Blood and Sacrifice

Abstract

MU t ove over Montezuma. Take a powder Columbus. The written history of the Americas began in 50 B.C., long before the ascent of the Aztecs or the arrival of the Europeans, and is studded with a string of kings whose lives and culture are just beginning to come to light. These once-proud rulers Pacal of Palenque, Shield Jaguar of Yaxchilan and Yax-Pac of Copan, to name a few-are speaking to modern-day researchers thanks to dramatic advances in understanding the magnificent artwork and hieroglyphics of the Maya civilization. In addition, continuing excavations of ancient Maya cities are turning traditional theories of Maya cultural evolution inside out. The Maya culture did not hit a deadend with Spanish conquest in A.D. 1541. About 2 million people who speak more than 30 Mayan languages still live in Mexico and Central America. Their forebears, whose civilization arose in the region's tropical forests around 300 B.C., left behind pyramids, temples and inscriptions that have intrigued scholars for the last 150 years. During most of that time, researchers assumed that the images on stelae (carved tablets), temple walls, pottery and other artifacts showed mystical priests or gods primarily concerned with astrology and a complex calendar system. Furthermore, the archaeological remains at Maya sites were long believed to be the products of people who were peace-loving, religious, modest, conservative and clean, at least until the ninth century, when they began to adopt the bloody sacrificial habits of central Mexican invaders. However, beginning in the early 1960s, the Maya took on a totally different cast as researchers started to decipher their complex writing system. First, Maya monuments were shown to contain emblem glyphs that refer to their city of origin. Then, a series of inscriptions was identified relating to births, accessions, wars, deaths and marriages of Maya kings, as were name glyphs for individual rulers. Finally, it was demonstrated that the hieroglyphics are a bona fide writing system with grammatical structure and phonetic symbols. From there, the study of Maya language and the art to which it is indelibly tied took off. An up-to-date picture of the Maya, particularly during the Classic period or golden era that lasted from around A.D. 200 to A.D. 900, is presented in The Blood of Kings: Dynastyand Ritual in Maya Art [Kimbell Art Museum, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1986] by art historians Linda Schele of the University of Texas at Austin and Mary Ellen Miller of Yale University The book was published in conjunction with a major exhibit of Maya art that opened on May 17 at the Kimbell Art Museum.