CLASSIC MAYA MUSIC: Part I: Maya Drums

CLASSIC MAYA MUSIC: Part I: Maya Drums
Author(s): NORMAN HAMMOND
Source: Archaeology, Vol. 25, No. 2 (APRIL 1972), pp. 124-131
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41674414 .
Accessed: 21/11/2014 20:09
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
Archaeological Institute of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Archaeology.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 130.212.18.200 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:09:01 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
/';-=09
)(8*=-0/']
This content downloaded from 130.212.18.200 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:09:01 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
MUSIC
MAYA
CLASSIC
Part
1: Maya
By NORMAN
like dancing,drama and poetry,is
one of the least knownaspectsof preMusic, historicsocieties.Without
specificdocurecords
are
we
at
best
left
withtantalizmentary
hints
of
these
and
aestheticacintellectual
ing
in
cultures
well-known
fromtheir
complishments
and
arts.
This is
architectural,
sculptural
graphic
as trueof theClassicMaya as of PharaonicEgypt
or MycenaeanGreece.
Music is, however,not quite such a hopeless
case as the otheraural arts,for the instruments
used in its productionmay be preservedor illustrated and some idea of their sound obtained
fromsurvivingspecimensor reconstructions.
For
theancientMaya we have fourtypesof evidence,
two contemporary
and archaeological,one semiand semi-documentary,
and one
contemporary
wholly documentaryand much later: 1) the
actual remainsof musical instruments;
2) porin sculptureand on murals
trayalsof instruments
and paintedvesselsrecoveredfromarchaeological
contextsof the Classic period; 3) three Maya
or codices of which the Dresden is
manuscripts
probablycopied froma Classic original;4) the
documentaryaccounts of PostclassicMaya culture as the Spaniardsfound it in the sixteenth
century:theprincipalPostclassicand prehispanic
influence
on theMaya came fromCentralMexico
and musical instruments
were doubtlessamong
the manyfeaturesintroducedinto Maya culture
at that time. The firsttwo classes of evidence
withCodex Dresdenare positiveindicationsthat
certain types of instrumentwere used by the
Classic Maya, whilethe otherMaya manuscripts
(Opposite) Polychrome
"
drumof the" lamp-glass
type, from Lubaantún,
( Belize, British Honduras)3 8thCent.yofourera;
height,ca. 30 cm.
Drums
HAMMOND
(actuallybooks of bark), the Codices Paris and
Madrid,and the Spanishdocumentsmayinclude
Mexican introductions.
Methodsof percussionincludebeating,shaking
and rasping.The widestclass of beaten instrumentsis the drum,for which evidenceexistsin
the Maya area of fourtypes: tunkul(horizontal
drum), pax (uprightdrum), potteryhand-drum
and large circulardrum.
The tunkulwas stillin use earlyin thiscentury
by the Lacandon indiansand its existencein the
seventeenthcenturyamong the Itzá of Petén is
notedby the Spaniard Lopez de Cogolludo,who
writesthatit is "made of hollowwood,and there
are some so large that the sound is heard two
leagues away when the wind comes fromthat
direction."The 16thcenturyBishopof Yucatán,
Diego de Landa writesthatit was "made of hollow wood, with a heavy and sad sound. They
beat it with rathera long stickwith a certain
gum froma tree (i.e. rubber) at the end of it."
It had remarkable carryingpower and the
Spaniard Juan Ponce remarks"the drum,which
was an instrument
of wood, was heard half a
The
tunkul was also known in
league away."
the Maya Highlands,as in the Quiché drama of
Rabinal-Achiwherea charactersays"... see the
bone of myleg, whichwill becomethe beaterof
the teponovozand of the drum." Clearly the
tunkulwas widespreadin the Maya area at the
time of the Spanish conquest,but there is no
evidence for its existencethere in the Classic
period: it is not shownon thefamousBonampak
frescoeswhereothermusicalinstruments
appear,
and no otherrepresentations
are knownon figurines or vessels.It is, on the other hand, well
known in Mexico, where depictionsin pottery
and stoneand in codicesare supplementedby a
number of survivingprecolumbianteponaztlis
and wouldseemto have been introducedintothe
Maya area duringthe Postclassic.
BY MR.L. P. MORLEY
AREBY MISS SUSANBIRDANDTHE PHOTOGRAPHS
THE LINEDRAWINGS
This content downloaded from 130.212.18.200 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:09:01 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
125
mayamusiccontinued
The pax,
a
Classic Maya
drum, depicted
on the BonamChipakfrescoes,
apas, Mexico.
An animal-impersonator
beatinga pax is depictedon
a Classic vesselin theDieseldorß Collection.
The bulbousbodiedpax,
fromtheSanta Rita fresco,
nowdestroyed.
A miniature
pax depictedin a Maya codexofthePostclassicperiod.
