A Book of Mormon Report PRE-COLUMBIAN STUDIES INSTITUTE • JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2005 • VOLUME 12 NUMBER l By Sherrie Kline Smith and Shirley R. Heater &litor's Note: The last issue of glyph notes 1 toric murals, including results from the 2004 included a "clip" and some tidbits about ~ excavation season which had not yet been the San Bartolo symposium. This is a fuller; : published or presented to the general public. but not complete, report. It's a little longer Guest speakers included William Saturno than normal, but the importance of this with the University of New Hampshire who symposium prompts us to publish much of described how the murals were discovered the material that was presented. First is the and the joint efforts of the team working to report, followed by the authors' insights of preserve, conserve, and record the murals; -----------------------. points important for believ­ Heather Hurst, Yale University and a recent ers of The Book of Monnon. : recipient of the prestigious MacArthur ~ "genius" fellowship, compared the The Symposium ~ Bonampak murals with those at San • Early in 200 l, archaeolo­ ~ Bartolo; David Stuart, now with the UXMAL• MAYAPAJ>I ~ University of Texas at Austin, talked about JAINA gist William Saturno discov­ SAYtl• ered a spectacular series of ~ the relation of the hieroglyphic text that YUCATAN •EOZNA early Maya murals in an l accompanies the murals and the origins and PENINSULA unexcavated pyramid at the l development of Maya writing; Karl Taube, San Bartolo ruins in north- l University of California-Riverside, delved .eecAN east Guatemala. These • ceRAQ5. ancient murals, dating to N~~~Atcilc~~ CALAKMUL • RIO~~ Sll;'1 Bartolo " around l 00 BC, include the "\ • ---- ... -- ~ •LAMANAI oe• These ancient murals, ~ • EL EL MIRAOOR • '> e''o earliest Maya hieroglyphs, • ' 'PER~ • UAXACTUN I (, PALENO\,/E_ .J TIKAL• ~ARANJO and portray the most elabo- dating to around I 00 BC, 1 YAXCH~~PI~:-~ • ,e EL z) rate depiction of the Maya's TONINA• • Al TAR OE :CARACO{ include the earliest Maya . BONAMPAK SACRIFICIOS ' J creation myth ever discov- •seiBAL ' ,./ . Gullo/ ered. Painted in brilliant hieroglyphs and portray ' .. - _ _ _ _ DOS. PILAS UJ,'_ -~ANTUN HondUtas ., . _ (._ ,....._ ~ polychrome, these remark- the most elaborate depiction LAGARTERP~' ?.... ~ACQ . __ ably preserved murals pro- ~ · GUATEMALA OUIRIGU~"' • ePLAYADE ,- .-- -, _,,,,,. LOS MUERTOS vide a unique corpus of of the Maya's creation myth ~u!.~~-N- ~~~;~; · _ . HIGOS iconographic and epigraphic ever discovered. • ABAJ 1 . •KAMINAuuvu) H 0 ~ 0 u R A 5 information about the Maya. TAKA~:K•. · , ,"'---..... vARUMELA The paintings have been E TBAUL ··1· ared r- comp to l pre-eminent archaeologist Michael Coe, ' Michaelangelo's paintings l Yale University emeritus, discussed the ) on the ceiling of the Sistine ~ dawn of Maya civilization; and John Clark, Chapel. from Brigham Young University, spoke On October 30, 2004, at about the Olmec, or mother culture, and its Irvine, California, the New World relation to the Maya. Archaeology Council held a symposium The day-long program was not only infor­ that featured for the first time the entire San mative but also intellectually stimulating. Bartolo field research team, presenting their latest findings and interpretations of the his- Continued on page 2. PRE-COLUMBIAN STUDIES INSTITUTE • JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2005 2 ~))notes Exciting New Discoveries The room had five doorways: three on the glass window whose purpose was to teach From page I. front and one on each side at the rear of the Biblical stories. Those at Bonampak glorify Discovery room. The west wall has remains of five the personal history of the king and events In March 2001, William Satumo went to beams that stretched across the top of the in his life and were private, to be viewed verify reports of the existence of two room creating a flat ceiling, as opposed to only by family or those selected. inscribed stelae at San Bartolo in the Peten. the usual corbel arch found in What began as a three-hour trek turned into Maya constructions. One had to a harrowing three-day marathon. When the duck to enter, but when standing team reached the site, they found no stelae. upright after entering, one Suffering from frustration, fatigue, and lack looked directly at the murals. of food and water, Satumo sought refuge in To ascertain a date for the the shade and coolness of a looter's tunnel murals, they took five radiocar- in an unexcavated pyramid. Soon he began bon samples from three contexts: beaming his flashlight around. He was the mural, floor, and fill. The stunned by what he saw-part of a Maya result from the mural plaster mural in pristine condition. An excited yielded a date between 230-50 Satumo called in the experts. BC which they round out to 100 Following this discovery of the first well­ BC. The