Samabaj -- An Underwater Maya Site

Lake Atitlan (Lago Atitlán,) the resting place of Samabaj. Photo from the
The World Factbook, which is run by the CIA.

In the highlands of Guatemala is the deepest lake in Central America: Lake Atitlan. More than one site has been found in this lake, including Samabaj. Discovered in the 1994, this site has been likened to Atlantis, due to how it may have ended up in the lake. Samabaj even got noticed by National Geographic, which made a documentary on it.

Location
Samabaj is located in the southern part of Lake Atitlan (itself located in the Sololá Department) about 40 to 82 feet below the surface. (It changes.) Before it was submerged, the site was on an island. It is north of another site called Chuk'muk, which is on land.

Discovery

Original map created by NASA/JPL/NGA. Found on the
CIA World Factbook. Annotation for Lake Atitlan by me.

There are differing accounts on Samabaj's discovery. The account in Arqueología Subacuática  says that it was discovered in 1996 by Robert Samayoa Asmus.

In 1994, he had found an artifact (a vessel) and decided to see what all he could find -- he came to think that there had been a community that was now under the lake. Two years later, he found the site. Four years later, he got the site registered as an archaeological site.

Name Origin
Samayoa is the creator of the site's current name: Samabaj is a mix of Samayoa and "abaj" -- "stone" in more than one Mayan language.

History
Samabaj dates to the Preclassic Period. Specifically, items from the site date to around about 300 BC to 300 AD. This makes them date to around the Late Preclassic.

It's possible that Samabaj was an important Preclassic Period community for the basin that the lake is located in. Based off of artifacts found (including the remains of people's houses,) the site was not only a place where people lived, but was also a place for religious pilgrimage. It may have been important during the time when another site, Semetabaj (which had enjoyed power for a time) was no longer a living community.

Samabaj's life as a community ended around the time the Preclassic Period was ending/when the Classic Period was beginning. That is, around 300 AD, the lake rose over the the land that Samabaj was built on -- a natural disaster may have been what made the water rise. (One possibility is a volcano erupting.)

Where did the people go? It's possible they went to another site: Chuk'muk. Around the time the Classic Period began, Chuk'muk got bigger -- and it may be because the Maya of Samabaj moved there. (Speaking of Chuk'muk: interestingly, in this period it became an important community in the basin that Lake Atitlan is in.)

References: 
UNESCO: "Underwater archaeology: UNESCO to explore Lake Atitlán and compile register of best practices"; 02 June 2017

Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey (editor); 2016

Google Books: "Maya Pilgrimage to Ritual Landscapes: Insights from Archaeology, History, and Ethnography; Joel W. Palka; 2014

Google Books: "Arqueología Subacuática:  Amatitlán, Atitlán"; Guillermo Maya Amado, Sonia Medrano; 2011

Asociación Tikal: "Procesos Culturales y Patrones de Interacción en la Cuenca del Lago de Atitlán: 500 BC a 1,000 AD"; Tomás Barrientos, Marion Popenoe de Hatch, Carlos Alvarado; 2011

Universidad Francisco Marroquín: New Media: "Samabaj: un sitio sumergido en el Lago de Atitlán"; 24 September 2009

"Reuters": "Divers probe Mayan ruins submerged in Guatemala lake"; Sarah Grainger; October 30, 2009

Image Credit:
CIA: The World Factbook: Guatemala
(The 1st and the 13th photo in the gallery.)

Ancient Maya Beekeeping

Two copies of bee images -- one of which may be in front of a hive -- 
in the Madrid Codex,taken from "Animal Figures in the Maya 
Codices" (1910) with modification by the author.

That's right, the ancient Maya kept bees too! But they didn't keep honeybees, which belong to the genus Apis. Instead, the Maya back then raised one (or perhaps more)  bees from the Melipona genus -- made up of "stingless" bees, or bees without stingers that work. The history of this activity kept on even past the Conquest and into today -- its modern name is meliponiculture.

The Beginning

So far, it looks like the specific part of the Preclassic Period called the Late Preclassic is the oldest time that archaeologists know there were beekeepers among the ancient Maya. As to where it began in the Maya area, one possibility is a smaller area that included a part of Guatemala, Mexico and Belize. Another source states that the first Maya keepers of stingless bees came from the Yucatan Peninsula.