A doubleminiature
pax from
' theClassic-derived
DresdenCodex.
A seventh-century
pottery
drum of (elamp-glass,}
typefromBartonRamie,
BritishHonduras.
126
This content downloaded from 130.212.18.200 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:09:01 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
The otherlarge drum,the pax, was used by
the Classic Maya, althoughno specimenssurvive
(a fineAztecexampleis in theToluca Museum).
A numberof Classic and Postclassicdepictionsof
it do exist. The most detailed and exact dates
fromthe end of the Classic and is in Room 1 of
Structure1 at Bonampakwhich shows a drum
witha cylindricalbodyand a triplemoldingjust
overhalfwaydown.The same formof moldingis
foundin Chenesand Puuc architectural
decoration.Belowthisthebase is piercedbyan invertedapertureon at least twooppositesides.
triangular
Stretchedover the top is a tawny membrane,
whichsinceno cordsor pegs are shownwas perhaps glued on. The skincould be thatof a tigre
or a largemonkey.The bodywas probablymade
by hollowingout a tree trunk,a much easier
processthan makinga tunkulwith its integral
The drum comes up to the
sounding-tongues.
chestof the player.If we assumethat the depictionis accurate,and adoptethnographic
estimates
of Maya statureof about a meterand a half for
men, the Classic pax at Bonampak must have
been about one meter,twelvecentimeters
high
and fortycentimeters
in diameter.Allowingfor
the removalof bark,trimming
to shape and the
carvingof the projectingmolding,a tree of at
least fifty
centimeters
diameterwould have been
felledto makeit.
AnotherLate Classic representation
is on a
vase
from
polychromecylinder
Chamá, Alta
which
shows
four
Verapaz,
animal-impersonators
of whom three play musical instruments.
One,
dressedas an armadillo,beatswithbothhandson
an uprightdrumof cylindrical
form,witha basal
and
a
decorated
band
aperture
just above it. The
membranehas a reticulatepatternwhichsuggests
theuse ofsnakeskin.
The figures
are muchsmaller
and more stylizedthan those at Bonampak,but
if the same estimateof statureis applied, the
drum would be about one meter,thirtycentimetershigh and thirty-seven
in dicentimeters
ameter.
A Postclassicdepictionof the pax existedon
the Santa Rita frescoes,beatenby the merchant
god Ek Chuah with one hand while the other
waved a rattleand thegod of 8 Ahau swungtwo
trophyheads in timeto the beat. The drumhas
a splayedtop,bulbousbody and splayedpierced
base,but the designis stylized,withsoundshown
fromthe top of thedrumand fromthe
emerging
bodythrdughthe mouthof a skull.This may be
a visual referenceto the "hoarse sound" of the
pax describedby the Spaniard Herrera.Around
the top and bodyof the drumare bands such as
are seen on the Chamá vase, perhapsdepicting
twistedcords. Using the previous estimateof
stature,thedrumwouldbe aboutone meter,eight
centimeters
centimeters
across
highand forty-three
the body. The membranewould seem to have
been stretchedover the wide mouthand held in
aroundthenarrower
place by itsown contraction
neck.
-^Vll threeof these representations
are of the
huehuetl
"high"
(rangingfrom1.8 m. to 1.3 m.
in heightand 37 m. to 43 m. in diameter). The
"low" typedoes not seem to have been used by
theMaya, althoughit is notedin Mexicansources
such as Codex Becker,but the Maya did have
miniaturepax of pottery.A bulbous example
similarin formto thatat Santa Rita, playedby a
squattingfigure,is seen on Codex Madrid 37a,
while a cylindricalspecimenis seen on the Late
Classicfrescoat Uaxactún. This is brownish-pink
in color, suggestingceramic,with a broad tan
spiraling down the side, a narrow tan band
around the base above an open foot,and a tan
membrane.By comparisonwiththe figuresin the
scene it would be about fortycentimeters
high,
and is playedby a man sittingcross-legged.
The bulbous-bodiedpax is found in north
Yucatán, while the cylindricalformis foundin
Petén and the adjacent Alta Verapaz, to judge
from the representations
discussedabove. This,
rethoughstatistically
nugatory,
maynevertheless
flecta regionaland/or chronologicaldichotomy,
and the depictionof a bulbous-bodiedminiature
drum,albeit a double one, in the Classic-derived
Codex Dresden34a suggeststhatthegeographical
divisionis themorelikely.
In addition to the depictionsof miniature
drums on the Uaxactún frescoand in Codex
Dresden,a numberof specimenssurvivefromthe
Classic. They are of two basic forms:the "lampglass" varietywitha bulbousbodybetweena tall
base and longneck,bothtrumpet-shaped,
and the
with
a
wide
"pedestal-vase"variety
body with
sides
mounted
on
a
narrow
outflaring
cylindrical
base. A monochromespecimenof the lamp-glass
date was foundat
typeand of Tepeu 1-equivalent
Barton Ramie and polychromeexamples are
knownfromUaxactún (a Tepeu 1 piecesurviving
to twenty-four
centimeters
high) and Lubaantún
of Late Classic, probablyTepeu 2-equivalent,
date. A doubledrumof thisform,possiblyMaya
althoughreputedlyfroman unknownlocationin
127
This content downloaded from 130.212.18.200 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:09:01 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
mayamusiccontinued
A drum of pedestal-vase form
from San José,
British
Honduras.
A fine pottery
drumwithlobed
body, from Nebaj, Guatemala.
A pedestal-vase
drum with polychrome decoration,fromUaxactún, Guatemala.
the Usulután provinceof El Salvador, and anotherof unknownprovenanceand date is in the
Tabasco Museumin Villahermosa;double drums
with bulbous bodies with a membraneon only
one part are depicted as mentionedabove, in
Codex Dresden34a and Codex Madrid 37a, with
soundrisingfromtheuncoveredpart.
A finespecimenof a varianton the form,with
a lobed body rather than bulbous body, was
foundin Tomb IV at Nebaj. It is cream-slipped
overa lightbrownfabricexceptat the top where
themembranewas attached,probablybyglueing,
and at the base whereit is slightlyworn.D. M.
Pendergastsuggeststhat a drum of similarform
fromAltunHa had a membraneat each end to
produce two differentnotes. This specimen is
decoratedwitha grotesqueface in appliqué,and
another,minatureexampleonlyeightcentimeters
high from Barton Ramie is in the formof a
humanfigure.The datingof themajorityof these
lamp-glassdrumsis in Tepeu 1-2,theearlierpart
of theLate Classic.
The pedestal-vasevarietyis clearlyrecognizable even in fragmentary
form by the abrupt
"shoulder"betweenthe wide body and the narrow base. Several specimensare known,from
Uaxactún, Barton Ramie, Benque Viejo and
and complete
Tecolpan, (Tabasco) as fragments,
are
known
from
San
examples
José, (two others
of comparable form being in the Campeche
Museum), Piedras Negras and Jaina. All are
monochrome
; theone fromPiedrasNegrashas an
incised glyphicinscription.They range in size
fromtheSan Joséexample,only15.6 centimeters
high and that fromBenque Viejo, 18.4 centimetersto the30 centimeter
specimenfromBarton
Ramie and Thompson's estimateof 60 centimetersfor that fromJaina. A variant formis
128
This content downloaded from 130.212.18.200 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:09:01 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
A figurinefrom
Lubaantún,British Honduras ,
showing a man
with drum and
rattle
, and a cacao-podpendant.
A pedestal-vase
drum with very
narrowbase,from
BartonRamie.
Two trumpeters
and
a man withdrum
and rattle,fromthe
Bonampakfrescoes.
knownfromBarton Ramie with a verynarrow
afterten centimeters
cylindricalbase, brokenoff"
or so, and a bodywithincurvedsidessometwenty
centimeters
high. Anothervariant,with a wide
base and polychromedecoration,comes from
Uaxactúnand fivefragmentary
specipolychrome
mensrangingin diameterfrommorethantwenty
centimeters
down to eight centimetersare also
drumsof
knownfromthe site.Otherpolychrome
similarformare reportedfromYalloch, Nakum
and Flores.A double drumof pedestal-vaseform
of Fine Orange ware comesfromAltarde Sacrificios,and dates to late in Tepeu 3 (in spite of
Lehmann'sattribution
of it to Tepeu 2) .
The datingof the pedestal-vaseformof drum
spans the whole Late Classic, fromthe Tepeu 1
at Uaxactún to the Tepeu
polychrome
¡Specimens
3 Fine Orange exampleand the Tepeu 3 or later
(San JoséV) one fromSan José.
In spite of Pendergasťssuggestionabout the
Altun Ha drum,I thinkthat theywere covered
at onlyone end witha membrane,and stoodon
the groundor held underthe arm to be played;
whenheld theyweresometimesplayedaccompanied by a rattle,as can be seen on the figurine
from Lubaantún illustratedon this page and
the left-handfigurein the band at Bonampak
(above) which show in frontaland profileview
thiscombinationof instruments.
The
respectively
membranewouldhave been of animalskin,as the
English friarThomas Gage observedafter the
conquestand AlfredM. Tozzer noted earlythis
century.Tozzer saw the drumsused in pairs by
the Lacandon, recallingthe double drumsfrom
Salvador,Tabasco and Altar de Sacrificios,and
says that the drum was knownas qaiyum, "the
singinggod," bringingto mind the singingskull
on theSanta Rita fresco.
