MAYA ART AND ITS DEVELOPMENT 



REVIEW OF A NOTABLE WORK ON THE ARCHi^EOLOGY OF THE 

 PREHISTORIC MAYA RACE OF CENTRAL AMERICA^ 



By George Grant MacCurdy 



The following review is somewhat abbreviated from the very able discussion of the subject matter 

 of Maya art which was courteously given to the Journal, by Dr. George Grant MacCurdy of Yale, 

 soon after the publication of Dr. Spinden's work in 1913. Dr. MacCurdy's review will be found pub- 

 lished in full in Current Anthropological Literature for July-September, 1913. Dr. Spinden's memoir 

 on Maya art consists of the results of three years of recent study added to the work for his thesis for the 

 degree of doctor of philosophy at Harvard University in 1909. The very notable contribution of the 

 work lies along the line of time sequence of ruins which gives the book, although so recent in appearance, 

 an authoritative rank in the research on prehistoric art in Yucatan. — The Editor. 



THE theory of an Old World origin 

 for New World civilization is 

 characterized by the Author as 

 wild speculation. Neither is it likely 

 that Maya civilization originated south 

 of its recognized limits. While future 

 studies may trace it in its humble begin- 

 nings to the coast region north of Vera 

 Cruz, in "all essential and character- 

 istic features it was developed on its own 

 ground." From the accounts of the 

 earliest European observers it appears 

 that the golden age of Maya civilization 

 long antedated the coming of the Euro- 

 pean. On the other hand the religious 

 ideas embodied in the ancient culture, 

 and the art of writing and of recording 

 time still survived. 



In any general treatment of Maya art 

 much space should be given to the in- 

 fluence of the serpent, whose "trail is 

 over all the civilizations of Central 

 America and southern Mexico." Al- 

 though the serpent is seldom represented 

 realistically it is fairly certain that the 

 rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) was the 

 chief model .... The alternation of quick 

 and slow curves and the prevalence of 

 tapering flamelike masses strike the 

 dominant note in l^aya art. They are 



' A Study or Maya Art, its Subject Matter 

 AND Historical Development. Herbert J. 

 Spinden. With 286 illustrations in the text, 

 29 plates and map. Memoirs of the Peabody 

 Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, 

 Harvard University, vol. VI. Published by the 

 Museum, Cambridge, 1913. 



derived from a serpentine original, as are 

 also the double outline to distinguish the 

 ventral from the dorsal region and the 

 series of small circles representing scales. 

 A typical representation of the head and 

 anterior portion of the body of the ser- 

 pent includes nose, nose scroll, nose plug, 

 upper incisor teeth, molar teeth, jaw, 

 supraorbital plate, ear plug, ear orna- 

 ment, curled fang, tongue, lower jaw, 

 beard, lower incisor tooth, belly mark- 

 ings and back markings. With this as a 

 key it is possible to interpret the more 

 highly involved representations. The 

 stamp of the serpent is also seen on 

 various ceremonial objects, all of which 

 are worthy of detailed study. . . . 



After the serpent the jaguar received 

 the most attention from Maya artists 

 and priests. The Temple of the Jaguars 

 at Chichen Itza and the Jaguar Stairway 

 at Copan are notable examples of the 

 jaguar figure in architectural design, 

 while the face of the jaguar is seen in 

 many of the headdresses and breast- 

 plates. The rain gods (Chacs) took the 

 form of jaguars, and jaguar priests held 

 sway among the Maya. Nor was the 

 jaguar cult limited to the Maya civiliza- 

 tion. It is mirrored in the ceramic, 

 stone and metal art of Costa Rica and 

 Chiriqui,^ far to the south of the most 

 southern Maya cities. 



-A Study of Chiriquian Antiquities. 

 MacCurdy. 



G. G. 



