On view
Art of the Ancient Americas
Decapitated head in the form of a turtle carapace,
600–400 BCE
Maya
Middle Formative Period (Las Charcas phase)
2016-1288
This ceramic pendant alludes to agricultural cycles. The human face is that of Jun Ixiim, the maize god; the scrolls flowing from his neck indicate his decapitation, an allusion to Maya cosmovision, in which harvesting maize cobs was envisioned as decapitating the plant. The raised ridges at the top of the head and the incised pattern on the back of the object depict a turtle shell, a symbol of the earth, in which the “dead” maize seed would be planted. When Chahk, the rain god, struck the turtle-earth with his lightning axe, it cracked open, allowing the maize to emerge anew.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Decapitated head in the form of a turtle carapace
Dates
600–400 BCE
Medium
Ceramic with white slip and traces of red pigment
Dimensions
9 × 6 × 4.3 cm (3 9/16 × 2 3/8 × 1 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Gillett G. Griffin
Object Number
2016-1288
Place Made
North America, probably Guatemala, Maya area
Culture
Period
Subject
By 2000, Gillett G. Griffin (1928-2016), Princeton, NJ [1]; 2016, bequeathed to the Princeton University Art Museum.
Notes:
[1] Griffin lent the work to the Museum in 2000 (L.2000.87).
- Bryan R. Just. "Mysteries of the Maize God", Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 68 (2009): 2–15., figs. 9a, b, p. 8
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Reiko Ishihara-Brito and Karl A. Taube, “Plaque Pendants,” in Ancient Maya Art at Dumbarton Oaks, edited by Joanne Pillsbury, Miriam Doutriaux, Reiko Ishihara-Brito, and Alexandre Tokovinine (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2012)
, pp. 245–247, fig. 144 (illus.)
