SYMBOLS FOR GEOLOGIC PHENOMENA IN ROCK ART – EARTHQUAKES REVISITED:

"Pictogram representing an earthquake that took place on the year 2 Reeds or 1507. The gloss describes that the pictogram recounts the drowning of 1800 warriors in an unidentified river, presumably in southern Mexico, the termination of the temple of the New Fire, where the ceremony of the new cycle of life was celebrated, and a solar eclipse as a circle with rays emanating from it in the upper right-hand side, below the date sign." Suarez and Garcia Acosta, 2021, Fig. 7, page 5.

On Saturday, October 19, 2013, I posted a column on RockArtBlog titled “An Earthquake Symbol Pictograph” about a pictograph in the Stein River Valley of British Columbia, Canada, that was interpreted by a First Nations informant (Annie York) as a symbol for an earthquake. Now a 2021 paper by Gerardo Suarez and Virginia Garcia-Acosta (see references) has identified an Mesoamerican earthquake pictogram and illustrated a number of instances of its use in codexes (actually codices).

“The first written evidence of earthquakes in the Americas is represented as pictograms in codices and annals drafted in the first few years after the Spanish Conquest. The main source of earthquakes in pre-Hispanic times comes from the codex Telleriano-Remensis. There are 12 earthquakes reported in the Telleriano-Remensis, from 1460 to 1542.” (Suarez and Garcia-Acosta 2021:1)

The earthquake symbol from the preceding illustration.

“The Codex Telleriano-Remensis, produced in sixteenth century Mexico on European paper, is one of the finest surviving examples of Aztec manuscript painting. The Codex Telleriano-Remensis is divided into three sections. – The third section is a history, itself divided into two sections which differ stylistically. Pages 25 to 28 are an account of migrations during the 12^th and 13^th centuries, while the remaining pages of the codex record historical events, such as ascensions and deaths of rulers, battles, earthquakes, and eclipses from the 14^th to the 16^th century, including events of early Colonial Mexico.” (Wikipedia)

Movement (ollin) and Earth (tlalli) symbols. Suarez and Garcia- Acosta, 2021, Fig. 7, page 5.

"An earthquake is shown on the year 2 Reeds or 1507. Between the earthquake glyph and the date is the representation of a solar eclipse depicted by a shadow on the Sun." Suarez and Garcia- Acosta, 2021, Fig. 5, page 4.

Suarez and Garcia-Acosta (2021) describe the earthquake glyphs as follows. “Earthquakes, or tlalollin in the original Nahuatal language, are represented by two associated glyphs: movement or ollin and Earth or tlalli. Thus the two signs depicted together represent an earthquake. The glyph ollin represents movement. It is portrayed as four helices and a central circle or eye. The Earth is represented by one or several layers filled with dots and colored in different hues. The time of occurrence of an earthquake is depicted by the central part of the ollin or eye. For earthquakes occurring during the day, the eye is open; it is shown as closed for other earthquakes occurring at night.” (Suarez and Garcia-Acosta 2021:2-3) Now any definition I can find of the word helix or helices refers to them as spirals in form and the projections from the central circle of the ollin are obviously not helices, I would describe them as projecting forms on either side, each side divided by notches into three portions for a total of six sections.

We take it as an article of faith that the cultures of the American southwest and of Mexico and Mesoamerica knew something of each other, traded with each other, and had some influences of each other’s cultures.

Petrloglyph from Glorieta Mesa, New Mexico. USDA Forest Service photograph.

I have found an image of a rock art symbol at Glorieta Mesa, New Mexico, which actually looks remarkably like this a portion of this earthquake symbol. In 2008 Larry Loendorf wrote of the Glorieta Mesa petroglyphs -“Many circles are simply concentric, but they can also be embellished by rays projecting from their outer ring. In some instances circles are divided into segments by lines radiating from the center, which make s them look like another natural form, the sand dollar. Some concentric circles have smaller, irregularly shaped ‘petals’ at intervals around the outermost ring.” (Loendorf 2008:61)

This symbol from Glorieta Mesa also has central concentric circles with six projections coming from the outer circle. Is this actually intended to be a copy of the Aztec ollin or Earth glyph? I really cannot say, but it is intriguing. It might not deserve the cigar but it is close.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Loendorf, L., 2008, Thunder and Herds: Rock Art of the High Plains, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California.

