Editing Chacmool

{{Short description|Mesoamerican sculpture}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:2015-07 k1 CDMX 830.jpg|thumb|right|Maya chacmool from [[Chichen Itza]], excavated by Le Plongeon  in 1875, now displayed at the [[Museo Nacional de Antropología|National Museum of Anthropology]] in Mexico City]]
A '''chacmool''' (also spelled '''chac-mool''' or '''Chac Mool''') is a form of [[pre-Columbian]] [[Mesoamerican]] sculpture depicting a reclining figure with its head facing 90 degrees from the front, supporting itself on its elbows and supporting a bowl or a disk upon its stomach. These figures possibly symbolised slain warriors carrying offerings to the gods; the bowl upon the chest was used to hold sacrificial offerings, including [[pulque]], [[tamale]]s, [[tortilla]]s, [[tobacco]], turkeys, feathers, and incense. In  [[Aztec]] examples, the receptacle is a [[cuauhxicalli]] (a stone bowl to receive [[human sacrifice in Aztec culture|sacrificed human hearts]]).  Chacmools were often associated with sacrificial stones or thrones.<ref name="MillerTaube93-03,p60">Miller and Taube 1993, 2003, p. 60.</ref> The chacmool form of sculpture first appeared around the 9th century AD in the [[Valley of Mexico]] and the northern [[Yucatán Peninsula]].

Aztec chacmools bore water imagery and were associated with [[Tlaloc]], the rain god. Their symbolism placed them on the frontier between the physical and supernatural realms, as intermediaries with the gods.

==Form==
The chacmool is a distinctive form of Mesoamerican sculpture representing a reclining figure with its head facing 90 degrees from the front, leaning on its elbows and supporting a bowl or a disk upon its chest.<ref name="MillerTaube93-03,p60"/> There is great variation among individual chacmools, with some possessing heads that are right-facing and others left-facing, and some with the heads facing upwards; some examples have movable heads. The figure may be lying on its back or on its side and the abdomen can be sunken below the level of the chest and knees or at the same level. Some chacmools were raised upon rectangular bases. Some of the figures are richly attired whilst others are almost naked.<ref name="LopezLopez01p60">López Austin and López Luján 2001, p. 60.</ref>

The chacmools of Chichen Itza and Tula depict young men with warrior attributes, while the chacmools of [[Michoacán]] depict elderly men with wrinkled faces and erect penises.<ref name="LopezLopez01p60"/> A chacmool from [[Guácimo (canton)|Guácimo]], Costa Rica, combines human and [[jaguars in Mesoamerican cultures|jaguar]] features and grips a bowl.<ref name="Solano210212">Solano, 21 February 2012.</ref> The face of the figure looks upwards and the bowl was apparently used to grind foodstuffs.<ref name="Solano260212">Solano, 26 February 2012.</ref>

A wide variety of materials were used to sculpt chacmools, including [[limestone]] and hard [[metamorphic rock|metamorphic]] and [[igneous rock|igneous]] rock types. Other materials employed include ceramic and cement.<ref name="LopezLopez01p60"/>

[[File:El Cerrito Queretarro 1777 Chac Mool.jpg|thumb|Illustration including example of what would later be called a "Chac Mool" found in [[El Cerrito (archaeological site)|El Cerrito, Querétaro]] in 1777]]

==Discovery and naming==

The ancient name for these type of sculptures is unknown. The term ''chacmool'' is derived from the name "Chaacmol," which [[Augustus Le Plongeon]] in 1875 gave to a sculpture that he and his wife [[Alice Dixon Le Plongeon]] excavated within the Temple of the Eagles and Jaguars at [[Chichen Itza|Chichén Itzá]] in 1875; he translated ''Chaacmol'' from [[Yucatecan Mayan]] as the "paw swift like thunder."<ref>Desmond, Lawrence G. "Chacmool." In [[David Carrasco|Davíd Carrasco]] (ed). ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures'' : Oxford University Press, 2001{{ISBN|9780195188431|}}</ref>  Le Plongeon believed the statue, which he had found buried beneath the Platform of the Eagles and the Jaguars, depicted a former ruler of Chichen Itza.  Le Plongeon's sponsor, [[Stephen Salisbury]] of [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], published Le Plongeon's find, but revised the spelling to "Chac-Mool."<ref>Salisbury, 1877, p. 80.</ref>

