Stela and Altar Rituals: Caches, Inscriptions and Iconography in Tikal, Petén, Guatemala (250-950 AD)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Mayan stelae and altars are a key epigraphic and iconographic source for understanding the political history of the Classic period (250-900 AD). Tikal produced a particularly large number of these monuments in a variety of architectural contexts: Twin Pyramids Groups, Plazas, Great Temples, residential groups and even remote areas, probably corresponding to different events and ceremonies.

To date, 70 caches have been discovered under 62 stelae and 5 altars, including 18 inscribed, 43 plain and 6 removed in the ancient period. This corpus therefore lends itself particularly well to the study of the rituals associated with these monuments, which promoted the rulers' propaganda.

The focus of this presentation will be on determining whether there were any caches specifically dedicated to the monuments. Epigraphy will shed some general light on the ceremonies surrounding the erection and dedication. Moreover, it will be interesting to determine whether a correlation exists between the messages put forward in the inscriptions, the text/image layout, the iconography and the type of dedicatory cache. For all these approaches, it will also be important to evaluate the differences and variations depending on the architectural context and the event that led to the installation of these stelae and altars.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39097.0