Early Nohalk'ax

A flanged bowl with a rounded base and eroded slip. The vessel has a dull dark gray (10YR 3/1) wash on the interior and exterior. The paste is olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) with white inclusions. Wall thickness is 0.4-0.7 cm.

A flanged bowl with a rounded base, flared sides, a direct rim, and rounded lip. The thickness of the walls is 0.5 cm. The paste has a fine texture and finely crushed calcite shows through the surface. The color of the paste is yellowish red (5YR 5/6). These surfaces are smoothed and covered with a yellowish red (5YR 7/8) slip color. The base of the vessel is unslipped and bears evidence of smoothing marks. The decoration on the exterior consists of red (2.5YR 5/8) or yellowish red (5YR 7/8) bands near the rim. Below these are red (10R 4/3) bands of 1.5 cm width. Vertical lines run from these horizontal bands down to the flange in a weak red (10R 4/3) color. On the flange, red (7.5R 4/8) dots were painted and encircled by "U"-shaped red (10R 4/3) motifs. On the interior, there is a red (7.5R 4/8) band near the rim that measures 1.5 cm in width. A second band in a weak red (10R 4/3) color runs beneath the first and is 0.5 cm in width. Fugitive interior paint seems to depict a seated figure wearing some sort of bird mask or headdress. Rays swirling around the interior could represent a large shell motif, from which the figure is emerging.

Bowl with rounded and incurved sides, a ring base with a drill hole, and a direct, rounded rim. The bowl is slipped on the interior. There is a dark red circumferential line and seven eroded circles painted around the rim. Lines are painted below the rim in 0.4 cm widths and 1-cm separation. The paste is brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) and has large rounded inclusions. The vessel was inverted over the cranium of a young adult burial.

A very eroded and friable bowl with a rounded base, small flange, outflaring rim, and direct rounded lip. The thickness of the base is 0.68 cm. The slip is a light red (2.5YR 6/8) that coats a paste with small white inclusions and a very dark gray (2.5YR 3/0) core. The bowl was inverted over the head of an extended adult. This vessel was an heirloom Terminal KÕatabcheÕkÕax piece found in an Early NohalkÕax context.

An Actuncan polychrome bowl that remains whole, though cracks have almost fissured through the vessel. The bowl has round sides, a ring base, and a direct rim with a rounded lip. The base has a diameter of 12 cm. Overall, the interior and exterior of the vessel is slipped in a light red (2.5YR 6/8) color, which provides the base coat. Decoration consists of a circumferential band near the rim in a weak red (10R 5/4) color: 0.8-cm wide on the interior, 1.5-cm on the exterior. Motifs appear as angular, serpentine scroll designs in the same color. The bowl was inverted over the skull.

A flanged Aguila Orange bowl with slip on both the interior and exterior surfaces. The base diameter is 7 cm. The vessel was found inverted over the skull of an adult, extended interment. The burial apparently occurred on the cusp of the Terminal KÕatabcheÕkÕax to Early NohalkÕax transition.

DOA No: 33/200-5:4 A well-preserved bowl with incurved-recurved sides, a collared neck, and a flat base. The basal diameter is 7.8 cm, which is the same measurement for the height of the neck. The vessel is a brownish yellow (10YR 7/4). The paste color is a yellowish red (5YR 5/6) and has a fine texture with probable calcite and iron particles. This vessel belongs to the basal Late KÕatabcheÕkÕax construction phase in Operation 7, but is a type that doesnÕt become popular until the Early NohalkÕax. The vessel represents an example of precocious craftsmanship and was, most likely, an import to KÕaxob.

The tetrapod bowl has hollow conical feet, slightly incurved sides, a direct rim, and rounded lip. The feet are 7.3 cm in height and are modeled and painted to represent peccary heads. The orange eyes of the peccary are outlined in red and have a very dark brown line separating them. The tips of the feet are modeled to form the mouth and were probably painted in red. The exterior rim of the vessel is decorated with a red (10R 4/8) circumferential band 0.8-0.9 cm wide. The middle register consists of black (7.5R 2.5/0) rectangles alternating with red (10R 4/8) ones. All rectangles measure 3 cm high, but the three black ones are shorter in length (averaging 7 cm) than the three red panels (averaging 9 cm). Beneath this design, a very dark brown (10YR 2/2) line and a red (10R 4/8) 0.6-cm wide circumferential band encircle the vessel near the incurved base. The interior of the bowl has a highly glossy reddish yellow (5YR 6/8) surface. The interior rim is a continuation of the external decoration with a red (10R 4/8) circumferential band that is 1 cm wide and bordered by a very dark brown (10YR 2/2) line of 0.2 cm width. The paste of the vessel has a fine texture and may be ash tempered.

DOA No: 33/200-5:10 An Actuncan polychrome bowl with outcurved sides and a basal flange. It has a ring base, direct rim, and rounded lip. The ring base is 4 cm in height and 7.2 cm in diameter. Decoration of the vessel body consists of two red and black hummingbird designs alternating with two framed serpent head profiles on an orange base. The flange is 2.7 cm wide and is painted with stepped forms which, most likely, represent half of a portal motif. These are arranged in alternating orientations. Inside the vessel, there are red (1.4 cm wide) and black (0.3 cm) circumferential lines. The paste is pinkish gray and has a fine texture with some iron particles permeating the surface. There is some evidence for smoothing of the base. The vessel was inverted over the skull.