Suarez, Gerardo, and Virginia Garcia-Acosta, 2021, The First Written Accounts of Pre-Hispanic Earthquakes in the Americas, Seismological Research Letters, www.srl-online.org, Volume XX, No. XX

Wikipedia, Codex Telleriano-Remensis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Telleriano-Remensis

York, Annie, Richard Daley and Chris Arnett, 1993    They Write Their Dream on the Rock Forever: Rock Writings of the Stein River Valley of British Columbia, Talonbooks, Vancouver, B.C.

NEW MAYAN CAVE PAINTINGS DISCOVERED IN YUCATAN:

 

New Mayan cave paintings discovered in the Yucatan.

An important discovery of Mayan paintings has been discovered in a cave 12 meters below ground in the eastern Yucatan by a team of archaeologists led by Sergio Grosjean Abimerhi.

“’It’s not the only cave with paintings in Yucatán but it is the most important because they have many elements: birds, mammals, a cross, geometric figures, human forms and among those that of a warrior as well as [prints made with] the front and back of hands,’ Grosjean said.” (Mexiconewsdaily)

   
     New Mayan cave paintings discovered                           in the Yucatan.

“The director of the Mexican Institute of Ecology, Science and Culture - a non-governmental organization that conducts environmental and cultural investigations - said that like cave paintings found in other parts of Yucatán, the newly discovered artwork ‘shows the high degree of evolution of the Mayan culture’. Grosjean explained that the colors of the paintings are derived from a wide range of natural pigments and other materials such as red earth, which is known in the local Mayan language as k’ankab. He added that neither the age of the paintings nor their exact significance has yet been determined but stressed ‘they’re the most important we have seen.’” (Mexiconewsdaily)

These painted images are noticeably different from much of the Mayan art we see with its formalized figures and inscriptions on steles and temples. This does not show as an organized scene of anything at all but a collection of symbols and images, probably done a little at a time over a longer period, and probably not by the same people who created the formal, public art of Mayan cities. Being in a cave, instead of on public display, would lead us to assume that they were produced for a much more private purpose, and for a much smaller audience.

      New Mayan cave paintings discovered in                           the Yucatan.

“In the coming days the team Grosjean leads will return to the cave with archeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to carry out further identification work. ‘At the moment, we can’t reveal the exact location [of the cave] because undortunately in Yucatán, the looters and vandals are one step ahead of us,’ Grosjean said.” (Mexiconewsdaily)

Press reports do not mention any nearby Mayan cities or major sites so, in lieu of that knowledge, I will make some assumptions. I assume that these were not done by an important scribe or cleric from some kingdom, but by a local in a rural village or small town. He was probably acting equivalently to the scribes or clerics who produced major inscriptions and pictures, but for a rural or village audience instead of the court of an important city or capital. Without the formalized education or training of that scribe or cleric this creator was doing the best he could to produce the equivalent results on his own.

      New Mayan cave paintings discovered in                           the Yucatan.

Grosjean stated that “neither the age of the paintings nor their exact significance has yet been determined but stressed ‘they’re the most important we have seen.’” (Mexiconewsdaily) Well, that is demonstrably nonsense, but they do allow us, if the assumptions above are correct, to compare the tangible remains of rites or practices of difference levels of society, to compare the spiritual and intellectual life of the serfs with the royalty, so to speak.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on this you should read the original report at the site listed below.