The fourthtype,a largerounddrumsimilarto
the bass drum in a modernbrassband is known
129
This content downloaded from 130.212.18.200 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:09:01 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
mayamusiccontinued
Figurine-plaque from
Lubaantúndepictinga
conferencein a house
with a band of musiciansbelow.The figure
at lowerrightseemsto
be carryinga circular
drum.
A man beating a
turtle-shell
with an
antler , from the
Bonampak frescoes.
Figurineofa mansittingastridea
circularor cylindrical
drum, fromLubaantún.
130
This content downloaded from 130.212.18.200 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:09:01 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
A modernfriction-drum
fromEl Petén,
Guatemala; the body is a gourd, with a
membraneand resinatedhair.
monkey-skin
only from three Late Classic figurineplaques
from Lubaantún. On two of these, a man is
shownsittingastridethe instrument
and tapping
it near the rim with both hands, while on the
thirda man appears to be carryingone in prowould have been about
cession.The instruments
in
and presumablyof
diameter
centimeters
fifty
wood coveredwith skin. This thirdspecimenis
howeververyworn,and the identification
as a
drumis not certain.A figurinefromNayaritin
the Museum of Anthropology
in Mexico City
showsa man sittingastridea cylindricalhorizontal drum and beatingthe end. This may be the
typeof drum,a sortof horizontalpax, depicted
in end-viewon the Lubaantúnfigurines.
The frictiondrum, a cross betweena string
and a percussioninstrument,
is currently
used in
Petén as a tigreroto lure unsuspectingjaguars
withingunshotrange and is of gourd,skin and
resinatedhair,but no Precolumbianspecimensor
are known. The archaeologist
representations
Cottie Burland suggeststhat a scene in Codex
Madrid 74b shows four gods playingthese inbut I do not accept thisidentification.
struments,
Related to the drumsin thatit is a beateninstrument
is theturtlecarapace. Its use at thetime
oftheConquestis attestedbyLopez de Cogolludo
who describesan ambushat Ake in Yucatan in
1528 where the Maya "beat the shells of large
turtleswith deer horns,"while Bishop Diego de
made of a
Landa mentions"anotherinstrument
whole tortoisewith its shells,and having taken
out the fleshtheystrikeit with the palm of the
hand. The sound is doleful and sad." Herrera
agrees: "... takingout the fleshtheymake anotherinstrument
fromthewholeturtle,whichhas
a sad sound." The ethnologistK. G. Isikowitz
notes that in South Americapart of the shell is
coated withwax and rubbedwitha moisthand,
i.e. a frictioninstrument.
The use of turtlecarain
the
Classic
is
shown
paces
by theirrepresentation on the Bonampak frescoes,where proportionalto the figurestheywere just over fifty
centimeters
centimeters
longand about thirty-five
and
on
the
Chamá
in
vase
the
Dieseldorff
wide,
Collectionwhereone of theanimalimpersonators
carriesone aboutforty-three
centimeters
by thirty
centimeters.The Classic representations
show
thembeaten withbranchedantlers,not withthe
hand; thoseat Bonampakwould be about forty
centimeterslong. Experimentshows threenotes
can be obtainedby strikingthe shell in different
places.
In thenextissuewe willreviewotherClassic
as well as the
Maya percussioninstruments
wind and stringedinstruments.
For Further Reading: D. Castañeda y V. T.
Mendoza, "Los Teponaztlisen las civilizaciones
and "Percutoresprecortesianos,"
precortesianas,"
Anales del Museo Nacional de Arquelologia,
Historia y Etnografia
, Mexico 8 (1933) 5-80 &
649-665; D. Lopez de Cogolludo, Historia de
Yucatán, escùta en el siglo XVII , Merida 18671868; N. Hammond,Lubaantúnand the archae, Belize (British
ologyof theSouth Toledo District
ofCamHonduras), Ph.D. dissertation,
University
bridge; A. de Herrera,Extractof Dec. IV, Lib.
X, Caps. I-IV (of Historiageneralde los hechos
de los Castellanosen las islas y tierrafirmedel
mar oceano 1601-15,translatedas AppendixA
to Landa, Relación . . . , Cambridge,Mass., 1941;
K. G. Isikowitz,"Musical and othersound Instruments
of the SouthAmericanIndians,"GöteVitter
hets-Samhälles
borgsKungl. Vetenskapsoch
A
5
de Landa,
D.
Ser.
Handlinger,
(1935);
Relación de las cosas de Yucatán, Englishtranslation edited by A. M. Tozzer, ( Papers of the
P eabodyMuseum,Volume 18) Cambridge,Mass.,
1941; K. Ruppert, J.E.S. Thompson and T.
Proskouriakoff,
Bonampak, Chiapas, Mexico.
Publication
D.C. 1955.
(C.I.W.
602) Washington,
131
This content downloaded from 130.212.18.200 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:09:01 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions