Summer Solstice Ceremonies Performed by Bird Jaguar III de Yaxchilan, Chiapas, Mexico

To set before the king: residential mural painting at Xultun, Guatemala

“…Flapstaffs have been identified as battle standards and are often linked to martial activity (Grube 1992: 206–208). At Yaxchilan, dances that featured the flapstaff marked the summer solstice, although at other sites this was not always the case (Tate 1986: 96–97). While the Ik’ staff in the Xultun mural is reminiscent of the flapstaff, it lacks the distinctive cloth tied along its length, and the accompanying text makes no reference to an associated ‘dance’ event, much less one featuring a jasaw chan (glyphic term for flapstaff).…”

“…Furthermore, the Xultun mural does not depict a martial scene nor does its associated date align with the solstice—summer or winter. More generally, dance rituals, as discussed by Houston (1984), Tate (1986), Grube (1992) and Looper (2009), typically involve not only the obvious dancing, but also often incorporate scattering events and captive presentation. The Xultun scene does not depict any of these activities.…”

Un trono dividido: El origen y los movimientos de la Banca Jeroglífica 1 de Ixtutz, Guatemala

“…Pero sí corresponde al 24 de junio, entre días del solsticio de verano. Los solsticios tenían una evidente importancia en varios sitios mayas, donde se conmemoraron con bailes rituales y construcciones arquitectónicas (Dowd 2015; Tate 2013). El solsticio de verano muy bien puede haber proporcionado una razón religiosa para la construcción de la Banca 1.…”