Species

As you read, the Maya kept at least one kind of stingless bee, these kinds of bees being species that cannot sting. The particular species that we know the ancient Maya kept from was Melipona beecheii. (They may have kept others species. In fact, one book used as a reference for this article said that they also raised species of the genus Trigona.)

Two common names and some spellings for M. beecheii are xunan kab/xunaan kaab/xunan cab and colelcab/kolil kab, which you may see translated as "royal lady bee," "lady bee," or other similar terms. For making hives, xunan kab only pick trees that have become hollow -- and the space in a tree has to be at least 12 inches or so across. They're known to be good pollinators of certain plants including vanilla, though they don't pollinate as many flowers when they're out and about as other bees in the same genus.

Hives

From what's understood, the ancient Maya kept their bees in hives that were hollowed out logs -- though some used other things, like limestone -- with the sides plugged up and with a hole on one long side as an entrance/exit. Archaeologists have found disks made of stone that they think were plugs for hives' short sides-- they've found this kind of disk in the Postclassic, Preclassic and Classic Periods. 

Products

The ancient Maya took both honey and cerumen -- or wax -- from their bees. The ancient Maya used xunan kab wax as a sort of lighter fluid for their torches. However, this wax not only spits but smokes when you light it, so when it comes to burning solid pieces of wax, honeybee wax is better for burning.

As for the honey, it has a texture that is thinner than honey from honeybees (of which a popular variety is Apis mellifera.) Its color is also darker, and the flavor of it is not the same as honeybee honey. One way the ancient Maya used it was in their cooking, using it, for example, as an ingredient in chocolate drinks. Another way they used honey was for religious purposes: as an ingredient in a drink used in rituals called balche -- a fermented mixture of honey, balche/balché (Lonchocarpus longistylus) bark, and water -- and as an offering to gods. A third way they used honey was in medicinal practices -- like honeybee honey, xunan kab honey's chemical makeup includes hydrogen peroxide, which can kill bacteria.

Gods

It seems that the ancient Maya had more than one god of bees. But one that we know about is Ah Mucen Kab. (You may also see other spellings, such as "Mucen" given instead as "Mucan," "Musen," or "Muzen.")  the Madrid Codex, you can see pictures of bees, hives and gods next to beehives -- such as Itzamná (god D) -- in pages that you may see called the bee almanac. Archaeologists think they've found examples of beehives and an image of Ah Mucen Kab as parts of the design of an incense burner/icensario/censer (from Cozumel) that may have been made around 1450 AD.

On a related note, there's a theory that says the ancient Maya thought of one of the Hero Twins, Xbalanque (also known as Yax Balam) had a connection with bees.

Consideration

Here's a 2011 video on the xunan kab (that I've also used as a reference) -- it includes some of what life is like for them and Maya beekeepers in modern times:

References:

"The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting"; Eva Crane; 1999

"University of Michigan Undergraduate Research Jounral" Volume 7: "Ancient Maya Beekeeping (ca. 1000 - 1520 CE)" Dylan M. Imre; 2010

"Pot-Honey: A legacy of stingless bees"; Patricia Vit, Silvia R.M. Pedro, David Roubik (editors); 2013

"Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide"; Victoria Schlesinger; 2001

Stanford University: "Cultural Factors in the Survival ofStingless Bee Domestication (Meliponiculture)among the Yucatec Maya"; Genevieve Dezso"; June 2014

"The Maya Tropical Forest: People, Parks, and Ancient Cities"; James D. Nations; 2006"

University of Wisconsin-La Cross: Multiple Organisms: Melipona beecheii BIO 203

YouTube: ""Honey for the Maya, a short film by Stephen Buchmann"; Stephen Buchmann; June 15, 2011

The Maya Hieroglyphic Codices: Madrid Codex: 104a-104a Frame: 2

Ix Wak Chan Ajaw (Lady Six Sky)

Author's note: The names of places refer to specific cities that are now archaeological sites, but they also refer to city-states that existed at the time.

Guatemala colored in blue.
From the CIA World Factbook.

