Ancient Maya Anime Revealed Within Timeless Maya Artworks
This article unveils a significant breakthrough in Maya art and archaeology, showcasing the intricate techniques employed by Maya artists to animate ancient artworks. The Netflix series entitled Maya and the Three, the Mexican animator Jorge Gutierrez created a modern-day anime of the pre-Columbian world. This caused quite a stir, as well as seamlessly alignining with ongoing research endeavors by art historian Jennifer John and her artist husband Alexander John, who have spent the last decade researching animations hidden within ancient Maya art. This groundbreaking perspective breathed newfound vitality into Maya art and resulted in the publication of their book The Maya Gods of Time.
The excitement generated by the Netflix show stems from the realization that the Maya had their own form of ancient animation. Delving into Maya moving pictures offers a glimpse into a forgotten philosophy of time-space, offering invaluable insights for enthusiasts of ancient history and archaeology. The provided rollout photograph above depicts a Maya ceramic, initially a three-dimensional artifact, now flattened into a two-dimensional image. However, this presentation fails to capture the intended dynamic viewing experience envisioned by its creators.
The Animated Artistic Legacy of Yaxchilan's Ancient City
The artists responsible for carving the two Yaxchilan lintels (a kind of doorway support) on which the above animation is based, skillfully integrated animation concepts into their artwork. Comparing these lintels reveals subtle disparities in imagery, which are fundamental in order to understand the visual narrative. Maya artisans likely employed adaptable templates to craft these mesmerizing animations.
In the above image, Lady Chak Chami is portrayed lifting a shallow dish containing implements for bloodletting, her hand reaching upward towards her spouse or partner, Bird Jaguar IV. Meanwhile, both individuals wield bloodletting blades held in their right and left hands. Additionally, emerging from the gaping jaws of a skeletal serpent or centipede creature, possibly summoned into existence through the bloodletting ritual, is the visage of an ancestral figure or potentially their forthcoming offspring, Shield Jaguar IV, extending cupped hands towards Lady Chak Chami.
Unveiling the Animated Secrets of the Palenque Piers
Research into animation found on monumental art built on groundwork laid by Scandinavian researchers Jasper Nielson and Søren Wichmann in 2000 when looking into animations found on ceramics. Extending this concept to other Maya sites has brought ancient artwork to life. These include the murals at Bonampak and Santa Rita, stone monuments at Quiriga, ceramics at Lamanai and the stuccoed piers at Palenque. The extensive use of these Maya animations, however, has largely escaped the notice of experts in the field until now.
A significant factor contributing to the oversight of animation within Maya art is the fragmented state of many artworks. Partial deterioration and damage over time have obscured the complete narrative intended by the artists. Understanding Maya art necessitates treating it as a visual language, requiring viewers to interpret its imagery akin to reading a sentence in a book.
The intended viewing sequence of Maya artifacts holds paramount importance in comprehending their animation and uncovering hidden elements. Maya visual sequences were supposed to be read as a whole, much like hieroglyphic script. However the visual language has often been disrupted over time due to natural deterioration or human intervention. The displacement of stone tablets by thick forest roots or the relocation of artworks by early explorers and archaeologists has disturbed the intended sequence, hindering the perception of embedded animation.
Artworks meant to be perceived as a whole have suffered from fragmentation, as they were split and distributed among different museums worldwide. Ironically, the dispersal of Maya artifacts across various countries has disrupted the intended reading sequence, impeding the activation of embedded animation, reliant on the viewer's motion. This dispersion mirrors the fragmentation of a written text, disrupting the cohesive narrative or message intended by the artist or writer.
Interferance to Maya Animation Caused by Rollout Photograph
The intended reading of Maya artworks has been hindered due to the traditional way they have been presented. In the case of Maya ceramics on display in museums around the world, they are usually enclosed behind thick glass. This has prevented viewers from seeing the entire artwork, which means that they are unable to comprehend the animated sequence intended by handling the artworks and turning them, much like the way one would read a flipbook or operate a movie reel in order to understand the visual narrative.
Another factor contributing to the oversight of Maya animations is the widespread adoption of rollout photography, pioneered by American photographer Justin Kerr. Kerr's technique, aimed at cataloging Maya ceramics worldwide, converted their three-dimensional forms into flattened two-dimensional images, facilitating instantaneous viewing of the entire artwork.
While rollout photography offers advantages in comprehensive representation and ease of dissemination, its two-dimensional format distorts the intended reception of the artwork, fostering a collective interpretation among Maya scholars. In response to these limitations, museums are increasingly exploring alternative methods, such as mapping Maya ceramics into three-dimensional computer models. Collaborating with the Princeton Museum, our website Maya Gods of Time created 3D ceramic models, enabling visitors to manually rotate the models and experience the intended visual narrative.
Maya artisans did not envision their artworks to be consumed instantaneously; rather, they employed the rotation of ceramics to infuse animation, akin to flipping through the pages of a flipbook. These Maya animations unveil a realm of metamorphosis, where figures undergo transformations. Contrary to previous interpretations associating different characters with these figures, our analysis suggests that they depict multiple sequential actions of a single individual. For instance, the renowned Princeton Vase, often dubbed the Vase of the Seven Gods, might more fittingly be named the Vase of the Three Gods.
