. In the case of the DMA and MFAH flints, I observed nuanced differences in several vital morphological traits. If indeed the two objects are not from the same cache, then previously assumed connections between the objects must be questioned. Differences among objects of the same cache are not uncommon since objects in the same cache can sometimes be complimentary - performing different functions and designed differently as a result.41 However, these secondary material differences between the two flints prompted the need for a closer examination and scientific, material analysis.

In collaboration with the DMA and the Ellen and Harry S. Parker III Assistant Curator of the Arts of the Americas, Dr. Michelle Rich, along with Associate Objects Conservator Fran

Baas and Assistant Objects Conservator Elena Torok, I was granted the opportunity to expand

41 Agurcia Fasquelle et al., Protecting Sacred Space.

my observations of the DMA flint to include a scientific, material analysis. I then combined data collected at the DMA with an additional object-based observation conducted at the Museum of

Fine Arts in Houston (MFAH) in collaboration with Assistant Curator of The Glassell

Collections, Arts of the Americas, Africa, the Pacific, and Antiquities, Chelsea Dacus, and Dr.

Rex Koontz, Professor in the School of Art at the University of Houston and Consulting Curator for Pre-Columbian Art at MFAH. My observations and the perspectives provided by these experts, along with subsequent analysis, revealed new insights into the production of both objects. More significantly, it revealed the DMA flint as a singular work of immense craftsmanship whose afterlife stripped the object of a significant material element.

Observations of the surface residues remaining on both flints yielded minuscule, but not inconsequential, amounts of trace material. Beginning with 1x magnification and increasing to

3.5x magnification with the aid of a headband magnifier, the cleanliness of both objects left little doubt that the surfaces had been wiped or brushed clean (Fig. 6 and Fig. 7). The remaining material residue included cortex, an encasing of chalk and limestone, which surrounds nodules of flint (Fig. 2). Whereas the MFAH flint shows no visible signs of cortex material, the DMA flint possesses multiple areas of the visible cortex (Fig. 8). The presence and absence of cortex communicate information about the process that the knapper or knappers undertook. Shaping the core of the flint appears to have taken priority over the removal of cortex material. This theory may account for residual traces of cortex on the DMA flint. Based on the placement and size of the cortex present at the distal end of the flint, I argue that the decision was intentional. Based on the presence of cortex on both sides of the DMA flint and in the same location (Fig. 9), it appears to be a structural choice. As previously observed, the thinnest areas of flint appear at the distal

ends. This is not the case for the MFAH flint. The flint does not taper at the distal ends. Instead, the flint's thickness remains relatively uniform throughout.

Upon closer inspection of the DMA flint, deposits of a brilliant red residue were found embedded on its surface (Fig. 10). The presence of red residue indicated the possibility of cinnabar, a mineral composed of mercury sulfide or hematite, a mineral consisting of ferric oxide. Ritualized use of cinnabar and hematite to paint artifacts and human remains by

Mesoamericans is well documented.42 The identification of the residue took place in the Object's

Conservation Studio at the DMA (Fig. 11). Using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer,

Baas and Torok determined the elemental composition of the residue. A prominent deposit of residue adhered to the cortex at the distal end of the flint was selected for testing (Fig. 10). After conducting three analyses to ensure consistency in measured results, the red residue was identified as hematite (Fig. 12).

Without the benefit of a documented archaeological context, scholars have no way of knowing the amount of hematite used in situ. If the opaque material covered the entire surface, then the vibrant color and delicate transparency along its edges would be hidden. The combined materiality of flint and red pigment generates a more complex, layered meaning. As a material utilized in ritual deposits, the presence of hematite elevates the importance of the DMA flint's creation and subsequent meaning. Few examples exist which demonstrate a clear use of red

42 Zachary X. Hruby, “Appendix 1 Lithics and Minerals,” in Temple of the Night Sun: A Royal Maya Tomb at El Diablo, Guatemala (San Francisco, CA: Precolumbia Mesoweb Press, 2015), 253–63; F. Kent Reilly III’s response in Cecelia. Klein et al., "The Role of Shamanism in Mesoamerican Art," Current Anthropology 43, no. 3 (2002), 410.

pigment to paint such artifact much less reconstruct a symbolic meaning for its use.43 The red pigment may allude to the role of chipped-stone artifacts in ritual blood sacrifice. 44

Simultaneously, the red pigment recalls the blood brought forth by the bite of a flake produced in the flintknapping process. The meaning and significance of the DMA flint can therefore be associated with bloodletting. This material illusion imbues the object with a heightened cosmological significance. Blood brought forth from a cut produced by a stone made from lightning ingrains this action with a sacred importance. Thus, one must consider the role of the knapper or knappers in the flintknapping process as ritually and cosmologically meaningful.

