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This bibliography of Maya resources is divided into four sections:
Modern Central American Writers
Andrews, George F. Pyramids & Palaces, Monsters & Masks: The Golden Age of Maya Architecture. The Collected Works of George F. Andrews. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1997 (to be re-published November 1997).
In three volumes. Vol.1 covers the architecture of the Puuc and northern plains area. Vol. 2 deals with the Chenes style. Vol. 3 covers the Rio Bec style.
Coe, Michael D. The Maya . Thames and Hudson: 5th edition, 1993.
This edition has been enlarged and entirely revised. Professor Coe places new emphasis on the pre-classic period and an additional chapter highlights evidence for overpopulation and deforestation as the prime causes of the catastrophic southern Maya collapse in the 9th century AD. However, the focus remains upon the classic period, with its magnificent art and architecture. In a new final chapter Professor Coe pays tribute to the six million or more contemporary Maya, guardians of so many of the ancient traditions. Dr. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University.
Dr. Coe's wonderful 2010 lecture summarizing new and ongoing Maya research is available on YouTube. This is a great overview of current Maya studies by one of the greats.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of the Chenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region." Gendrop is THE person to read if you want to know more about monster-mouth temples!
Kubler, George. Studies in Ancient American and European Art: The Collected Essays of George Kubler. Edited by Thomas E. Reese. Yale University Press. New Haven and London 1984.
"A carefully reasoned and brilliantly suggestive essay in defense of the view that the history of art can be the study of formal relationships, as against the view that it should concentrate on ideas of symbols or biography." —Harpers
Martin, Simon & Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. 2nd Edition. Thames & Hudson Ltd, London 2008.
The only comprehensive, kingdom-by-kingdom history of the ancient Maya, this Chronicle has now been revised and updated to include coverage of the most recent discoveries, from previously unknown rulers and new glyphic readings to expanded coverage of diplomacy and warfare.
Maudslay, Alfred Percival. Biologia Centrali–Americana; or Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America. Volume I & II (Plates). Edited by F. Ducane Goodman and Osbert Salvin. R.H.Porter & Dulau & Co., London 1889—1902
Contains oversize plates of Alfred Maudslay's iconic photos and drawings published 1889–1902. Vol. I & II include photographs and drawings from Copan (Vol.I) and Quirigua, Ixkun, Rabinal, Utatlan, Iximché, Mixco and Menché (Vol.II). Vol. III & IV include photographs and drawings from Chiché Itzá and Tikál (Vol.III) and Palenque (Vol.IV).
Maudslay's superb glass plate photos are available in high-resolution format as part of the Maya Research Project done in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture. These photos themselves are in the Maudslay section of the website. This section also includes drawings of glyphs and monuments by two professional artists Maudslay hired for this task: Annie Hunter and Edwin Lambert. The quality of all of this work is such that even today epigraphers refer to these photos and drawings as references.
Ian Graham's Alfred Maudslay and the Maya is a biography of the pioneering British archaeologist who made major contributions to the study of Maya civilization. Graham, an accomplished archaeologist and epigrapher in his own right, brings Maudslay's story to life. With rich historical detail, insightful analysis, and accessible style, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Maya studies.
Pollock, H.E.D. The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan & Northern Campeche, Mexico. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum 19. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology 1980.
Pollock's fieldwork was under the auspices of and supported by Carnegie Institution of Washington, and was begun in 1932 and largely completed by 1940. This volume comes with maps and over 934 illustrations, photographs and building diagrams, including oversized maps in a separate packet. Pollock's book includes sections on Labná, Sayil, Uxmal and Chacmultún, among others.
Potter, David F. Maya Architecture of the Central Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute 44. New Orleans. Tulane University 1977.
This monograph forms part of a series of final reports on the 1969-1971 National Geographic Society/Tulane University Program of Research in the Rio Bec area of Campeche, directed by E. Wyllys Andrews IV. Detailed coverage of Becan and Chicanna, with Xpuhil mentioned in the Appendix.
Proskouriakoff, Tatiana. An Album of Maya Architecture. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 1963.
With the imagination of an artist and the precision of a scientist, Tatiana Proskouriakoff has captured in pictures thirty-six restorations of magnificent Maya buildings as their builders saw the scenes more than a thousand years ago. Facing her painting of each structure is a documented text of archaeological findings and a line drawing of the existing remains. First issued by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946, this important volume is returned to print in a new format by the University of Oklahoma Press. An amusing slide show of her drawings is available online on YouTube.
