·     This is only a proposal, but according to Stuart-CV.p4.note [2016]: My initial thoughts on the ich reading arose from discussions with Simon Martin, who kindly showed me an image of the Calakmul sherd back in 2008. The reading has circulated among some epigraphers for a few years now, cited in some public presentations and articles (Martin 2008, Martin 2009). Most recently it found its way into the recent publication by Gallaga Murrieta, et. al. (2013). This note on Maya Decipherment serves as the first overview of the epigraphic and linguistic arguments behind the decipherment.

·     AT-YT2021-lecture11.t0:45:25-45:56: But there are also other kinds of bowls – this is a bowl for chilis: so it says yichili jaay, so presumably there would be a sauce or perhaps whole chilis – there’s no way to tell. And it’s interesting that chilis also comes in bottles. So we have bottles for chilis, suggesting that those were probably powdery and used as spice – to add to food. I don’t think they were sniffing – that would be a little extreme – like sniffing red chili powder. Unlikely – at least, from my point of view, [but] who knows?

·     Ucí Incised Ceramic Vessel A1-A3a is the only known instance of ich = “chili” in the context of the standard formula in PSS’s of yuk’ib <descriptor> kakaw:

o Far more common for the <descriptor> are ixiim te’, tikal, and yutal.

o The word ich = “chili” occurs in the PSS of multiple ceramics, as a qualification of the vessel type (for example, yichil jaay = “chili-type ceramic vessel”). It’s only as a qualification of cacao that there is only one known occurrence.

§ HrubyEtAl-AICV.p158.pdfp6.c2.para5: Typically, vessel texts also include a description of their intended contents, and here we find a reference to a variety of cacao never seen before. This is spelled over the next two glyph blocks with a prepositional phrase, as far as the first part of block A3: “... for ich te’kakaw”. What is unusual here is the variety of cacao, with the descriptor ich te’, clearly a plant name, added immediately beforehand. Structurally such a modifier would be similar to other “additives” we find on vessel texts, the most common being ’ixi’mte’kakaw, or also ’ajawte’ kakaw. These appear to refer to a typology of cacao used in Maya courts, whether they refer to specific additives or other types of descriptions.

§ HrubyEtAl-AICV.p158.pdfp6.c2.para-1-p159.p;dfp7.c1.para1: We can analyze ich te’ one of several ways. At first, it would be tempting to link ich to the modern Yukatek term for “fruit,” with ich che’ being a general term for a fruiting tree (Álvarez 1980:179). But this seems unlikely, given that the Classic Mayan term for “fruit,” and its related complex of nouns meaning “eye” and “face,” was surely the cognate form wuut, spelled in a full form as wu-WUUT-ti. Such a spelling is attested in Classic-Period Yucatan, in fact, on the squash-shaped vessel from Acanceh. Ich is simply unattested as “fruit” in any ancient texts. What we instead find is that other spellings of ich in Classic sources correspond to the Ch’olan term for “chili”, as in y-ichiljaay”, his chili vase,” or y-otoot ‘ich, “his chili container” (lit. ‘house for chili’) (Stuart 2016). Ich and ik can refer to a stinging quality of other plants as well, as in Ch’ol and Tseltal ichte’ or ichote’ “mala mujer” (Aulie and Aulie 1978: 59; Polian 2018: 261), or Mopan ikiche’, “chechen, poisonwood” (Hotting 2011: 181). lchite’ is also attested in Ch’ol as “jocotillo”, referring to the important small fruit widely consumed in Mesoamerica (Aulie and Aulie 1978: 59). Interestingly ich te’ is also attested in modern Ch’ol as a term for “allspice” (“pimienta gorda, pimiento de in tiara”), the all-important additive to meat and stew dishes found throughout Mexico and Yucatan (Schumann 1973: 80). We therefore suspect that the noun ich te’ on the Ucí vessel refers to a chili, or to a spicy plant of some sort that was an additive to cacao. Allspice is a reasonable candidate, given its importance in traditional Mesoamerican cuisine.

o In the same way as ixiim te’ may be a separate plant from ixiim (see ixiim te’), so ich te’ might be a separate plant from ich (= “chili”). For example, there is some speculation above that ich te’ might be “allspice”.

·     Context and meaning:

o MFA Boston PSS E-F: yi.<chi:li> ja:ya è yichil jaay = “his chili clay vessel”.

o CLK Sherd: i.<chi:li> ja[yi] è ichil jaay = “(the) chili clay vessel”.

o Ucí Incised Ceramic Vessel A1-A3a: yu.<k’i:bi> <ti:i>.<chi:TE’> ka:ka:wa è “his drinking vessel for chili tree cacao”.