43 Gene Ware and Zachary Hruby, “Painted Lithic Artifacts from Piedras Negras, Guatemala,” Maya Archaeology 1, (2009): 76–85, http://www.mesoweb.com/articles/Hruby-Ware-2009.pdf. 44 Coe, The Maya, 182.

CHAPTER 8

ICONOGRAPHY

Over a foot in length, the DMA flint is animated by a dramatic curve along its central axis (Fig. 1). Much like that of a tree limb, the organic shape manifests in the branching arms that emerge from the central body in many directions. These appendages form five humanoid heads, each adorned with head crests and smoking celts, or stone axes. Each of the heads share a close resemblance to the others; however, each head has a uniqueness that presents an exaggerated profile of an elongated nose, blending into a tall forehead. Puckered lips sit under the nose and above a strong chin. Heads appear to burst through the central arc with great force, suggesting independence from the creature beneath. The largest head, located at the distal end, retains the highest amount of detail amongst the others, which allows for more nuanced inspection. The line of the silhouette undulates around this head, creating a dynamic relationship between positive and negative space - one which balances the visual weight at the opposite end.

Here we find two distinct heads, one a significantly smaller human head and the other a large, insectile predator. The latter's gaping jaws contain a full set of serrated teeth, culminating in a horn-like outgrowth that curls back on itself towards two antennae atop the creature's head.

Underneath the creature, a set of nine short limbs closely resembling the legs of a centipede run the length of the trunk. There seems to be an absence of uniform orientation. The flint can be viewed from either the front or back and can be rotated so that either head is at the top, yet all such perspectives seem equally valid with no apparent preference. What seems to matter most is the unbroken silhouette - the striking outline of the composite creature. As an amalgam of one

zoomorphic and five human heads attached to a single arc, the DMA flint inspires varied interpretations.

Just as the flintknapper must work with the innate characteristics of the lithic material, so too must his work conform to a learned iconographic tradition. The artist’s iconographic conformity should not be viewed as a lack of creativity. In their discussion of the characteristics of Maya art, Linda Schele and Mary Ellen Miller stress that artists had little control over their subjects; creativity was defined as the refinement of execution, innovations of style, and the subtle use of metaphor.45 Conformity should, therefore, be reconsidered as active respect of the symbols and coded language of Maya representation.

Contextual evidence is lost, and with it, any hope of situating the artifacts within an iconographic strategy or program. The absence of a physical context places the interpreter at a distinct disadvantage. Therefore, researchers develop stylistic classifications, or typologies, to organize the variety of chipped-stone artifacts. In his dissertation written at The University of

Texas at Austin in 2001, Richard Meadows performed a comparative analysis of Maya symbolic flaked-stone assemblages. His typology is sufficiently broad to be used as a starting point for establishing the subject of the DMA flint. He classified eccentrics into five types: 1. Naturalized forms that depict historical personages; 2. Forms that served as incarnations of supernatural creatures; 3. Forms that personify earthly or celestial events such as eclipses and planetary convergence; 4. Forms that are more abstracted indices of a cultural aesthetic or; 5. Forms that

45 Schele and Miller, Blood of Kings, 33.

serve as ritual or actual functioning weaponry.46 These themes are prevalent in Maya art and iconography across media. From these categories, it is possible to exclude the fifth since there is no visual evidence of use wear, which would have been created if the object had been used for such purposes. Among the remaining choices, the second seems most fitting; the object appears to be a creature with specific attributes, which will be discussed below.

Each of the five heads on the object has a smoking celt, the ax of K'awil, embedded in its forehead, indicating that the figures are deceased.47 We can surmise that these deceased figures are likely sacrifices to God K since his name, K'awil, which connotes "sustenance" or "alms," is often translated to mean blood given in gratitude to the divine.48 Another indication that these figures are being sacrificed to God K is that the material of the object itself, flint, is associated with lightning - a natural phenomenon over which God K exerts absolute control. As God K is often depicted on ceremonial objects, he is considered a patron of Maya lords.49 By this logic, we can suppose that a Maya lord commissioned this object, as the role of a Maya lord is to initiate sacrifice for the gods. Further, the repetition of heads and inclusion of the creature beneath invokes the many aspects of God K, his duality, and four-directional character. Gods in the Maya pantheon are thought to possess four personages, each representing one of the cardinal

46 Richard Keith Meadows, “Crafting K’awil: A Comparative Analysis of Maya Symbolic Flaked Stone Assemblages from Three Sites in Northern Belize” (Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, 2001), http://search.proquest.com/docview/304721284/abstract/8D97FFB4E8084451PQ/1. 47 David A. Freidel, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker, Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman’s Path, (New York: Morrow, 1993). 48 Freidel, Maya Cosmos, 194. 49 Coe, The Maya, 178.

directions. Each of these cardinal directions was associated with a particular color; the north was represented by white, east by red, south by blue, and west by black. In addition to the four cardinal directions, the Maya also considered the center as an essential component, often associating it with the color green.50 It is possible that the four heads along the side of the creature represent offerings to each of the four characteristic personages of God K, with the largest head at the end representing an offering to his self, or center.