Reents–Budet, Dorie. Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. Duke University Press. Durham, North Caroling, 1994.
Lavishly illustrated with nearly 400 color images, Painting the Maya Universe is the most thorough study and brilliant display of Classic Maya ceramic painting yet published. Building on twenty years of research and debate, Dorie Reents–Budet and her collaborators Joseph W. Ball, Ronald L. Bishop, Virginia M. Fields, and Barbara MacLeod bring together many perspectives, including the art historical, archaeological, epigraphical, and ethnohistorical, to examine one of the world's great but overlooked painting traditions. With an emphasis on sixth—to eighth–century pottery featuring both pictorial and hieroglyphic imagery, Painting the Maya Universe presents an extraordinary exploration of the cultural roles and meanings of these Guatemalan, Belizean, and Mexican elite painted ceramics. Maya pottery is discussed both in aesthetic terms and for the important information it reveals about Maya society, artistry, politics, history, religion, and ritual. The range of ceramic painting styles developed during this period is also presented and defined in detail. Painting the Maya Universe is the first publication to present a definitive translation of the hieroglyphic texts painted on these objects. With many glyphs deciphered here for the first time, this analysis reveals much about how these vessels were perceived and used by the Maya, their owners' names, and, in several cases, the names of the artists who created them. This information is combined with archaeological and other data, including nuclear chemical analyses, to correlate painting styles with specific Maya sites.
Schele, Linda & David Freidel, with color photographs by Justin Kerr. A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. William Morrow " Co., New York, 1990
The recent interpretation of Maya hieroglyphs has given us the first written history of the New World as it existed before the European invasion. Now, two central figures in the massive effort to decode the glyphs, Lina Schele and David Freidel, make this history available for the first time in all its detail. Forest of Kings is the story of Maya kingship, from the beginning of its institution and the first great pyramid builders two thousand years ago to the decline of Maya civilization and its destruction by the Spanish. Here the great historic rulers of Precolumbian civilization come to life again with the decipherment of their writing. At its height, Maya civilization flourished under great kings like Shield-Jaguar, who ruled for over sixty years, expanding his kingdom and building some of the most impressive works of architecture in the ancient world. Long placed on a mist-shrouded pedestal as austere, peaceful stargazers, the Maya elites are now know to have been the rulers of populous, aggressive city-states.
Schele, Linda, Mary Ellen Miller, et al. The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. United Kingdom, Kimbell Art Museum, University of Texas, 1986
An illustrated study of the Maya civilization, drawing from interpretations of the texts embedded in pictorial scenes or carved on stone tablets to provide the meaning of the art and architecture of the ancient culture.
Sharer, Robert. The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California. Fifth edition, 1994.
First edition published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946. Thirty-six paintings representing brilliant "restorations" of Maya buildings, with accompanying description of archaeological findings and line drawings of existing remains.
Solomon, Char. Tatiana Proskouriakoff: Interpreting the Ancient Maya. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 2002.
Michael Coe, author of Breaking the Maya Code, writes: "A straightforward biography of a towering figure in Americanist research, examined through her personal diaries and through the recollections of people who knew and worked with her. In a way, it is a study of how one woman managed to change an entire field of research that was for most of its history a man's territory...Anyone interested in Maya research and in the study of the ancient New World should find this fascinating."
Spinden, Herbert J. A Study of Maya Art: Its Subject Matter & Historical Development. With a New Introduction & Bibliography by J. Eric S. Thompson, Formerly on the Staff of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. New York. Dover Publications, Inc. 1975.
Reprint of the work originally published by the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass., in 1913 as Volume VI of the Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Especially interesting is Spinden's analysis of the serpent motif found on Chenes style monster mouth doorways and elsewhere.
Spinden, Herbert J. Maya Art and Civilization: An Illustrated Excursion into Pre-Columbian America. Indian Hills, Colorado. The Falcon's Wing Press. 1957.
Modern anthropology inherited Cortés unwitting bequest to explore the fabulous and ancient cultural heritage left by the Maya and other ancient Amer-indian peoples of Mexico and Central America -- and no modern anthropologist has done more to explore this rich estate than Herbert Joseph Spinden in a record of some 60 years of continuous work, much in the field. It is not for nothing that the author was president of the famous Explorers Club (Thor Heyerdahl and Lowell Thomas are but two of its sons) longer than any other president in the Club's history.
