Copyright by David Matthew Schaefer 2011 The Thesis Committee for David Matthew Schaefer Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: “It was the Doing of the „6-Sky‟ Lord”: An Investigation of the Origins and Meaning of the Three Stones of Creation in Ancient Mesoamerica APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Brian Stross Julia Guernsey “It was the Doing of the „6-Sky‟ Lord”: An Investigation of the Origins and Meaning of the Three Stones of Creation in Ancient Mesoamerica by David Matthew Schaefer, B.A. Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin December 2011 Dedication In honor of Mesoamerica‘s extraordinary daykeeping and timekeeping traditions. And, of course, to my parents. Acknowledgements This investigation grew from an experience of living among the modern Maya for about seven years in the first decade of the new millenium, during which many fond hours were spent teaching in the classroom as well as shepherding students down Guatemala‘s less-traveled back roads. Seeing the Maya area in its authenticity from atop temples under starry skies and beside smoky, three-stone hearths within mountain abodes instilled a profound respect for the modern, indigenous peoples of Central America and the ancestors to whom they are related—I can only hope that this sentiment is communicated in the pages that follow. Like my experience in Guatemala, this study veers off the beaten path in an attempt to uncover the hidden and the sacred. I am indebted to many influential people who led me to undertake this investigation and saw to its completion. Credit should be given to Dr. Nikolai Grube, whose enthusiastic portrayal of the underworld journey and rebirth of the Maize Lord during a workshop in Antigua Guatemala in 2005 convinced me to further explore this theme and attempt to reconstruct its chronology within this work. Dr. Judith Maxwell and the Kaqchikel-Mayan language program, Oxlajuj Aj, were also instrumental in the decision to pursue further studies. At the University of Texas, Dr. Brian Stross was tremendously supportive of my interest in addressing difficult questions regarding Mesoamerica‘s most ancient beliefs and provided excellent guidance. Dr. David Stuart was nothing short of the very best resource for the most current readings of Maya hieroglyphs, while Dr. Julia Guernsey recommended valuable perspectives and theory as to the best approaches to interpreting belief systems across large spans of time and between different cultural groups. I would also like to acknowledge the goals of Dr. v Charlie Hale and the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS), whose encouragement of an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving, as well as a perspective which attempts to see ―eye to eye‖ with indigenous sources of knowledge, are fundamental to the interpretations made herein. To my family and friends, former and future students, and those in the Maya area who I have met along the way, I sincerely thank you for your inspiration. vi Abstract “It was the Doing of the „6-Sky‟ Lord”: An Investigation of the Origins and Meaning of the Three Stones of Creation in Ancient Mesoamerica David Matthew Schaefer, M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisor: Brian Stross The following work presents a hypothesis which identifies the origins and meaning of an ancient Mesoamerican concept known as the three stones of creation. Previous interpretations have tended to apply astronomical, spatial, or geographical models, while many conclusions have been made on the basis of one Classic Maya monument, Stela C of Quirigua. This thesis builds an argument for the temporal nature of these ―stones,‖ used to metaphorically represent a sequence of separate units of time, referred to as eras, ages, or creations. A primary goal is to demonstrate that Quirigua Stela C provides in brief, summary form a chronology which is better defined through inscriptions in the Cross Group at Palenque, and in a sequence of panels at Yaxchilan containing beliefs about the origins of the ballgame. In constructing an argument for the temporal nature of the three stones of creation, every available context from a set of hieroglyphs mentioned in the Quirigua vii Stela C ―creation‖ text—including Na Ho Chan (―First 5-Sky‖) and ―6-Sky‖—is discussed in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, these glyphs are shown to aid in the organization of the deeper past within the Palenque and Yaxchilan mythologies. When compared chronologically and thematically, these sites seem to point to the 24th century B.C.E. as the important termination of a time period (i.e., the planting of a creation stone) related to a mythic complex involving the death and underworld journey of the Maize Lord, followed by his resurrection, emergence, and/or accession to power. Key questions addressed include the antiquity of these beliefs and where the metaphors used to arrange time observed among the Classic Maya originate. In Chapter 4, earlier expressions of this time ideology are interpreted through iconographic conventions, ritual deposits, and monumental architecture at the Olmec site of La Venta. Similarly, Chapter 5 proposes that the Humboldt Celt, the earliest known example of the three stones of creation, arranges units of time into a sequence. These and other interpretations suggest the existence of an ancestral, Mesoamerican era-based time model to which later Postclassic, colonial, and contemporary beliefs, such as those expressed in the K‘iche‘-Mayan Popol Vuh, are fundamentally related. viii Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: Approaching the Deeper Mesoamerican Past ...................................8 Time as a Sequence of Eras, Ages, or Creations ............................................8 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk‘u Texts and the Start of the Long Count Calendar .............16 Theories to Explain the Three Stones of Creation ........................................18 Western and Classic Maya Conceptions of ―Creation‖ ................................20 Where Written and Oral Traditions Seem to Meet .......................................22 On the Issue of Disjunction...........................................................................27 CHAPTER 2: The Numbered Sky Glyphs ............................................................30 Chan te’ Chan (―4-Sky‖) ..............................................................................32 Na Ho Chan (―First 5-Sky‖) .........................................................................34 Ho Chan (―5-Sky‖) .......................................................................................45 Wak Chan (―6-Sky‖) .....................................................................................45 Bolon Chan (―9-Sky‖)...................................................................................49 Lahun Chan (―10-Sky‖) ................................................................................49 Lahchan Chan (―12-Sky‖) ............................................................................50 Uxlahun Chan (―13-Sky‖) ............................................................................50 ―1-Sky-in-Hand‖ ...........................................................................................51 Discussion of the Numbered Sky Glyphs .....................................................53 CHAPTER 3: The Three Stones of Creation at Palenque and Yaxchilan .............57 Introduction to the Palenque Mythology ......................................................57 Mythic Narrative of the Maize Lord‘s Underworld Journey and Rebirth ....66 The Challenge of Representing Double 9-Wind and ―Second 5-Sky‖ .........71 ―6-Sky‖ and the Ordering of Time ................................................................76 Ux Ahal, the Myth of the Ballgame ..............................................................79 Comparing the Palenque and Yaxchilan Mythologies..................................85 ix Continuity and Change in the Meaning of the Ballgame ..............................88 CHAPTER 4: Preclassic Precursors to the Ordering of Time ...............................92 La Venta and the Organization of the Deeper Past .......................................97 Massive Offerings: Mosaic Pavements 1-3 ..................................................97 The Celts and Figurines of Offering 4 ........................................................102 Crossed-Bands in Monumental Architecture at La Venta ..........................105 Monument 19 ..............................................................................................112 Altars 4 and 5 ..............................................................................................115 CHAPTER 5: Revisiting the Humboldt Celt and Quirigua Stela C ....................120 The Humboldt Celt, a Reconsideration .......................................................120 Quirigua Stela C, a Reconsideration ...........................................................125 Conclusion ..................................................................................................127 FIGURE CREDITS .............................................................................................134