The Maya and More Mesoamerican Tour
Visual: A panning shot of ceramic figures, including one of a dog, with the words “Hudson Museum” appearing. The image behind the words becomes a panning shot of painted ceramic vessels and the words fade away.
Narration: Welcome to the Hudson Museum, home to the William P Palmer, III collection. This extraordinary collection features objects from pre-Columbian Mesoamerica that range from Olmec to Aztec.
Visual: A shot panning up the body of a large, ceramic statue of a human. Followed by a similar shot of a large stone slab depicting the side-view of a human figure in regalia.
Narration: All of the objects in this collection were acquired prior to the UNESCO convention of 1970 that prohibits the illegal import and export of cultural property.
Visual: A panning shot up the body of a large ceramic statue of a female figure. The title “The Maya and More: Mesoamerican Tour” appears and then fades. This is followed up various detail shots as the narrator describes the figure.
Narration: When you enter the museum you’re greeted by a large-scale Veracruz Snake Apron priestess, dating around 600 to 900 AD. This figure from the Gulf Coast region of Mexico represents a highly developed ceramic tradition that featured the largest ceramic figures in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. This work is hollow and is reinforced so that it would not collapse as the clay hardened. It has numerous round openings, or vents, that allowed it to be fired without exploding.
This piece represents a female deity and may have been associated with other figures as a grave offering. She wears a vampire bat mask, and has two snakes wrapped around her torso and waist. Early collection images of her show a wavy dagger in her right hand, and a trophy head incense burner in her left hand. The elaborate ear flares indicate elite status, and white and red pigments highlight details on her headdress, face, and torso. The images on this figure suggest that she is associated with human sacrifice and the underworld.
Visual: A shot panning up the carved slab seen previously. The words “Maya Stela” appear and then fade and we see various detail shots as the narration describes the piece.
Narration: This Maya Stele has much to tell us about the Maya world. This monumental carved stone panel bears the image of a ruler warrior adorned with all the emblems of power: an elaborate headdress, ear spools, heads of enemies taken in battle, celts, which are his battle axes, and an incense burner.
Visual: A series of shots show the difference in color between the carved and weathered face of the stone and the rough, cut edge, which is paler.
Narration: Take a look at the front of the stone – what color is it? Take a look at the edge – what color is that? What does this tell us about the piece and what happened to it? The front is weathered and darker than the edges. This piece was removed from something larger and cut into blocks so it could be easily transported out of a site.
Visual: Detail shots of two panels of glyph writing on the upper and lower portions of the left edge of the panel.
Narration: Now, notice the 2 glyph panels on the left-hand side of the monument. The top panel often contains information about the circumstances around why this monument was created, and likely the name of the city-state and ruler. The lower series of glyphs contains two dates. The first is February 23rd, 663. The second date is June 28, 672, which marks the end of a k’atun, a 7,200 day cycle. Can you hazard a guess at why this monument was created? Perhaps it was made to celebrate the reign of this ruler/warrior who came into power in 663, and was still in power in 672.
Visual: A panning shot of a line drawing of the carved panel with various elements annotated, including the dates found in the lower glyph panel. These are labeled “3 Manik, 0 Pop, 13 kins and 8 uinals, and 9 tuns”. This is followed by a final series of pannings shot of the carved panel.
Narration: The Maya calendar system is extremely complex. Think of it as three calendar wheels: one wheel represents a 365 days solar calendar, which the Maya divided into 18 months, each 20 days long, and an additional five-day month. Another wheel is a sacred calendar consisting of 260 days with 20 periods of 13 days each. The final wheel consists of 20 days, which are each given a name. The same date only comes up once every 52 years.
Visual: Ceramic figures on exhibit in a museum display. The words “Status and Power” appear and then fade.
Narration: Now let’s talk about status and power focusing on West Mexican tomb figures.
Visual: A series of panning shots of various ceramic figures, gold objects, and stone jewelry.
Narration: While the Maya and Aztec are two ancient civilizations that have received extensive study, other civilizations in Mesoamerica have received less scholarly attention, such as the groups that developed in western Mexico in the present-day provinces of Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima.
Between 300 BCE – 400 CE distinct cultures arose in western Mexico that practiced elaborate burial traditions that featured shaft tombs. The deceased were accompanied by ceramic figures, jewelry,
and elaborate ceramic vessels which held precious substances.
Visual: More panning shots of the ceramic figures in the display. One shows a couple, a male standing and holding a ball on his shoulder, and a female seated next to him. The next shows smaller, more intricate figures of individuals seated within canopied seats, some being carried by groups of other figures, and some are accompanied by one or more dogs.
Narration: Here are some examples of ceramic figures from these regions: a matrimonial pair, featuring a ballplayer and a female, and elite individuals on litters accompanied by dogs.
Visual: A group of ceramic figures, all with multiple earrings through holes in their ear lobes, large septum rings in their noses. This is followed by a return to the ceramic couple, showing the extremely elongated shape of their heads, which stretch upward much farther than is natural.
Narration: The elite in many Mesoamerican cultures practiced techniques to set themselves apart from other social classes. These included tattooing, scarification, cranial deformation or shaping. You’ll see examples of these practices depicted in these figures.
Visual: A series of detail images of gold and stone jewelry, including a long, thin gold strip, necklaces made with gold pendants in the shape of sectioned shells, gold beads, and gold thorns or claws, and circular ornaments and a small plug of black polished stone.
Narration: Below them is a range of jewelry – a headband, a gold necklace, ear spools made of obsidian and a lip plug, and a green stone necklace.
Visual: A detail shot of a necklace strung with beads of green stone, various in hue, with occasional larger, drop-shaped beads, cylindrical gold beads, and a pendant in the shape of a feather carved from green stone below a cluster of larger green stone beads.