REFERENCES:

Staff,2018 Treasure Trove of Mayan Cave Paintings Discovered in Yucatan, July 25, 2018, https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/cave-paintings-discovered-in-Yucatan/

NEWLY DISCOVERED ZAPOTEC ROCK ART AND RUINS:

Newly discovered Zapotec carving, Cerro de Pena, Santa Cruz Huehuepiaxtla, Mexico. Online photo, BBC.

Recently discovered ruins and rock art in southwestern Mexico have been attributed to the Zapotec culture and are offering new insights into their lives and society.

“An astonishing discovery has been made on top of a mountain in Mexico. Archaeologists and locals have been exploring a site where previously unknown Zapotec ruins and carvings have been found. The Zapotec ruins date back 2500 years and are providing new insight into an important culture in Mesoamerica before the coming of the Conquistadors.

The discovery was made by local people from the village of Santa Cruz Huehuepiaxtla, which is in Puebla State in south-west Mexico. This area of the country is rich in historic ruins and archaeological sites. The finds were made on the summit of Cerro de Pena mountain at a height of 6000 feet (1,828.8 meters).” (Whelan 2020) The site of the newly discovered ruins is a two and a half hour climb up a rocky path above the village.

Newly discovered Zapotec glyphs, Cerro de Pena, Santa Cruz Huehuepiaxtla, Mexico. Online photo, BBC.

The Zapotec people were reading and writing, doing mathematical and astronomic calculations, and building complex stone cities at roughly the same time as the Classical civilizations of the Old World.

“Jose Alfredo Arellanes, from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), says 87 glyphs, or symbols, have been found so far. Mr. Arellanes says initial investigations suggest a ceremonial area, flanked by temples and the homes of the rulers, would have been located at the top of the mountain. The archaeologist thinks the site would have also had seven pyramids and a court to play pelota, a game in which players used their hips to propel a rubber bell through stone hoops.

Newly discovered Zapotec stele, Cerro de Pena, Santa Cruz Huehuepiaxtla, Mexico. Online photo, BBC.

Puebla is an area rich with archaeological ruins but locals said they were proud to have led archaeologists to this latest finds. Experts are still analysing the finds but said the site could have been built by people belonging to the Zapotec civilization, also known as the ‘Cloud People’, which originated in the area 2,500 years ago and had a sophisticated architecture and style of writing based on glyphs.” (BBC 2020) These findings seem to indicate that the Zapotec culture possessed virtually all of the main recognizable elements of later Mesoamerican cultures.

Newly discovered Zapotec stele closeup, Cerro de Pena, Santa Cruz Huehuepiaxtla, Mexico. Onine photo, BBC.

“The Zapotec civilization (The People” c. 700 BC - 1521AD) was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows that their culture originated at least 2,500 years ago. The Zapotec archaeological site at the ancient city of Monte Alban has monumental buildings, ball courts, magnificent tombs and grave goods, including finely worked gold jewelry. Monte Alban was one of the first major cities in Mesoamerica. It was the center of a Zapotec state that dominated much of the territory which today is known as the Mexican state of Oaxaca.” (Wikipedia)

These new discoveries are 168 miles closer to Mexico City than the type site of Zapotec, Monte Alban, and suggests that the Zapotec area of influence may have been larger than had been previously thought. I find it exciting that these new discoveries  just seem to keep coming.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

BBC Staff, Mexico Archaeology: Pre-Hispanic Ruins Found On Mountaintop, 24 July 2020, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-53498110

Whelan, Ed, 2020 Astonishing Zapotec Ruins and Carvings Found in Mexico, 25 July, 2020, www.ancient-origins.net

Wikipedia, Zapotec civilization, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapotec_civilization

A POSSIBLE COMET RECORDED AT CABORCA, SONORA, MEXICO:

Petroglyph at Caborca, Sonora, Mexico.

Photograph Margaret Berrier, 1993.

Comets have always fascinated humans whether seen as good omens or evil portents. As I am writing this Comet Neowise (C/2020 F3) is overhead in the evening sky under the Big Dipper. A sight like this would have been even more impressive to people in a dark sky with no light pollution centuries ago. I recently received a picture from Margaret Berrier of a petroglyph panel near Caborca, in Sonora, Mexico, which appears to include a possible comet image.

