CLASSIC MAYA

RELIEF COLUMNS

by

KARL HERBERT MAYER

Copyright © 1981 by

Karl Herbert Mayer

Translated from the German by Sandra L. Brizee

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, including photographs contained therein, in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xeroxgraphy , photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system is forbidden, without the written permis­sion of the publisher.

ISBN 0-916552-22-5

Prlnted In the Unlted States of Amerlca

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CLASSIC MAYA

RELIEF COLUMNS

by

KARL HERBERT MAYER

ACOMA BOOKS P.O. BOX 4

RAMONA, CALIFORNIA 92065 1981

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. 1 ntrod uction 1

2. Definition 1

3. Previous lnvestigations 3

4. Typology 7

5. Dimension and Mass 7

6. Distribution 8

7. lconography 9

8. Epigraphy 10

9. Chronology 11

10. Summary 12

11. Appendices Appendix 1. A List of Yucatec Relief Columns 13

Appendix 2: A List of Sites Where

Relief Columns Have Seen Located 29

12. List of Illustrations

Plates 29

Drawings 30

13. Acknowledgements 30

14. Bibliography 31

15. Illustrations following text

1. INTRODUCTION

Relief carvings on stone of the Maya culture in Mesoamerica can be divided into two basic categories: minor, portable sculptures, and those conceived as major, non-portable sculptures.

The major sculptures are generally designated as monuments in Maya archaeology. Since they were, for the most part, carved from a single block of stone, they are also called monoliths. An une­quivocal definition of "monument" has not yet been formulated. Raymond Sidrys (1978:155) has suggested a definition with regard to the mass of a sculpture and writes: "A megalith (or monolith) is defined ... as a !arge stone with a mass of at least 500 kg (1/2 metric ton) that has been transported by ancient man to serve a cultural function."

Stone monuments with reliefs can be divided into two sub-categories: (a) free-standing, individual monuments; and (b) architectural monuments or architectural elements.

Individual monuments include the following types: stelae, altars, zoomorphic figures, anthropomorphic figures, Chac Mol figures, stand­ard bearers, phalli, thrones, stone boxes, incense burners, sarcophagi, boulder sculptures, and so forth.

The architectural monuments, for instance, parts of buildings or ball courts, represent integral com­ponents of these or of other architectural structures and include the following types: columns, pillars, atlantean figures, doorway jambs, lintels, cornices, moldings, wall panels, capstones, corbels, steps and stairs, phalli, facade figures, ball-court markers and rings, and so forth.

Because of their availability and quantity, as well as their epigraphic and iconographic relevance, studies of Maya stone monuments have hitherto been ·concerned predominantly with stelae, altars of various forms, lintels and wall tablets. The spatial distribution of these types of monuments has been evidenced throughout almost the entire Maya Lowland area of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras.

Monographie studies of particular monument types and even clear definitions of these types are generally lacking in Maya archaeology, and the terms used are often vague and contradictory. A particularly obvious example of this fact refers to columnar supports with reliefs, which occur, not throughout the entire Maya region, but have a restricted range of distribution in the Northern Lowlands, especially the northern part of the Yucatan peninsula.

These striking Yucatec relief doorway columns are scarcely mentioned in the literature on the Precolumbian Maya culture. They are very rarely described and, considering hitherto published references, have been underrated, neglected, or ig­nored. Tatiana Proskouriakoff (1950, 1962) has

published, or at least referred to, approximately 25 relief columns. Harry Pollock (1980) has published additional examples of this monument type. Ac­cording to the present and limited knowledge on the subject, the corpus of known relief columns consists of more than 90 objects.

From a quantitative point of view alone, the columns currently known show their relevance; they evidently represent an essential type of Maya stone monument, so that it appears necessary to specify, if only in a preliminary and limited manner, a defini­tion and typology, to investigate their spatial and temporal distribution, and to describe the typical forms.

In order to simplify the citations on the particular columns, all the specimens have been provided with abbreviated designations (see Appendix 1 ).

In order to distinguish between the different types and stylistic variants, 30 columns have been il­lustrated here, including 14 which are being published here for the first time.

The objective of this preliminary survey is to call attention to a not very well-known type of monumental Maya sculpture, to make accessible a little-known aspect of Maya sculptural expression, and, at the same time, to give encouragement to future and more detailed investigations.

2. DEFINITION

The Yucatec relief columns under discussion are monolithic architectural elements more than 110 cm high, in bas-relief or high-relief, which function as supporting elements within a stone structure. Architectural supports include not only columns but also pillars. Columns are defined here as supports of approximately cylindrical shape and with round (oval or circular) cross-section. In contrast, pillars are square or rectangular in cross-section.

A clear distinction between columns and pillars has not always been made in the archaeological literature concerned with the Maya region; therefore, a conclusive terminological differentia­tion appears necessary.

Only those doorway columns which show figurative or textual decoration are discussed; omitted are columns with geometric decoration, often in high-relief, which are reported, for example, from Kewick (Kiuic), Yucatan, and ltzimte­Bolonchen, Campeche (Pollock 1980:361, Fig. 605-555, Fig. 929).

The Yucatec relief columns are frequently equipped, at the upper end, with a cover plate, which performs a static function; it can consist of an independent stone, or be carved from a single block along with the column. The cover plates are generally rectangular, but a cylindrical specimen has also been found.

In the archaeology of the Old World, these elements have been customarily referred to with

such terms as . capital or abacus. These designations are inaccurate or inadequate in formal and functional respects; nevertheless, the generally used designation capital shall be retained here. These architectural elements are frequently embellished with inscriptions.

Columns and capitals are treated here as one en­tity, whereas the lintels lying on top of them should be regarded as individual architectural elements.

To further the understanding of these monolithic forms, other columnlike monuments and objects, designated as columns, will be enumerated in the following text. To this class pertain cone-shaped or truncated coneshaped "altars" from the Puuc zone in Campeche and Yucatan, miniature columns, split columns, small columns representing elements of the ornamentation on facades, cylindrical stelae, atlantean figures, and feathered-serpent pillars in the so-called Maya-Toltec style, as well as Central American statues in the form of columns.

In the Puuc zone, sculptured and unsculptured columnar stone monuments occur very frequently. The horizontal cross-section of these is ap­proximately circular. These monuments taper towards the bottom, that is, the diameter of the base is less than the diameter at the upper end. Therefore, they differ in fundamental morphological aspects from the almost cylindrical columns. Eduard Seler (1917, PI. 35, 1) referred to this freestanding monument type as picote, after the Spanish designation·.

A typical example of this type, often called "column altar," is a sculpture which was found south of the Palace of the Governor in Uxmal (Holmes 1895:PI. 7, Seler 1917:PI. 35, 1). lt is 145 cm high; the diameter of the base measures 53.5 cm, and the upper diameter is 66 cm. The existence of a hieroglyphic inscription on the monolith serves as an indicator of the original orientation and proves that the base is the end with the smaller diameter. William Holmes (1895) described this sculpture as an "inscribed stela or column"; today it is on exhibit in the garden of the Ermita de Santa lsabel church in Merida, Yucatan.

Harry Pol lock ( 1970) has generally attri buted comparable, but frequently unsculptured, column­altars to the Puuc zone, but they have also been confirmed in the Chenes zone. Proskouriakoff (1950: Figs. 93 a-e) has published similar objects from the Puuc sites of Kabah and Labna. A series of other objects which feature these particular characteristics is known from Uxmal. Sylvanus Morley (1970) has reported 13 so-called "truncated cones" on the "stela platform" in Uxmal. These he considered functionally to be altars (Altars a, b, c, e, g, h, i, k, o, s, v, x, and y). These sculptures have a height of 44 to 95 cm. A typical example of such a conical altar is Altar "i," with a height of 38 cm, a lower diameter of 31 cm, and an upper diameter of 35 cm. Pollock (in Morley 1970:161) has correctly

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noted that Morley was ignorant of the original oriell::..__...--­tation of this small altar: "Strangely, Morley does not seem to recognize these 'truncated cones' or 'trun­cated stones' as the typical tapered-column altar common throughout the so-called Puuc, or hill region of Yucatan and Campeche. There is ample evidence from sculptured examples, some from the ruins of Uxmal, that these monuments originally stood with the large end (i.e., greatest diameter) at top rather than at bottom as assumed by Morley."

Neither the column-altar from the Palace of the Governors in Uxmal, nor the rather low conical altars serve as supporting elements in structures; few of these objects have reliefs.

In addition to the conical sculptures, Morley (1970:161-162) has also confirmed 12 "cylindrical columns" from the stela platform in Uxmal. Their heights are between 34 and 97 cm, and their diameters range between 25 and 36 cm (Altars d, f, j, 1, m, n, p, q, r, t, u, and w); the dimensions of these cylindrical stones are much smaller than the architectural doorway columns (cf. Morley 1970:Fig. 5) .

In the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History there are two small columnar limestone sculptures which are 58 cm high and have a diameter of 24 cm (Mayer 1979b: Nos. 21, 22). The bas-reliefs on both colonnettes, which apparently come from the same, but as yet unknown site, show standing male figures.

Pollock (1980:271, Fig. 468) describes and il­lustrates a colonnette, 55 cm high, with a diameter of 18.5 cm, with a bas-relief covering three-quarters of the circumference, said to be from Uxmal.

Somewhat larger is a fragmentary miniature column from which a piece of the lower part is miss­ing, and which was exhibited in Paris in 1971 (Karner 1971:No. 45). This object is 57 cm high and has a diameter of 27 cm. The relief portrays a human figure, turned to the left, with headdress and a large necklace. The standing figure is armed with a lance. A rough estimate of the original height of the column is 80 to 90 cm and falls, therefore, es­sentially below the average height of the doorway columns dealt with here. The sculptures from Ux­mal, in Los Angeles and Paris, correspond, both for­mally and stylistically, to architectural columns, yet their size indicates that they are not part of a doorway. The function of these miniature columns is unknown.

Colonnettes and split columns appear frequently as elements in facade decorations on structures in the Puuc and Chenes zones. Small split columns, which form panels and may also show bas-reliefs, are particularly known from Santa Rosa Xtampak, a major ruin in the Chenes zone (Pollock 1970:Fig. 70). They are relatively small, and in no instance did they serve as supports for doorways.

In Uxmal, Teobert Maler photographed a round stone monument which he describes as a column

fragment with glyphs (Maler 1913, Vol. 2; Pollock 1980:266). This monument is definitely part of an object which originally consisted of several sec­tions, and cannot be associated with monolithic columns.

Cylindrical sculptures of unknown function have also been referred to as stelae; examples are a stela of unknown origin in the St. Louis Art Museum, and Stela 11 from Copan, Honduras.

Since 1966, the St. Louis Art Museum houses a cylindrical limestone sculpture, which is 57 cm high, has a diameter of 23 cm, and whose circumference at the base is 71 cm and 64 cm at the upper end. The original height is unknown, since the monument was sawed off at the base (Liman and Durbin 1975; Liman 1977; Mayer 1979b: No. 56). A typological determination of this unusual object, which shows a hieroglyphic text of 16 glyph-blocks, is problematical. lt has been described not only as a stela, but also as a "phallic stela with glyphs." A provenance from Campeche and Yucatan is noted but the so-called "Emblem Glyph" of Bonampak which appears in the text, indicates instead the Usumacinta zone in Chiapas, Mexico, or the Peten of Guatemala. A Northern Maya Lowlands provenance very likely is out of question.

Stela 11 from Copan (Maudslay 1889-1902, PI. 112a-c) is cylindrical, is 108 cm high and has a diameter of 36 to 39 cm. lt is improbable that the monument, with a bas-relief covering the entire cir­cumference like the piece in St. Louis, can be con­sidered an architectural element.

Architectural supports in "Maya-Toltec" style are found primarily in Chichen ltza, Yucatan, and will not be discussed here. These portray predominant­ly anthropomorphic figures and are generally referred to as "atlantean" figures (see Ruz Lhuillier 1955:41 ). Also not dealt with are the Chichen ltza supports in the form of feathered serpents, which are composed of several sections (Coe 1971 :PI. 73; Morley 1956: PI. 40b).

Proskouriakoff (1950:169, Figs. 105d, e, f) has published three stone sculptures from Mayapan, Yucatan, and designated them as "column figures." Since one of these decorative architectural sculp­tures, representing a woman (Proskouriakoff 1950: Fig. 105e; Proskouriakoff 1962:156, Fig. 9a), has a tenon on the back to anchor the figure to a wall, this monument certainly did not function as a doorway column. As a result, the three Mayapan statues decorated in high-relief (Proskouriakoff 1962:156, Fig. 9a, b, d) are not considered here as columns, but as facade figures.

Proskouriakoff (1950: Fig. 98d) and Pollock 1980:394; Fig. 658) published a doorway support from Xcochkax, Campeche, and designated the monument as a column; because the cross-section of the shaft upon which a high-relief figure is at­tached is rectangular, ttte Xcochkax monolith is in­deed a pillar.

Columnar stone monuments are also found out-3

side of the Maya sphere, especially in Central America. Statues which are almost cylindrical are frequently found in Nicaragua (Baudez 1979: Figs. 77-79, 83-86, 89-90). They obviously have no architectural function and must be viewed as free­standing figures.

3. PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS

Pollock (1980:276) refers to "four columns with figures of warriors carved on them" at the archaeological site of Nohpat, four kilometers southeast of Uxmal in the Puuc zone, which might be doorway columns and were reported in an article entitled "Dos dias en Nohpat," ("Registro Yucateco," Vol. 2:261-272, Merida, 1845); no details are known about these sculptures, nor have they been rediscovered; therefore, it is not certain if they can be considered as doorway columns.

In 1881, the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde in Berlin acquired the extensive and important archaeological collection of the Spanish merchant Florentino Jimeno, who had assembled it during a three-decade sojourn in the city of Campeche, Mex­ico. The various archaeological objects came predominantly from the Maya area and include larger stone sculptures, such as an excellently preserved carved stone column (PI. 1 ), and also four fragments from columns. In Jimeno's handwritten catalogues (1869, 1872), which are preserved in the archives of the museum in Berlin, the provenance of the items is noted in only a few instances; no columns are listed and consequently no provenance is recorded. Morley (1937-1938, Vol. IV:419) designated the complete column (Berlin Column 1; Museum Catalogue No. IV Ca 6135) as a stela and stated as place of origin "Campeche?." Walter Krickeberg (1950:11) and Dieter Eisleb (1974:35) vaguely stated "Yucatan"; this presumably indicates the Yucatan Peninsula and not the present Mexican state of the same name. Krickeberg (1950:27) took an interest in finding out the origin of the monuments and mentioned briefly the "larger stone monuments from the Jimeno Collection which came from China, Yaxcab, and Champoton, three sites in the vicinity of the city of Campeche (including a stela with figurative carving which 1 hope to report on elsewhere)." However, he has published no further relevant data. The sites of China and Yaxcab are not cited in the official archaeological atlas for the state of Campeche (Muller 1960), whereas the well­known Champoton, also called Chakanputun, is listed (Muller 1960:28) but without reference to the find of a carved column there. Ralph L. Roys (1957: Map 17) published a map of the province of Chan­putun and Canpuch, from the time of conquest, showing the locations of China and Yaxcab (Tiyax­cab). China lies less than 10 km southeast of Campeche, and Yaxcab is about 20 km northeast of this city.

Not too far from China and Yaxcab lie the archaeological sites of Acanmul and Cansacbe,

where carved columns have been verified . The provenance of the columns in Berlin from the sites listed by Krickeberg, with the exception of Cham­poton which is approximately 60 km southeast of the city of Campeche, therefore appears plausible.

The relatively complete column from the Jimeno Collection, Berlin Column 1, incorrectly referred to as a "stela" by various authors, is on exhibit in the Voelkerkunde Museum in Berlin. lt is 183 cm high and has a diameter of 49 cm . In spite of the fact that a few portions are missing on the lower right and upper left sides, and a fissure runs diagonally through the middle, it is well preserved. A complex design, framed by undecorated horizontal bands, covers the front and side sections of the monument. The back shows a narrow, plain surface. A simplified drawing of the column was published by Krickeberg (1950:11 ); Karl Herbert Mayer (1978: PI. 41) published the first photograph and a roll-out drawing of the entire carving was published by Lawrence Mills (1977:102). Roll-out drawings of relief columns (cf. Pollock 1980:514, Fig. 863a) are superior to photographs, which usually show only part of the carved design on cylindrical monuments.

Eisleb (1974:35) describes the Berlin Column 1 as follows:

"The limestone column from Yucatan is decorated with a relief whose baroque diversity is difficult to unravel. lt shows a priest or ruler in rich vestments. He is carrying an immense helmet in the shape of a wide-open snake's jaw, from which hangs a cleft tongue reaching down to his feet. In the right hand he is holding an asymmetrical scepter. The entire figure is dressed in intertwined snakes and un­dulating bunches of feathers. Small attendant figures stand on both sides."

Certain stylistic peculiarities, for example the squarish and angular portrayal of the snake's head and intertwined bands, the accentuated shape of the earplug, and so forth, appear in a very similar form on Stela 7 from ltzimte-Bolonchen, Campeche (von Euw 1977:19) and support the suggestion that this monument may have come from this region of Campeche (Mayer 1978:29).

