Monkeys in the Ancient Maya Civilization

A young spider monkey with its mother. Credit: Kevin Lafferty, USGS.

Two monkeys are found in the Maya area: the Central American spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), the mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata), and the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra). Monkeys in ancient Maya times were part of the Maya’s lives in multiple ways. The Maya made them part of their religious beliefs, but they also were used more practically.

In Religion

A vessel from 600 AD to 900 AD. Courtesy of
LACMA.

There were monkey gods who were patron gods of the arts connected with scribes. (Versions of these two gods may or may not be in the Popol Vuh, as the Hero Twins’ older half-brothers, Huun Chuwen and Huun Bats’ or One Artisan and One Monkey. They had lots of talents and could even see the future, but were mean to the Hero Twins -- who turned them into monkeys.) No one knows what kind of monkey the gods were supposed to looked like. There has been a view, though, that wonders if the Maya connected howler monkeys with their various arts. 

Somewhat connected to this is the monkey-headed god C -- which isn't thought to be a god now. Instead archaeologists currently think god C is just a way the Maya said "supernatural being" or "god."

Other than gods, the ancient Maya thought that there were wahys -- a kind of spirit being (see more here) -- that were monkeys.

In Art

A Peten region plate from between 600 AD
and 900 AD showing a "supernatural monkey".
Courtesy of LACMA.

The ancient Maya used monkeys to represent the idea of doing things you shouldn't really do. They also connected monkeys with being creative. Examples of things the Maya drew monkeys doing include drinking and dancing.

Practical Use

Among the animals the ancient Maya hunted for food were howler and spider monkeys. However, it must be said, archaeologists haven't found that many monkey bones at sites so far. 

Consideration: Species

There’s a view that it’s possible that during ancient times, the Maya area may have been home to five kinds of monkeys: two species of howler monkey, the capuchin monkey, and two types of spider monkey. 

Detail of Plate 39 of "Animal Figures in the Maya Codices".

References:
Google Books: Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya"; Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos; 2017

Cambridge Core: "Revisiting Monkeys on Pots: A Contextual Consideration of Primate Imagery on Classic Lowland Maya Pottery"; Prudence M. Rice. Katherine E. South; 29 December 2015

Google Books: "Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul"; Andrew K. Scherer; 2015

Google Books: "Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica"; Anne S. Dowd, Susan Milbrath (editors); 2015

Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey (editor); 2015

Google Books: "Maya Figurines: Intersections between State and Household"; Christina T. Halperin"; 2014

LANGUAGE: "Journal of Mesoamerican Languages and Linguistics" Vol. 1, No. 1: 1-34, 2008; K'U: The Divine Monkey; Brian Stross

Google Books: "Animals & Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide"; Victoria Schlesinger"; 2001

Cambridge Core: "Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus capucinus) and the Ancient Maya"; Mary Baker; 1992(published online: 10 October 2008)

Image Credits:
USGS: "Baby Spider Monkey Snacking While Clinging to Mom"; Kevin Lafferty, USGS; December 4, 2013

LACMA: Vessel with Young Lord and Monkey

LACMA: Plate with Supernatural Monkey

Project Gutenberg: "Animal Figures in the Maya Codices"; Alfred M. Tozzer. Glover M. Allen; 1910