Emblem Glyphs

Detail of a relief that dates to the 700s AD. Among
the glyphs, you can spot several emblem glyphs.

Rediscovered in the late 1950s, the emblem glyph (actually made of several glyphs) is an ancient Maya title. It is understood to translate as "holy lord of such and such place" -- with each city-state's/polity's name put in the "such and such place" spot. When used, an emblem glyph would be placed next to the ruler's name. As to their meaning, debate still exists as to the nuances this title held in ancient Maya thought.

Rediscovery
It was a man named Heinrich Berlin who began the rediscovery of emblem glyphs. In 1958, Berlin found that there were certain groups of three glyphs that only changed one glyph, the "main sign." He thought that these glyph groups, which he called emblem glyphs, seemed to be about founding families or the names of places. 

Setup
An emblem glyph, in one view, starts with the adjective k’uhul. This is made of the k’uh glyph (the god C glyph, which looks like a head) paired with a glyph that the Maya popularly drew as one or more curving rows of dots with a “k’an cross” on top. (A k’an cross is a cross surrounded by a circular border.) 

To the right of the k’an cross was a glyph for ajaw or “lord”. Under the ajaw glyph went the “main sign,” which the Maya tended to place “on top” of the k’uh glyph. 

Alternately, you may see that the glyph with the rows of dots is transliterated as k’ul or ch’ul -- with no mention of k’uhul or layering. A third alternate you may find is it being transliterated as k'uhul.

How They're Read

One of several known emblem glyphs for the Kaan,
or perhaps Kan, kingdom aka the "snake kingdom."

Even though the usual method for successfully reading Mayan inscriptions involves reading top, left, then right, that's not how emblem glyphs are read. Instead, it's understood that the ajaw glyph is really said last -- even though it is on top of the "main sign" glyph. For example, Tikal's emblem glyph is read ch'ul/k'ul mutul ajaw, with mutul being the reconstructed name for the site.

Who Used Them 
Both rulers of city-states that controlled other city-states as well as rulers of city-states that were controlled used emblem glyphs. And there are some sites that use the same emblem glyphs -- like Palenque and Tortuguero. (Which could mean different things, including the possibility that they were both ruled by rulers from the same royal family.)

Archaeologists have also found inscriptions where pairs of people -- brothers or sons and fathers -- both have the emblem glyph. However, the more important of the two has kaloomte' as part of their titles, while the less important one doesn't. One theory about this says that these were times where sites (such as Calakmul) were ruled by two people at once, with one being more powerful than the other. Another possible explanation is that the younger of the two people is being described as a future ruler.

As to their location in an inscription, that depends on the time period you look at. Before 500 AD, the ancient Maya would put it either before or after a ruler's name -- after 500 AD, they just did the latter.

Possible Meanings
It’s not entirely certain what emblem glyphs were referring to. They might be names for lineages, for a location or for dynasties.

There’s also a theory you might see that wonders if emblem glyphs main signs were names for “origin places” – and that an emblem glyph may have been a statement of power. That is, an emblem glyph was a ruler’s way of declaring that he or his ancestors were given the right to rule from his emblem glyph's origin place.

Consideration: Unidentified Emblem Glyphs
There are emblem glyphs that archaeologists do not know the sites for. One example is the Water Scroll emblem glyph. The Maya wrote about it in inscriptions that date to between the 500s and 700s AD. A theory suggests that the Water Scroll emblem glyph was the emblem glyph of the Belize site Altun Ha.

References
Cambridge Core: "Ancient Mesoamerica" Volume 29 Issue 1: "Kings of the East: Altun Ha and the Water Scroll Emblem Glyph"; Christophe Helmke, Stanley P. Guenter; Phillip J. Wanyerka; Spring 2018

Maya Decipherment: "Secrets of the Painted King List: Recovering the Early History of the Snake Dynasty "; Simon Martin; May 5, 2017

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

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

The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago: Oriental Institute Seminars: Number 4; "Religion and Power"; Nichole Brisch (editor); 2008 (Second printing with minor corrections, 2012)

Google Books: "The Ancient Maya" Sixth Edition; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

Mesoweb: "PARI Journal" Volume 6, Issue 2: "Of Snakes and Bats: Shifting Identities at Calakmul"; Simon Martin; 2005

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Stela Fragment with Glyphs

Image Credit:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Relief with Enthroned Ruler

LACMA: Dynastic Vase (used as a model for the Calakmul emblem glyph image.)

