Chacmool

In this paper presented at the Pre-Columbian Society of Washington DC, November 2013, the author proposes answers to questions which have puzzled scholars since the 19th century concerning the enigmatic recumbent Mesoamerican figure known as the "chacmool", so named by French adventurer and photographer Augustus Le Plongeon.  While most scholars are convinced that chacmools were a genuine innovation for a specific type of sacrificial altar for the placement of an offering bowl, several key questions have remained: (1) What was the culture and place of origin of this remarkable sculptural innovation? (2) Who were these male figures?  (3) What is the origin and meaning of the challenging recumbent pose for these human figures with the unblinking, enigmatic gaze? (4) What were they, and what were they called, or described with a phrase, in any Mesoamerican language? Based on recent archaeological discoveries, the author presents a new interpretation of the "chacmool" as the elite "hip ulama" ball game ballplayer stylistically rendered in a serene and formalized ritual “por abajo” stance, well after the game is over, to play the final role as the recipient of the sacrifices. With this new interpretation the author hopes to open the door to finding the indigenous name or description of the "chacmool".

Follow the two (2) URL links to view this 2 page web based article (published May 3, 2015). Co-edited with Ian Mursell for Mexicolore (http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/) - who added many additional illustrations - based in part on an abbreviated version published in the "Smoking Mirror" Vol. 21, No. 4, December 2013, Pre-Columbian Society of Washington, DC.

http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/maya/ballgame/the-chacmool-and-the-ballgame-part-1

http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/maya/ballgame/the-chacmool-and-the-ballgame-part-2

The author proposes answers to questions which have puzzled scholars since the 19th century concerning the enigmatic recumbent Mesoamerican figure known as the "chacmool", so named by French adventurer and photographer Augustus Le Plongeon.  While most scholars are convinced that chacmools were a genuine innovation for a specific type of sacrificial altar for the placement of an offering bowl, several key questions have remained: (1) What was the culture and place of origin of this remarkable sculptural innovation? (2) Who were these male figures?  (3) What is the origin and meaning of the challenging recumbent pose for these human figures with the unblinking, enigmatic gaze? (4) What were they, and what were they called, or described with a phrase, in any Mesoamerican language? Based on recent archaeological discoveries, the author presents a new interpretation of the "chacmool" as the elite "hip ulama" ball game ballplayer stylistically rendered in a serene and formalized ritual “por abajo” stance, well after the game is over, to play the final role as the recipient of the sacrifices. With this new interpretation the author hopes to open the door to finding the indigenous name or description of the "chacmool".

Neste artigo iremos tratar do conturbado momento pós-independência do México, em finais do século XIX, a partir da história de um objeto arqueológico recuperado em 1875 no sítio de Chichén Itzá, e que acabou por protagonizar algumas das questões que eram discutidas no país naquele momento. A partir da recuperação dos itinerários das trajetórias da escultura de pedra conhecida como chacmool, pretendemos apontar algumas questões importantes que permearam a história da peça ligando-a ao momento político e social do México no final do século XIX. Nosso foco será nas discussões sobre o processo de formação do Estado nacional mexicano, com as disputas políticas e discursos identitários nacionais e locais materializados em momentos dos itinerários do chacmool. Isso evidencia o importante papel desempenhado pela ciência no resgate do passado pré-hispânico dentro desse processo de construção identitária do México pós-independência. Para construir nossa argumentação, iremos trazer questões teóricas discutidas por autores que tratam do processo de construção da identidade mexicana, bem com elementos da teoria antropológica que trabalha com a possibilidade de reconstruir trajetórias de objetos, no sentido de estabelecer uma própria biografia dos objetos.