DOCSLIB.ORG

These Ancient Murals, Dating to Around I 00 BC, Include the Earliest

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
These Ancient Murals, Dating to Around I 00 BC, Include the Earliest A Book of Mormon Report PRE-COLUMBIAN STUDIES INSTITUTE • JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2005 • VOLUME 12 NUMBER l By Sherrie Kline Smith and Shirley R. Heater &litor's Note: The last issue of glyph notes 1 toric murals, including results from the 2004 included a "clip" and some tidbits about ~ excavation season which had not yet been the San Bartolo symposium. This is a fuller; : published or presented to the general public. but not complete, report. It's a little longer Guest speakers included William Saturno than normal, but the importance of this with the University of New Hampshire who symposium prompts us to publish much of described how the murals were discovered the material that was presented. First is the and the joint efforts of the team working to report, followed by the authors' insights of preserve, conserve, and record the murals; -----------------------. points important for believ­ Heather Hurst, Yale University and a recent ers of The Book of Monnon. : recipient of the prestigious MacArthur ~ "genius" fellowship, compared the The Symposium ~ Bonampak murals with those at San • Early in 200 l, archaeolo­ ~ Bartolo; David Stuart, now with the UXMAL• MAYAPAJ>I ~ University of Texas at Austin, talked about JAINA gist William Saturno discov­ SAYtl• ered a spectacular series of ~ the relation of the hieroglyphic text that YUCATAN •EOZNA early Maya murals in an l accompanies the murals and the origins and PENINSULA unexcavated pyramid at the l development of Maya writing; Karl Taube, San Bartolo ruins in north- l University of California-Riverside, delved .eecAN east Guatemala. These • ceRAQ5. ancient murals, dating to N~~~Atcilc~~ CALAKMUL • RIO~~ Sll;'1 Bartolo " around l 00 BC, include the "\ • ---- ... -- ~ •LAMANAI oe• These ancient murals, ~ • EL EL MIRAOOR • '> e''o earliest Maya hieroglyphs, • ' 'PER~ • UAXACTUN I (, PALENO\,/E_ .J TIKAL• ~ARANJO and portray the most elabo- dating to around I 00 BC, 1 YAXCH~~PI~:-~ • ,e EL z) rate depiction of the Maya's TONINA• • Al TAR OE :CARACO{ include the earliest Maya . BONAMPAK SACRIFICIOS ' J creation myth ever discov- •seiBAL ' ,./ . Gullo/ ered. Painted in brilliant hieroglyphs and portray ' .. - _ _ _ _ DOS. PILAS UJ,'_ -~ANTUN HondUtas ., . _ (._ ,....._ ~ polychrome, these remark- the most elaborate depiction LAGARTERP~' ?.... ~ACQ . __ ably preserved murals pro- ~ · GUATEMALA OUIRIGU~"' • ePLAYADE ,- .-- -, _,,,,,. LOS MUERTOS vide a unique corpus of of the Maya's creation myth ~u!.~~-N- ~~~;~; · _ . HIGOS iconographic and epigraphic ever discovered. • ABAJ 1 . •KAMINAuuvu) H 0 ~ 0 u R A 5 information about the Maya. TAKA~:K•. · , ,"'---..... vARUMELA The paintings have been E TBAUL ··1· ared r- comp to l pre-eminent archaeologist Michael Coe, ' Michaelangelo's paintings l Yale University emeritus, discussed the ) on the ceiling of the Sistine ~ dawn of Maya civilization; and John Clark, Chapel. from Brigham Young University, spoke On October 30, 2004, at about the Olmec, or mother culture, and its Irvine, California, the New World relation to the Maya. Archaeology Council held a symposium The day-long program was not only infor­ that featured for the first time the entire San mative but also intellectually stimulating. Bartolo field research team, presenting their latest findings and interpretations of the his- Continued on page 2. PRE-COLUMBIAN STUDIES INSTITUTE • JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2005 2 ~))notes Exciting New Discoveries The room had five doorways: three on the glass window whose purpose was to teach From page I. front and one on each side at the rear of the Biblical stories. Those at Bonampak glorify Discovery room. The west wall has remains of five the personal history of the king and events In March 2001, William Satumo went