God K, whose original name is K'awil, represents the god of thunder and lightning.

Wielding his axes, he strikes the earth with lightning, which predominates throughout the Maya geographical zone, constituting a prominent component of the landscape. The Maya believed that flint was created by lightning, a belief that persists up to the present day. Seen as the direct result of the actions of God K, flint was viewed as a unique material, as having been created by a deified process. There is a divine connection, then, between chipped-stone artifacts depicting silhouettes of God K and God K himself, in the Maya consciousness. These objects represent the power of lightning manifest, frozen in stone.51 Such a perspective of the process of creation endows the flint with the power of lightning and the deity from which the lightning is produced.

This parallels the experience of the knapper. The sharpness of the flint mirrors the sharpness and quickness of lightning. When heated, flint becomes explosive, resembling its lightning predecessor. Further, sound created by flint during the knapping process is loud and piercing, much as the cracking thunder following an intense burst of lightning. Flint also produces a spark

50 Freidel, Schele, and Parker, Maya Cosmos, 75-76. 51 Freidel, Schele, and Parker, Maya Cosmos, 200.

which gives birth to flame, a unique connection to the explosion of heat and energy following a lightning strike.

Since it is known that various Maya lords were represented by avatars, sometimes depicted in the form of wild creatures, it is reasonable to suggest that the creature beneath the heads represents the Maya lord who commissioned the work, in avatar form, as a way of taking credit for presenting the sacrifice to God K. Previous iconographic analyses of the DMA flint propose different interpretations and identifications for the creature. In their pioneering exhibition of Maya art, The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art, Linda Schele and

Mary Ellen Miller included the DMA’s flint (1983.45.McD). The scholars’ interpretation of the object conforms to the singular cosmic vision exhibited by the ancient Maya. According to their analysis, the object combines symbols of the Cosmic Monster with the sinking canoe of life. The authors claim that the bottom is shaped to resemble the tossed waves along the bottom of a canoe

(Fig. 1).52 This Cosmic Monster, also called the Celestial Monster or the Bicephalic Monster is represented by two heads and a single body. Through a comparison of the Cosmic Monster's shape with the movement of the stars and celestial bodies across the night sky, Schele deduced that the curved shape of the canoe mimics the shape of the Milky Way as it travels across the night sky and sinks past the horizon line, into the Maya land of the dead.53 Given the limited available evidence and lack of archaeological context, the interpretation appeared consistent with

52 Schele and Miller, Blood of Kings, 286. 53 Friedel, Schele, and Parker, Maya Cosmos, 91-92.

Maya iconographic interpretation. Interpretations inevitably change with time as Mayanists gain a greater understanding of complex Maya representation.

Consequently, the iconography of the DMA's eccentric flint continues to evolve in a piecemeal fashion as archaeologists unearth and reconsider additional evidence. In their more recent exhibition of Maya art, Daniel Finamore and Stephen Houston reinforce the idea that this artifact was intended to represent a canoe. However, the authors note that the scalloped edge along the bottom of the canoe represents centipede legs. The insect legs form a single part of a chimeric creature with human passengers.54 Beyond its relevance to depictions of water transportation, the authors do not offer a more significant interpretation of the DMA flint. Early iconographic study confirms the use of such appendages to depict insects among eccentric flints such as the centipede.55 Prevailing throughout the wettest areas of the Maya zone, Scolopendra gigantea, or the Amazonian giant centipede, is a remarkably aggressive arthropod whose lethal venom and carnivorous diet made it a feared creature amongst the Maya (Fig. 13). Referred to as

"War Serpent," Maya royal dynasties and rulers often named themselves using the name centipede or chapat, a Mayan glyph which signifies the skeletal head of a supernatural centipede.56 Recent excavations at the Preclassic/Classic Maya site of El Perú-Waka' (500-800

C.E.) provide scholars with further evidence for the use of centipedes in monumental stelae.