In the first part of this volume, Dr. Spinden presents the most exhaustive study of Maya art ever undertaken. In the second part of the book, he widens his range to include the ancient life and arts of the most culturally important Indians of all of Mexico and Central America.
Stuart, David. Maya Archaeology and History: Personal Reflections on a Changing Field. Maya at the Playa. Boundary End Archaeology Research Center, 2020. YouTube Video.
An amazing survey of the development of Maya archaeology and history as it unfolded from 1980 to 2020, told by one of its principal protagonists and a central figure in the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics. This is a great introduction to the personalities and ideas that shaped the field and which are reflected in this bibliography.
Use these links to jump to the bibliography for these sites: Becán : : : Bonampak : : : Calakmul : : : Chacmultún : : : Chicanna : : : Copán : : : Dzibilnocac : : : Edzná : : : Ek Balám : : : Hochob : : : Hormiguero, : : : Izamal : : : Kabah : : : Kohunlich : : : Labná : : : Lamanai : : : Palenque : : : Quirigua : : : Río Bec : : : Sayil : : : Tikal : : : Uaxactún : : : Uxmal : : : Xlapak : : : Xpujil : : : Xunantunich : : : Yaxchilan
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of theChenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region."
Potter, David F. Maya Architecture of the Central Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University. New Orleans 1977.
This monograph forms part of a series of final reports on the 1969-1971 National Geographic Society/Tulane University Program of Research in the Rio Bec area of Campeche, directed by E. Wyllys Andrews IV. Detailed coverage of Becan and Chicanna, with Xpuhil mentioned in the Appendix.
The Mexican Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia de México's (INAH) website, called Lugares INAH, has a section of spectacular drone video footage of archaeological site flyovers, including for Becán. This is a 3D "must see!"
Ruppert, Karl & John H. Denison, Jr. Archaeological Reconnaissance in Campeche, Quintana Roo, & Peten. Publication 543. Washington D.C. Carnegie Institution of Washington. 1943.
Presents the results of four expeditions sent into southern Campeche and northern Guatemala by the Division of Historical Research of Carnegie Institution of Washingtonin 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1938. Comes with maps, illustrations, photographs and building diagrams, including oversized maps. Includes sections on Becan, Calakmul, and Xpujil, among others.
Thomas, Prentice M. Prehistoric Maya Settlement Patterns at Becan, Campeche, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University. New Orleans 1981.
Part of the National Geographic SocietyTulane University Reports of Research in the Rio Bec area of Campeche. Detailed settlement pattern survey of the Becan/Chicanna/Xpujil area, including mapping, surface collection, and test excavations to clarify the chronology of house construction.
Vol. I consists of text, diagrams and photos of the archaeological work done. Vol. II is a packet of accompanying maps not only of Becan but also of neighboring sites of Chicanna and Xpujil.
Webster, David L. Defensive Earthworks at Becan, Campeche, Mexico: Implications for Maya Warfare. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University. New Orleans 1976.
Also part of the National Geographic Society/Tulane University Reports of Research in the Rio Bec area of Campeche. Detailed study of the so-called "moat" at Becan.
David Freidel, Linda Schele & Joy Parker. Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path. William Morrow Paperbacks, 1995
A Masterful blend of archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, and lively personal reportage, Maya Comos tells a constellation of stories, from the historical to the mythological, and envokes the awesome power of one of the richest civilizations ever to grace the earth.
Martin, Simon, Kathleen Berrin, Mary Miller. Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya. Thames & Hudson, London, 2004
Written by leading authorities and including thirteen personal accounts of the latest ground-breaking research, Courtly Arts of the Ancient Maya examines the royal courts and their art in unprecedented depth. Color photographs and specially commissioned drawings reveal a dazzling array of objects that still have the power to engage and astonish observers centuries after their creation. The book investigates the rise in the importance of the court, its mythical backdrop, the role of women and the place of warfare. The works of artists and scribes — ceramic censers, stucco heads, jade masks, terracotta figurines, stone boxes, and great carved limestone lintels — bring alive the form, texture, and color of their vanished world.
