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PERFORMING A PENITENTIAL RITE

OF

DRAWING

A STICK THROUGH HIS TONGUE. FROM TUXPAN

AN ANCIENT MEGALITH IN JALAPA, VERA CRUZ

By J. WALTER FEWKES

On my visit to Mexico in 19051 I saw in the court-yard of the Preparatory School at Jalapa an ancient sculptured stone of more than passing interest. I learned that this stone was presented to the school by Sr Teodoro Dehesa, Governor of Vera Cruz, and it is said to have been found near Tuxpan in that state. Through the kindness of the Governor I obtained the photograph reproduced in the accompanying plate XXIX.

I did not make an exact measurement of this megalith, but the bas-relief figures on it are little less than four feet. It is made of soft, light gray stone, and is nearly rectangular in shape, but slightly broader at one end than at the other; it was evidently once buried in the ground about one-third its length. The edges and top are straight and smooth. The general shape of the megalith and the figures thereon suggest that it was one of a series of upright stones standing in row, like those on each end of the stairway of the "palace" at Palenque. The stone sculpturing on one face is an excellent specimen of the artistic work of the eastern or coast peoples of aboriginal Mexico. In some, perhaps in most, particulars, the technique is Aztec, but in others more Huaxtec or Maya.

I am acquainted with two published figures of the Jalapa megalith. One of those is given by Mrs Nuttall in her interesting article, "A Penitential Rite of the Ancient Mexicans," 3 in which she points out that the human figure so conspicuous upon its face probably represents a priest making the sacrifice of drawing blood from his tongue by piercing it with a sharpened stick. In the same paper (p. 4) Mrs Nuttall refers to the megalith in question as follows:

According to Sahagun the priests fasted during the four days preceding this festival and at noon blew conch-shells, flutes, and whistles, and then passed

1 This visit was made possible by an allotment of funds by the Smithsonian Institution. 2 According to Señor Leopoldo Batres it was found at Quilozintla, Vera Cruz. Archæological and Ethnological Papers of the Peabody Museum, 1, no. 7, fig. 1.

slender twigs or sticks through their tongues. An interesting bas-relief preserved at Jalapa illustrates this painful rite, the most graphic description of which is given by Friar Mendieta in his Historia Ecclesiastica Indiana (cap. xvII).

A second figure of the megalith, taken from the same photographic negative as the one here reproduced, was published by Señor Leopoldo Batres in 1905.' The manuscript of the present paper had been sent to the printer and the plate that accompanies it printed before I knew of Señor Batres' article. In his brief description of the megalith, called by him the "Estela de Quilozintla," Señor Batres identifies the human figure as the god Ehecatl, and the reptile as Quetzalcoatl, the latter so placed as to receive the blood from the tongue of the former in a penitential rite.

Quotations from several older writers given by Mrs Nuttall leave no doubt of the validity of her interpretation of the action of the priest figured on the stone under consideration. It is more espe

cially the object of this article to discuss and interpret these symbols of the man and the animal with a view to the identification of the supernatural being to which they refer.

The sculptor has cut in bas-relief on the surface of this stone two figures, one of which represents a human, the other a reptilian, being. It would appear from the almost identical symbolism on the heads of these two figures that one represents an anthropomorphic and the other a zoomorphic personation of the same conception a supernatural being. In other words, the one, a priest, is making an offering to the other—a god personated by the reptile. The figure of the priest appears to be standing on the body and tail of the symbolic animal which raises its head to his breast. Close comparison of the cephalic symbolism of these two figures reveals a suggestive similarity of the bonnet of the priest to the head of the reptile a resemblance indicating that the figures are closely related. The natural interpretation of this relation is that the priest personates the same supernatural being as that symbolically represented by the reptile. The main part of the bonnet, exclusive of feather adjuncts, resembles the upper part of the head of the reptile near by. We detect a curved snout, which recalls the long nose of certain Mayan figures, a circular eye, and the line of the upper jaw at

1 La Lápida Arqueológica de Tepatlaxco-Orizaba, Mexico, 1905.

one end of which (that corresponding to the angle of the jaw) is a tooth curving backward. A similar curved tooth is repeated at the end of what appears to be a second parallel lip, in which the place for teeth is occupied by a row of circles, each with a central dot. An unusual appendage occupies the position on the rear of the headdress near which one would naturally expect to find the ear. This is an incomplete circular disk with notched margin, from which hangs a curved body commonly represented in idols from the Vera Cruz region. The structure and significance of this will appear later in comparative studies of the same structure in the reptilian figure.

The association of a reptile and a priest wearing a bonnet with reptilian symbolism recalls figures of men and serpents in some of the Mayan codices. For instance, we find several leaves of the Codex Cortesianus given up to a series of pictures of serpents accompanied by men wearing helmet masks with a symbolism almost identical with the heads of the surrounding reptiles. These men are identified by Dr Schellhas as belonging to the group designated by him. God B.1 It is probable that they represent priests personating the same god that is represented zoomorphically by the accompanying serpent. Precisely in the same way the human figure on the Tuxpan megalith may represent a priest personating the same supernatural being as the adjacent reptilian monster.

Brief mention of certain common symbolic features in the two figures may be made before we consider their identification. The human figure naturally claims our attention first. Its left side is shown in the relief and the right leg is extended somewhat in advance of the left as if the person were walking. The most striking object connected with this figure is the sharpened stick grasped in the hands and drawn through the tongue. As before stated, the attitude of the figure is that of a priest drawing blood from his tongue, while the reptile before him evidently represents symbolically the being to which he is sacrificing. The priest is destitute of

1 The majority of the figures in both Aztec and Mayan codices represent not gods, but priests personating supernatural beings. The artist who made them drew masked men he had seen in ceremonial dances, just as the Hopi make paintings of men in ceremonial paraphernalia personating their kachinas.

clothing with the exception of a breech-cloth, the ends of which hang from the belt in front. There are sandals on the feet, and between the legs a small mammal1 and two circles which are cut in low relief. This is an Aztec figure and may refer to the date of the manufacture of the megalith or of the building of some pueblo in the neighborhood.

Above the head and before the face of the priest there is a row of circles bounded by raised bands similar to the ornamentation on the body of the reptile. This series of circles ends abruptly in the upper right-hand corner of the megalith, as if it were formerly continued on an adjoining stone when in situ. There is likewise a series of faintly incised figures on the surface of the megalith between the row of circles just referred to and its edge.

It would be instructive to find out whether this stone once stood in line with others, forming a series on the face of each of which were sculptured a priest and an accompanying reptile. If so, the resemblance to figures in the Codex Cortesianus would be even more striking.

The main characteristic of the human figure, the one which reveals the identity of his symbolism with that of the accompanying reptile, is an elaborate ceremonial bonnet with pendant feathers and other adjuncts. This object is tied to the head by a strap or band passing under the chin. From this bonnet a "trailer" made of feathers bound together extends down the back of the priest almost to his feet. To the top of the bonnet is attached, at the middle, a pointed object placed horizontally. This extends into two feathers fastened to the blunt or rear end. The perspective of the bundle of feathers called the trailer of the bonnet is more or less faulty, a rear view being shown instead of a side view as would be more natural when seen laterally.

This may be a good point at which to say something concerning the decorations on the legs and arms of the priest. It is not clear to me whether these ornamentations should be regarded as body painting or tattooing, but they are probably intended for one or the other rather than for clothing. The designs represented are not especially noteworthy, but it is interesting to observe that circular

1 Señor Batres suggests that the animal is an ocelot.

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