Ancient Maya graffiti

[1] Graffiti were incised into the stucco of interior walls, floors, and benches, in a wide variety of buildings, including pyramid-temples, residences, and storerooms.

Graffiti have been recorded at over 50 Maya sites, particularly clustered in the Petén Basin and southern Campeche, and the Chenes region of northwestern Yucatán.

At Tikal, where a great quantity of graffiti have been recorded, the subject matter includes drawings of temples, people, deities, animals, banners, litters, and thrones.

Graffiti are not integral decoration of the structures where they are found; rather, they are additions to pre-existing features, and lack formal organisation.

Usually they bear no obvious relationship to any neighbouring graffiti, and they can be found randomly scattered on walls, floors, and benches.

By the later part of the 20th century, graffiti had been recorded at San Clemente,[4] Chichen Itza,[4] Hochob, Holmul, Nakum, Santa Rosa Xtampak, Tikal, and Uaxactún.

Río Bec graffiti are found in all classes of masonry residences, from simple single-room structures to multi-room palaces.

[7] At Río Bec, complex representations of ceremonial scenes form compositions that can measure up to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) in length.

Later investigators, such as George F. Andrews, regarded graffiti as folk art produced by the Classic Maya elite in their own residences and workplaces.

Theories attributing a Postclassic origin to such graffiti are based on the idea that it was produced by squatters who intended to desecrate Classic period ruins.

Opinions vary from them being a desecration of their containing building, to instructive drawings, personal records, and byproducts of magic.

[20] However, a number of graffiti have been excavated in sealed contexts, where they were drawn on early structures that were later completely covered by later buildings.

[22] At Tz'ibatnah, in northeastern Petén, a Late Classic structure was likewise sealed under later architecture;[23] this contained a great number of graffiti associated with the elite occupants of the site.