Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
At the end of the nineteenth century, Eduard Seler identified the bats depicted on a ceramic vessel excavated by Erwin
Dieseldorff at the site of Chama, Guatemala, as the camazotz, or death bat, from the K’iche’ Maya myth, the Popol Vuh.
The attribution was never critically reviewed. Nevertheless, it became so deeply entrenched that virtually every image of a
Maya bat is identified as a camazotz. We have located no ancient depictions of the Hero Twins in the chamber of the
camazotz, which calls into question the salience of this scene for the ancient Maya. In iconography and ethnohistory,
multiple figures with bat-like characteristics exist, both bats and anthropomorphic bat-men. Clearly, the situation is complex.
We argue that bats appear principally in four roles. The first is as an emblematic symbol representing some group. The bat
played a second role as a messenger, often paired on vessels with a bird. A third category relates to pollination, vegetation,
and fertility, and here the bat may be paired with the hummingbird. The last and largest category is wahy beings, which
most epigraphers now think were bestial forms of personified diseases. Included here are the many vessels depicting the
fire-breathing bat, including Dieseldorff ’s Chama vessel. We argue that the identification with the camazotz should be
dropped altogether and that the associations proposed by Seler need to be rethought.
A finales del siglo diecinueve, Eduard Seler identificó a los murciélagos en la vasija de Chama de Dieseldorff como el camazotz
del Popol Vuh. Esta atribución nunca fue críticamente revisada, sin embargo, llegó a arraigarse tan profundamente que vir-
tualmente cada imagen de un murciélago Maya es identificada como un camazotz. No hemos encontrado ninguna representación
de los héroes gemelos en la cámara del camazotz, lo que pone en duda la relevancia de esta escena de los antiguos Mayas.
En la iconografía y la etnohistoria, existen múltiples figuras con características de murciélago, tanto murciélagos como mur-
ciélago/hombres antropomórficos. Claramente, la situación es compleja. Argumentamos que los murciélagos aparecen prin-
cipalmente en cuatro roles. El primero es como símbolo emblemático que representa algún grupo. El murciélago jugó un
segundo papel como mensajero, a menudo emparejado en las vasijas con un pájaro. Una tercera categoría se refiere a la poli-
nización, la vegetación y la fertilidad donde el murciélago puede estar emparejado con el colibrí. Por último, la más grande
de las categorías es como seres wahy. Esto incluye la gran cantidad de vasijas que representan al murciélago que respira
fuego, así como la vasija de Chama de Dieseldorff. Nosotros argumentamos que la identificación con el camazotz debería
abandonarse por completo y las asociaciones propuestas por Seler necesitan ser repensadas.
Next they were put inside Bat House, which merely a way to manifest themselves when it
had only bats inside. It was a house of death occurred.
bats. These were great beasts with snouts like Thus they pleaded for wisdom all that night
blades that they used as murderous weapons. as the bats made a din with their flapping
When they arrived there, they were to be fin- wings.
ished off. They had to crawl inside their blow- “Keeleetz! Keeleetz!” they said all night
guns to sleep so that they would not be eaten long.
there in this house. At length things quieted a little, and the
Nevertheless, it was because of a single bats became motionless.
death bat that they gave themselves up in Thus one of the boys crawled to the end of
defeat. It came swooping down. But this was his blowgun. Xbalanque said, “Hunahpu, do
James E. Brady 䡲 Department of Anthropology, California State University, Los Angeles, CA 90032
(jbrady@calstatela.edu)
Jeremy D. Coltman 䡲 Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521
227
228 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 27, No. 2, 2016
Figure 1. Image of the bat on Diesseldorff’s Chama vessel that Seler originally identified as a camazotz (Seler 1904).
you see the dawn yet?” Maya image of a bat is identified as a camazotz
“I will go and see for certain if [it] has hap- (Coe 1982:24; Fash and Fash 1994; Reents-Budet
pened,” he replied. 1994:237, 278).