Comet Neowise, Northern Arizona, July 18, 2020, from Flagstaff, AZ. Photograph Austin Young, online image.

Margaret is an independent rock art researcher who lives in New Mexico and took the photograph in 1993. Indeed, the panel can be interpreted to show a comet passing a crescent moon. The rock art is attributed to the Trinchera Tradition, which is dated to between 750 and 1450 CE, with a range extending from the Gulf of California into northern Sonora. (Wikipedia) These people certainly were stone workers. Their culture is named Trinchera (trenches) after the rock terraces that they created up hillsides, believed to be used for residential areas as well as possibly agriculture (although why the name is not Terrazza for terraces escapes me).

Trincheras at Cerro De Trincheras, online photograph from www.swvirtualmuseum.com.

"Contemporaneous with the Hohokam of the river valleys of southern and central Arizona were pottery-making cultures adapted to the desert province of the Papagueria of southern Arizona and northern Sonora. A distinctive complex known as the Trincheras culture was centered in the Magdalena and Altar valleys of northern Sonora, the name Trincheras being derived from the terraced hillsides or 'fortified' hills that are the most obvious architectural feature of these sites. These desert groups probably had roots in the Cochise and their cultural systems reflect different adaptive responses to the local environment. Subsistence in the dry Papagueria was based primarily on hunting and gathering." (Schaafsma 1980:99)

What relationships existed between Trincheras and Hohokam has been argued at length. Some consider Trincheras to be a manifestation of a "Desert Hohokam" complex while others deny any relationship at all. (Schaafsma 1980:100)

"The last view, however, is not borne out by the rock art. Shared petroglyph elements and stylistic traits throughout the entire area suggest that all the various populations, including the Hohokam, were in communication and participated in shared ideas. One of the prime mechanisms for this interaction may have been the shell trade from the Gulf of California. The Trinchera people themselves were the major suppliers of shell for the more northerly Hohokam and such a trade would have been an important means of facilitating direct communication with the north." (Schaafsma 1980:101)

As we now know there was considerable south-north contact between the cultures of the desert southwest, especially commercial contact and trade.

"The rock art of the Trincheras culture is less well known than that of the Hohokam. Nevertheless, petroglyphs are fairly common in the Magdalena-Altar riverine region. - - -Design elements consist of anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and geometric figures in the Hohokam style. On Cerro las Trincheras, the first of these sites to be so named, are representations of quadrupeds, spirals, and other abstract designs, both curvilinear and rectilinear. From Caborca and a Trincheras site near La Nariz east of Sonora, Lumholtz (1912) illustrates further Hohokam-like designs - again spirals, a set of frets, lizards with  the typical central bulge, and a pattern of interlocking scrolls." (Schaafsma 1980:101)

"Differences between the Trincheras petroglyphs of Sonora and the Arizona Hohokam lie primarily in the degree of refinement in design and in technical matters, the Sonoran figures generally excelling in these aspects." (Schaafsma 1980:101)

Petroglyph at Caborca, Sonora, Mexico. Photograph Margaret Berrier, 1993.

This panel, which includes a possible comet image, also shows an orb which can be interpreted as a crescent moon (a comet would be seen, of course, in the night sky). All-in-all this seems a fairly reasonable assumption. Which comet would be represented, on the other hand, is probably impossible to determine. During the time span of the Trinchera complex there are historical records from other cultures of comets appearing and we can guess it was possibly one of those.

For instance in 837 AD, Halley's comet approached as close as 3.2 million miles to the Earth, its tail stretching some 60 degrees across the sky (this is 1/3 of the distance across the sky from horizon to horizon). This appearance was recorded in annals in China, Japan, Germany, and the Byzantine empire. Halley's also was recorded subsequently in 989, 1066, 1145, 1222, and 1301 AD. (Wikipedia)

The 1066 AD appearance of Halley's comet is probably the source of the painted comet image above the Peñasco Blanco trail in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico (Faris 2010) and as the most impressive on record is probably a logical candidate for the inspiration of this Trinchera petroglyph.

