22 Reviews:Reviews 8/7/09 21:59 Page 115 Reviews Estudios de Cultura Maya, vol. XXXI Estudios de Cultura Maya, vol. XXXII (Mayan Culture Studies, vol. 31) (Mayan Culture Studies, vol. 32) Maricela Ayala Falcón and Roberto Romero Sandoval, eds. Maricela Ayala Falcón and Roberto Romero Sandoval, eds . Institute for Philological Research ( IIFL )/ UNAM Institute for Philological Research ( IIFL )/ UNAM Mexico City, 2008 Mexico City, 2008 his volume of the magazine Estudios de Cultura Maya olume XXXII of Estudios de Cultura Maya is a valuable Tincludes seven articles, a formerly unpublished text and Vinstrument for approaching Mayan cul ture from the th ree book reviews. They deal with history, epigraphy, archae- standpoint of poetry, linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, ology, linguistics and social anthropology , spanning pre-His- history and society. It includes articles by Mexican and for - panic, colonial and modern times. 1 eign specialists who have tried to understand this civiliza - The article that opens this issue, “La composición diná s- tion’s complexity through the prism of their respective disci - tica de Yaxchilán durante el reinado de Yaxuun B’ahlam IV ” plines. The result is a rich, interesting, polyphonic academic (The Dynastic Composition of Yaxchilán During the Reign product that can satisfy the reader’s curiosity by delving of Yaxuun B’ahlam IV ), by María Elena Vega Villalobos, ana - into different aspects of this culture. Its articles range from lyzes the socio-political organization of the Mayan city of Yax- studies on the role of elderly women in the pre-Hispanic chilán. Based on the new epigraph ic readings, specialists have Mayan world, to the acoustical strategies of the archaeo - und erstood how the Mayas documented their relations with logical sites we are all familiar with like Palenque, Chichén other cities and the way in which power was distributed Itzá or Tulum. 115 22 Reviews:Reviews 8/7/09 21:59 Page 116 VOICES OF MEXICO • 85 among the different lords’ dominions. These findings also The issue opens with an article about the archaeologi - reveal the titles other figures used that had gone unregis - cal finds by the Mexican Atasta Flores and the Slovenian tered until now. Ivan Šprajc in southern Campeche. Both men worked for Thus, Vega Villalobos’s article deals with part of Yaxchi- seven seasons from 1996 to 2007 in the Calakmul biosphere lán’s written history, particularly during the government of reserve, which had not been extensively explored since the Yaxuun B’ahlam IV (ca. A.D. 752-768), better known under 1930s. Their explorations led them to identify and map 65 the name of Bird Jaguar IV . The texts written during his reign previously totally unknown sites and relocate others. The illustrate the political scene and its actors by showing us the project attempts to reconstruct the temporality of the settle - new political order that began to be set up in the Usuma - me nts and the political relations based on stratigraphi cal and cinta region and other Mayan cities. architectural studies and epigraphical findings. Carlos Humberto Herman contributes the article “Las Readers interested in archaeology will enjoy the essay etapas constructivas de la Plaza A del Grupo 3 D-XIV o Zona “Arqueoacústica maya” (Mayan Archaeo-acus tics). The team Norte de Tikal, Petén, Guatemala” (The Constructive Stages that authored this research is made up of Clara Garza, Andrés of Plaza A of Group 3 D-XIV or Northern Zone of Tikal, Petén , Medina, Pablo Padilla, Alejandro Ramos and Francisca Za- Guatemala). He presents the 1980s archaeological reports laquett, all academics from different disciplines, which has ab out this area of Tikal that until now had gone unpublishe d. made for extremely interesting results in their work on the This valuable information tells us more about the political- acous tical phenomena produced in the structures at Maya n reli gious group settled to the north of the Main Plaza, a group sites. The study analyzes the acoustical qualities of some of the or lineage that the author argues shared power with the rooms in Mayan palaces and of some musical instruments. Mak’ina group during the early and late classical periods. For example, the fact that researchers found whistles buried These reports reveal the exact location where the “Tikal at the base of certain structures, like Temple III at Palanque , Man” was discovered, the only sculpture found in the city. plu s the capacity of its rooms to raise acoustical frequencies Its shoulders and back are finely decorated with a long hiero- show that this was probably a place well suited for putting gly phic text, and since its head is missing, it very probably was on performances or dancing and singing. Another interest - the object of vandalism in the pre-Hispanic era. Some authors ing example is a