NOTES
This figurine, with its simple but towering headdress and minimalist skirt, probably represents a member of a Maya court, perhaps a scribe. There are ek’ (star symbols) just under the brim of his headdress, perhaps indicating that his duties included astronomy. This was a key field of interest for any scribe familiar with performing complicated calendrical calculations, observing the movement of celestial bodies, and predicting the likelihood of natural phenomena. Maya artists produced hundreds of ceramic figurines representing various members of society. These figurines were made on the island necropolis of Jaina, located off the western coast of the Yucatan peninsula.
