Resumo

TOMASSI, Mirko De. Spinning Connections with Ancestors: the Use of Spindle Whorls in Posthumous Rituals at the Maya Site of Palenque. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2024, vol.63, pp.41-75.  Epub 26-Ago-2024. ISSN 0185-2574.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.ecm.63.2024/00171s0xw32.

The analysis of grave goods provides information about the rituality of ancient populations. The present investigation aspires to broaden the knowledge about the funerary use of spindle whorls among pre-Hispanic Mayas. These objects are generally interpreted as part of the identity of the buried individuals. However, in Palenque, southern Mexico, spindle whorls are deposited in contexts that present evidence of posthumous rituals and secondary manipulation of the skeletal content. In this research, six recently excavated funerary contexts from Group IV, an elite household from Palenque, are examined in detail. These graves are compared with burials of other domestic groups and with an example of the Palenque’s royalty: the Red Queen’s sarcophagus. Iconographic, historical and ethnographic sources allowed to infer that the spindle whorls in Palenque were used to carry out posthumous rites that involved the production of thread to materialize a communication route with the ancestors.

Palavras-chave : Spindle Whorls; Posthumous Rituals; Ancestors; Palenque; Mayas.

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