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DECIPHERING THE SYMBOLS AND SYMBOLIC MEANING OF THE MAYA WORLD TREE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2016

J. Andrew McDonald
J. Andrew McDonald*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, The University of Texas Río Grande Valley, 1201 W. University Drive, Edinburg, Texas 78539
*
E-mail correspondence to: andrew.mcdonald@utrgv.edu
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Abstract

Although cosmic tree symbolism among pre-Columbian societies of Mesoamerica traces from the Preclassic period, the underlying meaning of the motif and its symbolic permutations are poorly understood. Attempts to identify the plant in a botanical context on ceramic vessels, stucco reliefs, and stone stelae of lowland Maya attribution usually favor determinations as a kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) or maize plant (Zea mays). A botanical assessment of the morphic and ecological characteristics of these motifs suggests, however, a white-flowered water lily of lowland swamps, Nymphaea ampla. Archeological remains at San Bartolo of the Petén indicate that these iconographic practices were established and codified to a certain extent by the first century b.c. The frequent identification of various gods and dynastic rulers as personifications of a water lily world tree underscores the crucial symbolic and ritualistic roles this plant once played in the practice of religion and kingship among Mayan civilizations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , Fall 2016 , pp. 333 - 359
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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