MORLET] INTRODUCTION TO STUDY OP MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 7 



but the prelude to a sanguinary struggle, which broke out almost 

 immediately and continued with extraordmary ferocity for many 

 years, the Maya fighting desperately in defense of theii- homes. 

 Indeed, it was not until 14 years later, on June 11, 1541 (old style), 

 that, the Spaniards havmg defeated a coalition of Maya chieftains 

 near the city of Ichcanzilioo, the conquest was finally brought to a 

 close and the pacification of the country accomplished. With this 

 event ends the independent history of the Maya, 



Manners and Customs 



According to Bishop Landa,^ who wrote his remarkable history of 

 Yucatan in 1565, the Maya of that day were a tall race, active and 

 strong. In childhood the forehead was artificially flattened and the 

 ears and nose were pierced for the insertion of earrmgs and nose-orna- 

 ments, of which the people were very fond. Squmt-eye was consid- 

 ered a mark of beauty, and mothers strove to disfigure their children 

 in this way by suspendmg pellets of wax between their eyes in order 

 to make them squint, thus securing the desu-ed effect. The faces of 

 the younger boys were scalded by the application of hot cloths, to 

 prevent the growth of the beard, which was not popular. Both men 

 and women wore their hair long. The former had a large spot burned 

 on the back of the head, where the hau- always remained short. With 

 the . exception of a small queue, which hung down behmd, the hair 

 was gathered around the head m a braid. The women wore a more 

 beautiful coiffure divided into two braids. The faces of both sexes 

 were much disfigured as a result of their rehgious befiefs, which led 

 to the practice of scarification. Tattooing also was common to both 

 sexes, and there were persons in ahnost every community who were 

 especially proficient in this art. Both men and women painted 

 themselves red, the former decorating their entire bodies, and the 

 latter all except their faces, which modesty decreed should be left 

 unpainted. The women also anomted themselves very freely with 

 fragrant gums and perfumes. They filed their teeth to sharp pomts, 

 a practice which was thought to enhance their beauty. 



The clothing of the men was simple. They wore a breechclout 

 wrapped several times around the loms and tied in such a way that 

 one end fell in front between the legs and the other in the correspond- 



1 Diego de Landa, second bishop of Merida, whose remarkable book entitled "Relacion de las Cosas de 

 Yucatan" is the chief authority for the facts presented in the following discussion of the manners and 

 customs of the Maya, was born in Cifuentes de I'Alcarria, Spain, in 1524. At the age of 17he joined the 

 Franciscan order. He came to Yucatan during the decade following the close of the Conquest, in 1549, 

 where he was one of the most zealous of the early missionaries. In 1573 he was appointed bishop of Merida, 

 which position he held until his death in 1579. His priceless Relacion, written about 1565, was not printed 

 until tliree centuries later, when it was discovered by the indefatigable Abb6 Brasseur de Bourbourg in 

 the library of the Royal Academy of History at Madrid, and published by him in 1864. The Relacion 

 is the standard authority for the customs prevalent in Yucatan at the time of the Conquest, and is an 

 Invaluable aid to the student of Maya archeology. What little we know of the Maya calendar has been 

 derived directly from the pages of this book, or by developing the material therein presented. 