Narration: Most valued of precious materials were green stone, as the color mirrors water and vegetation. In these cultures only elite individuals would be allowed to possess such items.
Visual: A panning shot of the tall male ceramic statue seen previously. The words “Mesoamerican Religion” appear and then fade. This is followed by shots of carved and painted wooden masks that will be discussed and described below.
Narration: Among the cultures of Mesoamerica, religion played an overarching role in these civilizations and impacted many aspects of life that we would not normally deem to be religious. Key to religion in Mesoamerica was the need to appease the gods with blood through ritual bloodletting and human sacrifice.
Visual: We return to a more detailed panning shot of the large ceramic figure. As we move up his body he appears to be unclothed – his bellybutton is visible – but then we notice something across the chest and that there appear to be the ends of sleeves above his hands. A closer inspection of his head reveals a closed set of lips within the open lips of the face, and a second set of eyelids within the open eyelids as well.
Narration: This large-scale ceramic figure depicts a spring fertility ritual that involves Xipe Totec, the God of Agriculture, the God of Spring, the Flayed One. To appease the gods and ensure good harvests, victims, often war captives, were sacrificed and skinned, and their skins worn for 20 days until they rotted. Note the double lips on this figure and the large incision in the center of the chest where the heart was removed.
Visual: A series of detail shots of carved and painted wooden masks, including one in the form of a butterfly or moth with a human head that looks like popular depictions of Jesus, one in the form of a bat, and one depicting the face of a devil or demon.
Narration: The Spanish conquistadors and priests sought to overwrite these religious systems, destroying temples, killing priests and religious practitioners, and burning codices – written manuscripts that recorded history, astronomical observations, myth and religion. Other indigenous religious traditions were combined with new systems in a process referred to as syncretism. Here we have Mexican masks made in the early 1900’s. In Mexico, masks were not merely disguise, but mystically transformed the wearer into someone or something else. They are used in ritual dances and in pageants, processions, and morality plays that Chronicle the history of post-Contact Mexico.
Visual: We focus detail shots of two masks. The first on the devil or demon mask with a scowling face. It is carved of wood, painted a reddish color, and sports two curved, black horns from the forehead. Narrow strips of black facial hair are seen on the upper lip and chin, and the face has light blue eyes. The second depicts a bat, wings outstretched, with large teeth. Within the wings is painted the eyes and cheeks portion of a human face with brown eyes.
Narration: This mask represents the Western concept of a devil, while this mask features a vampire bat, associated in the pre-Columbian world with bloodletting and the underworld. Note that the Western devil has blue eyes while the vampire bat has brown eyes.
Visual: We now focus on the moth or butterfly mask with the head of Jesus on the body of the insect. He is depicted with dark hair and a dark, pointed beard and with blue eyes.
Narration: Also, we have a mask here with a moth or butterfly body and a human head. Many traditional cultures believe that people and life around them can transform from one form to another. Could this be a way of explaining the Resurrection?
Visual: A very large wooden whale dish with two openings at the top, carved and painted in the iconic Northwest Coast tradition. The word “Foodways” is overlaid on the image.
Narration: Our diet today draws heavily on foods that originated in the Americas. When the old world and new world collided, the integration of these new foods into the diet began and continue to this day with one of the most recent introductions, quinoa.
Visual: A panning shot of a museum display with ceramic vessels, large stone tools, ceramic figures, and various bowls and containers. The shot comes to rest on a group of ceramic figures. One is a seated, emaciated human. Another is a small dog with a large, round belly.
Narration: Think of life without tomatoes, peppers, chilies, corn, squash, pumpkins, potato, beans, maple syrup, and chocolate.
Visual: A panning shot that begins with a detail shot of an animal head carved into the front of a large stone metate or grinding platform and moves to focus on a depiction of a human head at the top of a ceramic vessel. We then cut to a different view of the ceramic dog, which has an open mouth and upright ears.
Narration: Not just plants but animals were part of this exchange. From the old world, horses, sheep, cattle, domesticated pigs, and chicken were introduced as the only domesticates in Mesoamerica were turkeys and dogs.
Visual: A panning shot of a series of clay bowls and cylindrical vessels in a display. There are many in various sizes. Some have tripod legs, some are vividly painted with scenes of people or mythical beings, and some are intricately inscribed or have small, applied decorative elements. The words “Palmer Collection” appear.
Narration: You will find other objects from the Palmer Collection in the world cultures gallery, but perhaps the greatest concentration of the collection is to be found in the Palmer Case in the center of the museum.
Visual: Detail shots of various of the vessels in the case, followed by another wider panning shot of the various vessels.
Narration: Here you can see an extraordinary assemblage of Maya grave offerings, including cylinder vases, cacao pots, or chocolate pots, for serving a beverage reserved for the ruling elite. They’re decorated with scenes of rulers and Palace life, deities, ceremonies, and often feature inscriptions with glyphs.
Visual: A detail shot of a large stone metate or grinding platform carved in the shape of an animal, standing on four legs with a head at the front and the grinding platform forming the body. In front of this is a carved and polished piece of jade on a velvet cushion. These are flanked by two groups of four cylinder vases, each with short tripod legs and painted with figures and glyphs.
Narration: Front and center is an assemblage of artifacts found in one tomb: a metate, for grinding corn, a jade pendant, and eight cylinder vases from an outlying Maya city.
Through the Palmer Collection you can explore the extraordinary civilizations of Mesoamerica. While there are nearly 300 objects on exhibit in the museum galleries, there are over 3000 more on the Hudson Museum’s public access database. The link to the database may be found on the museum’s web site collection page. We invite you to explore these collections online.