Objective/context:

In this article I propose to analyze the sacred wrappings and the concept of wrapping among the Maya, based on the use of the ontological theoretical framework present in anthropology and archaeology. Two examples of a possibility of such an approach are presented for the study of the textile wrappings present in the Mayan and Mesoamerican territories, from the concept of relational ontologies and by means of native conceptions and theories. With this, we seek to conceptually define the ceremonial bundles based on notions of Mayan thought itself.

Methodology:

Based on an analysis of ethnographic data, I reflect on the notions of pixan (souls) and pix (wrapping something) in order to approach the concept of wrapping that defines ceremonial bundles. Thus, the two cases that exemplify such reflections are the Martín Bundle, patron and protector of a Tz'utujil community of Lake Santiago Atitlán in Guatemala, and the image of a ceremonial bundle in a scene of enthronement in the Tablero del Palacio de Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico.

Conclusions:

With the examples presented, I propose to think of the bundles as elements that protect and give a materiality to the pixanes of the other world when they are present in the ordinary world. As such, the wrapping would function as a body for another form of existence in the first example, and as an element of protection for powerful objects, which ends up breeding a relational field between such artifacts as a whole, as presented in the second case.

Originality:

I hope with this initial reflection to contribute to a discussion about the use of the ontological theoretical framework in the study of archaeological and ethnographic materials in the Mayan area, based on reflections on concepts proper to these peoples.

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