ancient maya graffiti at kakab, yucatán, méxico

Artistic Expressions in Maya Architecture: Analysis

and Documentation Techniques Expresiones artísticas en la arquitectura maya:

Técnicas de análisis y documentación

Edited by

Cristina Vidal LorenzoGaspar Muñoz Cosme

BAR International Series 26932014

Published by

ArchaeopressPublishers of British Archaeological ReportsGordon House276 Banbury RoadOxford OX2 [email protected]

BAR 2693

Artistic Expressions in Maya Architecture: Analysis and Documentation Techniques Expresiones artísticas en la arquitectura maya: Técnicas de análisis y documentación

© Archaeopress and the individual authors 2014

ISBN 978 1 4073 1340 5

Printed in England by Information Press, Oxford

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CONTENTSÍNDICE

1A new look at Maya Art and Architecture 7 Cristina Vidal Lorenzo and Gaspar Muñoz Cosme

2GrafitosMayas,unabasededatosinternacional 13Gaspar Muñoz Cosme y Cristina Vidal Lorenzo

3AncientMayaGraffitiatKakab,Yucatán,México 19Karl Herbert Mayer

4El arte privado de una casa maya. LosgrafitosdeTz’ibatnah,Petén,Guatemala 31Milan Kováč

5Mayagraffitiinawiderculturalandgeographic

context 43Jarosław Źrałka

6Las nuevas tecnologías de recreación virtual como herramientas de investigación y difusión

cultural 57Andrea Peiró Vitoria y Nuria Matarredona Desantes

7«Monstruos familiares» en la arquitectura maya deYucatán 69Miguel Rivera Dorado

75

8Métodosavanzadosparaelanálisisydocumentacióndelaarqueología y arquitectura maya: los «mascarones» de ChilonchéyLaBlancaCristina Vidal Lorenzo y Gaspar Muñoz Cosme

91

9Aplicacióndetécnicasfotogramétricasenelestudiodelaarquitectura mayaManuel May Castillo y Beatriz Martín Domínguez

107

10Cuandolosmuroshablan:observacionesydesafíosen Río Bec Luisa Straulino Mainou, Dominique Michelet, Julie Patrois, Nicolas Latsanopoulos, Yareli Jáidar y Emyly González Gómez

125

11Iconografía y secuencia estilística de las cresterías en la micro-región de Río Bec Julie Patrois y Philippe Nondédéo

153

12Vida,muerteyrenacimientodeunmascarón.Interpretación,conservaciónyrevitalizacióndelasdecoraciones monumentales del Grupo H Norte deUaxactún,Petén,GuatemalaMilan Kováč, Alice Desprat y Edy Barrios

165

13The role of New Technology in the study of Maya mural painting: over a century of progress María Luisa Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual, Cristina Vidal Lorenzo and Gaspar Muñoz Cosme

179

14MayaBlue(“MayaGreen”and“MayaYellow”):New Insights into the Maya Blue Technology Antonio Doménech Carbó, Mª Teresa Doménech Carbó, Cristina Vidal Lorenzo and Mª Luisa Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual

Ancient Maya Graffiti at Kakab, Yucatán, Mexico

KarlHerbertMayerInterdisciplinary Association for Maya Studies, Graz

Abstract: Ancient Maya graffiti occur on stuccoed walls of structures. A preliminary check list names 51 sites where graf-fiti have been reported. Many sites present only one or a few examples, whereas at Tikal, in the Rio Bec Zone, at Nakum and La Blanca, a significant number were recorded. Although the Puuc Zone has numerous stone buildings, examples of graffiti are mainly known at Uxmal, Kabah, and Labna, sites featuring just a few examples. An exception is the Puuc site of Kakab, where one Terminal Classic structure displays a large number of graffiti, illustrating human figures, temple-pyramids, and geometrical designs. I visited Kakab in 1992 and 1994 and took analogue photographs from the majority of the graffiti. In 2011 I revisited Kakab securing their documentation through digital photographs. A comparison of these pictures proves that the condition of the graffiti has not suffered essentially from natural forces or the hands of man. The simple method of recording with photographs, the subsequent digital enhancement, and a final drawing of the designs, can be a preliminary step in the direction of a more accurate recording, which requires more equipment, funds, and time. Hitherto unrecorded Maya graffiti are subject to constant damage and destruction. A preliminary record could assist in an effort of preservation, at least in lasting visual records, of this neglected and endangered corpus of murals.

