A ‘Miniature Stela’ from Trinidad de Nosotros, El Petén, Guatemala Matthew D. Moriarty Department of Anthropology Tulane University 1326 Audubon Street New Orleans, LA 70118
[email protected] Bryan R. Just Assistant Curator, Art of the Ancient Americas Princeton University Art Museum Princeton, NJ 08544-1018
[email protected]
January 27, 2008
Published in Mexicon Moriarty, Matthew D., and Bryan R. Just 2008 A ‘Miniature Stela’ from Trinidad de Nosotros, Petén, Guatemala. Mexicon 30(3):59–60.
In 2005, archaeologists working at the ancient Maya site of Trinidad de Nosotros unearthed what appears to be a fragment of a miniature stela. Trinidad de Nosotros lies on the north shore of Guatemala’s Lake Petén Itzá, 2.6 km southeast of Motul de San José and approximately thirty-five km southwest of Tikal (Moriarty 2004). Trinidad likely enjoyed its greatest local importance during the second half of the Late Classic period when it served as the principal port and gateway to Motul de San José, the seat of the Ik’ polity and a probable source for the famed Ik’ style of distinctly painted polychrome drinking vessels (Foias 2003; Reents-Budet et al. 1994; Reents-Budet et al. 2006). This small limestone object was recovered within a series of rich deposits located behind the eastern lateral structure of Trinidad’s ballcourt, approximately twelve m from the playing alley. These deposits – spectacularly rich in polychrome serving vessels, figurines, bone and shell ornaments, and exotic artifacts – likely resulted from large scale feasts and other rituals performed in conjunction with ballgames (Moriarty and Foias 2007). Ceramic analyses and four AMS radiocarbon assays indicate that these deposits accrued from a series of events throughout the Late Classic period (AD 550 – 850). The stratum in which the limestone object was recovered dates to the latter half of the Late Classic (ca. AD 700 – 850), although some mixing with a superimposed level provisionally dated to the Late Classic – Terminal Classic transition (ca. AD 850) is possible. The limestone object is small, measuring approximately 9.5 by 8.5 cm, with a thickness of approximately 1.7 cm (Figure 1). This fragment likely constitutes the medial portion of a slightly larger original object manufactured from soft limestone. On both the front and back surfaces of the object, deep vertical grooves were cut approximately one cm in from the lateral edges. During excavation, only these vertical grooves were noted and the piece was collected initially as a small metate. Cleaning of the artifact, however, revealed a series of incised lines on the front and back of the object within the spaces framed by the vertical grooves. Unlike the vertical grooves, these incisions were shallow and only fully visible under favorable lighting conditions. The incisions on the front of the object clearly represent the torso, arms, and upper legs of a standing male individual. Although it seems the incised lines on the back of the object may also depict a human form, they are too faint and incomplete to interpret with certainty. Stylistically and qualitatively, the designs on the front of the object are highly similar to graffiti documented at Tikal and elsewhere in the Maya lowlands, suggesting the incisions were produced by a simple lithic tool and without the fine, careful control evident on many Late Classic Maya sculptures of comparable scale in shell, bone, or various stones. The incisions thus suggest the piece was not intended as a fine work for elite consumption, but probably made by an amateur or without care for quality. In composition, however, the object bears a notable resemblance to the portraiture commonly found on Late Classic Maya stelae. The individual, in this instance identifiable as a male by his loincloth, appears to stand facing to his right, the standard orientation of principal figures rendered on stelae. His right arm is raised, the upper arm positioned horizontally and bent at the elbow. Although the individual’s left arm is partially eroded, it too appears to be raised and bent at the elbow. This pose is rare among stela portraits, although one late eighth- or early ninth-century example from Seibal, Stela 13, presents a similarly scantily-clad male with both arms raised. Also, the
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lines that emanate from the miniature stela figure’s back – inappropriately articulated with the figure to realistically represent headdress or backrack feathers – may indicate long hair or a wig, as depicted on the same Seibal stela. The vertical grooves near the edges of both the front and back surfaces likely represent the ‘frame’ that normally surrounds the carving on monuments, most prominently on Late and Terminal Classic examples. Finally, the small rectangle and ovoid incisions located beneath the individual’s right elbow may suggest the glyph blocks normally found in such locations on full-scale stelae. Although the object is fragmentary, the apparent deviation of the frame from parallel and vertical seems to suggest an original overall shape that was wider near the top and tapered at the bottom. On stelae, this overall shape became popular only within a relatively circumscribed time and place; such top-heavy compositions are attested at ‘satellite’ cities within Tikal’s political sphere in the latter half of the ninth century AD, particularly at Jimbal (see especially Stela 1) and at Ixlú (see Stela 1), dating to AD 859 and 879 respectively. If a relatively accurate reproduction of a full-fledged stela, this fragment’s composition and