Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-fvjsw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-13T18:12:08.907Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus capucinus) and the Ancient Maya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Mary Baker
Mary Baker
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Two genera of nonhuman primates that include howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata and Alouatta pigra) and spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) currently are located throughout the Maya region. It has been suggested that the Classic Maya associated these monkeys, especially howler monkeys, with the arts. This view is exemplified in the Popol Vuh and in depictions of monkey-man scribes on Late Classic (c. a.d. 550–900) ceramics. This paper provides evidence that a third genus, the capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus), is also located in the southern Maya region and may have extended as far north as Belize within the last century. Supporting data are drawn from historic accounts, artifact and faunal analysis, and linguistic data. It is also proposed, based on an interspecific comparison of morphological and behavioral characteristics, that capuchin monkeys rather than howler monkeys are the animals represented in depictions of monkey scribes.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , Fall 1992, pp. 219 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, James R. 1990 Use of Objects as Hammers to Open Nuts by Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella). Folia Primatologica 54:138–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Attinasi, J.J. 1973 Lak T'an. A Grammar of the Choi (Mayan) Word. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, Chicago.Google Scholar
Aulie, H. Wilbur, and de Aulie, Evelyn W. 1978 Diccionario ch'ol-español, español-ch'ol. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, México.Google Scholar
Barrera, Vásquez Alfredo (editor) 1980 Diccionario Maya Cordemex: Maya-Español, Español-Maya. Ediciones Cordemex, 4Mérida.Google Scholar
Boinski, S. 1988 Use of a Club by a Wild White-Faced Capuchin (Cebus capucinus) to Attack a Venomous Snake (Bothrops asper). American Journal of Primatology 14:177–179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chevalier-Skolnikoff, Suzanne 1989 Spontaneous Tool Use and Sensorimotor Intelligence in Cebus Compared with Other Monkeys and Apes. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 12:561–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1978 Supernatural Patrons of Maya Scribes and Artists. In Social Process in Maya History, edited by Hammond, Norman, pp. 327–346. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Costello, Michael 1989 Tool Use and Manufacture by Object-Deprived Capuchins (Cebus apella). Unpublished manuscript on file, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside.Google Scholar
Coto, T. de 1983 Thesaurus Verborum: Vocabulario de la Lengua Cakchiquel y Guatemalteca, Nuevamente Hecho e Recopilado con Summo Estudio, Trabajo y Erudición. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Crockett, Carolyn M., and Eisenberg, John F. 1986 Howlers: Variations in Group Size and Demography. In Primate Societies, edited by Smuts, Barbara, Cheney, Dorothy, Seyfarth, Robert M., Wrangham, Richard W., and Struhsaker, Thomas T., pp. 54–68. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Edmonson, Munro S. 1971 The Book of Counsel: The Popol Vuh of the Quiche Maya of Guatemala. Middle American Research Institute, Publication 35. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Edmonson, Munro S. 1965 Quiche-English Dictionary. Middle American Research Institute, Publication 30. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Emmons, Louise H. 1990 Neotropical Rainforest Mammals: A Field Guide. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Fedigan, Linda Marie 1990 Vertebrate Predation in Cebus capucinus: Meat Eating in a Neotropical Monkey. Folia Primatologica 54:196–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, George Byron 1898 Researches in the Uloa Valley: Report on the 1896–97 Expedition to Uloa Valley. Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology Memoirs (1896–1902), vol. I, pp. 97–109. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Hamblin, Nancy L. 1984 Animal Use by the Cozumel Maya. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Healy, Paul F. 1983 The Paleoecology of the Selin Farm Site (H-CN-5): Department of Colón, Honduras. In Civilization in the Ancient Americas: Essays in Honor of Gordon R. Willey, edited by Leventhal, Richard and Kolata, Alan, pp. 35–54. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Heath de Zapata, Dorothy Andrews 1980 Vocabulario Mayathan: Maya Dictionary Maya-English, English-Maya. Merida.Google Scholar
