PAGE 5 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
MAYAN ECCENTRICS
A.D. 150 TO A.D. 1400
(ECCENTRICS)
PAGE 5 OF 6 PAGES
COPYRIGHT MAY 31, 2003 PETER A. BOSTROM
Decoration on western nunnery building at Uxmal.
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DECORATION ON WESTERN NUNNERY BUILDING
UXMAL SITE
YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO

   This carved decoration shows a small section from the most ornate frieze in the nunnery building complex. This outside wall decoration is located on the western nunnery building on the Maya site of Uxmal in Yucatan. Four buildings form the complex known as the nunnery court which was named by the Spanish. The buildings at Uxmal were constructed sometime between A.D. 700 to A.D. 1000. These structures and of course the eccentrics are some of the best evidence that there were many specialized craftsmen working within the Maya society.

      One theory for the beginning of the eccentric making tradition comes from the find of an early dated eccentric found in the highlands near Kaminaljuyu just north of Guatemala City. This single eccentric was found outside of the Maya lowlands in a Miraflores Late Preclassic (100 B.C.) burial. On the site of Altun Ha, in the northern Belize lowlands, eccentrics made from green Central Mexican obsidian have been discovered that date to the Proto-classic Period (A.D. 200). These green obsidian eccentrics were manufactured with a Teotihuacan style. The earliest eccentric find in the highlands and the later but still early Teotihuacan influenced green obsidian eccentrics from the Maya lowlands suggests a foreign influence for eccentric making. The idea of chipping eccentrics may have been diffused to the Maya lowlands by a Teotihuacan trade that began prior to the Early Classic Period.

Mayan serpentine form eccentric.
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MAYAN ECCENTRIC
SERPENTINE FORM WITH SIDE PROJECTIONS
MAYA CULTURE
BELIZE
PRIVATE COLLECTION

   This serpentine shaped eccentric doesn't seem to be one of the more common styles of Mayan eccentrics. One S-shaped eccentric was reported from Altar de Sacrificios in Guatemala. This one is more complex and appears to be in the shape of two S's stuck together with an addition of three projections. It measures 3 1/2 inches (8.9 cm) long.

   But wherever the idea originated from, the Maya were the ones who developed the eccentric making phenomenon to an extraordinary level. Some of the eccentrics they produced have no comparison in craftsmanship with any other Stone Age culture in the world.

Mayan curved serrated blade eccentric.
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MAYAN ECCENTRIC
CURVED SERRATED BLADE
MAYA CULTURE
BELIZE
PRIVATE COLLECTION

     This eccentric was made on a small curved biface. The addition of serrations on the outside edge finished the design. It has the appearance of a tool that would be hafted on the small end and used for cutting or sawing. But since Maya eccentrics exhibit no use wear, its use as a real tool is not very likely. This eccentric measures 4 inches (10.1 cm) long.

     Eccentrics have been found in a wide range of sizes. At Altar de Sacrificios in Guatemala they were as small as 1 3/16 inches (3 cm) long for a serrated triangle. On the sites of Altun Ha and Lamanai in Belize David Penderhast (1979; 1982) reported eccentrics as large as 30 3/4 inches (78 cm) long.

Mayan realistic scorpion eccentric.
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MAYAN ECCENTRIC
REALISTIC SCORPION DESIGN
MAYA CULTURE
BELIZE
PRIVATE COLLECTION

   This Maya eccentric is a good representation of a realistic scorpion form. The claws, legs and curved tail leave no doubt what the image represents. This eccentric measures 2 7/8 inches (7.3 cm) long.

   There have been several discussions about the numerical count of the eccentrics found within caches. Some people suggest that many caches tend to be found in counts of 9 and 13. The cache shown on page two of this article has 26 eccentrics which would be two 13's. The most spectacular Maya eccentric cache ever found from the 1989 find at Copan by Fash and Fasquelle contained 9 eccentrics.