When you see her name in English, it's Lady Six Sky or Lady Six Sky Queen. When written down in its original form you'll see Ix Wak Chan Ajaw or Ix Wac Chanil Ahau -- and there's also the mixture of English and Mayan, Lady Wac-Kan Ahaw. A child of Lady B'ulu' and a ruler named B'alaj Chan K'awiil, she became part of Calakmul's desire to keep a hold on Naranjo.

How she helped achieve this goal makes her and the politics of the time something of a mystery. Though it seems she always kept her connection to her home, this royal lady is known for being one of Naranjo's rulers, her reign taking place in the Late Classic (around 600 AD to 800 AD.) Which wasn't that common for when she lived.

Origin
Ix Wak Chan Ajaw came from the family that ruled Dos Pilas, located in the south of the Peten region, in Guatemala. Calakmul controlled Dos Pilas and B'alaj Chan K'awiil -- Ix Wak Chan Ajaw's father -- seems to have been completely fine with this.

Meanwhile, Naranjo wasn't. It had also been under Calakmul's power, but two rulers (the 36th and 37th) had tried to rebel. However, neither of these two rulers won their wars.

Because of their actions, Ix Wak Chan Ajaw was sent all the nearly 94 miles to Naranjo. She was to bring it properly back into Calakmul's hands. This is the mystery of Ix Wak Chan Ajaw, because from what archaeologists understand, ancient Maya rulers following tradition wouldn't have sent her. They would have ordered their second sons to go, not their daughters.

To achieve the goal of making Naranjo's acceptance of Calakmul's authority permanent, Ix Wak Chan Ajaw may have married someone who belonged to a different branch of Naranjo's royalty. This would have made that branch more impressive -- and whoever agreed to marry her would, of course, be agreeing to do what Calakmul wanted. Either that or her status was enough to start a royal line with whoever she married.

Yet it wasn't simply as a wife that she went. Ix Wak Chan Ajaw ruled.

Reign
Though you won't find her name in Naranjo's list of rulers, Ix Wak Chan Ajaw's reign began in 682 AD. From what this author can tell, this date is thought to be the start of her reign because of an inscription that says she arrived at her destination that year, on August 27th. This record may or may not be literally true, due to nuances around the word "arrive." (Apparently, there's a nuance connected to this word about starting royal lines.) At any rate, five years after she "arrived" at Naranjo, the future ruler of Naranjo was born.

The name of this future ruler name was K'ahk' Tiliw Chan Chaak, and he became Naranjo's ruler officially in 693 AD, even though he was five years old. K'ahk' Tiliw Chan Chaak (who is also known today by a number of names including Smoking Squirrel) may or may not have been Ix Wak Chan Ajaw's son -- the likelihood of this depends on who you talk to. But just because Naranjo had a new "real" ruler, it doesn't mean that Ix Wak Chan Ajaw's power ended.

(On a side note, one possible piece of evidence that she was his mother involves monuments. K'ahk' Tiliw Chan Chaak would always have a monument made for her each year -- each time he had a yearly monument made to mark his becoming Naranjo's ruler. These monuments seem to have been made to say that her lineage was the reason he deserved to be the ruler, which could mean he was her son.)

For instance, a stela at Naranjo called Stela 22 lists eight war-related events, starting in 693 AD -- these events seem like they must have been brought about through the orders of Ix Wak Chan Ajaw. (Though K'ahk' Tiliw Chan Chaak was ruler in title and was the one given the credit, he would seem to be far too young, at five years old.) K'ahk' Tiliw Chan Chaak seems to have eventually started ordering his own military actions, though.

Why did Ix Wak Chan Ajaw go to war so much? Some actions may have been for the sake of Calakmul. Others may have been because other nearby city-states thought they'd try their luck warring against Naranjo when a woman was ruler.

Death and Considerations
Ix Wak Chan Ajaw may have passed on in 741 AD, possibly on either February 11th or February 10th.  (A record of her passing was found at Dos Pilas.) No one knows whether or not K'ahk' Tiliw Chan Chaak ruled Naranjo after that, because he may have died before she did.

