Brief Identification[]
"Vase with a War Scene" is a poly-chrome ceramic cylinder vessel found in Guatemala. It was made sometime between 700-900 CE, dating it back to the Late Classic Period of Maya Civilization. The vessel depicts a man who, given his golden appearance, seems to be an elite reviewing his warriors. Although its purpose is not definite, similar Mayan artifacts were used to drink cacao, exchanged as diplomatic gifts, or used in ceremonies. It was purchased by the Ethnological Museum in 1999 and has been held there ever since.
Vase with a War Scene, currently held by the Ethnological Museum in Berlin
Technical Evaluation[]
This vessel was made by using the coiling method, rolling clay into long ropes and layering them upwards before smoothing everything out once it reached the desired height. After shaping, it was slipped with a cream background, emphasizing its details. The elaborate scene was painted on with dyes—made from minerals and vegetables—using brushes made with animal hair.
The band along the vessel's rim are indicative of Primary Standard Sequence (PSS), which can identify: who the object belongs to, who made it, why it was made, and how it should be used. This is all explained in Mayan glyphs, which rather than following horizontally to form a word, are read and written in columns. [Skinner 10]
Typically, Mayan vessels fall into either the polychrome style or codex-style. Polychrome—"poly" meaning many, and "chrome" meaning colour—signifies the use of several colours throughout a piece, as seen in "Vase with a War Scene". Codex-style, however, depicts a similar style to Maya codices and were assumed to have been made by the same people. The latter have been found in burials, though whether they were used for something prior to being buried is unknown.
Local Historical Context[]
In general, the Classic period of Mesoamerica saw a rise in population and by extent, artistic development. Many city-states—Tikal, Calakmul, and Copán, for example—had initially been thriving at this time, with many rulers commissioning artworks in order to establish their legitimacy [Lumen Learning]. Despite this, the end of the Classic period brought a decline in Maya civilization and mass abandonment of cities in the southern lowlands, possibly due to droughts and climate change [Cartwright].
The vessel itself appears to be an attempt at recording a significant event in Maya culture. Given its intricately painted surface, it is very likely that this artifact was meant for someone, or something, important. During the period the vase would have been made in, both cacao and maize were considered sacred and representative of the gods, so many similarly-shaped artifacts would have been used to hold these.
Some critics claim this does not necessarily mean vessels with PSS along the rim would be used to drink cacao: stating that the object was meant for cacao when its shape is clearly intended for such a purpose makes PSS redundant. As such, it's argued that such vases would hold dried cacao beans, whether for personal or ceremonial use. [Loughmiller-Cardinal] Overall there is a general consensus that no matter the actual use of these artifacts, they would have belonged to an elite of some sort.
World-Historical Significance[]
"Vase with a War Scene" is significant in world-historical context because it demonstrates that Maya civilization had an understanding of artistic and technical skills. Due to the vessel's likely elite origins, it also suggests that they assigned art a rather high value in society. The PSS provides us with direct evidence that Maya culture had a developed writing system, one that they would implement similar objects to label who it belonged to and why it was made, therefore cementing it as part of everyday life.
This artifact aligns with a global shift towards focusing on the arts in everyday life, as elaborate drinking vessels began to appear across the world: porcelain cups in China, metallic goblets in Europe, and, of course, ceramic vessels in Mesoamerica [Sisterly Drinkware]. In addition to this, "Vase with a War Scene" establishes that written language was appearing individually across the world, as Mesoamerica saw little to no contact with other continents at this time.
The vessel shows a human desire to remember; the scene presented was most likely a crucial event for Mayas, and despite PSS typically being used to label basic information about an artifact, here it could also detail what the vase depicts. This is significant because they may have documented a historical incident with the intent to record a brief explanation about it, something humans still do today, a thousand years later.
Bibliography[]
“Ancient Maya Life: Codex-Style Vessels.” Ancient Maya Life, 20 Feb. 2018, ancientmayalife.blogspot.com/2018/02/codex-style-vessels.html.
Cartwright, Mark. “The Classic Maya Collapse.” World History Encyclopedia, 18 Oct. 2014, www.worldhistory.org/article/759/the-classic-maya-collapse/.
Skinner, Jaclyn. THE SIGNIFICANCE of CLASSIC MAYA CERAMIC VESSELS in FEASTING a SENIOR PROJECT SUBMITTED in PARTIAL FULFILLMENT of the REQUIREMENTS for the DEGREE of BACHELOR of SCIENCE in ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN-LA CROSSE. 2009.
Loughmiller-Cardinal, Jennifer. “DISTINGUISHING the USES, FUNCTIONS, and PURPOSES of CLASSIC MAYA “CHOCOLATE” CONTAINERS: NOT ALL CUPS ARE for DRINKING.” Ancient Mesoamerica, vol. 30, no. 1, 27 June 2018, pp. 13–30, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0956536117000359.
Doyle, James. “Ancient Maya Painted Ceramics - the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” Metmuseum.org, Apr. 2017, www.metmuseum.org/essays/ancient-maya-painted-ceramic.
Lumen Learning. “The Classic Period of the Maya | World Civilization.” Lumenlearning.com, 2019, courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/the-classic-period-of-the-maya/.
Pettiford, Shonte. “The History and Evolution of Drinkware: From Ancient Times to Modern Day.” Sisterly Drinkware, 20 July 2024, www.sisterlydrinkware.com/blogs/general-blog/the-history-and-evolution-of-drinkware-from-ancient-times-to-modern-day?srsltid=AfmBOopZEkWS577cAyg-JR9tfrtSU1JS27lQtHqBPxURHKqvNn3eTl_Q. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.