ANIMAL FIGURES IN THE MAYA CODICES 293 



was dressed in a garment of feathers. It was understood that 

 this devoted old woman was not permitted to become intoxi- 

 cated* lest she should lose in the road the plume of her office. 



The serpent appears as a head-dress exclusively with female 

 figures and then usually when the woman is in the act of offering 

 something or is associated with water or rain. The centipede 

 occurs only with god D. Quadrupeds are employed as head- 

 dresses only very seldom. The head of a deer is, in three places, 

 used as a part of the head decoration of god M and the head of a 

 jaguar appears in two places only. 



Secular occupations. Animals appear frequently in 

 scenes showing various occupations. These, although appearing 

 at first sight as secular, have to do with the reHgion of the peo- 

 ple and they show in every case acts undertaken in behalf of the 

 deities. It is almost exclusively in the Tro-Cortesianus that 

 these rehgious-secular occupations are shown. 



Hunting scenes occur in one section of this codex (38-49). 

 The whole aim of the hunt in these pages is to obtain animals 

 for sacrifice. In almost every case the various animals are 

 shown as being captured alive, either in a pitfall or a trap of the 

 ''jerk-up" type." This was undoubtedly in order that the ani- 

 mal might be killed the moment it was offered to the gods by 

 having its heart cut out. Deer are most commonly represented 

 in this hunting section although peccaries and armadillos also 

 appear. Fishing is shown in one place at least (Dresden 33a). 



The practice of agriculture is shown in Tro-Cortesianus 

 24-28. The sprouting grain is represented as being eaten by a 

 vulture and a jaguar. Certain gods in this section which relates 

 to the planting of maize are shown as being attacked by vultures 

 and blow-flies. Another occupation of the natives depicted in 

 the Tro-Cortesianus (103-112) is apiculture. This, again, has 

 clearly some rehgious significance. Pottery-making is shown 

 in the same manuscript (95-101). It is, however, a purely reli- 

 gious ceremony. The renewal of the incense-burners is shown. 



* "Intoxication was obligatory with the men in many of the religious 

 rites. This is reported by the early Spanish historians and is the case 

 at the present time among the Lacandones." (See Tozzer, 1907, p. 136.) 