Wak, determined by Stanley Guenter as a term for centipede in Classical Mayan script, served as

54 Finamore and Houston, Fiery Pool, 34. 55 T. A. Joyce, “Presidential Address. The ‘Eccentric Flints’ of Central America,” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 62 (1932): xvii–xxvi, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2843874. 56 John Montgomery, Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs (New York: Hippocrene Books, 2002).

the place name for this royal capital.57 This new evidence solidifies the importance of centipedes in titles and claims of legitimacy by the ruling elite.

As a stylized representation of a centipede head, the chapat glyph contains a head, jaws, and antennae (Fig. 14). The DMA flint, with its mixture of stylized appendages and organic forms, also contains several formal references to the venomous centipede. First, the massive maw at one end of the eccentric represents the jaws of the centipede. The jaws of this insect can grip and tear into flesh--indicating the power imbued in the artifact by this representation.

Additionally, the flint possesses nine pairs of symmetrical appendages along its bottom edge. As arthropods that possess anywhere from up to 354 legs, multiple sets of legs provide the centipede with agility and speed to capture its prey. Further, the silhouette of the eccentric mirrors the shape of the scuttling creature as it weaves through the dense foliage.

The subject of the artifact lends credibility to the material's associations with divinity.

The centipede, whose emblem glyph is adopted in the title of the ancient Maya city El Perú

Waka, imbues the artifact with a recognizable authority since centipede imagery has been used in

Maya culture as a claim to legitimacy.

57 Stanley Paul Guenter, “On the Emblem Glyph of El Peru,” The PARI Journal 8, no. 2 (Fall 2007): 20–23.

CHAPTER 9

THE FLINTKNAPPER'S SENSUAL EXPERIENCE

In his essay on the importance of establishing a historical formalism, Whitney Davis claims that an object's formal and material biography, grounded in a historical context, results in historical psychology which recognizes the artist's sensibilities through creation.58 The concept of historical formalism here grants greater agency to the flintknapper. Consequently, historical psychology reveals itself through ethnographic and modern studies of flintknapping techniques.

The perspective of historical psychology provides a basis for analyzing the ancient Maya's relationship and attitudes towards flint as a material, and thus constitutes an essential component of the methodological framework required to understand the visceral nature of flint knapping.

What is it like to interact with flint? How did the Classic Maya ascribe a number of symbolic meanings to it? I argue that their understanding of the senses, represented within writings about the Maya as tangible and near-synesthetic experiences, combined with the unique material properties of flint, generates a symbol of immense creative power. With the help of

Michelle Rich and colleague Mike McBride, I performed a direct observation of flintknapping by

Texas knapper Curtis Smith. During our single session with Smith, I recorded approximately two hours of video material, which documented his flintknapping process and techniques.

Throughout the recordings, Smith narrates his experience, which engages all of his senses. One

58 Davis, “Subjectivity and Objectivity in High and Historical Formalism," 8.

can observe the multi-sensory nature of flintknapping and Smith's intelligent improvisation as he reads, listens, feels, and then responds to the flint material (Fig. 15).59

The limitations of such a demonstration warrant discussion. One must remember that creation and its sensual experience are ephemeral. Though the time, place, and person change, the materials and techniques of flintknapping do not. However, the technique for flintknapping is not altogether sophisticated. Multiple studies by Gene Titmus and James Woods demonstrate such elaborate eccentrics were knapped using simple tools and traditional knowledge.60 Their estimations of the time required to produce such objects contradict the most informed claims made by scholars that a great deal of time needed to be sacrificed.61 However, their work does not contradict that the production of eccentric flints required specialized working knowledge and an intimate understanding of the physical properties of flint. Instead, a flintknapper must use a combination of techniques to achieve a finished product.62 These include direct percussion, indirect percussion, and pressure-flaking techniques.

If the technique did not require an investment in time, but a great deal of investment in talent or working knowledge of the material, then how can one make sense of their use as ceremonial or dedicatory offerings? I argue that the ritualized production and sharing of

59 Harper Kennington, Flintknapping Demonstration by Curtis Smith, 2019. 60 Gene Titmus and James Woods, "The Maya Eccentric: Evidence for the Use of the Indirect Percussion Technique in Mesoamerica from Preliminary Experiments Concerning Their Manufacture," in Mesoamerican Lithic Technology: Experimentation and Interpretation, ed. Kenn Hirth (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2003). 61 William Leonard Fash, Scribes, Warriors, and Kings: The City of Copán and the Ancient Maya, New Aspects of Antiquity. (New York, N.Y: Thames and Hudson, 1991), 148. 62 Titmus and Woods, "The Maya Eccentric," 132.

technical knowledge, imbues these objects with cultural and ideological significance. This significance translates directly through the knapper's active respect and understanding of the qualities of flint material and flintknapping techniques.