Bats and the Ancient Maya

This Guatemalan vessel, dated around 650 AD to 850 AD, has bat heads
painted on it. From LACMA.

All kinds of bats (or zotz (also spelled sotz') in a lot of Mayan languages) live in the Maya area. It makes sense then, that bats became part of the Maya civilization, including religious beliefs, their writing system, and their calendar.

What the Maya Thought of Bats

Two things the ancient Maya connected bats to were caves and the underworld -- they also thought that bats were messengers from the underworld. The Maya also connected bats with sacrifice -- they drew bats with symbols of sacrifice, like “death eyes” around their neck (or on their wings) and a sort of split scroll coming out of its mouth that might be a symbol for blood.

Three other possible views the ancient Maya may have had – according to a paper called Bats and the Camazotz: Correcting a Century of Mistaken Identity are: as a wahy, a choice for a city name, and as a pollinator.

The Bat God

Starting with Eduard Seler’s conclusion about images on a pot, it’s now thought that the ancient Maya believed in a bat god – archaeologists call this god Cama Zotz’. This name comes from a bat god in the Popol Vuh, a Quiche (also K’iche’) “bible”. This god was connected with death. (It must be said though, that Maya experts don’t have a lot of info about this god outside of vessels taken from burials found in the Maya highlands.)

However, the paper Bats and Camazotz not only has the view people interpret bat images as this deity too often – but also doubts that Seler’s conclusion was right. (This doubt comes from the fact that they haven’t found any pre-contact images of the Hero Twins in the House of Bats.)

Agricultural Significance

Speaking of pollination, a lot of plants that the ancient Maya used were pollinated by creatures (as opposed to wind pollination, like corn.) This includes certain kinds of bats, like Underwood's long-tongued bat (Hylonycteris underwoodi).

A detail from an image of Haab months
from An Introduction to the Study of the
Maya Hieroglyphs. From Project Gutenberg.

In Mayan Writing 

The Maya had different glyphs (or perhaps versions of one glyph) that were bat heads – and they used these bat glyphs (or perhaps versions of one bat glyph) in different ways. For one thing, it looks like they may have used it (or them) for several syllables, including “xu” and “tz’i”. (As to whether or not there is more than one distinct bat glyph, that seems to be under debate.)

They also used a bat head glyph as a logogram, and when they did you will see descriptions that say you pronounce it zotz/sotz’. (There is a theory that in Classic Period inscriptions, though, it ought perhaps to be pronounced sutz’.) They used this logogram for the fourth month of the solar calendar (the Haab.)

A bat glyph was also used to represent "mother of" or “mother of child” in inscriptions -- specifically, for when the mother of that person was alive. For this, the bat glyph also has two syllable signs with it, one for “ya” and one for “na.”

Bat glyphs have also been used as part of “emblem glyphs” or city names. Both Calakmul and Copan had a glyph that was a bat head as part of their emblem glyphs. (Calakmul also had an emblem glyph that used a snake’s head instead of a bat’s head.) 

Consideration: Which Bat is the Bat Glyph?

According to a 2009 paper by Erik Boot, people tend to accept that that the model for the glyph was a species of leaf-nosed vampire bat. This paper also wonders if the model might have been the American false vampire bat because ancient Maya art liked to show powerful carnivores, like alligators and jaguars. (The American false vampire bat is the biggest you can find in North America – at the largest, its wingspan can be as wide as three feet!)

References:

Cambridge Core: "Latin American Antiquity" Volume 27, Issue 2: "Bats and the Camazotz: Correcting a Century of Mistaken Identity"; James E. Brady, Jeremy D. Coltman; June 2016

Mesoweb: "Temple of the Night Sun: A Royal Tomb at El Diablo, Guatemala"; "Chapter 1: "A Tomb and Its Context"; Stephen Houston, Sarah Newman, Thomas Garrison, and Edwin Román; 2015

Google Books: "The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millenia of sustainable Cultivation of the Tropical Woodlands"; Anabel Ford, Ronald Nigh; 2015

Academia.edu: “Mexicon” Volume 36, Number 2; “A Drum Altar from the Vicinity ofYaxchilan”; Nikolai Grube and Camilo Alejandro Luín; April 2014

