The sculptures that archaeologists have been trying to explain for decades – 09/25/2023 – Science

In search of evidence of his “peculiar ideas” — such as that Egyptian culture originated in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico — explorer Augustus Le Plongeon and his wife, Alice Dixon, made a discovery in southeastern Mexico in 1875 .

The French-American and his wife had been on an expedition through the jungle for two years, where they entered the ruins of the Mayan civilization.

They made maps, took one of the first photographic series of the temples and documented the murals they found.

They also unearthed some sculptures and other objects from the ancient civilization.

Although they found no evidence of their theories about the origin of the Egyptians, one of the finds, in the city of Chichén Itzá, was one of the most striking: the effigy of a semi-recumbent man.

Le Plongeon named that sculpture “chac mool”, which in Mayan means “red tiger”.

Since then, discoveries of chac mool carvings have continued not only in the Mayan region but in many other places in Mesoamerica, a cultural region that stretches from central Mexico to Costa Rica and was the cradle of great civilizations.

Over the decades, archaeologists have tried to answer some questions about this sculpture, such as who is represented in it, what is its function, what is the origin of the image and why do these sculptures appear in so many different locations. These questions have been the subject of major debates and studies.

“There are speculations about many things, but we don’t have scientific data”, says archaeologist José Luis Punzo Díaz to BBC News Mundo. He is responsible for leading a team investigating the most recent discovery of a sculpture of this type in the city of Pátzcuaro, in the state of Michoacán, Mexico.

“The discovery of this chac mool is the tip of the iceberg that will allow us to really understand these pieces. That’s what I find extremely exciting about this discovery,” he says.

He explains that they are using technological and scientific tools that were previously unavailable.

The enigmatic figure

The Le Plongeons found and named the sculpture in 1875, but this piece — which is the best known — was just one of many found dating from approximately 600 BC to beyond 1500 AD.

Despite being a notable sculpture, found in relevant places in palaces and pre-Hispanic cities, the chac mool has never been represented or explained in historical documents from the Toltecs, Aztecs, Mayans, Purépechas or other major Mesoamerican cultures.

This led archaeologists to formulate theories about various aspects, according to researchers Alfredo López Austin and Leonardo López Luján in an extensive documentary compilation of studies of these sculptures published in the 2000s.

As for their origin, archaeologists say, it has been debated whether they correspond to the cultures of central Mexico, the Mayan region or northern Mesoamerica. They also discuss whether they were born in periods such as classic or post-classic.

Experts disagree about the function of the image. “(We wonder) Whether this eccentric figure was used as an offering table, as a container for hearts or as a sacrificial stone”, say the experts.

There is also disagreement as to whether the figure it represents was a sacrificial victim, a soldier, a priest, a historical figure, a “god-man”, a divine messenger or a deity.

There was even archaeological debate about the appearance of the various pieces found: with the head facing left or right, the face they embody, their ornaments, the position of the abdomen, legs and even the variety of bases they have.

“Both the form and meaning of chac mool change depending on its geographic, chronological and cultural location”, point out López Austin and López Lujan.

And the fact that it is a piece present in different cultures, with different rituals and world views, adds questions.

Chac mool’s journey

The consensus around different studies offers some clues about chac mool.

The fact that one of the oldest pieces (between 600 and 900 AD) was documented in a region of northern Mesoamerica called the Chalchihuites may be an indication of the chac mool’s “journey” over the centuries through diverse cultures and territories.

In the culture of the Toltecs, in Tula, a large number of sculptures of this type were found. This city was instrumental in influencing other dominant cultures, such as the Mexicans and the Mayans.

“These sculptures in Tula are extremely important. They are found in contexts such as palace or square doors, not just in pyramids, something that is often thought of”, says Punzo Díaz.

“The point is that migrations have been the driving force that explains many of these things in Mesoamerica. It seems that there are migrations from north to center and west that bring these types of sculptures”, says the archaeologist.

The Toltecs settled hundreds of kilometers from Yucatán, but today they are known to have influenced the Mayans in places like Chichén Itzá, who in turn influenced the peninsula region and what is now Central America.

“Everyone associates chac mool with the Mayans, but it’s really an influence that comes from central Mexico,” says Punzo Díaz.

Another consensus is that the chac mool is an intermediary character or messenger “between the world of men and that of the gods”.

“It is a piece that was intended to contain offerings”, explains the archaeologist, due to the obvious altar or flat surface (some in the shape of a container) on which these figures were found.

López Austin and López Lujan say research from the last century suggested they could have been used to place offerings and sacrifices. But it is only today that available technology and science can provide more certainty.

“There are hypotheses that are repeated and become truths, but there is no scientific data to be able to talk about their functions. And that is what we are investigating with a team of archaeologists, restorers, chemists, volcanologists and IT specialists. We are moving forward”, says Punzo Diaz.

And although the name chac mool arbitrarily given to it by the explorer Le Plongeon has been enshrined in scientific literature, current knowledge may also give it a new name.

“Waxanuti”, which means “he who sits in a courtyard” in the language of the Purépecha people who dominated the Mexican state of Michoacán, is an alternative to the piece found in Pátzcuaro.

An exciting study

As has happened in many cases, the discovery of chac mool in the city of Pátzcuaro last month was by chance, during excavations at a construction site.

It is the first sculpture of this type found in the context of the Purépecha culture that lived there, although other pieces had already been found in the state of Michoacán throughout the last century.

For Punzo Díaz and his team, the condition of this piece and the discovery of presumably very old elements, such as coal, will allow us to obtain better conclusions about the questions surrounding these sculptures.

“The discovery of this chac mool is the tip of the iceberg that will allow us to really understand these pieces. That’s what I find extremely exciting about this discovery”, says the archaeologist.

“Archaeology is at a very interesting moment because there are a large number of technological and scientific tools that can be applied to the study of the past. Today we can ask ourselves questions that 20 or 30 years ago were impossible to answer.”