Miller, Mary and Megan O'Neil. Maya Art and Architecture. Thames " Hudson, London. 2014
Rewritten and updated to include the discoveries and new theories from the past decade and a half, this classic guide to the art of the ancient Maya is now illustrated in color throughout. World expert Mary Miller and her co—author Megan O'Neil take the reader through the visual world of the Maya, explaining how and why they created the paintings, sculpture, and monuments that intrigue and compel people the world over. With an array of new material, including the newly found La Corona panels, Waka' figurines, and the Dz'ibanche' staircase; studies of the monuments at Palenque, Zotz, and elsewhere; and paintings discovered in recent years; this new edition will be essential reading for students and scholars—and for travelers to the cities of this mysterious civilization.
Mary Miller. The Splendid Maya Murals of Bonampak, Mexico: The Spectacle of the Late Maya Court. The Yale Presidential Inauguration Symposia, Yale University, October 11 2013. YouTube Video.
Painted in the last decade of the eighth century in the tropical rainforest of Chiapas, Mexico, and brought to modern attention in 1946, the wall paintings of Bonampak reveal the ancient Maya at the end of their splendor. Using the most complex and luxurious palette of pigments known from prehispanic Mexico, a small group of trained artists rendered the rituals of court rituals, from human sacrifice to the receipt of foreign dignitaries. Dean Miller will discuss both newly commissioned and newly rediscovered photographs as well as recently completed reconstructions as she brings this ancient spectacle to life.
Schele, Linda & David Freidel, with color photographs by Justin Kerr. A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. William Morrow " Co., New York, 1990
The recent interpretation of Maya hieroglyphs has given us the first written history of the New World as it existed before the European invasion. Now, two central figures in the massive effort to decode the glyphs, Lina Schele and David Freidel, make this history available for the first time in all its detail. Forest of Kings is the story of Maya kingship, from the beginning of its institution and the first great pyramid builders two thousand years ago to the decline of Maya civilization and its destruction by the Spanish. Here the great historic rulers of Precolumbian civilization come to life again with the decipherment of their writing. At its height, Maya civilization flourished under great kings like Shield-Jaguar, who ruled for over sixty years, expanding his kingdom and building some of the most impressive works of architecture in the ancient world. Long placed on a mist-shrouded pedestal as austere, peaceful stargazers, the Maya elites are now know to have been the rulers of populous, aggressive city-states.
Schele, Linda, Mary Ellen Miller, et al. The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. United Kingdom, Kimbell Art Museum, University of Texas, 1986
An illustrated study of the Maya civilization, drawing from interpretations of the texts embedded in pictorial scenes or carved on stone tablets to provide the meaning of the art and architecture of the ancient culture.
Sharer, Robert. The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California. Fifth edition, 1994.
First edition published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946. Thirty-six paintings representing brilliant "restorations" of Maya buildings, with accompanying description of archaeological findings and line drawings of existing remains.
David Stuart. Maya Decipherment Blog. Bonampak's Place Name, University of Texas at Austin, December 2006
George F. Andrews. Architectural Survey at Calakmul. University of Oregon Press. Eugene Oregon 1994/1995.
Ramón Carrasco V. "The Metropolis of Calakmul, Campeche," in Maya. Rizzoli: NY (1998)
This lavish photographic catalog of the 1998-99 Palazzo Grassi Maya exhibition of Maya art includes more than thirty articles by international scholars on various aspects of Maya civilization. Carrasco's article features magnificent photos of some of the funerary pottery and jade masks discovered at Calakmul.
Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens London: Thames and Hudson, 2000.
"Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens is the first book to draw together and examine the greatest Maya dynasties in a single volume. Describing many of their own discoveries, two of the world's leading experts in Maya hieroglyphic decipherment take the reader into a once hidden history. Conflict was ever-present in a landscape divided among numerous kingdoms. The rule of "overkings" who exerted authority over others helps us to understand the wealth and power of individuals like Yich'aak K'ak' of Calakmul and his nemesis Jasaw Chan K'awiil of Tikal. It was rare for women to achieve power but when, like Lady Six Sky of Naranjo, they did, they could be rapacious conquerors...
Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens combines ground-breaking research with a highly readable history, offering the reader insight into one of the most exciting and fast-developing areas of world archaeology."
Karl Ruppert & John H. Denison, Jr. Archaeological Reconnaissance in Campeche, Quintana Roo, & Peten. Publication 543. Washington D.C. Carnegie Institution of Washington. 1943.
Presents the results of four expeditions sent into southern Campeche and northern Guatemala by the Division of Historical Research of Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1938. Comes with maps, illustrations, photographs and building diagrams, including oversized maps. Includes sections on Calakmul, Becan, and Xpujil, among others.
