Oldest Maya mural a masterpiece

National Geographic-December 2003

Sistine Chapel of the Early Maya

William Saturno is living an archaeologist's dream. Bit by bit, he's
unveiling the most elaborate depiction of Maya origins ever discovered,
a mural that shows the first known portrayal of the corn god's journey
from the underworld to Earth—shattering the time line of early Maya
art.
Two years ago in San Bartolo, Guatemala, Saturno spotted a slice of the
mural while seeking shade in a looters' trench dug into an unexcavated
pyramid. The four-foot-long (one-meter-long) fragment showed the
intricate ornaments and muscled thighs of the corn god, a mythic Maya
figure. Suspecting that more of the painting lay behind rubble that
filled the dark room, Saturno vowed to return.
In 2002 he mapped the site, and in March of this year he began
excavation. Working long hours until his arms ached, he gingerly chipped
away at the rocks that obscured the mural. Precision was crucial:
Removing the wrong stone could cause walls to collapse, harming Saturno
or the painting. As the room cleared, black outlines and pigments of red
and yellow appeared—the creatures and faces of a lost world.
"The first figure we uncovered was the woman with tamales, in gorgeous
Technicolor," says Saturno. "I immediately fell in love." The mystery
woman wasn't alone. She and others join the corn god on the back of a
mighty serpent emerging from a sacred mountain. "The Maya were probably
trying to portray the origin of maize and people," says project
iconographer Karl Taube of the University of California, Riverside.
"It's the Sistine Chapel of the pre-Classic Maya world, the most
elaborate creation scene before the Classic period."
Scholars had believed that the corn god myth first appeared in the
Classic period, which started around A.D. 250. But artists created this
mural before A.D. 100, proving, says Taube, that "this myth is more
ancient than we thought."
Precise brushstrokes, perfectly formed geometric shapes, and lifelike
figures lead Saturno to believe that Maya art also began to develop much
earlier than A.D. 100. "This mural wasn't a practice run, it was a
masterpiece." Yet it appeared in a relatively small Maya town with only
a few thousand people. "If San Bartolo had murals this early," says
Saturno, "everybody had them."
What else will this priceless mural teach? Not even half-finished with
his work, Saturno will soon return to resume chiseling. Until then, more
clues to early Maya life remain sealed.
—Carol Kaufmann

Web Links
San Bartolo Maya Mural Project
www.sanbartolo.org/

Learn about the special technology used in the excavation along with the
process of conserving the mural once it is uncovered.
Harvard University Peabody Museum
www.peabody.harvard.edu/SanBartolo.htm

View more pictures of the mural and explanations of the characters on it
at this Harvard University website.
Bonampak
www.peabody.yale.edu/exhibits/bonampak/

© 2003 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.






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