Ceibal in Historical Context: Geo-Politics, Cosmology and the Design of Structure A-3

Ceibal in Historical Context: Geo-Politics, Cosmology and the Design of Structure A-3 David Stuart The University of Texas at Austin Abstract and Images from Paper Presented at the 2016 Maya Meetings, Austin, TX Draft 2016 Ceibal in Historical Context: Geo-Politics, Cosmology and the Design of Structure A-3 David Stuart 2016 The following abstract is for a paper presented on January 16, 2016 at Maya Meetings at the University of Texas at Austin. The images of this presentation are attached. A full written version of this paper currently in preparation. Please cite this presentation as: Stuart, David. 2016. Ceibal in Historical Context: Geo-Politics, Cosmology and the Design of Structure A-3. Paper presented at the 2016 Maya Meetings, Archaeology and History of the Pasión River, January 12-16, 2016. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX. Abstract Structure A-3 at Ceibal (Seibal), Guatemala, is one of the best known examples of Terminal Classic religious architecture from Maya civilization. It was thoroughly excavated during archaeological investigations by Harvard University in the 1960s and its associated inscribed monuments – five stelae in all -- have received a has received a good deal of attention since their discovery over a century ago. In this paper I revisit the monuments associated with Structure A-3, offering new interpretations of their ritual and historical significance. All of the monuments associated with Structure A-3 were dedicated on or around the k’atun ending 10.1.0.0.0 (849 CE), and depict the local king Wat’ul K’atel in different ceremonial identities. Four were placed at ground-level before the four staircases of the radial pyramid, oriented to the four cardinal directions. The texts of each monument cite the same date and protagonist, but, significantly, they each feature ruler(s) from distant kingdoms. I argue that these foreign references are key to understanding the placement of the stelae in relation to the building and the wider geopolitical landscape. Stela 11, facing eastward, bears the date 9.19.18.17.15 6 Men 18 Zip, precisely one solar year before the bak’tun ending (a revision of the date proposed by Morley and more recently by Schele and Mathews). The associated event is the arrival of an individual who may be Wat’ul K’atel himself, under the supervision of a noble from distant Ucanal, located to the east northeast of Ceibal. This is perhaps the first monument of the set surrounding Structure A-3, establishing the arrival of the king shortly before the turn of the bak’tun at 10.0.0.0.0. Stela 10 is north-facing, and mentions three foreign rulers as “witnesses” of Wat’ul K’atel’s k’atun ceremony, perhps a figurative reference rather than a record of direct visitation. The three foreign rulers are those of Mutul (Tikal), Kaanul (Calakmul) and Ik’a’ (The Lake Peten region), located to the north of Ceibal. Stela 9, on the western centerline of the pyramid, mentions another foreign ruler from a court named Lamakmtuun. This can be identified this as a little-known Classic period center on or near the Rio Lacantun, directly to the west of Ceibal. The south-facing monument of the complex, Stela 8, mentions Wat’ul K’atel’s ritual in association with yet another foreign ruler as witness, named by a unique emblem glyph (PUJ?), currently impossible to associate with any known archaeological site or historical dynasty. The place glyph mentioned in connection with this emblem reads ?-HA’, and is attested at several sites associated with Río Pasion, including Cancuen, located to the south of Ceibal. The pattern that emerges shows a correlation between the placement of at least three of the four stelae around Structure A-3 and the geographic/spatial directions of the foreign kingdoms mentioned in their respective texts. This is to say that the Seibal ruler Wat’ul K’atel “faces” those who serve as “witnesses” or co-ritualists, according to the captions on the stela. The design of the A-3 complex thus serves to document ceremonial interaction over a most the central lowlands at a particular moment in history, encompassing numerous kingdoms of the Terminal Classic period and couching them all within a cosmological template. Earlier scholars attempted to discern larger geopolitical hierarchies and arrangements