NOTES: Thank you to Margaret Berrier for sharing this interesting photograph as well as permission to use it.

Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

 

Faris, Peter

2010   Halley's Comet Pictured in Chaco Canyon, November 20, 2010, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Halley%27s%20comet.

Schaafsma, Polly

1980   Indian Rock Art of the Southwest, School of American Research, Santa Fe, pp. 99-101.

Wikipedia,

History of Sonora, https://en.wikipedia.org

Halley's Comet, https://en.wikipedia.org

A SUPPOSED STONE MAP PETROGLYPH IN MEXICO:

Photo  Rafael Platas Ruiz, INAH, Colima, Mexico.

One claim that occurs frequently in rock art interpretation is that a particular design represents a map. In the past I have argued that this is unlikely in North America for a few reasons.

1. These were oral societies who, before contact, passed information on by word of mouth, not writing.

2. They did not have any use for a map. They already knew every square inch of their territory and where every resource could be found, as well as we know our back yards and the local grocery store. These are tribal people living within a territory that they know as well as the back of their hand.

3. A permanent map carved into the rock could be of help to possibly hostile outside groups and raiders.

 

Even though many of my friends and co-researchers believe claims that many North American examples do represent maps (how many map rocks have you seen?) I am still very skeptical about claims for maps in North American rock art.

I have visited many sites with rock art panels that local "experts" identify as a map, and I have yet to find one in North America that I can accept, but, there are situations and places where rock art maps might actually be found.

Photo INAH, Colima, Mexico.

Now we have a report out of Mexico of a carved boulder that has been identified as a map. "Archaeologists from the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historis (INAH) have announced the discovery of a stone map that dates from between 200 BC and AD 200 in Colima, Mexico. The map represents the territory of Pre-Columbian natives living around Colima (evident by small circular features that shows the position of ancient settlements), that was carved on a basalt volcanic rock deposited in situ after being thrown from an ancient eruption at the Colima volcano some 14 km away. The stone, measures 1.7 metres in height and sits on an axis of approximately 20° to the northeast and is orientated towards the volcano." (heritagedaily.com 2020) In other words this large lava boulder is a volcanic bomb that was thrown 8 miles from the volcano to its present position.

"In a statement INAH said that the stone is oriented with its main surface facing the Fuego de Colima volcano 'and it has cavities that could represent villages, as well as lines associated with waterways and geographical features'." (LaPrensa 2020) According to the head of INAH, Julio Ignacio Martinez de la Rosa, "the identification of the map is based on a study of the designs and patterns as well as a comparison to similar petroglyphs found in the region. The stone has carved hollows that represent villages, as well as lines that can be association with natural orographic and hydrological features. Inspection of the map has been conducted by Archaeologist Rafael Platas Ruiz who has found that some features also correspond with the geographical landscape of the southern slope of the Colima volcano, with ravines and rivers clearly apparent." (Heritagedaily 2020) With the boulder located 8 miles (14km) from the volcano, and with details of the volcano's southern slope included in its carving, the map must depict an area more than 8 miles across in one dimension, quite a large endeavor.

Photo Rafael Platas Ruiz, INAH, Colima, Mexico. 

