116 UNIT 1 PREHISPANIC MESOAMERICA
of priesthood and rulership in late Mayan politics is likely due to the growth of the
noble class and efforts to achieve greater regional integration by inclusive, complex,
ranked institutions.
Some secondary political offices rotated according to the calendrical cycle, as il-
lustrated in the succession of “katun lords” documented by Bruce Love (1994) in
the Paris codex. This arrangement provided further opportunities for members of
local polities to participate in governance. The scenes depicted on the murals of
Tulum and Santa Rita Corozal, which show human actors interacting with super-
natural impersonators, most likely record accession into rotating or permanent com-
munity offices. The Santa Rita figures are linked to one-year (tun) intervals (see
Box 1.5 in the preceding chapter). Bishop Landa claimed that Yucatan was concep-
tually segmented into 13 divisions, paralleling the 13 K’atun cycle of 256 years, and
communities rotated the honor of celebrating these calendrical divisions by erecting
stone monuments and sponsoring rituals involving idols, priests, and prophesies
linked to the interval. Prudence Rice (2004) has recently argued that this custom
has its roots in the Preclassic Mayan period and may have helped to structure shift-
ing centers of political power among Classic Mayan kingdoms.Mayan Religion. Religion in Postclassic Mayan culture, much like the Classic
Mayan period before it, was centered on a pantheon of deities of varying
importance. Each deity was linked with specific kinds of actions and associations in
mythology and cosmology. The four surviving Mayan codex books are a primary
source for understanding these deities, where they are shown performing rituals
related to a complex array of calendrical and astronomical events, including New
Year’s ceremonies, twenty-year K’atun intervals, various almanacs, and planetary
cycles (see Figure 6.6). The primary gods, such as K’awil (Lightning god), Chac
(Rain god), Maize god, and old gods (Pauahtun) originate earlier in Mayan
history and were prevalent in Classic period art. The most prominent deity in the
Postclassic pantheon was Itzamna, a god of sorcery and priestly activities (Figure
2.5). The Merchant God (Ek Chuah) was also popular. In addition, there were two
Postclassic goddesses, an older Ixchel, associated with childbirth and merchant
pilgrimages, and a younger female deity. Some effigies lacking deity identifiers
may portray customized patron family gods and/or deified ancestors.
At Mayapán, the elaborately crafted effigies were partly molded and partly mod-
eled and hand-painted by skilled artisans working for noble families. Deities wear in-
tricate headdresses and are adorned with representations of shell and greenstone
jewelry as well as finely woven and embroidered cloths. Effigy censers are found at
all lowland Postclassic sites, although their size, diversity, quantity, and complexity de-
crease with distance from Mayapan, the nucleus of this tradition.
A few representations of foreign deities from Central Mexico are found within
the Maya area, although only at Mayapan. Xipe Totec is the most common foreign
deity at this site, associated with sacrifice and agricultural renewal. This deity was
found in contexts at that site along with a range of traditional Mayan gods. Murals
of Mayapan, Tulum, and Santa Rita Corozal (Figure 2.6) are portrayed in an inter-
national style used throughout Mesoamerica at this time, although many specific el-