For a monistic people who believed that the physical and spiritual universe were the same, the Maya regarded sound, odor, and sight in highly concrete ways, as tangible yet invisible phenomena.63 In their attempt to reconstruct a Mesoamerican phenomenology, Houston and

Taube identify encoded representations of these near-synesthetic experiences by the Maya.

Encoded representations of sound include the privilege of speech by Mesoamerican elites, as indicated by their titles. The perceived heat of this speech originates from associations between rulers and the sun.64 Speech is heard and felt. For the Maya, the cacophonous sound of knapping, the cracking stone and sharp shrapnel that flies through the air, whizzing past and tinkling as it hits the earth, would mimic the sounds of a powerful lightning storm which occur in great frequency in the Maya area and from which the Maya believe flint originates. This noise also communicates something vital about the knapping process. Smith describes a "good shot" as a

"fresh, crisp snap." A feedback loop between flint and knapper begins to form as he listens, absorbs the quality of the sound, and positions his next swing. As the energy from a single strike travels through the stone, Smith captures the energy and pulls it through the material by adjusting his grip. A sharp edge "bites" flesh and blood begins to flow. This sensual experience feeds the

63 Stephen Houston and Karl Taube, “An Archaeology of the Senses: Perception and Cultural Expression in Ancient Mesoamerica,” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 10, no. 2 (October 2000): 261–94. 64 Houston and Taube, 273.

knapper vital information about his material. Smith responds by drawing upon his knowledge of flintknapping techniques, tools, and the innate characteristics of the material. He responds to the material as it responds to him.

The primary motivation for producing such shapes was to create tools with various angled edges, which would subsequently be used for cutting – as in the case of arrowheads – or for shearing – as in the case of flint strikers. Fundamentally subtractive, knapping relies on repeated acts of striking flakes or blades from a large flint stone core in order to produce the shapes mentioned above and tools. Rudimentary techniques began with the simple striking of one stone against another. Strikers made of antler and wood soon replaced those made of stone as sources for both direct and indirect percussion. Similarly, bone and antler pressure-flaking tools supplanted their stone predecessors. Though the tools evolved, the mechanics of the techniques stayed mostly the same.65

The most elementary of percussion techniques, direct percussion, involves striking a core with another stone, a hammerstone, or by striking the core against a fixed stone or anvil in order to dislodge a flake. This method affords less precision than indirect percussion, as the exerted pressure is not specifically directed, but instead allowed to coincide with the source of the collision. The introduction of an intermediate conduit for the applied pressure gives greater control over where the flake will dislodge. Such techniques distance the source of the impact from the core and are consequently called indirect percussion techniques. A benefit to indirect percussion is that the increased control over the way in which flakes are removed from a flint

65 Whittaker, Flintknapping, 6.

core causes less wasteful shatter of the material than direct percussion. The hammer or hammerstone strikes an intermediary such as wood, antler, or bone punch, usually with a prepared edge, so that the knapper may control the angle and size of flint flakes.66

Flintknapping studies show that only advanced knappers possess the skill and understanding of flint’s elusive properties to accurately predict the outcome of a strike using this indirect method.67 In other words, only by reading and respecting the material's lines, impurities, and fracture patterns could a flintknapper determine the material's innate disposition and quality for manufacture. Further, each specimen of flint contains varying degrees of impurities, a unique character. Therefore, a flintknapper must become intimately acquainted with each specimen's material qualities.

Secondary working of flint objects required different tools and techniques, commonly called pressure-techniques. These methods involved the pressing of a sharp, hard object against a flint core or mass to remove small flakes. The roughed-out form of the flint is refined and perfected by pressing at a shallow angle with a sharp piece of bone, antler, or stone on the edge of the flint to shave off small thin chips. The shorter nature of these tools and the slow, methodical application of pressure aimed to shave, not strike, small amounts of flint from the edge. Both the most meticulous and least abrasive of the methods of working stone, pressure techniques gave the knapper incredibly precise control for the removal of material from a flint

66 Whittaker, Flintknapping, 34. 67 Tetushi Nonaka, Blandine Bril, and Robert Rein, “How Do Stone Knappers Predict and Control the Outcome of Flaking? Implications for Understanding Early Stone Tool Technology,” Journal of Human Evolution 59, no. 2 (2010), 155-167, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.04.006.

implement - a task demanding extreme strength, technical nuance, and a delicate hand.68 All of these techniques were demonstrated by Smith in his knapping session. A transfer of energy links the knapper to his material as he strikes a blow. The immediate and visceral response of the material creates a physical bond with the knapper. He senses the reverberations through the material to adjust his grip, but he slips. A high-pitched ring indicates he has hit at the wrong speed or angle or with too much force. The stone breaks free and slices his hand in the process.

