Painted incised cylindrical vase
Classic highland Guatemala
The Hero Twins turned their malevolent half-brothers into monkeys. The two Monkey-man Gods, Hun Batz and Hun Chouen, face each other on this vase. Prototypical scribes, they wear headgear with traits of both the scribe’s “Spangled Turban” and Pawahtún’s net headdress. One holds a pen and shell inkpot in his hands. The white scalloped shapes separating the figures appear to be stylized conch-shell inkpots. A restorer used pieces from another vessel in reconstructing this vase.
HM1196
THE UNDERWORLD
Iconographers (symbolism experts) have interpreted many images on ceramics as being scenes related to the Postclassic Popol Vuh, or “Council Book,” of the highland Quiché Maya. Although separated from Classic Maya scribes by 500 years, the story line of the Popol Vuh corresponds well to the images on ceramics. Many of the ceramics most convincingly associated with the story were produced near the southern highland site of Chamá, in the Chixoy drainage, during the late 7th to early 8th centuries. Black-and-white chevron designs at the rim and base characterize polychrome Chamá ceramics. Texts on Chamá ceramics tend to be short and to contain false glyphs called “pseudoglyphs”. This may mean that they were produced by only partially literate artisans or for more than just the elite segment of society. Chamá was located near the traditional entrance to the Underworld.