Resumen: Los antiguos grafitos mayas suelen encontrarse en las paredes estucadas de las estructuras arqueológicas. Una lista preliminar menciona la existencia de 51 sitios arqueológicos en los que se ha documentado la presencia de grafitos. Muchos de éstos solo conservan muy pocos ejemplares, a diferencia de Tikal, la región de Río Bec, Nakum y La Blanca, de donde procede una gran cantidad de ellos. A pesar de que la región Puuc posee numerosos edificios pétreos, sólo se ha documentado su escasa presencia en Uxmal, Kabah y Labná. Una excepción lo constituye el sitio de Kakab, donde edificios del Clásico Terminal presentan una gran cantidad de grafitos que representan figuras humanas, templos-pirámide y diseños geométricos. Personalmente visité Kakab en 1992 y 1994 de donde tomé numerosas fotografías de la mayoría de ellos. En 2011 regresé al sitio, tomando en esta ocasión fotografías digitales. Una comparación de estas fotos con las anteriores ha permitido constatar que dichos grafitos no han sido apenas víctimas de las agresiones medio-ambientales o de las realizadas por la mano del hombre. Este sistema preliminar de registro mediante fotografías, trata-miento digital y dibujo supone un primer estadio en la fase previa de un registro más preciso y científico, para la cual es imprescindible disponer de equipos más sofisticados y de más tiempo y fondos. Pero dado que los grafitos mayas suelen estar sometidos a constantes daños y destrucciones pretendemos en este trabajo mostrar cómo el emprender registros preliminares puede contribuir a su preservación o al menos a conservar una imagen de estas manifestaciones murales abandonadas y en peligro de extinción.

Introduction

The ancient Maya created a wide variety of pictorial and hieroglyphic imagery on walls, including modelled stucco reliefs, monochrome and polychrome paintings, charcoal drawings, and incised, cut, gouged or punctuated graffiti on the stuccoed interiors and exteriors of masonry architecture. Archaeologists and art historians frequently designate as graffiti all of these graphic types, including incised images, positive-painted handprints as well as charcoal drawings. However, a graffito is a specific artistic technique that does not involve the use of pigments.

To avoid confusion in descriptions of wall embellishments, it is here proposed that unequivocal and specific terms of imagery techniques should be used1.

The term graffito (plural graffiti) derives from the Italian word graffiare, which means “to scratch”. The Spanish equivalents are grafito and plural grafitos. Among the Classic Maya, architectural graffiti images range from abstract depictions and crude, seemingly senseless scribbles to noteworthy artistic creations depicting rare motifs and complex scenes of anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and mythological figures, sometimes within relatively detailed architectural settings.

1 MAYER 1998: 2004.

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Copyright material: no unauthorized reproduction in any medium

Artistic ExprEssions in MAyA ArchitEcturE. AnAlysis And docuMEntAtion tEchniquEs

The I Workshop Internacional de Grafitos Prehispánicos. Los Grafitos Mayas, held in Valencia, Spain, was organized by Gaspar Muñoz Cosme and Cristina Vidal Lorenzo in December 2008 to focus researchers’ attention on the corpus of Maya graffiti. During the conference it was proposed that an international effort should compile a corpus of known graffiti. To be known as “Base de Datos de Grafitos Mayas” (BDGM), the purpose of this database is to create an accessible, comprehensive, and systematically organized record of all known graffiti. Researchers would add entries to the database as new graffiti were discovered and recorded. The database would provide a permanent resource for all those interested in studying and preserving these often neglected and endangered graphics that preserve valuable pieces of cultural information2.