He hardly notices, for the edge of the flake is a thin, sharp blade. Blood springs from his flesh.

This knapping narrative finds its significance in the Maya myth of creation--an epic tale that resolves in blood sacrifice.

68 Whittaker, Flintknapping, 32.

CHAPTER 10

FLINT IN THE MAYA LANDSCAPE

Using embodied archaeology in reconstructing meaning for the Centipede flint requires that one consider flint material as part of a larger landscape. According to Ingold, material properties cannot be fixed; instead, they are processual and relational to a sea of materials.69 One can refer to this sea of materials as the landscape in which a craftsperson, knapper, or other artisans exist. The landscape represents a multifaceted environment in which knowledge of the material is obtained through a practical engagement with the material. Thus, we must consider flint as embedded within a Maya landscape, both natural and constructed. This landscape serves to place the Centipede flint within a multifaceted context, that would have been used by the

Maya as a way of understanding the relational nature and significance of the object.

The materials one engages with in the process of flintknapping represent a single component of the embodied experience. Common examples include antler remnants and hammerstones, tools utilized in the process of knapping.70 These examples are apparent because they come in direct contact with the flint during the production process; however, the Maya landscape includes additional materials and phenomena which comprise the embodied experience. Limestone or chalk contains the flint before it is excised from the surrounding rock.

Albeit removed, chalk forms part of a nebula of materials in the mind of the knapper which surround flint. Its material qualities form a physical relationship with flint which contribute

69 Ingold, "Materials against Materiality," 14. 70 Whittaker, Flintknapping,

towards the deposition of impurities and foreign matter. These regular inconsistencies and variations of material extend across the landscape, creating a mental map that one associates with specific qualities such as hardness, consistency, and color. These properties and their relative distributions are all incorporated into the conscious minds and engaged bodies of the people that handled them. A flintknapper can select a particular variety for an equally particular purpose, just as a jeweler can select the proper gem for a particular cut. This mental map of materials introduces a willful agency in the material selection process. As the knapper chooses material for a particular purpose, they must also include themselves in the landscape, weighing the various options, both near and far. Consequently, the materials are embedded in a sea of other materials that together create meaning of place, importance, and value.

The landscape, as an embodied reality, possesses many layers. While material can take on a broad set of interactions with things both tangible and intangible, there exists several observable phenomena which influence materials in the Maya landscape. Flint is connected to the landscape through heat, water, and light. This leads Ingold to the conclusion that properties are not permanent because the landscape is continually evolving as we experience it.71 It is intimately related to our experience of life as changes that mark the passage of time. With flint, light reveals a dynamic surface and inner warmth. As observed in the Centipede flint, undulating flake scars from the appearance of a shimmering, watery surface. This effect is created entirely by how the surface interacts with light. This connection deepens when one observes the light that passes through the material. This particular interaction with light, most visible in the transparent

71 Ingold, "Materials against Materiality," 16.

effect of thin layers, allows us to see inside the solid material, to peer into the inner structure. It adds a warming glow, similar to that which we see when sunlight passes through our closed eyelids. Along the edges of the DMA flint and at its thinnest points along the distal ends, light pierces stone. The glow created by this phenomenon alludes to the material's pyrotechnic abilities. Held against the bright light of the midday sun, one could imagine a fiery power which swelled within the material. As light changes so too do the qualities of the material begin to change and reveal themselves in new ways.

Liquids such as water, blood, and the sap of the tree also have significant interaction with chipped-stone artifacts. The most obvious connection is among those that were designed to be tools; the sharp edges of the material worked equally well for slicing food or for letting of blood during a ritual sacrifice. This latter connection, with blood, in particular, is two-fold. Though blood may be let during ritual events, there is also a significant amount of interaction with flesh during the knapping process. As discussed earlier, part of the knapper's experience is one of pain; the sharp edges produced during the fracturing of chert, as well as the equally sharp debris, have ample opportunity to cut the hands and body of the even the most experienced knapper. During the demonstration given by Smith, he was cut by the stone multiple times. The connection between flint and blood begins with the creation of the object and ends with the life of the sacrificial tribute. Lastly, there are other liquids connected to flint as a material, specifically water, which is responsible for the existence of the material, to begin with. The tiny pieces of sediment are carried by water and laid in unique patterns along a limestone riverbed that will ultimately produce nodules of flint. The smooth surface of chipped flint is as an homage to its source, glistening and smooth.