The four fragments of columns in the Jimeno Collection, published for the first time in 1979 (Mayer 1979b: Plates 1-4), are kept in storage at the Berlin museum.

Fragment 1 (Museum Catalogue No. IV Ca 6136; Berlin Column 2) is the lower half of a column which is presently 79 cm high and has a circumference of 155 cm. Depicted are two figures standing opposite each other and seen in profile; the one on the right is male; the left, possibly female (Mayer 1979b, PI. 1 ).

Fragment 2 (Museum Catalogue No. IV Ca 6137; Berlin Column 3) is the lower half of a doorway column and corresponds stylistically and in content to the image of Fragment 1. The object is 90 cm high, and the circumference measures 159 cm. Por­trayed are two personages standing opposite each other; the figure on the left is male; on the right is a woman with a long robe reaching down to the ankle.

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Between the figures is a badly damaged or­namented element, possibly part of a piece of textile (Mayer 1979b, PI. 2) .

Fragment 3 (Museum Catalogue No. IV Ca 6138; Berlin Column 4) is the, center third of a column (Mayer 1979b, PI. 3) which shows striking parallels with Berlin Column 1, and originally depicted at least two human figures. The actual height is 66 cm , the circumference 166 cm. In the center is a pec­toral like the one which the main figure on Berlin Column 1 wears; it resembles Thompson's (1962:165) glyph T-552 ("Crossed Bands"). On the right side is a round shield decorated with fringes. In the center of the shield is a stylized representation of the head of Tlaloc, the Mexican rain god. Frontally-depicted Tlaloc heads are known on shields in the Northern Lowlands from the sites of Cacabbeec (Pollock 1980:532, Fig. 894) and Xcalumkin (Proskouriakoff 1950: Fig. 94f; Franco 1966: PI. 25, left) in Campeche. The two sites in the Puuc zone are not far from each other and this fact could be significant in attempting to establish the provenance for the columns in Berlin. To the right below the Tlaloc shield is the head and part of the ·shoulders of a dwarf looking toward the left. The manner of representation and the head and ear decorations corresponds to the portrayal of the dwarf on Berlin Column 1.

Fragment 4 (Museum Catalogue No. IV Ca 6139; Berlin Column 5), the upper th ird of a doorway column, is the equivalent of Berlin Column 1. Depicted here is part of a frontal human face, which protrudes from an ornate headdress in the form of an enormous open monster jaw, and decorated with plumes and flower symbols (Mayer 1979b, PI. 4). The actual height is 62 cm, the circumference 162 cm. The iconographic similarities to the Berlin Column 1 are so apparent that there is a distinct possibility that the Berlin Columns 1 and 5 together formed the entrance to a building. lt is also possible that Berlin Column 4 came from the same structure, or at least from the same site. A suggestion that Fragments 3 and 4 are parts of a single column has not been verified.

While the exact provenance of these stone columns which reached Europe so long ago from the Northern Maya Lowland& is still undetermined, the Austrian explorer Teobert Maler was probably the first to find a few relief columns in situ at the end of the past century.

At the beginning of March, 1887, Maler visited the ruins of Dsecilna, located seven kilometers from Hacienda Yaxche, Yucatan. In a badly damaged structure with three interior rooms he discovered, on the east side, two columns with portraits in high­relief (PI. 2, left). He described his find as follows (Maler 1895:283):

"While searching this unsightly heap of rubble, 1 noticed the upper parts of two columns, which at one time must have supported the wooden beams (because 1 did not find a

stone lintel) over the triple entranceway to tlie middle chamber. After a closer study of the two columns, 1 found that they had on their front figures almest in the full round, and 1 at once instructed my Indians to cut poles from trees of hard wood, which replace completely iron crowbars dur­ing the excavations. We went briskly to work and excavated both figures all the way to the foot. One of the figures on these columns is portrayed as a stout, pot-bellied per­sonality dressed in feathered or fringed robes. He has a masked face, is wearing a necklace and a kind of wreath or circular container on his paunch. Under the right arm which is pressed against the body this Maya Bacchus holds a star­shaped, four-pronged object; the left hand is raised.

"The other figure is emaciated and standing on a skull. He is naked , except for a simple loincloth around his waist. He is likewise wearing a necklace and has a bat headdress. In his raised right hand this batman wields a round object, and in the left he holds a knarled staff."

Maler (1895: Abb. 18, 19) published two photographs of these figure columns and also recorded their dimensions: the height measures 150 cm; the diameter, excluding the projecting figures, is 45 cm.

On March 31 and April 1, 1887, Maler visited the ruins of Xcalumkin in Campeche. In the "Palace of the lnscriptions" he discovered two columns, whose low-reliefs revealed hieroglyphic inscriptions (PI. 3); Maler (1902:202) described the find as follows:

"The two columns which support the stone lintels over the entrance, are elliptical in cross-section, in order to present a more suitable· surface for the carved glyphs on the south side. On each column, the glyphs are arranged into two ver­tical rows of six panels each .. . The cover plate (abakos) of the columns - whose front surface likewise exhibits designs - forms the connection to the !arge stone lintels, whose front faces are adorned with a horizontal row of glyphs."

Maler made an excellent photograph of the south facade of the "Palace of the lnscriptions" at Xcalumkin (Maler 1902:201 ). Photographs which partially show both columns (Xcalumkin Columns 1 and 2) were later published by Thomas Gann (1924, opposite p. 184) and lgnacio Marquina (1964: Fotos 340, 341, 342).

In Teobert Maler's handwritten notes, presently located in the archives of the lbero-Amerikanisches Institut in Berlin, the measurements of these in­scribed columns are 163 cm high with a diameter varying between 57 and 64 cm.

Also in 1887 Maler found, in the ruins of Dsehkab­tun in the Chenes zone, "a short, thick column with oval cross-section, whose extremely weathered bas-relief remains could not be recorded anymore" (Maler 1902:228-230); because he failed to publish any additional data on the monument it is not entire­ly clear whether the sculpture at Dsehkabtun is a columnar altar or a doorway column.

In his hitherto unpublished work "Peninsula Yucatan," Volume 1, likewise conserved at the lbero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin, Maler reports on his visit to the ruins of Xcoralche, about two kilometers northeast of Tabi, in the state of Yucatan, where he located two stelae with reliefs and inscrip-

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tions, and two carved columnar monuments in a plaza. A sbort distance from Xcoralche he found a third column with carvings. A preliminary recon­naissance of Xcoralche took place in November, 1888, and Maler made all together four photographs of the discovered sculptures; copies of these photographs are in the lbero-Amerikanisches Institut in Berlin. Maler reports on "two short, thick columns" in the plaza; one of these is partly visible in a photograph (PI. 5, top; Maler 1913, Vol. 2; Pol lock 1980:207, Fig. 387) with the caption "Xcoralche. Plaza de Sacrificios. Estelas y colum­nas." The column is a broken monument with a horizontal hieroglyphic inscription at the upper end . According to Maler, the relief shows "a richly adorn­ed personality with a hieroglyphic band above, en­circling the column."

The second probable doorway column at Xcoralche was designated, like the first, as a "sacrificial column,'' but was neither photographed, nor described.

Only of the third column at Xcoralche exists a complete, but unpublished, photograph as well as a description; Maler (n.d.) reports on this sculpture as follows:

"Probably originating at the same sacrificial place, but carried off out into the field, 1 found a column with severely weathered bas-relief designs. The actual length (height) of the column measures 123 cm. Two richly dressed men are standing opposite each other; each is holding a long or­namented staff, one staff ends in a mammal's - the other ends in a bird's head. A row of large hieroglyphs encircles the top of the column."

lt is not entirely certain if the columnar monuments of Xcoralche are doorway columns. For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that Maler discovered, not far from Xcoralche, other major sculptures of stone which are possible columns. In one of Maler's notebooks (Inventar No. 6) in the lbero-Amerikanisches Institut, which con­tains records of his travels in 1888 and 1889, there is on page 11 a sketch of a fragmentary, 145 cm high sculpture, which depicts a standing human figure in front view, dressed in a loincloth and with both arms raised. In an entry Maler comments on this atlanteanlike sculpture as follows: "1 /4 legua southwest of Xcoralche three figures were found, all three in similar positions, etc„ like the one drawn here."

Also at the end of the past century, the American archaeologist William H. Holmes discovered a Maya ruin and a relief column in situ of which a descrip­tion, photograph and drawing were published (Holmes 1895:64-69, PI. IV, p. 78). On the island of Cozumel, lying in the Caribbean Sea off the east coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico, and about one mile north of the town of San Miguel de Cozumel, he en­countered the remains of a small stone structure close to the seashore. The entrance was divided by two round columns. While the right hand column

was undecorated, the left showed a grotesque, kneeling figure in high-relief (PI. 2, right). The upper part of the figure column ends in a cylindrical, low cover plate, which Holmes designated as a capital. The carved column and the cover plate were ap­parently carved from a single block of stone. The sculpture was covered with six layers of stucco and paint; above the head, reddish impressions of a human hand were recognizable. Holmes wrote that the figure was probably female; however, he vacillated between "human being" and "man-like ape" interpretations.

The ruins were named "San Miguel" by Holmes, later by George Howe (1911 :549) as "Rancho Santa Rita," by Samuel Lothrop (1924:154-155) again as San Miguel, and then by Alberto Escalona Ramos (1946:562) as "Miramar." The last assigned name is currently regarded as proper (Freidel 1975:112).

Esca!ona Ramos published exact data about the Maya ruins at Miramar, based on his archaeological research at the site. The structure in which the figure column was found was designated by him as Structure 1. Both columns are 120 cm high; the drum-shaped capital is 20 cm high and has a diameter of 57 cm. In reference to the depicted figure, he is of the opinion that a skeleton or a death-god is represented.

There are other divergent opinions. Howe (1911 :550) names the effigy a "grotesque figure of a god, more suggestive of Mexico than Yucatan," and David Freidel (1975: 112) interprets it as a woman giving birth.

Structure 1 at Miramar was destroyed during the process of building a hotel; the relief column was damaged, and conveyed to the regional museum at San Miguel de Cozumel, where it is exibited at pre­sent. The original capital is missing.

Escalona Ramos (1946:553-555) reported on two more relief doorway columns on the island of Cozumel. In the ruins of La Expedicion he found a group of buildings consisting of three structures. The most easterly-lying edifice 'has four columns, in which the two in the center showed human representations. This building was designated as "Building of the Two Figures" or "Structure III." The figure columns have a diameter of 55 cm and show two plainly depicted, naked, standing male figures with raised arms and exceedingly large heads seen from the front. Only a simple sketch but no photographs were published (Escalona Ramos 1946:612).

During recent archaeological work of the "Cozumel Archaeological Project" in 1972, at least one of the columns published by Escalona Ramos was rediscovered . Jeremy Sabloff and William Rathje (1973:461) report: " ... we ... rediscovered an Atlantean-like phallic figure which had first been found by Escalona Ramos. lnterestingly enough, upon clearing the base of the column on which the figure was sculpted, it could be seen that at some

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date after the original sculpture, the phallus was covered by a stucco skirt."

Sabloff (written communication, 1979) has observed a third column with a human representa­tion at La Expedicion. This very eroded column (La Expedicion Column 3) was found in Complex-1, in the southern structure which was designated as the "Edificio de la Escalera," or Structure II by Escalona Ramos.

In a 1942 catalogue of the holdings of the regional museum at Campeche, Raul Pavon Abreu briefly described all together eight relief columns which came from Acanmul (No. 70), Cansacbe (No. 12), Xcalumkin (Nos. 57 and 60), Xcocha (No. 63) , Xculoc (Nos. 8 and 10), and Yaxcabacal (No. 90). A single column, Xcocha Column 1, appears in a photograph in the catalogue.

Edwin M. Shook (1940) reports on the find of relief columns in the ruins of Oxkintok, Yucatan, in Structure 3C7, a structure in the typical architectural style of the Puuc zone, and illustrated one column (Oxkintok Column 2) in three views (Fig. 7).

In 1950 Tatiana Proskouriakoff published the most comprehensive documentation and analysis of relief doorway columns to date. In a study of Classic Maya sculpture she presented illustrations of 19 columns: Acanmul 1 (Fig. 100c); Calkini 1 and 2 (Figs. 105a and b); Cansacbe 1 (Fig. 99a); Chilib 1 (Fig. 100b); Dzitbalche 1 (Fig. 98f); Maxcanu 1 (Fig. 100f); Oxkintok 1, 2, 3, 4 (Figs. 96f, a, band g); Sayil 1 and 2 (Figs. 102f and g); Xcocha 1, 2, 3 (Fig. 1 OOa; Figs. 99d and e); Xculoc 1 and 2 (Figs. 100i and h); Yaxcopoil 1 (Fig.100d). Later, Proskouriakoff(1951) published drawings of three more doorway columns: Oxkintok 2 (Fig. 4a); Oxkintok 4 (Fig . 4b) and Chilib 1 (Fig. 5a).

A decade later, Proskouriakoff (1962: Fig . 11 o) published an illustration of an unusual column which came from Structure Q-113a in Mayapan, Yucatan. This atypical megalithic column was wider at the top and remotely resembles the column altars of the Puuc zone; it was, however, firmly designated as an architectural supporting column by both Proskouriakoff (1962:161) and A. Ledyard Smith ( 1962:230).

Sir J. Eric S. Thompson published two more columns with hieroglyphic inscriptions from Xcalumkin, Campeche (1962: PI. 13).

Two columns of unknown provenance which are cur~ntly on display in European museums (Berlin Column 1, Paris Column 1) were described and il­lustrated by Mayer (1978: Nos. 33 and 11 ). Ad­ditional columns and column fragments of unknown place of origin (Berlin Columns 2-5, New York Column 1 and Worcester Column 1) were published by Mayer ( 1979: Plates 3, 4, 1, 2, 52 and 77).

Lawrence Mills informed the author (written com­munication, 1976) of his studies on relief columns from the Puuc zone and reported the find of columns which are embedded in the walls of a

village church in Yucatan that had never been registered or published before.

In April, 1978, Mills and the author visited that church which is located in the small village of Paraiso, or Hacienda Paraiso, near Maxcanu, Yucatan. A series of sculptured archaeological stone objects are embedded in the church facade; more pieces are located at the entrance to the church and at the churchyard wall. There are relief fragments, columns in high~ and low-relief, stone blocks with short hieroglyphic texts and door jambs.

By questioning the residents of Paraiso, it was learned that the carved monuments came from the ruins of Sta. Barbara, about three to four kilometers north of the village. According to the informants, part of the sculptures were transported to Paraiso in 1912. One column on the left side of the church bears a painted date "1969," so it may be assumed that other monuments were brought in from Sta. Barbara at a later time, too.

During an inspection of the ruins of Sta. Barbara, which have not been mentioned in the archaeological literature before 1980 (Mayer 1980), and which were not catalogued in the 1939 official "Atlas Arquelologico de la Republica Mexicana," numerous architectural remains were seen. These are mostly in the Puuc style and include cylindrical sculptures, but there were no entire monuments or relief columns visible on the site.

To date, the Sta. Barbara doorway columns in Paraiso represent the most numerous recorded ex­amples of this type of monument from an archaeological site. The sculptured columns observed in the church walls and in the immediate vicinity of the church comprise eight items.

With eight relief doorway columns, Sta. Barbara takes first place for the occurrence of this monu­ment type, followed by Xcalumkin with six and Acanmul and Oxkintok with five each. During the very briet visit to Paraiso in 1978, the columns from Sta. Barbara were photographed and some of them published later (Mayer 1980, Figs. 3-6). During a second visit in 1980 the author photographed and also took measurements of all columns (see Plates 9, 10, 11 , and Appendix 1 ).

Harry Pollock published recently (1980) extensive data on several doorway columns from the Puuc zone and published excellent photographs and roll­out drawings of the monuments; some of the columns were published for the first time.

In 1978 and 1980 the author recorded and photographed many previously unpublished, and for the most part unidentified, relief columns found in public collections in Campeche, Campeche; in Chetumal, Quintana Roo; in Hecelchakan, Campeche; and in Merida, Yucatan. Several of these columns are illustrated here and data are to be found in Appendix 1.

7

4. TYPOLOGY

The monolithic relief columns of the Northern Maya Lowlands are in need of more accurate research and particularly of morphological/ typological differentiation. They can, however, be tentatively divided into two basic categories, based on their external form:

Type A: Columns with low-relief Type B: Columns with high-relief figures on the

front Type A columns occur more frequently than Type B columns. Of a sample of 48 columns, for instance, 35 belong to Type A and only 13 to Type B.

Neither type appears to have a definite or limited range of distribution. The rarer Type B appears not only in Campeche and Yucatan but also in Quintana Roo.

Even though a single site may be limited to columns of one particular type, such as Type A in Xcalumkin, and Type B in Dsecilna, one cannot limit the individual types to one area; for example, both types occur in Sta. Barbara.

The basic shape for Type A monoliths is ap­proximately cylindrical; often the cross-section is oval. Several columns show a marked entasis. The reliefs on this form are shallow.

