Introduction
Sharks, xok in Classic Mayan, appear across Maya art in a variety of different media. They appear painted on ceramic vessels, carved into stelae, and even incorporated into the architecture. This is all somewhat surprising given that, with the possible exception of the bull shark, sharks are not found in this area (Stone and Zender 2011:203). This may explain, as will be seen, why sharks are given a more mythical status, akin to the Principal Bird Deity, as opposed to more common animals such as turtles, dogs, or even jaguars.

Iconographic Traits
There are a few specific iconographic traits that allow them to be distinguished from other similarly monstrous creatures, such as crocodiles and serpents. However, at times, the features of these animals can seem to blend. While all of the following traits are not always present at the same time, at least a few of them usually are. These include a blunt snout, a row of serrated teeth, a LEM ‘shiny’ glyph marking, a large eye with a curled pupil, fish-like fins, and a spondylus shell from which the tail emerges (Stone and Zender 2011:203). Additional traits include the T-shaped tooth, elongated upper lip, inverted T-shaped mouth, and piercings attached to the creature’s snout (Figure 1). The context in which these sharks are depicted is also important, as they are usually aquatic. These clues can help differentiate them from crocodiles, which are more often associated with the earth, and snakes, which lack the aquatic characteristics.

The most interesting of these traits is the T-shaped tooth. While originally depicted as a singular, central shark tooth, it later came to be represented by two filed incisors. Dental modification was a common practice for the Maya elites. One such procedure involved filing the central two upper incisors so that together they form this ‘T’ shape (Tiesler 2024:48). This is likely why sharks, and the shark-toothed deities, can be shown with these human incisors filed into the shape of a shark tooth instead of the actual shark tooth itself.

The association of an elongated upper lip in depictions of sharks can be traced back to Olmec times. Phillip J. Arnold III notes how a common trait for sharks in general is to have the upper portion of the jaw much longer than the lower portion. He also suggests, and I agree, that this may have been the inspiration behind this iconographic trait in later Maya art (2005:4).

While both the T-shaped tooth and the extended upper lip have been discussed by previous authors, I have not seen the inverted T-shaped mouth discussed. It can best be observed on sharks in frontal depictions. While these are less common than profile views, they occur in two main ways. First, several stela depict rulers with a jawless decapitated shark head attached to the center of their belts; these include Ix Ook Ahiin of Pomoy from an unprovenanced stela, Ix K’abel Nahb from El Peru Stela 34, and Ix Wak Jalam Chan Lem “Lady Six Sky” from Naranjo Stelae 24, 29, and 31. These shark head depictions each include a spondulys shell emerging from the upper jaw, likely to represent the blood coming forth from the decapitated head. In addition to these shark head belts, these queens are also depicted with netted skirts. These adornments are associated with both the Moon Goddess and the Maize God (Grube 2016). Stone and Zender suggest that this shark head, being worn by a Maize God impersonator, is a reference to the myth in which the Maize God escapes from the jaws of a shark (2011:203). This myth, which involves the defeat of this shark, may also explain why these shark heads are actively bleeding, as they represent the same defeated shark from which the Maize God, or the impersonator thereof, has successfully escaped.

The other circumstance in which the inverted T-shaped shark mouth can be observed is in the Chenes and Rio Bec style doorways in the Southern Yucatan. The sites at which these doorways are present can be found in two main clusters: the Chenes style sites to the north, including Dzibilnocac, Hochob, Santa Rosa, and Tabasqueno, and the Rio Bec sites to the south, including Becan, Chicanna, Hormiguero, Rio Bec, and Xpujil. Previously, these doorways have been identified as serpents (Coe and Houston 2022:159); however, I believe that they may instead be sharks based on their iconographic traits. Not only do these doorways feature the inverted T-shaped mouth of sharks, but they also include other iconographic traits, such as the T-shaped tooth, large eye with a curled pupil, and even nose piercings. I suspect that these doors had a similar importance to the shark heads on the belts of the rulers. Each time a ruler exited through the shark jaw doorways, they would be reenacting the myth in which the Maize God escapes the mouth of the shark.

Glyph Uses
The XOK ‘shark’ glyph can be depicted in two ways, either just the head of the shark or as the shark in full, the head being the more common of the two. Oddly, the XOK glyph has one other use; it acts as a variant for the Sotz’ month glyph, but only when it appears in the Initial Series Introductory Glyph (ISIG). Several rulers also used the XOK glyph as part of their name, including Tikal’s founder Yax Ehb Xok and the later Ix K’abal Xok of Yaxchilan (Stone and Zender 2011:203).

Known Myths
The major myth in which the shark appears is the beginning of the Maize God’s resurrection. In this episode, the shark is hunted and defeated by a handful of deities who pursue him in canoes, including God I, the Jaguar War God, the Pax God, the Bloody-Mouthed God, and Chahk. After the shark is stopped, these deities help the Maize God emerge from out of its jaws before passing him onto the Paddler Gods who ferry him back to the world of the living. This myth is depicted on several vases including K0595, K1201, K1391, and K9152, among others. Interestingly, the deities who stop this shark, minus Chahk, are the ones who appear with shark-like features including the T-shaped tooth, inverted T-shaped mouth, elongated upper lip, and mouth barbels. The other prominent deity who appears with these traits is K’inich Ajaw, though he does not appear in this myth.

Roles and Associations
Despite the fact that the vast majority of the Maya peoples in the Classic Period lowlands never saw sharks in person, they had a very important role in their myths and ceremonies. Sharks were especially important to the ruling class, who would incorporate their iconography into their architecture and garb, usually as a way to recall the myth in which the Maize God escapes from the jaws of the shark. Despite their rarity in the lowlands, their importance is proven by the existence of shark teeth that have been found in several burials and caches from the time period (Newman 2016:1525-1528). This would suggest that the Maya were able to successfully hunt sharks, either in their local rivers such as the Usumacinta, or from the Gulf of Mexico.

Shark Scenes

Sources
Justin Kerr photograph collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, DC.
Arnold III, Philip J.

2005 The Shark-Monster in Olmec Iconography. Mesoamerican Voices, 2.
Coe, Michael, and Stephen Houston

2022 The Maya. Tenth Edition. Thames & Hudson.
Grube, Nikolai
2016 The Logogram JALAM. Research Note 3, Textdatenbank und Wörterbuch des Klassischen Maya.
Newman, Sarah
2016 Sharks in the Jungle: Real and Imagined Sea Monsters of the Maya. In Antiquity 90(354):1522-1536. Cambridge University Press.
Stone, Andrea, and Marc Zender

2011 Reading Maya Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Maya Painting and Sculpture. Thames & Hudson.
Tiesler, Vera
2024 Ancient Maya Teeth: Dental Modification, Cosmology, and Social Identity in Mesoamerica. University of Texas Press.