Triadan (2007) examined Maya figurines recovered from the Aguateca site in Guatemala and analyzed their potential roles in ancient Maya society. The majority of the figurines were some sort of sound making instrument, and were found in most of the households that were excavated. The musical figurines were found in relative abundance in middens, which suggests that the figurines were common and served a utilitarian purpose (Triadan 2007). The figurines discovered in households were usually found in rooms associated with women and were typically found near other musical instruments (Triadan 2007). Some figurines can be found in burials, but are less common and are more frequently found in subadult and female burials rather than male burials (Halperin 2014). Subadult burials tended to have more zoomorphic figurines (Halperin 2014). The higher prevalence of figurines in what are assumed to be women and child living areas coincides with the higher prevalence of figurines found in subadult and female burial contexts. This corroborating evidence strengthens the theory that figurines were associated with child and woman social roles in ancient Maya culture.
The musical figurines typically portrayed humans, animals, and grotesque/god images (Figure 1) (Triadan 2007). The number of figurines portraying males doubled those portraying women, and the figurines did not portray individuals performing domestic tasks (Triadan 2007). The individuals portrayed in the figurines had what are assumed typically important roles such as warriors, ball players, and high-status women (Triadan 2007). Triadan (2007) implies that the figurines were most likely made by women and may have been used a teaching tools for children or musical ensembles. The figurine faces on musical figurines are exclusively directed away from the mouthpiece which suggests that the figurines were used to perform for an audience (Triadan 2007). The large abundance of figurine whistles that would only output one note suggests that the figurines may have been played together in an ensemble, possibly as a representation of a story with the figurines assigned roles as different characters with different voices (Triadan 2007). The large abundance of warriors suggests that warfare played a principal role in Maya society, or that warfare was on the mind of the people at Aguateca (Triadan 2007). The latter is most likely as the site appeared to be hastily evacuated and high-status areas were burned (Triadan 2007).
Figure 1. Examples of supernatural and grotesque figurines from (Triadan 2007).
Winemiller et al. (2018) used three-dimensional laser scanning techniques to compare possibly related figurines and molds.The study found figurines that were possibly created from the same mold in different distant areas (Figure 2) (Winemiller et al. 2018).This finding suggests that there was possibly a long-distance trade system in ancient Maya society (Winemiller et al. 2018).Results from this study showed that three-dimensional scanning techniques can quantify the ability to assess relatedness between morphologically similar figurines (Winemiller et al. 2018).Assessing relatedness between figurines quantitatively is useful in understanding the production of the figurines and those who produced them (Winemiller et al. 2018).Understanding the production of the figurines is important because studies on ancient Maya figurines have transitioned away from classification to more important topics such as production and consumption of these artifacts (Winemiller et al. 2018).Understanding the production and consumption of figurines can lead to further insights into ancient Maya culture (Winemiller et al. 2018).
Figure 2. Figurine head found to match corresponding mold (Winemiller et al. 2018).
Halperin, Christina T.
2014 Maya Figurines: Intersections between State and Household. University of Texas Press.
Triadan, Daniela
2007 Warriors, Nobles, Commoners and Beasts: Figurines from Elite Buildings at Aguateca, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 18(3):269–293. DOI:10.2307/25478181.
Winemiller, T. L., V. Ochoa-Winemiller, and J. Ludwig
2018 Assessing Surface Correspondence and Trade of Maya Figurines and Moulds Using Multi-Stripe Laser Technology and Metrology*: Surface correspondence and trade of Maya figurines and moulds. Archaeometry 60(5):1002–1017. DOI:10.1111/arcm.12376.
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