The basic shape of Type B monoliths consists of two distinct entities, namely a cylindrical shaft and a high-relief figure sculptured thereon. These figures project noticeably, so that one has the impression that the three-dimensional human figures were . bound to a pole. In the art of the Classic Maya, strongly accentuated portraits of figures on architectural monuments are not limited to doorway columns. This particular feature occurs, for exam­ple, on the jamb and on a pillar of a structure at Xcochkax in the Puuc zone (Pollock 1980:395, Fig. 658).

The capitals on relief columns are generally rec­tangular (PI. 15, right); so far, the single known ex­ception is the cylindrical capital on Miramar Column 1 (PI. 2, right).

5. DIMENSION AND MASS

In order to determine the average height of Yucatec relief columns, a sample size of 40 specimens was investigated and was found to be 156 cm. The tallest column in the sample is Berlin Column 1, with 183 cm. The shortest is the atypical column from Mayapan, which is only 116 cm high. lt should be noted that the entranceways on the buildings, for which these columns served as sup­ports, were, however, generally higher because the height of the capitals has to be added to the height of the columns.

Using a sample of 44 columns, the average

diameter of a relief doorway column of Type A was found to be 53, 60 cm. The widest column, with 62 cm, is from Cansacbe; the smallest diameter, with 42 cm, is a column from Acanmul.

A sample of 22 items was used to determine the average circumference, which is 161,27 cm for Type A columns.

In order to plot the variations in the ratio of diameter to overall height, 16 columns were ex­amined and an index computed. High-relief columns, which feature projecting effigies, were ex­cluded from this comparison.

The highest index number, and therefore the slimmest column, is 3.73 for the Berlin Column 1. The lowest index number was calculated at 2.37 for the extraordinary Mayapan Column 1. The average index number is 3.05. This means that an average Yucatec relief column has a height that ap­proximately equals three times its diameter.

Pavon Abreu (1942:63) published possibly for the first time the dimensions of a carved rectangular capital; this capital is from Xcocha Column 2 and is 22 cm high, 78 cm wide and 53 cm deep. In order to find out the average dimensions of rectangular capitals bearing reliefs, besides the above men­tioned capital, six other specimens, all af unknown place of origin and presently in the Museo del Camino Real in Hecelchakan, Campeche, were measured; using the data from seven capitals, the following average measurements were computed: height - 21,42 cm; width - 75,57 cm; and thickness -51,85 cm.

The actual weights of monolithic relief columns are not known. The estimates stated below are rough and refer exclusively to Type A columns. As a means of calculating the volume, an "ideal" cylinder was assumed, and the diverse irregularities in the form, such as depth of relief, entasis, and so forth, were not taken into consideration. lt can be stated that the weights of the doorway columns fall within the limits of the definition of a megalith, as proposed by Sidrys (1978:155); therefore, they have a mass of at least 500 kilograms.

Due to the lack of precise measurements, only the mass of a few columns was estimated and no average mass calculated. The weight of the capital was not added to the weight of the column.

The Yucatec relief columns are made exclusively of limestone of varying densities. A formula for calculating the mass of limestone monuments was proposed by Sidrys (1978:174); he estimates the mass of limestone megaliths by multiplying the calculated megalith volume against a specific gravi­ty constant of 2,700 kg/m 3

•

In all probability, the columns of Xcalumkin have a mass of approximately 1,000 kilograms. One column from Xcocha weighs more than 1, 100 kilograms. The columns from Xculoc each weigh around 700 kilograms; Xcoralche Column 3 weighs about 630 kilograms, and Acanmul Column 1 about

r ~J

8

550 kilograms. lt is possible that the columns from Quintana Roo

weigh less than 500 kilograms, and so are not proper megaliths. However, this cannot be proved, due to a lack of necessary data.

The most massive examples of relief columns of unknown provenance are the monuments in New York (Goldwater et al. 1969: No. 626) and Worcester (Jewell 1963), which must have a weight of more than 1,300 kilograms. The mass of Berlin Column 1 is calculated to be 900 kilograms, and the small Paris Column 1 originally weighed about 650 kilograms. lt is lighter now because looters cut it into pieces and even hollowed it out to facilitate its removal.

6. DISTRIBUTION

The Northern Maya Lowland region, which extends across the present Mexican states of Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo, as well as part of northern Belize, is divided up into distinct archaeological zones, based on differing predomi­nant architectural characteristics. In no case can ex­act boundaries be drawn and the interpretations of different authors vary considerably on this point.

For the sake of simplicity, the subdivisions drawn up by Pollock (1965:379, Fig. 1), which define the following major archaeological zones, are referred to here: the Puuc zone, the Chenes zone, the Rio Bec zone, the Northern Plains, and the East Coast.

The Puuc zone is characterized by the sites of u~·­mal, Oxkintok, Kabah, Sayil, Labna, Chacmultun, and so forth, and lies in the northeastern section of Campeche and the southwestern part of Yucatan (see Pollock 1980: frontispiece).

The Chenes zone is typified by the ruins of Sta. Rosa Xtampak, Dzibilnocac, Nocuchich, Hochob, Chanchen, Nohcacab, EI Tabasqueno, Chunlimon, and others (see Pollock 1970:2), and lies mainly in the northeastern Campeche and may extend into the southernmost part of Yucatan and the northeastern section of Quintana Roo.

The Rio Bec zone bounds the Chenes zone on the south. lmportant archaeological sites are Rio Sec, Becan, Xpujil, Chicanna, Pechan, and others.

The Northern Plains zone includes almost the en­tire state of Yucatan, with the exception of the southwestern part which pertains to the Puuc and Chenes zones. lmportant sites are Mayapan, Chacchob, Dzibilchaltun, Acanceh, Ake, lzamal, Chichen ltza, Yaxuna and Ek Balam.

The East Coast zone lies along the Caribbean coast in Quintana Roo and continues into northern Belize. lt includes the islands lying just oft the coast, such as Cancun, Cozumel and lsla Mujeres. Large sites are EI Meco, Xcaret, Xelha, Tancah, Tulum, and lchpaatun.

According to our current limited knowledge of Yucatec relief columns, these occur in the three pre-

sent Mexican states of Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo. The majority comes from the Puuc zone, but to specify that all carved doorway columns are "Puuc columns" would be incorrect, since columns of this type are also reported from the Northern Plains (Tzeme, Yaxcopoil, Mayapan), as weil as from the East Coast (Miramar, La Ex­pedicion).

In case the column in the Campeche museum (PI. 8, right) actually comes from Yaxcabacal (also spell­ed Yalcabacal), as reported by Pavon Abreu (1942:40), and if this site is identical to the ruins of the same name, located between Cilvituk and Becan, in the Municipio Champoton, Campeche, (Muller 1960:50), then this monument would have originated far outside of the Puuc zone, namely from the Chenes or even the Rio Bec zone.

For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that Muller (1960:24, 28) reported on "columns with glyphs" from an archeological site deep in southern Campeche, in Central Buenfil, near the !arge ceremonial center of Calakmul. Central Buenfil is not named in the list of sites with Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions by either lan Graham (1975) or Berthold Riese (1976), nor are descriptions or illustrations of the cited objects known, so these were not taken into consideration here. In case these columns are existent, they would substantially expand the range of distribution toward the south.

The spatial distribution of the relief doorway columns is verified across the Northern Maya Lowlands; that the discovery of such monoliths has been concentrated in the Puuc zone is obvious. The most northerly site is Tzeme (for location see Kur­jack and Andrews V 1976:319, Fig. 1 ); the most southerly is Yaxcabacal; the westernmost, Can­sacbe and Acanmul; and the easternmost, the sites of Miramar and La Expedicion on the island of Cozumel.

For the location of sites where relief columns were found, see Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

lf the columns stored in the museums and private collections in Campeche, Hecelchakan, Merida, Chetumal, and other places were identified, or their provenance determined, it would be possible to make a more adequate and accurate statement on the actual spatial distribution of this monument type.

According to the preliminary and limited survey undertaken, there are at present 22 sites in Mexico from which relief columns have definitely been reported. Eleven sites lie in the present state of Campeche, nine in Yucatan and two in Quintana Roo (see Appendix 2).

Possible archaeological sites with relief columns are Xcochkax (Pollock 1980:396), Bakna, Nohpat, Dsehkabtun, Central Buenfil, and Xtablakal.

At least for the sake of curiosity, an interpretation of Krickeberg (1950:11-12) must be mentioned. He disputes the Northern Lowlands provenance for the

9

relief columns. He also maintains that column­shaped monuments were exclusively manufactured in the central area of the Maya Lowlands and their presence in the North is only explainable as the result of importation in pre-Columbian times. In connection with this strange opinion he wrote the following of the Berlin Column 1: "When sculptures of that kind are found in Yucatan, such as the „.

stela in the form of a carved round column, with reliefs on three sides, on whose front a human figure in the disguise of a reptilian monster is to be recognized „. it is a displaced piece from a city of the Old Empire."

7. ICONOGRAPHY

The carved designs on columns can be arranged into three thematic categories:

1. Anthropomorphic representations 2. Zoomorphic representations 3. Hieroglyphic representations

Of a sample of 63 columns, the majority, namely 52, depict human figures. A single column is known upon which is rendered an animal image. This is Mayapan Column 1, which shows a lizard, an ig­uana, or a crocodile species.

More than a dozen columns are known which bear hieroglyphic inscriptions. Of these monuments, six examples are from Xcalumkin alone.

Reliefs with anthropomorphic representations show primarily a single, generally standing, figure (PI. 2, 6, 7-left, 8-right, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15-right). Seldom are two (Xcoralche Column 3, Berlin Columns 2, 3, 4) or more personages (Campeche Column 1, Berlin Column 1) portrayed. Where a scene depicts several human figures, a central or main figure is generally seen, that is taller and more richly dressed and ornamented than the accom­panying smaller figures who are apparently subor­dinate in rank. Of a sample of 41 columns with human figures, there are six examples with two per­sons and three examples portraying three persons.

The secondary figures pictured near the protagonist can be divided basically into two groups, namely dwarfs and captives. Exceptions are other figures, such as musicians or supernatural creatures, which appear in a few images.

One or two dwarfs, whose heads always appear in profile, are depicted, for example, on the following monuments: Sayil Columns 1 and 2, Berlin Columns 1 and 4, Campeche Column 1, New York Column 1 and Worcester Column 1.

The anthropomorphic portrayals show, with few exceptions, male figures. There may be women por­trayed on Berlin Columns 2 and 3, and Miramar Column 1.

The skeleton effigy on the column in Paris can likewise be considered as anthropomorphic.

Of a sample of 36 columns, 23 show human

heads frontally, and the remaining 13 heads are seen in profile.

The themes of the representations do not differ significantly from those on the other sculptured monuments in the Northern Maya Lowlands, such as the stelae, altars, lintels, door jambs, and wall panels. By way of contrast, Proskouriakoff (1950:167-168) made the following observation in reference to Type B columns in Oxkintok: "The columns present types of figures never depicted on monuments and probably foreign to the stela cult of the Maya."

Two basic themes can be outlined: secular (historical, political, militaristic) and sacred (representations of priests, gods, supernatural beings, priests dressed or masked as deities).

Representations in which the dominant figure holds paraphernalia which indicate political power or ruling status, or where a weapon or weapons are carried, could be considered as having a secular theme. There are no known images showing the protagonist with a ceremonial bar. The elaborately costumed and ornamented Maya ruler on Cansacbe Column 1 is holding a manikin scepter (PI. 7-left). lt is possible that the figure on Acanmul Column 1 is also holding a manikin scepter, but it is also possi­ble that it is the figure of a supernatural creature, like the one depicted on Santa Ana Column 1. Weapons which generally appear are lances (PI. 7-right, 16-right) and shields (PI. 7-right, 16-right; Sayil Columns 1 and 2, Xcocha Column 1, Berlin Column 4, columns in New York and Worcester).

On Sayil Column 1, Berlin Column 1 and on the columns in New York and Worcester, the protagonist is holding in one hand a peculiar object which until now has not been satisfactorily iden­tified. lt has been explained as a spear-thrower (atlatl), scepter, eccentric flint, or deer antler. Since this object, which also appears on other Yucatec monument types, such as on a door jamb in Xcalumkin (Franco 1966: PI. 25; Proskouriakoff 1950: Fig. 94f), is always seen in combination with a shield, 1 interpret this object as a weapon.

A military theme is manifested in a scene on XcochaColumn 1(PI.7-right; Pollack 1980:511, Fig. 856a) where the capture of an enemy is demonstrated.

In summary, then, the pictorial details on the Yucatec doorway columns pertain primarily to historical events; the columns are commemoration monuments which impart geneological, biographical, and political information on the Maya elite. Like the stelae and other monument types, the columns were a manifestation of the personality and power of a particular ruler.

Possible sacred themes may appear on some columns from Oxkintok, Sta. Barbara, Dsecilna, Miramar, and the column in Paris.

Oxkintok Column 2 (PI. 6-left), Sta. Barbara Columns 7 (PI. 11-left) and 8, Dsecilna Column 1 (PI.

10

2-left) portray a distinct, pot-bellied, and chubby­faced figure, who is wearing a tight-fitting costume decorated with feathers or fringing, and has been considered also as the Dios Gordo, the tat god in the Maya pantheon. This individual is also represented on other sculptures of the Northern Lowlands, for example on small atlantean figures from Xculoc (Proskouriakoff 1950: Fig. 95i; Pollack 1980:379, Fig. 627) and -0n ceramic figures trom Jaina, Campeche, (cf. Hammer and D'Andrea 1978:100, No.61).

A death symbol may appear on Paris Column 1, and is probably intended on Dsecilna Column 2. The Paris column depicts a frontally-portrayed skeleton figure and has been interpreted as a death deity. The figure on Dsecilna Column 2 is probably standing on a skull. Skeleton images are not un­common on relief monuments from the Northern Maya Lowlands; they are quite frequent in Dzibilchaltun, Uxmal, Chichen ltza, and on a sculp­ture from Kewick (Pollack 1980:362, Fig. 609a), a statue allegedly from Temax (Proskouriakoff 1950: PI. 105c) and on a Temax-style figure on display in the Templo San Juan de Dios, in Merida.

Phallic traits are visible on a column from La Ex­pedicion (Sabloff and Rathje 1973:461 ), as well as on the column in Paris.

A fertility theme is, to all appearances, present on the column from Miramar. In the Postclassic period, the island of Cozumel had a famous shrine dedicated to the goddess lx Chel, who was associated with love, fertility, and birth.

8. EPIGRAPHY

Hieroglyphic inscriptions on columns and column capitals are mainly known from Cansacbe, Chilib, Oxkintok, Tunkuyi, Tzeme, Xcocha, Xcoralche, and Yaxcabakal and from a number of as yet unknown sites (see Campeche Column 1, Hecelchakan Columns ·1, 2, 3, and Merida Columns 2, 5, and 6; PI. 3, 4, 5, 7-left, 8, 12, 13, 15-left, 16-left). The carved texts appear predominantly in three particular con­texts:

1. Columns of the Type A, whose relief consists exclusively of hieroglyphic texts.

2. In association with representations of human figures on Type A and Type B columns. Generally, these glyphic texts are short and accompany human figures (Oxkintok Column 1, Cansacbe Column 1). On the column from Yaxcabacal the portrait of the frontally shown figure is bordered on the left side by a long vertical row of glyphs. Horizontally arranged bands of glyphs may encircle the upper end of Xcoralche Columns 1 and 3. Rather unusual is the arrangement of the glyphs on Merida Column 2 (PI. 16-left): the carved panel is divided in three rec­tangular areas; the center field shows at the base a stylized god's head in profile and above that a badly eroded figurative representation; the lateral fields

show vertical glyph panels. 3. Texts on capitals. A preliminary study of the

capital of Xcocha Column 2 (Pollack 1980:511, Fig. 856b) and other carved capitals in the Museo del Camino Real in Hecelchakan (cf. PI. 15-right) has demonstrated that the arrangement of the texts on these architectural elements is frequently the same. In most cases the front surface and the two side sur­faces bear horizontally-arranged glyph-blocks enclosed within a narrow, undecorated frame, whereas the back side which was originally turned toward the interior of a building is always plain. lt is worth noting here that the back of the relief doorway columns generally do not have any carving either. The rectangular capitals with texts commonly have a greater width than depth, due to the presence of more glyph-blocks on the front surface than on the sides. For example, the capital on Xcocha Column 2 shows four glyph-blocks in front and three blocks on each side. Nothing is currently known of the con­tent of the texts on the capitals, but a few of them record calendrical dates.

A transcription or interpretation of the content of hieroglyphic writing on columns and column capitals still remains to be accomplished. The reason for this deplorable state of affairs is ap­parently due to the fact that these texts were for the most part unknown or somewhat inaccessible before Pollock's (1980) study of Puuc architecture was published. Besides, epigraphic investigations are difficult, because many glyphs show regional or unique configurations. Thompson, in his catalogue of Maya hieroglyphs (1962), has pointed out a number of such special, regional glyphs which come predominantly from Xcalumkin.

Texts on doorway columns have been dealt with occasionally. David H. Kelley (1976:39) has pointed out, for instance, the calendrical-astronomical meaning of a glyph which represents a star or the planet Venus on Xcalumkin Column 4, at position A2.