to beams that stretched across the top of the in his life and were private, to be viewed verify reports of the existence of two room creating a flat ceiling, as opposed to only by family or those selected. inscribed stelae at San Bartolo in the Peten. the usual corbel arch found in What began as a three-hour trek turned into Maya constructions. One had to a harrowing three-day marathon. When the duck to enter, but when standing team reached the site, they found no stelae. upright after entering, one Suffering from frustration, fatigue, and lack looked directly at the murals. of food and water, Satumo sought refuge in To ascertain a date for the the shade and coolness of a looter's tunnel murals, they took five radiocar- in an unexcavated pyramid. Soon he began bon samples from three contexts: beaming his flashlight around. He was the mural, floor, and fill. The stunned by what he saw-part of a Maya result from the mural plaster mural in pristine condition. An excited yielded a date between 230-50 Satumo called in the experts. BC which they round out to 100 Following this discovery of the first well­ BC. The floor sample averaged preserved murals since those at Bonampak to 50 BC and the fill to some­ in 1946, important steps have been taken to time before AD 20. The I 00 BC preserve them, such as conservation, clean­ date is a couple hundred years Dmwing: Glenn Scon ing, recording, and stabilizing. Looters left earlier than first suspected and This portion of the north end of the west wall mural mirrors one of the walls hanging in mid-air, so one published in the December 2003 the scene on the south end-one of accession. At present, of the first tasks was to reconstruct a sup­ National Geographic. it is unclear if the figures represent real kings or divinities. porting base. The hieroglyphs before the throne would probably clear The mural room, buried 50 feet beneath Murals this up, but they differ just enough from later glyphs that decipherment has not yet happened. David Stuart, the subsequent buildings, adjoins an 80-foot Heather Hurst, who worked leading epigraphic scholar, believes the Maya had many tall pyramid that incorporates six earlier extensively in conservation and manuscripts prior to the birth of Christ. building phases that date back to around preservation of the Bonampak 600 BC. The building in which the mural murals, is the main artist for the San was found was completed in the last phase Bartolo project. Using her extensive knowl­ Writing of construction. They named the pyramid edge of the Bonampak murals, she com­ The hieroglyphic texts in the San Bartolo Las Pinturas because of the murals. pared and contrasted them with those at murals, a series of glyphs executed in an The north wall of the mural building San Bartolo. Nine hundred years separate early "swirl" style, are captions for people measures approximately 14 feet long and the execution of the murals. Bonampak or scenes and, at present, not understood the west, 31 feet. The east wall had been dates to approximately AD 800. except for, the glyph commonly translated totally destroyed by the Maya in later build­ In discussing the architectural setting, as ahau (lord). David Stuart related that the ing projects. Fortunately fragments have Hurst pointed out that both buildings had glyphs differ too much from later inscrip­ been found that have allowed the team to been built to "house" the murals and were tions .. begin reconstructing parts of the east wall. well planned beforehand. The walls, pre­ Experts are not sure exactly when writing The mural most likely ran along all four pared for the paint with layers of stucco, first appeared in the Lowlands, but during sides of the room for a total of approxi­ exhibit highly advanced limestone prepara­ the first century BC writing experienced a mately 90 feet. tion created by skilled craftsmen. rapid advance. And, when that happened, or San Bartolo employs conservative colors "when writing took off in the Lowlands, it glyph nous is published