48

An Inscribed Shell Drinking Vesselfrom the Maya Lowlands

Un recipiente para beber, de concha, con inscripciones,proveniente de las tierras bajas mayas

George E. StuartCenter for Maya Research

The purpose of this short paper issimply to describe for epigraphersand others who might be interested

an inscribed shell bowl of the Maya ClassicPeriod. I know of no other example of suchan artifact among the surviving objects usedby the elite during the span of years be­tween about 250 and 850 CEo

My first look at the object in questiontook place came some years ago, when itarrived in my office mail at the NationalGeographic Society, Washington, D. C.During my service as staff archaeologist ofthe Society, I often received packages withunusual contents. Once, for example, alarge wooden crate arrived from Texas,containing more than 200 pounds of water­worn river stones, which the sender wishedme to examine, and then to forward to hisnew home in another state. On anotheroccasion there appeared several openedcereal boxes said by the sender to contain"manna" that had fallen from the sky.Given the somewhat discouraging record ofpackages received (and all carefully ac­knowledged), the surprised enthusiasm Ifelt upon unpacking the fragile shell bowlcan easily be imagined!

As matters turned out, the owner ofthe shell knew little of the precise prove­nience, much less the archaeological con­text, of the shell bowl-only that it probably

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EI prop6sito de este breve articulo essimplemente describir para epigrafistas,y para otras personas que podrian estar

interesadas, un cuenco de concha caninscripciones, proveniente del periodo Cltisico yque pertenecea una categoria de artefactosrelativamente rara entre los objetos que persistenhasta nuestros dias, utilizados par la elite mayadurante los arios de alrededor de 250 a 850.

Mi primera mirada al objeto en cuesti6ntuvo lugar hace algunos arios, cuando lleg6 a micorrea de oficina en la National GeographicSocietlj, Washington, D. c., Durante mi serviciocomo arque6logo de National Geographic, amenudo recibia paquetes con contenidos ins6litos.Par ejemplo, una vez lleg6 desde Texas una grancaja de madera que contenia mas de 200 libras depiedras de rio desgastadas por el agua, que elremitente deseaba que yo examinara, y quedespues se las enviara a su nuevo domicilio enotro estado. En otra ocasi6n aparecieron variascajas abiertas de cereal que segtin el remitentecontenian "mana" caido del cielo. Dado elregistro un poco desalentador de paquetesrecibidos (y todos registrados con sumo cuidado),el lector podra imaginar con facilidad elentusiasmo y la sorpresa que senti al desempacarel fragil cuenco de concha.

A medida que profundice en el tema, mepercate de que el propietario del cuenco de conchadisponia de pocos datos acerca del origen precisodel mismo, y mucho menos de su contexto

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originated in northern Belize or, perhaps,an adjacent portion of Guatemala. It wasapparent, however, that the piece wasunusual, certainly of genuine antiquity,and important by virtue of its form andthe recognizable hieroglyphic inscriptionthat it bore.

For these reasons, my associateKathy Williamson and I proceeded at onceto document the shell artifact. We tookmeasurements, then photographed thepiece from various angles in order to showboth its form and the hieroglyphic inscrip­tion that it bore. Capturing the latter onfilm proved to be a particularly challeng­ing task, for the hieroglyphs occupied ashort stretch of the interior spiral groove inthe large end of the shell, and were solightly engraved in the hard, shiny mate­rial that they were difficult to see, muchless to photograph, even in raking light.The problem was partially solved by acareful and temporary application offingerprint powder provided by the PoliceDepartment of the District of Columbia.

