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65 ______________________________________ Adela had several undertakings at Chichén in addition to verifying the accuracy of plates and drawings Maudslay intended to use in his publication Biologia Centrali-Americana. As Putnam had written Thompson, she was carrying instructions from Maudslay requesting some casts he wished to have made. But the most important part of her work was rescuing the frescoes from oblivion, recording them before they disappeared entirely. In spite of the delays she encountered, Adela’s first season was a productive one. Her notation, while giving a terse, negative assessment of life at Chichén, lists a formidable amount of work in that 1900 season. In addition to her work on the murals in the Upper Temple of the Jaguars—or Tigers, as it was known then—she worked in other areas of Chichén as well. Some of that work was on her own behalf, some on Maudslay’s. But her focus was the murals in the Upper Temple. This temple is situated above the Ball Court, which is a long, broad expanse approximately 480 feet long and 120 feet wide. Here the Maya played the ritual ball game, a game that still is not fully understood. The Ball Court, as it is known—although there are at least seven ball courts at Chichén— is one of the largest in Mesoamerica. Ball courts vary in style; this one is shaped roughly like the letter “I” and has high vertical stone walls down the long sides of the court. The slanting base of these sides is elaborately carved in bas reliefs that depict the ball game, players, and human sacrifice, attesting to the mythic aspects of the game. The shorter ends of the Ball Court are also walled, though these walls are lower and less steep. Each end is topped with a structure but the effect is not as commanding as the Temple of the Jaguars. The complex resonates with power. Presiding over the Ball Court and dominating it is the Temple of the Jaguars. This was not a public place in its time. The Temple is not readily accessible and could not have accommodated groups of people. It sits on a platform on Chapter Twelve The Extraordinary Undertaking the murals in the upper temple of the jaguars Nearly died of fever, ticks and hunger. —Adela Breton, quoted in Carmichael, The British and the Maya,  66 Chapter Twelve ______________________________________ one end of the wall and can be reached only by a narrow, steep stairway on the side. Since the Temple occupies most of the rectangular base of the platform, the “walkway” into the Temple is narrow. There is no room for a misstep, and there is a sheer drop to the ground. Because the Temple and the structure on which it stands had not been reconstructed in Adela’s time it was more accessible than it is today. Instead of the steep stairs and sheer drop-offs, the Temple stood atop a hill of rubble. Climbing this posed its own difficulties but it was a more manageable climb than today, particularly when carrying drawing supplies and accoutrements. The Temple itself consists of two rooms, an antechamber and an inner or main chamber. The walls of the inner room were literally covered with paintings, many of them very elaborate detailed scenes with dozens of small figures. Since the room is relatively small, the effect must have been almost overpowering. John Lloyd Stephens reported the paintings in 1843: [W]e enter an inner chamber, the walls and ceiling of which are covered, from the floor to the peak of the arch, with designs in painting, representing, in bright and vivid colours, human figures, battles, houses, trees, and scenes of domestic life, and conspicuous on one of the walls is a large canoe; but the first feeling of grati- fied surprise was followed by heavy disappointment , for the whole was mutilated and disfigured. In some places the plaster was broken off; in every part deep and malignant scratches appeared on the walls; and while individual figures were entire, the connection of the subjects could not be made out. (Incidents of Travels in Yucatan vol. II, p. 211 Dover edition) “[T]he connection of the subjects” has been debated and speculated on ever since. They appear to be mytho/historic, but the weight given to each of those elements can vary according to interpretation. Celestial elements pervade, and Adela found them particularly interesting. As she worked, with painstaking focus on...

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