The only transcription and interpretation of an en­tire column text published to date is likewise from a monument from Xcalumkin. Dieter Duetting (1972:223-224) has presented a study of the inscrip­tion on Xcalumkin Column 6 (PI. 4-right). He made use of Hermann Beyer's unpublished drawings and photographs of the text. The text on this monument consists of five glyph-blocks which are arranged in a vertical row. They are read from top to bottom, the blocks being designated, beginning at the top, A 1-5. Duetting transcribed the text as follows:

Position Transcrlptlon A1 1?.67: 642.24? A2 518 c: 59-689 (/587 v): 229 A3 679 d-25: 688 ( = 507 v) A4 630-683 b: 178 A5 68: 679 d. 59

Duetting remarks that he could not recognize the significance of the first glyph grou p (A 1) and

11

therefore offered an explanation for the remaining text: "The clause A2-A5 can be transcribed now into Yucatec tentatively as follows: xac chi' (ti) - muc ak ch'en - ca .. .lthen kalellpom ch'en ti', and may denote: "the nourishment - the fresh one is hidden in the well - our tribute/ for sustaining prin­cipal/copal (into) the opening of the weil.'"

On the basis of this interpretation, the text could have a ritual character.

Thomas S. Barthel (1977:50) has published an in­terpretation of the same text which likewise implies a sacred or mythological theme. His transcription, which omits the glyphs in the positions A 1-2, differs only slightly from that of Duetting, however, his reading is different: Position Transcrlptlon Translatlon lnto Mayathan A3a 679d ch'en A3b 25:688 calpach? A4 630.683b:140 them (=then) kalel AS 68:679.59 zac?/zuhuy? ch'en ti

According to Barthel, this text may refer to a goddess and can be translated thus: "(In the) pure (?) well (that is, cenote) the nourishing Highness commits adultery." ·

Furthermore, Barthel (1977:49) has also transcribed two glyph-blocks on Xcalumkin Column 1 (PI. 3-left), translated them into Yucatec Maya and found that the text also contains a mythological theme: Position 81 A2

Transcrlptlon Translation lnto Mayathan 669b.181: 178 elkab-ic 61 :756a Hol zotz'

Duetting (1965:99) has also discussed part of the text on a capital. On the capital of Column 2 from Xcocha (Pollock 1980:511, Fig. 856b) there appears a glyph compound in the form of a jaguar head (T-751) with an affix in the form of a knot (T-60). This compound T-60:751 in Xcocha is thought by Duet­ting to refer to "offering"; this interpretation seems plausible since the relief panel on the Xcocha Column 1 shows a bound, captive man.

The hieroglyphic texts on monuments from Chichen ltza (Thompson 1938:23, Fig. 10; 61, Fig. 25; Gann 1924:213; Proskouriakoff 1970:463, Fig. 15) are not found on columns, as stated, but on plllars, and, therefore, are not discussed here.

9. CHRONOLOGY

The present state of archaeological knowledge of the Northern Maya Lowlands is insufficient to allow reliable conclusions on the establishment of definitive time periods for relief doorway columns. An absolute date in the ancient Maya calendar system, a "Long Count" date, appears on a column of unknown provenance in the Museo del Camino Real in Hecelchakan (PI. 15-left). This important monument, Hecelchakan Column 1, is worked in the Xcalumkin style, but its place of origin has not been found out yet (lan Graham, written communication,

1979). A reading of the Initial Series date, written predominantly in head variant forms, has not been published so far. A decipherment would provide an absolute date, possibly a dedicatory date, for one Yucatec relief doorway column. lt would be sur­prising, however, if the date of this monument did not fall within the eighth century A.D.

A date for Columns 1 and 2 in the Temple of the lnscriptions, Xcalumkin, can be derived indirectly. A long, narrow, vertically-mounted panel on a wall of that building has a Long Count date, which is a rare occurrence in the Northern Lowlands. This date can be read as 9.15.12.6.9 7 Muluc 2 Kankin (Thompson 1931:354-356; Beyer 1931:104) and corresponds to the year A.D. 741, according to the so-called "Goodman-Martinez Hernandez-Thompson" cor­relation. This important and famous panel (Thomp­son 1950: Fig. 53, No. 2; Ruz Lhuillier 1945: Fig. 24; Pollock 1980:426, Fig. 715) is incontestably a com­ponent of the Temple of the lnscriptions, as are Columns 1 and 2; therefore, all three are un­doubtedly the same age as the structure. Proskouriakoff (1950: 166) dates this structure stylistically to about 9.16.0.0.0, which equals A.D. 751.

In a briet statement about the South Structure of the Glyphic Group at Xcaluml<in, Proskouriakoff (1950: 197) dated this building at 9.16.0.0.0. The North Structure of the same architectural complex is also dated at 9.16.0.0.0. Both structures con­tained two relief doorway columns each (Xcalumkin Columns 3, 4, 5, and 6) and are consequently from the same time period.

In summary, it can be concluded that the reading and interpretation of the Maya dates in the three structures at Xcalumkin imply that the six columns containing inscriptions date from approximately the middle of the eighth century A.D.

In this regard, Thompson (1950: Fig. 56, No. 1) commented on the chronological position of Xcalumkin Column 2 and stated that the first two glyph-blocks could contain the calendrical state­ment "Haab 1, 13 Ahau" and probably represent a reference to a period-ending date, 9.14.1.0.0, which corresponds to circa A.D. 711. Later, he (Thompson 1962:439) stated A.D. 771 as the probable date for the same monolith.

In addition to the direct chronological data which appears on the columns themselves, further indirect data can be extracted to determine the temporal placement of the relief columns.

Chronological references to archaeological sites associated with columns are available not only for Xcalumkin, but also for Oxkintok and Sayil.

In 1939, a stone lintel was discovered in Structure 3C6 at Oxkintok (Shook 1940: Fig. 1, 6; Morley 1956: PI. 18a). lt contained an incomplete Maya date in the Long Count System, and renders the time periods "9 Baktun" and "2 Katun," which can be reconstructed as 9.2.0.0.0, which equals A.D. 475. Structure 3C7

12

lying nearby featured four Type B columns. Both structures are very dissimilar architecturally and ap­parently date from different periods (Shook 1940:168; Pollock 1980:281-324). This means that the date of Lintel 1 from Oxkintok cannot be applied to the essentially later relief columns of Structure 3C7.

Proskouriakoff (1950:152, 195) cautiously dated Stela 6 from Sayil at "9.19.0.0.0. ?," which cor­responds to A.D. 810. In spite of the fact that this date may be associated with the Sayil Columns 1 and 2 from Structure 481, the question of the chronological position of the supports must remain open.

The vague associations of Maya dates on the monuments from Oxkintok and Sayil with undated columns at these sites are inadequate for deter­mining the chronological position of the doorway supports.

Future deciphering of calendrical dates which are encountered on several column capitals could · provide additional information which could lead to a better understanding of the temporal position of the relief columns.

Present knowledge indicates that the majority of the monolithic relief columns pertain to the Late Classic period, whereas the columns from Mayapan and Cozumel stem very probably from the Postclassic period.

10. SUMMARY

Stone buildings of the Classic and Postclassic Maya culture of the Northern Lowlands, especially at the Puuc sites Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, Labna, Chac­multun, and others, frequently contain monolithic doorway columns which are generally without carv­ed decoration.

Columns with images in low- and high-relief are, on the other hand, relatively rare, and their significance and position within the category of ma­jor non-portable stone sculptures have scarcely been noted. A large number of the Yucatec relief columns is still unpublished, and as a result of this unfavorable situation, a study of this monument type is a desideratum in Maya archaeology and art history.

A preliminary investigation on the monolithic doorway columns with figurative and/or inscrip­tional images indicates that this sculpture type oc­curs primarily in the archaeological Puuc zone of Campeche and Yucatan, however, some items oc­cur outside of the Puuc.

Although there are no securely dated columns known yet, the chronological data obtained up to now indicate that the majority of the Yucatec relief columns date from the Late Classic period (A.D. 600-900).

The presently known corpus of relief columns of more than 90 objects represents a significant sam-

- ---- --

ple for comparison with other stone monument types. The fact that only a part of this corpus has been adequately published and many columns are unpublished is one of the reasons why the tremen­dous information potential, that is inherent in the carved textual and pictorial images of these monuments, is still unexploited.

This limited survey shows that the Yucatec relief columns constitute an important manifestation of the sculptural art of the Classic Maya culture. lt also makes apparent that an adequate documentation, a prerequisite for any research, is still lacking. Such a needed documentation would be a base for future archaeological, stylistic, iconographic, and epigraphic studies which could lead to a better comprehension and appreciation of these relief sculptures and will certainly throw new light on this still obscure aspect of ancient Mesoamerican ar­tistic achievement.

11. APPENDICES

APPENDIX1 A Prellmlnary List of Yucatec Rellef Columns

1. Columns of Known Provenance

No. 1 Acanmul 1

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

ORIGINAL LOCATION Structure 9 at Acanmul CONDITION A part of the left, upper front sur­

face is broken oft. The relief is badly damaged in places.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION Pollock writes: "The bas-relief

carving, which covers about half the circumference of the column, shows an elaborately costumed human figure, apparently holding a manikin scepter, and a small subsidiary figure at the feet of the principal figure .... The sculpture is considerably eroded at places, but can for the most part be made out .... " The principal figure is in front view, the legs almost together, the feet pointing outward. The head is in profile and turned to the right. In the left hand is a representation of God K. On the right side of the scene is the subsidiary figure, apparently a dwarf, with a frontally-depicted body; the head is in profile and looking toward the left. Both arms are raised.

REFERENCES Pavon 1942:38, No. 70; Proskouriakoff 1950:167, 185, Fig. 100c; Pollock 1980:540-541, Fig. 907b.

No. 2 Acanmul 2

REMARKS Near the column known as Acanmul 1 in Structure 9 at Acanmul, Pollock saw four more

13

sculptured columns, "badly burned or broken." There is no further information on these sculptures, designated here as Acanmul Columns 2-5.

REFERENCE Pollock 1980:540-541.

No. 3 Acanmul 3

REFERENCE Pollock 1980:540-541.

No. 4 Acanmul 4

REFERENCE Pollock 1980:540-541.

No. 5 Acanmul 5

REFERENCE Pollock 1980:540-541.

No. 6 Calklnl 1

PRESENT LOCATION Ermita de Sta. lsabel, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 175cm; diameter: 60cm; circumference in the middle: 150cm

CONDITION The column is extremely badly eroded. The head of the figure is heavily damaged. The monument has been restored on the lower third.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows in a very sim­

ple style a standing human figure in a dancing pese. The body is frontally portrayed, while the head is seen in profile turned to the left.

Polleck writes that this monument was once located in the Museum of Archaeology in Merida and that the provenance is suspect. He refers to the sculpture as M1 from Calkini and states: "Badly weathered human figure that occupies about one­half circumference of column. Relief is somewhat higher than usual but there is no attempt at modeling. Old museum description read: 'Frag­ment of column with figure of warrior. Provenience: Unknown. Was in the old museum.' Later museum description reads: 'Monolithic column with human figure in relief, badly damaged; broken in two pieces and partly reconstructed. Approximate height 1.75m, diameter at the center .50m. Provenience: Calkini, Campeche.'"

REMARKS The provenance does not appear conclusive. Proskouriakoff refers to the style as "non-Classic."

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950: 169, 186, Fig. 105a; Pollock 1980:500-501

No. 7 Calklnl 2

PRESENT LOCATION Ermita de Sta. lsabel, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 102cm; diameter: 47cm; circumference: 149cm

CONDITION The monument is fragmentary

and the bottom part is m1ssing, about from the knees of the figure downward. The top is restored. A horizontal crack is visible beneath the chin. The carved surface is heavily eroded, the face and gar­ments of the figure badly preserved.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The pictorial image shows a

standing human figure in frontal view. REMARKS According to Proskouriakoff and

Pollock, the fragment was once located in the Museum of Archaeology in Merida. Pollock (1980:501) refers to the column as M2 from Calkini and writes: "Badly weathered human figure that oc­cupies about one-half circumference of column. Relief of carving is like that on sculpture M1 ... . " Old museum description read: "Figure of idol. Provenience: Calkini. State of Campeche." Later museum description reads: "Fragment of monolithic column, broken in two, partly reconstructed, with human figures in high relief, badly damaged. Approximate height .96m, ap­proximate diameter .47m. Provenience: Calkini, Campeche." Lower part of column apparently miss­ing. Proskouriakoff made the following statement in reference to the style of the two Calkini columns: " .. . the columns from Calkini - have little apparent relation to the Classic style. They may be, as 1 suspect, very late corrupt forms, but it is also possi­ble that they are merely provincial variants ... they have no stylistic distinction and it is doubtful that they can be referred 10 specific schools."

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950: 169, 186, Fig. 105b; Pollock 1980:501

No. 8 Cansacbe 1

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 115cm; diameter: 63cm CONDITION The monument is fragmentary.

The bottom, from about the hips of the figure downward, is missing. A piece is broken oft from the upper left side. The right side of the carved area is more heavily eroded than the left.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION Depicted is an apparently stand­

ing human figure. The torso is almost frontally por­trayed , the head is in profile and turned to the right. The personage is richly ornamented and wears a headdress of superimposed masks, plumes and mat symbols. The ornaments displayed are a large round earplug, a wide collar and a long bead necklace. In the right hand, the figure is holding a statt diagonally. On the right side are four glyph blocks.

REMARKS The monument today measures about 112-11 Scm high. The photograph published by Proskouriakoff shows that years ago more of the

14

bottom of the column was intact and Pavon states that the overall height in 1942 was 168cm.

REFERENCES Pavon 1942:22, No. 12; Proskouriakoff 1950:167, Fig. 99a; Pollock 1980:543. (PI. 7-left).

No. 9 Chlllb 1

PRESENT LOCATION Museo San Sebastian, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 145cm; diameter: 50cm; circumference in the middle: 152cm

CONDITION The sculpture is relatively well preserved, but the face of the figure is badly dam­aged.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows a standing

human fig·ure whose legs and body are frontally depicted; the head is seen in profile and turned to the left. Both arms are bent at the elbows, the forearms and hands directed to the left. The figure is dressed in a loincloth and a loincloth apron reaches to the knees. Sandals are discernible on the feet. The jewelry consists of a headdress formed of plumes and a mask element, a long beaded necklace and a short bar ornament. Proskouriakoff refers to the style of the relief as "Quality X" and stated in this regard: "The relation of Classic types to local or foreign concepts is not entirely clear. The column from Chilib ... can be placed in a group which expresses an independent stylistic type, possibly identified with, or at any rate allied to the Quality X we recognize in certain trends of distortion on stelae. Elements of costume are very simple; details such as the ankleguards of the sandals, are modifications of the Classic form .... The Chilib ex­ample, however, has a very distinctive rendering of the head and shoulders. The simple outline of the legs with no change in direction at the knee seems to be typical of these structures. 1 am inclined to regard them as examples of a native school with in­fluenced Classic forms rather than as an end development of a divergent trend originating in some offshoot of the Classic style, such as the deca­dent development at Sayil." (Proskouriakoff 1950:167).

Pol lock refers to the monument as M2 from Chilib and writes: "Low-relief carving of human figure with elaborate headdress and necklace with bar pen­dant. Considerably weathered . Museum description reads: 'Monolithic column with low relief human figure with long hair gathered in a bunch and a diadem of serpents. Badly damaged. Approximate height 1.50m, maximum diameter at the center .48m. Hacienda Chilib. Campeche.'"

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950:167, 186, Fig. 100b; Proskouriakoff 1951, Fig. Sa; Pollock 1980:544

No. 10 Chlllb 2

PRESENT LOCATION Templo San Juan de Dios, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 81cm; diameter: 52cm; circumference: 170cm

CONDITION The piece is a fragmentary doorway column lacking the top. The relief on the upper section is badly eroded.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION Pollock refers to the fragment

as M1 from Chilib and writes: "Appears to be lower half of doorway column carved with double column of glyphs, the upper glyphs badly broken. Museum description reads: 'Fragment of stone column. Ap­proximately .50m in diameter, .80m high, with hieroglyphic inscriptions in a vertical band of two columns .39m wide. Hacienda Chilib, Campeche."'

REMARKS The provenance of Chilib is not ab­solutely certain . The glyphs are stylistically reminis­cent of inscriptions from Xcalumkin.

REFERENCE Pollock 1980:543-544, Fig. 911

No. 11 Chlllb 3

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown DIMENSIONS Height: 155cm; diameter: 55cm CONDITION Heavily eroded TYPE A DESCRIPTION Pollock refers to this object as

M3 from Chilib and writes: "Rather crude and badly weathered, low-relief carving of human figure with javelin in right hand. lndication of headdress. Face obliterated. Sculpture somewhat similar to M2 ... " M2 is the Chilib 1 column. According to Pollock, it is or was once located in the Museum of Archaeology in Merida.

REMARKS Pollock unfortunately published no illustration of this column. Judging by the dimen­sions and the description, 1 suspect that Pollock's Chilib M3 and Campeche M2 (Pollock 1980:545) are one and the same, and, therefore, one of his record­ed columns does not exist. Regarding Campeche M2 see Merida Column 1.