The relationship of flint to its environment extends to heat as well as liquids and light.

Heat can alter the atomic structure of the material. This can produce an extreme smoothness, often perceived as a glossy surface. If enough heat is applied to the flint, the embedded oxygen can cause the material to explode, though this only happens under extreme heat conditions. As previously mentioned, flint is exceedingly sharp. Combined with heat, it can turn into a shrapnel bomb - an object of considerable destructive power, of which the knappers were intimately aware.72

Hearing is the most powerful sense beyond sight that a knapper can use to understand their material and the knapping process. The sound of a single blow informs the knapper of the quality of a flake produced as well as grade of the material. A knapper strikes the stone, resulting in an incredibly loud, reverberant noise that traverses the air and connects with nearby structures.

The sound bounces through valleys and monuments. It bounces off trees and bodies. The reflected sound contains a fingerprint of the literal, physical landscape, from which the sea of material interaction emerges.

Together, heat, blood, light, and sound constitute the primary phenomena that form an embodied experience of flint material and flintknapping. In addition, the landscape impacts how one understands the Centipede flint and other chipped-stone artifacts because knowledge of the material is formed by living in the landscape. Furthermore, a landscape consists not just of materials but of natural phenomena that create a relationship between them via interactions. As a people who experienced both tangible and intangible phenomena in highly concrete ways, the

72 Marian Domanski and John Webb, “A review of heat treatment research,” Lithic Technology 32, no. 2 (2007): 153–94, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41999837.

ancient Maya opened themselves to the relational nature of materials embedded in a landscape.

To a greater extent, the landscape provides a setting in which one can locate themselves within the material world.

The Maya take their belief from their observations of stars and celestial bodies. From these heavenly entities arises a cosmos consisting of various deities who give life to everything.

At the heart of this emergent cosmos is the creation myth, the story of the maize god and his children confronting the lords of death. The story takes place in the Otherworld, Xibalba - the

Maya underworld. The Maya believe this creation myth is seen in the stars, ordained in the night sky. Consequently, natural phenomena that connect the earth and sky are often interpreted as acts of the gods, who reside in the cosmos. 73

Lightning is a root metaphor in the beliefs of the ancient Maya. They believed it possible to feel lightning within the blood and muscles of their bodies. The ability to divine the intentions of the ancestors relies on an individual's ability to detect the lightning in their blood through their pulse.74 Communication with the gods was believed to take place through blood sacrifice since the blood contained lightning, which served as a conduit for exchange with the gods. The sharp edge of a chipped-stone object would be ideal in letting blood. The edges of flint were inescapable and often served to pierce the boundary between the internal and external worlds, an essential tenet of the Maya cosmos.

73 Coe, The Maya, 178-179. 74 Freidel, Schele, and Parker, Maya Cosmos, 200-204.

The Maya cosmos envelops all. It combines the internal and external worlds and incorporates the rich mythologies within the natural materials of the Maya environment. The cosmos brings an enormity into a seemingly small stone and is thus an essential component of understanding chipped-stone artifacts. In order to reconstruct the meaning of a particular object, in this case, the DMA flint, we must first reconstruct the cosmos in which that object was conceived, made, and utilized. We must understand the various interacting components of the cosmos, from the literal to the supernatural, from Maya lord to flint knapper, from lightning to stone.

CHAPTER 11

CONCLUSION

The facets within this study of the DMA flint, combine to form a complex and layered meaning. The availability of data, knowledge, and scholarship on the DMA flint influence the methodology used to infer meaning. I choose an embodied materiality of flint, constructed across a variety of scales, connecting the microscopic scale of the material to the macroscopic scale of the cosmos. This methodology places the ancient Maya's perspective at the intersection of flintknapping techniques, the Maya landscape, and ancient Maya mythology. I find that the physical properties of the medium, more thoroughly understood by scientific analysis, add considerable insight into the knowledge of the production process. The inner planes and fine structure of the material allow for precision and control, which in turn increases the capacity for the knapper's agency through nuanced expression. The Maya clearly understood these physical properties sufficiently to appreciate the purity of a piece of flint, which is essential for the DMA flint given its homogeneous constitution.

