EMBODIED MATERIALS OF THE CLASSIC MAYA: A D.M.A. FLINT AND THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL TURN by Harper Rose Kennington APPROVED BY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: ___________________________________________ Mark Rosen, Chair ___________________________________________ Sarah Kozlowski ___________________________________________ Michelle Rich Copyright 2019 Harper Rose Kennington All Rights Reserved For Jim EMBODIED MATERIALS OF THE CLASSIC MAYA: A D.M.A. FLINT AND THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL TURN by 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. v 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 vi 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 ix 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 x 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 xi 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