Le Plongeon sought permission from Mexico's president to display the statue at the [[Centennial Exposition|Centennial Exhibition]] in Philadelphia in 1876, a request that was denied. In 1877 the Yucatecan government seized the statue and brought it to Mérida. Weeks later Yucatán turned over the statue to the federal government, which brought it to Mexico City to the [[National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico)|National Museum of Anthropology]].<ref>Desmond 1988, chapters 5 and 6</ref> Museum worker Jesús Sanchez realised that the Chichen Itza sculpture was stylistically similar to two sculptures from central Mexico and the wide occurrence of the form within Mesoamerica was first recognised.<ref name="Miller85p7">Miller 1985, p. 7.</ref> The 19th century discovery of chacmools in both central Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula helped to promote the idea of a [[Toltec]] empire although the chacmool sculptures may have originated in the Maya region.<ref>Miller 1986, 1996, p. 174.</ref>

Although the name ''chacmool'' was inappropriately applied, it has become a useful label to link stylistically similar sculptures from different regions and periods without imposing a unified interpretation.<ref name="Miller85p7"/> Besides these sites, the sculpture was also found in [[Michoacán]], where it is called Uaxanoti (The Seated One) in the [[Purépecha language]].<ref>Diccionario de Mitología y Religión de Mesoamérica, Yolotl González Torres. Edt. Larousse pp. 56, 57</ref>

==Distribution==
[[File:ChacmolTlaxRegMus.JPG|thumb|300px|A Chacmool in the Regional Museum of [[Tlaxcala]]]]
Examples of chacmool sculptures have been found widely across Mesoamerica from [[Michoacán]] in [[Mexico]] down to [[El Salvador]]. The earliest examples date from the Terminal Classic period of [[Mesoamerican chronology]] (c. AD 800–900).<ref name="MillerTaube93-03,p60"/> Examples are known from the Postclassic Aztec capital of [[Tenochtitlan]], from the central Mexican city of [[Tula (Mesoamerican site)|Tula]] and from the [[Maya city]] of [[Chichen Itza]] in the [[Yucatán Peninsula]].<ref>Read and González 2000, pp. 58–59.</ref> Fourteen chacmools are known from Chichen Itza and twelve from Tula.<ref name="Miller85p7"/> The chacmool from the palace at Tula is dated to the Early Postclassic (c. AD 900–1200).<ref>Miller 1986, 1996, p. 175.</ref> Further examples are known from [[Acolman]], [[Cempoala]], [[Michoacán]], [[Querétaro]] and [[Tlaxcala]].<ref>Miller 1985, p. 7. López Austin and López Luján 2001, p. 61.</ref>

In Chichen Itza, only five of the fourteen chacmools were securely confirmed in architectural contexts, those in the [[El Castillo, Chichen Itza|Castillo]], the Chacmool Temple, the North Colonnade, the Temple of the Little Tables and the Temple of the Warriors. The rest were found interred in or near important structures.<ref name="Miller85p9"/> The five that were found in secure architectural contexts were all placed within entrance areas near a ritual seat or throne.<ref name="Miller85p11">Miller 1985, p. 11.</ref> The chacmools in Tula also had an association with thrones or raised seating platforms, either in front of the throne or at the entrance to a chamber containing a throne.<ref name="Miller85p12">Miller 1985, p. 12.</ref>