Hunahpu truly wanted to look out of the As we have worked on the role of the bat in
mouth of his blowgun to see the dawn. But Classic Maya ideology, we have become increas-
T
when he did so, his head was cut off by the ingly uneasy with the identification of all bats as
death bat, leaving the greater part of his body representing a camazotz. Another bat-like figure
behind. is also mentioned in the Popol Vuh. The messen-
Popol Vuh (Christenson 2007:172) ger from Xibalba is described as having bat-like
wings but is not called a camazotz (Recinos et
here is a long history of using the Popol al. 1950:177–178). Winged figures are depicted
Vuh, a mytho-historical origin narrative of in Mesoamerican art, such as on the Olmec jade
the Postclassic K’iche’ Maya kingdom, as figure in the Brooklyn Museum (Benson and de
a guide for interpreting Mesoamerican iconogra- la Fuente 1996:246). On a polychrome bowl in
phy. At the turn of the twentieth century, Eduard the Museo Popol Vuh in Guatemala, a figure
Seler (1904) identified the bat represented on a holds a cape spread out as if it were bat wings
Late Classic ceramic vessel excavated by Erwin (Reents-Budet 1994:355). (This figure is dis-
Dieseldorff (1904) at Chama, Alta Verapaz, cussed in greater detail in our section on wahy
Guatemala, in the Q’eqchi’ Maya area, as the ca- beings.) Our point here is simple: multiple figures
mazotz or “death bat” deity from the Popol Vuh with bat-like characteristics exist in Maya iconog-
(Figure 1). Recinos et al. (1950) used a drawing raphy and ethnohistorical documents. They are
of the bat from the Dieseldorff vase to illustrate both bats and anthropomorphic bat-men. Clearly
their translation of the Popol Vuh, further the situation is complex, but conflating them un-
strengthening the association between the archae- der a single heading, camazotz, simply obscures
ological images and the K’ichean myth. The that complexity. Furthermore, we ask how the
quoted passage provides little support for making identification of bat images as camazotz advances
such an identification. Nevertheless, it has be- our understanding in cases where they are not
come so widely accepted that virtually every related to the Popol Vuh.
We had hoped to disentangle the various rep- Blood, Decapitation, and Sacrifice:
Brady and Coltman] BATS AND THE CAMAZOTZ 229
(2006:232) comment about birds as messengers depicts a hummingbird attached to the head of a
and also because a similar bird is paired with a bat bat god as if it were sucking nectar. In nature,
on K1080 and K2716, suggesting that the animals both creatures can be seen at dusk sucking nectar
are acting as messengers. Romero (2013:142) ex- from the same night-flowering plant species. We
plicitly recognizes the role of the bat as a messen- suspect that this may have led to the bat being
ger from the gods to scribes. The relationship be- seen as the nocturnal counterpart of the hum-
tween a scribe and a bat is represented in several mingbird. Among the tree species that are polli-
scenes in Classic Maya iconography. One poly- nated by bats is the cosmologically important
chrome vessel (K3639) depicts an anthropomor- ceiba tree (Blaffer 1972:65).
phic bat addressing an artist seated on a throne The discussion of bats in association with
while carving a mask. The wings of this bat recall flowers, nectar, and hummingbirds has profound
the cape of Ahkan on the Museo Popol Vuh bowl implications for the analysis of the meaning of
(this image is discussed further in the section on bats in precolumbian Maya society because many
wahy beings). Another scene on a polychrome ves- scholars argue that the species portrayed is the
sel (K4550) depicts an anthropomorphic bat, this vampire bat (Benson 1988:104; Dieseldorff 1904;
time without a cape, conferring with a scribal artist Muñoz 2006:18; Thompson 1962:348, 1966:177,
who holds a paint pot and brush. On the opposite 180).5 If these are not vampire bats, then the log-
side of the vessel, a hummingbird shares a flower ical association with blood evaporates and un-
and communicates with another individual. The dercuts the association with decapitation and sac-
pairing illustrates the relationship we suggest be- rifice. We note that vampire bats today tend to
tween birds and bats as messengers. The pairing feed on livestock, which were not present in pre-
of the bat with a hummingbird is discussed in columbian times. It is likely that vampire bats
greater depth in the next section. were fewer in number and therefore probably
played a smaller role in ancient society.
