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The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras

Chapter 3: ILLUSTRATIONS
By Thomas William Francis Gann
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An extensive ethnographic and archaeological survey documents Maya communities in southern Yucatan and northern British Honduras, combining first-hand observations of daily life with systematic excavation reports. The first section details habitat, physique, dress, household economy, agriculture, crafts (pottery, weaving, boatbuilding, tobacco curing), social organization, rituals, games, and medical practices. The second presents classification and descriptions of numerous mounds, excavation methods, artifact typologies, architectural features, and a proposed regional chronology, illustrated with maps, plates, and artifact figures that support interpretation of past lifeways and material culture.

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Title: The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras

Author: Thomas William Francis Gann

Release date: September 26, 2014 [eBook #46973]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Julia Miller, Matthias Grammel and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAYA INDIANS OF SOUTHERN YUCATAN AND NORTHERN BRITISH HONDURAS ***

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

BULLETIN 64

THE MAYA INDIANS OF SOUTHERN YUCATAN
AND NORTHERN BRITISH HONDURAS

BY

THOMAS W. F. GANN

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1918

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Washington, D. C., November 4, 1916.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of a memoir entitled "The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras," by Thomas W. F. Gann, and to recommend its publication as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

Very respectfully,

F. W. Hodge,

Ethnologist-in-Charge.

Hon. Charles D. Walcott,

Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.

CONTENTS

Part 1. Customs, Ceremonies, and Mode of Life
Page
Introduction 13
Habitat 14
Personal characteristics 15
Dress 18
Industrial activities 20
Agriculture 20
Procuring food; cooking 21
Hunting 23
Fishing 25
Construction of houses and furniture 26
Pottery making 28
Boat building 28
Spinning and weaving 29
Minor industries 30
Tobacco curing 30
Basket and mat weaving 30
Social characteristics 32
Villages 32
Marriage and children 32
Drunkenness 34
Chiefs 35
Diseases and medicines 36
Games 39
Religion 40

Part 2. Mound Excavation in the Eastern Maya Area
Introduction 49
Classification of the mounds 49
Ancient inhabitants of the region 51
Physical appearance 51
Dress 52
Weapons 52
Houses 53
Arts 53
Musical instruments 54
Food 55
Spinning and weaving 55
Games 56
Religion 56
Chronology 58
Description of mounds 59
Mound No. 1 59
Mound No. 2 63
Mound No. 3 65
Mound No. 4 67
Mound No. 5 70
Mound No. 5 A 72
Mound No. 6 74
Mound No. 6 A 78
Mound No. 7 79
Mound No. 8 80
Mound No. 9 83
Mound No. 10 86
Mound No. 11 90
Mound No. 12 92
Mound No. 13 99
Mound No. 14 99
Mound No. 15 103
Mound No. 16 105
Mound No. 17 109
Mound No. 18 111
Mound No. 19 112
Mound No. 20 112
Mound No. 21 114
Mound No. 22 115
Mound No. 23 116
Mound No. 24 118
Mound No. 25 120
Mound No. 26 123
Mound No. 27 124
Mound No. 28 124
Mound No. 29 125
Mound No. 30 125
Mound No. 31 128
Mound No. 32 129
Mound No. 33 130
Mound No. 34 132
Mound No. 35 133
Mound No. 36 134
Mound No. 37 134
Mound No. 38 134
Mound No. 39 135
Mound No. 40 136
Mound No. 41 137
Two painted stucco faces from Uxmal 140
Authorities cited 143
Index 145

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATES
 Page
1. Group of Santa Cruz Indians 18
2. Maya girls fishing 26
3. Fish drying on one of the cays off the coast of Yucatan 26
4. Maya Indian houses. a. Leaf-thatched house, b. Indian house on Rio Hondo 26
5. Maya woman, 105 years old, spinning cotton 29
6. Maya loom 29
7. Sketch map of British Honduras, with adjacent parts of Yucatan and Guatemala, indicating the positions of mounds excavated 59
8. Figurines of warriors from Mound No. 1 60
9. Figurines from Mound No. 1 60
10. a. Section through earthwork inclosing circular space, Santa Rita. b. Section of wall through Santa Rita 70
11. Egg-shaped vase from Mound No. 5 70
12. Metates and brazos from Mound No. 6 75
13. a. Small pottery seal. b. Bowl in which skull was found, c. Skull 75
14. Skull and bones from Mound No. 8 80
15. Stone objects from Mound No. 10 88
16. a. Model of jadeite bivalve shell, b. Light-green jadeite mask, c. Ax head, or celt. d. Terra-cotta cylinder 91
17. Painted basin and cover from Mound No. 16 105
18. Pottery from Mound No. 16 107
19. a. Decoration on vase shown in figure 60. b. Decoration of vessel from Mound No. 17 110
20. Incense burner from Mound No. 24 119
21. a. Small vase decorated with human head. b. Human bones from Mound No. 29 125
22. Painted clay figurine from Mound No. 33 131
23. Pottery vase from Yalloch, Guatemala 142
24. Pottery vase from Yalloch, Guatemala 142
25. Pottery vase from Yalloch, Guatemala 142
26. Pottery cylinder from Yalloch, Guatemala 142
27. Pottery cylinder from Yalloch, Guatemala 142
28. Pottery cylinder from Yalloch, Guatemala 142