Two chacmools have been recovered that were associated with the [[Templo Mayor|Great Temple]] of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. The first was discovered in 1943, on the junction of Venustiano Carranza and Pino Suarez, about two blocks south of the temple itself. The second chacmool was excavated in the sacred precinct.<ref name="Miller85p15">Miller 1985, p. 15.</ref> This is the only fully polychrome chacmool that has been recovered anywhere;<ref name="Miller85p15"/> it had an open mouth and exposed teeth and stood in front of the temple of [[Tlaloc]], the Aztec rain god; its sculpted bowl probably received heart and blood sacrifices.<ref>Read and González 2000, p. 257.</ref> This latter sculpture is by far the older of the two.<ref name="Miller85p15"/>

Chacmools have been reported as far south as the Maya city of [[Quiriguá]], near the Guatemalan border with Honduras.<ref>Martin & Grube 2000, p. 225.</ref> The Quiriguá chacmool most likely dated to the Postclassic period and is stylistically similar to those of Tula rather than Chichen Itza.<ref name="Miller85p14"/> Two chacmools were reported from [[Tazumal]], a Maya site in western [[El Salvador]].<ref>Cobos 1994, 1998, pp. 74, 80.</ref> A chacmool was excavated at [[Las Mercedes (archaeological site, Costa Rica)|Las Mercedes]] in [[Guácimo (canton)|Guácimo]], Costa Rica.<ref name="Solano210212"/>

==Dating and origin==
The oldest chacmool ever discovered was the Terminal Classic. The form was unknown in such important Mesoamerican cities as [[Teotihuacan]] and [[Tikal]]. After the first appearance of the form, it was rapidly disseminated throughout Mesoamerica, spreading as far south as [[Costa Rica]].<ref name="Miller85p7"/> Although a central Mexican origin is generally assumed, there are no antecedents pre-dating the [[Toltec]]s and the form is not present in central Mexican [[Mesoamerican literature|codices]].<ref>Miller 1985, pp. 7–8.</ref>

The positioning and context of the chacmool form do have antecedents in Classic [[Ancient Maya art|Maya art]] and art historian [[Mary Miller (art historian)|Mary Ellen Miller]] has argued that the chacmool developed out of Classic period Maya imagery.<ref name="Miller85p8">Miller 1985, p. 8.</ref> No central Mexican chacmool has been found that clearly predates the Chichen Itza examples. However, Tula and Chichen Itza may have developed simultaneously with rapid communication of the chacmool form from one city to the other.<ref name="Miller85p14">Miller 1985, p. 14.</ref>

The wider variety of chacmool forms at Chichen Itza has also been used to support the development of the form there; no two possess identical form, dress and proportions. At Tula the chacmools have a standardised form with little variation in position or proportions.<ref name="Miller85p14"/> Miller has proposed that the chacmool developed out of Classic Maya iconography and underwent a transition into three dimensional sculpture at Chichen Itza, perhaps spurred by the influence of central Mexican sculptural forms.<ref name="Miller85p17"/> A chacmool from Costa Rica was dated by the excavators to approximately AD 1000.<ref name="Solano260212"/>

== Aztec Chacmool ==
[[File:Chac mool.jpg|thumb|300px|An Aztec chacmool from the [[Templo Mayor]]. This example includes the original polychrome pigment, which helped archaeologists identify its iconography ties to [[Tlāloc|Tlaloc]]. ]]
[[File:Tlaloc Vasija.jpg|thumb|292x292px|A Tlaloc vessel made by the Aztecs, which is currently located at the Museo del Templo Mayor in Mexico City, Mexico]]
During the 1930 excavation of [[Templo Mayor]], the only fully [[polychrome]] chacmool to be found at that site was in its original context on the top level of the [[Tlāloc|Tlaloc]] side (the rain god) of the temple.<ref name=":02">{{cite journal |last1=Moctezuma |first1=Eduardo Matos |title=Archaeology & Symbolism in Aztec Mexico: The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion |date=1985 |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=797–813 |doi=10.1093/jaarel/LIII.4.797 |jstor=1464276 }}</ref> The position of this chacmool statue mirrored the position of the sacrificial stone on the [[Huītzilōpōchtli|Huitzilopochtli]] (the Aztecs' patron deity, associated with war) side of the temple. Archaeologist [[Eduardo Matos Moctezuma]] posits that this mirroring confirms his interpretation that the chacmool acted as an "intermediary between the priest and the god, a divine messenger," in the same way the sacrificial stone on the Huitzilopochtli side does.<ref name=":02" />

