Tulum Stela 1 is the name of a

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

engraved monolith that was found at the ancient Mesoamerican site of

Tulum Tulum (, yua, Tulu'um) is the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city which served as a major port for Coba, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The ruins are situated on cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Carib ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. Known for its important inscription, the stela was purchased by the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in 1924.

Description

The large stone

stela A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), wh ...

portrays in low relief a standing Maya lord in full

regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereig ...

, with a long inscription in

Mayan hieroglyphs Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs, is historically the native writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found whi ...

framing the image. The headdress is that of K'awiil, the skirt that of the

Tonsured Maize God Like other Mesoamerican peoples, the traditional Maya recognize in their staple crop, maize, a vital force with which they strongly identify. This is clearly shown by their mythological traditions. According to the 16th-century Popol Vuh, the Hero ...

. The pillar was badly damaged when discovered and is missing parts of the base. The condition of the extant carving has also faded through water

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...

. The long inscription includes a date that corresponds to 564 AD, based on the Mayan system of recording time.

Provenance

Stela 1 was found by

John Lloyd Stephens John Lloyd Stephens (November 28, 1805October 13, 1852) was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America and in the planning of the Panama railroad. ...

and

Frederick Catherwood Frederick Catherwood (27 February 1799 – 27 September 1854) was an English artist, architect and explorer, best remembered for his meticulously detailed drawings of the ruins of the Maya civilization. He explored Mesoamerica in the mid 19th c ...

during their exploration of the

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...

peninsular in the early nineteenth century. It was discovered near the 'Temple of the Initial Series' which lies to the south of the main castle at Tulum. This temple was named after Stela 1 as its Mayan inscription has the earliest recorded date in

. Archaeologists estimate that most of Tulum is Post-Classic and that the city was largely built after 900 AD. As this stela predates this phase, it has been conjectured that it was moved from a neighbouring Maya city, perhaps

Coba Coba ( es, Cobá) is an ancient Maya city on the Yucatán Peninsula, located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The site is the nexus of the largest network of stone causeways of the ancient Maya world, and it contains many engraved and sculp ...

. The stela was subsequently owned by the British archaeologist

Thomas Gann Thomas William Francis Gann (13 May 1867 – 24 February 1938) was a medical doctor by profession, but is best remembered for his work as an amateur archaeologist exploring ruins of the Maya civilization. Personal history Thomas Gann was bo ...

, who sold it to the British Museum in 1924.

References

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Bibliography

*C. McEwan, Ancient Mexico in the British (London, The British Museum Press, 1994) *M. Coe, Breaking the Maya code (London, Thames & Hudson, 1992) *L. Schele and M.E. Miller, The blood of kings (London, Thames & Hudson, 1986) * M. Coe and J. Kerr, The art of the Maya scribe (London, Thames & Hudson, 1997) Maya art Mesoamerican artifacts Tulum (municipality) Artefacts from Africa, Oceania and the Americas in the British Museum Ethnographic objects in the British Museum category:Sculptures of the British Museum 6th-century inscriptions Mexico–United Kingdom relations

Description

Provenance

See also

References

Bibliography