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RETHINKING CLASSIC LOWLAND MAYA POTTERY CENSERS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1999

Prudence M. Rice
Prudence M. Rice
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
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Abstract

Classic lowland Maya censers can be described in terms of two general categories, image (or effigy) and non-image. The function and meaning of these incensarios is approached through consideration of their embellishment, symbolism, and contexts of use and recovery. It is suggested that in Peten and some adjacent areas, Classic image censers were part of the paraphernalia of divine kingship, associated with termination rituals and a royal funerary cult. Non-image and particularly spiked censers were more associated with birth/renewal, earth, rain, and calendrical rituals involving fire drilling. Their use became widespread in the lowlands during the Terminal Classic period, with the “collapse” of divine kingship and elite power.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 1999 , pp. 25 - 50
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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