bimonthly by Pre-Columbian including black, red, yellow, peach, pink, stops in the Highlands." Srudies Institute (PSI), a nonprofit research and education and some blue. The artists used red and Most of the earliest writing examples in organization, and is distributed free 10 members of PSI. white for skin tones, which Hurst believes the Lowlands are found on small, portable Membership & Annual Subscription to newsletter is $25. implies deities. At Bonampak no two fig­ objects. The small scale of the early glyphs Send to: Pre-Columbian Studies lnstirute. ures have the same skin tone/color. The leads Stuart to believe that writing originat­ P.O. Boll 477, Independence. MO 64051 . murals here are resplendent with Maya ed not on structures but from a manuscript F.ditorial Committee: Pat Beebe. Editor; Joy Muir; blue, a color, Hurst said, that is most diffi­ tradition. He suggested that folded books Clyde Noren; Jennifer Raffety; 1im Raffety; Glenn Scott cult to reproduce. She concludes this is a must have been an ancient practice, but Board Ofllc:ers: Donald Beebe, President; Glenn Seo«. display of conspicuous consumption similar unfortunately no examples survive from the Vice President; Margaret Noren, Secrerary; Clyde Noren. to coating cathedrals in gold leaf. Preclassic period. Archaeologists have Treasurer The content of both murals contrast found pieces of codices at Uaxactun, and a Articles and the opinions ellpressed herein do not neces­ markedly. Where the San Bartolo murals number of scenes on pottery shows codices sarily represent the view of the Editorial Committee. are mythical or ideological, dealing with and people writing and reading and manip­ Unsigned articles are attributable to the editor. All materi­ religious beliefs, Bonampak's are political. ulating "books." als submitted may be edited for clarity and space. The San Bartolo murals were meant for the The theme of warfare is not as evident as © 2005 Pre-Columbian Studies Institute public. They resemble a medieval stained Continued on page 3.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Universidad De San Carlos De Guatemala Escuela De Historia Carrera De Arqueología
    UNIVERSIDAD DE SAN CARLOS DE GUATEMALA ESCUELA DE HISTORIA CARRERA DE ARQUEOLOGÍA “Hunahpu, un complejo conmemorativo del Preclásico Medio del sitio arqueológico San Bartolo, Flores, Petén” BORIS FERNANDO BELTRÁN MORÁN Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, Guatemala, C.A. Septiembre de 2015 UNIVERSIDAD DE SAN CARLOS DE GUATEMALA ESCUELA DE HISTORIA CARRERA DE ARQUEOLOGÍA “Hunahpu, un complejo conmemorativo del Preclásico Medio del sitio arqueológico San Bartolo, Flores, Petén” T E S I S Presentada por: BORIS FERNANDO BELTRÁN MORÁN Previo a conferírsele el título de ARQUEÓLOGO En el grado académico de: LICENCIADO Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, Guatemala, C.A. Septiembre de 2015 UNIVERSIDAD DE SAN CARLOS DE GUATEMALA ESCUELA DE HISTORIA AUTORIDADES UNIVERSITARIAS RECTOR: Dr. Carlos Guillermo Alvarado Cerezo SECRETARIO: Dr. Carlos Camey AUTORIDADES DE LA ESCUELA DE HISTORIA DIRECTOR: Dra. Artemis Torres Valenzuela SECRETARIO: Licda. Olga Pérez CONSEJO DIRECTIVO DIRECTOR: Dra. Artemis Torres Valenzuela SECRETARIO: Licda. Olga Pérez VOCAL I: Dra. Tania Sagastume VOCAL II: Licda. María Laura Jiménez Chacón VOCAL III: Licda. Zoila Rodríguez Girón VOCAL IV: Amalia Judith Tzunux Sanic VOCAL V: Byron Anderson Chivalán ASESORA DE TESIS Licda. Mónica Claudina Urquizú Sánchez COMITÉ DE TESIS Dr. Héctor Escobedo Lic. Héctor Mejía “Los autores serán responsables de las opiniones o criterios expresados en su obra”. Capítulo V, Arto. 11 del Reglamento del Consejo Editorial de la Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. Dedicatoria A mis Padres Fernando Beltrán y Reginalda Morán (+) por guiarme en la vida, enseñarme a dar sin esperar recibir, de hacer cosas buenas porque a la postre vendrán cosas buenas y a disfrutar de lo maravilloso que es compartir la vida sin importar la situación.
