A Chak'an Itza Center at Nixtun-Ch'ich’, Petén, Guatemala

Pugh, Timothy W.; Rice, Prudence M.; Nieto, Evelyn Chan; Rice, Don S.

doi:10.1080/00934690.2015.1129253

Cited by 18 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Similar-sized carved limestone turtles (both with and without receptacles on their backs) also have been found associated with Late Postclassic deposits at Nixtun-Ch’ich’ in Peten, Guatemala. Pugh et al. (2016: 8) refer to them as “altar turtles” and note that of the five recovered in excavations, all were found in the interior spaces of shrines.…”

Section: Ancient Roots Of the New Year's Ceremonymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Turtle imagery is often associated with phallic imagery in both Peten and Yucatán. At Nixtun-Ch’ich’ several portable-size carved phalli stones were found in association with the altar turtles in colonnaded shrine buildings (Pugh et al., 2016: figure 9). Another example of a portable phallic sculpture was found on the access stairway to the House of the Turtles at the northern Yucatec site of Uxmal (Amrhein, 2000: 8).…”

Section: Ancient Roots Of the New Year's Ceremonymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…AD 830–1500). For instance, three of the five open colonnaded halls that were excavated at Nixtun-Ch’ich’ contained portable phalli stones and all of the altar turtles found at this site were in colonnaded rooms (Pugh et al., 2016: 8). All of the altar turtles found at Mayapan were associated with shrines located in either large residences or in colonnaded buildings (Taube, 1988b: 186).…”

Section: Ancient Roots Of the New Year's Ceremonymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to the marine shell, other marine products, including stingray spines and coral, are found associated with circular shrines pointing to connections with the coast, likely the Caribbean. Notably, at Nixtun-Ch’ich’, Pugh et al. (2016: 10) reported finding a large piece of coral on the bench in the eastern hall of a colonnaded room in Structure QQ1/1 in the same context as a portable phallus stone, with a turtle altar found in the adjacent western hall of the same structure.…”

Section: Evidence Of Terminal Classic New Year's Ceremoniesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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It’s the journey not the destination: Maya New Year's pilgrimage and self-sacrifice as regenerative power

Harrison‐Buck

Runggaldier

Gantos

2018

Journal of Social Archaeology

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This article examines Maya New Year's rites involving pilgrimage and bloodletting. We suggest that ceremonies today that center around the initiation of young men and involve self-sacrifice and long-distance pilgrimage to the mountains and coast may have pre-Hispanic roots. New Year's ceremonies express a core ontological principle of dualistic transformation involving physical change (jal) from youth to adulthood and transference or replacement (k’ex) of power in official leadership roles. This distinct way of knowing the world emphasizes one’s reciprocal relationship with it. We conclude that ancient Maya pilgrimage was not about acquiring a particular thing or venerating a specific place or destination. It was about the journey or what Timothy Ingold calls “ambulatory knowing.” The Maya gained cosmological knowledge, linking the movement of their body to the annual path of the sun and their sexuality and human regenerative power to earthly renewal, which required blood to be successful.

show abstract

Section: Ancient Roots Of the New Year's Ceremonymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ancient Roots Of the New Year's Ceremonymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ancient Roots Of the New Year's Ceremonymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evidence Of Terminal Classic New Year's Ceremoniesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

It’s the journey not the destination: Maya New Year's pilgrimage and self-sacrifice as regenerative power

Harrison‐Buck

Runggaldier

Gantos

2018

Journal of Social Archaeology

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show abstract

“…An entirely different category of ornaments is tenoned horizontally into the façade or roof of structures. This may be the mode of use for a parrot head and reptile head recovered at Nixtun-Ch'ich’, Peten, Guatemala (Pugh et al 2016). Pugh (Timothy Pugh, personal communication 2016) also reports a tenoned bird from Zacpeten.…”

Section: Goals and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

CERAMIC ROOF ORNAMENTS (ALMENAS) FROM CIHUATAN, EL SALVADOR: CONTEXTS, DESCRIPTIONS, AND INFERENCES FROM OTHER SITES

Becker

2017

Ancient Mesoam

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Discovery of dozens of broken ceramic roof ornaments (almenas) on the floor abutting the front (western) margin of an elite residence (Structure Q-1) at Cihuatan, El Salvador provides a new context for this category of artifacts. While relatively well-known from sites in the Valley of Mexico, elsewhere in Mesoamerica almenas have been documented only from a single Teotihuacan-style structure at the lowland Maya site of Tikal, one structure at Mayapan, and possibly at a few other sites in Yucatan. A preliminary program to reconstruct a portion of the many box-like almenas at Cihuatan, of a date much later than the one from Tikal, generated seven relatively complete examples of this form, indicated that fragments of perhaps another 50 had been recovered, and that they were used in pairs. The reconstructed sample provides an important demonstration of the ornamentation on an elite residence and also reveals much about how Structure Q-1 and surrounding buildings came to an end, around a.d. 1200. At least eight other buildings at Cihuatan had been adorned with almenas, each building having examples of one specific shape, possibly unique to this city. Comparisons with Aztec and earlier Mexican forms suggest cultural connections, perhaps via Tula. These findings strongly suggest Mexican influences for the use and forms of roof ornaments at Cihuatan.

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Water, centering, and the beginning of time at Middle Preclassic Nixtun-Ch'ich', Petén, Guatemala

Rice

Pugh

2017

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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A Chak'an Itza Center at Nixtun-Ch'ich’, Petén, Guatemala

Cited by 18 publications

References 35 publications

It’s the journey not the destination: Maya New Year's pilgrimage and self-sacrifice as regenerative power

It’s the journey not the destination: Maya New Year's pilgrimage and self-sacrifice as regenerative power

CERAMIC ROOF ORNAMENTS (ALMENAS) FROM CIHUATAN, EL SALVADOR: CONTEXTS, DESCRIPTIONS, AND INFERENCES FROM OTHER SITES

Water, centering, and the beginning of time at Middle Preclassic Nixtun-Ch'ich', Petén, Guatemala

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