Sharer, Robert. The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California 1994.
First edition published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946. Thirty-six paintings representing brilliant "restorations" of Maya buildings, with accompanying description of archaeologicalfindings and line drawings of existing remains.
Kelly, Joyce. An Archaeological Guide to Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 1993.
Great travel guide which covers many infrequently visited sites. Each site has a "recent history" section which summarizes archaeological excavation, restoration & consolidation work done to date. Kelly also includes information on how to get to each site.
Pollock, H.E.D. The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan & Northern Campeche, Mexico. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum 19. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology 1980.
Pollock's fieldwork was under the auspices of and supported by Carnegie Institution of Washington, and was begun in 1932 and largely completed by 1940. This volume comes with maps and over 934 illustrations, photographs and building diagrams, including oversized maps in a separate packet. Pollock's book includes sections on Labná, Sayil, Uxmal and Chacmultún,among others.
Thompson, Edward H. Archaeological Researches in Yucatan. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Vol. III, No. 1. Cambridge Massachusetts 1904.
Contains Thompson's watercolor copies of Maya frescoes, as well as maps, building diagrams and early photographs. Includes sections on Tzulá and Chacmultún.
Eaton, Jack D. "Chicanna: An Elite Center in the Rio Bec Region", in Preliminary Reports on Archaeological Investigations in the Rio Bec Area, Campeche, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University. New Orleans 1974.
Report on the 1970 season excavations at Chicanna by the discoverer of that site.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of the Chenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region." Paul Gendrop is THE expert on monster mouth temples and the reconstructive drawings of them!
Potter, David F. Maya Architecture of the Central Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute, New Orleans 1977.
This monograph forms part of a series of final reports on the 1969-1971 National Geographic SocietyTulane University Program of Research in the Rio Bec area of Campeche, directed by E. Wyllys Andrews IV. Detailed coverage of Becan and Chicanna, with Xpuhil mentioned in the Appendix.
Thomas, Prentice M. Jr. Prehistoric Maya Settlement Patterns at Becan, Campeche, Mexico: Vol 2, Maps. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans 1977.
Map 10 in Volume 2 contains a detailed archaeological map of Chicanna.
Thompson, Edward H. Archaeological Researches in Yucatan. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Vol. III, No. 1. Cambridge Massachusetts 1904.
Contains Thompson's watercolor copies of Maya frescoes, as well as maps, building diagrams and early photographs. Includes sections on Tzulá and Chacmultún.
Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle. Temples that speak: Art and Architecture at Copan, Honduras. Penn Museum. Online YouTube Lecture, November 5, 2012.
Ricardo Agurcia has invested more than thirty years of work at the monumental site of Copan in Western Honduras, which is one of the Maya civilization's pre–eminent cities and–in terms of its architecture, arts, and hieroglyphic inscriptions–certainly one of its most spectacular. His work at Copan has taken him in two different but related directions, one of them crucial to the recovery and understanding of the past and the other paramount to guaranteeing that the past remains present. The first is archaeological exploration of the site, in which he first engaged in 1978. Since then, he has served many rolls including that of the Honduran government's Coordinator of Archaeological Projects in the Copan region, co-director of the Copan Acropolis Archaeological Project and director of the Oropendola Project as well as the CIAVAC (acropolis conservation) Project. As part of his research on the Acropolis, he discovered "Rosalila", the only known Copan temple to have survived complete, down to the magnificent painted stucco ornamentation of its façade. The second direction in which his career has carried him is toward preservation and management of archaeological resources, and the rational use of those resources for tourism and economic development. In 2003, the World Bank made a $ 12 million dollar soft loan to encourage sustainable development at Copan and four other archaeological parks in Honduras. In his view, "Archaeology at Copan is not just about dead people. It is about the growth and development of contemporary populations. It is about feeding poor people, giving them jobs, and making them proud of their heritage". To implement some of these goals, he founded and now directs the Copan Association (www.asociacioncopan.org), a non-profit organization that promotes research and protection of Honduras's patrimony, both cultural and natural. He was appointed Research Fellow in Pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections (Trustees for Harvard University) for the 1996-1997 Academic Year and returned there as a Visiting Scholar in 2011. He has participated in many events sponsored by the U.N. and he has published both articles and books. He has been a Consulting Scholar with the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology since 2008.
Fash, Barbara. Decoding Maya Hieroglyphs with 3D Technology. Harvard Museums of Science & Culture, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Online YouTube Lecture, November 8, 2017.