Bats and Fertility We also note that bats have a strong sexual
connotation that suggests a relationship with fer-
The associations of bats with Earth and fertility tility (Benson 1988:119; Romero 2013:118). The
are consistent with others that link bats with veg- bat sculptures from Copan show the creatures
etation. Blaffer (1972:64) mentions a passage in with prominently displayed and erect penises
the book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel—”Then (Fash and Fash 1994:63; Romero 2013:119, fig-
descended the four mighty supernatural jars, this ure 47). Some bats on Maya polychrome vessels
was the honey of the flowers”—and notes parallel are also shown with male genitalia (Dieseldorff
passages in the books of Chilam Balam of Tizimin 1904:Plate XLIX; K1080; K1901; K3007;
and Mani: “Then descended two mighty demon K6996). Brady (1988) has pointed out that a char-
bats who sucked the honey of the flowers.” These acteristic of cave-dwelling supernatural beings is
parallel expressions appear to associate bats with their highly sexual nature. Blaffer (1972:68–73)
nectar. Another passage in the Chilam Balam of has noted that there are a number of connections
Tizimin describes Chac Vayab as the bat who between bats and the h?ik’al, whose most note-
also sucks honey from flowers (Blaffer 1972:65). worthy feature is his six-foot-long penis and hy-
In another place, Blaffer (1972), following per-fertility. This relationship appears to be the
Laughlin, equates nectar with blood to return to basis of the Zinacanteco expression that a girl
the traditional association of bats with blood and who loses her virginity has been “ruined by a
sacrifice. Rather than creating a metaphor to tread bat” (Blaffer 1972:120).
that well-worn path, we prefer to focus on the
clear, obvious, and explicit association with nec- Bats as Wahy Beings
tar, pollination, and fertility. Blaffer (1972:130–
131) notes the close relationship between bats Although we have recognized the logical associ-
and hummingbirds, suggesting that the relation- ation of the bat with agricultural fertility, we are
ship with fertility was the message intended by by no means at odds with interpretations of their
more malevolent aspects. Earlier in this study we beings rather than the bat. The skeletal God A is
234 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 27, No. 2, 2016
suggested that the principal bat character for the often shown with a decapitated human head in
Late Classic Maya was not a camazotz, but a bat hand (K1256, K1490, K8803, K8936, and
that emits fire from its mouth (Grube and Nahm K3924). A probable manifestation of this deity
1994). Although we have rejected the camazotz known as “Turtle Foot Death” appears on the so-
label for the bat during the Classic period, we called Frieze of the Dream Lords at Toniná, with
recognize that the bat constituted part of the broad a decapitated head in hand (Martin and Grube
category of the poorly understood wahy beings 2000:185). Various depictions of Classic-period
that frequently appear on Late Classic Maya ves- skull racks exist in art, including the Frieze of the
sels (Houston and Stuart 1989). Dream Lords (K3924; K3038; Houston et al.
In one example, a wahy bat holds a plate of 2006:Figure 6.18b). An actual skull rack more
severed hands, feet, and other body parts consti- than likely existed at Toniná with the back of the
tuting the probable sustenance of the broader cat- rack depicting the dreaded wahy in modeled stucco
egory of Maya wahy beings (K1080). Holding (Houston et al. 2006:221). The bat is absent from
plates of human offal is not a task reserved just these examples. Even if one were to exist, it would
for bats. Other wahy beings shown holding similar only further demonstrate that the bat was part of
plates containing any combination of human a much broader complex of maleficent creatures.
hands, eyeballs, and femurs include the toad, Originally considered to be companion spirits
monkey, canine, jaguar, rodent, and turkey (see or “co-essences,” these strange bestial creatures
K1181, K1231, K1376, K1259, K4116, K1380, are now thought to be more representative of sor-
K1442, K2010, K3242, and K8733). If the bat cery and personified illnesses (Houston et al.
were the camazotz of the Classic period, one 2006; Stuart 2005). Some ethnographic accounts
would certainly expect to find a more isolated regarding the bat seem to confirm this. In Yucatan,
role for him, particularly one that expressed the illness may be caused by bats (Ankli et al.
act of decapitation. 1999:148). Thompson (1962:348) notes that the
As far as we are aware, no Classic-period text bat “is regarded as a sorcerer and is associated
mentions the bat as decapitator or equates it with with sorcery” in the Maya area. In San Miguel
any narrative that parallels the Popol Vuh. The Acatán, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, this is as-
closest relationship we have been able to find be- cribed to the bat’s ability to suck the blood of
tween bats and decapitation is with the wahy be- victims without being felt (Siegel 1941:71). The
ing known as Ahkan, mentioned earlier in regard association appears to be widespread (Alcorn
to his image on the Museo Popol Vuh bowl, 1984:181; Villa 1966:3) and ancient (Coe and
where he is depicted spreading his cape with the Whittaker 1982:64) in Mesoamerica.
