Engaging Ancient Maya Sculpture at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

273 Pages·2012·158.47 MB·English

by  Megan E. O'Neil

Engaging Ancient Maya Sculpture
at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

Engaging Ancient
Maya Sculpture
at Piedras Negras,
Guatemala
Megan E. O’Neil
University of Oklahoma Press
Norman
Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the
Millard Meiss Publication Fund of the College Art Association
On the title page: Architectural reconstruction of Piedras Negras Structure K-5-1st.
Watercolor rendering by Tatiana Proskouriakoff. Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of
Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Peabody ID #50-63-20/18484. Digital
File #98790001.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
O’Neil, Megan Eileen.
Engaging ancient Maya sculpture at Piedras Negras, Guatemala / Megan E. O’Neil.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8061-4257-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Piedras Negras Site (Guate-
mala) 2. Maya sculpture—Usumacinta River Valley (Guatemala and Mexico) 3. Maya
art—Usumacinta River Valley (Guatemala and Mexico) 4. Mayas—Usumacinta River
Valley (Guatemala and Mexico)—Antiquities. 5. Usumacinta River Valley (Guatemala
and Mexico)—Antiquities. I. Title.
F1435.1.P52O54 2012
972.81'2—dc23
2011048137
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources, Inc. ∞
Copyright © 2012 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division of
the University. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-
copying, recording, or otherwise—except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the
United States Copyright Act—without the prior written permission of the University of
Oklahoma Press. To request permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, University of Oklahoma Press, 2800 Venture Drive, Norman OK 73069,
or email [email protected].
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
To the Maya people of Guatemala, past and present

Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Notes on Language, Spelling, and Calendar Conventions xvi
Introduction: Engaging Ancient Maya Sculpture 3
1. Histories of Interpretation and Theoretical Frameworks 41
2. Sculptural Bodies and Sacred Movement 63
3. Sculptural Dialogues across Time and Space 105
4. Structure O-13 and the Materiality of Memory 153
Conclusion 183
Epilogue: Fragmented Forms in the Twentieth and Twenty-first
Centuries 189
Notes 213
References 225
Index 247
vii
Illustrations
Plates
1 Piedras Negras Structure K-5 34
2 Usumacinta River at Piedras Negras 34
3 Front, Piedras Negras Stela 14 35
4 Piedras Negras Panel 2 36
5 Piedras Negras Panel 3 36
6 Sculptured stucco panel, Palenque Temple XIX 37
7 Painted stucco mask of the Sun God, Copán Temple 10L-16 38
8 Rendering of the Piedras Negras South Group, Late Classic 39
9 Left, front, and right sides, Piedras Negras Stela 15 40
Maps
I.1 Usumacinta River region 8
P.1 Maya region and select sites 33
Figures
I.1 Ruler titles at Piedras Negras 3
I.2 Piedras Negras rulers and reign dates 9
I.3 Glyphs used in carvers’ signatures and dedication statements 10
I.4 Initial Series date with explanations of each component of the Long
Count 12
I.5 Front, Piedras Negras Stela 25 14
I.6 Front, Piedras Negras Stela 26 16
I.7 Piedras Negras Altar 1 17
I.8 El Cayo Altar 4 18
I.9 Reconstruction of Piedras Negras Structure K-5-1st, with Panel 7 20
I.10 Piedras Negras Throne 1 20
I.11 Plan of Piedras Negras 22
I.12 Piedras Negras Structure R-3 24
1.1 Front, Piedras Negras Stela 12 42
1.2 Piedras Negras Panel 3 before restoration 45
1.3 Mary Louise Baker watercolor of Panel 3 restoration 47
1.4 Central medallion, Copán peccary skull 56
2.1 Front and back, Piedras Negras Stela 3 64
viii
Illustrations ix
2.2 Model of Piedras Negras Stela 3 65
2.3 Piedras Negras West Group Plaza and Acropolis 68
2.4 Bonampak Structure 1, Room 3, East Wall 69
2.5 Back, Piedras Negras Stela 1 70
2.6 Front, Piedras Negras Stela 33 72
2.7 Model of front and right sides, Piedras Negras Stela 32 73
2.8 Left side and front, Piedras Negras Stela 6 74
2.9 Front and sides, Piedras Negras Stela 11 75
2.10 Left side, fallen Piedras Negras Stela 11 76
2.11 Front, Piedras Negras Stela 11 77
2.12 Glyphs related to seeing and field of view 78
2.13 Composite image of Piedras Negras Stela 8 82
2.14 Detail, Piedras Negras Stela 8 82
2.15 Bonampak Structure 1, Room 2, North Wall 83
2.16 Piedras Negras Structure O-13 84
2.17 Front, Piedras Negras Stela 12 85
2.18 Comparison of figures on Piedras Negras Stela 12 and Panel 3 86
2.19 Model of Piedras Negras Stela 3, showing direction of reading 89
2.20 Model of Piedras Negras Stela 26, showing direction of reading 90
2.21 Model of Piedras Negras Stela 8, showing direction of reading 92
2.22 Plan of Piedras Negras West Group Plaza, showing Altars 1 and 2 94
2.23 Piedras Negras Altar 2, ca. 1929–57 96
2.24 Dresden Codex, 25c 98
2.25 Ch’orti’ Maya five-stone cosmogram on an altar 100
2.26 Diagram of stone placement in the Ch’orti’ Maya cosmogram 100
2.27 Fallen Piedras Negras Stela 7 102
3.1 Rulers’ faces on Piedras Negras Stelae 26, 35, 8, and 14 107
3.2 Yaxchilán Stela 10, with the deceased parents of Bird Jaguar in
cartouches 109
3.3 Copán Altar Q, with ancestors and reigning ruler 109
3.4 Upper portion, Palenque Palace Tablet, with ancestors and acceding
ruler 110
3.5 Piedras Negras Panel 4, with posthumous Ruler 1 110
3.6 Piedras Negras Stela 40 111
3.7 Palenque Tablets of Orator and Scribe, reconstruction 113
3.8 Yaxchilán Lintels 24, 25, and 26 114
3.9 Location of Piedras Negras Ruler 1’s Stelae 25, 26, and 31 and Ruler 2’s
Stelae 32–37 117
3.10 Piedras Negras Stelae 25 and 26 118
3.11 Piedras Negras Stelae 33 and 25, with locations 121
3.12 Piedras Negras Stelae 35 and 26, with locations 122
3.13 Piedras Negras South Group Court, with processional route 124
3.14 Piedras Negras Structure R-9 rendering 125
3.15 Location of Piedras Negras Ruler 2’s Stelae 38 and 39, West Group Plaza,
relative to stelae of Rulers 1 and 2, South Group Court 127
3.16 Piedras Negras Stelae 6 and 25, with locations 130