If she did live longer than K'ahk' Tiliw Chan Chaak, then she may have kept his successor from taking his place, continuing to rule Naranjo until she died too. You may even see 741 AD as the year listed for the end of her reign. However, since the death dates aren't nailed down, nothing is for sure. (On a related note, the successor, Yax Mayuy Chan Chaak, was taken in a war started by Tikal in 744 AD.)


References:

Mesoweb Encyclopedia: Lady Six Sky

Mesoweb Encyclopedia: K'ahk' Tiliw Chan Chaak

"Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey (editor); 2016

"Ancient Maya Women"; Traci Arden (editor); 2002

"The Maya Tropical Forest: People, Parks, and Ancient Cities"; James D. Nation; 2006

Obsidian -- A Sharp and Useful Material

Author's note: this post was last updated on 12/21/2017.

A piece of obsidian. From the USGS.

It begins with volcanoes: obsidian is a substance created when magma not only has a lot of silica in it but cools down so fast that it can't crystallize. (Depending on the definition, obsidian is either a rock or glass.) It is usually black and, though strong, it is also brittle. With the right skill, this igneous substance can be worked so that its edges are incredibly sharp. The ancient Maya thought very highly of obsidian, and -- though it seems that elites controlled it somewhat -- everyone used it.

Where They Got It

The information with this image (again from
the Y.U. Art Gallery) states that this 9 inch long
blade may or may not be from the Maya area.
The information also says that it was made
anywhere from the 300 AD to 900 AD.

When it comes to where they got their obsidian, archaeologists have found the Maya had more than one source. One source was special: the obsidian was green, and came from north of the Maya area, in the Valley of Mexico. (Archaeologists call the source area for this kind obsidian Cerro de las Navajas ("Hill of the Knives,") and they call the obsidian Green Pachuca.)

All of the known sources of ancient Maya obsidian are in Guatemala. One is in the Motagua Valley and today, it is called El Chayal. Another source is in the Southern Highlands and now has two names, Río Pixcaya and San Martín Jílotepeque. A third known source is in southeast Guatemala and is called Ixtepeque.

Shaping It: Pressure Flaking and Percussion Flaking
When obsidian breaks, it breaks conchoidally. (You may also read descriptions that say it has a conchoidal fracture.) This means that when a piece breaks off, that piece will look not entirely unlike a clam shell. Because of this physical feature, the Maya -- and other peoples -- used two methods for creating objects out of obsidian. These methods were pressure flaking and percussion flaking. (The ancient Maya shaped shaped their chert/flint tools this way too.)

With pressure flaking, a person uses a sharpened piece of something like hardwood or antler to sort of press and lift pieces off of the stone. With percussion flaking, a person can use either a "soft hammer" or "hard hammer" -- though a soft hammer is the better choice for obsidian. (The difference between a soft hammer and a hard hammer is what they're made of. Soft hammers are made of things like certain types of hardwood and antler, and so get more of the force they send out sent back into them than hard hammers, which are made of certain substances like granite.)

Trading

According to the information posted
with this image (from the Yale University
Art Gallery,) this 6 inch blade may or may not
be Maya. It was made anywhere from 100 AD
to 1500 AD and may have been from the Classic
Period.

The ancient Maya obsidian trade actually went out into other parts of Mesoamerica. The first step in this trade were workshops (which were commonly near a source of obsidian.) At these workshops, obsidian workers turned pieces of obsidian into "cores." That is, the pieces were shaped but not into anything specific. The communities that got the obsidian had their own workshops to make what they wanted out of the cores.

What They Crafted with It
The ancient Maya created a host of items with obsidian, some of which involved cutting. For example, they made projectile points. For another, they made blades, including a type known as the prismatic blade.

The prismatic blade has two cutting sides and is thin as well as a little bit curved -- its style of make means that they don't need to have resharpening done. Prismatic blades were what the Maya liked to use whenever they cut themselves for religious bloodletting. (But they may also have used this kind of blade for non-religious, everyday things.)

The Maya also wore obsidian about their person. Which is to say, they would make a type of earring called an earflare -- or earspool -- with it. (They also would make earflares with other things, one of which was jade.)

Yet another variety of item that the ancient Maya created using obsidian (and chert/flint) was what's now called the eccentric flint. Eccentric flints are shaped pieces of stone that may have had a number of ritual uses.