In addition to internal, physical forces, the interpretation of the DMA flint as a collected object is influenced by external, societal forces. Trends in archaeological collecting, before 21st- century standard practices, created the predicament we now face - the routine absence of archaeological context for "eccentric" flints. This absence influences the types of analyses required to address the missing information through new approaches to reconstructing meaning, as I employ here. Despite not knowing the specific archaeological context, we can still analyze the acts of production and deposition. The suggestion of multiple hands involved in the process of creating the DMA flint introduces collaborative dynamics. It is one of the few means of

production, which scholars could hope to study through direct observation and comparison between artifacts. As detailed above, I suspect that multiple people were involved in the production of the DMA flint. Beyond the coordination of supply, in which one person acquires the material and other knaps it into a final form, the collaborative creation of the DMA flint possibly involved many craftspeople. After production, the DMA flint and MFAH flint were deposited into a cache. A spectrum of ritual deposits from burying flint debitage to the caching of "eccentric" flints can serve to create sacred spaces through the power of material properties experienced in the knapping process.

In consideration of the knapping process, the connection between knapper and material arises once more. During a comparative analysis of material qualities conducted at the DMA and

MFAH, I studied the relative flake morphologies and searched for the presence of hematite. The presence of hematite on the DMA flint is significant and suggests a connection to blood sacrifice rituals that were of particular cultural importance to the ancient Maya. This connection represents part of a new iconographic interpretation, given recent evidence, which takes the centipede as a central figure and essential icon. A symbol of power and strength, the mighty centipede, running throughout the central arc of the DMA flint could represent a connection to the maker or makers, in that the Maya lords sponsoring production often were portrayed in the fruit of their patronage. In the case of the DMA flint, the symbolism of the centipede could connote the power which is embodied in the flint material itself, as the Maya believed flint was created by a lightning-wielding deity. This creation myth renews the connection between the cosmos and the material. A sensual relationship emerges between the knapper and material during the production process, a mutual exchange of energy, in the form of strike, sound, and

flaking. I conducted an observation of flintknapping to better understand these techniques and their effect on both the knapper and flint. I have concluded that considerable amounts of concentration and strength were required to achieve the level of complexity and cohesion of design, which blends all iconographic elements of the DMA flint. Considering the broader relationship of the knapper and material to their environment, the role of the Maya landscape emerges. In this landscape, it is possible to infer further meaning in the DMA flint, considering both physical aspects of the environment, such as centipedes and geographic availability of materials, as well as more figurative attributes of the cosmos. Understanding the knapper's place within this vast landscape grants meaning to the object by including his or her sensual engagement and perspective.

Moving beyond an iconographic reading of narrative and provenance, this study places flint material and its relational place within the Maya landscape at the center of a reconstructed meaning. The DMA flint and other chipped-stone artifacts now in the collections of American museums represent a great diversity of lived experiences, practical engagements with material by the peoples of Mesoamerica. Though many of these objects do not possess a significant amount of verified data regarding provenance, chronology, or historical context, we find that evolving methods in the field of archaeology and an interdisciplinary approach provide us with insight into areas previously unexplored. An embodied archaeology of the DMA flint and flintknapping techniques provides scholars with a rich understanding of the material's connection to the natural and generated landscape. By taking the sensual body as subject, an embodied archaeology grants agency to the ancient flintknapper’s visceral experience. It is from this phenomenological perspective that one can comprehend the DMA flint's meaning as a symbol of the need for

sacrifice, inescapable death, and miraculous rebirth. It is the maker's visceral perception of the material which brings it into existence. The embodied experience of the knapper brings the

Centipede flint to life.

APPENDIX

FIGURES

Figure 2. Flint nodules with white cortex, Harper Kennington, 2019.

Figure 6. DMA flint under artificial white light shows minute traces of residue. Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art.

Figure 7. MFAH flint under an artificial white light shows no trace residue. Harper Kennington, 2019.

Figure 8. Tan cortex located at the distal end of the DMA flint. Harper Kennington, 2019.

Figure 9. Opposite side depicting tan cortex at the distal end of DMA flint. Harper Kennington, 2019.

Figure 10. Detail depicting red residue found on surface of DMA flint. Harper Kennington, 2019.

Figure 11. Fran Baas and Elena Torok in the Object's Conservation Lab at the DMA. Harper Kennington, 2019.

Figure 12. XRF spectra depicts spike at iron (Fe). Courtesy Dallas Museum of Art.

Figure 13. Scolopendra gigantea. Image courtesy R.D. Sage.

Figure 14. John Montgomery, Chapat (Centipede) Hieroglyph, Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs (New York: Hippocrene Books, 2002).

Figure 15. Flintknapping Demonstration by Curtis Smith, Harper Kennington, 2019.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Harper Kennington is a graduate student in the Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History at The

University of Texas at Dallas. Her research interests include ancient Mesoamerican and Colonial

Arts of the Americas, as well as archaeology of the Caribbean. She is a member of Phi Kappa

Phi and the inaugural recipient of the McDermott Scholars Program Alumni Association's

Excellence in the Arts Award.

72 73 74