crossbones and disembodied eyeballs, as if it Perhaps growing out of this, most references
were bat wings (Reents-Budet 1994:355). In the to bats in ethnographic sources have a generally
next image on the same vessel, Ahkan appears, negative connotation, connecting bats with death,
without his cape, in the act of self-decapitation destruction, and evil. Among the K’iche’ of
(Grube 2004; Romero 2013:59; Stone and Zender Nahualá, a bat entering one’s house foreshadows
2011). Any attempt to use these scenes to link misfortune (Ishcol et al. 1970:49). The Tzotzil
bats with decapitation would be tenuous indeed. consider bats to be “scavenger robbers associated
At best, both Ahkan and bats were part of the with blood” (Blaffer 1972:68). They are consid-
same general category of wahy beings that were ered abnormal because they are nocturnal, live
identified with a similar symbol set that included in caves, sleep upside down, and consume blood
crossbones, eyeballs, and on occasion, skeletal (Blaffer 1972:69). The Kanjobal fear bats and
mandibles.6 Rather than death and sacrifice, this perform ceremonies so that livestock that has
complex, in our opinion, is more indicative of been bitten will not die (Grollig 1959:185–185).
themes related to caves, sorcery, darkness, and Among the Huastec, bats flying from a cave when
the general category of Maya wahy beings. a curer and patient approach may be taken as an
Although decapitation does certainly occur in omen that the patient is guilty of some transgres-
Classic Maya art, it is at the hands of other wahy sion (Alcorn 1984:237).
Discussion and Conclusion scribes in this context. A third category relates to
Brady and Coltman] BATS AND THE CAMAZOTZ 235
Consensus as a Quantitative Criterion. Economic Botany Robertson and Virginia Field, pp. 61–68. Pre-Columbian
53:144–160. Art Research Institute, San Francisco.
Barthel, Thomas S. Grollig, Frances Xavier
1968 Demonio Murciélago Mesoamérica. In Traducciones 1959 San Miguel Acatán, Huehuetenango, Guatemala: A
Mesoanericanistas, Tomo II. Socieded Mexicana de Modern Maya Village. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of
Antropología, Nexico. Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Benson, Elizabeth P. Grube, Nikolai
1988 The Maya and the Bat. Latin American Indian Liter- 2004 Akan: The God of Drinking, Disease, and Death. In
atures Journal 4:99–124. Continuity and Change: Maya Religious Practices in
Benson, Elizabeth P., and Beatriz de la Fuente Temporal Perspective, 5th European Maya Conference,
1996 Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico. National Gallery of University of Bonn, December 2000, edited by Daniel
Art, Washington, D.C. Graña-Behrens, Nikolai Grube, Christian M. Prager,
Blaffer, Sarah C. Frauke Sachse, Stefanie Teufel, and Elisabeth Wagner,
1972 The Black-Man of Zinacantan: A Central American pp. 59–76. Acta Mesoamericana 14, Verlag Anton Saurwein,
Legend. University of Texas Press, Austin. Markt Schwaben.
Boone, Elizabeth Hill Grube, Nikolai, and Werner Nahm
1983 The Codex Magliabechiano and the Lost Prototype 1994 A Census of Xibalba: A Complete Inventory of Way
of the Magliabechiano Group. University of California Characters on Maya Ceramics. In The Maya Vase Book,
Press, Berkeley. Vol. 4, edited by Justin Kerr, pp. 686–715. Kerr Associates,
2007 Cycles of Time and Meaning in the Mexican Books New York.
of Fate. University of Texas Press, Austin. Guiteras Holmes, C.
Brady, James E. 1947 Clanes y sistema de parentesco de Cancún (México).
1988 The Sexual Connotation of Caves in Mesoamerican Acta Americana 5:1–17.
Ideology. Mexicon 10:51–55. Hays-Gilpin, Kelley, and Jane H. Hill
Brady, James E., and Keith M. Prufer 1999 The Flower World in Material Culture: An Iconographic
2005 Maya Cave Archaeology: A New Look at Religion Complex in the Southwest and Mesoamerica. Journal of
and Cosmology. In Stone Houses and Earth Lords: Maya Anthropological Research 55:1–37.
Religion in the Cave Context, edited by Keith M. Prufer Heyden, Doris
and James E. Brady, pp. 365–379. University Press of 1975 An Interpretation of the Cave Underneath the Pyramid
Colorado, Boulder. of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico. American Antiquity
Brady, James E., Allan Cobb, Linda Palit, Donald Arburn, 40:131–147.