References:
Google Books: "Ancient Maya Commerce: Multidisciplinary Research at Chunchucmil"; Scott R. Hutson; 2017

Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey; 2016

Google Books: "Obsidian Reflections: Symbolic Dimensions of Obsidian in Mesoamerica"; Marc N. Levine, David N. Carballo (editors); 2014

Google Books: "The Technology of Maya Civilization: Political Economy and Beyond in Lithic Studies"; Zachary X. Hruby, Geoffrey E. Braswell, Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos (editors); 2011

Wesleyan University: WesScholar: "Toward a “Full Biography of Obsidian”: Studies ofObsidian Use and Exchange in the Maya Area"; Laura Heath; April 2011

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian: Living Maya Time: Glossary

The Free Dictionary: Obsidian

The University of Iowa: The Office of the State Archaeologist: Flintkapping

Yale University Art Gallery: Obsidian knife blade

Yale University Art Gallery: Blade, pointed both ends

Image Credits:
USGS: Obsidian

Yale University Art Gallery: Obsidian knife blade

Yale University Art Gallery: Blade, pointed both ends

Cinnabar -- A Dangerous Mineral

Cinnabar is a common name for mercuric sulfide (meaning it is made of mercury and sulfur) -- a mineral that can release mercury via the heat from hands. It was a trade item not only in Mesoamerica but also in South America. The most likely area the ancient Maya would have mined cinnabar is the highlands. They would use cinnabar in and of itself and for extracting the mercury from it.

What was the significance of this mineral? The ancient Maya may have thought cinnabar was sacred due to its color red. Red to the ancient Maya may have been associated with the east (which may be connected to the rising sun) and with blood, a sacred substance.

Funerary Rites
Cinnabar was also used in funeral rites. Skeletons covered with cinnabar (or sometimes hematite) have been discovered, and the ritual seems to vary. In some burials such as Tikal Burial 10, the head seems to be the most important part for the cinnabar covering ritual.

One famous example of cinnabar coated skeleton is lord Pacal. Another instance is of the "Red Queen" who was buried in tomb near lord Pacal's tomb. The reason they did this isn't entirely clear, but this practice may have been done in connection to the sacred color, possibly even meaning resurrection.

Other Rituals
Both mercury and cinnabar have been found in places where rituals were performed. According to Robert. J Sharer, "In rituals involving fire, the Maya priests would burn cinnabar, transforming it into metallic mercury with mysterious qualities."

Pigment
Ancient Maya painters used different kinds of substances to make paints. Among these substances was cinnabar, cinnabar as a kind of paint. However, cinnabar tends to darken. Funerary goods, such as incense burners (and in one instance, lord Pacal's sarcophagus), were also sometimes painted with cinnabar.

Decorative Coating
Ancient maya craftsmen would sometimes use cinnabar on jade. They would coat the jade with a very thin layer of copal, and then apply cinnabar.

 Consideration: Containers of Mercury
At Belize, archaeologists found various items -- including about 0.67 ounces of cinnabar, a container with about 3.5 ounces of hematite -- and and other things on top of a pool of mercury. Two possible areas the mercury for this are the Matapan Formation (located in west Honduras) and the Todos Los Santos Formation (located in Guatemala).

Containers of mercury have also been uncovered from underneath mud. Archaeologists working at Guatemala's Lake Amatitlan uncovered two containers that possessed mercury. These containers are understood to be from the Early Classic period (around 300 AD to 600 AD).

References:

"Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World: 1500 Years of Inventions and Innovations"; Emory Dean Keoke, Kay Marie Porterfield; 2009

"The Maya and Teotihuacan: Reinterpreting Early Classic Interaction"; Geoffrey E. Braswell; 2003

"Death and the Classic Maya Kings"; James L. Fitzsimmons; 2009

"Exploring Maya Ritual Caves: Dark Secrets from the Maya Underworld"; Stanislav Chládek; 2011

"Archaeomineralogy"; George Robert Rapp; 2009

"Mercury In The Environment: Pattern and Process"; Michael S. Bank; 2012

"Pulltrowser Swamp: Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture and Settlement in Northern Belize"; B.L. Turner; 2000