Two sculptures of (captured) Mayan warriors found in Mexico (very interesting insight)

Mexican archaeologists have found two 1,300-year-old limestone sculptures of captured Mayan warriors that they say could shed light on the alliances and wars among Mayan cities during the civilization's twilight.

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One of two pre-hispanic stone sculptures that were recently found in the archeological site of Tonina, near Ocosingo, southern Mexico is seen Wednesday, July 6, 2011. According to Mexico's National Institute of History and Anthropology, INAH, the 1,300-year-old limestone sculptures of captured Mayan warriors could shed light on the alliances and wars among Mayan cities

The life-size, elaborate sculptures of two warriors sitting cross-legged with hands tied behind their backs were found in May in the archaeological site of Tonina in southern Chiapas state along with two stone ballgame scoreboards. The 5-foot (1.5-meter) tall sculptures have hieroglyphic inscriptions on their loincloths and chest that say the warriors belonged to the city of Copan, archaeologist Juan Yadeun said in a news release Wednesday. Yadeun said the discovery proves warriors from Copan helped those in Palenque during the city's' 26-year war against Tonina for control of the Usumacinta river.

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One of the warrior sculptures is complete and the figure has fabric strips in its ears instead of the traditional earmuffs warriors wore, a characteristic element of carvings of prisoners. The other warrior is missing its head.

"The prisoner depicted in the well-preserved portrait was captured on October 2, 692. I see this as good evidence that he, like other important elite captives, was probably kept around for a time before being sacrificed

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Source: archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com...

Amazing stuff. I am just getting in to South and Central American history. I don't have any illusions the two people who the statues were modeled after had a great ending life event.....

How horrible. They must have just been sitting there... like nude models.. being sculped... knowing what their end result would be OR being told by the artist what their ultimate demise would be.

If you can even imagin what life must have been like for ANYONE back then, let alone these poor souls.

I like to think that their friends raid the prison storage area and the two dudes were saved.... It's Monday.. got to keep happy thoughts.

hard to imagn the victors dedicated so much effort to the captives. Unless, the captive were held to a different standard and were regarded not so much as enemies but needed participants (instead of using your own citizens when it came time to sacrafice someone. "better them than Me" attitude always wins out.

I found this link that indicated a video but I could not open it from where I am at. Maybe you can.
english.cntv.cn...

Palenque Maya Ruins
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Info on Maya Ball games (tough sport-not for the meek).....
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barrickmuseum.unlv.edu...

reply to post by anon72


Interesting stuff anon72, thanks for posting. I can't watch the vid now but the story is worth reading. Ever since I was a youngster going through old National Geographic magazines I have been interested in the strange world of the Mayans. Sacrafice seemed so common that perhaps you are correct in thinking that these warriors most likely knew the outcome immediately and were somehow "prepared" for such an event to make it less traumatic? Hard to say when your head is about to be cut off...

ColoradoJens

they had a tiered society the elites had a scam going that required constant blood sacrifice 'to feed the sun'

there is good evidence that the ordinary people didn't buy into it . i have read that there was a peace movement among the Aztecs and the Maya

might be one reason why one day they simply left their cities and walked into the jungle(the Maya) where they still are today

we concentrate to much on the sacrificial aspect of their cultures and not enough on their music poetry and daily life customs and popular culture. They had fashion trends ,youth culture social meeting places (like coffee houses today) they talked about issues affecting them just like we do . It wasn't quite like we imagine just from the state sponsored art we have left of them.

most of the 'sacrifices were of captives( people that were strangers to the communities doing the sacrificing if they did it to their own there would have been a huge rebellion and backlash, kinda like the US does today.

wars against all kinds of foreign people in the name of Peace and Freedom. I see the similarities not the differences

reply to post by MrsBlonde


Thanks for an excellent posting.

might be one reason why one day they simply left their cities and walked into the jungle(the Maya) where they still are today

I didn't know about this possibility. I have always thought that the whole Blood thing was THE WAY of life for them-all classes.

Do you have any links or sources for this? I would love to read more or learn more about the things that aren't commonly taught and/or accepted. Thanks.

No ATS Mayan fans out there?

I think this article is just packed full of tell tale signs of the area/time period.

