Re-Creating Primordial Time: Foundation Rituals and Mythology in the Postclassic Maya Codices

Abstract

Studies of prehispanic Maya culture focus primarily on sites in the Classic period heartland-places such as Tikal, Calakmul, Copán, Palenque, and Yaxchilán, which reached their apogee during the sixth through ninth centuries.The northern Maya lowlands are less well known, with the exception of sites such as Chichén Itzá and those in the Puuc region.The time period after the depopulation of the great Maya cities, whether located in the northern or southern regions, has only recently been the focus of extensive research projects.This "Postclassic" period is a time of significant change in virtually all aspects of society.As our study shows, however, this time period is characterized by a continuation of mythological traditions from the Classic period, along with the introduction of new mythologies as a result of extensive cultural contact between populations in the northern Maya lowlands, the Gulf Coast region, and highland central and southern Mexico.The Maya codices provide the primary source of textual and iconographic information for studies of Postclassic Maya culture.Where and when the three manuscripts now residing in European collections were painted remains a source of conjecture, although few codical scholars would dispute a general provenience in the northern lowlands. 1Moreover, given the fragile nature of the material of which they are made, it seems likely that they were painted within a couple of generations of initial contact with Europeans in 1519.This is not to say, however, that the underlying content of the codices dates to this time period.Rather, as the work of recent scholars has demonstrated, many of the codical almanacs and tables reference astronomical and meteorological events dating from the Classic period, with the earliest dates corresponding to the fifth century (H.Bricker and

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