overall shape thus seem to indicate a date of manufacture after the mid-ninth century. Still, the authors know of no local stela from this era presenting its primary subject dressed only in a loincloth. To the authors’ knowledge, only one other comparable object is known from the Maya area. A similarly sized, shaped, and incised ceramic object was recovered in a domestic midden at Tikal by the Pennsylvania University Museum Tikal Project in 1960. Haviland (1962:3) speculated that this object was either “an artist’s conception of a stela, or a model of an actual stela.” He also noted the close similarity in posture and composition to Tikal Stela 20, a monument dating to AD 751 (ibid.). Such an interpretation may also hold for Trinidad, although it is somewhat more difficult to identify a related stela. To date, the only monument identified at Trinidad is a small uncarved or entirely eroded ballcourt marker and no stelae are known. The Late Classic monuments closest to Trinidad are found at Motul de San José, Akté, Aguacatal, and B’alamtun to the northwest, and at various sites on the Tayasal Peninsula, directly across Lake Petén Itzá. None of these sculptures, however, seem the formal inspiration for the Trinidad miniature stela. The crude quality of the carving on a stone too porous for fine working on this small scale suggests that it was not an artist’s sketch or model (since they were probably painted and likely to scale). Instead, perhaps this object represented a stela within a diorama, in a manner not unlike the famous Offering 4 at La Venta, or within a larger assemblage of objects utilized in public rituals associated with the ballgame. Unlike the La Venta example, however, both the Tikal and the Trinidad miniature stelae contexts are secondary and presumably post-use, and thus cannot corroborate such functional hypotheses.
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Acknowledgements Investigations at Trinidad de Nosotros were made possible by grants from the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI), the National Science Foundation (BCS Grant #0528789), the Middle American Research Institute, and several anonymous donors. All investigations were carried out with the permission and support of Guatemala’s IDAEH and the Departamento de Monumentos Prehispánicos y Coloniales, with special thanks to Lic. Salvador López, Licda. Ivonne Putzeys, Lic. Paulino Morales, and Gustavo Amarra. Special thanks to Ellen Spensley, Crorey Lawton, Antonia Foias, Jeanette Castellanos, and all members of the field and laboratory staff.
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References Cited Foias, Antonia E. 2003 Perspectivas teóricas en las dinámicas del estado Clásico maya: resultados preliminares del Proyecto Eco-Arqueológico Motul de San José, 19982003. Mayab 16:15-32. Haviland, William A., Jr. 1962 A “Miniature Stela” from Tikal. Expedition 4(3):2-3. Moriarty, Matthew D. 2004 Settlement archaeology at Motul de San José, Petén, Guatemala: preliminary results from the 1998-2003 seasons. Mayab 17:21-44 Moriarty, Matthew D., and Antonia E. Foias 2006 El juego de poder en el centro del Petén: evidencia cerámica sobre festejos asociados al juego de pelota en La Trinidad de Nosotros, El Petén, Guatemala. Paper presented at the XX Simposio de Arqueología Guatemalteca. Museo Nacional de Arqueología e Historia, Guatemala. Reents-Budet, Dorie, Ronald L. Bishop, and Barbara MacLeod 1994 Painting styles, workshop locations and pottery production. In Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period, edited by Dorie Reents-Budet, pp. 164-233. Duke University Press, Durham Reents-Budet, Dorie, Antonia E. Foias, Ronald L. Bishop, James Blackman, and Stanley Guenter 2006 La interacción política del sitio Ik’ (Motul de San José): Datos del registro cerámico del Clásico Tardío. Paper presented at the XX Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2006, Guatemala City.
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Abstract A small limestone object, carved in the form of a stela, was recovered during recent investigations at the ancient Maya site of Trinidad de Nosotros. Incised graffiti on the front of the object depict a standing male individual in a posture similar to that found on full-scale monuments. Elements of the individual’s dress and adornment suggest that the object, recovered in middens associated with the site’s ballcourt, may date to the very end of the Late Classic period or the first decades of the Terminal Classic. Although the object’s function is enigmatic, the crude quality of carving seems to controvert use as an artist’s scale model, and suggests a more likely ritual function.
Resumen Un objeto pequeño de piedra caliza tallado en la forma de una stela fue recuperado durante las investigaciones recientes en el sitio Maya de La Trinidad de Nosotros. Incisiones de grafito en la frente del objeto retrata de un individuo masculino en la postura típica de monumentos más grandes. Aspectos del traje y del adorno sugiere que el objeto, recuperado en un basurero asociado a la cancha del juego de pelota, fecha al fin del periodo Clásico Tardío o a las primeras décadas del Clásico Terminal. Aunque la función del objeto es enigmática, la baja calidad de la entalladura sugiere que un uso como parte de ritual sea más probable que un uso como modelo a escala de un escultor.
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Figure Caption Figure 1. Front, Profile, and Back of “Miniature Stela” (Drawing by Fernando Luis Luin).
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