THE SHELL

The shell from which the bowl wasmade is without much doubt an example ofTonnea galea (Linne) of the family Tonnidaeas shown and described by Abbott (1954:Plate 23, F), Eisenberg (1981:77, no. 6),Abbott and Dance (1983:118), and others.This shell is but one of five genera and 20species of shells commonly known as "tun"shells, all of which occur in tropical watersaround the world. The range of the presentspecies includes the waters of the AtlanticOcean and Caribbean Sea, and specimenstherefore appear on the shores of the WestIndies and adjacent portions of IsthmianAmerica, although Andrews IV (1969:12)notes its rarity on the east and north coastsof the Yucatan Peninsula. Thus, the rangeof this particular type of shell correspondsreasonably well with its putative prove­nience in the eastern portion of the south­ern Maya Lowlands.

arqueologico: solo sabia que tal uez pwuenia delnorte de Belice 0, quizrl, de una zona pr6xima aGuatemala. Sin embargo, quedo de manifiestoque la pieza em extmordinaria, ciertamente degenuina antigiiedad, e importante en uirtud desu forma y de la znscripcion en jeroglificosreconocible que ostentaba.

Por estas mzones, mi asociada KathyWilliamson y yo procedimos de inmediato adocumentar el artefacto de concha. Se midio lapieza, y despues se fotogmfio desde variosangulos pam mostmr su forma y la inscripcionen jeroglificos. Cap tar esta ~iltima en pelicularesulto ser una tarea en particular desafiante,porque los jeroglificos ocupaban un tmmo cortodel surco en espiral interior del extremo gmndede la concha, y estaban tan superficialmentegmbados en el duro y brillante material, queemn dificiles de ver, mucho mas de fotogmfiar,incluso con un angulo de inclinacion de la luz.EI problema se resolvio en parte pOI' medio deuna aplicacion cuidadosa y temporal de poluopara revelar huelIas digitales proporcionadopor el Departmento de Policia del Distrito deColumbia.

LA CONCHA

La concha a partir de la cual se elabor6el cuenco, es sin muchas dudas un ejemplar deTonnea galea (Linneo) de la familia Tonnidae,como muestran y describen Abbott (1954:Lamina 23, F), Eisenberg (1981:77, mim. 6),Abbott y Dance (1983:118), y otros. Estaconcha no es sino una de cinco generos y 20especies de conchas conninmente conocidascomo conchas "tun ", todas las cuales seencuentran en aguas tropicales de todo elmundo. La distrzbucion de la presente especieincluye las aguas del oceano Atlantico y delmar Caribe; pOI' ende, los especimenes seencuentmn en las costas de las Antillas y deregiones adyacentes de la America istmica,aunque Andrews IV (1969:12) nota su rarezaen las costas oriental y norte de la peninsula deYucatan. Asi, la distribucion de este tipoparticular de concha correspondemzonablemente bien a su origen putati'i'o en lazona oriental de las tierms bajas l1layas del sur.

In its present state, the shell vesselmeasures 173 millimeters in length and 147millimeters in maximum width (Figure la,1b), and was made by removing the col­umella and interior whorls from the origi­nal, complete shell, leaving an open vesselof convenient size and shape for drinking­and then labeling it as such.

This use of Tonnea galea as a drink­ing vessel is peculiarly apt, given the historyof tun, the common designation for mem­bers of its family and genus: The wordcomes from the Old Frisian and Old English"tunne," a relative of the" tonne" and"tunna" of Old German and Dutch and,

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En s// estado actual, el recipiente deconcha luide 173 11IIU de largo y 147 mm deanchum nllixilna (jigura la, 1b) y se elaboro alquitar la columela y las espimles iuteriores dela concha original completa, 10 que deja unrecipiente abierto de tammio y forllla comodapam beber, y que despues se ideu tlfico COIllO tal.