Mayan crescent eccentric.
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MAYAN ECCENTRIC
CRESCENT DESIGN
MAYA CULTURE
BELIZE
PRIVATE COLLECTION

     Crescents are one of the more common forms of Maya eccentrics. They are also one of the more difficult forms to manufacture. This crescent has a plain edge. Other forms of crescents have serrated edges. Thirty-three crescents were found at Altar de Sacrificios, Guatemala. There are several different varieties of crescents. Some are C-shaped and have wide openings and narrow bodies. Others have wide bodies with a much smaller "notched area" removed in the center. The crescent illustrated here is the most advanced form and most difficult to manufacture. This style has a very narrow opening which can be as small as a 1/16 of an inch (1.1 mm) wide plus it is very narrow. This heavily patinated crescent is made of good quality chert and measures 3 1/16 inches (7.7 cm) wide. The opening measures slightly over 1/4 of an inch (6 mm) wide.

   The Maya people believed the sky was held up by five different trees and that heaven was divided into 13 layers, each with it own god. They also believed that the underworld was made of 9 layers and controlled by the "lords of the night" ruling over it.

CONTINUE ON TO PAGE SIX

"REFERENCES"

1946, "The Ancient Maya," by Sylvanus G. Morley, page 436.
1965, "Prehistoric Maya Settlements in the Belize Valley," by Gordon R. Willey, William R. Bullard, john B. Glass & James C. Gifford, pp. 25-28, 421, 445-452.
1971, "The Maya," by Michael D. Coe, pp.149-150.
1972, "The Artifacts of Altar De Sacrificios," by Gordon R. Willey, pp181-219.
1972, "Excavations At Altar De Sacrificios," by A. Ledyard Smith, pp. 110-113, 204-211.
1978, "Teotihuacan, Tepeapulco, & Obsidian Exploitation," Science 200, by Thomas H. Charlton, pp. 1227-1236
1983, "Pulltrouser Swamp," Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture, and Settlement in Northern Belize, 12. The Lithic Artifacts of the Pulltrouser Area: Settlements and Fields, by Harry J. Shafer, pp. 219-120.
1984, "Exploitation of Chert Resources by the Ancient Maya of Northern Belize, Central America," World Archaeology Vol. 16 No. 2, by Thomas R. Hester and Harry J. Shafer, pp. 157- 170.
1984, "Cenote of Sacrifice," edited by C. Chase Coggins & Orrin C. Shane.
1991, "Maya Artistry Unearthed," National Geographic, Sept. 1991, by William L. Fash, Jr. and Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle, pp. 94-105.
1991, "Maya Stone Tools," Selected Papers from the Second Maya Lithic Conference, The Flaked Cert Industry of Tikal, Guatemala, by Hattula Moholy-Nagy, pp., 197-199.
1991, "Maya Stone Tools," Selected Papers from the Second Maya Lithic Conference, Late Preclassic Formal Tool Production at Colha, Belize, by Harry J. Shafer pp. 31 &  38.
1991, "Maya Stone Tools," Selected Papers from the Second Maya Lithic Conference, Lithic Artifacts From Cerros, Belize: Production, Consumption, and Trade, by Beverly A. Mitchum pp. 45.
1991, "Maya Stone Tools," Selected Papers from the Second Maya Lithic Conference, "Structure and Dynamics of Intercommunity Exchange." by Patricia A. McAnany, pp. 271-272.
1993, "Elites, Eccentrics, and Empowerment in the Maya Area:" by Gyles Iannone & James M. Conlon, pp. 3-5.
1996, "The Oxford Companion To Archaeology", by Brian M. Fagan, pp. 406-415.
1997, "Craftsmen to the Kings," Rural Maya Stone Technology at Colha, Belize by Dr. Harry J. Shafer & Dr. Thomas R. Hester, page 6.
1998, "Investigations at Piedras Negras, Guatemala: 1998 Field Season," by Stephen D. Houston, pp. 1& 2.
2001, "Northern Yucatan Obsidian Finds - Merida and Chichen Itza," Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc., by Geoffrey E. Braswell, p. 1.

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