Sergio Garza, Christian Christiansen, Arturo Perez, Ann Houston, Stephen D.
M. Scott, and Arnulfo Delgado 2001 Comment on The Power and Ideology of Artistic
2009 Quen Santo Revisited: Updating Eduard Seler’s 19th Creation: Elite Craft Specialists in Classic Maya Society
Century Cave Studies. In Exploring Highland Maya by Takeshi Inomata. Current Anthropology 42:336–337.
Ritual Cave Use: Archaeology & Ethnography in Hue- Houston, Stephen D., and David Stuart
huetenango, Guatemala, edited by James E. Brady, pp. 1989 The Way Glyph: Evidence for Co-Essences among
9–25. Association for Mexican Cave Studies, Austin. the Classic Maya. Research Reports in Ancient Maya
Calnek, Edward E. Writing 30, Washington, D.C.
1988 Highland Chiapas before the Spanish Conquest. Houston, Stephen D., David Stuart, and Karl Taube
Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, 2006 The Memory of Bones: Body, Being, and Experience
No. 55. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. among the Classic Maya. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Christenson, Allen J. Ishcol, B., L. Richardo, Rosalío Saquic Calel, and Daniel
2007 Popol Vuh: Sacred Book of the Maya. University of Aragón Cabrera
Oklahoma Press, Norman. 1970 Monografía del Municipio de Nahualá, Departamento
Coe, Michael D. de Sololá. Guatemala Indígena 5(2):8–49.
1978 Lords of the Underworld: Masterpieces of Classic La Farge, Oliver
Maya Ceramics. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1947 Santa Eulalia: The Religion of a Cuchumatán Indian
New Jersey. Town. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
1982 Old Gods and Young Heroes: The Perlman Collection Martin, Simon, and Nikolai Grube
of Maya Ceramics. American Friends of the Israel 2000 Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering
Museum, New York. the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. Thames and Hudson,
Coe, Michael D., and Gordon Whittaker London.
1982 Aztec Sorcerers in Seventeenth Century Mexico: The Miller, Virginia E.
Treatise on Superstitions of Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón. 1991 The Frieze of the Palace of the Stuccoes, Acanceh,
Institute for Mesoamerican Studies Publication 7. State Yucatan, Mexico. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Ar-
University of New York at Albany, Albany. chaeology, No. 31, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.
Dieseldorff, Erwin P. Miller, Walter S., and Alfonso Villa Rojas
1904 A Clay Vessel with a Picture of a Vampire-Headed 1956 Cuentos Mixes. Instituto Nacional Indigenista, Pub.
Deity. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 28:665– 2, Mexico.
666. Washington, D.C. Muñoz Espinosa, María Teresa
Edmonson, Munro S. 2006 El culto al dios Murciélago en Mesoamérica. Arque-
1982 The Ancient Future of the Itza: The Book of Chilam ología Mexicana 14 (80): 17–23.
Balam of Tizimin. University of Texas Press, Austin. Nash, June
Fash, Barbara W., and William L. Fash 1970 In the Eyes of the Ancestors: Belief and Behavior in
1994 Copán Temple 20 and the House of Bats. In Seventh a Maya Community. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Palenque Round Table, 1989, edited by Merle Greene Nicholson, Henry B.
Brady and Coltman] BATS AND THE CAMAZOTZ 237
2006 The Stones of the Death Monsters. In Arqueología e Economía y la Salubridad, su Clasificación Sistemática.
Historia del Centro de México: Homenaje a Eduardo Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma
Matos Moctezuma, edited by Leonardo López Lujan, de México, Mexico.
David Carrasco, and Lourdes Cue, pp. 369–388. Instituto Vogt, Evon Z., and David Stuart
Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico. 2005 Some Notes on Ritual Caves among the Ancient and
Orellana, Sandra L. Modern Maya. In In the Maw of the Earth Monster:
1981 Idols and Idolatry in Highland Guatemala. Ethnohistory Mesoamerican Ritual Cave Use, edited by James E.
28(2):157–177. Brady and Keith Prufer, pp. 155–185. University of Texas
Patel, Shankari Press, Austin.
2005 Caves and Pilgrimage on Cozumel. In Stone Houses Zender, Marc
and Earth Lords: Maya Religion in the Cave Context, 2005 Teasing the Turtle from its Shell: AHK and MAHK
edited by Keith M. Prufer and James E. Brady, pp. 149– in Maya Writing. The PARI Journal 6(3):1–14.
