From field to hearth: An earthly interpretation of maya and other mesoamerican creation myths

Abstract

Ancient Maya mythology may perplex the modern student. As recorded in inscriptions, mythological episodes are cryptically short, speak of obscure places and entities, and leave much to the reader who, if Maya, would have been so intimately familiar with the story that the details we find lacking were already deeply imprinted on their psyche. Nevertheless, from these esoteric textual fragments and associated imagery we may redact a rich mythological world whose symbolism owes much to the agricultural practices and foodways surrounding maize, still the staple crop of Mesoamerican peoples (Staller et al. 2006; see Anderson and Tuxill, this volume). This chapter adds to scholarship on Maya cosmology by proposing that maize agriculture and the activities that transformed this grain into a foodstuff played a major role in the formation of Maya and Mesoamerican mythology. I suggest that like other ancient societies an elaborate tradition arose around the cultivation, preparation, and lifecycle of this crop. In essence, like rice in Asia (Ohnuki-Tierney 1993) or bread in the West (Camporesi 1996), maize and the foods made from it were sacred. The quotidian activities surrounding its cultivation and preparation took on grander proportions within myth than the original domestic act. Nevertheless, it was through myth's clear reference to domestic activities that the metaphors expressed therein had the potential to speak to a wide segment of society and became a useful medium for political and religious propaganda and, more importantly, an explanatory model for life's mysteries. © 2010 Springer-Verlag New York.