Animal Figures in the Maya Codices | Page 2

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15. Pottery whistle from Uloa Valley, Honduras (Peabody Museum
Memoirs, I, No. 4, fig. 14), representing an ape 366
16. } 17. } 18. } Glyphs for Maya day Chuen 367 19. }
20. } 21. } 22. } Glyphs of God C. (Schellhas, Peabody Museum
Papers, IV, 368 23. } No. 1) 24. }

INTRODUCTION.
The various peoples inhabiting Mexico and Central America in early
pre-Columbian times were accustomed to record various events,
especially in regard to their calendar and the religious ceremonials in
relation to it, on long strips of skin or bark. These were usually painted
on both sides and folded together like a screen. Several of these codices
are still in existence from the Nahua and Zapotec areas in Mexico, but
only three have come down to us from the Maya region which is
included in the peninsula of Yucatan, the states of Tabasco and Chiapas
in Mexico, and portions of Guatemala and Honduras. These three
manuscripts are the Dresden Codex in the Royal Public Library at
Dresden, the Tro-Cortesianus (formerly considered to have been two,
the Troano and the Cortesianus) in the National Archaeological
Museum at Madrid, and the Peresianus in the National Library at Paris.
These pre-Columbian manuscripts have all been published in facsimile.
(See bibliography.)
These remains of a once extensive literature show evidence not only of
considerable intellectual attainments on the part of their authors but
also of a high degree of artistic skill in the drawings and hieroglyphics.
The frequent occurrence in these manuscripts of representations of
animals showing various degrees of elaboration and
conventionalization has led us to undertake the task of identifying these
figures as far as possible and studying the uses and significance of the
several species, a field practically untouched.[284-*] Förstemann in his
various commentaries on the Maya codices (1902, 1903, 1906), Brinton
(1895), and deRosny[TN-3] (1876) have only commented briefly upon
this side of the study of the manuscripts. Seler (1904a) and some others
have written short papers on special animals. During the preparation of
this paper there has appeared a brief account by Stempell (1908) of the
animals in the Maya codices. The author has, however, omitted a
number of species and, as we believe, misidentified others. In making
our identifications we have given the reasons for our determinations in
some detail and have stated the characteristics employed to denote the
several species.

We have not limited ourselves entirely to the Maya manuscripts as we
have drawn upon the vast amount of material available in the stone
carvings, the stucco figures, and the frescoes found throughout the
Maya area. This material has by no means been exhausted in the
present paper. In addition to the figures from the Maya codices and a
comparatively few from other sources in the Maya region, we have
introduced for comparison in a number of cases figures from a few of
the ancient manuscripts of the Nahuas and the Zapotecs to the north.
The calendar of these two peoples is fundamentally the same as that of
the Mayas. The year is made up in the same way being composed of
eighteen months of twenty days each with five days additional at the
end of the year. There is therefore a more or less close connection as
regards subject matter in all the pre-Columbian codices of Mexico and
Central America but the manner of presentation differs among the
different peoples of this region.
FOOTNOTES:
[284-*] The first two parts of Dr. Seler's Treatise, "Die Tierbilder der
mexikanischen und der Maya-Handschriften" published in the
Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Vol. 41, have appeared during the time when
this paper was passing through the press. The most excellent and
exhaustive treatment by Dr. Seler would seem to render the present
paper unnecessary. It has seemed best, however, to continue with its
publication inasmuch as its field is narrower and more space is devoted
to the Maya side of the question to the exclusion of the Mexican. Dr.
Seler, on the other hand, while by no means neglecting the Maya, has
spent more time in explaining the Mexican figures.

I
SYNOPTIC CONSIDERATION OF THE MEANING AND
OCCURRENCE OF ANIMAL FORMS
Before taking up the different animals in the codices it may be well to
consider some of the more common ways in which the figures occur

and their connection with the surrounding figures.
MANNER OF REPRESENTATION. The entire body of the animal
may be represented realistically or the head alone may be shown. The
animal head is frequently attached to a human body. The animal may
appear conventionalized to a greater or less extent and the head in turn
may change in the same way until only a single characteristic of the
animal remains by which to identify it as, for example, the spots of the
jaguar