Abstract

The most prominent occurrence of ancient Maya iron-ore mirrors beyond those excavated archaeologically arises in their depiction in artistic works. The images on painted polychrome ceramics demonstrate mirrors functioning as principal objects in the royal court. Within this elite context, the iconographic evidence demonstrates that the mirrors were meant to be gazed into, but exactly what this gazing indicates is a much more elusive consideration. A consistent patterning of depictions provides the basis for a typology of physical mirror styles. Furthermore, the contexts in which mirrors are represented relative to the associated human actors in the painted scenes suggests possible renderings of the emic function of these objects in ancient Maya religion and socio-political environments. Supplementing the iconographic evidence, the analysis of hieroglyphs associated with the luminescent qualities of mirrors will work towards an interpretive model of a reflective surface complex of ancient Maya cosmology.