Recording Systems Used for Documentation

The common recording systems used to document the fragile incised graffiti are varied, but the usual method consists of making copies in the form of line drawings and tracings. Very good copies have been obtained by the technique of tracings on transparent papers or plastic sheets. Photographs of graffiti are rarely published because the incised images are very shallow, often covered by micro-flora, and usually are found in dark rooms of buildings. For publication purposes, sometimes photographs are overlaid with line drawings in order to facilitate the recognition of faint pictures. A new scientific recording system, already applied on Maya mural paintings, is executed with a flatbed digital photo scanner, an efficient innovation to document graffiti rapidly and accurately.

The in situ documentation of graffiti at remote archaeological sites can be time-consuming, difficult, and expensive. In spite of the fact that an adequate recording of the prehispanic images is necessary, in some cases even a hurried and simple method (a few digital photographs enhanced by computer tracings) can result in a preliminary record of the original graffiti. This paper presents an example of this method for recording the previously unpublished graffiti at the minor site of Kakab located in the archaeological-architectural Puuc Zone in the Mexican state of Yucatán.

GraffitiinthePuucRegion

The Puuc region, occupying parts of the Mexican states of Yucatán and Campeche, is known for a multitude of archaeological sites with standing masonry architecture featuring vaults and stuccoed interior walls. Surprisingly these walls are overwhelmingly undecorated and lack painted or incised images. This is in contrast to buildings

2 MUÑOZ and VIDAL 2009:12; see also MUÑOZ and VIDAL in this volume (Chapter 2).

of the adjacent Chenes and Río Bec regions and at Chichen Itza in northern Yucatán, where numerous graffiti and painted walls have been recorded and published.

Surprisingly, only three of the more than fifty known Maya sites with graffiti are located in the Puuc region: Uxmal, Kabah, and Kakab3. Only a single graffito is known from the large city of Uxmal, found in an interior room of the House of the Governor and probably first recorded in 1893 by the Austrian explorer Teobert Maler4. Maler`s copy of this graffito, which portrays a standing human figure richly clad and wearing a large headdress, was first published by Eduard Seler5. The same graffito has also been published by Thomas Gann6, but differs in several details7. The reported graffiti from the Nunnery complex at Uxmal are not incised images, and therefore they are not categorized as graffiti according to the terminology system proposed in this paper8. In his magnum opus on Puuc architecture Harry Pollock reported graffiti in two structures at Kabah, some of which are obviously from early colonial times or later9. In summary, this miniscule number of three incised images confirms the scarcity of graffiti in the Puuc region in spite of the large number of well-preserved ancient masonry buildings with stucco-covered walls in the area.

ArchaeologicalInvestigationsatKakab

The Mexican archaeologist Alfredo Barrera Rubio10 was the first to report a hitherto unpublished site containing numerous graffiti. The discovery was made with the assistance of José Tec Poot and three inhabitants from the village of San Simón in the municipality of Santa Elena, Yucatán, located close to the Campeche border in southwestern Yucatán. In a one page report published in a local newspaper, Barrera Rubio describes his discovery 3 km east of the modern settlement of San Simón, Yucatán, which he named Kakab. The article includes a photograph of the elaborate north façade of the building where inside the graffiti are located. Another published image shows the photograph of a detail of an incised human figure accentuated by a superimposed drawing. Moreover, he illustrates a stone sculpture that the author refers to as a relief panel. This sculpture currently is known as Kakab Stela 1 and is on display in the garden of the Museo Regional de Antropología, Palacio Cantón, in Mérida11.

The site’s name refers to a fertile soil for agriculture. Ka`kab, in the Yukatek Maya language, designates a dark red-brown soil containing abundant organic

3 MAYER 2009: 219.4 MALER 1997: 231.5 SELER 1917: Fig: 125; MALER 1971: 55.6 GANN 1918, 1924: 226. 7 ANDREWS 1999: 243.8 KOWALSKI 1990.9 POLLOCK 1980: 181, 194.10 BARRERA RUBIO 1978.11 MAYER 1991: Pl. 26.