Este usa de Tonnea galea comorecipiente pam beber es peculiarllienteapropiado, dada la Ilistoria de tun, ladesignacion co 11111n de los II/iembros de estafall/ilia y de este genera: la palabm pravieue delfr/son y del ingles antiguos "tunne", un falllil­iar del "tonne" y "tuJ1na" del aleman y delI/Olandes antiguos, y finalmente, de las palabms

FIGURE 1 THREE EXTERIOR VIEWS OF THE SHELL, WITH MEASUREME TSFIGURA 1. TRES VISTAS EXTERIORES DE LA CONCHA, CON MEDICIONES

a

c

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE CENTER FOR MAYA RESEARCH

FOTOCRAFiAS CORTESiA DEL (ENTER FOR MAYA RESEAf{CH

b

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ultimately, of our current words "ton" and"tonnage" as referents to weight and shipcapacities. Originally, however, the wordreferred to a large cask or barrel, usually forwine, ale, or beer and, pertinent to ourpresent example, was also used to signify"akind of cup or small drinking vessel"(Brown (ed.) 1993,2: 3333&3420).

The exterior surface of the presentshell is in a remarkably good state of preser­vation, although a crack appears near theapex (Figure la, 1b). The cutting out of theinternal structure and the polishing of allnew edges thus produced (Figure 1c), not tomention the engraving of the hieroglyphsthemselves on such a hard material musthave taken long experience, patience, andgreat skill (Figure 2). At some point, theexterior surface, at least the portion in thevicinity of the apex, was rubbed with pow­dered cinnabar, traces of which remain.

THE GLYPHS

The text labeling the shell consists ofa curved stack, or column, of six glyphsengraved on the concave surface of thelargest whorl defining the interior centralspiral of the shell structure (Figure 2).

The glyphs themselves, shown in theFigure 3 drawing (with the Thompsonnumbers to aid identification), are all ofknown general or specific meaning, and thewhole phrase may be transcribed as follows:

1. 61:10702. II:738:1303. 44:x4. 7485. 74:x:746. 1010

Resulting in: y-uk'(ib') (ta) kakaw ... (Yok)Ti' Muwaan ma-? k'in, or, to roughly para­phrase the whole, "His cup for cacao Ti'Muwaan ("Cloud-Mouthed Hawk [?]) rnak'inich."

del inglis actual "ton" y "tonnage" que hacenreferencia a peso y a la capacidad deembarcaciones. Empero, originalmente lapalabra aludia a un tonel 0 barril grande, por 10general para vino 0 cerveza y, pertinente anuestro actual ejemplo, tambien significaba "untipo de copa 0 vaso pequeno para beber" (Brown(ed.) 1993,2: 3333&3420).

La superficie exterior de la presenteconcha se encuentra en un estado depreservacion notoriamente bueno, aunqueaparece una grieta cerca del apice (figura la,lb). EI corte de la estructura interna y el pulidode todos los nuevos bordes producidos de esamanera (figura lc), sin mencionar el grabado delos jeroglificos en si en un material tan duro,deben haber exigido gran experiencia, pacienciay habilidad (figura 2). En algun momento, lasuperficie exterior, al menos la porci6n cerca delapice, se frota con cinabrio en polvo, del cualpersisten rastros.

LOS JEROcLiFICOS

EI texto que identifica a la concha constade una pila 0 columna curva de seis jeroglificosgrabados en la superficie concava de la espiralmas grande que define la espiral central interiorde la estructura de la concha (figura 2).

Los jeroglificos en si, que se muestran enel dibujo de la figura 3, (con los numeros deThompson que asisten con la identificaci6n)tienen significado general 0 especifico conocido,y la frase entera puede transcribirse como sigue:

yu-UK'2ka-waTOK?-TI'MUWAANma-?K'lN or K/INICH

Lo que da por resultado: y-uk'(ib') (ta)kakaw... ti' MUWAAN ma-? k'in 0,

parafraseando a grandes rasgos el conjunto,"su taza para cacao [nombre personal (?)] Ti'Muwaan ma-? k'in".

With respect to the present inscrip­tion, Marc Zender (personal communica­tion) notes that the bi' and ta signs, which I"reconstructed" in my transcription above,do indeed commonly go unwritten, or"unspelled" in the script, even though theywould seem necessary for completeness.Zender goes on to observe that, unliketotally syllabic spellings, which demand thederivational suffixes for clarity, spellingsincorporating logograms are somehowunderstood to automatically incorporatesuch suffixes-a feature common to manyother similar scripts.