from these references (especially on Stela 10), but the A-3 stelae say nothing directly of political alliance; the relationships mentioned are ceremonial in nature, focused on the “witnessing” of a local k’atun ceremony by distant rulers who may or may not have been politically associated with Ceibal. A fifth monument, Stela 21, was erected in the center of the complex, within the upper room of Structure A-3. Although heavily eroded, inspection of photographs reveals that its text makes reference to the “era formula,” a verbal phrase often repeated in texts describing the creation event of 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku. Important to this phrase is a well-known mythological place name YAX-“Hearth”-NAL, referring to the creation event as taking place at the “new hearth place”(?).” Stela 21 also prominently displays the Ceibal emblem glyph in its final block, depicting the same hearth sign. The juxtaposition of the two references is clearly intentional, linking the Ceibal emblem name to its mythic precursor. Moreover, the central placement of this stela atop the radial pyramid probably also invokes the idea of fire and centrality, emphasizing Structure A-3 as a spatial representation of the place of “creation” and of primordial temporal ceremony. When taken together, these sources reveal how Structure A-3, dedicated at the very end of the Classic era, stands out as an unusual statement of ancient Maya ritualism, cosmology and geopolitics on the cusp of the so-called “collapse.” Its outward-facing design and narrative, encompassing numerous mythic and regal actors and places, may well reflect a particular moment in late Maya history when political and ritual systems were under considerable stress and transformation, and when the ancient rhetoric of ceremony sought increasing support and affirmation from distant kingdoms. Seibal in Historical Context Geo-Politics, Cosmology and the Design of Structure A-3 David Stuart he University of Texas at Austin A Talk Presented at the 2016 Maya Meetings January 16, 2016 An obscure history… Structure A-3 The Excavation of Structure A-3 1998 Seibal, Structure A-3 Stela 11 east-facing 10.1.0.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Kayab (27 November, 849) jo’ ajaw uxte’ k’anasiiy u juuntal winikhaab u kabjiiy wat’ul k’atel 5 Ahau, the third of K’ayab is the first k’atun, the ‘oversight’ of Wat’ul K’atel Stela 11 east-facing The Visitation Date on Stela 11 *9.19.19.17.19 6 Cauac 17 Zip (Morley; Schele and Mathews) 9.19.18.17.15 6 Men 18 Zip (J. Graham; Stuart) 1-HAAB-ta 10.0.0.0.0 7 Ahau 18 Zip Stela 10 north-facing “The four regional capitals in A.D.849, recorded on Stela 10 at Seibal” Joyce Marcus, Emblem and State in the Classic Maya Lowlands (1976) Stela 9 west-facing K’UH-HUL-(LAKAM-TUUN)-AJAW K’uhul Lakamtuun Ajaw Stela 8 south-facing Stela 21 central Ceibal, Structure A-3 The Foreign Actors Where’s Lakamtuun? Seibal, Stela 8 Yaxchilan, Lintel 35 Itzan, Stela 17 Itzan, Stela 17 Photograph by Ian Graham “The guardian of Ik’ Chij, the Lakamtuun Lord.” Plotting the Political References Tikal Calakmul Ik’a’ Lakamtuun Ucanal ? ? Directionality, Rulership, and Radial Platforms Copan Stela A and Structure 10L-4 Stela 21 central Stela 21, detail Photograph by Linda Schele The “Era Expression” of 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku Stela 21 The Seibal Toponym The Three Main Architectural Groups of Seibal The Three Main Architectural Groups of Seibal Evidently Structure C-18 was an offertory location at a major causeway junction, for the surface of the platform was covered with pieces of broken pottery, much of it burned. - A. Ledyard Smith (1982:164) In sum… • The local king arrives at Seibal (at the “hearth’s center”) precisely one year before the 10.1.0.0.0 k’atun ending. Ucanal (K’anwitznal) is a major player in this event. • Structure A-3’s four-part design “looks out” over the surrounding political landscape at contemporary actors and celebrants according to a directional format. • Structure A-3’s central stela references the “first hearth” of 13.0.0.0.0, which is in turn replicated in the emblem glyph of Seibal (and in its civic layout???). • As a calendrical and cosmological model, Structure A-3 replicates the most ancient of Maya architectural forms and may specifically echo the far earlier radial platform (E Group) under Group A.