Caracol Archaeological Project: "Reevaluating the Late Classic Lu-Bat Glyphic Phrase: The Artist and the Underworld"; Patrick B. Carroll; 2010

Asociacion FLAAR Mesoamerica: Bats in Maya Art; Antonieta Cajas; June 2009

Maya Vase Database: “The Bat Sign in Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: Some Notes and Suggestions, Based on Examples on Late Classic Ceramics; Erik Boot; 20 February 2009

Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive: "Parentage Statements and Paired Stelae: Signs of Dynastic Succession for the Classic Maya";  Daniel Moroni Stewart; 2008

Google Books: "Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America"; Kay Almere Read, Jason J. Gonzalez; 2000

FLAAR: Maya-archaeolgy.org: Bat Sculpture from Izabal or Alta Verapaz

USGS: Bat Population Data (BPD) Project: Hylonycteris Underwoodi (Underwood's Long-tongued Bat)

Image Credits:

LACMA: Vessel with Bat Heads

Project Gutenberg: "An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs"; Sylvanus Griswold Morley; 1915

Causes of the Collapse

Author’s note: No one can say for sure what the causes were or how the causes were connected. A newer view of the collapse says that each site has to be looked at on its own to see why it collapsed. Theories may be changed as new tests get better results, and archaeologists are able to ask better questions using these better results.

This is zoomorph P/the Great Turtle. It's at the site of Quirigua, and dates to
around 795 AD, during the time called the collapse.

For a chunk of time that lasted 200 plus years -- around the late 700s AD to around the early 900s AD -- the Maya area went through hardships and changes – a time that you may see called a collapse. Currently, it looks like more than one cause created this collapse. What were the causes? There are lots of theories and studies about what they might have been: drought, war, over-population, bad farming, changes in how trading happened, disease, and pollution. This post focuses on the first five, which you might commonly come across.

Drought

Evidence has been found that there may have been a bunch of really bad droughts that helped make the collapse happen. (Droughts were just part of ancient Maya life, but these possible droughts were a lot worse than usual.) The droughts may have been a very large cause of the collapse. When did they happen and how long were they?

As happens when dating ancient times, the dates of these droughts depend on the source. One book you can find dates for these droughts in is Why Did Ancient Civilizations Collapse?. This book says the droughts happened from 760 AD to 910 AD. It also says there were four droughts and that each of these droughts went on for three to nine years.

As for whether or not the droughts encouraged another possible cause -- war --, there is evidence that wars were going on before the droughts.

Over-Population

The population grew in the Maya area in the Classic Period. (More than one possible reason for the large population exists.) Because there were so many people, it may be that there wasn’t enough food to go around. And that might not have been the only kind of over population.

 This other kind of over-population that may have happened involved immigration. Too many people may have moved to places that were doing better, which made it harder for everyone in those places to get what they needed.

Bad Farming

This is related to the cause of over-population. Farmers may have started farming in ways that were bad for the environment, because there were so many people to feed. For example, they may have cut down too many trees to make room for fields. They may have also farmed so that they caused soil erosion.

War

With this possible cause, elite families getting bigger and bigger meant that it was getting harder to have “enough” of things that elites thought they had to have. From this tension, they may have started wars with each other more often, in order to get “enough” of these things.

Speaking of fighting, there are other theories about war – that is, it wasn’t just elites going to war against other elites. There’s a theory that commoners actually rose up against the elites – and that there may have been “Mexican” invaders (invaders from north of the Maya area).

Change in Trade

Another thing that may have helped make the collapse happen is a change in trade. It may be that the ancient Maya traders began to use sea routes way more than land routes. (There are a number of theories about how the ancient Maya did their trading.)

References

MDPI: "Climate" Volume 5: "The Role of Climate in the Collapse of the Maya"; Werner Marx, Robin Haunschild, Lutz Bornmann; 30 Novermber 2017

(Takes you to the abstract, which also has a link to the full paper.)