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Respecto a la presente inscripci6n,Marc Zender (comunicaci6n personal) nota quelos signos hi' y ta, que yo "reconstrui" en mitranscripci6n anterior, con frecuencia de hechono se escriben 0 "no se representan" en laescritura, aun cuando parecerzan necesariospara que el texto fuera completo. Zenderobserva adenuis que de alguna manera seen tiende que, al con trario de las escritu ras porcompleto sillibicas, cuya claridad exige lossuftjos derivacionales, las escrituras queincorporan logogramas integranautomliticamente esos suftJos: una caracteristicacomun a muchas otras escrituras simi/ares.

FIGURE 2. TWO VIEWS OF THE SHELL INTERIOR, SHOWING THE INSCRIPTIONFIGURA 2. DOS VISTAS DEL INTERIOR DE LA CONCHA, QUE MUESTRAN LA

INSCRIPCI6N

a b

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE CENTER FOR MAYA RESEARCH

FOTOGRAFfAS CORTESfA DEL CENTER FOR MAYA RESEARCH

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CONCLUSION CONCLUSION

The tun shell drinking vessel de­scribed above is of somewhat more thanroutine interest for several reasons:

First, it is a new and excellent ex­ample of the sort of "name-tagging" firstdescribed by Mathews (1979), and laterexpanded by Houston and Taube (1987),Stuart (1989), and Grube (1991). It is alsointeresting to note in passing that wheneverthe vessel was filled with chocolate drink,the fluid would almost certainly havesubmerged the hieroglyphic text - anancient counterpart to the much later

El recipiente para beber de concha tundescrito arriba es de interes de algLln modo masque rutinario por varias razones: en primerlugar, es un nuevo y excelente ejemplo de laclase de "marcado con nombre" descrito porvez primera por Mathews (1979), y mas tardeexpandido por Houston y Taube (1987), Stuart(1989), y Grube (1991). Tambien es interesantenotar de pasada que cada vez que el recipientese llenaba con bebida de chocolate, el textojeroglifico casi sin duda quedaba sumergido enel liquido, un homologo antiguo de la practicaeuropea y americana difundida mucho mas

FIGURE 3. THE HIEROGLYPHIC TEXTFIGURA 3. EL TEXTO EN JEROGLiFICOS

~- -V'/ 'OJ

ffj.l'\\ .....

~U

6~

5

1

2

~0 .. .

30....

4

a b

DRAWING BY THE AUTHOR

D/BU/ADO paR EL AUTOR

widespread European and Americanpractice of placing an ad or slogan at thebottom of a glass or pottery vessel.

Second, specific comparisonsbetween the inscription on the shelldrinking vessel and other examples arenow possible. For example, the presenttext is closely related to that on the famed"lock-top" chocolate jar from Tomb 19,Rio Azul, Guatemala. It is particularlyinteresting to compare the two forms ofthe kakaw ("cacao") glyph on the respec­tive containe'l:s, particularly in the style ofthe syllable doubling (see Stuart 1986, Fig.30). Moreover, the name phrase con­tained in the shell text may now be addedto the long list of named individuals, anyone of which may show up in the futureon another artifact, portable or monu­mental.

Third, the shell vessel stands asthe only representative I know of thisclass of artifact, and is thus rare, if notunique among the known inventory ofhigh-status artifacts of the Classic Maya.

In this, the Maya noble, perhaps aruler, whose tomb this piece may havegraced for more than a millennium, joinsthe ranks of others of his (or her) ilkamong other ancient American groupswho imbibed from similar shell bowls onimportant occasions.