"Colima is a small state of Western Mexico on the central Pacific coast, and includes the four oceanic Revillagigedo Islands. Mainland Colima borders with the states of Jalisco and Michoacan." (Wikipedia)

"Archaeologist Rafael Platas Ruiz, the official in charge of examining cultural heritage items, said that the stone features 'at least three carving techniques - polishing, chipping and sanding - which were used to represent the surrounding landscape in various ways'." (La Prensa 2020)

Ruiz stated "the stone is not associated with the Chanal phase. Its designs and workmanship techniques have a greater relationship with the . . . period from 200 BC to 200 AD - that is, the period between the Late Preclassical and Early Classic periods". (La Prensa 2020)

These dates would lakely place it in the Los Ortices era which began around 1500 BCE, and preceded the Comala phase from 100 to 600 CE which featured the burnished red pottery figures of people and fattened dogs known so well today. (Wikipedia)

 

Fig. 7a, p. 66, page from Codex Boturini, departure from Aztlan on the date '1 flint'. From Helmke, Nielsen, and Guzman.

And again, "Archaeologists determined that the context dating doesn't correspond with the Chanal or Postclassic Colimense phase (1000-1500 AD) and instead (has) drawn comparisons to early tombs from the Late Preclassic and Early Classic periods  between 200 BC and AD 200." (Heritagedaily)

Fig.4, p. 62, First page of Codex Zolotl, map of Valley of Mexico. From Helmke, Nielsen, and Guzman.

Fig. 3, p. 60, Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca, map of Quauhtunchan city state in Puebla, Mexico. From Helmke, Nielsen, and Guzman.

In this instance I am much more inclined to accept the interpretation of the petroglyphic design as a map. These were not hunting/gathering cultures surviving within and off of the landscape, they were authoritarian cultures with political boundaries, depending on resources located within their territories, collection of taxes from their populations, and profiting from trade (and sometimes conflict) with other polities. It makes much more sense to me that they would have use for a map for planning purposes and keeping accurate records. Indeed, we know from surviving codices and murals that many of the civilizations of Mexico had cartographic traditions.

 

 

Although these Mexican examples are, in fact, illustrating an event while showing details of where it occurred, these details just as surely constitute a map record as our much more general mapping tradition.

Previous postings on the subject of maps on RockArtBlog include:

1. April 18, 2009, Are There Maps In Native American Rock Art?

2. August 17, 2013, Maps in Rock Art - 3-D Carved Maps.

3. March 12, 2016, Maps In Rock Art - Revisited.

4. March 9, 2019, Are These Ute Wooden Maps? - or Apophenia/Pareidolia/Mimetoliths/Manuports.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Helmke, Christopher, Jesper Nielsen Angel Ivan Rivera Guzman

2019 The Origins and Development of the Cartographic Tradition in the Central Mexican Highlands, Contributions in New World Archaeology, Vol. 12, Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and Jagiellonian University Institute of Archaeology, Krakow, Poland.

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/06/archaeologists-discover-2000-year-old-stone-map-on-volcanic-rock/133727

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Colima

Online News Editor

2020 Mexico Registers Petrogyph Used as Stone-Map Some 2,000 Years Ago, June 14, 2020, La Prensa, https://www.laprensalatina.com/mexico-registers-petroglyph-used-as-stone-map-some-2000-years-ago/

TETZACUALCO, A MEXICAN CREATION GEOGLYPH:

Nahualac with Tetzacualco,

i.pinimg.com, public domain.

On the volcanic slopes below the Mexican volcano Iztaccihuatl, in a pond known as Nahualac, a geoglyph replicating the monster out of which the earth was created has been discovered. This geoglyph is believed to represent the earth monster Tetzacualco. "The "Tetzacualco" (a name that can mean "stone enclosure") has been known to explorers since the 16th century. Since that time, both amateur explorers and professional archaeologists have investigated the structure, putting forth a variety of ideas as to what the structure was used for and when it was built. Made of numerous stones, it's about 37.7 x 32.2 feet (11.5 x 9.8 meters)." (Jarus 2018)

Replica of the Aztec Cosmos,
(seen in drained Nahualac),

Mexico. www.ancient-origins.net.

public domain.

