Tessa Robinson

Cords of Time

Abstract

In Classic Period Maya representation, images of Flat Knots appear on freestanding stone monuments, ceramics and architecture. The knots are pictured as elements integrated into complex scenes to do with kingship. The ropes from which the knots are tied, or which the knots overlay, are often shown binding objects, such as stone altars. The function of the ropes, to bind altars, suggests uses which are utilitarian. However, in some instances the ropes transform into serpents suggesting that, for the Maya, rope was a metaphor for other things.

In Postclassic Maya representation, Flat Knots are abundantly illustrated in murals where they are shown as items overlying serpentine ropes. The saurian head and tail which mark either end of the ropes, demonstrate unequivocally that the Maya intended for us to read the ropes as serpents. The interpretation, by Mayanists, of the serpentine ropes pictured in Postclassic murals as the ecliptic path is partly based on the many astronomical symbols, such as stars and solar flowers, pictured on the upper registers of the murals or else which mark the serpents themselves.

Through comparative analysis of Classic and Postclassic serpent imagery, I will illustrate why the Maya chose the serpent as a suitable representation for the ecliptic path. Further, in addressing the relationship between rope, serpent and ecliptic, I will recover some of the cognitive associations which the ancient Maya invested in knots.

Biography

In 2014, I completed a PhD in Maya archaeology at University College London. My specialization is iconographic analysis, in particular the analysis of Classic Period Maya knot representation. My fine art training, at the Royal Academy of Arts, has meant that specializing in iconographic analysis has felt more like a natural progression or outgrowth of my art training than a move to a new discipline. My book Cords of Time: An Iconographic Analysis of the Flat Two-Dimensional Knot in the context of Classic Period Maya Representation is due to be published this year.