Google Books: "Why Did Ancient Civilizations Fail?"; Scott A.J. Johnson; 2017

Annual Reviews: "Annual Review of Earth andPlanetary Sciences " Volume 44; “Impacts of Climate Change on the Collapseof Lowland Maya Civilization”; Peter M.J. Douglas, Arthur A. Demarest, MarkBrenner, Marcello A. Canuto; June 2016

Google Books: "Beyond Collapse: Archaeological Perspectives on Resilience, Revitalization, and Transformation in Complex Societies"; Ronald K. Faulseit (editor); 2016

Ithaca College: “Symposium: TheIthaca College Honors Undergraduate Journal” Volume 5; 2016

Wiley Online Library: “Water Resources Research” Volume 52;"Conceptualizing socio-hydrological drought processes: The case of theMaya collapse"; Linda Kuil, Gemma Carr, Alberto Viglione, AlexiaPrskawetz, Günter Blöschl; 2016

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

Louisiana State University: LSU DigitalCommons: “Excavations and Interpretation of Two Ancient Maya Salt-Work Mounds,Paynes Creek National Park, Toledo District, Belize”; Rachel Mariah Watson;August 2015

Google Books: "The Oxford Handbook of Environmental History"; Andrew C. Isenberg (editor); 2014

ResearchGate: "Contributions in New World Archaeology" Volume 4; "Nakum and Yaxha during the Terminal Classic period: External relations and

strategies of survival at the time of the collapse "; Jaroslaw Zralka, Bernard Hermes; January 2012

PNAS: "Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences of the United States of America" Volume 109, Issue 45;Maya Collapse Cycles; Marilyn A. Masson; November 2012

Google Books: "Mesoamerica's Ancient Cities"; William M. Ferguson, Richard E.W. Adams; 2001

Image Credit:
NYPL Digital Commons:The Great Turtle. Quiriguá, Guatemala 

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

Jaguars

This jaguar image comes from the USFWS National Digital Library. It was
created by Gary M. Stolz.

Panthera onca, or the jaguar as it is commonly called, is a large cat that you can find from South America up into Mexico and even the United States' South West. Though they are large (Males can be 200 pounds) and are carnivores, they like to stay away from people -- though they will attack if upset.

The ancient Maya had a lot of cultural connections to this beautiful animal. They thought it was sacred and they looked at it as a symbol connected to royalty. Jaguars were also mixed into the ancient Maya's religious beliefs: among the supernatural beings they believed to exist, there were ones that had jaguar features.

Supernatural Beings
One supernatural being that had features of a jaguar was the Unen Balam -- the Baby Jaguar --, the Water Lily Jaguar, and possibly the Jaguar God of the Underworld. The Baby Jaguar is a being that was drawn on codex style vessels. The Waterlily Jaguar was an underworld god as was the Jaguar God of the Underworld, who may have been an aspect of the sun.

With Royalty

Also from the USFWS National Digital Library. Created by
John and Karen Hollingsworth. 

At least with what ancient Maya art shows, looks like among royalty, it was cool to wear jaguar skins - it was a way of saying "I'm royal and can wear this skin because of that fact." It was a symbol of their right to rule, their power over everything.

And royalty didn't just wear jaguar skins. The art shows that it was common for royal thrones in art to have jaguar pelts on them. Royalty also took jaguar skins to the grave. Based on the fact that jaguar foot bones (phalanges) have been found in royal tombs, it looks like royal people's bodies were laid down on jaguar pelt mats. (Other kinds of mats were also used.)

As an Art Design
Speaking of art, the ancient Maya liked to include the jaguar in different items, including items made of ceramic as well as jade items and in structures like temples and stelae. Artists started to put jaguars into their works as far back as 1,000 BC.

One kind of pottery painted design artists would create was this: they would paint a jaguar skin on their pots, so that it looked like a real skin had been put on it. This style became notably popular in the 600s AD. The artists would include "loops" that may be representing how the skin pulls when being dried on the drying board. They would also draw the edge of the skin either with a flat edge or a ragged edge.

Wahy
A type of spirit being that the ancient Maya believed in was the wahy. Wahys could look like different things, including animals. In fact, one way to draw the glyph for wahy is a face that is half person and half jaguar pelt.

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

Google Books: "The Life Within: Classic Maya and the Matter of Permanence"; Stephen Houston; 2014

Google Books: "The Maya Tropical Forest: People, Parks, and Ancient Cities"; James D. Nations; 2010

UMFA: Pre-columbian Art: Utah Museum of Fine Arts Evening for Educators; 10 March, 2004

The Free Dictionary: Encyclopedia: Jaguar

The Free Dictionary: Phalanx


Image Credits:
USFWS National Digital Library: Images: Jaguar; Gary M. Stolz

USFWS National Digital Library: Images: Jaguar; John and Karen Hollingsworth; April 18, 2008

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.)

Caves

Caves were special places to the ancient Maya. The Maya connected caves with a number of things, including the underworld, mountains, water, and corn -- which the Maya thought the creator gods had taken from a mountain to make people. Caves were also also places for burial and for holding rituals. Some of the more famous caves that the ancient Maya used are Naj Tunich and Actun Tunichil Muknal (Cave of the Crystal Sepulcher.)

The Mayan Name for Cave

It's thought that the ancient Mayan name for cave is either ch'en or ch'een, though people studying ancient Mayan writing are still making sure – and you may also find ch'é'en. (To keep things simple, this post will just use ch'een.) This word doesn't just mean cave though. It means a lot of other things too -- well, rock shelter, cenote, canyon, hole, and spring, for example.

The word also seems to somehow be connected to the idea of location or community. One view on this can be seen in Tikal: Paleoecology of an Ancient Maya City. This view says ch'een’s meanings include "city center" and “water cave.”

Added Features

The ancient Maya often changed the caves they used. One thing they would do is paint images of animals as well as people in the caves. Another thing they would do is carve things like heads, skulls, footprints and geometric shapes into the cave. They would also build things in them like tombs, stairways, platforms, and shrines.

Functions

In the ancient Maya view of the way the world worked, caves had a lot of different functions. I've separated the functions I've come across below.

Source of Water, Rain, Corn, and Clouds

The Maya thought that water, clouds and rain, came from caves. (The idea of clouds from caves isn’t so strange as it may seem -- the Maya area has tropical locations, and it is in tropical locations that clouds can form and come out of caves.) You may also find the view that there was a belief among the ancient Maya that lightning came from caves too.

Place of Sacrifice/Burial

One use the ancient Maya had for caves was as a place to put the dead. And it wasn’t just people who had died naturally. The Maya would also bury people they had killed as sacrifices in caves -- in fact, they would also go to really hard to get to sections of caves to sacrifice people. (The Maya also killed animals in caves as sacrifices.) It may even be the ancient Maya had caves for burying the bodies of their sacrifices as well as caves for burying people who had died but hadn't been sacrifices.

Source of Formations

The Maya used cave formations in rituals and not just in caves. There was a practice where a tall stalactite or stalagmite would be taken from where it formed and set up somewhere else. The stalagmite or stalactite could be set up inside the cave it formed in, just in a different spot – or was taken outside to be set up somewhere else.

Supernatural Doorway

The Maya thought that caves were connected with the Underworld. There are different views on how exactly the Maya thought the two were connected. One view says they thought caves were doorways that connected the human world to the underworld.  (There's also a view that the ancient Maya thought caves were parts of the underworld, not just doorways to it.) They thought that gods from the underworld sent things out through caves. (There's also a different view that caves were ways to talk to creator grandparent gods – and that these gods were believed to control the sea. Yet another view says that the ancient Maya thought that more than one rain god lived in caves.) The Maya would give the gods of the underworld offerings in these caves. 

Possible Use: Period Ending Rituals

One specific ways the ancient Maya may have used caves as places to have ritual celebrations – archaeologists have found evidence that these ritual celebrations were celebrating other rituals for “period ending.” (Period ending rituals were rituals for when a certain period of time had become complete, like a b'akt'un – a period of 144,000 days.)

Consideration: Diphrastic Kennings

The ancient Maya had special phrases that you may see called diphrastic kennings. These were pairs of words that sounded close to each other – but meant two different things -- that when put together were a way of saying an idea.

For example, one diphrastic kenning that had ch’een in it was chan ch’een. This translates as “sky cave” but means "world" or "universe." That is, all of reality. (There’s a view that says it’s possible that when the ancient Maya wrote ch’een, they were just using a short form of the diphrastic phrases that had ch’een in it.)

References:

Mesoweb: "The PARI Journal" Volume 17 Issue 4: "A Carved Speleothem Monument at Yaxchilan, Mexico"; Christophe Helmke; 2017

YouTube: "How caves showed me the connection between darkness and imagination | Holley Moyes | TEDxVienna"; TEDx Talks; November 22, 2016

Google Books: "Tikal: Paleoecology of an Ancient Maya City"; David L. Lentz, Nicholas P. Dunning, Vernon L. Scarborough (editors); 2015

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

Google Books: "Sacred Darkness: A Global Perspective on the Ritual Use of Caves"; Holley Moyes (editor); 2012

Western Oregon University: "From Out of the Earth: Water, Maize and Caves in Ancient Maya Myth and Religion"; Clara Scillian Kennedy; June 13, 2011

University of Central Florida: STARS: "New Perspectives On The Quatrefoil In Classic Maya Iconography The Center And The Portal"; Rachel K. Egan; 2011

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

"Google Books: "Maya Sacred Geography and the Creator Deities"; Karen Bassie-Sweet; 2008

Google Books: "Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time"; Prudence M. Rice; 2007

Mesoweb: "Maya Creator Gods"; Karen Bassie; 2002

UC Merced: Holley Moyes: Belize Cave Project

The Jester God

A piece of stone ("jadeite/omphacite, iron ore") worked to look like the Jester
God's bird form. It dates to the 600s AD to 700s AD and comes from either
Mexico or Guatemala.  Image from the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, and cropped by Glas Ysgrifen -- me.

"The Jester God" is a nickname created by the well-known Maya expert Linda Schele in the '70s for a figure in ancient Maya art whose headdress looks like a jester's hat. From a symbol worn as a jewel to a supernatural being of various things – to both of these possibilities -- there are all kinds of views on what the ancient Maya thought of the Jester God. This article will touch on the three forms as well as some of the views on it.

Forms

This image shows a jade pendant from Guatemala or Mexico
that dates to 200 AD to 600 AD. The top of the man's head has
 what the image's description calls a "beaded tassel" which it
says relates to the Jester God. From the Yale University
Art Gallery.

The Jester God is known for being drawn in three ways, known as forms. These forms are the fish or piscine form, the bird or avian form, and the maize or anthropomorphic form. The ancient Maya didn't always keep these forms separate when they drew them -- there was a practice of mixing the forms in different ways. (However, not everyone thinks these are three forms of the same being. Instead, some think these are three beings that are separate from each other.)

Anthropomorphic Form

Though spoken of as one, the maize/anthropomorphic form is actually two forms. The book Maya Imagery, Architecture, and Activity describes the one as like a corn kernel made a bit human. It also says other is a whole ear of corn that has been made somewhat human -- and unlike the other version, it has a more "human" looking face.

The Name of Paper also says there are two types of the anthropomorphic form. However, it says that the plant is a flower blossom – maybe a corn blossom – and that it doesn’t always have a human face. (It also says that when the Maya did draw it as a face, it was from the side.)

Fish Form

This form looks like a shark that's blooming. It has spiral pupils, which the ancient Maya drew for creatures connected to the underworld. Its forehead has two separate sections. This form has large nostrils and a snout that either goes upwards or is straight out. The Maya also drew it with "face fins" --  though you may see them called gills -- which you'll find either on the form's chin or not far from its cheek. Another notable feature was its teeth, which like its nose the Maya had two ways of drawing: one was to draw just one triangle-shaped tooth and the other was to draw serrated teeth. As for its tail, the Maya (when they drew it just as itself, without adding in other forms) drew it so that it was over the form's head.

The Name of Paper, which as mentioned above says the forms are separate beings, calls the fish form the Xoc Adornment.

Bird Form

This form tends to have square-ish eyes and square-ish pupils. Its nose is a “beak-snout” that has big nostrils. Like the fish form, the bird form's teeth too are also a notable feature and could be several shapes: one of the shape's the bird forms could be was similar to fangs. The Maya also would draw a mirror on this form’s forehead that fits she shape of the forehead. There's a theory that this form was, in its unique way, a fig tree. The Name of Paper describes this form as the "true" form of the Jester God.

Function

Different people have different ideas about what the Jester God was to the ancient Maya. You may see sources say that it was a living version of the world tree -- which also meant it was connected to the idea of "center," rulers, jade, and corn. You may also find descriptions that say it was the essence of paper items used for rituals -- that it was a living version of these things.

A view within the idea that the Jester God was a symbol (you may see it described as a symbol that was animate -- held life) of rulership says that Maya rulers wore images of the Jester God's bird form as a jewel on their heads in various ways, including on headbands -- and a ruler could wear more than one Jester God. 

There's also an outlook within the idea of the Jester God being connected to rulers that says paper headbands -- called sak hu’un, white paper -- with the Jester God's bird form on it were part of a ruler becoming a ruler officially. One theory I saw said sak hu'un were used for when a ruler got their ruler's name, and another said that they were used to make a ruler divine.

