Animal Figures in the Maya Codices Part 2

3, fig. 10) as _Akbal_ in Maya means night. It must be admitted, however, that the head might represent the day sign _Chuen_ almost as well as _Akbal_. The centipede is connected with death and destruction in the same way as the owl. Both are shown in Vatica.n.u.s 3773, 13, a.s.sociated with the "house of drought."

CRUSTACEA

With one possible exception no crustaceans were found depicted in the Maya codices, but we have introduced figures of two from the Nuttall Codex. The first of these (Pl. 4, fig. 5) is probably a crayfish, perhaps _Cambarus montezumae_. It seems unlikely that the so-called Spanish lobster (_Palinurus_) can be intended or the powerful spined antennae would have been shown. It is interesting to note that the stalked eyes are clearly pictured. The second example seems to be a crab (Pl. 4, fig. 6). Two large chelae of nearly equal size are simply drawn and four rounded projections at the top of the figure appear to represent the walking legs. Its rotund form and subequal chelae suggest the land crab, _Geocarcinus_, but exact determination is of course impossible. What is certainly a large crab, perhaps of the same species, is shown in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 88c (Pl. 36, fig. 1) in connection with a dog whose feet it seems about to pinch with its two large chelae. The sh.e.l.l is ornamented in a conventionalized way as if with scales.

ARACHNIDA

In Codex Borbonicus 9 (Pl. 4, fig. 4) there is represented a stout-bodied form of spider with two sharply pointed chelicerae projecting from the conventionalized mouth. These characteristics together with the absence of any web, suggest a large predacious species, probably the tarantula (_Tarantula_ sp.) which is common in Mexico. The acute powers of observation shown by the artist are evinced in this figure since he draws the spider correctly with eight legs instead of the six or ten sometimes seen in drawings by our own ill.u.s.trators.

ARACHNOIDEA

The scorpion (Maya, _sinaan_) figures prominently in the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s, two drawings from which are shown (Pl. 4, figs. 1, 2).

As here conventionalized, the jointed appendages are represented as composed of an indefinite number of round segments. The large chelate pedipalps are also prominently figured but the smaller walking legs are commonly omitted. In Pl. 4, fig. 1, however, there is a pair of posterior chelate appendages which are probably added to give a more anthropoid cast to the figure. The slight projections along the sides of the body in Pl. 4, fig. 2, probably do not represent the legs. In another drawing (Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 44b) these are also present but further reduced so as not to exceed the heavy fringe of spines surrounding the body. In Pl. 4, fig. 1, the fringe alone appears. The formidable nature of the scorpion is of course due to the poisonous sting at the tip of the attenuated abdomen or "tail." In the Maya pictures this portion is usually shown as a grasping organ. Thus in fig. 1 it is similar to the chela and holds a cord by which a deer has been caught. In fig. 2 the "tail" is terminated by a hand. The same thing is seen in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 44b where the hand seizes a cord by which a deer is snared. The scorpion is represented in the drawings with a conventionalized face that is very characteristic. The facial disc is divided into three parts by a median area of straight or irregular lateral boundaries ending anteriorly in two in-turned scrolls suggesting the alae of the nose. A circular eye is present in each of the lateral divisions of the face while from the oral region projects a forked tongue.

It is of course hazardous to attempt a specific identification of these figures but, as pointed out by Stempell (1908, p. 739), there are two large scorpions in Yucatan (_Centruroides margaritatus_ and _C.

gracilis_) which are probably the species pictured in the codices.

The representations of the scorpion in the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s are almost always a.s.sociated with scenes of the hunt. As the deer is caught in a trap so Forstemann considers that Pl. 4, fig. 1, shows a trap with five appliances, the "tail" one alone being effective. Brinton (1895, p. 75) notes that the Mayas applied the term _sinaan ek_, "scorpion stars" to a certain constellation and suggests that it was derived from the Spaniards. There is certainly some a.s.sociation between the scorpion and water as, in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 7a, the fore and hind legs of the animal enclose a body of water. The scorpion "tail" alone appears in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 31a and 82a as the tail of a G.o.d. Its significance is difficult to make out. Destruction is indicated by the scorpion in the Aubin ma.n.u.script as suggested by Seler (1900-1901, p. 71).