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Karl Herbert Mayer. Ancient Maya Graffiti at Kakab, Yucatán, Mexico

matter and limestone inclusions12. An interesting observation stems from Nicholas Dunning who remarks that Kaccab also can be used to specify soil which has developed on the sites of ancient settlements13.

Barrera Rubio describes Kakab with its primary building resting on an artificially levelled elevation and embellished with a profusely decorated façade of cut stone ornamentation covered with a thin coat of stucco. His important report, which is difficult of access, has been translated into English and is here partially reproduced:

“Close to this masonry structure limestone metates were found as well as domestic ceramics pertaining to the Ceh Pech complex, dating to 800-1000 A.D. In front of the structure, approx. 4 m distant, a cistern (chultun) was noted. Two vaulted rooms remain, the first one with stucco patches adhering to the walls. Parts of the stucco cover were decorated with a large quantity of graffiti, representing persons in a crude style. He observed these incised figures principally on the wall on the north-east side of the first room and counted five personages shown in profile in a procession in the direction of the doorway. The anthropomorphic figures had plumed headgear, their legs were adorned with crossed bands and in their hands they bore diverse objects. The figure closest to the doorway had a pectoral and a musical instrument, a sonaja (a rattle or maraca), in his hands. The following figure held an idol, the third one had an animal mask and carried an unrecognizable object. Beside the third figure was the fifth one, which was rather destroyed. There were more graffiti on other sides and places in the room and some crude figures drawn in black, however of doubtful authenticity.”

Pascale Coulle reproduced Barrera Rubio’s traced photograph in his unpublished thesis and also repeats the original text cited above14.

The next scientific visitor to Kakab was the architect George F. Andrews, who investigated the site in February 1983. He wrote a 5-page report that included a site description, architectural drawings of the main building, and drawings of two complete graffiti figures15. It was Andrews who designated this building as Structure 1. He also noted the chultun found by Barrera Rubio and reported a second one near a group of small mounds approximately 200 m south of Structure 1. The following description of Structure 1 includes some of the details recorded by Andrews in his unpublished manuscript.

Structure 1 is a small masonry building with two parallel rows of rooms: the northeastern rooms are now completely collapsed. Concerning the exterior details of the remaining front façade, Andrews describes its base molding consisting of three parts: rectangular forms at

12 BARRERA MARÍN et al. 1976: 30-31.13 DUNNING 1992: 34.14 COULLE 1993. 15 ANDREWS 1992: 2.

the bottom and on the top and a central band of zigzag design. The two-meter-high lower wall zone from the top of the base to the bottom of the medial molding comprises a carefully cut mosaic design that includes large S-frets superimposed over vertical columns and framed on both sides by vertical bands of diamond motif elements. The corners of the building are formed by large, three-quarter-round columns. The jambs of the rectangular doorway are faced with large stone slabs. Interestingly, there is no stone lintel atop the jambs although there are shallow offsets that likely held some kind of lintel. The medial molding has no decoration and the upper wall zone, approx. 2.3 m high, is undecorated and faced with very roughly cut stone blocks. The façade on the base and lower wall zones comprises a pure Classic Puuc mosaic style.

Andrews designates the first room recorded by Barrera Rubio as Room 3 and the adjacent rear chamber as Room 4, a numbering system retained in this report. Room 3 has a 60 cm thick exterior wall measured at the doorjamb, and its height is approx. 2.10 m from the floor level to the springline. The height of the vault is 2 m from springline to the bottom of the molding below the horizontal, plain capstones, which have a span of approx. 20 cm. The faces of the vault have straight sides. Andrews notes “...numerous graffiti on walls wherever original plaster is still in place. These include human figures and human heads, as well as more abstract, geometrical designs”. Between the two existing chambers is a dividing wall 56 cm thick and a doorway 95 cm wide. Room 4 and Room 3 have numerous graffiti on the inner walls. In printed publications Andrews mentions the distinctive architectural Puuc mosaic style of the Kakab building16. His line drawings of the two graffiti were first published in 1999, sixteen years after he had made the copies17. Unfortunately, the graffiti are erroneously described as from Katab, a prehispanic Maya site in the Chenes zone of Campeche18, a confusing provenance statement and probably a typographical mistake.

