Role of women in Mayan society and culture.

Women are pictured only occasionally in Maya stone sculpture but females are often painted on Mayan vases. The FLAAR Photo Archive includes hundreds of photographs of females in ancient Mayan art.

Iconography, the study of meaning in art, is an academic discipline used to analyze what is pictured on Maya vases. Iconography is a key area of scholarly analysis of ancient art within the wider field of pre-Columbian studies.

Rollout photographs are the easiest means of showing the entire circumference of the Maya pots. Two rollouts here show women in rituals, ceremonies, and myths.

Wide format inkjet print of Mayan vase rollout showing a woman
Mayan female on polychrome Mayan vase, a enlargement on a wide format inkjet printer.

The giant insect or humming-bird like creature is treating the woman's breast as a flower. Another section of this Codex Style vase depicts God D, the Crocodile Tree, and other mythical deities. The presence of God D associated with a Crocodile Tree monster allies this scene with one presented in Nicholas Hellmuth's book, "Monster and Men in Maya Art," (ADEVA, Graz, and FLAAR, St Louis).

The female painted on this Mayan vase is richly adorned with jewelry. Her costume is the typical wrap-around textile which most women wear in throne scenes from the Classic Maya period of the Peten region, Guatemala.

Rollout of a polychrome Maya vase, copyright FLAAR Photo ARchive.

 

Related links
Volunteer opportunities to study Maya iconography directly with ancient Maya art in Guatemalan museums Women on Preclassic Maya figurines/female assisting the Maize God on Late Classic polychrome Mayan vase
Fine-line incised Maya bowl, results of another 70mm rollout camera, a system made in Belgium Directory of links to other Maya vase rollouts
Gateway to Maya vase rollouts in Maya-archaeology Gateway to Maya vase rollouts on another web site, www.digital-photography.org