The pigment that remained on this chacmool sculpture was crucial to its identification, as it does not contain any sculpted iconography or symbols associated with the rain god Tlaloc.<ref name=":12">{{cite journal |last1=Luján |first1=Leonardo López |last2=Chiari |first2=Giacomo |title=Color in monumental Mexica sculpture |journal=Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics |date=March 2012 |volume=61-62 |issue=61/62 |pages=330–342 |doi=10.1086/RESvn1ms23647839 |jstor=23647839 |s2cid=193633419 }}</ref> Archaeologists were able to create a reconstruction of the sculpture's original colors, which they then compared to [[Pictogram|pictographic]] representations of Tlaloc.<ref name=":12" /> This comparison confirmed that the polychrome chacmool discovered at Tlaloc's side of the Templo Mayor was a representation of the deity itself.<ref name=":12" /> Characteristics such as the "''chia'' circles on the cheeks, the circular gold pectoral medallion, and the color combination of the petticoat, as well as the black skin, the red hands and feet, and the white headdress and bangles" echo the iconography of other depictions of Tlaloc. Art historians Leonardo Lopez Lujan and Giacomo Chiari argue that this "confirms that there is symbolic continuity between the early and late Mexica [Aztec] chacmool," due to early Aztec chacmools containing iconographic nods to Tlaloc.<ref name=":12" />