    [Show full text]
  • Architecture at San Bartolo, El Peten, Guatemala: Object and Subject
    Originalni nauni rad UDK: 72.031.2(=821.173)(728.1) 1 Sanja Savki& Belgrade, Serbia ARCHITECTURE AT SAN BARTOLO, EL PETEN, GUATEMALA: OBJECT AND SUBJECT Abstract: Certain ancient Maya architectural patterns had multiple meanings and symbolic functions. They were designed not simply as static monuments to demon- strate the power of their patrons, but as places for the performance of transcendent events that linked those rulers to their constituencies – ancestors and gods likewise. Moreover, when ritually activated, they could acquire existential status, by providing the object with agency, meaning, and its own point of view, thus annulling the su- bject-object dichotomy, which is in accordance with the magical-mythic beliefs of their makers. At San Bartolo, located in the north-east of the Guatemalan state El Pe- ten, around the year 100 BC there was an architectural complex that incarnated some Maya ideas regarding the universe, its cosmogony, and the role of the human beings. Key words: San Bartolo, Maya architecture, existential status of images, mountain- cave complex, quatrefoil motif. The objective of this paper2 is to substantiate that the sixth architectural pha- se3 (of eight in total) of Las Pinturas Pyramid4 or Structure 1 (ca. 100 BC) at San Bartolo, located in Guatemalan state of El Peten, can be interpreted as a co- smogram which displays the ancient Maya conceptualization of space materiali- zed in a particular architectural pattern. This cosmogram refers to the spatial or- dering of the universe in three levels (as seen vertically), perceived as the under- world, the Earth’s surface, and the upper or celestial world.
    [Show full text]
  • Runggaldier Curriculum Vitae August 2019
    ASTRID M. RUNGGALDIER Department of Art and Art History, University of Texas at Austin 2301 San Jacinto Blvd., STOP D1300, ART 1.412C, Austin, TX 78712 Tel: 617-780-7826, [email protected] EDUCATION AND DEGREES Boston University, Department of Archaeology Boston MA • Ph.D. in Mesoamerican Archaeology, May 2009. Dissertation: Memory and Materiality in Monumental Architecture: Construction and Reuse of a Late Preclassic Maya Palace at San Bartolo, Guatemala (published by ProQuest/UMI, Ann Arbor, 2009. Publication No. AAT 3363637) • M.A. in Archaeology, Sept. 2002. Thesis: The Louisville Stuccoes: Recontextualizing Maya Architectural Sculptures from Northern Belize (published by BAR, Oxford, 2004) • B.A. in Archaeological Studies, Department of Archaeology; Minor in Geology, Department of Earth and Environment, January 1997 PROFESSIONAL RECORD HIGHER EDUCATION APPOINTMENTS: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, AUSTIN, TX 2012–PRESENT • Assistant Director of The Mesoamerica Center, Department of Art and Art History http://www.utmesoamerica.org/. Oversee current initiatives and develop new Center programming and special projects (including organizing yearly conferences and speaker series; updating website, social media and publications; collaborating with non-profit organizations; designing public outreach programs; and creating and implementing new digital initiatives for both campus Center and Casa Herrera in Guatemala); oversee budgets and financial procedures; manage all aspects of Casa Herrera including contracts, personnel, maintenance,
    [Show full text]
  • Undergraduate Survey Project
    PROYECTO ARQUEOLÓGICO REGIONAL SAN BARTOLO Proposal Acceptance Letter The undersigned, appointed by the Guatemalan Department of Archaeology, have examined a project proposal entitled “Xultun Tree, Mapping, and Excavation Project” presented by Alex Kara and hereby certify that it is worthy of acceptance. Signature______________________ Co-director William Saturno Signature______________________ Co-director Patricia Castillo Xultun Tree, Mapping, and Excavation Project an archaeological survey proposal by Alex Kara Boston University Boston, Massachusetts December 17th, 2012 Introduction The ancient Maya emerged from a dense tropical forest to establish a civilization that has long captivated the modern imagination. The Maya lowlands featured a population that numbed in the millions during its Classic Period fluorescence, which is impressive considering the seasonal droughts and lack of permanent, natural water sources that characterize the region. Prolific excavations of their urban centers have revealed much about ancient Maya culture, including their cosmological, artistic, political, and scientific institutions. On the other hand, comparatively little is known about larger Maya population dynamics or land use. The dense vegetation that characterizes this region prevents the kind of intensive archaeological survey that has revolutionized landscape archaeology in more arid regions during the late twentieth century. To further complicate studies of ancient demography, the soil in the Peten is usually very acidic; most organic matter, such as human and plant remains, does not appear the archaeological record. Despite these obstacles to studying the material remains of past societies at a large spatial scale, these broader questions cannot be ignored. Archaeology needs to dissect evidence of human behavior as completely as possible in any given environmental context, and local emphases on geographically convenient data types will skew holistic analyses of how things work.