TEXT FIGURES

  
1. Map showing Yucatan, Campeche, British Honduras, and part of Guatemala 14
2. Gold earrings made and worn by the Santa Cruz Indians 19
3. Cross of tancasche bark worn by children 19
4. Powder horn and measure of bamboo used by the Indians 23
5. Watertight box for caps, matches, or tinder, with corncob stopper 23
6. Whistle for attracting deer by imitating their call 24
7. Indian carrying load of bejuco, a liana used as rope in house building 26
8. Domestic altar 27
9. Stonelike substance used to prevent fingers from sticking while spinning 29
10. Calabash with liana base used in spinning 30
11. Chichanha Indian priest in front of altar at Cha chac ceremony 43
12. Priest tracing cross on cake and filling it in with sikil 44
13. Sacrificing a turkey at the Cha chac ceremony 45
14. Plan of Santa Rita mounds 59
15. Figurine from Mound No. 1 60
16. Figurines from Mound No. 1 61
17. Unpainted object from Mound No. 1 62
18. Clay alligator found in Mound No. 2 64
19. Objects from Mound No. 4 68
20. Pottery vessels from Mound No. 4 69
21. Objects found in Mound No. 5 71
22. Diagram of Mound No. 6 74
23. Diagram of trenches in Mound No. 6 76
24. Bowls, vases, and dishes found in Mound No. 6 77
25. a. Skull. b. Limestone foundation. c. Excavation. d. Grooved flag in situ. e. Projecting lip 78
26. Circular openings leading into natural cavity 80
27. Ground plan of chultun 82
28. Ground plan of Mound No. 9 84
29. Wall construction of Mound No. 9 84
30. Details of Mound No. 9 85
31. Obsidian object and pottery vase from Mound No. 10 87
32. Obsidian arrowhead from Mound No. 10 89
33. Flint object from Mound No. 10 89
34. Obsidian object from Mound No. 10 90
35. Inscription on mask, plate 16, b. 91
36. Inscription on ax head, plate 16, c. 92
37. Flint spearheads 94
38. Flint objects 94
39. Devices scratched on stucco in aboriginal building 95
40. Eccentrically shaped implements found at summit of mound 96
41. Flint object found at base of stela 96
42. Flint object found at base of stela 96
43. Flints found in ruins at Naranjo 97
44. Objects from Benque Viejo 98
45. Obsidian objects found in a mound near Benque Viejo 99
46. Flint object from Seven Hills 100
47. Horseshoe-shaped flint object found near San Antonio 100
48. Figure from River Thames, near London 101
49. Flint objects from Tennessee 102
50. Flint objects from Italy 103
51. Small cup-shaped vase from Mound No. 15 104
52. Objects from Mound No. 15 104
53. Conventionalized representation of bird on vessel shown in plate 17 106
54. Decoration on vessel shown in plate 17 106
55. Perforated beads found in Mound No. 16 107
56. Jadeite beads found in Mound No. 16 107
57. a. Circular shell disks from Mound No. 16. b. Greenstone ear plugs from Mound No. 17 108
58. Obsidian disk inserted in tooth of skeleton found in Mound No. 17 109
59. Bird carrying a fish outlined on shallow plaque found in Mound No. 17 110
60. Cylindrical pottery vase found in Mound No. 17 110
61. Larger pottery vase found in Mound No. 17 111
62. Coiled plumed serpent painted on plaque found in Mound No. 17 111
63. Pottery vase found in Mound No. 18 112
64. Glyph outlined on outer surface of rim of vase shown in figure 63 112
65. Torso, head, and headdress from Mound No. 20 113
66. Fragment of pillar found in Mound No. 20 113
67. Another view of incense burner shown in plate 20 119
68. Incense burner decorated with crude clay figurine from Mound No. 25 120
69. Crude clay figurine found in Mound No. 25 121
70. Crude clay figurine found in Mound No. 25 122
71. Small pottery vases found in Mound No. 26 123
72. Red pottery vase found in Mound No. 27 124
73. Pottery vessels found in Mound No. 31 128
74. Chocolate pot found in Mound No. 31 128
75. Pottery vessels found in Mound No. 32 129
76. Head cut from limestone found in Mound No. 32 130
77. Greenstone mask found in Mound No. 32 130
78. Soapstone lamp found in Mound No. 33 131
79. Rough pottery vessel found in Mound No. 33 132
80. Objects found in Mound No. 34 132
81. Figure in diving position on small vase 133
82. Design incised on femur of deer found in Mound No. 39 135
83. Copper object found in Mound No. 39 136
84. Ruins found in Mound No. 40 137

KEY TO PRONUNCIATION OF MAYA WORDS