A Reading of the Komkom Vase Discovered at Baking Pot, Belize

Discovered in 2015 during excavations of a rich Terminal Classic deposit at the site of Baking Pot, Belize, the Komkom Vase was instantly recognized as a unique and important find. For one thing, its dedicatory date of AD 812 indicates that it was made during a time when many Maya cities were in the throes of collapse. For another, it contains a remarkably long text. At some 202 glyphs blocks (not all of them preserved, to be sure), it is not only the longest Pre-Columbian text in Belize, but in the top ten longest Classic Period texts from the entire Maya area. Third, its lengthy historical narrative detailing a series of closely-spaced military engagements in the Eastern Peten and Central Belize in 799-800 echoes and amplifies a parallel account on the slightly earlier Naranjo Stela 12 (dedicated in AD 800), suggesting the tantalizing possibility that these not only relate parts of the same narrative but may well reproduce elements of a shared archetype, presumably historical annals in codical form that were produced and circulated at the Naranjo court during the eighth century and later. In additional support of this observation, the authors note that both the text's style (red-and-black paint on a cream background) and its dimensions (reconstructed by them as originally ~21.7cm tall, with most of its glyph blocks averaging about 4cm²) are strikingly parallel to the style and dimensions of surviving Maya codices. Until the unlikely event of an actual Classic Maya book coming to light, then, the Komkom Vase provides scholars with at least some idea of the format and contents of these long-lost codices. The authors are to be commended for producing such a detailed and insightful contribution within only a few short years of this important find, and all Mayanists will want a copy of this lavishly-illustrated monograph in their personal libraries. Read more