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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Contact Period Of Central Peten, Guatemala In Color, Timothy W. Pugh, Leslie G. Cecil
The Contact Period Of Central Peten, Guatemala In Color, Timothy W. Pugh, Leslie G. Cecil
Faculty Publications
When Bernal Díaz del Castillo passed by Nojpeten with Hernán Cortés in 1525, he remarked upon the Itza capital’s brilliant whiteness, even from a great distance (Jones 1998:69). However had he stood in the central plaza, he would have discerned that the sun’s reflection eclipsed artifacts and architecture of a variety of colors. The archaeological record is frequently similarly whitewashed by our focus upon form, weight, and distribution. Nevertheless, color helped imbue the Contact period (AD 1525-1697) world of the Maya of the Petén lakes region of Guatemala with significance. This paper investigates the colors of ritual paraphernalia encountered in …
Cenotes As Conceptual Boundary Markers At The Ancient Maya Site Of T’Isil, Quintana Roo, México, Scott L. Fedick, Jennifer P. Mathews, K. Sorensen
Cenotes As Conceptual Boundary Markers At The Ancient Maya Site Of T’Isil, Quintana Roo, México, Scott L. Fedick, Jennifer P. Mathews, K. Sorensen
Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research
Ancient Maya communities, from small village sites to urban centers, have long posed problems to archaeologists in attempting to define the boundaries or limits of settlement. These ancient communities tend to be relatively dispersed, with settlement densities dropping toward the periphery, but lacking any clear boundary. At a limited number of sites, the Maya constructed walled enclosures or earthworks, which scholars have generally interpreted as defensive projects, often hastily built to protect the central districts of larger administrative centers during times of warfare (e.g., Demarest et al. 1997; Inomata 1997; Kurjack and Andrews 1976; Puleston and Callender 1967; Webster 2000; …
With The Protection Of The Gods: An Interpretation Of The Protector Figure In Classic Maya Iconography, Tiffany M. Lindley
With The Protection Of The Gods: An Interpretation Of The Protector Figure In Classic Maya Iconography, Tiffany M. Lindley
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Iconography encapsulates the cultural knowledge of a civilization. The ancient Maya of Mesoamerica utilized iconography to express ideological beliefs, as well as political events and histories. An ideology heavily based on the presence of an Otherworld is visible in elaborate Maya iconography. Motifs and themes can be manipulated to convey different meanings based on context. An example of this mutability can be witnessed in the depiction of Otherworld gods. Maya gods were not like Old World pantheons; gods were fluid and could function in multiple roles. Protector gods are an example of the fluidity of Maya deities. Scenes of protector …
Good Men Grow Corn: Embodied Ecological Heritage In A Belizean Mopan Community, Kristina Baines
Good Men Grow Corn: Embodied Ecological Heritage In A Belizean Mopan Community, Kristina Baines
Publications and Research
Recent developments in land rights and land use in the Toledo district, Belize has generated anthropological and activist interest surrounding traditional ecological knowledge and practice, and the role of heritage in communities. This study explores the connection between ecological knowledge and practices, and the concurrent construction of heritage, and community health and wellness, broadly defined. Developing and using the concept of “embodied ecological heritage,” this dissertation takes a phenomenological approach to understanding the convergence of ecological heritage and health in multiple realms of everyday life, arguing that lived experience of participating in “traditional”practices is fundamentally connected to wellness in the …
One Nation, Many Borders: Language And Identity In Mayan Guatemala And Mexico, Anna Caroline Peckham
One Nation, Many Borders: Language And Identity In Mayan Guatemala And Mexico, Anna Caroline Peckham
Honors Papers
This paper explores language ideologies, code choice, and ethnolinguistic identity in Maya-dominated areas of Mexico and Guatemala. As the Maya, or Pan-Maya, Movement has grown in scope and force since the 1980s, particularly in Guatemala, possessing a "Maya" identity has become defined in new ways. Since Mayan languages are still spoken with a strong degree of vitality in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and the western highlands of Guatemala, examining Maya identity through beliefs about, and use of, indigenous languages and Spanish is a particularly useful focus. In comparing Maya peoples' beliefs and identities in each of these regions, this paper argues …
Tensiones Entre El Patrimonio Tangible E Intangible En Yucatán, México: La Imposibilidad De Re-Crear Una Cultura Sin Alterar Sus Características / Tensions Between Tangible And Intangible Heritage In Yucatán, Mexico: The Impossibility Of Re-Creating A Culture Without Altering Its Characteristics, Fernando Armstrong-Fumero
Anthropology: Faculty Publications
Este artículo examina las tensiones y diálogos entre el patrimonio cultural tangible e intangible a través del caso del reciclaje arquitectónico en Yucatán, México. Ciertas contradicciones son evidentes en las definiciones oficiales de estos dos tipos de patrimonio en declaraciones que caracterizan al patrimonio intangible como algo dinámico y activo y al patrimonio tangible como una serie de objetos que se deben mantener in situ sin alteraciones humanas. Estas tensiones son aún más evidentes cuando las leyes que rigen el patrimonio cultural se aplican dentro de las comunidades rurales mayahablantes, cuyos residentes participan en una serie de tradiciones de colonización …