166. University Press of Colorado, Boulder. Zingg, Robert M.
Recinos, Adrian 1938 The Huichols. University of Denver Contributions
1980 Memorial de Solola: Anales de los Cakchiqueles y to Anthropology 1:1–826.
título de los señores de Totonicapán. Editorial Piedra
Santa, Guatemala.
Recinos, Adrian, and Delia Goetz Notes
1953 The Annals of the Cakchiquels and Title of the Lords
of Totonicapan. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. 1. Reents-Budet (1994:278) claims that a scene on a poly-
Recinos, Adrian, Delia Goetz, and Sylvanus G. Morley chrome vessel represents a camazotz and the Hero Twins. On
1950 Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Quiche Maya. close examination, however, there is no basis for identifying
University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. the figures around the rim of the bowl as Junahpu and Xbal-
Reents-Budet, Dorie
anque. This underscores the problem we are addressing. The
1994 Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the
Classic Period. Duke University Press, Durham. identification of bats with camazotz has become so entrenched
Romero Sandoval, Roberto that it colors interpretation even in the face of disconfirming
2013 Zotz: El murciélago en la cultura Maya. Centro de evidence.
Estudios Mayas, Cuaderno 39, Universidad Autónoma 2. All numbers preceded by a “K” refer to images in the
de México, Mexico. Maya Vase Database, an archive of rollout photographs created
Seler, Eduard by Justin Kerr at www.mayavase.com. The vessels in that
1904 The Bat God of the Maya Race. Bureau of American database that are referred to in this article lack provenience
Ethnology, Bulletin 28:231–241. Washington, D.C. and are held by private collectors. In order to conform to the
Siegel, Morris
ethics of the Society for American Archaeology, we are not
1941 Religion in Western Guatemala: A Product of Accul-
turation. American Anthropologist 43:62–76. including images of these vases in our article. We also have
Smith, Mary Elizabeth opted not to include two images of unprovenienced vessels
1973 Picture Writing from Ancient Southern Mexico. Uni- held by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museo
versity of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Popol Vuh. Interested scholars can find photos of this pottery
Stone, Andrea at Kerr’s website and by request from us.
2005 Scribes and Caves in the Maya Lowlands. In Stone 3. See K3102, 5036, 7026, Palmer Collection at the Uni-
Houses and Earth Lords: Maya Religion in the Cave versity of Maine (HM1184), Romero (2013:143, Figure 55)
Context, edited by Keith M. Prufer and James E. Brady, and the Museo Popol Vuh.
pp. 135–147. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
4. Where Earth appears capitalized and in italics, it refers
Stone, Andrea, and Marc Zender
2011 Reading Maya Art. Thames and Hudson, London. to the indigenous belief in the earth as a sacred, animate, and
Stuart, David sentient being (see Brady and Prufer 2005 for a discussion of
2005 The Way Beings. In Sourcebook for the 29th Maya this). The Spanish term mundo (as in the next sentence) often
Hieroglyphic Forum, edited by David Stuart, pp. 160– refers to the same concept.
165. University of Texas, Austin. 5. Because of Mesoamerican influence in the American
Taube, Karl Southwest, it is noteworthy that bats are depicted, not with
2010 At Dawn’s Edge: Tulum, Santa Rita and Floral Sym- disembodied eyeballs, but with flowers on their wings (Hays-
bolism in the International Style of Late Postclassic Gilpin and Hill 1999:Figure 2a).
Mesoamerica. In Astronomers, Scribes, and Priests: In-
6. The hieroglyph for darkness or night, Ak’ab, frequently
tellectual Interchange between the Northern Maya Lowlands
and Highland Mexico in the Late Postclassic Period, appears as part of the general diagnostic criteria of bats and
edited by Gabrielle Vail and Christine Hernandez, pp. Ahkan. Vessels bearing this sign are also held by these deities
145–91. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. as well as by the preeminent rain deity, Chahk (Stone and
Thompson, J. Eric S. Zender 2011:145).
1962 A Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs. University of Okla-
homa Press, Norman.
1966 Maya Hieroglyphs of the Bat as Metaphorgrams.
Man, New Series 1(2):176–184.
Villa Ramírez, Bernardo Submitted October 21, 2014; Revised June 25, 2015;
1966 Los Murciélagos de México: Su Importancia en la Accepted October 13, 2015.