REFERENCE Pollock 1980:544

No. 12 Dsecllna 1

PRESENT LOCATION Museo San Sebastian, Merida, Yucatan

ORIGINAL LOCATION Left column of a struc­ture at Dsecilna, Yucatan.

DIMENSIONS Height: 146 cm; diameter without figure: 48cm; diameter with figure: 75cm

CONDITION The monument shows traces of weathering; small pieces have been broken oft ot the top and bottom.

TYPE B DESCRIPTION The high-relief column shows a

frontally depicted human figure with a peculiar 15

fringed garment. On the stomach is a depressed round element. The left leg is straight, the right is slightly lifted and bent. The right arm is raised and the left rests on the body, with a star-shaped, four­pronged object in the hand.

REMARKS The column was located in the Templo San Juan de Dios, in Merida, in 1978, andin 1980, was exhibited in the archaeological museum San Sebastian in Merida.

REFERENCES Maler 1895:283, Figs. 18, 19 (left); Proskouriakoff 1950: 168, 188; Proskouriakoff 1951:115; Pollock 1980:138. (PI. 2-left)

No. 13 Dsecllna 2

PRESENT LOCATION Templo San Juan de Dios, Merida, Yucatan

ORIGINAL LOCATION Right column of a struc­ture at Dsecilna, Yucatan.

DIMENSIONS Height: 148cm; diameter without figure: 50cm; diameter with figure: 75cm

CONDITION The surface is slightly eroded. TYPE B DESCRIPTION The high-relief column shows a

frontally depicted human figure standing on a skull(?). The figure is dressed in a simple loincloth. The jewelry consists of a headdress and a wide collar. In the raised left hand, the figure is holding a round object, and in the right, a statt . Maler refers to the figure as a batman.

REMARKS Proskouriakoff refers to the style of the two Dsecilna monuments as "non-Classic" and explains further: "The Dzecilna columns repeat ap­parently the two personalities of the central doorway at Oxkintok. Here the depressed disk appears on the stomach of the figure dressed in the feathered tights. Such figures clearly suggest a mixture of the Classic Maya with some other culture as yet uniden­tified." (Proskouriakoff 1950:168).

REFERENCES Maler 1895:283, Figs. 18, 19 (right); Proskouriakoff 1950:168, 188; Proskouriakoff 1951 :115; Pollock 1980:138. (PI. 2-left)

No. 14 Dzltbalche 1

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION North Hilltop Group at

Dzitbalche (or San Pedro Dzitbalche) DIMENSIONS Height: 165cm; diameter: 45cm CONDITION The monument is very weathered

and has lost all its details. Fracture lines are visible on the top and in the middle.

TYPE B DESCRIPTION The high-relief shows a stand­

ing human figure in frontal view. Below the feet are two large round elements which may represent the eye sockets of a skull. Figures standing on skulls are, for example, illustrated on the Dsecilna Column 2 and on a high-relief pillar in Xcochkax (Pollock

1980:395, Fig. 658). REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950: 167-68,

Fig. 98f; Pollock 1980:471

No. 15 Dzltbalche 2

PRESENT LOCATION ORIGINAL LOCATION

Unknown North Hilltop Group at

Dzitbalche DIMENSIONS CONDITION

Height: 168cm; diameter: 48cm Pollock refers to both high-relief

Dzitbalche as "badly burned and columns from weathered."

TYPE B DESCRIPTION The relief shows a frontally por­

trayed human figure standing on an unrecognizable element.

REMARKS Proskouriakoff refers to the style of the Dzitbalche sculptures as "Late Yucatan, variant" and as "non-Classic type."

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950:167; Pollock 1980:471, Fig. 788

No. 16 La Expedlclon 1

PRESENT LOCATION Possibly on site ORIGINAL LOCATION Left column of Central

Doorway of East Structure of Complex-1 at La Ex­pedicion, Cozumel, Quintana Roo

DIMENSIONS Height: not known; diameter: 55cm

TYPE Possibly A DESCRIPTION Depicted is a standing human

figure in front view; it is not dressed. REMARKS Up to now only a sketch of this

column has been published, so a better description cannot be made.

REFERENCES Escalona 1946:553-555, 612, left; Sabloff and Rathje 1973:461

No. 17 La Expedlclon 2

PRESENT LOCATION Possibly on site ORIGINAL LOCATION Right column of Central

Doorway of East Structure of Complex-1 at La Ex­pedicion, Cozumel, Quintana Roo

DIMENSIONS Height: not known; diameter: 55cm

CONDITION Unknown TYPE Possibly A DESCRIPTION Depicted is a standing human

figure in front view; it is not dressed. REFERENCES Escalona 1946:553-555, 612,

right; Sabloff and Rathje 1973:461

No. 18 La Expedlclon 3

PRESENT LOCATION On site ORIGINAL LOCATION Left (east) column of

Central Doorway of Southern Structure of Complex-

16

1 at La Expedicion, Cozumel, Quintana Roo DIMENSIONS Unknown CONDITION In an exceedingly eroded state REMARKS The existence of this column was

made known to me by Jeremy A. Sabloff (written communications, June and July, 1979). The column stands in a structure which was designated by Escalona as "Edificio de la Escalera," or "Structure II." For a new map of Complex-1 at La Expedicion see Sabloff et al. 1974:407, Fig. 5.

No. 19 Kankl 1

PRESENT LOCATION ORIGINAL LOCATION

of the Main Group at Kanki

Unknown Found at the north edge

DIMENSIONS Height: 44cm; diameter: 45cm CONDITION The piece is the top of a carved

column. The relief is badly eroded. TYPE A DESCRIPTION e Pollock writes: "The bas-relief

carving shows the head of a human figure. Unfor­tunately, the remainder of the column was not found." The fragment shows a human head in profile, turned to the left. In one hand is a curvilinear object, possibly another example of those as yet un­identified objects known from Xcalumkin, Sayil, and so forth.

REFERENCE Pollock 1980:525, Fig. 883a

No. 20 Maxcanu 1

PRESENT LOCATION Temple San Juan de Dios, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 93cm; diameter: 45-52cm; circumference: 152cm

CONDITION Approximately the upper third of the monument has broken oft; about 60cm may be missing.

DESCRIPTION Depicted is a standing human figure (from the waist downward) in front view. The feet are turned outward. There is a loincloth and a loincloth apron which reaches down to just above the ankleguards. On the feet are simple sandals. There are three hieroglyphs on the right side of the relief.

REMARKS Proskouriakoff (1950:167) writes: "The column ... from Maxcanu ... can be placed in a group which expresses an independent stylistic type, possibly identified with, or at any rate applied to, the Quality X we recognize in certain trends of distortion on stelae. Elements of costume are very simple; details, such as the ankleguards of the san­dals, are modifications of the Classic form. The Yax­copoil and Maxcanu examples show only the lower part of the figure."

Pollock states that the monument, which he refers to as M5 from Maxcanu, was once located in the Museum of Archaeology in Merida and writes: "Feet, legs, and waist of human figure, above which

sculpture is broken. Three hieroglyphs beside left leg of figure. Carving occupies about one-third cir­cumference of column, which presumably is from a doorway. Museum description reads: 'Fragment of stone column with hieroglyphs and part of human figure (feet). Relief. Height .83m, diameter .47m. Maxcanu.' The difference between my measure­ment of the height of the column and that given on the museum label gives the height of the carving.'' Pollock is not certain that the fragment actually comes from Maxcanu and suggests that it may have come from the town or from any of the sites in the neighborhood.

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950: 167, 190, Fig. 1 OOf; Pol lock 1980:337-338, Fig. 576a

No. 21 Mayapan 1

PRESENT LOCATION ORIGINAL LOCATION

at Mayapan, Yucatan

Unknown From Structure Q-113a

DIMENSIONS Height: ca. 115cm; diameter: ca. 50cm

CONDITION Eroded TYPE A DESCRIPTION In about the middle of the

column, there is a representation of a reptile, whose head is directed upward. lt could be a lizard, an ig­uana or a crocodile species.

REMARKS The column was found in a residen­tial structure in Mayapan. The dimensions and the representation of a zoomorphic figure indicate this column tobe an unparalleled sculpture.

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1962:96, 160, 161, Fig.110; Smith 1962:230.

No. 22 Mlramar 1

PRESENT LOCATION Regional Museum, San Miguel de Cozumel, Quintana Roo

ORIGINAL LOCATION Structure 1, left column (west column) at Miramar, Cozumel, Quintana Roo

DIMENSIONS Height: 120cm; diameter: 57cm. The disk-shaped capital on the column is 20cm high and has a diameter of 57cm.

CONDITION The capital is missing and the face of the figure is badly damaged, and most of the original exterior covering of stucco is gone.

DESCRIPTION The high-relief column shows a kneeling female figure in front view. Both hands seem to be holding up a dress. David Freidel (1975:112) writes: "The sculpted column shows a figure giving birth."

REFERENCES Holmes 1895:64-69, 78, PI. 4; Howe 1911:549-550; Lothrop 1924:154-157; Escalona 1946:562, 624; Proskouriakoff 1950:194; Freidel 1975: 112. (PI. 2-right)

17

No. 23 Oxklntok 1

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION Structure 3C7, North

Doorway column, at Oxkintok, Yucatan DIMENSIONS Unknown. The fragment is ap­

proximately 80 to 90cm high. TYPE B DESCRIPTION The column is only fragmen­

tarily preserved and approximately the upper half is missing. Depicted is a standing human figure in front view, but only part of the hips downward remains. Visible is part of a loincloth decorated with hieroglyphs, and a long loincloth apron with the design of a stylized head in front view and fringing below that. The legs are adorned with crossed gaiters. In reference to the style of the representa­tion, Proskouriakoff (1950:167-168) writes: "Another non-Classic type is represented in high-relief sculp­tured columns at Oxkintok, Xcochkax, Dsecilna, and San Pedro Dzitbalche. This type at Oxkintok „. oc­curs in the same building as a lintel depicting a figure with the long Coba-Xcalumkin necklace and a panel also of purely Classic type „„ The columns present types of figures never depicted on monuments and probably foreign to the stela cult of the Maya."

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950: 167-168, 192, Fig. 96f; Pollock 1980:302-303

No. 24 Oxklntok 2

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Nacional de An­tropologia, Mexico, D.F.

ORIGINAL LOCATION North column of Cen­tral Doorway of Structure 3C7 at Oxkintok, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: ca. 170-180cm; width: ca. 75cm

CONDITION The monument was found by Edwin Shook in extremely good condition. Looters sawed the column horizontally into ten pieces, and vertical cuts are also visible. In addition to that, the column was hollowed out to facilitate the transport. The monument has been restored, but the damage is visible on the destroyed backside.

TYPE B DESCRIPTION The high-relief column shows a

standing human figure in front view and probably represents a deity, the "Dios Gordo." Proskouriakott describes this type of figure as follows: "„. a small potbellied individual with a puffy infantile face, dressed in a closely fitted garment of feathered or quilted material and wearing on his ehest the sign of an open hand .„. This personality also appears as a small atlantean at Xculoc „„ In the Oxkintok version, his hands are at the sides, but in one he holds a star-shaped club also carried by atlantean figures at Chichen ltza" (Proskouriakoff 1950:167-168). The same deity figure is illustrated on the Dsecilna Column 1 and Sta. Barbara

Columns 7 and 8. REMARKS The monument bears the catalogue

number of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia 5-3064/ 10-81344. The label of that m useu m provides a chronological position "600-900 A.D."

REFERENCES Shook 1940: Fig. 7; Proskouriakoff 1950:167-168, 192, Fig. 97a; Proskouriakoff 1951: 114, Fig. 4a; Cervantes 1976:61, Photo 138;Pollock 1980:302-303, Figs. 520, 522 (left). (PI. 6-left)

No. 25 Oxklntok 3

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION South column of Cen­

tral Doorway of Structure 3C7 at Oxkintok, Yucatan. DIMENSIONS Unknown. Possibly 180 to

190cm high. CONDITION The carved surface is slightly

eroded. The face of the figure is damaged. Parts of the bottom have broken oft.

TYPE B DESCRIPTION The high-relief column shows a

standing human figure in front view; the feet are straight out in front and both arms are bent. The hands lie across the ehest. The figure is dressed in a loincloth and a decorated loincloth apron which reaches almost to the knees. The headdress is a tur­banlike element. Proskouriakoff observes that the figure "has a round negroid face with protruding lips."

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950:167-168, 192, Fig . 97b; Pollock 1980:302-303, Fig. 522 (right)

No. 26 Oxklntok 4

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION South Doorway

column, Structure 3C7 at Oxkintok, Yucatan DIMENSIONS Unknown. Possibly ca. 190cm

high. CONDITION lmportant sections of the relief

have broken oft on the top, left side and bottom of the column. The face of the figure is almost un­recognizable. The top is more badly eroded than the rest of the monument.

TYPE B DESCRIPTION The high-relief column shows a

standing human figure in front view. The feet point directly ahead, the right arm is bent and lying on the body and the hand is resting at belt height. The clothing of the personage corresponds closely to that on the fragmentary Oxkintok Column 1. There is a broad belt, a loincloth whose lower hem is decorated with a zig-zag pattern, and crossed gaiters on the legs. A depressed disk is seen on the ehest. There is a high headdress, and a collar with pendant curved fangs. On the loincloth, at about the height of the left and right thighs, are incised signs which could be hieroglyphs.

18

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950:167-168, 192, Fig. 96g; Proskouriakoff 1951:114, Fig. 4b; Pollock 1980:302-303

No. 27 Oxklntok 5

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION South column of en­

trance to Room 4 of Structure 3C10 at Oxkintok, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: ca. 160cm; diameter: ca. 48cm

CONDITION Several portions of the column are missing, especially from the lower third. The glyph-block A2 is complete, and A4 is badly eroded.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows four vertically

arranged glyph-blocks (A 1-A4). REMARKS Pollock found a capital which could

originally have been associated with this column. He writes: "Capital that seemingly rested on south column carries three glyphs on front and one on each side (figs. 536, 537c)." Pollock suspects that in addition to the south column of the entrance to Room 4 of Structure 3C10, a north column must also have existed and today is still missing, and that it probably likewise could have had a relief. This missing relief column would raise to six the total number of known columns from Oxkintok.

REFERENCE Pollock 1980:310-312, Figs. 536, 537a

No. 28 Sta. Barbara 1

PRESENT LOCATION Church entrance, right column, church in Paraiso, near Maxcanu, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 180cm; diameter: 56cm CONDITION The monument is somewhat erod­

ed. TYPE B DESCRIPTION The high-relief column shows a

standing human figure in front view. The feet point straight ahead. In the hands are objects. The per­sonage is dressed in a loincloth with an apron, crossed gaiters, and adorned with a tall headdress and a wide collar.

REFERENCE Mayer 1980:Abb. 3 (right), Abb. 5. (PI. 9)

No. 29 Sta. Barbara 2

PRESENT LOCATION Church entrance, left column, church in Paraiso, near Maxcanu, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 180cm; diameter: 60cm CONDITION The monument is somewhat erod­

ed. A fissure runs horizontally at the height of the figure's mouth.

TYPE B DESCRIPTION The high-relief column cor­

responds in dimension and iconographically to the

168, 4b;

en-1tok,

r: ca.

lumn The

ided.

ically

:ould n. He ;outh 1e on hat in ce to must d that This total

. 536,

right catan 56cm erod-

ows a point

i per-1pron, dress

Abb.

i, left catan 60cm erod­of the

cor­to the

Sta. Barbara Column 1 and shows a standing human figure in front view. The feet are pointed straight ahead. In the right hand , the personage is holding a stafflike object which terminates on the top in a spherical element. In the left hand is a short object with a large round element on top, like a rat­tle. The clothing is a long loincloth reaching to just below the knees. The figure is adorned with a com­plex headdress.

REMARKS Columns 1 and 2 from Sta. Barbara may originally have formed similar positions of the doorway of a pre-Columbian structure. They are embedded in the wall of the church and, therefore, the backside is not describable, and exact measurements cannot be obtained.

REFERENCE Mayer 1980:Abb. 3 (left). (PI. 10-left)

No. 30 Sta. Barbara 3

PRESENT LOCATION Embedded in the left side wall, on the left side of the door, at the church in Paraiso, near Maxcanu, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 142cm; diameter: 53cm CONDITION The relief is heavily eroded and

only portions of the lower quarter are in good condi­tion.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION Portrayed is a standing figure

seen entirely in profile, with the body turned to the right. The right leg is slightly raised, thereby causing a dynamic pose. The figure is dressed in a wide belt, short loincloth and adorned with a high headdress, a long beaded necklace and anklets and wristlets composed of vertical bar elements. The feet are without sandals.

REFERENCE Mayer 1980: Abb. 4 (left)

No. 31 Sta. Barbara 4

PRESENT LOCATION Embedded in the left side wall, on the right side of the door, at the church in Paraiso, near Maxcanu, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 152cm; diameter: 54cm CONDITION The relief is rather badly eroded. TYPE A DESCRIPTION Portrayed is a standing human

figure seen entirely in profile, with the body turned to the left. The legs are side-by-side, the left foot is somewhat higher than the right. In the left hand, the personage is holding a long statt diagonally. The figure is dressed in a loincloth and adorned with a long beaded collar, a tall headdress decorated with plumes, and armlets and anklets formed of narrow, vertical bar elements.

