Page "Lacandon people" Paragraph 46

Known as El Mangal or “ place of many mango trees ” by the locals, this site has trees that were much larger than those at Caobal or Matamangos.

The area also had a lagoon that was known on regional maps as “ El Mangal ” ( showing a knowledge of the area by people other than the locals ).

The water in the lagoon is not good for drinking or cooking but it useful for washing and catching fish.

A current family has made residence at El Mangal and has unearthed a whole machete, they also found pieces of thick, hard, brown pottery ( traditional Lacandón ceramic ).

While digging a trash pit the family found more pottery, although it was not the traditional smooth bowls that had been found at El Caobal, they were still ethnographically Lacandón.

The vessels were identified as incense burners.

The shape was hemispherical with a ring base and a hole for venting the fire and releasing smoke.

Unlike the smooth ceramics used for every day life these vessels were adorned with the modeled head of a deity on the rim, proving this object is used for religious rites.

The modeled heads “ closely resemble those made by the ethnographic Lacandon .” Other decorations include incised lines and holes down the front of the bowl and protruding spikes.

These vessels were used in “ God houses ” for religious purposes.

During the Lacandón incense burner renewal ceremony men isolated themselves from the community and crafted the burners in solitude.

They were placed in the god house and the old burners were deposited at a sacred place in the forest.

The presence of these incense burners points possibly to a religious god house, a manufacturing site or even a sacred place of disposal.