Maya belt plaques
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maya belt plaques were decorative and functional pendants worn by ancient Maya ajawob (rulers) to validate their rulership through referencing major deities and important ancestors. They can be seen as significant elements of the costumes of rulers on stelae and in other representations found in ancient Maya art. These plaques, which hung from belts, were used during rituals to memorialize important events and dates.
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Belt plaques were usually carved from jadeite, which was a precious stone because of it had to be traded from the Motagua River in Guatemala, making this stone a precious and valuable material.[1] On one side of the plaque was a beautifully decorated ruler with a left-facing profile and on the other side was a double-column hieroglyphic inscription explaining the significance of the plaque. They display rulers on their inauguration, important calendar dates and ancestral and deity worship.[2]
Interpretations
David Mora-Marin asserts that wearing these belts were based on "symbolic (ideology and ritual) and objective (staple and wealth) sources of power."[3] The ancient Maya stimulated all senses of the human body, the natural world and the invisible world. The sounds of the plaques hitting together would have made a tinkling sounds, which would have been especially noticeable during dance rituals. Maya rulers were seen as divine through ancestry and closest to the gods, therefore, wearing these belts during rituals and death was a way of communicating and celebrating the gods and their ancestors.
