Abstract This article argues that ancient Maya concave mirrors were used to ignite tobacco cigarettes. Based on previous theoretical and experimental results from our group, which demonstrate the burning power of Mesoamerican concave mirrors, this article focuses on analyzing the possible objects that were used as the target for receiving concentrated solar radiation to ignite fire. We present an iconographic and ethnohistorical analysis that consistently identifies the tobacco cigarette as the best candidate, showing a significant correlation between cigarettes and mirrors. In this sense, the tobacco cigar is viewed as a pyrotechnological artifact devised as an efficient receptor of the concentrated solar radiation by concave mirrors in order to ignite fire. Experiments conducted with analog models of the archaeological mirrors physically confirm the plausibility of our proposal, reaffirming the consistency between the iconographic, ethnohistorical, and thermodynamic information. Thus, the cigarette/mirror pair is proposed as an inseparable instrument for igniting fire, perhaps used as a ritual display of the control that elites exerted over the power of the Sun and psychoactive substances within the cult of the Lord of the Smoking Mirror.
Abstract This article reinterprets the reverse of the Codex Cospi , a Postclassic Central Mexican manuscript. Challenging long-standing views that the iconography in its plates refers to hunting rituals or protective ceremonies against poisonous animals, the article argues that they instead record ritual protocols for the presentation of offerings to divine effigies enshrined in temples. Through a comparison with other codices, archaeological data, and historical sources, the article proposes that the anthropomorphic figures depict temple images of deities, while the surrounding elements encode offerings of blood, aromatic, and coloring substances intended to be deposited before these images in prescribed quantities and sequences. Situating this imagery within Mesoamerican practices of communication with the divine, the article suggests that the reverse of the Codex Cospi functioned as a ritual manual complementing its divinatory obverse. Finally, it considers the possibility that the reverse has been produced in the workshop of a modest, possibly rural community, thereby illuminating the social context of this rare manuscript.
Resumen Proponemos un ajuste a la secuencia cronológica del Laja Alto, establecida originalmente por Braniff (1972). El resultado del ajuste es una cronología que inicia cuatro siglos más tarde que la propuesta inicial. La principal implicación de este ajuste es que muestra la invalidez de las propuestas que han considerado al tipo San Miguel Rojo sobre Bayo del río Laja como un proto Coyotlatelco o proto tolteca, que funcionaría como indicador de migraciones masivas del norte al centro de Mesoamérica. El ajuste a la cronología del Laja Alto y el reciente ajuste a la cronología de la región de Tula (Healan et al. 2021) muestran que el San Miguel Rojo sobre Bayo y el Rojo sobre Bayo Coyotlatelco aparecen de manera sincrónica en ambas regiones y su presencia se debe no a una migración masiva norte–centro sino a otro tipo de interacción social entre regiones donde el factor clave parece ser Teotihuacan. Por otro lado, existe suficiente evidencia empírica para proponer la correlación de la zona arqueológica Cañada de la Virgen con Colhuacan Chicomoztoc , el lugar de origen nahua norteño y santuario de peregrinación multi-étnico referido en las fuentes históricas de diferentes pueblos.
The idea that nobles could embody deities through impersonation was crucial to representations of power among the Classic-period Maya (a.d. 250-900). The final section of the Sabana Piletas Hieroglyphic Stairway (Campeche, Mexico), featuring a tripartite record of deity impersonation, is one of the clearest Late Classic manifestations of this tradition. However, the third impersonation formula has remained difficult to read, hindering its integration into broader discussions. This article offers a new epigraphic analysis, focusing on the three impersonated deities and the prepositional constructions that mark the contexts of impersonation. This article identifies the third deity as a form of Jun Ajaw whose impersonation emphasizes the ballgame, complementing two other impersonations that foreground warfare (the Sun God) and lordship (the Water Serpent). Comparing this passage to parallels on the Cuychen vase (Belize) and the Xultun murals (Guatemala), I argue that such groupings of impersonation formulae serve to conceptually demarcate key aspects of rulership. With its unique triplet of extended impersonation formulae, the Sabana Piletas inscription exemplifies how Late Classic texts could use impersonation to articulate what it meant to be a ruler, notably placing the ballgame in the same ideological register as waging war and governing.
Las antiguas élites mayas jugaban a la pelota. Esta acción y las actividades asociadas se enfatizan para complementar las interpretaciones simbólicas de estudios anteriores. Basándose en la teoría de conjuntos, se discute cómo las interacciones recurrentes y causales institucionalizaron el juego de pelota. Los análisis multiescalares y multidimensionales permiten estudiar las relaciones parasociales, asimétricas y co-constitutivas entre los jugadores, el público y la cancha. En el este de las tierras bajas mayas, se encuentra el centro de Tzikin Tzakan, donde se documentaron dos canchas de juego de pelota. Debajo de la parte de las superficies originales de la cancha oeste, se encontraron varias capas de lascas de pedernal. Su presencia infiere la furia y el dolor que ocurría durante el juego de pelota. Los nobles jugaban sabiendo que sufrirían y hasta podrían fallecer. Se documentó un basurero que probablemente refleja las fiestas asociadas al juego y que apunta al rol del público en crear y gozar un espectáculo. Comparadas con 50 canchas cercanas, las canchas de juego de pelota de Tzikin Tzakan destacan por su orientación, su forma y sus dimensiones. Sus características regionalmente únicas y localmente compartidas ejemplifican el juego de pelota como una totalidad emergente.