Hellmuth, Nicholas M. 1987 Monster und Menschen in der Maya-Kunst: Eine Ikonographie der alten Religionen Mexikos und Guatemalas. Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz, Austria.Google Scholar
Hershkovitz, Philip 1977 Living New World Monkeys (Platyrrhini) with an Introduction to Primates, vol 1. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 1988 Beyond the Maya Frontier: Cultural Interaction and Syncretism along the Central Konduran Corridor. In The Southeast Classic Maya Zone, edited by Hill, Elizabeth Boone and Willey, Gordon R., pp. 297–334. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Hollister, N. 1914 Four New Mammals from Tropical America. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 28:103–106.Google Scholar
Hurley, Alfa Vda.de Delgaty, , and Ruiz, Agustín 1986 Diccionario Tzotzil de San Andrés con variaciones dialectales, tzotzil-español, español-tzotzil. Vocabulario Indígenas 22. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, Mexico.Google Scholar
Izawa, Kosei, and Mizuno, Akinori 1977 Palm-Fruit Cracking Behavior of Wild Black-Capped Capuchin (Cebus apella). Primates 18:773–792.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary A. 1988 The Uloa Valley and the Coastal Maya Lowlands: The View From Cerro Palenque. In The Southeast Classic Maya Zone, edited by Hill, Elizabeth Boone and Willey, Gordon R., pp. 297–334. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Kerr, Justin 1989 The Maya Vase Book, vol. 1. Kerr Associates, New York.Google Scholar
Laughlin, Robert M. 1975 The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Smithsonian Institution Contributions to Anthropology 19. Washington, DC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laughlin, Robert M. 1988 The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of Santo Domingo Zinacontán, Tzotzil-English, vol. 1. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Luna, Kan Francisco 1945 Enciclopedia yucatanense. 2nd ed., vol. 1. Gobierno de Yucatan, Mexico.Google Scholar
Maudslay, A.P. 1974 Biologia Centrali-Americana or Contributions to the Knowledge of the Flora and Fauna of Mexico and Central America, 1889–1902, facsimile edition. 4 vols. Edited by Godman, Frederick du Cane and Salvin, Osbret, R.H. Porter. London.Google Scholar
Moran, Fray Pedro 1935 Arte y Diccionario en Lengua Cholti: A Manuscript copied from the Libro Grande of Fr. Pedro Moran of About 1625. The Maya Society, Publication 9. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Perez, J.P. 1898 Coordinación alfabética de las voces del idioma maya. Imprenta de la Ermita, Mérida, Yucatán.Google Scholar
Pohl, Mary 1983 Maya Ritual Faunas: Vertebrate Remains from Burials, Caches, and Cenotes in the Maya Lowlands. In Civilization in the Ancient Americas, Essays in Honor of Gordon R. Willey, edited by Leventhal, Richard and Kolata, Alan, pp. 55–103. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Pohl, Mary 1985 The Privileges of Maya Elites: Prehistoric Vertebrate Fauna From Seibal. In Prehistoric Lowland Maya Environment and Subsistence Economy, edited by Pohl, Mary, pp. 133–145. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, vol 77. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Pohl, Mary 1990 The Ethnozoology of the Maya: Faunal Remains from Five Sites in Peten, Guatemala. In Excavations at Seibal, edited by Willey, Gordon, pp. 144–174. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol 17, No. 3. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Pontious, David Henne 1980 Diccionario quiche-español. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Recinos, Adrian 1950 Popal Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiche Maya. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Reynoso, Fray Diego de 1915 Vocabulario de la lengua marne. Departamento de Imprenta de la Secretaria de Fomento, Mexico.Google Scholar
