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SPIDER ECCENTRIC
MAYA CULTURE
NARANJO, GUATEMALA
COPYRIGHT JULY 31,
2014 PETER A. BOSTROM
CAST ILLUSTRATED
CAST
#PRE-6
SPIDER ECCENTRIC
MAYA CULTURE
NARANJO, GUATEMALA
This Mayan
eccentric obviously represents a spider. It has a large abdomen, a
narrow thorax in the center, two legs and what seems to be small jaws at
the front. Although it's a stylized version of a spider, the large round
abdomen and forward directional legs are the main features that
identifies it as an effigy of a spider. This eccentric is made of Colha
chert and it measures 2 3/16 (5.6 cm) long.
Spider images
have been around for a long time. They have been connected to powerful
myths around the world for thousands of years. The earliest spiders,
along with their webs, are painted on the walls of open rock shelters in
Spain that date to the Paleolithic Period, at least 10,000 years ago.
Images of spiders in North America have a strong connection to
women and weaving in the form of a mythical being called Spider Woman.
Spider images begin to appear more often in the U.S. on items made by
late Stone Age cultures in the eastern half of the country. But the
spider motif (design or pattern)
with its various meanings appear as far north as the Tlingit of North
America's Northwest Coast and as far south as Indian cultures in South
America. The spider myths do seem to coalesce in some way, as Franke
writes, "When one looks at the legends that relate to Spider Woman from
the Americas as a whole, one sees that although beliefs differ from
tribe to tribe, a relatively coherent image of Spider Woman emerges. She
is generally a premier goddess of earth and sky, a creator being and a
consort of the sun." But as the mythological interpretations are viewed
around the world, spiders can be seen as having either positive or negative
energy. As negative symbols they are associated with divination,
illusion, and ensnarement. As positive symbols they are related to good
luck, wealth, protection from storms and emblems of bringing heavenly
gifts.
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