| Maya artists produced renderings
of types of animals which were significant to the members of society as
food, pets or pests. It is difficult to determine if animals depicted on
ceramic vessels are parts of purely naturalistic scenes, are related to
stories whose texts have not survived from the Classic period or are supernatural
creatures. Some of these animals probably represent counterparts of humans,
or wayob. Among the present-day Tzotzil Maya of Chiapas it is believed that
every individual has an animal counterpart which must be protected from
harm in order to stay alive. A person’s status in society determines
the kind of way he or she possesses.
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Tenampua
class painted cylindrical vase
Late Classic Ulúa Valley
This
vase was found with the jade pendant in the “Palace Life”
section of the exhibit, in a tomb located in an area inhabited
by the Lenca, neighbors of the Maya. The theme of blowgun hunters
and cormorants is also common in Maya ceramics and demonstrates
a significant amount of symbolic sharing across cultural boundaries.
Cormorants were associated with the supernatural because they
live in three worlds: they fly in the sky, nest on the earth and
swim in the water. Although the Hero Twins were blowgun hunters,
this scene probably refers to a myth other than the Popul Vuh.
Pseudoglyphs encircle the rim.
HM 515
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