Here are some notes on the conference Parallels, Patterns & Politics: Art of the Moche & Maya sponsored by the Center for Latin American Art & Archaeology, Denver Art Museum, with assistance from the Humanities Institute at the University of Denver. Held 15-16 October, 1994 [Because the Mayan component of this symposium was more familiar to me, my notes are not as good on that portion. But even for the other parts, these are of course very partial notes and the speakers are in no way to be blamed for my errors in transcribing them. Any added clarifications are in brackets like these. Lloyd Anderson] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- At University of Denver Opening Remarks Inga Calvin Canons of Art 1. Donna McClelland. Keys to interpreting Moche Art 2. Dorie Reents-Budet. The Functions and traditions of classic Maya painted pottery. Representations of Ritual and Mythology 3. Alana Cordy-Collins. The Priestess & the Oyster: Solving the spondylus mystery? 4. Michael Coe. Symbolism and the integration of mythology. Rulership 5. Christopher Donnan. Warfare and deer hunting: parallel activities in the Moche world 6. Stephen Houston. The Life cycle of classic Maya rulers. Animals in Maya and Moche Art 7. Elizabeth Benson Deities and Supernaturals 8. Alan Sawyer. The Living dead. 9. Karl Taube. Gods and spirits: ancient Maya conceptions of divinity and the supernatural. Conclusions and Synthesis Coe and Donnan Sunday discussions at the Denver Art Museum ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Donna McClelland on Moche pots, esp. fineline drawings: [She has been responsible for most of the "rollout" drawings of Moche iconography in years since Kutscher 1983.] Naturalism - can even identify species of animals About 1800 bottles with fineline drawings [later discussion: comparable to corpus of Mayan vases] Similar to Greek: torsos frontal; profile for arms, legs, head; eyes frontal Really early finelines are silhouettes; really late ones fill the background with circles and dots. Also have modeled sculpture-figures. Finelines: Rather than trying to identify particular participants from headdress etc., have taken a thematic approach to Moche "Presentation theme" drawings Able to identify (1) Warrior priest, (2) Bird priest Recognized excavated tomb of Priestess from her headdress. (b) "Burial Theme", 4 scenes shown: lowering, graveside ceremonies, at temple, [sacrificing, with woman] Previous fineline publications esp. Kutscher used printer's proofs of VandenSteinen's drawings, originally made at instigation of Edouard Seler at Berlin museum, 1893. Problem of drawing: a mercator projection because most pots are spherical. Identifications of same and different artists [much McClelland's work] Out of 1800 bottles, maybe 15 artists, 2 or 3 schools, not a large number. No pictures of potters or painters working among drawings. Often Moche pots made in pairs. Q from audience, how to relate stylistic groups to the 5-period chronology? A by McClelland: chronology due to Larco Hoyle, 1950's, from southern part of Moche kingdom. In north maybe no period IV at all. Moche V is NORTH, sudden complexity. (Chimu is the next culture.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Dorie Reents-Budet on Mayan pots Subjects include ... ballgame, war, negotiations for bride, soul's journey after death, cosmic narrative. Styles don't correlate with subject matter. A service set was sometimes created as a unit, including one drinking vase and one flat plate. Barbara Kerr: Among the "IK" pots, we can sometimes overlay a transparency of one over another, exactly matching layouts, proportions, etc. Perhaps the same artists worked in several forms, murals, pots, codices, cloth, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Alana Cordy-Collins: "The Priestess and the Oyster" [This was a real tour-de-force, tracing clues through several contexts to the puzzle she discussed.] There were two species of Spondylus shell available from the Guayaquil area. Spondylus Calcifer has a purple area around the inside rim, lives in shallow waters. Spondylus Princeps has a red area around the inside rim, lives in deep waters 50-60 meters. The ancient Peruvians were enchanted with Princeps. Its image occurs in ceramics, metal, etc.; From 2500 BC, minute amounts are found in the archaeological record, and its use increases through till the Spanish occupation. Puzzle: The Moche studiously avoided depiction of it in any medium. But it was found in graves at the site of Sipan. Or perhaps we don't know what the shell looked like in artistic representation? Sipan was 1st-3rd cent. AD. San Jose de Moro was 8th cent. AD, also buried spondylus, also