Visualizing Death: Representations of Death and Rebirth on an Early Classic Maya Mid-Level Elite Burial Vessel from Uxul, Mexico

Summary

Excavations during the 2014 field season at the Maya site of Uxul in Campeche, Mexico revealed an Early Classic ceramic burial vessel that was embellished with hieroglyphic elements and contained an infant skeleton. The hieroglyphic elements on the vessel body and lid visually represent the underworld and feature components of larger phrases that are used in Classic Maya monumental and ceramic texts to record processes of death and renewal. The occurrence of both iconographic and hieroglyphic elements on the vessel to refer to the deceased's passage into the underworld and eventual rebirth indicates the importance of both concepts in the Classic Maya funerary complex. The discovery of the vessel under the base of a mid-level elite structure in an architectural group associated with ritual functions suggests that this social stratum had access to literacy and utilized it in complex ritual behavior. Furthermore, the vessel offers yet another example of the interface between iconography and hieroglyphic writing in Classic Maya culture. It is anticipated that this research will inform future Classic Maya studies of mid-level elites, including the roles that they fulfilled within the settlement, and the symbolism underlying their material culture.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage