Maya Reborn

Since the mid-1980s there has been tremendous interest among anthropologists and Maya speakers in preserving, promoting, and revitalizing aspects of Maya culture throughout Mesoamerica. While the emphasis and intensity of this effort varies regionally, ethnographers have documented efforts to revitalize Maya theater in Chiapas, to promote spoken Maya in Guatemala, to excavate new ruin sites in Yucatan, and to reinvigorate Maya literature, music, and dance in all three areas.     

Classic Lowland Maya Political Organization: A Review

This paper reviews recent archaeological research concerning Classic Maya lowland political systems (ca. A.D. 250–1000). It focuses specifically on (1) subsistence practices revealed through the analysis of prehistoric climate, available resources, agricultural technologies, and diet; (2) population distribution, density, and size revealed through the analysis of settlement practices and architectural function; (3) social differentiation and interaction revealed through the analysis of burial practices, diet and health, architecture, and production, consumption, and exchange patterns; and (4) ancient Maya political economy (how it was funded) revealed through the analysis of community organization, ritual activities, the Classic Maya collapse, and warfare. It finally ends with a brief discussion of the future of Maya archaeology. A key factor that recurs throughout this review is the noticeable amount of variability that existed—varied resources, subsistence strategies, settlement practices, and social and political systems. An understanding of this variability is the key to appreciate fully the Classic Maya.     

Maya and their animals

Hamblin, Nancy L. Animal Use by the Cozumel Maya. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1984. vii + 206 pp. including references and index. $23.00 cloth.     

Maya archaeology and the political and cultural identity of contemporary Maya in Guatemala

La colonización dejó en una posición desigual a las personas de ascendencia Maya comparada con las personas ladinas en los aspectos sociales, políticos, y culturales en Guatemala. Esta experiencia no es diferente de la de otras naciones indígenas en América Latina. Los personas Maya, así como otras naciones indígenas, tienen una historia de resistencia que ha continuado desarrollándose a medida que cada generación crea nuevas estrategias para superar su posición de desventaja. La arqueología puede ser usada para escribir una historia que provee beneficios esenciales o atribuye estereotipos perjudiciales a las comunidades Maya. Los/as arqueólogos/as que trabajan en Guatemala tienen el compromiso de ser más éticos/as con las comunidades en las que trabajan, particularmente en el campo de la interpretación y creación de teorías sobre la historia maya. Los Maya han sido afectados por los estudios realizados en arqueología y tienen und derecho inherente de forjar su propia identidad a través de la historia.

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Résumé Comparée aux hispanophones, la colonisation a laissé les Mayas dans une position inégale dans les domaines économiques, sociaux, politiques et culturels au Guatemala. Cette expérience n'est pas différente de celle des autres autochtones en Amérique latine. Comme ces autres groupes, les Mayas ont une histoire de résistance qui a poursuivi son développement alors que chaque génération a créé de nouvelles stratégies pour surpasser sa position désavantageuse. L'archéologie peut être utilisée pour écrire l'histoire procurant des bénéfices essentiels ou des stéréotypes négatifs des communautés mayas. Les archéologues qui pratiquent au Guatemala sont appelés à être plus éthiques à l'égard des descendants des communautés avec qui ils travaillent, en particulier dans le domaine de l'interprétation et de la création de théories au sujet de l'histoire maya. Les Mayas sont affectés par les connaissances produites en archéologie et ont le droit inhérent de forger leur propre identité à travers leur histoire.

     

Teaching Maya art history

30 a?os de experiencia instructiva han llevado al autor a reconocer temas importantes que surgen al presentar la historia del arte Maya. Realizando las ramificaciones políticas de sus esfuerzos, el ha comenzado a tomar responsabilidad por ellos involucrando al pueblo Maya en su instrucción y en sus reconstrucciones del pasado, que él argumenta han mejorado tando la calidad de su instrucción como la ética de su práctica.

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Résumé 30 ans d'expérience dans l'enseignement ont mené l'auteur à identifier les questions importantes que soulèvent la présentation de l'Histoire de l'Art Maya. Réalisant les implications politiques de ses efforts, il a commencé à assumer sa démarche en associant des Mayas à son enseignement et à ses reconstructions du passé, ce qui, selon lui, a amélioré à la fois la qualité de son enseignement et l'éthique de sa pratique.

