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
CAPUCHIN MONKEY (_Cebus capucinus,--C. hypoleucus_ Auct.)[TN-10] With the
possible exception of one or two figures, monkeys (Maya, _maaš_ or
_baaɔ_) are not represented in the Maya codices examined. In
Tro-Cortesianus 88c (Pl. 39, fig. 4) occurs a curious nondescript animal
with what seem to be hoofs on the forefeet, a somewhat bushy tail of
moderate length, and a head that appears to be distinctly bonneted,
somewhat as in the representations of the capuchin. Stempell regards
this as a monkey, though recognizing that the short bushy tail is unlike
that of any Central American species. The figure seems quite as likely a
peccary or possibly a combination of a deer with some other animal. A
glyph (Pl. 39, fig. 5) found directly above the figure just referred
to, suggests a monkey, though it cannot be surely identified. A pottery
whistle from the Uloa Valley (text fig. 15) shows two monkeys standing
side by side with a posterior extension for the mouth piece. Their heads
are shaped as in other representations of this monkey with a distinct
cap or bonnet and facial discs. A pottery stamp from the same locality
shows a monkey with a long tail (Gordon, 1898, Pl. 11, fig. f). It
recalls the drawings of monkeys given by Strebel (1899, Pls. 1-4).
In the Nuttall Codex are numerous heads and a few other figures of a
monkey, which from the erect hair of the crown, curling tail, and
distinctly indicated facial area must be the common bonneted or capuchin
monkey of Central America. This species does not occur in Yucatan. What
is undoubtedly the same animal is shown as a head glyph in Pl. 39, fig.
8, from the Aubin manuscript. The identifications of the head-forming
glyphs in the Nuttall and the Aubin manuscripts are certainly correct as
the Nahua day sign (_Oçomatli_) means ape.
[Illustration: FIGS. 16, 17, 18, 19.
GLYPHS FOR MAYA DAY CHUEN.]
Text figs. 16-19, show some of the signs for the day _Chuen_ from the
Maya codices. This is the day corresponding to the day Oçomatli of the
Nahuas. There is little resembling an ape in the Maya signs although it
has been remarked that the sign may show the open jaws and teeth of this
animal.
Förstemann (1897) as noted by Schellhas (1904, p. 21) alludes to the
fact that the figure of god C, which occurs also in the sign for the
north, in the _tonalamatl_ in Dresden 4a-10a occurs in the day _Chuen_
of the Maya calendar, and this corresponds to the day _Oçomatli_, the
ape, in the Nahua calendar. This would suggest a connection between god
C and the ape and this may be seen in the glyphs for god C (text figs.
20-24). Förstemann sees "an ape whose lateral nasal cavity (peculiar to
the American ape or monkey) is occasionally represented plainly in the
hieroglyph picture." He also associates god C with the constellation of
Ursa Minor.
[Illustration: FIGS. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
GLYPHS OF GOD C.]
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