did not show in art. Try this method: What associations did the shell have in other cultures which DID represent the shell in art. Inca: imported for specific reasons, water rituals, assoc. with females, shells called "daughter of the sea". Chavin: iconography, spondylus held in the left hand, conch shell in the right; left hand associated with females. Bonampak (MAYA!!!): Two women depicted associated with spondylus. Present-day "Coty" (???) indians of Columbia, conch associated with males and right spondylus associated with females and left Moche: Women not often represented in the art, with the single exception of the Sacrifice Priestess. She is prominent in burial scenes, the "animated objects" ceremony, and the "tuli" boat ceremony. She is the only high-status Moche female excavated archaeologically. What if the Moche represented not the spines (as most people) but the shape or color? It is cup-like. Is the cup for blood [in the presentation scenes where the priestess plays a role] a spondylus shell? In the "tuli" boats, the lower part of [priestess's ?] dress is most like an Ecuadoran stone diving weight found in association with spondylus shells. All artistic representations of the priestess are late. The 8th century was a time of tremendous upheaval, foreign influences in the northern areas. Burial patterns changed, the seated burial posture was introduced, then became dominant. There were new deities. The Mexican hairless dog was imported. There was a new sitting position half-lotus, both painted and modeled. Men change or adopt a new type of underwear, earlier baggy, in the 8th century rather a looped garment. Symmetrical spondylus shells arrive in the 8th century. Previously the Moche had buried misshapen spondylus shells. The two Moro priestesses were associated with the symmetrical spondylus shells. Since the iconographic representation of the priestess is also late, did it come in from somewhere else? At Bonampak, on the other side of the same mural which has the ladies with spondylus shells, there are prisoners with blood. So an import from Mesoamerica? Among the Mayan, women are associated with the moon goddess. [So follow the trail of the Moon.] Moche had no clear moon deity. But at time of Spanish conquest, local inhabitants worshipped the moon goddess and human sacrifices to her, at Sian 'house of the moon', about an hour's walk from San Juan de Moro. Silvered copper with graves. The Inca associated the moon deity with silver. Spanish chroniclers report from the north coast that noble women emerge from a silver egg. At Sipan, among early Moche, silver is associated with the left (rather than the right). [Since left was female, and silver is associated with females, it is consistent to associate silver with the left.] Back to the priestess in the "tuli" boats, sometimes the boat is a crescent, the moon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Michael Coe on mythic sources of Maya iconography 3 traditions, Greek, Maya, Moche (greatest pottery traditions) All 3 had narrative scenes, overlap mythological and human. A few names on Greek vases (Hercules etc.), but Maya longer written texts than for Greek. Secondary texts even conversations, history, myth, names, heroes. As with the Greek, mythological sources are available for the Maya. For the Moche, with neither writing nor mythological sources available, interpretations have been based on a brilliant structural analysis. The Mayan Popol Vuh: Izapa shows it must have been codified at least 2000 years ago. Mythic events at the interregnum between last creations, when sky fell on the earth. Basically a myth telling about the defeat of death and diseases which cause death. Also the life cycle of maize, planting of seed into underworld, etc. Origins of patron saints. Several sets of twins. [Most of the remainder of Coe's wonderful talk was a review of portions of the Popol Vuh while looking at a large number of scenes on pots which Coe explained as depicting events from the Popol Vuh or from other myths which we do not know about. A number of the pots he showed were new even to some professionals in the field.] [One item I include because of its potential increased relevance to the Moche Mayan comparisons, even though it is well known:] On one Mayan pot, the episode of the defeat of the lords of the underworld is represented by a rabbit holding God L's headdress and God L is nude. [This seems to be a rare Mayan representation of the nudity of captives or defeated parties in war, so common on Moche iconography. comment added by L.A.] Other items not in Popol Vuh, in brief: a) Old god dying, lying on bed with flies around him. b) Canoe voyage into