    [Show full text]
  • Collapse of the Maya: Could Deforestation Have Contributed? Robert J
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Papers in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of 2010 Collapse of the Maya: Could deforestation have contributed? Robert J. Oglesby University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Thomas L. Sever University of Alabama, Huntsville William Saturno Boston University David J. Erickson III Computational Earth Sciences Group Jayanthi Srikishen Universities Space Research Association/Marshall Space Flight Center Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geosciencefacpub Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Oglesby, Robert J.; Sever, Thomas L.; Saturno, William; Erickson, David J. III; and Srikishen, Jayanthi, "Collapse of the Maya: Could deforestation have contributed?" (2010). Papers in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. 469. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geosciencefacpub/469 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Papers in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 115, D12106, doi:10.1029/2009JD011942, 2010 Click Here for Full Article Collapse of the Maya: Could deforestation have contributed? Robert J. Oglesby,1 Thomas L. Sever,2 William Saturno,3 David J. Erickson III,4 and Jayanthi Srikishen5 Received 25 February 2009; revised 25 October 2009; accepted 22 February 2010; published 17 June 2010. [1] The collapse of the Maya civilization during the ninth century A.D. is a major conundrum in the history of mankind. This civilization reached a spectacular peak but then almost completely collapsed in the space of a few decades.
    [Show full text]
  • High-Precision Radiocarbon Dating of Political Collapse and Dynastic Origins at the Maya Site of Ceibal, Guatemala
    High-precision radiocarbon dating of political collapse and dynastic origins at the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala Takeshi Inomata (猪俣 健)a,1, Daniela Triadana, Jessica MacLellana, Melissa Burhama, Kazuo Aoyama (青山 和夫)b, Juan Manuel Palomoa, Hitoshi Yonenobu (米延 仁志)c, Flory Pinzónd, and Hiroo Nasu (那須 浩郎)e aSchool of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0030; bFaculty of Humanities, Ibaraki University, Mito, 310-8512, Japan; cGraduate School of Education, Naruto University of Education, Naruto, 772-8502, Japan; dCeibal-Petexbatun Archaeological Project, Guatemala City, 01005, Guatemala; and eSchool of Advanced Sciences, Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Hayama, 240-0193, Japan Edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, and approved December 19, 2016 (received for review October 30, 2016) The lowland Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala, had a long history of resolution chronology may reveal a sequence of rapid transformations occupation, spanning from the Middle Preclassic period through that are comprised within what appears to be a slow, gradual transi- the Terminal Classic (1000 BC to AD 950). The Ceibal-Petexbatun tion. Such a detailed understanding can provide critical insights into Archaeological Project has been conducting archaeological inves- the nature of the social changes. Our intensive archaeological inves- tigations at this site since 2005 and has obtained 154 radiocarbon tigations at the center of Ceibal, Guatemala, have produced 154 ra- dates, which represent the largest collection of radiocarbon assays diocarbon dates, which represent the largest set of radiocarbon assays from a single Maya site. The Bayesian analysis of these dates, ever collected at a Maya site.
    [Show full text]
  • 59 San Bartolo, Petén: Late Preclassic Techniques Of
    59 SAN BARTOLO, PETÉN: LATE PRECLASSIC TECHNIQUES OF MURAL PAINTING Heather Hurst Keywords: Maya archaeology, Maya art, Guatemala, Petén, San Bartolo, mural painting, artistic techniques, painters, artists, Late Preclassic period Like the artist in charge of drawings for the San Bartolo Archaeological Project, the murals of San Bartolo have been documented as faithfully as possible through scale drawings and watercolor paintings. The illustration process presented me with the opportunity to conduct a very detailed observation of both the pictorial technique and the style of the San Bartolo artists. Just like modern artists copy the works of Rembrandt and Michelangelo to get acquainted with their techniques, in the San Bartolo murals every line, color, figure and even paint drops were copied, providing an opportunity to study the Maya masters of the Late Preclassic period. Now, all observations will be presented in regard to the preparation of walls, the design, the composition, the pictorial technique and the style of the San Bartolo murals. PREPARATION OF WALLS Structure Sub-1 in Las Pinturas was conceived and built as a unitary addition to the east side of the mound (Figure 1). The structure was specifically designed to be painted with murals and intended to be easily seen. Las Pinturas Sub-1 is a single, open room with three main doorways in the façade and two secondary ones at the sides. The walls climb until they form a curvature similar to the springing of a vault, but it is known that this room was not vaulted. Instead, the walls continue climbing vertically until they form a frieze that protrudes slightly from the walls and surrounds the four sides of the room, and on which the murals were painted.