floor sample averaged preserved murals since those at Bonampak to 50 BC and the fill to some­ in 1946, important steps have been taken to time before AD 20. The I 00 BC preserve them, such as conservation, clean­ date is a couple hundred years Dmwing: Glenn Scon ing, recording, and stabilizing. Looters left earlier than first suspected and This portion of the north end of the west wall mural mirrors one of the walls hanging in mid-air, so one published in the December 2003 the scene on the south end-one of accession. At present, of the first tasks was to reconstruct a sup­ National Geographic. it is unclear if the figures represent real kings or divinities. porting base. The hieroglyphs before the throne would probably clear The mural room, buried 50 feet beneath Murals this up, but they differ just enough from later glyphs that decipherment has not yet happened. David Stuart, the subsequent buildings, adjoins an 80-foot Heather Hurst, who worked leading epigraphic scholar, believes the Maya had many tall pyramid that incorporates six earlier extensively in conservation and manuscripts prior to the birth of Christ. building phases that date back to around preservation of the Bonampak 600 BC. The building in which the mural murals, is the main artist for the San was found was completed in the last phase Bartolo project. Using her extensive knowl­ Writing of construction. They named the pyramid edge of the Bonampak murals, she com­ The hieroglyphic texts in the San Bartolo Las Pinturas because of the murals. pared and contrasted them with those at murals, a series of glyphs executed in an The north wall of the mural building San Bartolo. Nine hundred years separate early "swirl" style, are captions for people measures approximately 14 feet long and the execution of the murals. Bonampak or scenes and, at present, not understood the west, 31 feet. The east wall had been dates to approximately AD 800. except for, the glyph commonly translated totally destroyed by the Maya in later build­ In discussing the architectural setting, as ahau (lord). David Stuart related that the ing projects. Fortunately fragments have Hurst pointed out that both buildings had glyphs differ too much from later inscrip­ been found that have allowed the team to been built to "house" the murals and were tions .. begin reconstructing parts of the east wall. well planned beforehand. The walls, pre­ Experts are not sure exactly when writing The mural most likely ran along all four pared for the paint with layers of stucco, first appeared in the Lowlands, but during sides of the room for a total of approxi­ exhibit highly advanced limestone prepara­ the first century BC writing experienced a mately 90 feet. tion created by skilled craftsmen. rapid advance. And, when that happened, or San Bartolo employs conservative colors "when writing took off in the Lowlands, it glyph nous is published bimonthly by Pre-Columbian including black, red, yellow, peach, pink, stops in the Highlands." Srudies Institute (PSI), a nonprofit research and education and some blue. The artists used red and Most of the earliest writing examples in organization, and is distributed free 10 members of PSI. white for skin tones, which Hurst believes the Lowlands are found on small, portable Membership & Annual Subscription to newsletter is $25. implies deities. At Bonampak no two fig­ objects. The small scale of the early glyphs Send to: Pre-Columbian Studies lnstirute. ures have the same skin tone/color. The leads Stuart to believe that writing originat­ P.O. Boll 477, Independence. MO 64051 . murals here are resplendent with Maya ed not on structures but from a manuscript F.ditorial Committee: Pat Beebe. Editor; Joy Muir; blue, a color, Hurst said, that is most diffi­ tradition. He suggested that folded books Clyde Noren; Jennifer Raffety; 1im Raffety; Glenn Scott cult to reproduce. She concludes this is a must have been an ancient practice, but Board Ofllc:ers: Donald Beebe, President; Glenn Seo«. display of conspicuous consumption similar unfortunately no examples survive from the Vice President; Margaret Noren, Secrerary; Clyde Noren. to coating cathedrals in gold leaf. Preclassic period. Archaeologists have Treasurer The content of both murals contrast found pieces of codices at Uaxactun, and a Articles and the opinions ellpressed herein do not neces­ markedly. Where the San Bartolo murals number of scenes on pottery shows codices sarily represent the view of the Editorial Committee. are mythical or ideological, dealing with and people writing and reading and manip­ Unsigned articles are attributable to the editor. All materi­ religious beliefs, Bonampak's are political. ulating "books." als submitted may be edited for clarity and space. The San Bartolo murals were meant for the The theme of warfare is not as evident as © 2005 Pre-Columbian Studies Institute public. They resemble a medieval stained Continued on page 3.