underworld of Maize God, somehow he is arrayed in finery by naked young women in water, before resurrection. c) Jaguar baby lying on top of mountain, Chac and Death God about to sacrifice him (again and again, 8th century north Peten) d) Arrays of gods, often 6 or 7. Vase of the Seven Gods events take place in a cave, in darkness, at the beginning of time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Christopher Donnan on Warfare and the Deer Hunt ----- Warfare iconography involved club, shield, and headdress A "backflap" which we now realize is a metal knife. Moche against Moche, not other peoples Dress shown is very elegant, it would not have been easy to move in it Never see pillaging of a village, never mistreatment of women or children a) Winning is shown by the clothing of the defeated person beginning to fall away The point is the capture, not the killing (there is almost none shown) b) Weapon bundle, the weapons and clothing of the captive Many Moche prisoners have lizards painted on them - Question was there one major battle, or a consistent enemy through time, "lizard" clan? The "deck" figure (above the rounded body of a vessel) jar with rope around its neck. c) Roughing up the enemy is shown, making them bleed. Slapping people in the face creates a nose bleed. Procession of prisoners to a complex of pyramids, in background sacrificing After sacrifice, prisoners dismembered e) The sacrifice ceremony itself. Bleeding through the neck. Priests consume blood. ----- Deer Hunting Treated as an analog to capture of prisoners. 90% of "food gathering" is deer hunting, some fishing, some others Both warriors and deer hunters use a throwing stick or spear. Hunters have a specific club, elliptical Otocoleus Virginianus (white-tailed deer) First few months, distinct spots along body, by 13 months spots gone then antlers. Adults only 10% have spots, at certain times. But over 60% of all deer being *hunted* have spots in iconography. Clearly these are not fawns, they are adults. Problem. May be hunting deer just at end of summer? Only hunt this time of year? Or an ideal amalgam? Deer hunting is shown among the Algorobo trees, fernlike, long pods or seeds. These are only coastal, so deer hunting is local, coastal? Nets are used, tied together, there is an iconographic convention for a knot. Deer can clear an 8-foot fence, with no preliminary spring. Figures holding up nets are shown in one or two cases. Documentation of a hunt in 1540 in honor of Pizarro. Inca royal. Surround area 50 miles in diameter, beaters narrow it, then the royalty come in at the end to kill. So it is a ceremonial royal event, not normal food gathering. In processing contents of a midden, there are large quantities of faunal remains, Llama, Cui (Guinea Pigs), Fish, BUT NO DEER BONE Sacrificed animals were sacred. Llama, Inca kept gones one year, crushed, burned, ashes, mixed with peanuts and gold dust, put in baskets, floated down river accompanied with singing Iconography of hunters Bifurcated tassel instead of backflap knife. Special headdress, conical caps. Do not carry a shield, do not wear armor. Anthropomorphized deer as warrior, one modeled with a club Scene of deer warriors vs. lima bean warriors, the deer winning] Deer shown as anthropomorphized prisoners identical to prisoners of war Representation [captive or sacrifice scenes] of women dressed all in black, carry a jar with rope around the neck. Also seen in deer hunting scenes. Audience comments: Peter Furst: Aztecs hunted prisoners as deer, brought in hung from poles, and vice versa Huichol - never find a deer bone because sacred. In the old days ran into nets, were bled for sacrificial purposes. After eating deer soup in homes, deer bones were ritually burned. Q: Inlaid Moche spatulas deer bones? A: Donnan: never tested. Q: When did deer hunting iconography start to appear? A: Donnan: wondered about that, catalogued 8600 photos,. 86% of them phase IV One scuptured pot, deer on its side, blackware, is Moche I. Not foreign object in any burials until those of the two priestesses. Moche Phase III, what reaches back? Chavin and etc. conscous reference back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Steve Houston, The Life Cycle of Classic Maya rulers Warfare: One on one combat shown (exc. Bonampak?) Mayan also selected use of nakedness [Moche, shows captive status] Mayan concept of deer: at Itzan, Yaxchilan etc., captives are desribed as deer. Example of a kneeling captive with headdress of a Virginia deer, on an altar published by KHMeyer Death Becoming ancestors, not = departures, rather continued for invocation etc. /mukah/ 'buried' Pacal usually "smoking" forehead; his sarcophagus, around sides being born from the ground, yielding vegetation [much more followed, review for Mayanists] Donnan: Can do life cycle from Moche iconography and archaeology, from birth scenes onwards. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Elizabeth Benson on Animal iconography Animals as costume elements rarer with the Moche than with the Maya because of the Desert. Many human / animal imitators. Some animal symbolism is so widespread it is not remarkable when seen. For example, many peopls use conch shells as trumpets. But the depiction of conch animals is specifically Moche. [loosely I refer to these as "carnivorous attack snails", L.A.] ----- Conch monster Example of "Major Moche God" with snake belt capturing the conch monster. Conch possible source of lime for coca chewing. Land snails shown between individuals taking coca, wearing coca-taking headdress. Maya used trumpets in deer-hunt rites, deer with trumpet around its neck. ----- Monkey, Maya, artison and former creation. Moche, sometimes shown stripped like a captive ----- Bat fairly close comparison Maya-Moche Decapitator. Closest comparison with *central* Mexican, also holding decapitated head and weapon. Hunahpu decapitated by bat in house of bats (head replaced by squash). House of bats, Copan. Many tropical bats are important pollinators, seed dispersers. Ceiba tree is entirely dependent on bat pollination. No bats, no tequila. On an altar from Copan, ancestor with bat head. Copan Emblem Glyph. ----- Vultures connected with sacrifices in both cultures, not surprising. Moche - anthropomorphic iguana with condor headdress. Vultures as transformers. Maya - an early classic Tikal cache contained remains of 4 king vultures. similar burial in Peru. Origin myths both Maya and all around Moche area: Wife of sun elopes with king vulture Culture hero wants to get day / sun back from Vulture. Hero hides under animal hide to attract vulture and get back the bright object. ----- Owl god of war, armor platelets an astronomical identity would be nice Maya sites - influenced by Teotihuacan. The "Presentation Theme" 1. "Radiant god" (= sun god?) 2. Bird Warrior 3. Priestess (moon goddess) 4. Wearing garments of bird god (owl?) A Moche ruler establishing supernatural ties? Two figures wearing *masks* (clearly) holding head but not a knife. Except for Teotihuacanoid, almost no owls in Maya iconography. [Moche?] not a simple owl, mixed with falcon or vulture etc. ----- Deer Maya Animal whose antlers grow along with the growing season. Maya deer associated with progenitors Maya did *not* present deer as warriors. Huichol deer hunt - classic iconography ----- Jaguar Major Moche deity has feline canines. Jaguar thrones - compare Moche men with small cats Jaguar attack on human (Moche molded pots). Self-sacrifice not common in Moche. Jaguar attacking neck of figure (sometimes with lizard-marked body). Anthropomorph as sacrificer in both cultures. Jaguar is **the** Shamanic figure. ----- Serpent sky-bands, double-headed serpent, Moche rarer. Marks sacred space in both cultures Sky band above a scene with star and radiant figure in a litter (sun god?) Snake-belt (Moche) may match ceremonial bar (Maya) Early Uaxactun, serpents and mountain mouth ----- Foxes [This is taken from a talk Elizabeth Benson gave at the Denver Museum of Natural History, the Thursday night before the symposium - L.A.] Species Pseudolupex Culpeus. Length 1 meter, weight 7.5 Kg. One of the largest in the irrigated river valleys. Fox had negative associations during Inca and Colonial times, esp. in the highlands. Pachacamac. In Inca times, it is said there was a golden image of a fox in a shrine. Sacrificed to it and worshipped it. The Cuzco Temple of the Sun also had one, the Spanish melted that one down too. Very early, foxes were buried with humans, 7500-5500 BC the Vega site, Guayaquil. Moche iconography, a number of cases of foxes in captive taking. Never show human doing a sacrifice, rather an animal (fox etc.) Still today: Fox male taking care fo the young, analogous to young male human taking care of corn. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Alan Sawyer - "The living dead" Discussed a number of figures with a stairstep on the temple and other features interpreted as a flayed face or similar. Sacrificial injuries on person still alive? Some of these figures hold children, some deer. "Coffee-bean eyes" indicating blindness. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Karl Taube on gods Short God M and tall God A in Madrid serpent page God G = Sun God, can go back to 300AD and earlier Maize God (E) Names of gods phonetic Madrid death deity - to right spelled /kisin/ 'the flatulent one' another name /cimi/, /oc-cimi/ he does have turtleshells on the feet God C /k'u/ or /ch'u/ simply means 'deity' /ch'ulel/ = vitalizing force in blood Vase of the Seven Gods: God C head introduces names of each of the gods God H, flower on head, separated head band One Maya depiction of Quetzalcoatl had special head band illustrated, may be a wind god, once name sign, once picture Madrid has /ik/ on cheek. God of number "3" has something similar. Phonetic /ox/ /ux/ '3' and also 'life spirit breath' Once Chac-Xib-Chac over the number "16" and then red "11"s to the rightm [where was this example?] Chac from Landa to Dresden and around AD 857 [?] Chac - snakes, lightning Coe and Raphael Gerard: Izapa Stela I shows Chac in the act of fishing Taube - Chac traceable back to the Olmecs White Chac of the N, Black Chac of the W, Yellow Chac of the S Chac and the 4 Pauatuns (rare) Gods can conflate together, not amorphous. Chac holding serpent / lightning axe becomes God K. Chac with God-K serpent foot. Chac with with spondylus earspool but with God K forehead. /k'auil/ Other supernaturals - Stela 4 at [?] People who die identified with celestial bodies. Ancestors. Abaj Takalik Stela 2, Baktun 7 date 7.6.... ancestor on top, cf. Sun God on cheek. Cf. top fo Tikal Stela 31. Male ancestor becoming the Sun God. Ways (Stuart, Houston, Grube, Nahm), animal spirit companions etc. Peter Furst on Jaguar transformation figures in Olmec Eskimo have masks with faces divided down the middle (like the Mayan "way"s) [something about a man-eating vine, sak bak i_ kan 'white bone snake' God D Itzamna wizards, axis Mundi. Turns into monster bird, the "way" of Itzamna, the enemy of the hero twins. Water Jaguar, the way of 3-Stone-Place Ahau. Hunahpu sets up stones of creation, holding hearth stone above head. Different ways at different times, for the same individual. The Tonina "billboard" has the Principal Bird Deity on the right side, a turtle-footed death god on the left Gods, spirits, and ancestors (men as the sun, women as the moon) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Conclusions and Synthesis Michael Coe: Apparent naturalism of the Maya and the Moche, *seem* to be immediately accessible, but two truly weird traditions. Blood in both cultures. If (Moche) jugs of blood, how drink not congealed? Ulluchu fruit does it. Maya never did some of these things, never drank it, blood shed on paper or on the ground. Blood / Spondylus shell association in Maya. A REAL CONNECTION between Mesoamerica and Peru. The Spondylus shell was more highly valued than jade in Maya grave lots. The spondylus was a container for blood, if not, then a substitute like cinnabar. Deer - connecion with war and death. Illustration of deer with crossbones in some ceremony with Hero Twins, taking antlers off, some lost part of Popol Vuh type mythology. The hairless dog **is** of Mexican origin. So there *was* some contact. Also some resemblances from earlier times, Chavin. The Mayans and Aztecs knew the Olmec were an archaic culture. The Moche knew about Chavin. Olmec and Chavin? Don Lathrop proposed there was a real connection (upper Amazon and Ecuador) Ecuador was where they met over a long time. Chavin was at the home of the Spondylus. Moche a tenth of a % might be real. Metallurgy after about 900AD came up into Mesoamerica. On Mayan pot techniques: J. Eric S. Thompson asked questions about making/firing/painting. Maybe chemical and neutron activation analyses apply to the pots but not to the painting? Mayans *are* interested in 3D illusions. Foreshortening, darkened interior of [???]. Altar de Sacrificios vase, and another one. Bonampak murals horribly reproduced by various, UNESCO, Infrared , early photos give a better idea. Dorie actually showed volumetric representations. God-markings, mirror, darkness, jaguar. Uses of pots, the /lak/ and the /hawate/ for maize foods, the /uch'ib/ for chocolate and for "balche". Flatbottom plates have a preponderance of maize god depictions, head of Hun Hunahpu. ----- Chris Donnan: Struck by the Mayan vase, a nude woman dressing. [Moche would not depict?] Women can wear ear ornaments, do not wear nose ornaments. [same Mayan] From excavations, three sets of ear ornaments, deer, ducks, warriors, perhaps these were for use in different roles? Molds of some pots have the ear area only scraped, presumably because ear ornaments would be added later. Only three cultures in the new world emphasize portraiture, Olmec, Maya, and Moche (audience comment: add Panama, Jalisco, Guadalajara, have the strongest South American parallels) Perhaps more important consequence of this conference than parallel phenomena are the sharing of fruitful approaches. Tracing of production and distribution system of ceramics production. Maya art as real-life events with a rich mythological tradition underlying it. Meanings of plants, animals, body positions, hand gestures. Some similarities may exist because of an upwelling of a substrate from before the rise of civilization. Combination of art and archaeology is much more powerful than either separately. Example: Moche house structures, from the iconography we get the gabled roofs, but no idea of their size, or room layout or connections of rooms, these latter from archaeology. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday morning discussions: Michael Coe: Greek vase painting simple by comparison with Maya. On the Altar vase (showed enlargement), the artists were using brushes with single hairs. Greek has been called "exemplary", the Mayan "primitive". Not at all true. Cigar is a Mayan word, Some cigars are really torches, indicate night scenes. Mirrors: Dumbarton Oaks Vase (Coe's favorite) has a phony 3/4 view of mirrors. Steve Houston: parallel lone mirror in the Dresden, God C head standing up from its surface is the reflection seen in it. Karl Taube: Mirror looking into the other world, can't go through. Justin Kerr: Mirrors are associated with a piece of cloth, covering the mirror when not in use. Mirrors found in Nabaj [?] tombs. Concave Olmec mirrors can light fires. Bright mirrors are rare, ass opposed to dark ones. Dorie Reents-Budet: Figures overlapping texts are rare, specific to the IK' site of Motul de San Jose. Light wash first, black details opposite. The IK'-site emblem glyph is always partly obscured, something penetrates into it. Motul de San Jose actually has Emblem Glyph 'water place', the "IK'" is rather in the artist's signature. The site of Palom has a better match of sherds to the IK-site pots. Most IK'-EG pots are from Dos Pilas or Tamarindito. As in tribute objects? Glyph or iconographic element or actual pot [?] of a white pot with a red spot, also appears on a Dos Pilas pot (Dorie: Hellmuth archives has one) Musical instruments on pot at Crystal River, Fla. All four Mayan codices, first did a light red wash line, then filled in the lines. Moche pot, positive and negative on the same pot. Maya red and black Maya Vase Book vol.3 Richard Hansen noted stuccoed painted pottery from northern Peten, but the Carnegie Institution project washed off the paint and the stucco. Donna McClelland: Explained the process of rollout drawings for spherical pots, somewhat different than for cylindrical ones, because need to do a Mercator projection and decide which parts of the scene must be drawn adjacent, at what points separation is acceptable (to keep proportions correct). Detailed discussion of a spiralling Moche bottle with more than one theme (two interlocking spiral bands wind around it). Second pot with weapons bundle on top of the stirrup. Guy marked with clubs around him. Musicians, animated panpipes and drums. Animated everything, jars with legs, etc. Structures with strombus (conch) on top. Gourds in tombs, but bottles and wide dishes are rare. Ethnographic parallels, from the area of San Jose de Moro: the people there conceptualize everything as animated. Example "This nail here wants its hammer" Northern vs. Southern Moche - southern but not northern are flaring bowls, dippers, portrait bottles. Only Chanchan conquering the north begins a unified style again. 50-mile desert frontier between the two areas, broken down only in 1930's with paved road. Steve Houston: Were there among Maya neutral oracle sites, neutral though protected by city states? In the postclassic, Mayapan was where the calendar priests were trained. "Time-out" in Maya battles. Captive touching captor in a way requesting not to further attack? Tonina on the 5th terrace, scupltured mosaic, linked together, glyphs above describe a woman as being presented, a "companion" of her captor. Karl Taube: Painting the Maya Universe p.21 or 31, a unique scene women and children crying. Elizabeth Benson: scenes Moche with two in charge, one bringing in the prisoners, another receiving them. So other roles defined as well? Steve Houston: /Ah-K'u-Na/ perhaps really /ah-k'u-hun/ for scribes.\ Karl Taube: Goddess O, midwives & curers, hair tied in rope, Pocomam women still refer to it as Coral Snake, their nagual ("way"). Discussion of the square pot (as in Kerr volume 4 essay) Woman giving birth, holding onto ropes from rafters. Goddess O, jaguar ear and headdress, is helping. Woman is standing on mountain flanked by jaws of the underworld. Other parallels. -------------------------------------------------------------------------