-
2. Copán
- University Press of Colorado
- Chapter
- Additional Information
23 DOI: 10.5876_9781607322788.c002 2 Copán Making Kin They buried the child at home, carrying out a complex ritual that began by placing two objects on the pavement near a stone-fronted platform. One of these objects was a miniature Ulúa Polychrome ceramic vessel in the shape of a shallow bowl.The second was a whistle, also made from clay, representing a couple, a woman and a man (figure 2.1). Both objects were set close to the wall running north-south that had increased the size of this platform and may have been built as part of the preparation of the area for burial. After the child’s mourners covered these objects with a shallow layer of dirt, they put the body in the ground, curled up on its side with the head to the east. A second miniature jar with handles, also decorated in the Ulúa Polychrome style, was set next to the body. Another thin layer of dirt, at fifteen centimeters less than half the depth of the previous thirty-ninecentimeter layer, covered the grave. Another jar, this time of locally made Copador Polychrome, was put in place over the first. Finally, a deeper layer of fill hid all this complexity—the evidence of people’s intentions and specific actions—as new architecture was built over the grave. The child’s burial and its associated objects remained undisturbed until their excavation in the 1980s by archaeologists working for the Proyecto Arqueológico Copán Fase II. The excavators labeled the grave Burial 17–5,the whistle Feature 38,its companion bowl Feature 39, the Ulúa jar placed with the body Feature 34, and the final Copador jar Feature 31 (Gerstle and Webster 1990, 110–13, 164, 181, figures 93 and E4, plates E5, R 13, and R16; see also Gerstle 1988, 145–46, 197–98; Hendon 1987, 498–99, 535–45). COPáN 24 Feature 38, the figurine-whistle, depicts two human individuals standing side by side with their bodies pressed so closely together that their inner arms are hidden (figure 2.1). Their earspools are shown stacked one on top of the other,perhaps to reiterate just how close they are.The figure on the viewer’s left is obviously female, as indicated by her breasts, and the one on the right male, as indicated by his lack thereof. Their clothing also signals their gender. The woman wears a long garment that covers her from just below the breasts to her ankles. It has a decorated lower border but is otherwise plain. The man wears a wide belt with a row of indentations that doubles as a loincloth. Their facial features are similar. The lips of both are parted, but only the man’s teeth are visible. Both have identical wide bracelets and round ear ornaments but different necklaces. Hers is a series of flat, square beads, roughly the same size, while Figure 2.1. Marriage figurine from Copán showing a man and woman. Photograph courtesy of Julia A. Hendon, used by permission. [3.238.79.169] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 22:26 GMT) COPáN 25 his has only two such beads suspended from a cord. The male figure reaches across his body to lay his left hand on top of his companion’s right hand and wrist. His hand covers hers without actually grasping it. The position of her arm echoes his. She seems to be reaching toward him as much as he reaches toward her. Each has an elaborate headdress and hairstyle.The woman’s hair has been cut evenly with great precision to just above her ears and with shorter bangs across the forehead. A wide band binds most of the hair close to her head except for one carefully arranged lock that has been pulled out to hang down at the right side of her head.The band itself is decorated with a zigzag line framed by small dots above and below.The man’s headdress is somewhat harder to describe precisely , although visually it is easily differentiated from other headdresses. There is a horizontal band made up of two rows of square plaques, similar to those of the necklaces. Below this his hair has been cut into short bangs that follow the curve of his forehead. A feather rises up from the middle of the band. Behind this is a lumpy head covering that may be folded cloth. One piece projects up at...