Mexican archæology : $b an introduction to the archæology of the Mexican and Mayan civilizations of pre-Spanish AmericaJoyce, Thomas Athol
History
Mexican archæology : $b an introduction to the archæology of the Mexican and Mayan civilizations of pre-Spanish America
Joyce, Thomas Athol
Mayas -- Antiquities; Mexico -- Antiquities
district are composed of a very coarse grey clay containing small
pebbles. The latter have not been fired at a high temperature and are
very soft. Another form of coarse, soft and brittle ware is found in
British Honduras, chiefly in the form of small figurines probably made
for funerary purposes (Pl. IX, 7–11; p. 82).
The shapes in which the pots were moulded exhibit great variety, and
most of the types characteristic of Sacrificios are found scattered
over the whole area, though they are more common in Guatemala than in
Yucatan and Honduras. In particular a very close connection appears to
exist between Sacrificios pottery and the ware of the Alta Vera Paz
region. The similarity is not confined to shape, but relates also to
the peculiar slate-coloured earth-glaze (see p. 194), which is found
on many of the vases of this district, and extends westward into the
neighbourhood of Quen Santo in western Guatemala close to the Chiapas
border. Another interesting similarity exists between the spouted vases
of the Huaxtec country and certain pots discovered in British Honduras,
and further south in Honduras. The resemblance which certain forms
of the Uloa valley bear to the regular Huaxtec “teapot” (Fig. 42; p.
196) with its vertical spout is very striking, but the bodies are not
ornamented with painted designs, being either plain or decorated with
faint gadroons.
The shape which is perhaps of widest distribution is the tripod bowl,
the feet of which terminate in grotesque animal heads, like those of
Sacrificios (Pl. XIX; p. 198), or are moulded in cascabel form and
contain a rattle (as Fig. 36, 9; p. 185). The former type appears
rather to be limited to Vera Paz, while the latter has a wider range.
The beaker-form with expanding foot, so common at Sacrificios (e.g. Pl.
XVIII, 10; p. 194), extends through Vera Paz to the Chacula district,
while bowls, invariably with a flat base, and bottle-forms, appear
to be found in greatest numbers in the Uloa valley. The pottery of
the latter district is distinguished by the frequency of loop-handles
attached to the bodies of vases, usually two in number, but sometimes
four, and always disposed symmetrically. Bowls with the peculiar flat
feet characteristic of the Mexican valley (Fig. 36, 3; p. 185), and
the dishes with a single expanding foot (Fig. 36, 8), so common at
Sacrificios, have not yet been found in this area. Characteristic of
the Quiché area are vases of coarse ware in “slipper” form, a type
which is also common in Nicaragua, where it is often used as a funerary
urn.
[Illustration:
_PLATE XXIV_
MAYA
Design on a pottery vase found at Nebaj, Guatamala.
(Fleischman Collection)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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