Music Instruments in the Chajul Murals

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Maya Wall Paintings of Chajul (Guatemala)" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In this discussion the locations of murals in the three houses restored at Chajul are pinpointed, and the placement of musicians and instruments in those murals identified. The authors introduce music archaeology, and explain why its methods are necessary for identification and interpretive purposes; setting up a focus on the three instrument types shown, and describing their classification according to the Hornbostel and Sachs music instrument typology as membranophones (skin-drums), aerophones (wind instruments), and chordophones (string instruments). The European and/or Mayan origins and histories for these types are discussed, drawing on archaeological and pictorial evidence before attention is turned to the individual instruments shown. Next is presented the Highland Guatemalan Maya Instrument Dance-Play Classification System, a locale specific interpretive method that has been used in the past to understand the roles of soundmakers in regard to Highland Guatemalan Maya dance-plays (bailes) and other social acts. The authors also examine certain enigmatic objects in the Chajul Murals for clues as to their possible soundmaking function(s). Attention is ultimately turned toward a holistic examination of what the musical components can tell us about the dating of the paintings, and how music-related depictions can help us decipher the other subject matter shown.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Maya Wall Paintings of Chajul (Guatemala)   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36246.0