Iconography based on a rollout of pre-Columbian polychrome Mayan vase.

This 8th century polychrome Mayan vase pictures bizarre cult dances and is considered the most important painted Maya scene which remains in Guatemala, Central America. Vase pictures naguals (wayob) animal spirit companions such as jaguars. The iconography of the scene and the style of the Primary Standard Sequence of hieroglyphs of this one vase is quite informative for archaeologists and art historians.

Rollout of a section from the "Castillo Bowl," the most important pre-Columbian Maya vase in the museum collection. The entire rollout is 14 feet long (over 4 meters long!).

This vase was first published in 1978 in TIKAL COPAN Guidebook by Nicholas Hellmuth. Since then it has traveled around the world appearing at major international exhibits.

Due to the iconographic and epigraphic importance of this bowl, it was deemed useful to do a precision rollout. No stretch, no compression, computerized accuracy.

The Primary Standard Sequence (PSS) of hieroglyphs around the rim includes the Tikal Emblem Glyph and the name of Ruler A, the great king of Tikal who is buried under Temple I.