It is possible that the construction was intended as a symbolic representation of Cipactli from the Aztec creation myth. "The site, known as "Nahualac", is at least 1,000 years old, judging from ceramic materials. Some of them have been identified as belonging to the Coyotlateko (750-900 AD), Mazapa (850-900 AD) and Tollan Complex (900-1150 AD) cultures. Archaeologists at the National Institute of Anthropology and History led by Iris del Rocio Hernandez Bautista believe that the site was designed to depict Meso-American myths about the creation of the universe. Namely, it's believed the earth monster Cipactli floated on primeval waters and then split itself, thus creating the heavens and earth. Archaeologists claim that the stone shrine, called a "tetzacualco", emulates this myth due to its positioning. According to them, the way it was placed made the stone shrine look like it was floating on the water surface, fitting with the myth. The Mesoamericans likely used a ritual control of water from nearby springs to irrigate the pond and create the visual effect." (Puiu 2018)

Skull and plants above Cipactli,

blue-green paint. Andrea Stone,

Images from the Underworld,

1995, p.55.

Cipactli was theriomorphic, sometimes appearing in human form, but often having features of a crocodilian, toad, or turtle, or combination of them. These are all water creatures and the Aztecs believed that the earth floated upon a great body of water. To the Aztecs Cipactli represented the plane of the earth, or great, gaping jaws entering into the earth. (Stone 1995:22) Indeed, the shape of this tetzacualco could be taken for great, gaping jaws opening into the earth. The water of the pond was controlled by drainage ditches which could be used to raise or lower the water level. I can imagine a ceremonial public gathering with the open gaping maw of cipactli emerging from the water surface at a significant moment. It must have been very impressive, indeed it would still be.

The creation of this structure is somewhat mysterious. "The artifacts that the archaeologists recovered indicate that the structure was created at least three centuries before the Aztecs by an even earlier Mesoamerican culture whose identity is not yet clear, according to the statement from the research team." (Jarus 2018)

Nahualac with Tetzacualco submerged on

left, Aerial-view. www.ancient-origins.net,

public domain.

"Nor is it clear how long Tetzacualco was used or what kind of ceremonies took place there. During the 16th century, Juan Bautista Pomar, a writer in Mexico who was of mixed Spanish and Native Mesoamerican descent, claimed that the Tetzacualco was in use up to that century and that children were sometimes sacrificed there." (Jarus 2018) There have not yet been any human remains found in excavations there so that latter statement is unproven, and may indeed have been Spanish propaganda. What we can be sure of is that subsequent peoples adapted their beliefs to it, and it to their beliefs, in the same way that we assume that the Aztecs saw Cipactli there.

NOTE: Images in this posting were retrieved from the internet after a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the originals at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Jarus, Owen

2018 1,000-Year-Old Stone Structure in Mexico May Depict Creation of Earth, January 5, 2018, Live Science.

Puiu, Tibi

2018 Stone Shrine Discovered Inside Mexican Volcano Depicts Mythical Aztec Universe, January 4, 2018, https://www.zmescience.com/science/stone-shrint-discovered-inside-mexican-volcano-depicts-mythical-aztec-universe/

Stone, Andrea J.

1995 Images from the Underworld: Naj Tunich and the Tradition of Maya Cave Painting, University of Texas Press, Austin.

PAINTED HANDPRINTS AT THE MAYAN SITE OF SAN GERVASIO, COZUMEL, MEXICO:

Las Manitas, San Gervasio, Cozumel, Mexico.

Photograph Peter Faris, March 2015.

Las Manitas building group. Las Manitas marked by

the arrow. La Tumba to its lower left and Chichen

Nah to lower right. Hajovsky, p. 18.

On March 21, 2015, I visited the Mayan site of San Gervasio on the island of Cozumel. There, in a structure known as Las Manitas (or the Little Hands) are found walls decorated with red painted hand prints.

Las Manitas, San Gervasio, Cozumel, Mexico.

Photograph Peter Faris, March 2015.