REFERENCE Mayer 1980, Abb. 4 (center)

19

No. 32 Sta. Barbara 5

PRESENT LOCATION Right column on the stairway to the churchyard in Paraiso, near Max­canu, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 148cm; diameter: 53 cm CONDITION The upper half of the column is

more eroded than the lower. TYPE A DESCRIPTION Depicted is a standing human

figure seen entirely in profile, with the body turned to the left. The personage has its left leg somewhat raised, with only the tip of the toe resting on the ground, giving thereby the impression of a dancing pose. The left forearm is held almost horizontally, the right arm is raised. The clothing consists of a broad belt and a loincloth apron. There is a long beaded necklace, anklets and wristlets and a head­dress with a mask element and plumes.

REFERENCE Mayer 1980, Abb. 6. (PI. 10-right)

No. 33 Sta. Barbara 6

PRESENT LOCATION Left column on the stairway to the churchyard in Paraiso, near Max­canu, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 150cm; diameter: 47cm CONDITION The upper quarter of the column

is more heavily eroded than the rest. A small piece is missing from the upper left.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION Depicted is a standing human

figure. The lower body is portrayed in front view, the legs next to each other, the feet are pointing out­ward. The upper body is in a quasi-three-quarters view, the head is depicted in profile and turned to the right. Both arms are bent and turned to the right. The right hand lies in the middle of the belt. The per­sonage is dressed in a loincloth and an apron which hangs down almost to the knees. The figure is adorned with anklets, wristlets, a feathered head­dress, a wide collar with a bar-shaped pectoral and a round earplug. In front of the face of the figure is an unidentified object; in front of the leg, to the lower right, is another indistinguishable design. (PI. 11-left).

No. 34 Sta. Barbara 7

PRESENT LOCATION Column on extreme right side of front wall of churchyard in Paraiso, near Maxcanu, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 138cm; diameter: 60cm CONDITION The monument is only fragmen­

tarily preserved, the lower half of the figure is miss­ing. The relief is considerably eroded.

TYPE B DESCRIPTION The relief shows the standing

figure of a frontally depicted "dios gordo" and resembles the Oxkintok Column 2. The pectoral in

the shape of a hand is noteworthy. The arms lie at the sides of the body. (PI. 11-right).

No. 35 Sta. Barbara 8

PRESENT LOCATION Column on extreme left side of front wall of churchyard in Paraiso, near Maxcanu, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 158cm; diameter: 60cm; circumference: 185cm

CONDITION The monument is extremely erod­ed. A small piece may be missing from the bottom.

TYPE Because of the eroded condition, it is not clear whether the column belongs to Type Bor Type A. lt probably belongs to Type B and is a match for the Sta. Barbara Column 7.

DESCRIPTION Only a little of the original relief remains and only a few outlines are discernible. lt is certain, however, that a frontally-portrayed human figure is illustrated, possibly a "dios gordo." Part of a short loincloth apron is visible. The arms appear tobe resting on the body.

No. 36 Sayll 1

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION East column of Struc­

ture 481 at Sayil, Yucatan DIMENSIONS Not known; about 145cm high CONDITION The monument is well preserved.

Small pieces are broken oft of the top, lower third and the bottom end.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The low-relief column shows

two standing human figures. The main figure is on the right side of the scene and is illustrated in side view, turned to the left. In the left hand is a round shield, in the right hand, a curved object of unknown function, possibly a weapon. The principal figure displays a frontally-depicted depressed disk on the breast. The figure is richly dressed and adorned. In front of the figure, on the left side of the scene, is a secondary figure. By the physiognomy and stature it would appear to be a dwarf. This figure has a frontally-portrayed body; the head is in profile and turned to the left. The pectoral of the dwarf is noteworthy. lt consists of a large round bivalve shell.

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950: 168, 195, Fig. 102f; Pollock 1980:121-122, Fig. 251a, 123, Fig. 253a

No. 37 Sayll 2

PRESENT LOCATION ORIGINAL LOCATION

ture 481 at Sayil, Yucatan

Unknown West column of Struc-

DIMENSIONS Now known; about 150cm high. CONDITION The monument appears to be very

weil preserved. TYPE A

20

DESCRIPTION This column is a pendant for the Sayil Column 1 and likewise shows two figures, namely an armed, standing man and a small dwarf. The main figure has a frontally-depicted body, the legs standing slight apart, the left leg is slightly rais­ed in a dancelike motion . The feet are pointing out­ward. The head is in profile and turned to the right. The principal figure is richly dressed and adorned. In the right hand is held diagonally a staff or lance; in the left hand, a round shield. In front, on the right side of the scene, stands a dwarf. The feet are point­ing to the left and are apart. The torso is almost in front view, the head in profile and turned to the left. Like the dwarf on the Sayil Column 1, this dwarf also has a shell pectoral. Proskouriakoff designates the style of both the Sayil monuments as "Late Yucatan, variant" and states further: " ... In the same style, but even more strongly expressive of the decadent quality of its monuments, is the sculpture of Struc­ture 481 at Sayil .... The treatment of the dancing figure is very much like that on the decadent jamb from Kayal, and archaistic traits are again con­spicious, as in the figure positions and in the treat­ment of the skirt fringe. The depressed disk on the ehest is apparently intrusive in this style .... lts rela­tion to monuments that are believed to be late suggests for it also an advanced date."

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950:168, 195, Fig. 102g; Proskouriakoff 1965:489, Fig. 12d; Pollock 1980:121, Fig. 251b, 123, Fig. 253b

No. 38 Tunkuyl 1

PRESENT LOCATION Private collection, Merida, Yucatan

REMARKS The archaeological site of Tunkuyi lies allegedly 20 kilometers (?) north of Bolonchen de Rejon, Campeche. Eric von Euw (private com­munication, April 1980) reported on two columns from this site, both bearing reliefs.

No. 39 Tunkuyl 2

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown REMARKS The existence of this column was

made known to me by Eric von Euw.

No. 40 Tzeme 1

PRESENT LOCATION Ermita de Santa lsabel, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 109cm; circumference: 156cm

CONDITION The monument is very eroded and the glyphs are scarcely distinguishable. A piece is missing from the base.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION There are three badly pre­

served glyph-blocks, and the block at the bottom is only half present because the monument appears to

have been broken oft at that point. The textual design is so eroded that the present orientation of the monument, which is on a pedestal, may not be correct (PI. 8-left).

REMARKS Sta. Maria Tzeme Kinchil is the suspected provenance for this column. The archaeological site of Tzeme lies about six kilometers away from Kinchil. Concerning the loca­tion of this little-known site, see Roys 1952:135, Fig. 1

No. 41 Xcalumkln 1

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION West (left) column of

entrance to east room of the Initial Series Building at Xcalumkin (Holactun)

DIMENSIONS Height: 163cm; diameter: 65-62cm

CONDITION The relief is extraordinarily well­preserved. The column is made of two drums.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The column is elliptical in

cross-section; there is a glyphic image on the front side. The ir.scription consists altogether of 12 glyph­blocks which are arranged into two vertical columns of six blocks each.

REFERENCES Maler n.d.; Maler 1902:201, Abb. 4 (left), 202; Gann 1924: opposite p. 184; Mar­quina 1964: Fotos 340-342; Barthel 1977:49; Pollock 1980:422-424, Figs. 705-8a (left), 712. (PI. 3-left).

No. 42 Xcalumkln 2

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION East (right) column of

entrance to east room of the Initial Series Building at Xcalumkin

DIMENSIONS Height: 165cm; diameter: 58-62 cm

CONDITION The monument is very weil preserved. The relief is on the right side (glyph­blocks 82 and 83-4) somewhat eroded.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The column is elliptical in

cross-section, with almost no entasis on the shaft and has flattened sides. The front side is decorated with a hieroglyphic text, which consists of 12 glyph­blocks arranged into two vertical columns of six blocks each.

REFERENCES Maler n.d.; Maler 1902:201, Abb. 4, right, 202; Gann 1924: opposite p. 184; Marquina 1964: Fotos 340-342; Pollock 1980:422-424, Figs. 705-708 (right), 712. (PI. 3-left).

No. 43 Xcalumkln 3

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

ORIGINAL LOCATION West (left) column of 21

the South Doorway of the North (Middle) Building of the Hieroglyphic Group at Xcalumkin

DIMENSIONS Height: 170cm; diameter: 47-54cm

CONDITION On top of the monument, below glyph-block A 1-81, there is a horizontal fissure. The carved surface is rather weil preserved.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The shaft of the column is ellip­

tical in cross-section. The front shows a low-relief sculpture of a hieroglyphic text. The textual image consists in all of nine glyph-blocks. At position A 1-B 1 is a single block, followed below by a double column of four signs each, which are tightly com­pacted. The text could be designated either as A 1-5 or as A1-5, 81-5.

REMARKS Concerning the date of manufac­ture of the monument, Thompson (1962:439) wrote "Probably A.D. 771."

REFERENCES Thompson 1962:439, PI. 13, bottom, left; Pollock 1980:441-442, 502, Figs. 739a (left), 7 40a. (PI. 4-left).

No. 44 Xcalumkln 4

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

ORIGINAL LOCATION East (right) column of the South Doorway of the North (Middle) Building of the Hieroglyphic Group at Xcalumkin

DIMENSIONS Height: 167cm; diameter: 48-60cm; diameter at top: 58cm

CONDITION The relief is relatively weil preserved; only some small portions of the top have broken oft. The photos published by Thompson and Pollock show only slight damage to the uppermost glyph-blocks (A 1-81 ); the present condition of the textual image shows that these blocks are destroyed.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The low-relief column is ellip­

tical in cross-section. On the front side, there are 1 O glyph-blocks arranged into two vertical columns of five blocks each. Thompson wrote, concerning the content of the text (1950:Fig. 56, 1 ): "First two glyphs may record: Haab 1, 13 Ahau, probably a reference to a date falling in tun ending on 9.14.1.0.0."

REFERENCES Thompson 1950: Fig. 56, 1; Thompson 1962: PI. 13, bottom right; Kelley 1976:39; Pollock 1980:441-442, 502, Figs. 739a (right), 740b

No. 45 Xcalumkln 5

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

ORIGINAL LOCATION East (left) column of North Doorway of South Building of Hieroglyphic Group at Xcalumkin

DIMENSIONS Height: 170cm; diameter: 49-

54cm CONDITION The monument and the relief are

very well preserved . TYPE A DESCRIPTION The carved area shows a text

consisting of a double column with five glyph-blocks each (A1-5, B1-5).

REMARKS The column and the hieroglyphic text were first illustrated by Pollock in 1980, in photograph and drawing.

REFERENCES Pavon 1942:35, No. 57; Pollock 1980:444-445, Figs. 739b (left), 744a

No. 46 Xcalumkln 6

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

ORIGINAL LOCATION West (right) column of North Doorway of South Building of Hieroglyphic Group at Xcalumkin

DIMENSIONS Height: 162cm; diameter: 48-55cm

CONDITION The monument and the carved area are very well preserved. There is insignificant damage only on the right lower side.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The shaft of the column is ellip­

tical in cross-section. The front shows a low-relief sculpture of a glyphic text which consists of nine glyph-blocks. At position A 1-B1 is a single block, and below that is a- double column of four glyph­blocks (A2-5, B2-5) each. The text arrangement is similar to Column 4 from Xcalumkin.

REFERENCES Pavon 1942:36, No. 60; Duetting 1972:223-224; Barthel 1977:50; Pollock 1980:444-445, Figs. 739b (right), 744b. (PI. 4-right).

No. 47 Xcocha 1

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

ORIGINAL LOCATION West column of east wing entrance of the Building of the Glyphic Band at Xcocha

DIMENSIONS Height: 158cm; diameter: 60cm; circumference: 173cm

CONDITION The relief is slightly eroded. There is a diagonal fissure in the upper quarter of the monument. A small piece is missing from the lower left part of the carved area.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The pictorial image shows two

standing human personages in side view and turned to the right. On the left side of the scene stands a richly-adorned and dressed ruler or warrior. In his right hand he holds vertically a statt or lance, and in the left hand, a round shield. In front of him, on the right side of the scene, there is a small human figure, a captive bound with ropes.

REMARKS On the top of the column, which

22

stands in the yard of the Museo Regional in Campeche, there is a capital with an inscription but it does not belong to this column, since the original capital was not recovered by Pollock. lt is instead the capital from the east column of the east wing en­trance of the Building of the Glyphic Band (Pollock 1980:511, Fig. 856b). The east column may likewise have had a carved design, but Pollock writes that it was "deeply buried and not excavated." This south column could be identical to a column of unknown provenance in California (Santa Ana Column 1 ).

REFERENCES Pavon 1942:63, No. 63; Proskouriakoff 1950: 167, 197, Fig. 1 OOa; Duetting 1965:99; Pollock 1980:509-511, Fig. 856a. (PI. 7-right).

No. 48 Xcocha 2

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION Column from structure

(Roof Crest Building) in the East Court of the Southeast Group at Xcocha

DIMENSIONS Height: 154cm; diameter at top: 50cm

CONDITION The monument is well preserved. The carved surface is considerably eroded.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The pictorial image shows a

standing human figure in a dancing pose. The body is frontally depicted, the head is in profile and turn­ed to the right. The left leg is slightly bent and the foot somewhat raised. In the right hand the per­sonage is holding a weapon and in the left hand, a decorated shield. The sculptured panel cor­responds to the representation on Column 3 from Xcocha.

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950: 166, Fig . 99d; Pollock 1980:513-514, Fig. 863a

No. 49 Xcocha 3

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown ORIGINAL LOCATION Doorway column from a

structure from court south of a pyramid in the Cen­tral or Main Group (or Valley Group) at Xcocha

DIMENSIONS Height: 152cm; diameter: 49cm CONDITION The sculptured area is slightly

eroded, but the entire monument is in good condi­tion.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The pictorial image cor­

responds to that on Column 2 from Xcocha, but the armed, standing human figure is turned to the left.

REMARKS Proskouriakoff designates the style as "Late Classic, variant." Concerning the chronological position of all three Xcocha columns, she writes: "These carvings show the figure in a restrained dancing pose characteristic of the Classic Dynamic Phase ... A minor but significant detail which may serve to confirm our estimate that

these Xcocha and Kayal sculptures date from the last quarter of Cycle 9 is the form of the wristlet on the Kayal panel."

REFERENCES Proskouriakoff 1950: 166, 197, Fig. 99e; Pollock 1980:508, Fig. 849

No. 50 Xcoralche 1

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown DIMENSIONS Unknown CONDITION The monument is broken and

heavily eroded. TYPE A DESCRIPTION According to Maler (n.d.), the

relief shows a richly jeweled personage with a hieroglyphic wreath around the top of the column. The photo made by Teobert Maler in 1888 shows only a small section of the monument, so a more ex­act description cannot be made. lt is unusual that the inscription runs around the top, since generally only the front section of relief columns are carved. lt could be a columnar altar, like that from Uxmal (Holmes 1895: PI. 7), upon which an inscription en­circles the top. Pollock (1980:206-207) designates it as a stela.

REFERENCES Maler n.d.; Pollock 1980:206-207. (PI. 5-top).

No. 51 Xcoralche 2

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown DIMENSIONS Unknown REMARKS Teobert Maler (n.d.) briefly men­

tions this column, but he neither described nor photographed it.

REFERENCE Maler n.d.

No. 52 Xcoralche 3

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown DIMENSIONS Height: 123cm CONDITION The monument is heavily eroded

and broken into two parts. TYPE A DESCRIPTION Depicted are two human

figures standing opposite each other. They are richly dressed and hold ceremonial staffs in their hands. A horizontal row of hieroglyphs encircles the top of the column.

REMARKS Maler made a photograph of this monument in 1888. In the lbero-Amerikanisches Institut in Berlin, there is a negative print of the sculpture.

REFERENCE Maler n.d.

No. 53 Xculoc 1

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

ORIGINAL LOCATION South (right) column of

23

Sculptured Columns Building at Xculoc DIMENSIONS Height: 158cm; diameter: 50cm CONDITION The relief is badly eroded. A large

piece is missing from the upper right. The monu­ment is in two sections; a horizontal crack runs across the upper third of the column. lt is possible that the column was sculptured from two stones and was, therefore, originally not monolithic.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The low-relief column shows a

standing human figure. The legs are slightly apart, the feet pointing outward. The figure is frontally por­trayed. The left arm is raised high, the right pointing downward. The person is richly dressed and adorn­ed. A depressed disk at the height of the stomach is noteworthy. The face is damaged and, therefore, not describable. The figure is standing on a stylized mask which is seen in profile and turned to the left.

Regarding the style, Proskouriakoff writes (1950:168): "The columns combine traits both non­Classic and decadent. Deep-grooved parallel lines are used to depict feathers. The smooth curve out­lining the legs suggests an influence from the school of Chilib and Maxcanu, and the depressed disks show a relation to the columns of Oxkintok. One might surmise from the eclectic character of this style that it is very late."

