Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Identity Experiences Of Maya Q'Anjob'al American Youth And Mayan Language Loss: A Post-Colonial Perspective On Language, Culture And Identity, Juanatano Cano Jan 2022

The Identity Experiences Of Maya Q'Anjob'al American Youth And Mayan Language Loss: A Post-Colonial Perspective On Language, Culture And Identity, Juanatano Cano

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of Maya American youth of the Q’anjob’al ethnic group in the United States. It examined whether American-born Maya children affirmed their indigenous Maya Q’anjob’al background and if they performed better in school and had a better adjustment to life if they had a secure sense of identity. The study includes a discussion of major findings related to the literature on the Post-colonial theory and the theoretical approach of William G. Demmert’s Culturally Based Education (CBE) practices, which refers to education that recognizes the importance of indigenous languages, culture, …


Investigating The Contents Of A Maya Tomb: An Analysis Of The Milwaukee Public Museum's Ceramic Collection From Chajul, Guatemala, Emma Eisner May 2020

Investigating The Contents Of A Maya Tomb: An Analysis Of The Milwaukee Public Museum's Ceramic Collection From Chajul, Guatemala, Emma Eisner

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines a collection of 120 artifacts recovered from a tomb at the highland Maya site of Chajul, Guatemala, and currently housed at the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM). Prior to this study, research on the MPM collection was very limited and there were few publications related to Chajul. The study focuses primarily on the 84 ceramic objects in the Museum’s collection. Detailed analysis of these artifacts was undertaken in order to collect data on their likely dates of production, forms, surface treatment’s, functions, and iconography. Contextual information from the tomb is also considered, including details of its construction as …


The Origins Of The Maya: A Comparative Analysis Of Narratives, Thomasina Ilene Morris Mar 2011

The Origins Of The Maya: A Comparative Analysis Of Narratives, Thomasina Ilene Morris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to document the changes in archaeological origin narratives concerning the lowland Preclassic Maya. This was accomplished by tracking the changes in four major narratives over several decades. These narratives include Herbert J. Spinden's Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America; The Ancient Maya written by Sylvanus G. Morley, with additional editors, George Brainerd, Robert J. Sharer, and Loa Traxler; Michael D. Coe's The Maya, and Richard E.W. Adams's Prehistoric Mesoamerica. The specific parts of the narratives analyzed were the origins of agriculture, ceramic technology, writing, and monumental architecture. Changes in metaphorical language …


Monkey Pots: Inferring Meaning Through Time And Space From Function, Decoration, And Context, Benjamin Jacob Skousen Nov 2009

Monkey Pots: Inferring Meaning Through Time And Space From Function, Decoration, And Context, Benjamin Jacob Skousen

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I interpret the meaning of “monkey pots,” a pottery vessel found throughout the Maya world. This study looks at three kinds of monkey pots recovered from the Mirador Basin. Carmelita Incised and Zacatal Polychrome monkey pots date to the Late Classic period (AD 680-800) and were manufactured in the Basin; Telchac Composite monkey pots date to the Terminal Classic period (AD 780-830) and were made in the Usumacinta River region. These monkey pots are described, followed by an analysis and comparison of the function, the monkey genus on the vessels, and the contexts from which the vessels …


Parentage Statements And Paired Stelae: Signs Of Dynastic Succession For The Classic Maya, Daniel Moroni Stewart Dec 2008

Parentage Statements And Paired Stelae: Signs Of Dynastic Succession For The Classic Maya, Daniel Moroni Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and document parentage statements and paired stela found on Maya monuments or portable objects. While the existence of parentage statements, within the Maya text, has been known since the late 1970s, no thesis or major research project has ever been published pertaining to this class of glyphs within the Maya script. In 1977 Christopher Jones is credited with the discovery of parentage statements in Maya hieroglyphic texts (Jones 1977). His discovery was followed by a detailed analysis of parentage statements by Floyd Lounsbury, Peter Mathews, and Linda Schele (1977). They introduced most …


Music And The Modern Maya: A Reception Study Of Rock-Maya Music In Guatemala, Malcolm Miguel Botto Jul 2008

Music And The Modern Maya: A Reception Study Of Rock-Maya Music In Guatemala, Malcolm Miguel Botto