In the Nuttall Codex there is a remarkably beautiful conventionalization of a scorpion (Pl. 4, fig. 3) in which the tripart.i.te nature of the head is still preserved though it is so reduced as to resemble the calyx of a flower. The "tail", as elsewhere, and the legs are present.

PISCES

Figures of fish (Maya _kai_) occur commonly in the Maya codices in various connections as well as in the stone carvings, but none of these seems certainly identifiable. Among the representations, however, there are clearly several species. One (Pl. 5, figs. 2, 6, 7-9; Pl. 6, fig. 9) has a single dorsal fin, powerful teeth, and a generally ferocious aspect and may represent some large predacious variety, perhaps a tunny.

The distinct operculum in most of the figures would preclude their representing a shark. Other figures picture similar fish without the prominent teeth (Pl. 5, fig. 4, 5; Pl. 6, figs. 2, 6, 10, 13). In two cases the scales are diagramatically shown by straight or crescentric lines (Pl. 5, fig. 4, 8). A third species of fish is shown provided with two dorsal fins (Pl. 6, figs. 3, 11; Pl. 7, fig. 6, the last an excellent stone carving). Others (Pl. 6, figs. 7, 14-17) represent fishes without dorsal fins, one of which (fig. 7) from its length may be an eel, possibly _Muraena_.

In the Nuttall Codex occurs a remarkable fish with an unmistakable wing arising just behind the head nearly at the dorsal line. While this may represent a flying fish (_Exocetus_), the head is so bird-like that the whole may be merely a combination figure.

Of frequent occurrence in the Dresden is a glyph, two modifications of which are here shown (Pl. 6, figs. 4, 5). Stempell suggests that the vertical lines on the posterior portion of such figures may be gill slits and that hence they may represent sharks in which these orifices are without an operculum.

As with the molluscs, so with the fish, we naturally find them usually a.s.sociated with the water. This may be seen especially well in the Nuttall Codex. In Dresden 33a (Pl. 6, fig. 13) the fish is clearly a.s.sociated with the operation of fishing as two figures are seated on the edge of a body of water in the act of casting a net. An eel is shown in the water under G.o.d B in Dresden 65b (Pl. 6, fig. 7) and fish are shown just below the claws of a crocodile in text figure 1. In Dresden 44a G.o.d B holds a fish in his hands. As will be pointed out later (p.

314) this G.o.d is frequently a.s.sociated with water. In Dresden 44c a fish appears between G.o.d B and an unidentifiable deity. In the Maya codices the greater number of representations of fish are in connection with sacrifice. In Dresden 27 (Pl. 6, fig. 6) the fish is pictured resting on two _Kan_ signs, the symbol of maize or bread, and these in turn on a flat bowl. In Dresden 29b (Pl. 5, fig. 9) the fish is represented between the red and black numbers of the _tonalamatl_. Here again the fish is shown as an offering.

In two cases only do we find the fish used as a part of the head-dress and in each case the fish is graphically shown as held in the mouth of a heron. One of these is in the Dresden Codex 36b (Pl. 5, fig. 3) and one in the stone carving of the Temple of the Cross at Palenque (Pl. 15, fig. 5). Fish are often represented on the stone carvings as feeding upon a water plant. This is seen in the border at the bottom of the Lower Chamber of the Temple of the Tigers at Chichen Itza (Pl. 5, figs.

2, 4; Pl. 6, fig. 2). In several instances at Copan fish are shown as forming the sides of the Great Cycle glyph at the beginning of an Initial Series (Pl. 6, figs. 14-17). It has often been suggested that as the word fish in Maya is _kai_ (usually written _cay_), there may be some phonetic significance here, combining the fish, _kai_, with the usually drum-like sign for stone, _tun_, making _kai tun_ or _katun_.

This is the term usually given not to the Great Cycle but to the period composed of twenty _tuns_ and is probably derived from _kal_ meaning twenty and _tun_, a stone.