Revealing Hidden Animation in Maya Monumental Art
There are additional instances of animated imagery present in Maya monumental art beyond the animated elements found on ceramics. These examples, existing in plain sight for centuries, require the viewer's gaze to traverse the length of mural walls at sites like Santa Rita and Bonampak, across platforms at Chichen Itza, or between opposing sides of stone monuments at places such as Quiriga.
To unravel these animations, one must discern the differences between successive images and engage in imaginative interpretation. Maya artists ingeniously incorporated visual puzzles, inviting observers to discover the concealed messages regarding their civilization's perception of time, providing an enjoyable experience for visitors to archaeological sites and museums.
Exploring stone monuments or passing between lintels at sites like Yaxchilan and Bonampak mirrors the rotational motion involved in viewing a ceramic, prompting the activation of Maya animations. In these scenarios, it is the movement of the observer that brings the static images to life.
Maya animations, previously overlooked by tourists and archaeologists alike, are prevalent at the majority of major archaeological sites spanning Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. These animations rejuvenate sites such as Palenque, Chichen Itza, Bonampak, Tikal, Yaxchilan, Tulum, Lamanai and Copan, among others, by adding an additional philosophical layer for visitors to contemplate while admiring the artwork. Unlike deciphering glyphic texts, which necessitates years of study to grasp, understanding Maya animations is comparatively straightforward and can be mastered with relative ease.
Unveiling the Concept of “Interbecoming” in Maya Art
One more reason why scholars overlooked the numerous animations woven into Maya artwork involves instances where moving images are found between pairs of distinctly different figures. To tackle this challenge, we have recently finished cataloging the various animations identified in the Late Classic Bonampak murals located in Mexico.
Deciphering the animations within the Bonampak murals poses a greater challenge, prompting us to develop resources on our website to present the murals in their original, unaltered state. Mastering the interpretation of these moving images requires acknowledging that while the depicted figures may portray different characters, they are inherently linked.
This reflects the Maya worldview, which perceives diverse elements of the universe as interconnected and interrelated, including the actions of various individuals. Mesoamerican scholar Marcos coined the term “interbecoming” to encapsulate this belief, representing a dualistic framework central to Mesoamerican spirituality, wherein living and inanimate entities in the world are both distinct and interconnected.
The Symbolic Significance of Three in Maya Culture
During our research we observed that numerous animations exhibited a pattern of threes. Historically, the number three has been linked to the wind deity, aligning neatly with our theory on animation representing unseen wind motion. Surprisingly, despite scholars acknowledging the symbolic importance of numbers in Maya belief systems, the significance of the number three in this context has been largely overlooked.
For instance, the Maya associated the number nine with the underworld layers and 13 with the sky layers. Additionally, the number 20, corresponding to the total number of fingers and toes, held significance in counting and calendrical systems, while four symbolized the cardinal directions and colors in Maya cosmology. Our research introduces the idea that three symbolized time and was intertwined with concepts of transformation and sound, evident in the murals' animations.
Our novel theory posits that the concept of three extended to the arrangement of stones in temples, stelae and lintels throughout the Maya region. For example, at sites like Chichen Itza, Quirigua, Bonampak and Palenque, each stone formation was associated with a triad of deities linked to the notion of time.
These three divine entities represented foundational aspects of Maya philosophy and existence. Their pervasive presence is particularly apparent in the art and animations of the Bonampak murals, where the triadic themes of time, motion, and sound converge to portray and honor the three essential lords of life and death: the Gods of Birth, Growth and Death — the Maya Deities of Time.
Top image: A Late Classic Chama-style vase in which the researchers have discovered an animated sequence. Source: Public domain
By Jennifer and Alexander John
References
Chinchilla Mazariegos, O. 2017. Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Christenson, A J. 2007. Popol Vuh, The Sacred Book of the Maya: The Great Classic of Central American Spirituality, Translated from the Original Maya Text. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
John, J. and A. 2018. The Maya Gods of Time. Koyopa Press.
John, J. and A. 2019. The Maya Gods of Time. Available at: www.mayagodsoftime.com
Kerr, J. 2000. The Maya Vase Book: A Corpus of Rollout Photographs of Maya Vases, Vol. 6. New York: Kerr Associates.
Marcos, S. 2006. Taken from the Lips: Gender and Eros in Mesoamerican Religions. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
Maudslay, A. P. 1889-1902. Biologia Centrali-Americana: Archaeology, Vols. I-VI. London: R H Porter and Dulau and Company.
Nielson, J and S Wichmann, 2000. “America’s first comics? Techniques, contents, and functions of sequential text-image pairing in the Classic Maya period” in Magnussen A. and Christiansen, H-C. (eds.). Comics and Culture: Analytical and Theoretical Approaches to Comics, 59-77. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen.
Robicsek, F., Hales D. M. and Coe, M. D. 1981. The Maya Book of the Dead: The Ceramic Codex, The Corpus of Codex Style Ceramics of the Late Classic Period. Charlottesville, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, University of Virginia Art Museum.
Wichman, S. and Nielson, J. 2016. “Sequential Text-Image Pairing among the Classic Maya” in Cohn, N. (ed.). The Visual Narrative Reader. 283-313. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Simply incredible! Fantastic stuff here on the Maya and animation.
Just proving that every society operates within it's own perceived framework of "reality". Reminds me that my own mother-in-law, who at the time was in her nineties & very heavily into her rather extreme religious beliefs, insisted that it was not possible that men had walked on the moon "because God would not have allowed humans to walk on 'his' moon" ! So, to her, it was all fake !