The Social Function of the Title "K’uhul Chatahn Winik"

Summary

Dozens of Maya ceramics from the Late Classic period feature the epithet "k’uhul chatahn winik", ‘divine person of Chatahn’. Most of these are codex-style vessels of unknown provenance, but some specimens have been recovered during archaeological explorations at Calakmul, Nakbe, and Tintal. Moreover, the same title appears in monumental inscriptions, most prominently at Calakmul, where there are at least four examples. Despite a recent increase in research on this specific title, the different assessments of its meaning and social function are far from being a consensus. In this paper we re-examine the texts which include this epithet and, where possible, their archaeological contexts, which are still under-studied. Based on the presented evidence, we discuss different scenarios, which might explain the title’s temporal and spatial distribution. Furthermore, the pairing of the expression "k’uhul chatahn winik" with other titles, as well as its toponymic element are topics to be explored. Finally, we argue that the epithet was used as an Emblem Glyph by the members of a lineage that played an important role at Calakmul and surrounding sites, before and after the arrival of the Kanu’l lords.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Understanding Classic Maya Hegemonic Networks Through Textual-Material Synergies: The Case of the "Snake" Kingdom

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