The use of such vessels for ritualdrinking and, probably, feasting inancient America has long been known,for even a cursory survey of the archaeo­logical literature of areas in the broadervicinity of the Gulf of Mexico and theCaribbean Sea reveals the widespread useof shell bowls and cups, particularly inthe Southeastern United States. FromMeigs County, Tennessee, comes the well­preserved shell vessel made from a largespecimen identified as Cassismadagascariensis, recently exhibited at theFrank H. McClung Museum of the Uni­versity of Tennessee. And at Spiro, Okla­homa, many such vessels, fashioned fromBusycon perversum, Pleuropoca gigantica,

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tarde de colocar un anuncio 0 lema en el fondode un recipiente de vidrio 0 de cenimica.

En segundo lugar, ahora es posible hacercomparaciones especificas entre las inscripcionesen el recipiente de concha para beber y otrosejemplares. POl' ejemplo, el presente textoguarda estrecha relaci6n con el que se encuentraen la famosa jarra para chocolate "contapadera", proveniente de la Tumba 19, en RioAzul, Guatemala. Despierta particular interescomparar las dos formas del jeroglifico kakaw("cacao") en los recipientes respectivos,particularmente en el estilo del duplicado desflaba (vease Stuart 1986, fig. 30). Mas aun, lafrase de nombre contenida en el texto en laconcha ahora puede agregarse a la larga lista deindividuos nombrados, cualesquiera de los cualespueden aparecer en el futuro en otro artefacto,portatil 0 monumental.

En tercer lugar, el recipiente de conchafigura como el unico representante que yoconozco de esta clase de artefacto, que es pOl' lotanto singular, si no es que sin par, en elinventario conocido de artefactos de clase supe­rior del maya Clasico.

En este, el noble maya, quizagobernante, cuya tumba esta pieza puede haberadornado durante mas de un milenio, se une alos rangos de otros de su clase entre otrosgrupos americanos de la antigiiedad quebebieron en recipientes especiales similares enocasiones importantes.

El uso de ese tipo de recipientes paraconsumo ritual de bebidas y, probablemente,festejos en la antigua America se ha conocidodesde hace mucho tiempo, puesto que incluso unestudio superficial de la literatura arqueol6gicade areas en las inmediaciones mas amplias delgolfo de Mexico y del mar Caribe revela el usodifundido de cuencos y tazas de concha,particularmente en el sureste de Estados Unidos.El bien preservado recipiente de concha que seelabor6 a partir de un especimen grandeidentificado como Cassis madagascariensis,exhibido a ultimas fechas en el Museo Frank H.McClung de la Universidad de Tennessee,proviene del condado Meigs, Tennessee. Y enSpiro, Oklahoma, muchos de esos recipientes,hechos de Busycon perversum, Pleuropoca

8

and Cassis madagascariensis, most oftenbearing complex engravings on theirexteriors, were found among the materiallooted from the Craig Mound (Phillips &Brown 1975, 1:26,27).

Examples of shell art and artifactswill doubtless continue to appear asarchaeological research continues in thevarious areas of the Americas. In thosecases it is fervently hoped that both thearchaeological context and the preciseidentification of the shell itself in terms ofsubspecies and known range of geo­graphical occurrence be documented andpublished, for only then will the realpatterns of the ancient trade and ex­change of elite goods begin to be known tomodern investigators.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks go to Jay I. Kislak and ArthurDunkelman of the Jay I. Kislak Foundation ofMiami Lakes, Florida, for their help in providingdata on the shell which, as part of the Founda­tion collection (Catalog No. 1992.003.00.0001), isavailable for study by all interested in ancientAmerican culture. Among those who helpedwith this paper, I wish to express my apprecia­tion to my wife Melinda Young Stuart forleading me to the source material that served inidentifying the shell. I also thank the staff of theRamsey Library of the University of NorthCarolina at Asheville. Finally, my appreciationgoes to David Stuart of Harvard University andMark Zender of the University of Calgary fortheir extensive help and suggestions regardingthe hieroglyphic inscription on the shell.

gigantica y Cassis madagascariensis, quedespfiegan con mayor frecuencia grabadoscompfejos en sus exteriores, se encontraronentre ef material extraido del htmulo Craig(Phillips y Brown, 1975, 1:26,27).

