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Maya sculptural monument From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Izapa Stela 5 is one of a number of large, carved stelae found in the ancient Mesoamerican site of Izapa, in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico along the present-day Guatemalan border. These stelae date from roughly 300 BCE to 50 or 100 BCE,[1] although some argue for dates as late as 250 CE.[2]
Also known as the "Tree of Life" stone,[3] it appears to illustrate a Mesoamerican creation myth.
Documented by Smithsonian archaeologist Matthew W. Stirling in 1941, Stela 5 is composed of volcanic andesite and weighs around one-and-a-half tons.[4] Stela 5 presents the most complex imagery of all the stelae at Izapa.[5] Researcher Garth Norman, for example, has counted "at least 12" human figures, a dozen animals, over 25 botanical or inanimate objects, and 9 stylized deity masks.
Like much of Izapan monumental sculpture, the subject matter of Stela 5 is considered mythological and religious in nature[6] and is executed with a stylized opulence. Given the multiple overlapping scenes, it appears to be a narrative.[7]
Mesoamerican researchers identify the central image as a Mesoamerican world tree, connecting the sky above and the water or underworld below.[8]
Linda Schele and Mary Ellen Miller further propose that the stela records a creation myth, with barely formed humans emerging from a hole drilled into the tree's left side. The associated seated figures are completing these humans in various ways.[9] Julia Guernsey Kappelman, on the other hand, suggests the seated figures are Izapa elites conducting ritual activities in a "quasi-historical scene", which is framed by, and placed in the context of, the "symbolic landscape of creation".[10]
Based on parallels with traditions originating in the Old World, a few researchers have linked the stone to theories of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints theorist M. Wells Jakeman proposed that the image was a representation of a tree of life vision found in the Book of Mormon.[11] Jakeman's theory was popular for a time among members of the Church of Jesus Christ, but found little support from Church of Jesus Christ apologists.[12] Julia Guernsey wrote that Jakeman's research "belies an obvious religious agenda that ignored Izapa Stela 5's heritage".[13]
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