AMPHIBIA

FROGS. Figures undoubtedly representing frogs (Maya _mut_ or _uo_) or toads are found in several places in the codices and in the stone carvings, but it is quite impossible to refer them definitely to any of the numerous species occurring in Central America, if, indeed, the artists had any one species in mind. In the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s frogs are not uncommon. In 31a there are four (Pl. 7, fig. 1) with water coming from their mouths. They are characterized by their stout tailless bodies, flattened heads and toothless mouths. In 101d (Pl. 7, figs. 2, 3) there are two, the first painted blue with spots of darker blue and the second white and represented as broken in two in the middle. The signs of death above the latter clearly show that a dead animal is indicated. Pl. 7, fig. 6, shows the end of Altar O from Copan on which a frog and a fish are pictured, the former in dorsal view, the latter in lateral aspect. The peculiar pointed snout of this frog is similar to that of the frog shown in Pl. 7, fig. 7, also in dorsal view. A somewhat similar creature (Pl. 29, fig. 6) we have included and though it may represent an opossum it has little to distinguish it from the figures of frogs.[309-*]

G.o.d B in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 12b should be a.s.sociated with the frog. His legs are those of a frog and he appears as if swimming in the water.

Frog in Maya is _Uo_ which is also the name of the second month of the Maya year. The first day of this month, according to Landa, corresponds to August 5 of our year and this is the height of the rainy season in the Maya region. The sign for _Uo_ does not, however, resemble a frog in any way. The frog above one of the figures in the Lower Chamber of the Temple of the Tigers at Chichen Itza (Pl. 7, fig. 7) has clearly some relation to the name or totem of the warrior. The Nahua custom is seen here.

Toads are probably intended in Pl. 7, figs. 4, 5. In these the great breadth of the head and mouth together with the short inflated body combine to produce a very toad-like appearance. It is not unlikely that they represent the huge marine toad, _Bufo marinus_, common from southern Mexico to Brazil and in the West Indies. There seems to be no distinction in the treatment of frogs and toads in the codices.

TREE-TOAD (_Hyla eximia_). Of great interest are the figures in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 26a and b (Pl. 8, figs. 1, 3), showing a G.o.d with expanded finger tips and characterized further by the presence of two parallel black stripes from the hinder and lower margins of the eye respectively. The k.n.o.b-like finger tips at once suggest one of the tree-toads, and the presence of the two lines seems to indicate _Hyla eximia_ as the species represented. In this tree-toad there is a long black lateral line running posteriorly from the tympanum and above it a shorter line just as in the drawings. It appears to be a common species in the valley of Mexico though but little seems to have been written of its habits. At the beginning of the rainy season it repairs to pools of water to breed and is then very noticeable from its loud voice. No doubt its importance in the Maya economy was from its conspicuousness at the beginning of the rainy period. This fact is brought out more strongly when we consider that these G.o.ds representing the tree-toad are a.s.sociated with agriculture and the sowing of grain at the beginning of the rainy season. Forstemann (1902, p. 35) identifies these figures as G.o.d F. They are quite unlike the usual representation of this G.o.d and are clearly G.o.d P as Sch.e.l.lhas (1904, p. 39) indicates. It is interesting to note that the two black lines behind the eye are also seen in the other G.o.ds shown in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 26a and b although the k.n.o.b-like finger tips are lacking. The glyph for this tree-toad G.o.d is recognized in the fifth place at the top of the same page (Pl. 8, fig.

2) by the same two black lines under and behind the eye.

REPTILIA

SERPENT. It would be impossible in the present paper to enter into any lengthy discussion of the use of the serpent (Maya _kan_) in Mexico and Central America. It seems to be one of the main elements in the religion and consequently in the art of the Mayas and Mexican peoples. It is represented again and again in many forms and varied combinations. It underlies the whole general trend of Maya art. The serpent is often a.s.sociated with feathers. The culture hero of the Nahuas, _Quetzalcoatl_ (feathered serpent) corresponds to a similar G.o.d among the Mayas, _Kukulcan_ (also meaning feathered serpent). The feathers of the quetzal are the ones commonly used in connection with the serpent.

Any attempt at identification of the species represented is beset by grave difficulties for so conventionalized have the figures often become that, except in the case of the rattlesnake with its rattles, there are no characteristic marks by which the species may be known. It is natural to suppose that the species used for artistic purposes would be those that are most noteworthy because of their size, coloring, or venomous qualities. No doubt a number of harmless species were also used in the religious ceremonies.[311-*] Such may be those used as hair ornaments in many of the figures (Pl. 8, figs. 7-13, 15) and in which no indication of a rattle is to be seen. The fierce eye of these reptiles is shown by means of an exaggerated overhanging brow occasionally embellished by recurved crests (Pl. 8, figs. 10, 11, 13, 15). These crests are sometimes shown as two or three stalked k.n.o.bs (Pl. 10, fig. 7) that Stempell was misled into identifying as the eyes of snails. Various heads of snakes usually with fangs exposed and tongue protruding are pictured in Pl. 8, figs. 4, 6; Pl. 9, figs. 2, 4-6: one snake with a spiny back is shown in Pl. 8, fig. 5, but obviously it represents merely the artist's endeavor to present as terrifying a creature as possible.

Various types of rattlesnakes are shown in Pl. 9. The presence of the rattle is of course the characteristic, and this portion alone is likewise used, in one case, at least, as a glyph (Pl. 9, fig. 7). It cannot be denied, however, that some or most of the snakes in which no rattles appear, are nevertheless intended for rattlers. It may have been that the figures were so well understood that the addition of rattles in the drawings was quite unnecessary. This, however, is quite conjectural.

The species of rattlesnake is probably _Crotalus basiliscus_ or _C.

terrificus_ of southern Mexico and adjacent regions, not _C. horridus_ or _adamanteus_ as supposed by Stempell since these two species are confined to the United States. Among the figures shown on Pl. 9, it is noteworthy that five of the rattlesnakes show no fangs. Some are spotted, but in a wholly arbitrary manner. Three are unmarked. One is shown coiled about the base of a tree (Pl. 9, fig. 5), another coiled ready to strike though the rattle is pictured trailing on the ground instead of being held erect in the center of the coil as usually is done (Pl. 9, fig. 9). A rattlesnake is shown held in the hand of a man in Pl.

9, fig. 8.

In Pl. 10, fig. 1, is shown a rattle-less snake with prominent fang, coiled about the top of an altar which may represent a tree or bush.

From the latter fact, it might be concluded that it was a tree or bush-inhabiting species, possibly the deadly "bush-master" (_Lachesis lanceolatus_). Other figures (Pl. 10, figs. 3, 7; Pl. 11, figs. 1, 2) are introduced here as examples of the curious head ornamentation frequently found in the drawings. The two first are merely serpents with the jaws extended to the utmost, and with a characteristic head decoration. The last is provided with an elaborate crest. The size and markings of the two serpents shown in Pl. 11, as well as their want of rattles suggest that they may represent some species of large _Boidae_ as _Loxocemus bicolor_ or _Boa_ (sp?).

After having commented upon the various serpents occurring in the codices and in several other places, we will now take up the manner and connection in which the various figures occur. We shall pa.s.s over completely the use of the "serpent column" at Chichen Itza, the importance of the serpent motive in the development of the masked panel as worked out by Spinden, and the countless representations of the plumed serpent in the whole field of Maya design and decoration. In the single Temple of the Tigers at Chichen Itza, the feathered serpent occurs in the round as a column decoration supporting the portico, as carved on the wooden lintel at the entrance to the Painted Chamber, again and again on the frescoes of this room,[313-*] in the Lower Chamber as dividing the bas-relief into zones or panels, and, finally, as the center of the whole composition of this bas-relief. It will be seen, therefore, that it will be necessary in a short paper, to limit ourselves to the representations of the serpent in the Maya codices.