Good Men Grow Corn: Embodied Ecological Heritage And Health In A Belizean Mopan Community, Kristina Linda Baines
Good Men Grow Corn: Embodied Ecological Heritage And Health In A Belizean Mopan Community, Kristina Linda Baines
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Recent developments in land rights and land use in the Toledo district, Belize has generated anthropological and activist interest surrounding traditional ecological knowledge and practice, and the role of heritage in communities. This study explores the connection between ecological knowledge and practices, and the concurrent construction of heritage, and community health and wellness, broadly defined. Developing and using the concept of "embodied ecological heritage," this dissertation takes a phenomenological approach to understanding the convergence of ecological heritage and health in multiple realms of everyday life, arguing that lived experience of participating in "traditional" practices is fundamentally connected to wellness in …
The Quadripartite Badge: Narratives Of Power And Resurrection In Maya Iconography, Victoria Ingalls
The Quadripartite Badge: Narratives Of Power And Resurrection In Maya Iconography, Victoria Ingalls
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Ancient Maya iconography primarily depicted elite individuals in idealized states of being and rationalized their power and authority through ideological concepts and otherworld beings. This study aims to reexamine previous assumptions made concerning the Quadripartite Badge. This motif is examined based on iconographic associations and contexts, as well as temporal and spatial distributions. The dataset was created from currently identified examples of the Quadripartite Badge, although only a select group is extensively examined. The spread of this motif is demonstrated through time and its spatial dispersals are noted for their political consequences. Indicating the liminal status of its user, the …
Geographic And Environmental Influence On Maya Settlement Patterns Of The Northwest Yucatan: An Explanation For The Sparsely Settled Western Cenote Zone, Patrick Rohrer
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Most settlement pattern research and GIS analysis of the ancient Maya of the Northern Yucatan have focused on water availability in a dry landscape where cenotes are often the only water source. While water is of paramount importance, permanent settlement secondarily requires farmable soil, a resource often as precious as water in many parts of the Yucatan. The dynamics between these resources reveal areas of ideal settlement and more challenging landscapes for which the Maya developed strategies to overcome environmental conditions. A region of the southwest "Cenote Zone", however, appears to have presented the ancient Maya with insurmountably poor environmental …
Maya Cosmopolitans : Everyday Life At The Interface Of Archaeology, Heritage, And Tourism Development, Sarah Ruth Taylor
Maya Cosmopolitans : Everyday Life At The Interface Of Archaeology, Heritage, And Tourism Development, Sarah Ruth Taylor
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
The village of Ek'Balam is located approximately 300 meters from the ceremonial center of the archaeological zone by the same name. The ruins at Ek'Balam are some of the most impressive pre-Columbian stuccoes found in the Maya World. In 1994, the archaeological zone opened to the public, and since then this village of around 350 residents has experienced numerous changes. While residents have always had ties to the regional economy, the opening of the archaeological zone represented their first extended engagement with the tourism industry. A major agent of change in Ek'Balam is a community-based tourism project, funded primarily by …
Contact And Missionization At Tayasal, Peten, Guatemala, Timothy W. Pugh
Contact And Missionization At Tayasal, Peten, Guatemala, Timothy W. Pugh
Timothy W Pugh
Until their conquest by the Spanish in 1697, many Itza Maya occupied a large village at Tayasal, Peten, Guatemala. After the conquest, two missions were built there. The village and missions are located within 2 km of modern Flores, which was once Nojpete´n, the Itza capital, and later the Spanish presidio (fortified administrative center). Our excavations uncovered the San Bernabe´ mission on the Tayasal peninsula and defined the Late Postclassic-period (A.D. 1400–1525) occupation of the site. San Bernabe´ was established in the early 18th century as part of Spanish efforts to control indigenous populations in Peten. Our research demonstrates that …
Complexities Of Collapse: The Evidence Of Maya Obsidian As Revealed By Social Network Graphical Analysis, Gary M. Feinman, Mark Golitko, James Meierhoff, Patrick Ryan Williams
Complexities Of Collapse: The Evidence Of Maya Obsidian As Revealed By Social Network Graphical Analysis, Gary M. Feinman, Mark Golitko, James Meierhoff, Patrick Ryan Williams
Gary M. Feinman
The authors use a social network analysis to map the changing patterns of obsidian supply among the Maya during the period of Classic to Postclassic transition. The quantity of obsidian received from different sources was calculated for 121 sites and the network analysis showed how the relative abundance of material from different sources shifted over time. A shift from inland to coastal supply routes appears to have contributed to the collapse of inland Maya urban centres. The methods employed clearly have a high potential to reveal changing economic networks in cases of major societal transitions elsewhere in the world.