Mayan Art Megathread

Yeah I have no clue where that one is from.

The first one is the sarcophagus of King Pakal of Palenque, with some imaginative interpretations of his stone sarcophagus lid (it actually depicts the symbolic passing of the king's soul/rebirth through the cosmos as a reincarnation of the Maize god). The sculpture is from a museum (not such which), and the last two are more modern "reproductions."

 

I thought this book was fun and might be of interest. I have no particular knowledge base to compare the book to, other than old PBS shows on ancient civilizations that I may have watched with my parents a long time ago. Flipping through it gives me great ideas for making temples and scenery. Finding this thread has done similar.

*straps on ancient stone bicycle helmet*

Well, off for a bit now. See you all on the 'morrow!

 

this thread is the bees knees

 

Achievement unlocked.



I posted some of the following pictures on a painting thread on lizardmen shield ideas, but they also belong here. Lots of great ideas inspired by old Mayan and Aztec sources. Both the following two are from the Codex Mendoza I believe, I will have to research them further.

Spoiler: More shields

More art from the Codexes Mendoza and Megliabechiano:







Aztec warrior-god Tepoztzcatl:



Some more artwork, older and modern sources:





Mayan warrior artwork:

 

do we have a full listing of the different tribes of the area? I'm going to dig into some research and see what i can bring out for this thread. (got to put the history degree to good use)

 

Surprisingly I have a short list of some of the main Mayan clans. I briefly talked about them on this post on page 10. These were the Mayan clans that existed at the time of the Spanish arrival, around ~1500 AD, along with the area they occupied and some of the major cities still inhabited.



Prior to this point the most powerful clans were the Xiu (Tutul-Xiu) and the Cocoms. The Cocoms ruled from Chichen Itza, but after a century or so of power struggles on the northern Yucatan peninsula, they were overthrown by the Xiu who then ruled a loose hegemony from Mayapan. These two clans also happen to be the playable factions in the game Europa Universalis IV, in the northern Yucatan peninsula. The game also has the "Itza" in the central Mayan jungles, as well as the Kinche Maya in the south.

 

Some cool pictures of Mayan and Brazillian gods:





And some more Mayan Gods from historically-aligned sources:

the Maize God:





And a modern reproduction of a passage from the Popol Vuh, the Mayan Creation story, complete with a blowpipe shooting at what looks like a bird-crab in the tree and a giant scorpion on the forest floor

 

Two more "fantastical" creatures pictures from Mayan lore, including the Macaw which is just a parrot but also linked to royalty/mythology because of its brilliant plumage.

 

Is that a lobster dragon?

 

It certainly looks that way. It reminds me of those dragon-costumes used in Chinese parades.

And also reminds me of the vision serpent-centipede seen in a lot of ancient carvings:

 

I think it would make some capital level terrain as a carving or have use as a Miniature

 

Doing research. This may be copy and paste for an upcoming megaproject, but still.

 

Random find but I liked the artwork. Shows hairstyles of Mayan women in the classic period; most of it is taken from actual historical sources such as stone carved stela or from pottery art. Organized by ancient Mayan city.

 

Got me thinking about history stuff first thing this morning; here are some great pictures from the Temple of the Feathered-Serpent, also known as the Pyramid of Quetzacoatl at Teotihuacan (also link to the KOW thread on this topic).



Teotihuacan is known to have had a great empire controlling much of mesoamerica back in the late 300-400 AD. In 378 they conquered the Mayan city of Tikal, and in 426 they also conquered cities as far south as Copan. The city itself really reached its peak by 450 AD, but by this point much cultural diffusion had occured, and many symbols common within Teotihuacan lore remained forever in the Mayan cosmology and carving mythos.



If you are interested in the temple itself, or about the city of Teotihuacan, Uncovered History has a great article on it and lots more pictures.

Spoiler: gotta love those feathered serpent heads

 

Also got some great stuff on defensible structures in the fluff part of the forum; here are pictures displaying the doom of Dos Pilas and Aguateca:

Dos Pilas



Aguateca



Information on the fall of both Mayan sites is described here.

 

Mayan hierarchy picture:

 

@Jatlan-cuiatl put me onto WOW as a potential terrain source. I did a little digging, there is a lot of great stuff, jungle-themed and otherwise.

A small sample:

Spoiler: some more pics

 

Are the in game trolls based on mayan/inca/aztec/mesoamerican lore or do they mostly have a caribbean flavor?

I found a few pictures of "concept art" for a potential expansion, mostly fan made, for a city named Zuldazar. I would have to do more research, but here is the concept link: Hand of Zul. Looks pretty epic.



And another one off deviant art.