Animal Figures in the Maya CodicesTozzer, Alfred M. (Alfred Marston)
History
Animal Figures in the Maya Codices
Tozzer, Alfred M. (Alfred Marston)
Mayan languages -- Writing; Mayas -- Antiquities
The head of the deer, rather than the legs, is also shown as an
offering, in Tro-Cortesianus 69b with god B and Tro-Cortesianus 78 (Pl.
31, fig. 10) in the line of glyphs. The whole deer may be represented as
an offering in Tro-Cortesianus 2b (Pl. 31, fig. 8).[351-*]
There are some examples in the manuscripts where the deer is pictured
quite apart from any idea of the hunt or an offering. In Tro-Cortesianus
14b, it is shown on top of the body of one of the large snakes and in
Tro-Cortesianus 29c (Pl. 31, fig. 3), it appears seated on the end of a
snake-like curve. The deer occurs in Tro-Cortesianus 30b (Pl. 30, fig.
6) in connection with the goddess from whose breasts water is flowing.
God B appears in Dresden 41c (Pl. 31, fig. 1) seated on a red deer. The
same animal is also to be noted in Dresden 60a (Pl. 30, fig. 5) in
connection with the combat of the planets.[351-†] A deer is seen in
Tro-Cortesianus 92d seated on a mat opposite a female figure in the same
manner as the armadillo on the same page and a dog on the preceding
page. These, as previously noted, probably refer to cohabitation. On Pl.
32, fig. 9, is a deer from the Peresianus and Pl. 32, fig. 12, shows
another from Stela N, east, from Copan.
The Nahua day _Maçatl_ signifies deer and we naturally find a large
number of glyphs representing this animal among the day signs in the
Mexican manuscripts (Pl. 31, fig. 9; Pl. 32, figs. 8, 10, 11).
YUCATAN PECCARY (_Tayassu angulatum yucatanense_; _T. ringens_).
Peccaries (Maya, _qeqem_) of the _T. angulatum_ group are common in
Mexico and Yucatan, and a number of local forms have been named. The
white-lipped peccaries also occur, but in the figures it is impossible
to distinguish the species. These animals are characterized by their
prominent snout, curly tail, bristling dorsal crest, and rather
formidable tusks, as well as by the possession of hoofs. By these marks
most of the figures are readily identifiable (Pl. 32, fig. 1; Pl. 33,
figs. 1, 2, 4-6, 9). The tail is, however, often omitted as well as the
erect line of bristles down the back. The presence of hoofs and the
possession of a truncated pig-like snout are sufficiently
characteristic. In the Dresden Codex occur several figures of undoubted
peccaries. Two of these are pictured in Pl. 32, figs. 2, 4. In each the
hoofs and curly tail appear, and in the latter figure the bristling back
is conventionally drawn by a series of serrations. These marks are
sufficient to identify the animals. Their heads are further
conventionalized, however, by a great exaggeration of the snout beyond
that slightly indicated in Pl. 32, fig. 1, and Pl. 33, figs. 6, 9. Other
representations of the peccary, are shown in Pl. 32, fig. 5, a man with
a peccary's head, and fig. 7 in which the animal's hoofs are replaced by
human hands and feet. In both cases the form of the head remains
characteristic. A curious combination is shown in Pl. 32, fig. 3, an
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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