But, I haven't a clue how or what this whole saga represented on the biggest picture of that society.

anon you have given me a challenge,!! haha

i will look around the net for some stuff ,i read this stuff in books I no longer have or are still packed away after my exodus to the God forsaken place I now dwell in!!

of to look for some stuff just for you!!

There seems to be a dispute on whether the warriors are from Copan. Copan to Palenque is about 270 miles. Quite a distance.

Impressive find and goes to show that there are many more artfacts left to be discovered.

Statue reminds me a little of Planet of the Apes.

Mexican Archaeology Site

In comparison to some other Maya sites (most notably Tikal in Guatemala and Copán in Honduras), the Palenque discovered area is relatively small - about 0.85 sq miles (2.5 sq km). However, the small size does not make Palenque less attractive. In fact, Palenque perhaps evokes more interest in visitors than any other ruin in the area extending from central Mexico down through Central America, including Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador - the area where major ancient civilizations were discovered - including the Olmecs, Zapotecs, Teotihuacanos, Mayas and Aztecs.

www.naviquan.com...

www.artdaily.org...

History of Maya- Good Read

I feel sorry for the warriors. They must have been important. The Aztecs put the Mayans to shame when it came to sacrificing or blood letting for the gods.

reply to post by jam321


Do you know if they spoke Quecheuan?

CJ

That Mayan ball game never made much sense to me.
I mean, why would they sacrifice the captain of the winning team?
Sure it was an honor for the victor but geez Almighty, they killed off all the good athletic specimens.
If not for this, the NBA would have a totally different look.

reply to post by ColoradoJens

Do you know if they spoke Quecheuan?

Wasn't that spoken by the Incas?

wow!...

I love Mayan/Aztec/Incan history..
Those are some powerful images, to me anyway..
Man......
Thanks for posting this!

reply to post by jam321


It was...didn't know where the warriors you spoke of were from...the Incas reportedly moved up through Guatemala and even into Mexico, by some accounts...

CJ

reply to post by Alxandro


Good comparision.

Star

I was looking at the picture of the one warrior (with his head still on).

Since we don't know exactly how the peoples of that time view sacrafices but

To go to the extent that you make lifesize statues of the humans you are going to
sacrafice for the opening cerimony etc. It is almost as if the two were actually praised and
made etenal by the doing of the statues.

If the face of it is correct, the warrior seemed at peace. Maybe they drugged them up. Anyway, point being that the two warriors were made to live-in likeness- for etenity by their killers/captures. freaky.

here's a little article about ancient Mayan politics and their reasons for abandoning their cities

www.criscenzo.com...

Unlike the Aztec, the ancient Maya were not empire builders. Instead, they formed independent polities. Their common culture, calendar, mythology and spiritual view of the world united them as Maya – True People, Halach Winik. Each polity was ruled by it’s own dynastic nobility. The Maya ruling class claimed a divine lineage — theirs was the bloodline of the gods. No doubt there were alliances between polities, cemented by marriage and trade agreements. A vast network of paved routes and rivers, including the vast Usumacinta, facilitated trade and travel between cities. During the Classic Period, great cities thrived in the Peten area, including Tikal, Uaxactun, Caracol, Copan, Yaxchilan, Piedras Negras, Calkmul and Palenque. Apparently they fell victim to their own success. Some believe that populations grew faster than their agricultural system could sustain them, and the elite class grew top-heavy with would-be heirs. Warfare, originally engaged in to capture sacrificial victims, escalated into to a way of life. Artistic pursuits were abandoned in lieu of armaments. Within a generation the majestic Classic civilization had fallen apart. The Maya people abandoned their cities along with their embattled leadership, and started anew. By the time of the Spanish Conquest, the Maya had reorganized themselves into thousands of agrarian, communal-based clans throughout the Yucatan.

the elite became to overtly murderous and parasitic so the people checked out.
a lesson for us all?

reply to post by MrsBlonde


Very interesting. Thank you.

My interest is peaked even more so.

This weekend I am taking some time to do a lot of research for the S & C Americas. It's time.

reply to post by anon72


An update on the article:
More on Two sculptures of Mayan warriors found in Mexico
archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com...
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The sculptures of captive warriors have hieroglyphic inscriptions that read that they belong to the lordship that ruled over a great region of what today is Honduras