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Lidded vessel with howler monkey

Maya

Not on view

Artists created elaborate feasting vessels with animal-headed knobs, flattening the creatures’ bodies into painted or incised decoration on the lids. Noisy inhabitants of lowland Maya forests, howler monkeys were revered creatures associated with both the day and the night.

Vasija con tapa con mono aullador
Estructura F8-1, El Zotz, Guatemala
Siglo IV
Cerámica
Los artistas crearon vasijas festivas muy elaboradas, con agarraderas en forma de cabezas de animales cuyos cuerpos pintaban o esgrafiaban sobre las tapas. Entre otros, figuran los pecarís, o cerdos salvajes, y los monos aulladores. Estos bulliciosos habitantes de la selva de las Tierras Bajas mayas eran criaturas veneradas y asociadas tanto al día como a la noche.

Lidded vessel with howler monkey, Ceramic, Maya

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© Authorized reproduction Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes de Guatemala; Museo de Arqueología y Etnología, photo by Jorge Perez de Lara