I briefly visited Kakab in 1992, 1994, and 2011, accompanied by Stephan Merk, from Augsburg, Germany. We made black-and-white photographs, color slides, and digital photographs of Structure 1 and its graffiti. Merk took detailed measurements of Structure 1 and completed a plan of the building.

The site’s geographical coordinates were determined in 2011 with a hand-held GPS receiver which provided the following readings: Latitude 20° 13.281’ North, Longitude 89° 47.201’ West. This places Kakab 2.5 km east of San Simón Pueblo (20° 13.038´ N, 89°48.680’ W). The ruin is located in a heavily forested area and only local farmers, beekeepers, and hunters may occasionally visit the site. The area contains many archaeological sites that have been recorded by previous explorers (Fig. 1), including the

16 ANDREWS 1986: 34, 1995: 67. 17 ANDREWS 1999: 256.18 MALER 1997: 284.

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nearby site of Chinambalam which is architecturally similar to Kakab19. The relative isolation of Kakab has protected it from vandalism since its discovery thirty-four years ago and lacks modern graffiti or other damage by recent visitors.

Structure 1 originally consisted of four rectangular rooms as described and illustrated by Andrews, with the rear Room 4 at a slightly higher elevation than Room 3 (Figs. 2, 5). Rooms 1 and 2 collapsed in the past. In contrast, Rooms 3 and 4 have survived in relatively good condition as has the splendid north façade (Figs. 3, 4).

In addition to the graffiti, the building is decorated with charcoal line drawings, as mentioned by Barrera Rubio. I photographed and studied these rare drawings and have concluded that they are certainly of prehispanic origin. One drawing represents a standing human

19 MAYER 1992.

figure in a dancing pose similar to those in the incised images, although the technical differences between incised graffiti and charcoal drawings have produced much more elegant figures in the latter instances.

Fig. 1. Map of Kakab and adjacent archaeological sites.(GraphicJ.Sulak,2011).

Fig.4.Kakab,Structure1,northfacade.(PhotoK.H.Mayer,1994).

Fig.5.Kakab,Structure1.Section,Rooms3and4.(DrawingG.F.Andrews,1983).

Fig.2.Kakab,Structure1,plan.(DrawingS.Merk,2011).

Fig.3.Kakab,Structure1,northfacade.(DrawingG.F.Andrews,1983).

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TheGraffitiatKakab

The first, non-altered photograph of a Kakab graffito was published in 2009 although the photograph was taken in 1994 and without artificial light20. Flash photography has proven to be an ineffective technique for recording the Kakab graffiti. Successful photographs have been achieved by using a strong LED flashlight to illuminate the images because the strong raking light makes the incisions highly visible (Fig. 6). Using my photographs taken over a 20-year period, Guido Krempel has created a comprehensive graphic overview of the complex graffiti scene depicted on the northeast interior wall of Room 3 (Fig. 7). He numbered the primary elements of this scene (Elements 1-21), as well as Graffiti 22 and 23 which are separated from the main scene elsewhere on the room’s walls.

20 MAYER 2009: 23, Fig. 13.

Nineteen of the graffiti in Room 3 represent standing human figures, and two, Graffiti 11 and 14, illustrate temples on pyramidal substructures. When considered together, Graffiti 1-21 comprise an intricate narrative tableau that seemingly portrays a complex ritual dance performance within a ceremonial architectural setting. As such, this is one of the most detailed interrelated narrative scenes among the numerous graffiti found at any Classic Maya site.

Each graffito has been documented in three ways, as a photograph, as a line drawing made by Krempel and imposed on the best quality photograph, and Krempel’s drawing without the background photograph. These three graphic documentations are illustrated here by Graffito 11, including its photograph (Fig. 8), a photograph with superimposed drawing (Fig. 9), and the pure drawing (Fig. 10). Below are found preliminary comments on selected Kakab graffiti using Krempel’s numeration as well as the Grf abbreviation applied at Tikal, Guatemala21.

Brief Comments on Some Graffiti at Kakab

Kakab Grf. 11 represents a masonry structure with a wide staircase consisting of thirteen steps, leading to a platform on which rests a vaulted structure. A rectangular element in the middle of the building indicates a doorway. From the upper platform emerges a human torso with a head rendered in profile and facing to the left of the observer. Structure and associated figure are surrounded by two large circles.

21 ORREGO and LARIOS 1983; MAYER 1998.

Fig.6.Kakab,Graffiti2-4.(PhotoK.H.Mayer,2011).

Fig.7.Kakab,OverviewofGraffiti1-23inRoom3.(DrawingG.Krempel,2012).

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Grf. 14 depicts another temple-pyramid identical to that in Grf. 11 but with only nine steps (Figs. 11, 12). Representations of masonry buildings are a frequent subject matter of graffiti in the Maya area, not only in the Chenes, Río Bec, and Chichen Itza areas but also at the Guatemalan sites of Tikal, Nakum, Yaxha, Naranjo, La Blanca, and El Zotz22.

22 GENDROP 1982; ANDREWS 1999; MAYER 2009; VIDAL and MUÑOZ 2009; PATROIS and NONDÉDÉO 2009.

Grf. 1 (Fig. 13) is incomplete due to loss of the stuccoed surface of the wall. It represents a standing human figure with the right arm and half of the head are missing. However, the missing parts of the figure can be reconstructed with a certain degree of confidence based on the many other similar figures in Room 3. For example, like the five figures to the right side of this grouping, the partial figure has its legs open and with the feet pointing in one direction. This pose suggests figural motion such as a dance pose. The figure’s legs are decorated with crossed gaiters, and a fringed loincloth with dangling textile bands hang at the knees. Similarly, a long fringe hangs from the figure’s raised left arm, and a feathered headdress is tied below the chin. Body adornments include a large rectangular pectoral suspended on a cord. The figure grasps a circular object in the raised right hand which may be adorned by a short fringe.

Fig.8.Graffito11.(PhotoK.H.Mayer,2011).

Fig.9.Graffito11.(DrawingG.Krempel,2012).


Fig.12.Graffiti6,13and14.(PhotoK.H.Mayer,2011).


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Grf. 2 (Fig. 14) repeats the figure portrayed on Grf.1. In its right hand the individual holds an axe and not an idol, musical instrument or some other unidentified object as described by Barrera Rubio. This same object is held by the figures in Grf. 1-6 and 7; in all instances its form is that of an axe with a hafted stone blade. The small, round and fringed object held in the figure’s left hand is not a musical instrument but a decorated shield. Axes are not only a weapon but probably also served also as insignia of office and of sacrificial rites. Considered together, the axes and round shields held by the Grf. 1-7 figures surely identify them as warriors and not musicians or ritual specialist.

Grf. 3 and 4 (Figs. 15, 16). As described above, these images depict warriors armed with axe and shield and wearing feathered head adornments tied below their chins.





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Grf. 5 (Figs. 17, 18), previously published by Andrews, renders two warriors23. The figure on the left lacks the round shield of other warrior figures, and he wears an elaborate backrack embellished with long plumes. The lower part of his body is lacking due to erosion of the wall’s surface that includes a thin crack running vertically through the image (see Fig. 18). The dancing warrior on the right is described below.

23 ANDREWS 1999: 256.

Grf. 6 (Fig. 19) was copied in situ in 1983 by Andrews and published in 199924. The figure holds a relatively large round shield on his right forearm and apparently does not wield an axe in his left hand. However, a vertical crack bisects the figure’s left side, which obscures the details of this part of his body.

Grf. 7 (Fig. 20) depicts a unique figure, notable for his tallness, lack of arm shield, and complex headdress. It features an animal head atop his forehead, recalling a serpent with protruding forked tongue. He also is adorned by an elaborate backrack with thick long feathers. The figure’s torso is unusually long and thin, and a wide, curved belt-like object juts forward at his waist. This exceptional figure is the final individual in what is interpreted as the processional scene of the dancing warrior group.