A second chacmool discovery from the Templo Mayor, dating to a later period, displays iconographic features which are distinct from the larger corpus of chacmool figures but consistent with other sculptures (Tlaloc ritual vessels and bench reliefs) found in a similar context at the Templo Mayor.<ref name=":03">{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|1621508359}} |last1=Winfield |first1=Shannen M |date=2014 |title=Containers of power: The Tlaloc vessels of the Templo Mayor as embodiments of the Aztec rain god }}</ref> Whereas Tlaloc's eyes are generally represented with a round goggle-like frame, the later chacmool, the vessels, and the bench relief feature a rectangular eye frame within which almond eyes are engraved.<ref name=":13">López Austin, Alfredo. 1983. "The Masked God of Fire," ''The Aztec Templo Mayor: a symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 8th and 9th October 1983'', edited by Elizabeth 135 Hill Boone. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection: 257–292.</ref> All three sculptures also include large fangs at the corners of the god's mouth.<ref name=":03" /> The ornaments worn by the later chacmool and included in the vessels and the bench relief also differ from other representations of Tlaloc. The later chacmool, vessels, and bench relief sport oversized circular [[Aztec clothing|earspools]], rather than the characteristic earspools with a square plug and central dangal; they are also adorned with a multistrand, beaded collar in which one strand has larger beads that have been interpreted to be hanging bells.<ref name=":03" /> The chacmool holds onto a ''[[cuauhxicalli]]'' vessel that is engraved with the face of Tlaloc, including the same rectangular eye and mouth features.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":03" />
[[File:Mexico City-Nationalmuseum-08-Chac-1980-gje.jpg|thumb|Aztec chacmool, found in 1942 in Mexico City, now located at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico City, Mexico]]
[[File:Tlaloc Chacmool verso.jpg|thumb|Backside of an Aztec chacmool, found in 1942 in Mexico City, now located in the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico City, Mexico]]
In 1942, archaeologists recovered another chacmool example located a few blocks away from the Templo Mayor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Mary |last2=Samayoa |first2=Marco |date=Spring 1998 |title=Where Maize May Grow: Jade, Chacmools, and the Maize God |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20167001 |journal=RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics |volume=33 |issue=33 |pages=54–72 |doi=10.1086/RESv33n1ms20167001 |jstor=20167001 |s2cid=164460764 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> This chacmool has overt iconographic associations with Tlaloc, wearing his mask and holding a ''cuauhxicalli'' vessel whose top is carved with the face of Tlaloc (rather than being concave and able to hold something).<ref name=":0" /> He is wearing several strands of beaded necklaces, with the outer most ring containing oliva shells, which were a characteristic of [[Maya textiles|Maya costuming]].<ref name=":0" /> Another [[Maya civilization|Maya]] influence can be seen in his headdress, which scholars Mary Miller and Marco Samayoa compare to a headdress worn by [[Itzamnaaj Bahlam III|Maya king Shield Jaguar]] (also known as Itzamnaaj Bahlam III''')''' of [[Yaxchilan Lintel 24|Yaxchilan]].<ref name=":0" /> Perhaps the most interesting iconographic feature of this chacmool, however, is the large necklace pendant he wears, which Miller and Samayoa argue is a representation of an actual heirloom pendant. They suggest that the pendant was looted from a Maya site, probably "from a stone vessel interred behind a chacmool" and that "its subject is probably the enthroned, resurrected [[Maya maize god|Maize God]]."<ref name=":0" /> This association between chacmools and maize deities is rooted in Maya examples (from which the Aztecs were clearly drawing inspiration, as this example's headdress and shell necklace demonstrate), but does not necessarily mean that the Aztecs would have associated their chacmools with maize deities. In all likelihood, the Aztecs conceived of chacmools as being connected to Tlaloc, as it is his image and associated iconographic characteristics that cover the majority of discovered Aztec chacmools. This chacmool, for instance, features a carving of Tlaloc on its underside, the symbolic meaning of which Miller explores: "With their undersides carved with aquatic symbols, these sculptures seem to float on water. This suspension suggests the liminal qualities of the messenger, the link between earth and supernaturals."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Miller |first=Mary Ellen |date=1985 |title=A Re-examination of the Mesoamerican Chacmool |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3050884 |journal=The Art Bulletin |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=7–17 |doi=10.2307/3050884 |jstor=3050884 |issn=0004-3079|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Interpretations==
[[File:Chac Mool dentro del templo de Kukulkán.jpg|thumb|300px|Chacmool inside the [[El Castillo, Chichen Itza|Castillo pyramid of Chichen Itza]].]]
The meaning of the chacmool figures varied across time depending upon the geographical and cultural context.<ref>López Austin and López Luján 2001, pp. 60–61.</ref> Chacmools do not appear to have been worshipped, since they are never found within inner sanctuary of temples or shrines; it appears to have rather been a piece of religious paraphernalia used by the priesthood in the course of their duties. Three uses have generally been attributed to chacmools.<ref name="LopezAustin&LopezLujan01p62">López Austin and López Luján 2001, p. 62.</ref>

The first interpretation is that the chacmool is an offering table (or ''tlamanalco'') to receive gifts such as [[pulque]], [[tamale]]s, [[tortilla]]s, tobacco, turkeys, feathers and incense. The second is that the chacmool was a ''cuauhxicalli'' to receive blood and human hearts; this use is particularly relevant to the Aztecs, who used a ''cuauhxicalli'' bowl in place of the usual disc-altar. These bowls may have accepted these blood offerings directly or may have been holders for portable ''cuauhxicalli'' bowls that were placed within them. A chacmool from Tlaxcala has a bloodied heart sculpted on the underside, supporting this interpretation.<ref name="LopezAustin&LopezLujan01p62"/>

