Baking Pot Codex Restoration Project, Belize

Indicators of the Original Substrate(s)

The underside of the paint flakes provided some evidence of the original (now decayed) object that had originally been decorated. Features such as surface texture (impressed in the still-wet ground layer by the object surface at the time of application), and accretions or stains (exuded by the substrate) were analyzed.

Only one of the ground types had a smooth surface, the smooth cream (Figure 26). Its lack of textural features suggests a material such as a gourd exterior.

The other ground types displayed several different textures. The rough cream ground had a fibrous texture (Figure 27). Objects such as gourds possess one smooth and one fibrous veined surface, and it is possible that the flakes with cream-colored grounds represent the inner and outer surface of a painted gourd. (Note, however, that the elaborate decorative approach apparent for both ground types does not parallel the approach exhibited by the Cerén gourds, the interiors of which were always monochromatic.)

The white ground was distinguished by several textures (Figure 23, shown below, and Figure 24). The more common one was striated, suggesting wood or fibrous materials. Other flakes had a dimpled surface, created by a raised bumpy texture on the object surface. It is possible that these textures represent different types of objects, although they share a polychromatic color scheme.

Click on image to enlarge.

The striated texture also characterized the red-flecked white ground, similar to that of the white-only version (Figure 25, below). The red flecks produced the only evidence of organic constituents with FTIR; carbohydrates were detected and confirmed further with GC/MS. These may be naturally occurring plant gums, transferred or exuded from the surface of the original object prior to its decay. The monochromatic color scheme suggests that these flakes represent an interior or underside of an object, the exterior of which might have had a polychrome-on-white decorated surface.

Click on image to enlarge.

The brown ground (including those with the red intermediate layer) was too granular and coarse to preserve a distinctive texture (Figure 29). However, it appears to have been applied to an object with a very irregular surface, which may have provided a key for the poorly compacted material. The unevenness of the object’s surface resulted in a paint layer of varying thickness, in order to achieve a smooth paint surface. The monochromatic color scheme suggests that the flakes are probably the remains of one discrete painted object or a particular side of an object, characterized by a coarse texture, and perhaps one that did not warrant a fine painting technique.

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