A Preliminary Archaeomusicological and Ethnomusicological Interpretation of the Murals of San Gaspar Chajul

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 paper, the author discusses an interpretation of the iconography of the murals of Chajul, Quiche, in the highlands of Guatemala. The murals consist of several paintings of Ixil-Maya culture music and dances from the late colonial period. An approach from archaeomusicology and ethnomusicology has been applied in this analysis both from the social sciences and an artistic perspective. In order to achieve a better understanding of these historical vestiges, the comparison of ancient and living traditions together with ethnographic sources is a key element resulting from the research of these frescoes. The murals were found on the walls of private houses owned by Ixil families who inherited them from their ancestors. The present essay aims, in the first place, to identify, raise opinion and theorize from an interdisciplinary point of view as a part of musicological, anthropological, and archaeomusicological studies; in particular, it deepens into a sensorial perception of these images by means of the instruments and the musicians characterized on it. By applying a phenomenological analysis of the iconography, as well as ethnographic and ethnohistoric research, playing techniques, and “movements” observed in each of the personages, were also compared to modern musicians and context.

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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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36684.0