Celt

While studying the Dumbarton Oaks Collection of Olmec and Maya material during the summer of 1995, I examined a large, finely polished celtiform plaque identified as Olmec. At that time, we knew little about the wide range of color, grain, and translucency associated with jadeite sources from the Middle Motagua Valley of Guatemala. Despite its fine workmanship and general aesthetic appeal, the veined and somewhat granular nature of this object does not match the more translucent “Olmec blue” jadeite, including many examples in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection. Partly for this reason, as well as for its extremely polished surface, I decided not to include it in the original catalogue. But after the devastating floods from Hurricane Mitch in 1998 in the Motagua region, many new types of jadeite were discovered as “float” in the alluvial flow, as well as some in their original source outcrops, or yacimientos. Jadeite near the town of Carrizal Grande, on a tributary of the north flank of the Río El Tambór, or Río Jalapa, is notably similar to PC.B.031. Following the natural grainy flow of the stone, a flaw or crack caused a slightly irregular edge to the top of PC.B.031, with remains of red pigments—perhaps hematite or cinnabar—in both the shallow fissure and in diminutive chips on the bit of the celt. The upper portion of the plaque, corresponding to the rounded poll end of a celt, is pierced by a biconically drilled hole, surely for suspension and perhaps to be tied as a beltpiece.

Celtiform belt plaques are known for Olmec art, including one worn by an Olmec rain god depicted on La Venta Stela 2 and a magnificent jadeite example in the Museo de Antropología de Jalapa (see Taube 2007:fig. 5). Carved from translucent jade, the Jalapa celt plaque closely resembles a miniature Olmec stela, a common trait of Olmec incised celts. A biconical hole is drilled at its poll end, however, as on PC.B.031. Considering the Jalapa piece was not known until well after PC.B.031 was acquired, it provides support that PC.B.031 is indeed authentic.

Celtiform belt plaques are well known for the ancient Maya, although they typically appear bound in groups of three, with some of the earliest examples appearing in the art of Tak’alik Ab’aj’, Kaminaljuyu, and the West Wall mural at San Bartolo, where a set is bound to a tree in a scene of royal accession for the maize god (see Taube et al. 2010:fig. 39a). At Tak’alik Ab’aj’, the pendant celt assemblages have been found with jadeite mosaic masks; one mask features a bat, clearly related to the roughly contemporaneous jade mosaic bat mask from Monte Albán, which had three slate pendants (see Scheiber de Lavarreda and Orrego Corzo 2011:fig. 9). In the case of the Zapotec of Oaxaca as well as the Late Preclassic figure on La Mojarra Stela 1, the mask and celt assemblages were not beltpieces but pectorals suspended from the neck. Whether as pectorals or belt assemblages, the three loosely hanging pendant elements are clearly intended for their acoustic effect, as they would strike each other and chime when worn.

For the Classic Maya, the most renowned example is the Leiden Plaque, portraying a finely incised ruler with a Long Count text on the back (see Schele and Miller 1986:pl. 33). As does the Olmec example in Jalapa, the Leiden Plaque clearly evokes a stela, which is consistent with the text on its reverse side. In fact, David Stuart (personal communication, 2005) has pointed out to me that in the case of Stela 31 at Early Classic Tikal, the deeply hollowed earspool of the ancestral Nun Yax Ayiin at the top of the monument corresponds to the drilled holes on jadeite celtiform plaques. Aside from the Leiden Plaque, there are many other Early Classic incised belt celts, including examples at Dumbarton Oaks (PC.B.157 and PC.B.586).

In replicative research on ancient Mesoamerican jadeite forms, I have fashioned thin celtiform plaques from the Carrizal Grande material, and aside from the striking similarity of the stone, these plaques have extraordinary acoustic qualities when struck: a high-pitched resonating tone resembling a metallic instrument, such as a cymbal. Aside from carving and polishing single celt plaques resembling PC.B.031, I have also fashioned an entire set of three belt celts, such as are known for the Late Preclassic and Classic Maya. The sound when these celts bounce together while dancing or even walking is truly remarkable, and even more noteworthy considering that at Copan and other sites, rulers are explicitly portrayed wearing four sets of these hanging from their belts.

Indigenous Art of the Americas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1956–1962