Tikal Burial 196 Tomb of the Jade Jaguar - Maya Archaeology

176
dimensions are: length, 16.6; width, 9.6; and height 6.5 cm.;
it weighed 3 lbs. 11 oz. The stone was not one color throughout
but was a mottled light green (7.5GY-7/2 to 6/2). The
color of the Kodachrome II photographs is its true color; the
photograph of Kodacolor X (Photo 85, upper right) is too blue
but shows the plant (?) between the ears and the variation of
color. Over the jaguar, as well as under it, was sprinkled
cinnabar.
The shape of the jaguar is lopsided, unsymmetrical,
and the rear looks as much like a frog as it does a jaguar.
This is a result of the great value placed upon jade with the
consequence that the sculptor did not want to waste any more
jade than he had to. Since jade is often found as a boulder
or pebble in a stream bed, it appears possible that the
stone’s present shape was very much like its original shape
with the jaguar features adapted to it.
That the creature is basically a jaguar is evident
mostly from the Ix glyph in place of each eye. Ix is one of
the Mayan days and its patron is a jaguar. Ix glyphs often
occur as the eye of a jaguar (on the jaguar throne on Tikal
Stela 20; right hand face on vessel from Bu. 169 (Coe, 1965,
p. 49, p. 20) and (Ruz, 1958a, Fig. 8a, p. 90).
The second characteristic that hints towards its identification
as a jaguar is the presence of a floral element on
the forehead between the ears. From photographs it looks like
some sort of water plant. Water lilies frequently issue