24 Idem.


Fig.17.Graffiti5and6.(DrawingG.F.Andrews,1983).

Fig.20.Graffito7.(DrawingG.Krempel,2012).Fig.18.Graffito5.(DrawingG.Krempel,2012).

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Grf. 15, 16, and 17 (Fig. 21) represent a group of three standing figures, shown in profile. The figure in the middle is larger than the flanking figures and therefore may portray a person of higher rank or importance in the narrative. The scene is surrounded by linear and curvilinear lines of unknown significance.

feathers emerge from the lower end of this framing device. The figure cradles a large, round object, perhaps a bundle, in his left arm against his body. This graffito is a graphic element independent of the performance scene represented in Grf. 1-21. Its exact location has not been recorded.

Grf. 18 (Fig. 22) renders a standing human figure in profile, with outstretched arm and wearing a round pectoral and a long-plumed headdress.

Grf. 19 (Fig. 23) depicts a standing figure facing left. He is adorned with an elongated oval pectoral, a short-plumed headdress, and a feathered backrack, similar to that worn by figure Grf. 7. His raised right hand apparently wields a hafted axe whereas his left arm, bent in front of his torso, lacks the shield held by the other representations of warriors.

Grf. 22 (Fig. 24) represents a particularly realistic portrayal of the human form. The head of this figure was published earlier by Barrera Rubio, although he did not reproduce the finely executed body. The figure is portrayed in profile, facing left and wearing a headdress with relatively wide and long feathers. The headdress includes a framing device embellished with a row of tiny circles which may represent inlays. Two small, horizontal rows of tiny

Fig.21.Graffiti15,16,and17.(DrawingG.Krempel,2012).

Fig.22.Graffito18.(PhotoK.H.Mayer,2011).

Fig.23Graffito19.(DrawingG.Krempel,2012).


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Grf. 23 (Fig. 25) is represented by the lower half of a profile rendering of a human body. A diagonal crack in the wall stucco runs through the figure’s torso, and all details of the figure have been lost above the fissure. The location of this isolated fragment has not been recorded.

ANDREWS, George F., 1999. Maya Graffiti and Classic Maya Elite. In Pyramids and Palaces, Monsters and Masks. Architecture of the Rio Bec Region and Miscellaneous Subjects. The Collected Works, vol. III: 221-261, Labyrinthos, Lancaster.

BARRERA MARÍN, Alfredo, Alfredo BARRERA VÁZQUEZ and Rosa María LÓPEZ FRANCO, 1976. Nomenclatura etnobotánica maya: Una interpretación taxonómica. Colección Científica 36. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México D.F.

BARRERA RUBIO, Alfredo, 1978. “Kakab”, el lugar de la tierra fértil. Novedades de Yucatan, XIII (449).

COULLE, Pascale, 1993. Étude des Graffiti Maya. Unpublished Master’s thesis. Université Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris.

DUNNING, Nicholas P., 1992. Lords of the Hills: Ancient Maya Settlement in the Puuc Region, Yucatán, Mexico. Monographs in World Archaeology, 15, Prehistory Press, Madison.

GANN, Thomas, 1918. The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern Honduras. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 64, Washington D.C.

GANN, Thomas, 1924. In an Unknown Land. Duckworth and Co., London.

GENDROP, Paul, 1982. Representaciones arquitectónicas en los graffiti de la región de Río Bec, Campeche. In Las representaciones de arquitectura en la arqueología de Américas, D. Schávelzon (Ed.), vol. I:129-138, UNAM, México D.F.

KOWALSKI, Jeff Karl, 1990. A Preliminary Report on the 1988 Field Season at the Nunnery Quadrangle, Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico. Mexicon, XII ( 2):27-33.

MALER, Teobert, 1971. Bauten der Maya. Aufgenommen in den Jahren 1886 bis 1905 und beschrieben von Teobert Maler. Monumenta Americana 4, G. Kutscher (Ed.), Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin.