    [Show full text]
  • Forests, Fields, and the Edge of Sustainability at the Ancient Maya City of Tikal
    Forests, fields, and the edge of sustainability at the ancient Maya city of Tikal David L. Lentza,1, Nicholas P. Dunningb, Vernon L. Scarboroughc, Kevin S. Mageeb, Kim M. Thompsona, Eric Weaverb, Christopher Carrb, Richard E. Terryd, Gerald Islebee, Kenneth B. Tankersleyc, Liwy Grazioso Sierraf, John G. Jonesg, Palma Buttlesh, Fred Valdezi, and Carmen E. Ramos Hernandezj aDepartment of Biological Sciences, bDepartment of Geography, and cDepartment of Anthropology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221; dDepartment of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602; eEl Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumal Herbario, Chetumal, AP 424 Quintana Roo, Mexico; fLa Escuela de Historia, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala City, 01012 Guatemala; gArchaeological Consulting Services, Ltd., Tempe, AZ 85282; hSoftware Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213; iDepartment of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712; and jDepartamento de Monumentos Prehispanicos, Instituto de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala, Guatemala City, 01001 Guatemala Edited by B. L. Turner, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, and approved November 7, 2014 (received for review May 9, 2014) Tikal has long been viewed as one of the leading polities of the Superimposing the Voronoi Diagram over satellite images of ancient Maya realm, yet how the city was able to maintain its modern Tikal (2, 3) (Fig. 1), which is mostly forested today, substantial population in the midst of a tropical forest environ- reveals that ∼850 km2 is upland tropical forest habitat and 250 † ment has been a topic of unresolved debate among researchers for km2 is seasonal wetland or bajo (4).
    [Show full text]
  • MAYA MURALS When These Extremely Detailed Murals Were Preservation
    MAYA MURALS When these extremely detailed murals were Preservation. Although less than 5 percent of the BONAMPAK, MEXICO panions to the jungle-shrouded ruins they knew are the most complete Maya wall paintings from who dedicated themselves to maintaining the ritu- himself—who were privileged enough to sit upon a new, modern, “people’s art” garnered interna- RECORDING THE uncovered, scholars found that both the art of murals had been exposed by the looters when to house ancient paintings. Photographs of the the late Classic period (600–900 c.e.), and they al calendar. But the Bonampak artists painted a the benchlike thrones. tional attention and inspired the Chicano Mural SAN BARTOLO, GUATEMALA painting and the Maya’s complex creation story, Saturno found them, the tunnel the looters dug Nestled deep within the forests of Chiapas, murals soon appeared in newspaper articles and provide an unparalleled view of courtly life and different picture: one that emphasized a politically Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly MURALS which justifi ed the king’s divine right to rule, severely undercut the paintings, causing some Mexico, the small Maya site of Bonampak is home in the pages of Life magazine, causing a world- military practice among the ancient Maya, pre- savvy and militarily accomplished society. Preservation. Since Giles Healey’s fi rst visit to the in southern California, Arizona, and Texas—and Archaeologists are using new and traditional While exploring in the Guatemalan rainfor- were well-established centuries earlier than previ- painted plaster to fall from the walls. Saturno, col- to one of the most magnifi cent artistic creations wide sensation.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala William A
    Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala William A. Saturno,1* David Stuart,2 Boris Beltrán3 1Department of Anthropology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. 2Department of Art and Art History, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. 