Sin duda seguiran apareciendo ejemplosde arte y de artefactos de concha a medida quecontinue la investigacion arqueologica en lasdiversas areas de America. En esos casas seespera con fervor que se documenten ypubliquen tanto el contexto arqueologico comofa identificacion precisa de fa concha en si encuanto a subespecie y limite conocido dedistribucion geografica, porque solo entonceslos investigadores modernos empezarcin aconocer fa realidad del comercio y delintercambio de mercancias de clase superior defa antigiiedad.

AGRADECIM1ENTOS

Agradezco a Jay I. Kislak y Arthur Dunkelman de laJay 1. Kislak Foundation de Miami Lakes, Florida, porsu ayuda en el suministro de datos acerca de la concha,que, como parte de la coleccion de la Fundacion (mll1l.de catalogo 1992.003.00.0001), se encuentra dlsponlblepara estudio por todos aquellos que se Interesen por Incultura americana antigua. Entre los que ayudaron enla elaboracion del presente articulo, deseo expresar mlapreciacion a mi esposa Melinda Young Stuart porconducirme al material fuente que slrvio paraidentificar la concha. Tambien agradezco al personal dela Ramsey Libran) de la University of North Carollnaen Asheville. Por ultimo, expreso mi gratitud a DavidStuart de la Universidad Harvard y Mark Zender de laUniversidad de Calgan) por su ayuda con losjeroglificos que aparecen en la concha.

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LIST OF REFERENCES (LISTADE REFERENCIAS)

ABBOTT, R. TUCKER

1954 American Seashells. Photographs byFrederick M. Bayer. Van Nostrand,Princeton, New Jersey.

ABBOTT, R. TUCKER AND S. PETER DANCE

1983 Compendium ofSeashells: A Color Guide toMore Than 4,200 of the World's MarineShells. E. P. Dutton, New York.

ANDREWS, E. WYLLYS, IV1969 The Archaeological Use and Distribution of

Mollusca in the Maya Lowlands. Publication34 of the Middle American ResearchInstitute. Tulane University, New Orleans,Louisiana.

BROWN, LESLEY (EDITOR)

1993 The New Shorter Oxford English DictionanJon Historical Principles, Vol. 2. ClarendonPress, Oxford.

EISENBERG, JEROME M.1981 A Collector's Guide to Seashells of the World.

McGraw-Hill, New York.

GRUBE, NIKOLAI

1991 An Investigation of the Primary StandardSequence on Classic Maya Ceramics. InSixth Palenque Round Table, edited byVirginia M. Fields, pp. 223-232. Universityof Oklahoma Press, Norman.

HOUSTON, STEPHEN D. AND KARL A. TAUBE

1987 "Name-tagging" in Classic Maya Script:Implications for Native Classifications ofCeramics and Jade Ornament. Mexicon9(2):38-41.

MATHEWS, PETER

1979 The Glyphs on the Ear Ornaments fromTomb A-Ill. In Excavations at AltzlIl Ha,Belize, 1964-1970, by David H. Pendergast,vol. 1, pp. 79-80. Royal Ontario Museum,Toronto.

PHILLIPS, PHILIP AND JAMES A. BROWN

1975 Pre-Columbian Shell Engravings from theCraig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma. Volume 1(of six). Peabody Museum Press, PeabodyMuseum of Archaeology and Ethnology,Harvard University, Cambridge, Massa­chusetts.

STUART, DAVID

1986 The Hieroglyphs on a Vessel from Tomb19, Rio Azul. In Rio Azul Reports No.2, the1984 Season. Informe Dos, edited by R. E. W.Adams, pp.117-119. Center for Archaeo­logical Research, The University of TexasatSan Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.

1989 Hieroglyphs on Maya Vessels. In TheMaya Vase Book: A Corpus ofRoll-outPhotographs ofMaya Vases, Volume 1,edited by Justin Kerr, pp.149-160. KerrAssociates, New York.