     

满城汉墓发掘秘闻之三

<正>郭沫若上山点新墓1968年7月20日晚,当郭老在北京得知满城古墓发掘出"金缕玉衣"的消息后,兴奋地要求中央能安排他前往发掘现场予以证实。第二天,当中     

满城汉墓发掘秘闻之二

<正>●军事警戒下的神秘发掘为了确保这次考古发掘工作的顺利进行,以及考古人员和出土文物的安全,考古工作队由中国科学院考古研究所、河北省文管会和北京军区工程兵某部联合组成。一切准备就绪,考古工作队于1968年6月27日在严格保密的状态下,开始进驻河北省保定市满城县的陵山"军事禁区"。于是,20世纪中国一次极为重大的考古发掘活动,在当地驻军极其森严的军事警戒下开始了。     

On Classic Maya political economies

Lowland Maya political economies are cosmopolitical economies, with “authoritative resources”—knowledge (“symbolic capital”), especially astro-calendrical knowledge, and ostensible control of time—evolving as the basis for Classic wealth, power, and dynastic legitimacy. Within a system of rotating geopolitical capitals, elite economic activities of production, consumption, and distribution were directed toward control of luxury goods and ritual performances emphasizing privileged interactions with the cosmos and ancestors. Examples include a “ritual mode of production” focused in a palace economy, consumption manifest in lavish public rituals and feasting, and goods circulating through tribute and periodic markets. In the dispersed lowland Maya settlement system, this decentralized economy retained some features more characteristic of stateless societies.     

Recent Advances in Maya Archaeology

This paper focuses on the discoveries of the last decade in Maya archaeology, and assesses their impact on previous models and synthetic frameworks. Although the bibliography includes 700 items published during the last 10 years, it is not exhaustive; on the contrary, a frustratingly large number of discoveries had to be omitted. Two areas exploding with new research are (1) the elicitation of a greater variety of data from hieroglyphic texts, and (2) a series of chemical and biological breakthroughs in the analysis of human burials. The former make it easier to assess the role of elite actors or agents in processes of sociopolitical change. The latter hold out the hope of documenting warfare (through skeletal trauma), migration (by tracing tooth enamel isotopes to ground water), status or gender differences in diet (through bone chemistry), and biological connections of individuals to each other and to earlier populations (through DNA). By combining these new data, we are on our way to integrating humanism and science, and to treating Maya polities as case studies in primary or secondary state formation.     

Late Postclassic lowland Maya archaeology

The archaeology of the Late Postclassic lowland Maya (ca. A.D. 1200–1517) is summarized and reviewed. The history of past research is outlined, and investigations on topics of major scholarly concern are discussed. The current data allow us to present an approximate reconstruction of the events and processes that characterize the period, although the information on many areas and topics is still fragmentary. Research in Maya archaeology has focused heavily on the more spectacular developments of earlier periods, creating the impression that the last few centuries of the prehispanic era were a time of disorganization and decline. New data and interpretations indicate that the Late Postclassic was a dynamic period in which the lowland Maya were moving in new directions, restructuring their society and worldview.     

A royal Maya country house: Archaeology at Bejucal,Guatemala

This article presents three years of archaeological investigations at the minor Maya center of Bejucal, Guatemala. A complete site history is presented relying on data from artifact analysis, architectural study, epigraphy, and bioarchaeology, with a goal towards identifying the site's function within the broader El Zotz polity. The authors argue that Bejucal underwent significant transformation following its establishment as a sacred hilltop site during the Late Preclassic period (400 b.c.–a.d. 250). The El Zotz royal family gradually appropriated the space, converting it into a royal country house and elite burial place. Bejucal's proximity to a large permanent water source suggests that the country house was situated within favorable hunting grounds. The research contributes to a broader discussion about the role of minor centers in regional settlement patterns, highlighting the benefit of textual data in making interpretations. The article also highlights the important role of salvage work in lowland Maya archaeology.     

北齐砖室墓葬

1999年5月在太原市和平南路道路拓宽工程中发现一座砖室墓。墓葬位于和平南路义井段,西距太原市锅炉厂宿合10米余。墓葬顶部已被破坏,墓室内全是积水,从残损的顶部和发现绳纹砖看,墓葬的年代最晚在唐早期。     

秦始皇陵封土高度问题试探

文献记载秦始皇陵封土高度是五十丈,约合116米,但无论如何测量封土的现高都与此数据相差甚远,本文在考察封土结构的基础上,选择合理的测点,排除水土流失的影响,认为封土的高度就是十五丈,文献对此记载有误。