It has also been suggested that chacmools were used as a ''techcatl'', or sacrificial stone over which victims were stretched so their hearts could be cut from their chests. The ''[[Crónica Mexicayotl]]'' describes such a sacrificial stone as sculpted in the form of a person with a twisted head.<ref>López Austin and López Luján 2001, pp. 62–63.</ref> ''Techcatl'' were not just used for human sacrifice, they were also used in the ''[[yacaxapotlaliztli]]'' ceremony, where the nose of a future ruler was pierced. Such rituals may also have been executed upon chacmools, and the presence of small nose jewels sculpted onto various chacmools at Chichen Itza and one at Tula has been used to support this idea.<ref name="LopezAustin&LopezLujan01p63">López Austin and López Luján 2001, p. 63.</ref>

The backward reclining figure of the chacmool presents a defenceless, passive appearance and has been likened by Miller to the positioning of captives in Classic period Maya sculpture and painting. Bent elbows and knees are common in depictions of Maya captives; the full-frontal view of the face is rare in Maya art except among representations of captives.<ref name="Miller85p8"/> The form of the Chichen Itza chacmools lacks the typical traits of Maya deities and most scholars have assumed that the iconography of Maya chacmools is equivalent to that of the central Mexican examples. Eduard Seler commented in the early 1960s that chacmools in Chichen Itza tended to be located in temple antechambers, where the bowl or disc gripped by the figure served to receive pulque as an offering.<ref name="Miller85p9">Miller 1985, p. 9.</ref>

The chacmools at Chichen Itza were found in a combination of chacmool, throne and serpent column; this chacmool-throne-serpent complex was associated with rulership during the Early Postclassic period.<ref name="Miller85p11"/> The original chacmool described by Le Plongeon in the 19th century included small images of the central Mexican deity Tlaloc on its [[Plug (jewellery)|ear ornaments]]. Among the Classic period Maya, such [[Human sacrifice in Maya culture|Tlaloc imagery was associated with war and human sacrifice]]. Associations between the rain god, war and human sacrifice may have continued into the Postclassic period as demonstrated by the chacmool within the Castillo at Chichen Itza, which bears small images of the Maya rain god [[Chaac]] on its ear ornaments.<ref name="Miller85p17">Miller 1985, p. 17.</ref> The chacmools at Tula, with contextual similarity to those at Chichen Itza, probably also represent war captives.<ref name="Miller85p12"/>

The lack of the representation of chacmools in Central Mexican codices has led to them being associated with a great variety of deities by scholars, including [[Cinteotl]], [[Tezcatzoncatl]] and Tlaloc.<ref>Miller 1985, pp. 14–15.</ref> Both of the chacmools from the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan were clearly associated with Tlaloc. The chacmool found two blocks south of the temple was sculpted with three images of the deity.<ref>Miller 1985, pp. 15–16.</ref> These included an elaborate relief image of Tlaloc amongst aquatic symbols on the underside, one on the bowl that the figure grips and the last is the Tlaloc mask with characteristic goggles and fangs that is worn by the chacmool.<ref name="Miller85p15"/>

The fully polychrome chacmool found ''in situ'' in the Great Temple was associated with Tlaloc by its placement on the Tlaloc half of the double pyramid. A further Aztec chacmool was described in the 19th century; it is of uncertain origin but stylistically it is typical of Tenochtitlan. It is sculpted on the underside with aquatic imagery and the figure wears a goggle-and-fangs Tlaloc mask. Spanish observers reported the great quantity of human sacrifices during important ceremonies at the Great Temple and the chacmool was probably used during these rituals to symbolise the sacrificed captives as well as receive their blood.<ref name="Miller85p15"/>

The discs gripped by some chacmools may represent a [[Mirrors in Mesoamerican culture|mirror]]. Chacmools were placed in entrances in order to receive sacrificial offerings, including human blood and hearts. The aquatic imagery carved onto the underside of some of the figures symbolised that they were floating on water, on the frontier between the physical world and the supernatural realm. This suggests that chacmools acted as messengers between the mortal realm and that of the gods.<ref name="Miller85p15"/>

