Deity Figure 3rd-6th century Maya This jade figurine depicts a cross-legged figure with his arms bent in toward his chest and hands curled into what Maya scholars call a crab-claw” position. This pose is found so commonly in Early Classic (ca. 250-500AD) Maya art that it is considered a diagnostic feature of that time period. Although the figure’s body is human, the face is that of a great supernatural avian known as the Principal Bird Deity. The figurine either represents an anthropomorphic (i.e. humanized) version of the Principal Bird Deity or depicts a human individual wearing a Principal Bird Deity mask. The figure is shown cross-eyed, with large eyes and square pupils. These kinds of eyes are used to identify shining, solar, and/or resplendent supernatural beings in Maya art. The pupils look in at a small nose with in-curving nostrils. The nose sits atop a beak that has been flattened downward against the face in a frontal view. When seen in profile images, this beak has a disti