3Escuela de Historia, Universidad de San Carlos, Guatemala City, Guatemala. *To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected] The ruins of San Bartolo, Guatemala, contain a sample of the Sub-V phase. The approximately 4-m high Sub-V Maya hieroglyphic writing dating to the Late Preclassic platform extends 28 x 12 m at its base and supported three period (400 BC to 200 AD). The writing appears on separate masonry rooms. The 2005 excavations established preserved painted walls and plaster fragments buried that its central room was richly decorated and painted with within the pyramidal structure known as “Las Pinturas,” polychrome murals. The surviving doorjamb bears a colorful which was constructed in discrete phases over several image of the Maize God, who is a central character in the centuries. Samples of carbonized wood that are closely mythological scenes of the later Room 1 murals (4). The line associated with the writing have calibrated radiocarbon of script was possibly associated with this religiously themed dates of 200 to 300 BC. This early Maya writing implies scenery, but its original placement within the room is that a developed Maya writing system was in use uncertain. centuries earlier than previously thought, approximating We obtained accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) a time when we see the earliest scripts elsewhere in radiocarbon dates on five charcoal samples from sealed Mesoamerica.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Cincinnati
    ! "# $ % & % ' % !' !" # $ %# & '() ' "# ' '% $$(' %"& *#+* (" $",+* * -$!.+* Locating Aguadas in Northern Guatemala Using Remote Sensing A thesis submitted to the Division of Graduate Studies of the University of Cincinnati In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In the Department of Geography Of the College of Arts & Sciences by Benjamin Thomas B.S. University of Cincinnati, 2007 Dr. Nicholas Dunning, Chair Abstract Water management is critical in the Maya Lowlands due to the karst landscape and seasonal wet-dry climate. To ensure that a reliable source of water was available year-round, the ancient Maya constructed aguadas, which are reservoirs of varying dimensions capable of holding water throughout the dry season. The goal of this research was to develop a method of detecting aguadas using remote sensing in the vicinity of Tikal National Park in northern Guatemala. While it is known that many aguadas exist, their distribution is poorly documented. In this study, high resolution satellite remote sensing data are used to determine aguada locations using a tasseled cap image transformation developed specifically for IKONOS images, a laplacian edge enhancement filter to detect their circular shape, a target detection algorithm and a high resolution digital elevation model. Key words: Maya, aguadas, remote sensing iii iv Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my family for supporting me while I was pursing higher education. There were times when I thought I would not make it to graduation but my family’s encouragement carried me to the end. For this, I am eternally grateful. Second, I want to thank the graduate students in the department for making life in graduate school interesting, in particular, Yongming Cai, Teri Jacobs, Jessica Jelacic, Peter Kimosop, Kevin Magee, Carmen McCane, Andrew Miller, Thushara Ranatunga, Andrew Rettig, Yu Sun, and Barry Winston.
    [Show full text]
  • The San Bartolo Regional Archaeological Project: Results of the Third Field Season 20041
    The San Bartolo Regional Archaeological Project: Results of the Third Field Season 20041 WILLIAM A. SATURNO MÓNICA URQUIZÚ The first two field seasons of our project in 2002 and located further areas with mounds, chultuns, and 2003 disclosed the importance of San Bartolo and its terraces, which will be investigated in future years. cultural value to Guatemala. Continuing investigations in the current season have provided further details on Reconnaissance chronology, architecture, and artwork, reinforcing many of the findings of the previous year. This year’s reconnaissance team was directed by Thomas In this season, work continued on the Pinturas Garrison. The site map of San Bartolo was expanded to and Ventanas pyramids and the Tigrillo palace, while include new areas, like the Jabalí group, while previously new excavations were begun in the Main Plaza and the mapped sections were corrected following excavations, Las Plumas group, located southeast of the Causeway. as in the Las Plumas group, as well as the Ventanas and The Jabalí group to the northeast of the site was Tigrillo structures. also investigated for the first time, as well as a lithics A second area of interest for the reconnaissance team was the intersite zone between San Bartolo and workshop located in a residential area northeast of 2 Ventanas (Figure 1). Xultun. In this 25 km area, a ten percent sample is being mapped. Using satellite images from NASA, a series of 250 m2 quadrangles have been plotted and designated Excavations in Chaj K’ek’ Cue for detailed reconnaissance using high-resolution GPS This year the regional component of the San Bartolo and a total station.
    [Show full text]