Lobster was a bad omen for the Mayans; researcher

On March 6th , at 6 pm, in the La Ceiba Garden of the Peninsular Center for Humanities and Social Sciences ( Cephcis ) of the UNAM, the book “Oxlajuun Chanaal Kuy: soothsayer of sáak” will be presented.

The work, co-written by Dr. Fabio Flores Granados, a researcher at Cephcis, and archaeologist Omar Sosa Guillén , offers an analysis of the presence of the lobster in Mayan iconography and worldview.

In an interview with Diario de Yucatán , Dr. Flores points out that throughout the investigation they tracked representations of the insect on Mayan vessels and codices , in which they found evidence of its relevance to the indigenous worldview and its association with periods of crisis and social collapse .

He explains that the presence of locusts , known in the Mayan language as sáak , has been a recurring phenomenon in the history of the region, although today its impact has been controlled through plant health strategies.

In the past, he points out, pests were devastating for agricultural communities , affecting the cornfields and causing famine.

“Historical sources document the presence of plagues in the Yucatan Peninsula from the 16th to the 19th century, with infestations so dense that they obscured the Sun. ”

The research process that gave rise to the book included the analysis of historical texts and archaeological studies, along with the iconographic and epigraphic reading of the representations of the insect in Mayan ceramics.

Sosa Guillén analyzed nearly 80 polychrome plates from the Postclassic period , in which she identified geometric patterns that could correspond to the stylized representation of the insect in different stages of development. In addition, an ethnographic study was included with members of the Plant Health Center of Yucatán and farmers from the east of the State to understand current perceptions about the action of the insect.

Dr. Flores emphasizes that the vast majority of the pieces they analyzed were in museums and private collections and that only one was found in an archaeological context, that is, in a tomb that was excavated near Maxcanú.

“This plate, as was usually done with kuy plates, was polychrome and ritualistic in nature, placed on the face of the deceased person on their way to Xibalbá , and this plate, precisely, has the moan bird printed on the bottom and on the edges an iconographic reading of the insect.”

The researcher highlights that one of the most relevant findings was the relationship between Oxlajuun, the mythical bird linked to the underworld, and the locust . In the Mayan codices, Oxlajuun appears as a harbinger of death and destruction, announcing the arrival of plagues of locusts, which reinforces the idea that these insects were a bad omen in the pre-Hispanic imagination.

The book also explores how environmental and social crises, combined with periods of extreme drought, favoured the proliferation of locusts and their impact on social organisation.

"The collapse of Mayan culture in the Classic period was not caused by a single factor, but by a combination of climatic changes, social conflicts and, among other elements, the recurrent appearance of locust plagues," says Dr. Flores Granados.

“The abandonment of cities like Uxmal and Chichén Itzá, which occurred at the end of the Classic period, did have to do with these strong climatic changes, with famines and often with the appearance of locusts.”

The book “Oxlajuun Chanaal Kuy: agorero de sáak”, published by Cephcis of the UNAM , contributes to the study of the relationship between the environment, iconography and the history of the Mayans, and allows us to understand how nature influenced their worldview and sociopolitical dynamics.

At the March presentation, the comments on the work will be made by Miguel Pinkus Rendón and Geiser Gerardo Martín.