Bowl with Abstract Designs

On this painted vessel, the groups of three solid black circles forming an inverted triangle, lines of small black dots, and groups of slashes are symbolic of the jaguar. Admired as the apex animal of the tropical forest and known for its agility, intelligence, and prowess. Rulers sought to appropriate the jaguar’s valuable attributes by wearing jaguar pelts, adorning thrones and war banners in jaguar pelts, and ordering objects to be decorated with jaguar motifs. Interspersed with the jaguar symbols are cacao seeds that appear as painted black ovals with one or two orange lines. Cacao (Theobroma cacao), from which chocolate is made, is a native plant of Mesoamerica and required special conditions to grow. As such it was a rare resource, and the Maya elite class controlled its consumption. The Maya made cacao into a beverage and consumed it during ceremonies that solidified relationships among members of the royal class.