REFERENCES Pavon 1942:21 or 22, No. 8 or 10; Proskouriakoff 1950:168, 197, Fig. 101i; Pollock 1980:379-380, Fig. 629 (right)

No. 54 Xculoc 2

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

ORIGINAL LOCATION North (left) column of Sculptured Columns Building at Xculoc

DIMENSIONS Height: 160cm; diameter: 45cm CONDITION The relief is considerably eroded.

Parts of the face and the middle of the figure are broken oft. The monument is in two sections. A horizontal fissure runs across about the middle of the body of the depicted figure. lt is possible that the monument was made from two drums.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION Portrayed is a standing human

figure in front view. This representation is essential­ly identical to that on Xculoc Column 1.

REFERENCES Pavon 1942:21 or 22, No. 8 or 10; Proskouriakoff 1950:168, 197, Fig. 101h; Pollock 1980:379-380, Fig. 629 (left)

No.55 Yaxcabakal1

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 157cm; diameter: 58cm CONDITION The relief is considerably eroded.

Large parts of the carved area on the lower third of the sculpture are damaged.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows a frontally­

depicted standing human figure. The figure is richly dressed. The jewelry consists of a beaded collar and a large pectoral, as weil as a tall, ornate head­dress with long plumes. On the left side of the monolith is a vertical glyph band.

REMARKS The archaeological site of Yax­cabakal is also referred to as Yalcabakal.

REFERENCE Pavon 1942:40, No. 90. (PI. 8-right).

No. 56 Yaxcopoll 1

PRESENT LOCATION Unknown DIMENSIONS Unknown; possibly about 110cm

high. CONDITION Fragment of a column. The top

section is missing . TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows a standing

human figure in front view. The legs are side by side, the feet pointing outward. The upper section of the figure, from about the middle of the ehest up­ward, is missing. The clothing consists of a wide belt, a loincloth, a loincloth apron and sandals with ankle guards. In regards to the style, Proskouriakoff observes that the column from Yaxcopoil, together with columns from Maxcanu and Chilib, " ... can be placed in a group which expresses an independent stylistic type, possibly identified with, or at any rate allied to, the Quality X we recognize in certain trends or distortion on stelae ... . "

REFERENCE Proskouriakoff 1950:167, 199, Fig. 100d

II. Columns of Unknown Provenance

No. 57 Berlln 1

PRESENT LOCATION Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin, Germany

DIMENSIONS Height: 183cm; diameter: 45cm CONDITION The relief is not badly eroded, but

some pieces of the column are missing. The monu­ment has been partially restored.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The carved area shows three

standing human figures. The main figure is a frontally-depicted personage with a tall headdress. The feet are pointing outward. The main figure is flanked by two dwarf figures who are seen in profile.

REFERENCES Morley 1937-1938, Vol. IV:419; Krickeberg 1950:11; Eisleb 1974:35; Mills 1977:102; Mayer 1978:29, PI. 41 . (PI. 1 ).

24

No. 58 Berlln 2

PRESENT LOCATION Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin, Germany

DIMENSIONS Height: 79cm; circumference: 155cm

CONDITION Fragment; it is the lower section of a column. Several pieces have broken oft.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The pictorial image shows two

human figures standing opposite each other and seen in side view. lt is possible that the left figure is female and the one on the right, male.

REFERENCE Mayer 1979b: 1, PI. 1

No. 59 Berlln 3

PRESENT LOCATION Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin, Germany

DIMENSIONS Height: 90cm; circumference: 159cm

CONDITION Fragment. Lower part of column. Parts of the relief at the top have broken off.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The pictorial image shows, as

does the Berlin Column 2, two human figures stan­ding opposite each other and seen in side view. lt is possible that the left figure is male and the one on the right, female. The two personages are separated by an inexplicable element.

REFERENCE Mayer 1979b:1, PI. 2

No. 60 Berlln 4

PRESENT LOCATION Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin, Germany

DIMENSIONS Height: 66cm; circumference: 166cm

CONDITION The fragment is the center section of a column.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The orig inal image probably

showed a frontally-depicted standing human figure with a round shield bearing a Tlaloc head design. On the right side is a dwarf figure portrayed in side view and turned to the left. The pictorial image cor­responds essentially with that on Berlin Column 1.

REFERENCE Mayer 1979b: 1, PI. 3

No. 61 Berlln 5

PRESENT LOCATION Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin, Germany

DIMENSIONS Height: 62cm; circumference: 162cm

CONDITION The fragment is the upper third of a low-relief column.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The original scene probably

showed a standing human figure in front view. As far

as can be determined from what remains, the pic­torial image is similar to that on the Berlin Column 1.

REFERENCE Mayer 1979b: 1, PI. 4

No. 62 Campeche 1

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 171cm; diameter: 58cm CONDITION The monument is unusually well

preserved. TYPE A DESCRIPTION This column stands out from all

the known relief columns for many reasons. The scene shows five persons in all and is, therefore, the only column to have this number of human figures. Person 1 is a Maya ruler who sits on a throne decorated with glyphs. He is depicted in side view and looking to the right. Persons 2 and 3 are two kneeling musicians; they are visible in the lower left of the scene and are playing long trumpets. Both are depicted in side view and looking toward the right. Person 4 is a corpulent dwarf, whose body is fron­tally portrayed. His head is in profile and turned to the left in the direction of the ruler. Person 4 is standing to the right of the ruler. On his right side stands Person 5, a richly dressed and adorned figure who is seen in side view and looking to the left in the direction of the ruler. Hieroglyphs decorate the throne. A horizontal band is discernible on the seat, and more glyphs are seen in a vertical row on the leg of the throne. From an inconographic and ar­tistic viewpoint, this magnificent column is unique. (PI. 13).

No. 63 Campeche 2

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 157cm; diameter: 60cm CONDITION The monument is slightly eroded. TYPE A DESCRIPTION On the carved area, which is

112cm high and 60cm wide, there is a standing human figure seen in side view and looking to the right. In the right hand, the figure is holding a peculiar ornamented ceremonial staff. The figure is richly dressed and adorned with a collar made of huge beads, and a unique feathered headdress.

REMARKS Lawrence Mills made a roll-out drawing of the sculptured area of the column and it is published here for the first time (PI. 14). Mills (written communication, July 1980) informed me that an informant, who worked at the Campeche Museum and for many years on archaeological ex­cavations in the state of Campeche, gave the provenance of the monument as the site of Bakna, Campeche. Pollock (1980:535, 581) reports on a columnar doorway in the northern addition to the Northeast Building at Bakna and writes: "The two

25

doorway columns, which have fallen, are sculptured .... " A closer description, which could indicate if it is a column belonging to Type A or Type B is lacking, as weil as information on any pictorial or textual im­ages. There are no illustrations of these doorway columns through which to make a possible iden­tification of the column in the Campeche Museum.

No. 64 Campeche 3

PRESENT LOCATION Museo Regional, Campeche, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: about 151cm; diameter: 55cm

CONDITION The column consists of two fragments; the lower section is 71cm high and the upper section is 80cm high.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows a standing

human figure. The head is in profile and turned to the right.

No. 65 Chetumal 1

PRESENT LOCATION Biblioteca Publica, Chetumal, Quintana Roo

DIMENSIONS Height: 155cm; diameter: 44cm; circumference in the middle: 156cm

CONDITION The column was sawed into three sections and is badly eroded.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows a standing

human figure, whose torso is frontally depicted. The face is shown in profile and turned to the left.

No. 66 Granada 1

PRESENT LOCATION Hacienda Granada, near Maxcanu, Yucatan

DESCRIPTION The relief shows an anthropomorphic figure with a feathered head­dress.

TYPE Possibly Type B REMARKS Ralph Roys (1952:162) reports the

following on two columns (Granada Columns 1 and 2) in the Hacienda Granada: "The casa principal .. . is set upon an enormous platform about 2m. high, which 1 believe to be the flattened remains of a large Maya substructure. On either side of the stairway ascending the platform is a sculptured human figure with a feathered headdress. These figures look like doorway columns; they are carved almost in the full round and are about three-quarters life size. lt was said that they had been brought from Santa Ynes, a few kilometers distant. Sr. A. Canto Lopez has sent me a photograph of two similar sculptures, slightly larger, which now flank the doorway of the church at the neighboring Hacienda Paraiso." Chican and Xulmil are also possible sites of origin. The two columns in Paraiso are undoubtedly Columns 1 and

2 from Sta. Barbara, which are embedded in the facade of the church in Paraiso (PI. 9, 10-left).

REFERENCE Roys 1952:16

No. 67 Granada 2

PRESENT LOCATION Hacienda Granada, near Maxcanu, Yucatan

DESCRIPTION Depicted is a standing human figure with a feathered headdress, possibly in front view.

TYPE Possibly Type B REMARKS See the preceding reference. REFERENCE Roys 1952:162

No. 68 Hecelchakan 1

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 166cm; diameter: 48-58cm ; circumference in the middle: 193cm

CONDITION The column is in good condition and only slightly eroded. A very small piece has been broken oft on the top front.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The column resembles the

glyphic column from Xcalumkin and shows altogether nine glyph-blocks. The uppermost glyph occupies the position A1-81 and is twice as large as the following pairs of glyphs (A2-5, 82-5) arranged below it. The inscription represents an Initial Series which has not yet been deciphered. The numerical coefficients consist mostly of head variants. (PI. 15-left).

No. 69 Hecelchakan 2

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 173cm; circumference: 157cm

CONDITION The column is slightly eroded and broken into two pieces. The break runs horizontally across the upper third of the monolith.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The front side shows, in low­

relief, three vertically arranged ghyph-blocks (A 1-3); a similar glyph arrangement is seen on Oxkintok Column 5 (Pollack 1980:312, Fig. 537a). (PI. 12-right)

No. 70 Hecelchakan 3

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 156cm; diameter: 54 cm CONDITION The monument is broken in the

middle. A big piece is missing from the right side of the front surface, which is generally eroded.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION Represented is a standing

26

human figure in front view. The figure is simply dressed; the jewelry is a simple pectoral.

No. 71 Hecelchakan 4

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 155cm; diameter: 58cm CONDITION The monument is considerably

eroded. A piece is broken oft of the top of the front side.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows a standing

human figure in simple clothing and a wide head­dress. The figure is depicted in front view. The right leg is somewhat raised and held in a dancing pose. The right arm is alongside the body, the hand rest­ing in the middle of the belt. The left arm is raised high and is holding a round, unidentifiable object.

No. 72 Hecelchakan 5

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 145cm; circumference: 149cm

CONDITION The surface of the monolith is slightly eroded. A diagonal fissure is visible in the lower quarter.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows a standing

human figure in front view. The legs are slightly apart and the feet are pointing outward. The per­sonage is richly dressed. The jewelry consists of a headdress in the shape of a reptile head mask, a long beaded collar and a pectoral made of several connected elements. The base of the column, which represents about a sixth of the entire monument, is plain. (PI. 15-right).

No. 73 Hecelchakan 6

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 160cm; circumference: 160cm

CONDITION The relief is very well preserved. The monolith was broken into two pieces; the break is horizontal and is found in the lower third of the column.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows a standing

human figure. The legs are slightly apart, the feet . are pointing outward. The body is depicted in a quasi-three-quarters view; the head is in profile and looking to the left. The figure is richly dressed and wearing sandals. There is a headdress, a squarish earplug and a long collar. The left arm is laid against the ehest of the personage, and in the raised right hand is a lance.

No. 74 Hecelchakan 7

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 167cm; circumference: 161cm

CONDITION The relief is somewhat eroded. TYPE A DESCRIPTION Depicted is a standing human

figure. The legs are side by side, the right leg is somewhat raised. The torso is frontally portrayed, the head is in profile and turned to the left. The per­sonage is dressed and adorned like the one on the Hecelchakan Column 6. The figure is also holding a lance in the right hand.

REMARKS The column corresponds iconographically and stylistically to the Hecelchakan Column 6 and may have come from the same archaeological site, if not the same structure.

No. 75 Hecelchakan 8

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 60cm; circumference: 174cm

CONDITION The fragment is the upper section of a column. The relief is badly eroded.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION Depicted is a human figure in

front view. The jewelry is a collar and a collar orna­ment.

No. 76 Hecelchakan 9

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 27cm; diameter: 60cm CONDITION The fragment is the upper section

of a column. TYPE A DESCRIPTION The fragment shows the head­

dress of a personage. There are long waving plumes and some ornaments visible.

No. 77 Hecelchakan 10

PRESENT LOCATION Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche

DIMENSIONS Height: 46cm; diameter: 51cm; circumference: 161cm

CONDITION The fragment is broken horizon­tally across the top; pieces of the relief have broken oft the lower front side.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION A pictorial image is not dis­

tinguishable due to the fragmentary character of the 27

piece. REMARKS lt is uncertain whether this is part of

a column; it is likely judging from the dimensions.

No. 78 Merlda 1

PRESENT LOCATION Ermita de Sta. lsabel, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 150cm; circumference: 180-185cm

CONDITION The relief is extremely eroded. TYPE A DESCRIPTION The monument was once

located in the museum of archaeology in Merida, and was designated as M2 from Campeche by Pol lock. He writes: "Badly damaged human figure of which the head and face are virtually obliterated. Museum description reads: 'Monolothiccolumn with figure carved in low relief, badly defaced. Ap­proximate height 1.56m, approximate diameter .56m. Provenience Campeche."'

REMARKS Pollack indicates that this column belongs to a series of "sculpture, the provenience of which is often in doubt, that are attributed to Campeche." On this problematical provenance, it should be mentioned that Campeche refers not only to the entire Mexican state but also the capital city of the same name.

lt is my suspicion that Pollock's Chilib M3 sculp­ture (=Column Chilib 3) and Campeche M2 (=Column Merida 1) are identical. This problem could only be solved through the existence of an il­lustration of Column 3 from Chilib.

REFERENCE Pollack 1980:545, Fig. 913a

No. 79 Merlda 2

PRESENT LOCATION Templo San Juan de Dios, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Diameter: 48cm; the two lower fragments together are 54cm high; the upper frag­ment is 28cm high.

CONDITION The monument is formed of three sawed-up sections of a column. The relief is very badly eroded in some places.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The two lower fragments form

the bottom of the column. The design of the relief is divided into three images: in the middle is a pictorial image which is flanked on the right and left by ver­tical glyph-bands. The pictorial image shows in side view the stylized head of a deity, parts above it are heavily eroded and, therefore, indiscernible. The textual images on the sides show six glyph-blocks each; only traces remain of two of the glyphs. (PI. 16-left).

REMARKS There is a possibility that this monu­ment comes from Xtablakal, and that one of the two fragments of Merida Columns 5 and 6 is part of this column.

No. 80 Merlda 3

PRESENT LOCATION Templo San Juan de Dios, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 142cm; diameter (without figure): 48cm

CONDITION The relief is badly eroded; some pieces are missing from the bottom.

TYPE B DESCRIPTION The high-relief column shows a

frontally depicted standing human figure. The figure is dressed in a loincloth and loincloth apron which reaches to the knee. On the legs are crossed gaiters. The right arm is bent and lies on the body; the hand is resting on the belt.

REMARKS Stylistically and iconographically, the monument resembles closely the Oxkintok Column 3. (PI. 6-right).

No. 81 Merlda 4

PRESENT LOCATION Centro Regional del Sureste, INAH, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 89cm; diameter: 40cm; circumference: 138cm

CONDITION This is the lower section of a con­siderably eroded column.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The pictorial image is hard to

make out. lt may be a standing human figure in front view.

REMARKS Kabah has been given as the provenance of this monolith, but this statement is uncertain and unlikely.

No. 82 Merlda 5

PRESENT LOCATION Centro Regional del Sureste, INAH, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 39cm; diameter: 42cm CONDITION Fragment of a column whose top

and bottom were horizontally sawed oft. TYPE A DESCRIPTION The carved surface shows part

of what may be a figural designs, and two textual im­ages which flank the central pictorial image.

REMARKS lt is possible that this fragment is pa~t of a fragmentary column which is on exhibit in the Templo San Juan de Dios, Merida (Merida Column 2). Xtablakal has been suggested as the provenance of the fragment (PI. 5-bottom, right).

No. 83 Merlda 6

PRESENT LOCATION Centro Regional del Sureste, INAH, Merida, Yucatan

DIMENSIONS Height: 30cm; diameter: 44-49cm

CONDITION Fragment of a column whose top and bottom have been horizontally sawed oft.

28

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The carved surface shows a

central pictorial image, which is flanked on the sides by textual images. The complete design cor­responds to that on the Merida Column 2 and Merida Column 5.

REMARKS Since the color of the stone is different from that of the Merida Column 5, it cannot be part of that monument, but it is probably part of Merida Column 2. In addition, the diameter speaks for this suggestion. Xtablakal has been given as the provenance of this fragment (PI. 5, bottom, left).

No. 84 Merlda 7

PRESENT LOCATION Private collection, Merida, Yucatan

CONDITION The monument is sawed up. TYPE A DESCRIPTION This is a column with glyphs

and resembles the Merida Columns 2, 5, and 6.

No. 85 Merlda 8

PRESENT LOCATION Private collection, Merida, Yucatan

DESCRIPTION The pictorial image shows a standing jaguar.

REMARKS The monolith was supposedly found near Xlabpak, Yucatan.