structure in Tulum, where the wind warns of suggest that it is a representation of the ruler Chak Tok Ihch’aak hu rricanes by making a specific whistling sound when it pas s- I or II, who governed between A.D. 350 (?) and A.D. 378. es through a cylinder and stone ring, functioning as the first The article “Aspectos corporativos de la persona (person- “storm warning” in history. hood) y la encarnación (embodiment) entre los mayas del The last phenomenon the authors studied closely was a período Clásico” (Aspects of Personhood and Embodiment sound like a bird’s, called “the tail of the quetzal,” produced among the Mayas of the Classical Period), by Susan D. Gil- when you applaud in front of the main stairway of the castle le spie, analyzes the Mayas’ two political-economic strategie s. of Chichén Itzá. Today, tour guides amaze visitors with wha t In Mesoamerica in general, there were two opposite strate - has come to be called “acoustical tourism.” gies: the network or exclusionary strategy, in which power is Spanish historian Rocío García Valganón delves into the exercised by individuals, and the corporate type, in which function of elderly women in Mayan culture. According to power is shared among large corporate groups. Gillespie argue s her analysis, elderly women have not been studied much. that the Mayas of the classical period opted for the networ k García states that in the 1940s, researchers began to be in- strategy, while in Teotihuacán, the corporate strategy was terested in the presence of elders in Mayan graphics; they implemented. identified old gods in th e codices, in particular the Becabes Evidence that the Mayas used the network strategy is and the goddess of the moon. This led to other studies about based on the emphasis these peoples put on the represen - the aged in traditional cultures. tation of kings, their elaborate burials and the construct ion The rise in the mean age of the world’s population and of palaces. However, the anthropological source s that analyze the increasingly important role played by the elderly led to the concept of personhood show the ongoing difficulty for many more studies and symposia about a ging. Since the 1960 s distinguishing between individuals and groups, and casting and 1970s, there have also bee n more studies about elderly doubt on the usefulness of the netw ork/corporate dichoto - gods in Mesoamerica and their symbolic value associated 116 22 Reviews:Reviews 8/7/09 21:59 Page 117 R EVIEWS my. Gillespie examines how large corporate groups are embod - with power, like the creator gods, the smoker god and Teo- ied in their kings —the Mayan rulers of the classical period tihuacán’s old god of fire. The idyllic vision of the Mesoa- personified their royal houses. She goes on to point out the mer ican wor ld is a recurring theme, in which supposedly ther e potential diversity of the components of personhood, a nd was great respect for the elderly. concludes that researching the embodiment of personhood, García’s conclusion is that even though there are many singular an d plural, may prove to be a more productive strat - contemporary studies about old gods, there is no specific egy for exploring diversity in the different representations of interest in female Mayan figures. Even thou gh some stud ies the human body —or its absence— in Mesoamerica. about Mayan goddesses do exist, most of them focus on com- Guillermo Bernal Romero analyzes the inscription on parisons between men and women and concentrate on what the ear plugs that were part of the funeral dress of the most was going on in Central Mexico. important ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque: K’inich Janahb’- Mexican anthropologist Ana Rosa Duarte Duarte contrib- Pakal. Bernal Romero’s reading of the text proposes that it ute s an article analyzing the representation of current Ma yan alludes to two deities associated with rain and lightning, identity in Sáastal: los hijos de la Santa Gracia (Sáastal: The Chaahk and Yopaat, closely related to each other and to the Chi ldren of the Holy Grace), a 55-minute fiction video. The film god K’awiil. An interesting piece of information the author was conceived as didactic material for learning Yucatecan found on the inscription is that the ear plugs were given in Mayan, but as the research advanced, it became more com - tribu te by O’-Kan, a dignitary from a foreign locale called pl ex, depicting the drama of a rural Mayan family’s daily life Lah, politically affiliated to the dominion of Piedras Negras . as it deals with the threats of globalization, modernization To conclude, the author proposes the possibility that these and different “civilizing” policies. Th e emphases are on planting , ornaments were part of a larger lot of jadeite pieces used for self-sustaining cons umption and the children’s education Pakal’s funeral attire.