In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

0 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. 25 November 10, 1943 a Figurine whistle Representing a Ball Game Player J. Eric S. Thompson base of the back, and presumably was of the hogsnout type prevalent almost throughout British Honduras and the Peten. There are two finger holes in the back at shoulder level. The clay is a darkish brown and unslipped, but with traces of what may be white paint (alternatively lime incrustation) in the groove of the belt and around the bracelet. The figure appears to have been cast in a mold, and presumably belongs to the Tepeu horizon of the Initial Series period. In view of the ball tucked under one arm and the heavy belt (Thompson 1941) I think there can The pottery figurine whistle here illustrated was found somewhere in the vicinity of Icaiche, Quintana Roo,Mexico,byaformerinhabitantofthatnowabandoned village. The finder, a shaman, subsequently moved to Kaxil Uinic and thence to San Jose, British Honduras, taking the figurine whistle with him. In 1931, when I saw it in his hut at San Jose, he was very reluctant to part with it, setting the impossible figure of twenty-five dollars as his final price. This high valuation was due to the fact that the figurine was endowed with great power in effecting cures. The owner customarily burned copal incense before it and sprinkled it with rum when he was engaged in curing ceremonies. Archaeological specimens which portray human figures, particularly stelae and incense burners, are generally regarded by the present-day Maya as malevolent . It is therefore somewhat surprising to find a benevolent status attributed to this figurine. I did not inquire closely into the activities of the owner, who may have indulged in some black magic and on those occasions employed the figurine whistle. Naturally, such affairs would not be disclosed to a stranger. Five years later the owner parted with the figurine whistle for a trifling sum. In the interval he and other inhabitants of San Jose had been moved to the urban center of Orange Walk, where the atmosphere is less congenial to magical practices, whether white or black. The figurine whistle (present height 9.3 cm) lacks the top of the headdress and the mouthpiece of the whistle. The latter had been attached at the 25.1. Figurine whistle: (a) front view; (b) profile. A Figurine Whistle Representing a Ball Game Player  be little doubt that a ball-game player is portrayed. What appears to be the leathern hip cloth projects below the belt on each side of the narrow maxtlatl (loincloth). A queer arrangement is attached to the left side of the belt or hangs from the wrist of the arm above it. Could this be the glove dangling empty from the wrist? The detail of the left hand is not sufficiently clear to indicate whether a glove was worn; the right hand certainly is ungloved. There is no kneepad visible, presumably because of the vestigial treatment of the legs. The nearest reported ball court to Icaiche is that at the Initial Series period site of El Palmar, Quintana Roo. ...

Share