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 N o t e s o n M i d d l e A m e r i c a n A r c h a e o l o g y a n d E t h n o l o g y Carnegie Institution of Washington Division of Historical Research No. 12 December 20, 1942 Representations of tezcatlipoca at Chichen itza J. Eric S. Thompson example of Maya surgery) and in another as an inverted cup, is without any doubt the smoking mirror which so frequently replaces the missing foot, and which in fact is the glyph for the god’s name, for Tezcatlipoca means “smoking mirror.” The design attached to the mirror, which Charlot calls a flowing scroll, represents the two tongues of flame or smoke which are almost invariably depicted as billowing from the smoking mirror. In one case there emerges from the stump a symbol which Charlot identifies as a conventionalized flower, and which he suggests may be an example of Maya rebus writing (nicaan, a thing which is no more, referring to the missing limb, and nican, a thing which is in flower). However, a flower is a recognized symbol for blood in Mexico, and is sometimes used to connect the stump with the mirror, to indicate the blood spurting from the wound (Codex Fejervary-Mayer, p. 3; Codex Laud, p. 1). Similarly the peculiar flowing scrolls on the headdress, to which Charlot also calls attention and whicharevisibleonthreeofthefivefigures,areinfact the same tongues of flame or smoke emerging from the mirror in the headdress. In four cases the mirror is recognizable, although in the fifth case the carving is too weathered to permit of its identification. In Central Mexico the smoking mirror is more often set in the headdress than on the stump, although in many cases, as at Chichen Itza, it is found in both places. None of the five figures shows the horizontal striping of the face which usually characterizes Tezcatlipoca . However, there are many representations Jean Charlot in The Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itza, Yucatan notes under the heading “Mutilation” (Morris, Charlot, and Morris 1931:275) that there are five carvings of’ individuals who have one leg amputated above the knee. These are sculptured on columns, two of which (nos. 1 and 15) are in the Temple of the Warriors, two (nos. 31 and 49) in the adjacent Northwest Colonnade, and one (no. 3) in the Temple of the Chac Mool. After calling attention to the relative frequency in the art of Central Mexico of figures with one leg severed at the ankle, not above the knee, but with similar flowing designs issuing from the stumps, he reaches the tentative conclusion that “such mutilations might perhaps have a historical import; they certainly have some theogonic significance.” He also quotes remarks by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall on the one-footed warriors of the stone of Tizoc and those on the Peñon rocks to the effect that either a one-footed conqueror had adopted the insignia of Tezcatlipoca or that it was customary in representing living personifications of the gods to emphasize one of his symbols, the lame foot, even if the mutilation did not exist in reality. In Central Mexico Tezcatlipoca is usually shown with one foot cut off at the ankle or with both feet intact, and I know of no representation of that god which shows the leg severed well above the knee. Nevertheless, two other highly important attributes of Tezcatlipoca can be recognized in most of these five carvings at Chichen Itza. The element at the end of the stump, identified by Charlot in one case as a double ring (a possible Representations of Tezcatlipoca at Chichen Itza  of this god in Central Mexico, particularly in certain specialized manifestations, which entirely lack this feature. The paint has gone from two of the faces, it is yellow on the other three. Yellow is the color of Tezcatlipoca in Central Mexico, although this is often obscured by black or red over painting. He is shown with all yellow coloring in Codex FejervaryMayer (p. 42). The body paint of two of the figures has gone. The example from the Temple of the Chac Mool has a yellow body. Column 1, Temple of the Warriors, has the body painted pink with concentric circles painted yellow and brown, and Column 49 of the Northwest Colonnade shows a body striped vertically red and white. Mexican codices seldom show circular markings on the bodies of gods...

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