Mayan settlement of the area began in the Early Classic Period (300 AD to 600 AD). (Hajovsky 2014:4) Las Manitas was constructed during the Terminal Classic (1000 - 1200 AD) and served as the residence of the halach uinik or Mayan ruler of Cozumel during that Terminal Classic Period. It has an outer room that was the residence and an inner sanctum that was a household shrine. (Wikipedia)

Hand prints from Las Manitas, San Gervasio,

Cozumel, Mexico. Photograph Peter Faris,

March 2015.

 

Floor plan of Las Manitas, San Gervasio,

Cozumel, Mexico. Hajovsky, p. 19.

"The structure was originally a one room dwelling, but later renovated by an elite family to include an outer room with an open, colonnaded front with plastered benches and a small inner-sanctum within the original interior room. The renovated building was purely Mayapan in style. In the 1970s, a colorful mural was still visible on the interior wall, but vandals have since chipped it away. During the 1970 excavations, a limestone sculpture of a sea-turtle was discovered in the rubble. It had probably been plastered upside-down into the ceiling, similar to others found at Mayapan. Today the turtle sculpture can be seen in the city museum. Under the floor of the interior room a tomb was also found, covered over with a huge cap-stone." (Hajovsky 2014:19)

 

 

La Tumba, San Gervasio, Cozumel, Mexico.

Photograph Peter Faris, March 2015.

Las Manitas is accompanied by a couple of other structures that appear to have been in relationship with it .  In front of Las Manitas was a structure known as La Tumba (The Tomb). It was presented by my guide as a low pyramid, but is described in literature as an altar platform. It once supported a thatch-roofed building with a group of benches arranged around an altar. Underneath this platform was a vaulted-roofed tomb. Discovered in 1973, it is the only one of its kind discovered at San Gervasio to date. (Wikipedia)

 

Chichan Nah, San Gervasio, Cozumel, Mexico.

Photograph Peter Faris, March 2015.

 

To the east of La Manitas is found the Chichan Nah meaning small house. Also known as The Oratorio, it was constructed during the Post Classic Period (1200 - 1650 AD). This is believed to have been an oratorio, or chapel, used by the family of the halach uinik who lived in Las Manitas. It consist of a large outer room with a small inner sanctum containing an altar. (Wikipedia)

San Gervasio is believed to have been influential in the coastal ocean trade during the Mayan period. Although it does not contain the grand constructions of many mainland Mayan sites, its site on a relatively flat island covered with scrub forest means it did not have to soar over jungle canopy to look impressive to the subjects who supported it.

REFERENCES:

Hajovsky, Ric

2014    The Yellow Guide to The Mayan Ruins of San Gervasio, CZM,S. de R. L. de C. B., Cozumel, Q. Roo, Mexico

Wikipedia

CANTIL DE LAS ANIMAS, TEPIC, MEXICO:

Cantil de las Animas, Photo - Mauricio Garduño, INAH.

A petroglyph panel discovered in Nayarit in western Mexico, was recently reported by ArtDaily.com.  Archaeologist Mauricio Garduño, of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) described the petroglyphs as representing themes of “fertility-fecundity: rain clouds, sectioned snail shells, and feminine vulvae; in the western half, we found cranium profiles whose front point to the east, precisely towards the sunrise.” Garduño (stated) some of the panels may have played an astronomical role in the Aztlan annual ritual cycle.”(ArtDaily.com)

The panel has been assigned dates of between 850 and 1350 AD. Named the Cantil de las Animas (Ledge of the Souls) it is located near the town of Jesus Maria Cortes in Tepic, Nayarit, and measures approximately 4 meters long by 2 meters high.  Garduño stated that the petroglyph iconography “is linked to the pictorial tradition of the ancient Aztlan culture” 850-900 AD to 1350 AD which was located primarily in the lower coastal regions of northern Nayarit and southern Sinaloa. Reportedly very little archaeological investigation has taken place in this region so we may hope for news of more such exciting reports in the future. Thanks to ArtDaily.com for their role in making this information available to us and for fuller information check their site below.

REFERENCE:

http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=60333#.USL2EqU4scp