Eccentric flint depicting a crocodile canoe with passengers

Mexico or Guatemala: southern Maya Lowlands,

Maya culture, A.D. 600-900 (Late Classic period)

Flint

9 3/4 x 16 1/4 x 3/4 in. (24.8 x 41.3 x 1.9 cm)

Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., in honor of Mrs. Alex Spence, 1983.45.McD For the Maya, as well as most Mesoamerican peoples, flint was a sacred material. Flint knives were used to make sacrifices. Flint was struck to cause sparks that made fire. In fact, flint even smells of smoke after being struck. Perhaps most importantly, Mesoamericans believed that flint was created whenever lightning struck the ground. (Miller and Taube 1993:88) 1. Whether they are simple arrowheads or complex shapes like this, objects made from flint are formed by chipping or flaking away excess stone. Look at the upper parts of this object where the light shines across the rippled stone. Find the concave, or hollowed, spot where each chip was flaked away. The edge of the flint is very sharp, almost like broken glass. That's why flints make good blades and arrowheads. The word "flint" can stand for the material as well as the object made from it. The Maya word for a sacred blade like this one is Tok’. (Freidel, Schele, and Parker 1993: 472-73) Forming the complex shape of this object would have required many, many hours of skilled labor by a very experienced knapper, or flint maker. 2. Read the title. How does the word "eccentric" relate to this object? Check the DICTIONARY for the meaning of "eccentric." The complex shapes of objects like this, which are too fragile for use as cutting tools, have earned them the name “eccentric flints.” Archaeologists have found them in offerings associated with dedication rituals for architecture and stone monuments. 3. With your finger in the air, trace the line formed by the edge. How would you describe this line? For the ancient Maya, this outline or silhouette represented a great beast that looked something like a crocodile. Find the parts of this "crocodile." Look for a long body and a mouth full of teeth. As you looked for the "crocodile" you may have noticed other features. Altogether, there are 5 profile-heads of Maya lords along the edge of this eccentric flint. See if you can find them. Here is a hint: these profiles are very similar to the profile of Lady Bolon-K’an wearing a special headdress. Recheck that image and then look for the 5 Maya lords. There are three heads in a row on the back of the beast. The fourth head is upside down and doubles as the front foot of the crocodile. The fifth head takes the place of the tail and faces downward. This last head is the biggest. 4. Look at the arcing curve of the "crocodile" and the backward lean of the three passengers on his back. What is happening here? This flint represents a canoe in a shape of a crocodile as it plunges into the waters of the Maya Underworld. It carries First Father, the ancestor of all the Maya people, and two attendants. First Father plays an important part in the Maya creation stories. Here is a shortened version of this story: a. First Father loses a ball game against the Lords of Death, forfeits his life, and is taken into the Underworld by the crocodile canoe. b. Attendants paddle the canoe taking the First Father to the Place of Creation. c. When the canoe arrives with its precious cargo at the Place of Creation, First Father comes back to life as the Maize God. How does the Eccentric flint tell this story? 5. For the Maya, the death and rebirth of First Father were forever marked in the night sky. The Maya saw the story of creation which occurred on the night of August 13, 3114 B.C. in the movement of the stars. The crocodile canoe was the Milky Way as it pivoted in the night sky from horizontal to vertical. Watching the heavens, the Maya interpreted this movement as the sinking of the canoe and the rising of the precious maize plant. In the horizontal position, the Milky Way was the crocodile canoe carrying First Father. As the Milky Way became vertical, the "tail" of the crocodile became the head of newly born Maize God. The next time you are outside at night in an area where the stars are visible, look in the luminous band of light known as the Milky Way and see if you can find the crocodile canoe for yourself!