Ritchie, Bill G., and Fragaszy, Dorothy M. 1988 Capuchin Monkey (Cebus apella) Grooms Her Infant's Wounds With Tools. American Journal of Primatology 16:149–163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robicsek, Francis, and Hales, Donald M. 1981 The Maya Book of the Dead, The Ceramic Codex: The Corpus of Codex-Style Ceramics of the Late Classic Period. University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville.Google Scholar
Robinson, John G., and Janson, Charles H. 1986 Capuchins, Squirrel Monkeys, and Atelines: Sociological Convergence with Old World Monkeys. In Primate Societies, edited by Smuts, Barbara, Cheney, Dorothy, Seyfarth, Robert M., Wrangham, Richard W., and Struhsaker, Thomas T., pp. 69–82. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Ruz, Mario Humberto 1986 Vocabulario de lengua tzeltal según el orden de Copanabastla. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Sedat, Guillermo S. 1955 Nuevo diccionario de las lenguas k'eckchis y español. Chalmelco Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1961 Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur Amerikanischen Sprach- und Altertumskunde. 5 vols. Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz, Austria.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1988 Quirigua as a Classic Maya Center. In The Southeast Classic Maya Zone, edited by Hill, Elizabeth Boone and Willey, Gordon R., pp. 297–334. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Slocum, Marianna C., and Gerdel, Florencia L. 1980 Vocabulario tzeltal de Bachajon. Vocabulario Indígenas 13. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, México.Google Scholar
Solis, Alcalá Ermilo 1949 Diccionario español-maya. Yikal Maya Than, Mexico.Google Scholar
Swadesh, Mauricio, Álvarez, Ma. Cristina, and Bastarrachea, Juan R. 1970 Diccionario de elementos del maya yucateco colonial. Seminario de Estudio de le Escritura Maya, Cuaderno 3. Coordinación de Humanidades, México.Google Scholar
Tedlock, Dennis 1985 Popol Vuh: The Definitive edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings. Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Teletor, Celso Narciso 1959 Diccionario castellano-quiche y voces. Castellano-Pocoman, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Terborgh, John 1983 Five New World Primates: A Study in Comparative Ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1960 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: An Introduction. 3rd edition. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S., and Richardson, Francis B. (editors) 1939 Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur Amerikanischen Sprach- und Altertumskunde vols I–V by Eduard Seier Berlin, 1902–1923. Unpublished English Translation, mimeographed edition, vol. 4. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Tozzer, Alfred M. 1907 A Comparative Study of the Mayas and Lacandones: A Report of the Fellows in American Archaeology 1902–1905. Macmillan Company, New York.Google Scholar
Tozzer, Alfred M., and Allen, Glover M. 1910 Animal Figures in the Maya Codices. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 4, pp. 279–372. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Ulrich, E. Matthew, and de Ulrich, Rosemary Dixon 1976 Diccionario maya mopan/español, español/maya mopan. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Visalberghi, Elisabetia 1990 Tool Use in Cebus. Folia Primatologica 54:146–154.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Visalberghi, Elisabetia, and Trinca, Loredana 1989 Tool Use in Capuchin Monkeys: Dislinguishing Belween Performing and Understanding. Primates 30:511–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weslergaard, Gregory Charles, and Fragaszy, Dorolhy Munkenbeck 1987 The Manufacture and Use of Tools by Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella). Journal of Comparative Psychology 101:159–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willey, Gordon R., Bullard, William R. Jr, Glass, John B., and Gifford, James C. 1965 Prehistoric Maya Settlements in the Belize Valley. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 65. Pea-body Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Wisdom, Charles 1950 Materials on the Charti Language. Middle American Microfilm Series 5, Item 28. University of Chicago Library, Chicago.Google Scholar
Wolfheim, Jaclyn H. 1983 Primates of the World: Distribution, Abundance and Conservation. University of Washington Press, Seattle.Google Scholar
Zavala, Mauricio, and Medina, A. 1975 Vocabulario español-maya. Facsimile edition. Jose Diaz-Bolio, Area Maya, Mérida.Google Scholar