The serpent is most frequently a.s.sociated with G.o.d B. Sch.e.l.lhas (1904, p. 17), Fewkes (1894), Forstemann (1906), and Thomas (1882), seem to agree that G.o.d B is to be identified as _Kukulcan_, the most important of the deities of the Mayas and, as pointed out before, appearing in the Nahua mythology, as _Quetzalcoatl_, and in the Quiche myths as _Guc.u.matz_. It was also noted that the name means both in Maya and in Nahuatl, the "feathered serpent" or the "bird serpent." Other authorities consider G.o.d B as _Itzamna_, another of the main G.o.ds of the Mayas. Seler interprets G.o.d B as the counterpart of the Nahua rain G.o.d, _Tlaloc_. It is certain that when G.o.d B and the serpent are a.s.sociated together water and rain are usually indicated. G.o.d H, "the _Chicchan_ G.o.d," also has some relation to the serpent. As pointed out by Sch.e.l.lhas (1904, pp. 28-30), this G.o.d often appears characterized by a skin-spot or a scale of the serpent on his temple of the same shape as the hieroglyph of the day _Chicchan_ (serpent). The glyph belonging to this deity also shows the _Chicchan_ sign as its distinguishing mark. Similar signs appear on the body of the serpent in many places, as in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 30a (Pl. 11, fig. 1).

We have already noted that the serpent, G.o.d B, and water are frequently shown together, so the serpent also appears a.s.sociated with water and rain, when no figure of G.o.d B is present. From this connection, it can be argued that there is some relation between the serpent and the coming of the rains. These facts would give strength to the theory that G.o.d B is to be identified as a rain G.o.d. In Dresden 33a, 35a, G.o.d B is seated on the open jaws of a serpent, while the body of the reptile encloses a blue field evidently signifying water. The number nineteen appears on this blue color. It will be noted that there are nineteen spots on the serpents in Pl. 11, figs. 1, 2. In Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 3a-6a, corresponding scenes seem to be shown. The body of the serpent encloses water, and here the number eighteen appears in each case. G.o.d B occurs always in front of the serpent and his head appears as the head of the reptile in the first instance. In Dresden 35a, 36a, the head of G.o.d B is pictured as the head of the serpent in the midst of the water. In Dresden 37b (Pl. 10, fig. 8), B is holding a snake in the water.

Water appears in connection with the serpent and G.o.d B in many places in the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s. In 9, G.o.d B is pictured pouring water from a jar, a common method of showing the idea of rain in the codices. In 12b, B again is shown perhaps representing a frog, and behind him a serpent.

The reptiles in 13b-18b, are all a.s.sociated with the idea of rain, the turtle and frog also appearing in this section. In 30a (Pl. 11, fig. 1), G.o.d B and a female figure are both pouring water from a jar, as they stand on the body of a serpent. In 32a, the black G.o.d (L) is seen in the rain, and a serpent is near, while in 32b and 33b (Pl. 9, fig. 1), the serpent forms the belt of G.o.d L, and a female figure and water are seen in both cases. The blue color of the snake and of G.o.d B in 31b (Pl. 11, fig. 2) may also suggest water.

G.o.d B also occurs in connection with the serpent in Dresden 42a (Pl. 8, fig. 14), where the G.o.d is seated on the reptile, in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s, 10b, where the head of the same G.o.d is the head of the snake, and in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 19a, where G.o.d B again and G.o.d A are each seated on the open jaws of a serpent.

The astronomical role of the serpent is noted in Dresden 56b, 57b (Pl.

10, fig. 3), Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 5b, 12b, 15b, and 67b, where the snake is shown in connection with a line of constellation signs, the _kin_ or sun sign prominent in most of the drawings. In the "battle of the constellations" in Dresden 60, the serpent appears forming a sort of altar, the seat of a figure which is supported by another figure. A serpent head also appears at the foot of the latter figure.

That the serpent appears a.s.sociated with the idea of time seems clear from the fact of the long number series in Dresden 61, 62 (Pl. 10, fig.

7), and 69, which are shown in the s.p.a.ces made by the winding of the serpents' bodies. In Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 13a-16a, four large reptiles appear in connection with the lines of day signs.