No. 86 Paris 1

PRESENT LOCATION Musee de l'Homme, Paris, France

DIMENSIONS CONDITION

Height: 139cm; diameter: 47cm The monument has been divided

into four similar large pieces by three horizontal saw-cuts. The back side was hollowed out. The relief is somewhat eroded.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION Depicted is a standing human

skeleton in front view. The legs are apart, the feet are turned inward. The skeleton figure is dressed in a loincloth apron; the skull is adorned with a semicircular headdress. The pictorial image was designated as a "phallic skeleton."

REFERENCES Franco 1960: PI. 34; Mayer 1978:16, PI. 22

No. 87 New York 1

PRESENT LOCATION The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

DIMENSIONS Height: 173cm; diameter: 43cm CONDITION The monument is extraordinarily

weil preserved. TYPE A DESCRIPTION Depicted is a richly dressed

and adorned standing human figure accompanied

by a small human figure, a dwarf. The main figure is in front view, the legs are side by side, the feet are pointing outward. On the right is carried a fringed shield, on the left, a curved unexplained object.

REMARKS The column is a match to a column of unknown provenance in Worcester (Worcester Column 1).

REFERENCES Goldwater et al. 1969: No. 626; Mayer 1979b:43, PI. 52

No. 88 Santa Ana 1

PRESENT LOCATION The Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, California

DIMENSIONS Height: 137cm; diameter: 48cm CONDITION The monument is sawed in half

vertically, the top and bottom are trimmed. Restored areas are discernible.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The museum description

reads: "A dignitary with a sumptuous feather head­dress holds a staff and a round shield, both of which are decorated with tassels. Several bands are wound around his legs and one foot is raised to in­dicate he is walking, probably in a procession. A small human figure is attached to the back of his loincloth belt. In the lower right corner is a grotes­que head, probably of God K, as a symbol of rulership." Attached to the front of the headgear is a miniature full figure in a seated posture with dangl­ing legs. In the lower right corner of the carved area is a vertically-elongated deity mask (PI. 16-right).

REMARKS The column resembles closely the Xcocha Column 1 (Proskouriakoff 1950: Fig. 1 OOa; Pollock 1980:511, Fig. 856). This column was found by Pollock in the "Building of the Glyphic Band" at Xcocha and it is the west column of an outer doorway of the mentioned structure. Pollack (1980:510) mentions that a second column of the outer doorway existed, but did not state whether it bore a carved design. He writes: "East column deeply buried and not excavated." There is a possiblity that this unexcavated column is identical with the relief column in Santa Ana.

No. 89 Worcester 1

PRESENT LOCATION The Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts

DIMENSIONS Height: 175cm; diameter: 61cm CONDITION The monument is very weil

preserved. A small triangular piece is missing from the lower front.

TYPE A DESCRIPTION The relief shows three standing

human figures: a principal figure in front view, richly dressed and adorned and holding a shield and a curved object in the hands. At the bottom on each side of the principal figure is a dwarf figure. The dwarfs are depicted in side view; their heads are

29

turned to the front. REMARKS This monument shares a series of

common traits with the New York Column 1 and is iconographically related to the pictorial image on the Berlin Column 1.

REFERENCES Jewell 1963; Art Quarterly 1963:249; Chronique des Arts 1964:41, No. 146; Worcester Art Museum 1973:219; Mayer 1979a:298, Abb. 3; Mayer 1979b:72-73, PI. 77

APPENDIX 2 A Prellmlnary List Of Sltes Where

Relief Columns Have Been Located

State of Campeche 1. Acanmul 2. Calkini 3. Cansacbe 4. Chilib 5. Dzitbalche 6. Kanki 7. Tunkuyi 8. Xcalumkin 9. Xcocha

10. Xculoc 11. Yaxcabacal

State of Qulntana Roo 12. La Expedicion 13. Miramar

State of Yucatan 14. Dsecilna 15. Maxcanu 16. Mayapan 17. Oxkintok 18. Sayil 19. Sta. Barbara 20. Tzeme 21. Xcoralche 22. Yaxcopoil

12. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Plates 1. Three views of the Berlin Column 1; Museum

fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin; Cat. No. IV Ca 6135; height 183cm; photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer (1979-F5-2A, F1-16, F1-18).

2. Left: Dsecilna Columns 1 and 2; photograph by Teobert Maler; after Maler 1895, Fig. 19. Right: Miramar Column 1, photograph by C.F. Millspaugh, Field Museum Expedition 1894-5; courtesy, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.

3. Xcalumkin Columns 1 and 2; photograph by Teobert Maler; after Maler 1902, Fig. 4.

4. Left: Xcalumkin Column 3; Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-19-31 ). Right: Xcalumkin Column 6; Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-18-10A).

5. Top: Xcoralche Column 1; photograph by Teobert Maler; courtesy lbero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin. Bottom: Merida Column 6 (left) and Merida Column 5 (right); Centro Regional del Sureste, INAH, Merida; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-8-7).

6. Left: Oxkintok Column 2; Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico, D.F.; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-39-6). Right: Merida Column 3; Temple San Juan de Dios, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1978-24-5).

7. Left: Cansacbe Column 1; Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-18-21A). Right: Xcocha Column 1; Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer ( 1980-18-2A).

8. Left: Tzeme Column 1; Ermita de Sta. lsabel, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-7-20). Right: Yaxcabacal Column 1; Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-17-24).

9. Two views of the Santa Barbara Column 1; village church in Paraiso, Yucatan, Mexico; photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-8-25A, 1980-9-3).

10. Left: Santa Barbara Column 2; village church in Paraiso, Yucatan, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-9-22). Right: Santa Bar­bara Column 5; village church in Paraiso, Yucatan , Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-8-12A).

11. Left: Santa Barbara Column 6; village church in Paraiso, Yucatan, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-9-32). Right: Santa Bar­bara Column 7; village church in Paraiso, Yucatan, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-8-20) .

12. Left: Chilib Column 2; Temple San Juan de Dios, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1978-24-13) . Right: Hecelchakan Column 2; Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-20-26A).

13. Two views of the Campeche Column 1; Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico; photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-18-16A, 1980-18-20A).

14. Campeche Column 2; Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico; drawing by

30

Lawrence Mills (1976). 15. Left: Hecelchakan Column 1; Museo del

Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche, Mex­ico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-19-30). Right: Hecelchakan Column 5; Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan, Campeche, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-20-29A).

16. Left: Merida Column 2; Temple San Juan de Dios, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico; photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980-12-26). Right: Santa Ana Column 1; currently on exhibition at the Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, California (anonymous loan); photograph by Keith A. Dix­on (1980).

Drawlngs Fig. 1 Map of the Maya area showing archaeo­

logical sites with relief doorway columns. columns.

Fig. 2 Map of the Island of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico, showing archaeological sites with relief doorway columns.

Fig. 3 Map of apart of the Northern Maya Lowlands in Mexico showing archaeological sites with relief doorway columns.

All drawings are by Hasso Hohmann (1980)

13. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For generous assistance in the preparation of this monograph, 1 wish to express my gratitude to the following persons:

Claus J. BRUDER, Berlin Keith A. DIXON, Long Beach Dieter EISLEB, Berlin Norberto GONZALEZ CRESPO, Merida lan GRAHAM, Cambridge, Massachusetts Hasso HOHMANN, Graz Armand J. LABBE, Santa Ana Helene LELOUP, Paris Peter MATHEWS, Cambridge, Massachusetts Erich MICKLER, Hamburg Lawrence MILLS, Pella Anneliese MOENNICH, Berlin llse PLANK, Knittelfeld Harry E.D. POLLOCK, Hancock Berthold RIESE, Hamburg Maria ROCIO GONZALEZ, Cancun Jeremy A. SABLOFF, Albuquerque Peter J. SCHMIDT, Merida Wilhelm STEGMANN, Berlin Matthias STRECKER, Bremervoerde Ran TEST A, Chicago Annegrete VOGRIN, Graz Eric VON EUW, Mexico D.F. Karl-Friedrich VON FLEMMING, Berlin Hasso VON WINNING, Los Angeles

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Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch­historische Klasse, No. 3. Berlin

SHOOK, Edwin M. 1940 Exploration in the Ruins of Oxkintok, Yucatan.

Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropologicos 4 (3): 165-171. Mexico, D.F.

SIDRYS, Raymond 1978 Megalithic Architecture and Sculpture of the An­

cient Maya. Papers on the Economy and Architecture of the Ancient Maya (Raymond Sidrys, Editor). Institute of Archaeology, Univer­sity of California, Los Angeles, Monograph 8: 155-183. Los Angeles

SMITH, A. Ledyard 1962 Residential and Associated Structures at

Mayapan. H.E.D. Pollock, Ralph L. Roys, Tatiana Proskouriakoff, A. Ledyard Smith: Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 619: 165-319. Washington, D.C.

SPINDEN, Herbert J. 1975 A Study of Maya Art: lts Subject Matter and

Historical Development . (Reprint). Dover Publications, lnc. New York, N.Y.

THOMPSON, Edward H. 1938 The High Priest's Grave, Chichen ltza, Yucatan,

Mexico. Publications of Field Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Series 27: 1-64. Chicago

THOMPSON, J. Eric S. 1931 Archaeological lnvestigations in the Southern

Cayo District, British Honduras. Field Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Series 17 (3) . Chicago

1937 A New Method of Deciphering Yucatecan Dates with Special Reference to Chichen ltza. Con­tri b uti o ns to American Archaeology (22). Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 483. Washington, D.C.

1950 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: lntroduction. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 589. Washington, D.C.

ROYS, Ralph L. 1952 Conquest Sites and the Subsequent Destruction

of Maya Architecture in the lnterior of Northern Yucatan. Contributions to American Anthropology and History, XI (54): 129-186. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 596. Washington, D.C.

1957 The Political Geography of the Yucatan Maya. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 613. Washington, D.C.

1962 A Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman

VON EUW, Eric 1977 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic lnscriptions 4 (Part

1 ): ltzimte, Pixoy, Tzum. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts

WORCESTER ART MUSEUM, THE 1973 A Handbook to the Worcester Art Museum.

Worcester Art Museum. Worcester

PLATE 1

Column of unknown provenance. Three views. Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin. COLUMN 1, Berlin . (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1979.)

33

COLUMNS 1 and 2, DSECILNA, Yucatan (left). Photograph by Teobert Maler (after Maler 1895, Fig . 19).

(

COLUMN 1, MIRAMAR, lsla Cozumel, Quintana Roo (right). Photograph by C.F. Millspaugh, Field Museum Expedition 1894-5. Courtesy, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.

COLUMNS 1 and 2, XCALUMKIN, Campeche. Columnar entrance to east room of Initial Series Building. Phogoraph by Teobert Maler (after Maler 1902, Fig . 4) .

"O ,.. ,,. -t m w

/

PLATE 4

COLUMNS 3, XCALUMKIN, Campeche (left). Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan. COLUMN 6, XCALUMKIN, Campeche (right). Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche. (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.)

PLATE 5

COLUMN 1, XCORALCHE, Yucatan. Column in front, Xcoralche Stelae 1 and 2 in the background . Photograph by Teobert Maler. Photograph courtesy lbero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin.

Column fragments of unknown provenance; allegedly from Xtablakal. Centro Regional del Sureste, Merida. COLUMN 6, MERIDA (left); COLUMN 5, MERIDA (right). (Photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.)

PLATE 6

COLUMN 2, OXKINTOK, Yucatan (left). Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico, D.F. Column of unknown provenance (right). Templo San Juan de Dios, Merida. COLUMN 3, MERIDA. (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1978, 1980.)

PLATE 7

COLUMN 1, CANSACBE, Campeche (left) . Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche. COLUMN 1. XCOCHA, Campeche (right) . Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche. (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.)

PLATE 8

COLUMN 1, TZEME, Yucatan (left). Ermita de Sta. lsabel, Merida. COLUMN 1, YAXCABAKAL, Campeche (right). Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche. (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.)

PLATE 9

COLUMN 1, SANTA BARBARA, Yucatan. (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.)

PLATE10

COLUMN 2, SANTA BARBARA, Yucatan (left). COLUMN 5, SANTA BARBARA, Yucatan (right) .

(Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.)

PLATE 11

COLUMN 6, SANTA BARBARA, Yucatan (left). COLUMN 7, SANTA BARBARA, Yucatan (right). (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.)

PLATE12

COLUMN 2, CHILIS, Campeche. Templo San Juan de Dios, Merida (left). Column of unknown provenancP. Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan. COLUMN 2, HECELCHAKAN (right). (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1978, 1980.)

PLATE13

Column of unknown provenance. Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche. COLUMN 1, CAMPECHE. Two views. (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.)

., \ . '\

PLATE14

Column of unknown provenance. Museo Regional de Campeche, Campeche. COLUMN 2, CAMPECHE. (Roll-out drawing by Lawrence Mills , 1976.)

PLATE15

Column of unknown provenance (left). Museo del Camino Real, Hecelchakan . COLUMN 1. HECELCHAKAN. Column of unknown provenance (right). Museo del Camino Real , Hecelchakan . COLUMN 5, HECELCHAKAN. (Photographs by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.)

PLATE16

Column of unknown provenance (left). Three tragments. Templo San Juan de Dios, Merida. COLUMN ?. MERIDA. (Photograph by Karl Herbert Mayer, 1980.) Column of unknown provenance (right) . The Bower'.; Museum, Santa Ana, California. COLUMN 1, SANTA ANA. (Photograph by Keith A. Dixon , 1980.)

•

• •

• YUCA.TAN

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• QUINTAAJA R:o

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• .ARC\-JAEOLOGICAL SITE WfTH RELIEF COLUMN

Figure 1. Map of the Maya area showing archaeological sites with relief doorway columns. (Drawing by Hasso Hohmann, 1980.)

!SLA COZUMEL OUINTANA ~, ME'X\CO

oc.=:=========sI:=:========:::l1ol<J'..\

e ARC~OLCGICAL SITE Wll1-1 RELl EF COLUMN

Figure 2. Map of the Island of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico, showing archaeological sites with relief doorway columns. (Drawing by Hasso Hohmann, 1980.)

e ARCHAEQLOG\(ÄL SlTE W\TH RELIEF COLUMN

c

CHAMPOlON

O MOTuL

e TZEME OIZM'\Al

e MAXCANU e OXK!NTOK

OMUNA YU8T~ e C.Al

XCULCX: XCALUMJ<.lN ee

e XCO~HE

• eSAYIL DSECILNA

e DZ!TBALC14E ·

OTEK.AX

CAMPECHE QUINT~A ROO

Figure 3. Map of a part of the Northern Maya Lowlands in Mexico showing archaeological sites with relief doorway columns. (Drawing by Hasso Hohmann, 1980.)

Other Titles on Mesoamerica by the author.

THE MUSHROOM STONES OF MESOAMERICA

The author investigated the many theories pertaining to the possible significance and function of these mysterious stones, which although known since the 19th century, still remain an enigma. Their: Number - Classification - Distribution - Typology -Ethnomycology - Chronology and Stylistic development are discussed. The detailed, extensive Bibliography cites works published between 1890 & 1977. The plates in­clude Mushroom Stones now found in Museums & Private collections in Central America, Europe & the U.S.A. The provenance of all Mushroom Stones now known to exist is also discussed. Biblio. 46 pp. Plates. 6 X 9. Smythe-Sewn Binding. Paper. I.S.B.N. 0-916552-09-8. $4.95

MAYA MONUMENTS: SCULPTURES OF UNKNOWN PROVENANCE IN EUROPE

For the last 2 centuries, Epigraphic & Iconographic investigations of major sculpture of the Classic Maya culture have produced remarkable & important results. They have almost completely altered our earlier concept of this highly developed & brilliant culture. In addition to the exceptionally high aesthetic & artistic merit possessed by these stone monuments, their archaeological & Historie worth is es­pecially meaningful. The book catalogues & gives the: Present Location - Collection Monument Type - Material - Shape - Dimensions - Condition - Description - Date -Provenance & a photograph of each sculpture discussed. Extensive Bibliography. Smythe-Sewn Binding. 8 X 11. 44 pages plus 55 Plates. 0-91:6552-11-X. $12.00

·,

MAYA MONUMENTS: SCULPTURES OF UNKNOWN PROVENANCE IN THE U.S.A.

Th~s book, the 2nd in the Maya Monuments series, catalogues the same information as was explored in the volume of sculptures located in Europe, featuring those lo­cated in the U.S., & also has a listing of "probable fakes 11

• 84 full-page plates of each carved stone monument discussed in the text are pictured from the Classic Maya culture, along with 86 pages of text. Large Bibliography. 8 X 11. Smythe-Sewn Binding. Paper. ISBN. 0-916552-16-0. $19.95

MAYA MONUMENTS: SCULPTURES OF UNKNOWN PROVENANCE IN MIDDLE AMERICA: MEXICO & GUATEMALA

This will be the 3rd & largest volume in the Maya Monuments series, encompassing the entire Middle America area, focusing mainly on the sculpture located in Mexico & Guatemala. It will contain numerous Plates, Maps & Drawings and featuring an ex­tensive, comprehensive Bibliography. This volume will also be printed in the large 8 X 11 format and have a Smythe-Sewn binding. ISBN 0-916552-23-3. In Preparation. Price not set.

All published by & available from, Acoma Books, P 0 Box 4, Ramona, Calif. 92065