Avocados and the Ancient Maya

Avocados on the tree. From Pixabay uploader sandid.

Scientifically known as Persea americana, you may also know the avocado as the avocado pear or the more surprising-sounding alligator pear. Avocados (which grow on trees also called avocados) were in part domesticated by the ancient Maya, who used it in their diet -- and more.

Avocado in the Maya Calendar
The 14th month of the Haab', or solar calendar, was connected to avocados. The main part of the glyph was the glyph for avocado, which currently is thought to have been pronounced as "un." (On a related note, possible names for this month glyph are Uniw and Uniiw -- though you may have heard it called K'ank'in.) Below are drawings of K'ank'in as seen in a work by Sylvanus Griswold Morley called An Introduction to the Study of Maya Hieroglyphs.

In Religion
There was a belief among the ancient Maya that people who had died could come back as fruit trees -- and one such tree was the avocado. However, for this to happen, you had to have been important.

One place you can see the avocado tree in connection to a reborn ancestor is the sarcophagus of Pakal the Great (known by other names including Pacal.) Images of certain relatives of his were put on the sarcophagus, each one drawn near a fruit tree. Ix or Lady Yohl Ik'nal's (known by other names such as Lady K'anal-Ik'al and Lady Olnal) image is associated with an avocado tree.

The ancient Maya also had sacred groves, and they saw avocado trees as a worthy species to have in them.

Consideration: As a Place Name
In what is now Belize, a city-state seems to have been connected very strongly with the avocado. The name for this city-state -- or perhaps Pusilhá, one of its capitals -- included the glyph for avocado as its main part. In English, you may see Pusilhá called the Kingdom of the Avocado.

References:
Google Books: "The Maya and their Central American Neighbors: Settlement Patterns, Architecture, Hieroglyphic Texts, and Ceramics"; Geoffrey E. Braswell (editor); 2014

Google Books: "Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica"; Walter R.T. Witschey, Clifford T. Brown; 2012

ResearchGate: "Phyton" volume 29: "West Indian Avocado: Where Did It Originate?"; María Elena Galindo, Amaury martín Arzate; December 2010

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln: "Nebraska Anthropologist": "Domestication and Significance of Persea americana,the Avocado, in Mesoamerica"; Amanda J. Landon; 2009

University of California, San Diego: “Archaeological Settlement Patterns in the Kingdom of the Avocado”; Beniamino P. Volta; 2007

The Free Dictionary: Avocado

Mesoweb: Palenque Resources: Rulers: Genealogy of Rulers at Palenque

Mesoweb: Palenque Resources: Rulers: "The Rulers of Palenque" fifth edition; Joel Skidmore; 2010

Image Credits:
Pixabay: Hass Avocado, Avocados, Fruit, Food

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

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