Izapa Stela 5 – Tree of Life Monument (Photo 1966 by Garth Norman – NWAF)
NWAF Map of Izapa
The Tree of Life scupture shown below represents the Cycle of Life. The tree at the center measures the Calendar Round timeline (the map of the Temple Center to the right also measures the timeline). Izapa’s ancestral family is seated at the base of the tree. The Cycle of Life is represented by the rain cycle: clouds at the top of the sculpture produce rain symbols on the right that fill the river at the bottom from which evaporation scrolls on the left take moisture back to the heavens.
RTI Photo of Izapa Stela 5 – Tree of Life Monument – August, 2012
by Photographer Jason Jones
(RTI–Reflectance Transformation Imaging)
University of Warwick, England
Funded by Lord Rootes Memorial Fund
RTI Photo of Izapa Stela 4 – Sun Priest – August, 2012
by Photographer Jason Jones
(RTI–Reflectance Transformation Imaging)
University of Warwick, England
Funded by Lord Rootes Memorial Fund
Izapa’s carved stone monuments (stelae) are portrayed (below around a Maya “World Tree”) on the North, East, South and West sides of square plazas. They collectively mark the months of the year of the Izapa calendar which is not the exact month designation of the Gregorian calendar. Stela 10 in the 9th month position (upper right) depicts a birth mother below a descending spirit babe.