The study of the serpent used as a head-dress is interesting. As noted previously, quite a different kind of snake seems to be represented when used in this connection. Two other points come out in this investigation, namely, that it is only with female figures that the serpent is employed as a head-dress, and in far the greater number of cases the women are shown, either in the act of offering something, or of pouring water from a jar. The usual type of serpent head-dress is seen in Dresden 9c (Pl. 8, fig. 11), 15b (Pl. 8, fig. 12), 18a (Pl. 8, fig. 13), 22b (Pl. 8, fig. 10), and 23b (Pl. 8, fig. 8). In the first case, the offering is a jicara or gourd of some sacred drink (_balte_?), in the second and third examples, the dish is clearly shown, but the offering is unidentifiable, in the fourth case, maize (a _Kan_ sign), and in the last, a fish resting on a dish. In Dresden 20a (Pl. 8, fig. 15), a woman with serpent head-dress is seen a.s.sociated with the Moan-headed figure, possibly in the act of offering it as a sacrifice.

In Dresden 39b (Pl. 8, fig. 7), 43b (Pl. 8, fig. 9), and 70, a similar serpent head-dress is shown on a female figure in the act of pouring water from a jar. In Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s, the serpent head-dresses differ in type only, and in two out of the four cases where they appear, water is shown flowing from the b.r.e.a.s.t.s (30b) of the female figure or from the mouth (32b). The woman thus represented in connection with the water is G.o.d I, the water G.o.ddess of Sch.e.l.lhas. She is, as he notes (1904, p. 31) usually the figure of an old woman. "Evidently, we have here the personification of water in its quality of destroyer, a G.o.ddess of floods and cloud-bursts." We are not at all sure that we have here a distinct G.o.d as similar female figures with serpent head-dresses occur frequently in the Dresden Codex with no suggestion of water. The failure to find any distinct glyph for this G.o.ddess seems to strengthen the view of not considering her as a separate deity. Finally, in our consideration of head-dresses, the serpent is to be seen in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 79c on the head of the first woman who is weaving.

Possibly, a conventionalized serpent forms the head covering of the second figure who is represented as dead.

The serpent in Dresden 26c-28c (Pl. 10, fig. 1) coiled around the altar which rises from a _Tun_ sign is not easily explained. In 25c, the altar is replaced by G.o.d B and in the former cases, the reptiles may stand for this G.o.d with whom they are often a.s.sociated.[316-*] The serpent seems closely connected with the idea of offerings as the body of a snake is shown in several instances as the support of the jar containing the various gifts in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 34a, 34b, 35a, 35b, 36a, 36b, and possibly 52c (Pl. 9, fig. 3).

Finally the serpent is to be noted in a number of miscellaneous connections:--in Dresden 36b (Pl. 19, fig. 11), as being attacked by a black vulture,[317-*] in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 40b (Pl. 9, fig. 4) a rattlesnake is biting the foot of one of the hunters, and in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 66b, where the serpent has a human head and arm coming from its open jaws. This is a very frequent method of representing the serpent in the Maya stone carvings. In Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 60c, 100d (Pl. 9, fig. 8), twice, 106a, and 111b, the rattlesnake is shown as a sprinkler for the holy water in the hand (in the first, second and fourth examples) of G.o.d D. Landa (1864, p. 150)[317-] describes in the ceremony of the baptism of children, that the leader of the rite wore on his head a kind of mitre embroidered with plumage in some manner and in his hand a small holy-water sprinkler of wood, carved skillfully, of which the filaments were the tails of serpents, similar to serpents with rattles.

In spite of the importance of the serpent in the ma.n.u.scripts and stone carvings, it never seems to appear as a separate deity. With one exception, no glyph is to be found representing this reptile as is the case with many of the animals. Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 106c (Pl. 9, fig. 7) is this exception showing the rattles of a snake which are found in the line of glyphs above two of the bees. No serpent appears in the picture.

The Nahuatl day, _Couatl_, has the signification serpent, as suggested before, in discussing the meaning of the name _Quetzalcoatl_ or _Quetzalcouatl_. This day sign occurs throughout the Mexican ma.n.u.scripts as the head of a serpent (Pl. 8, figs. 4, 6; Pl. 9, fig. 2; Pl. 10, figs. 2, 4-6).