The Maya Artifacts housed in the British Museum are pivotal relics from the Maya civilization in Central America, spanning from 2000 BC to the 16th century AD. Constituting a wide array of artifacts that reflect the society's cultural, religious, and cosmological orientation.
This collection features various mediums, including stone, ceramics, jade, shell and wood, underlining the technological and artistic prowess of the Maya civilization. The stone artifacts primarily consist of intricately carved stelae, and lintels, such as the noteworthy Lintel 26 from Yaxchilán, embedded with hieroglyphic texts and rulers' portraits documenting historical events. The jade artifacts comprise of masks and decorative items, underlining the Maya culture's valorization of jade due to its association with life-promoting water.
The ceramics found in this collection, typically painted vessels and plates, portray a spectrum of scenes - ranging from images of gods, court scenes, to mythological narratives, thereby providing crucial historical reference about the Maya civilization's beliefs and practices. The collection also includes figurines made from materials like clay or shell, giving insights about religious practices and social status indicators.