MALER, Teobert, 1997. Península Yucatán. Monumenta Americana 5, H. J. Prem (Ed.), Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin.

MAYER, Karl Herbert, 1991. Maya Monuments: Sculptures of Unknown Provenance, Supplement 3, Verlag Von Flemming, Berlin.

MAYER, Karl Herbert, 1992. The Maya Ruins of Chinambalam, Yucatan. Mexicon XIV (6):109-111.

MAYER, Karl Herbert, 1998. La termininología de la decoración mural maya. La pintura mural prehispánica en México, IV (8-9): 7-10.

MAYER, Karl Herbert, 2009. Ancient Maya Architectural Graffiti. In Los grafitos mayas, C. Vidal and G. Muñoz

The remaining graffiti in Room 3 feature primarily standing human figures wearing loincloths and feather headdresses (Grf. 9, 10, 12, 13, 20, 21) as well as a variety of human profile heads (Fig. 7). Other graffiti are found in Structure 1, but they await official numbering, copies, and commentaries.

In summary, the graffiti of Kakab, a little-known and minor archaeological site in the Puuc hills of Yucatán, comprise the largest known collection in the entire Puuc region. As such, they dramatically increase the miniscule corpus of Late Classic Period graffiti from this area and are additionally notable for the complex performance scene involving a large number of personages in an architectural setting. It is imperative that researchers continue to search for graffiti at sites in the region and make high quality records of the imagery before the forces of nature or the hands of man damage or destroy these first-hand renderings of ancient rituals and public events.

References

ANDREWS, George F., 1983. Kakab. Eugene. Unpublished document.

ANDREWS, George F., 1986. Los estilos arquitectónicos del Puuc: Una nueva apreciación. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México D.F.

ANDREWS, George F., 1992. Architectural Survey of the Lowland Maya Area: List of Sites Investigated by G. F. Andrews. Eugene. Unpublished document.

ANDREWS, George F., 1995. Pyramids and Palaces, Monsters and Masks. Architecture of the Puuc Region and the Northern Plains Area. The Collected Works, vol. I, Labyrinthos, Lancaster.

Fig25.Graffito23.(PhotoK.H.Mayer,2011).

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(Eds.), pp. 13-27. Cuadernos de arquitectura y arqueología maya 2. Editorial UPV, Valencia.

MUÑOZ COSME, Gaspar and Cristina VIDAL LORENZO, 2009. Los grafitos mayas y su difusión científica. In Los grafitos mayas, C. Vidal and G. Muñoz (Eds.), pp. 7-12. Cuadernos de arquitectura y arqueología maya 2. Editorial UPV, Valencia.

ORREGO CORZO, Miguel and Rudy LARIOS VILLALTA, 1983. Reporte de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en el Grupo 5E-II, Tikal. Instituto de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala y Parque Nacional Tikal, Guatemala.

PATROIS, Julie and Philippe NONDÉDÉO, 2009. Los grafitos mayas prehispánicos en la micro-región de Río Bec (Campeche, México). In Los grafitos mayas, C. Vidal and G. Muñoz (Eds.), pp. 30-59. Cudadernos de arquitectura y arqueología maya 2. Editorial UPV, Valencia.

POLLOCK, H. E. D., 1980. The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan and Northern Campeche, Mexico. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 9, Harvard University, Cambridge.

SELER, Eduard, 1917. Die Ruinen von Uxmal. Abhandlungen der Kgl. Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Jahrgang 1917, Phil.Hist. Klasse, 3, Berlin.

VIDAL LORENZO, Cristina and Gaspar MUÑOZ COSME, 2009. Los grafitos de La Blanca. Metodología para su estudio y análisis iconográfico. In Los grafitos mayas, C. Vidal and G. Muñoz (Eds.), pp. 99-118. Cuadernos de arquitectura y arqueología maya 2. Editorial UPV, Valencia.

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ancient maya graffiti at kakab, yucatán, méxico

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