In the view that the Jester God was worn as a jewel by rulers, you will also find it said that it was very common to carve Jester God jewels out of green-colored stones they valued, such as jade. On a related note, the Maya would draw a Jester God jewel (using any one of the three forms) as part of the ancient Maya glyph for ruler, ajaw. They drew the jewel on the forehead of the face that also made up part of the glyph. (However, The Name of Paper questions the accuracy of saying Jester God jewels are the bird form and instead thinks they look more like the fish form -- which it calls the Xoc Adornment.)

This clay figurine's left cheek has a symbol on it
that its description says is connected to the Jester God.
It dates to between 600 AD and 900 AD and comes from
Mexico. From the Yale University Art Gallery.

The Maya had a practice where they would label items they'd drawn with glyphs. This included when they drew something that was paper: there are times when the ancient Maya drew the Jester God's bird form as part of items that are made of paper, such as codices. (And perhaps may be why it was drawn on the paper headbands of rulers.)

Speaking of paper, the ancient Maya also used the bird form in their glyphic writing. The bird form's head was used as a "head variant" glyph or as the main part of a head variant glyph – I have seen both descriptions. Either way, the ancient Mayan word this particular head variant glyph is huun or hu’n, depending on the conclusion of the person reconstructing the pronunciation -- I will be using huun.) Huun means a world of related things, including "paper,” “fig tree” (amate,) "book," and "headband."

Consideration: The Principal Bird Deity

Drawings of the Jester God made in the Classic Period have the same face as a supernatural being archaeologists call the Principal Bird Deity. In fact, it looks like these two a connection -- one idea is that the Jester God’s bird form came from the Principal Bird Deity.

Another Consideration: "Ux Yop Huun"

In various places, archaeologists have found a phrase: "ux yop huun." (You may see this phrase written as "ux yop hu'n.") One translation of the phrase is "Three Leaf Paper." The head of the Jester God's bird form  either is or is the "main part" of a head variant glyph for the huun part of the phrase. There's a theory that this might be the bird form's name -- depending on the source, you may read that it may have been or actually was the name for all three forms.

Ux yop huun may also be a name for a Juun Ajaw, whose name means One Lord. Juun Ajaw is one of the Hero Twins (also known as the Headband Twins.) If you have read or read about the Popol Vuh will have heard of that book's version of Juun Ajaw: Hunahpu/Jun Aj Puuh/Jun Ajpu. Jun Ajaw is known for shooting a giant bird with his blowgun. The Maya also liked to draw him with a paper headband.

References:

University of Calgary: "A Study of Dress and Identity in the Late Classic Maya Court"; Cara Grace Tremain;August 2017 (This will download when clicked.)

Google Books: "The Origins of Maya States"; Loa P.Traxler, Robert J. Sharer (editors); 2016

Mesoweb: "The PARI Journal"Volume 15, No. 4: "Once and Future Kings: Classic Maya GeopoliticsandMythic History on the Initial Series from Uaxactun"; Nicholas P.Carter; Spring 2015

Leiden University: "Personhood in MayaArt: A Theorhetical Perspective"; Laura Ann Osorio; March 3, 2015

Google Books: "Maya Imagery, Architecture, an Activity:Space and Spatial Analysis in Art History"; Maline D. Werness-Rude, Kaylee R. Spencer (editors); 2015

The University of Texas at Austin: Texas Scholar Works:University of Texas Libraries: "Sacrificing the Jaguar Baby :understanding a classic Maya myth on codex-style pottery"; PennySteinbach; May 2015 (Click on the PDF icon for it to download.)

Mesoweb: Maya Archaeology Articles: Maya Archaeology 2: "The Name of Paper: The Mythology of Crowning and Royal Nomenclature on Palenque's Palace Tablet"; David Stuart; 2012

Google Books: "Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time"; Prudence M. Rice; 2007

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Deity Face Pendant

Yale University Art Gallery: Warrior with Facial Decoration

Yale University Art Gallery: Pendant in the Shape of a Standing Ruler or Lord

Image Credit:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Deity Face Pendant

Yale University Art Gallery: Pendant in the Shape of a Standing Ruler or Lord

Yale University Art Gallery: Warrior with Facial Decoration