1999/01/01 by Prudence M. Rice
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and Cultural Heritage #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Latin American history and culture
paper · doi:10.1017/s0956536199101020
openalex publication_date 1999/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Classic lowland Maya censers can be described in terms of two general categories, image (or effigy) and non-image. The function and meaning of these incensarios is approached through consideration of their embellishment, symbolism, and contexts of use and recovery. It is suggested that in Peten and some adjacent areas, Classic image censers were part of the paraphernalia of divine kingship, associated with termination rituals and a royal funerary cult. Non-image and particularly spiked censers were more associated with birth/renewal, earth, rain, and calendrical rituals involving fire drilling. Their use became widespread in the lowlands during the Terminal Classic period, with the “collapse” of divine kingship and elite power.