Re-Creating Primordial Time

Foundation Rituals and Mythology in the Postclassic Maya Codices

Gabrielle Vail, Christine Hernández

• Publisher: University Press of Colorado
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781607322207
• eBook ISBN: 9781607322214
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

Re-Creating Primordial Time offers a new perspective on the Maya codices, documenting the extensive use of creation mythology and foundational rituals in the hieroglyphic texts and iconography of these important manuscripts. Focusing on both pre-Columbian codices and early colonial creation accounts, Vail and Hernández show that in spite of significant cultural change during the Postclassic and Colonial periods, the mythological traditions reveal significant continuity, beginning as far back as the Classic period. 

Remarkable similarities exist within the Maya tradition, even as new mythologies were introduced through contact with the Gulf Coast region and highland central Mexico. Vail and Hernández analyze the extant Maya codices within the context of later literary sources such as the Books of Chilam Balam, the Popol Vuh, and the Códice Chimalpopoca to present numerous examples highlighting the relationship among creation mythology, rituals, and lore. Compiling and comparing Maya creation mythology with that of the Borgia codices from highland central Mexico, Re-Creating Primordial Time is a significant contribution to the field of Mesoamerican studies and will be of interest to scholars of archaeology, linguistics, epigraphy, and comparative religions alike.

 

1

Introduction to the Maya Codices

Studies of prehispanic Maya culture focus primarily on sites in the Classic period heartland—places such as Tikal, Calakmul, Copán, Palenque, and Yaxchilán, which reached their apogee during the sixth through ninth centuries. The northern Maya lowlands are less well known, with the exception of sites such as Chichén Itzá and those in the Puuc region. The time period after the depopulation of the great Maya cities, whether located in the northern or southern regions, has only recently been the focus of extensive research projects. This “Postclassic” period is a time of significant change in virtually all aspects of society. As our study shows, however, this time period is characterized by a continuation of mythological traditions from the Classic period, along with the introduction of new mythologies as a result of extensive cultural contact between populations in the northern Maya lowlands, the Gulf Coast region, and highland central and southern Mexico.

The Maya codices provide the primary source of textual and iconographic information for studies of Postclassic Maya culture. Where and when the three manuscripts now residing in European collections were painted remains a source of conjecture, although few codical scholars would dispute a general provenience in the northern lowlands.¹ Moreover, given the fragile nature of the material of which they are made, it seems likely that they were painted within a couple of generations of initial contact with Europeans in 1519. This is not to say, however, that the underlying content of the codices dates to this time period. Rather, as the work of recent scholars has demonstrated, many of the codical almanacs and tables reference astronomical and meteorological events dating from the Classic period, with the earliest dates corresponding to the fifth century (H. Bricker and V. Bricker 2011:359; V. Bricker and H. Bricker 1992; Vail and Hernández 2011). Some of these texts appear to have been intended solely as records of past events, whereas others were used for predictions in later centuries. Still other texts were newly made by the Postclassic scribes who drafted the extant versions of the manuscripts known as the Dresden, Madrid, and Paris codices (V. Bricker and H. Bricker 1992).

DOI: 10.5876/9781607322214.c01

Many of the almanacs in the Maya codices lack dates that would associate them with absolute time. Rather, they record rituals and prognostications that were related to various cycles occurring in nature, including periods of 260 days, 584 days, and 52 years. Historical dates in the Maya codices relate specifically to celestial events such as eclipses or the appearance of deities that embody different planetary cycles. History in the sense that we think of it, as events in the lives of individuals, is not recorded in these texts. In its place, mythical events in the lives of deities are given considerable weight and are viewed in terms of their relationship ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction to the Maya Codices
• 2 Mexican Codices and Mythological Traditions
• 3 Mythological Episodes Related in Maya Sources
• 4 World Renewal in the Dresden Codex: The Yearbearer Ceremonies
• 5 Flood Episodes and Crocodilians in the Maya Codices
• 6 Creation Mythology in Reference to Chaak, Chak Chel, and Mars in the Maya Codices
• 7 Creation Mythology in the Dresden Venus Table and Related Almanacs
• 8 Madrid Yearbearer Celebrations and Creation Mythology
• 9 World Renewal Ceremonies in the Madrid Codex
• 10 A Reconsideration of Maya Deities Associated with Creation
• 11 Cosmology in the Maya Codices
• References Cited
• Index