Costa Rican chacmools gripped sculpted bowls; these chacmools also served ceremonial purposes although the bowl was used to grind foodstuffs.<ref name="Solano260212"/>

==In contemporary culture==
The short story "Chac Mool" by Mexican novelist [[Carlos Fuentes]] is found in his book ''Los días enmascarados'' ({{Transliteration|es|The masked days}}), published in 1954.<ref>Carballo 1955, p. 4.</ref> A man named Filiberto buys a chacmool for his art collection,<ref name="Filer84p477">Filer 1984, p. 477</ref> and discovers that the stone is slowly becoming flesh.<ref>Carballo 1955, p. 16.</ref> The idol eventually becomes fully human,<ref name="Filer84p477"/> dominating his life, causing flooding and other disasters. Filiberto dies by drowning.<ref name="Filer84p477"/> His story is found in a diary describing the terrors brought on by the idol,<ref>Brushwood 1982, p. 19.</ref> and his plans to escape. According to the author, this short story was inspired by news reports from 1952 when the lending of a representation of the Maya rain deity to a Mexican exhibition in Europe had coincided with wet weather there.<ref name="Filer84p477"/> The short story was included in the 2008 anthology ''[[Sun, Stone, and Shadows]].''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-11-24 |title=Sun, Stone, and Shadows Audio Guide – Part Two |url=https://www.arts.gov/stories/other/sun-stone-and-shadows-audio-guide-part-two |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=www.arts.gov |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Henry Moore, Reclining Figure (6874668218).jpg|thumb|191x191px|Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, "Reclining Figure" by Henry Moore. This is just one of many examples of Henry Moore's monumental "Reclining Figure" works.]]
In [[Henry Moore]]'s early examples of monumental reclining figures, the artist relied on the cast of a chacmool sculpture he saw in Paris. Commenting on the major impact chacmool sculpted figures had on his early career, Moore stated that "Its stillness and alertness, a sense of readiness – and the whole presence of it, and the legs coming down like columns" were characteristics that inspired his creations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theartstory.org/artist-moore-henry-artworks.htm|title=Henry Moore Most Important Art |work=The Art Story|access-date=2018-11-12|language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==General references==
{{Commons category|Chac Mool}}
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |author=Brushwood, John S. |year=1982 |title=Carlos Fuentes, a Critical View |pages=[https://archive.org/details/carlosfuentescri0000unse/page/18 18–33] |chapter=''Los días enmascarados'' and ''Cantar de ciegos'': Reading the Stories and Reading the Books |series=Texas Pan American series |publisher=University of Texas Press |editor=Robert Brody |editor2=Charles Rossman |location=Austin, Texas |isbn=0-292-71077-1 |oclc=8589372 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/carlosfuentescri0000unse/page/18 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Carballo, Emmanuel  |date=March 1955 |volume=IX |issue=7 |journal=Revista de la Universidad de México |pages=4, 16 |publisher=Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |location=Mexico City, Mexico |title=Los días enmascarados |url=http://www.revistadelauniversidad.unam.mx/ojs_rum/index.php/rum/article/download/6424/7662 |access-date=2014-10-21|language=es}}
* {{cite book |author=Cobos, Rafael  |orig-year=1994 |year=1998 |title=Síntesis de la Arqueología de El Salvador 1850–1991 |series=Colección Antropología e Historia |volume=21 |publisher=Concultura  (Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y el Arte) |location=San Salvador, El Salvador |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8tgWAAAAYAAJ|language=es}}
* {{cite book |author=Desmond, Lawrence Gustave  |author2=Phyllis Mauch Messenger |title=A dream of Maya: Augustus and Alice Le Plongeon in nineteenth-century Yucatan |year=1988 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |oclc=16406931 |isbn=9780826310002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NlpAAAAMAAJ}}
* Desmond, Lawrence G. "Chacmool." In Davíd Carrasco (ed). ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures''. : Oxford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|9780195188431}}
* {{cite journal |author=Filer, Malva E.  |title=Los mitos indígenas en la obra de Carlos Fuentes |url=http://revista-iberoamericana.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/Iberoamericana/article/viewFile/3946/4114 |journal=Revista Iberoamericana |date=April–June 1984 |pages=475–489 |volume=L |issue=127 |publisher=Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana |location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US |issn=0034-9631 |oclc=1763960 |access-date=2014-10-21|language=es|doi=10.5195/REVIBEROAMER.1984.3946 |doi-access=free |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |author=López Austin, Alfredo  |author2=Leonardo López Luján |title=El chacmool mexica |journal=Caravelle |volume=76 |issue=76/77, Hommage  À Georges Baudot  |date=December 2001 |pages=59–84 |publisher=Presses Universitaires du Mirail |jstor=40854948 |location=Toulousse, France|doi=10.3406/carav.2001.1285 |language=es}}
* {{cite book|author=Martin, Simon  |author-link=Simon Martin (Mayanist)|author2=Nikolai Grube  |year=2000 |title=Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London and New York |isbn=0-500-05103-8 |oclc=47358325 |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofmayak00mart|url-access=registration  |author2-link=Nikolai Grube}}
* {{cite journal| title=A Re-examination of the Mesoamerican Chacmool |author=Miller, Mary Ellen  |journal=The Art Bulletin |volume=67 |issue=1 |date=March 1985 |pages=7–17 |publisher=College Art Association |jstor=3050884 |doi=10.1080/00043079.1985.10788233 }}
* {{cite book |author=Miller, Mary |author-link=Mary Miller (art historian) |author2=Karl Taube |orig-year=1993 |year=2003 |title=An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |isbn=0-500-27928-4 |oclc=28801551 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780500279281 |author2-link=Karl Taube }}
* {{cite book |author=Read, Kay Almere  |author2=Jason González |year=2000 |title=Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology |location=Oxford |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=1-85109-340-0 |oclc=43879188 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cygbAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{cite journal |author=Salisbury, Stephen Jr.  |year=1877 |title=Dr. Le Plongeon in Yucatan |journal=Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society |volume=69 |pages=70–119 |url=https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsamer25socigoog#page/n582/mode/2up}}
* {{cite news |author=Solano B., Andrea  |date=21 February 2012 |title=Arquéologos hallan escultura de piedra precolombina en Guácimo |newspaper=La Nación |publisher=Grupo Nación S.A. |location=San José, Costa Rica |access-date=2013-09-16 |url=http://www.nacion.com/ocio/artes/Arqueologos-hallan-escultura-precolombina-Guacimo_0_1251874905.html|language=es}}
* {{cite news |author=Solano B., Andrea  |date=26 February 2012 |title=Humano y felino, unidos en escultura de piedra |newspaper=La Nación |publisher=Grupo Nación S.A. |location=San José, Costa Rica |access-date=2013-09-16 |url=http://www.nacion.com/ocio/artes/Humano-felino-unidos-escultura-piedra_0_1252874786.html|language=es}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite journal |title=Where Maize May Grow: Jade, Chacmools, and the Maize God |author=Miller, Mary |author2=Marco Samayoa |journal=RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics |volume=33 |issue=33 Pre–Columbian States of Being |date=Spring 1998 |pages=54–72 |publisher=The President and Fellows of Harvard College acting through the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology |jstor=20167001|doi=10.1086/RESv33n1ms20167001 |s2cid=164460764 }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130126205226/http://maya.csueastbay.edu/archaeoplanet/LgdPage/Chacmool.htm "Chacmool," by Lawrence G. Desmond, Peabody Museum, Harvard University]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Maya civilization]]
[[Category:Religious objects]]
[[Category:Stone sculptures]]
[[Category:Indigenous sculpture of the Americas]]
[[Category:Aztec artifacts]]
[[Category:Mesoamerican stone sculptures]]