Theses and Dissertations

The current global flows of people, capital, technology, images and ideas--a phenomenon described as "mediascapes" by Arjun Appadurai (1996), traverse the most isolated Maya communities in Guatemala. These flows have recently influenced the creation of hybrid media products among the Maya. Among them we find an emerging indigenous musical genre called "Rock-Maya." I use reception analysis methods to document the encoding and decoding of this new indigenous medium of communication. Through qualitative interviews I attempt to show how K'iche'-Maya youth appropriate, what Motti Regev (1997) calls, the rock aesthetic to promote a sense of K'iche'-Maya youth identity in a modern …


Mayanwiki: An Online, Consensus-Based Linguistic Corpus Of The Mayan Hieroglyphs, Robbie A. Haertel Dec 2007

Mayanwiki: An Online, Consensus-Based Linguistic Corpus Of The Mayan Hieroglyphs, Robbie A. Haertel

Theses and Dissertations

The writing system used by the ancient Maya civilization has intrigued researchers and aficionados for centuries. Now that it has mostly been deciphered, the emphasis in the field of Mayan epigraphy has shifted to a study of the system of phonological, morphological, and grammatical rules that once governed the language that the hieroglyphs encode. One of the most important resources for linguistic study of this type is a comprehensive, electronic corpus of texts to investigate phraseology, frequency information, and collocations. Because Mayan linguistic epigraphy is in the early stages, a publicly available, editable corpus would be an invaluable resource in …


The Chipped Stone Tool Industries Of Blackman Eddy, Belize, Matthew Patrick Yacubic Apr 2006

The Chipped Stone Tool Industries Of Blackman Eddy, Belize, Matthew Patrick Yacubic

Theses and Dissertations

One of the most significant finds at the site of Blackman Eddy, Belize, is a series of superimposed structures that date between 1200 B.C.-A.D. 600 (calibrated). Because it was continuously occupied for over 1800 years, this site provides a unique opportunity to examine long-term socio-economic changes in the eastern Maya lowlands. This thesis is a diachronic study of the chipped stone tool artifacts of Blackman Eddy using technological, attribute, and use-wear analysis. The data collected for this study were examined to see what types of raw materials were used in tool production, what types of tools were produced, how they …


A Grammatical Description Of The Early Classic Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Daniel A. Law Mar 2006

A Grammatical Description Of The Early Classic Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Daniel A. Law

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the grammatical system of Classical Ch'olti', the language of the Classic Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions, as attested in inscriptions of the Early Classic (approximately AD 200-600). Around 300 Lowland Maya Hieroglyphic inscriptions have been dated to the Early Classic or before, nearly one third of these remain unpublished. Previous work on the monumental inscriptions of the Early Classic (Mathews 1985; Proskouriakoff 1950) has examined Early Classic monuments primarily as works of art. Mora-Marin (2001) examined the language of inscriptions found on early portable texts, a small subset of the corpus here examined. In …


Murals And The Development Of Merchant Activity At Chichen Itza, De Luna Lucha Aztzin Martinez Oct 2005

Murals And The Development Of Merchant Activity At Chichen Itza, De Luna Lucha Aztzin Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

The militaristic interpretations of the art of Chichen Itza, Yucatán, Mexico, fails to sufficiently describe its entire decorative program. Absent from discussions of the art tradition is the apparent focus on merchant activity in the city. The influence and power of merchants strengthened during the transition from the Classic to Postclassic in Mesoamerica. With an increase in demand of foreign goods, new exchange relationships developed between centers in Central Mexico, the Gulf, and Maya region. As a result, several cultural regions participated in a vast economic network that created political alliances and syncretic art styles. Focusing on the mural tradition …


Mayan Metate Ethnoarchaeology, Michael T. Searcy Mar 2005

Mayan Metate Ethnoarchaeology, Michael T. Searcy

Theses and Dissertations

Manos and metates are ubiquitous at archaeological sites in Mesoamerica. Unfortunately, grinding stones are understudied, and thus, not much is understood about them. Understanding that archaeology is based on the use of analogy to infer past life-ways, little work has been done to create analogies specifically for manos and metates. The purpose of this thesis is to study modern grinding stones used by Mayans living in Guatemala to better understand manos and metates used by ancient peoples. I worked for two field seasons in Guatemala recording the life histories of manos and metates used by the Q'eqchi' and K'iche', two …