Barbara Fash, Director, Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions Program and the Gordon R. Willey Laboratory for Mesoamerican Studies, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
The Peabody Museum has conducted archaeological research in the Maya site of Copan, Honduras, since the 1890s. One of Copan's most iconic elements is a staircase made of over 620 blocks carved with Maya glyphs. Dating back to the eighth century CE, this stairway has captivated Mayanists since its discovery, but the meaning of its texts has remained a mystery—until now. Barbara Fash will discuss how 3D technology and scholarly collaborations are merging to decode the Hieroglyphic Stairway, in conjunction with Honduran and international organizations aimed at conserving this World Heritage Site.
Fash, William L. Scribes, Warriors and Kings: The City of Copán and the Ancient Maya, with drawings by Barbara W. Fash. Revised Edition, Thames & Hudson, London. 2001
Copan in modern Honduras was one of the great cities of the Classic Maya. Abandoned to the rain forest for nearly a thousand years, it was rediscovered in the early 1800s. Now, two centuries later, an international team of scholars is solving the puzzle of Copan and the ancient Maya. William Fash, himself one of the key contributors to the recent breakthroughs, describes how decipherment of the Maya inscriptions together with tomb finds have unlocked the secrets of Copan's history. For this revised edition, Professor Fash shows how recent discoveries in the Acropolis, urban wards, and rural redoubts of the Copan kingdom reveal fascinating insights into the life and times of royalty, nobles, and commoners in this distinguished Maya city. The uncovering of the extraordinary tomb of the dynasty's founder provides illuminating information on his origins and accomplishments, while archaeological and hieroglyphic studies have demonstrated the importance of Tikal and the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the founding and long-term legitimization of the Copan royal line. New excavations in the royal residential area give a blueprint for the layout and functioning of Maya palaces, as well as dramatic evidence for the violent and sudden end to dynastic rule. 11 color and 109 b/w illustrations.
Martin, Simon & Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. 2nd Edition. Thames & Hudson Ltd, London 2008.
The only comprehensive, kingdom-by-kingdom history of the ancient Maya, this Chronicle has now been revised and updated to include coverage of the most recent discoveries, from previously unknown rulers and new glyphic readings to expanded coverage of diplomacy and warfare.
Maudslay, Alfred Percival. Biologia Centrali–Americana; or Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America. Volume I & II (Plates). Edited by F. Ducane Goodman and Osbert Salvin. R.H.Porter & Dulau & Co., London 1889—1902
Contains oversize plates of Alfred Maudslay's iconic photos and drawings published 1889–1902. Vol. I includes photographs and drawings from Copan.
Newsome, Elizabeth A. Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World: The Serial Stela Cycle of "18–Rabbit–God K," King of Copan. University of Texas Press. Austin, 2001.
Assemblies of rectangular stone pillars, or stelae, fill the plazas and courts of ancient Maya cities throughout the lowlands of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras. Mute testimony to state rituals that linked the king's power to rule with the rhythms and renewal of time, the stelae document the ritual acts of rulers who sacrificed, danced, and experienced visionary ecstasy in connection with celebrations marking the end of major calendrical cycles. The kings' portraits are carved in relief on the main surfaces of the stones, deifying them as incarnations of the mythical trees of life.
Based on a thorough analysis of the imagery and inscriptions of seven stelae erected in the Great Plaza at Copan, Honduras, by the Classic Period ruler "18-Rabbit-God K," this ambitious study argues that stelae were erected not only to support a ruler's temporal claims to power but more importantly to express the fundamental connection in Maya worldview between rulership and the cosmology inherent in their vision of cyclical time. After an overview of the archaeology and history of Copan and the reign and monuments of "18-Rabbit-God K," Elizabeth Newsome interprets the iconography and inscriptions on the stelae, illustrating the way they fulfilled a coordinated vision of the king's ceremonial role in Copan's period-ending rites. She also links their imagery to key Maya concepts about the origin of the universe, expressed in the cosmologies and mythic lore of ancient and living Maya peoples.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
Gendrop includes a section on Dzibilnocac in his chapter, "An Attempt to Classify the Known Zoomorphic Entrances." Especially interesting is Gendrops' reconstructive drawing of the false monster mouth doorway on the west side of Complex A-1.
Joyce Kelly. An Archaeological Guide to Central and Southern Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 2001.
Great travel guide which covers Dzibilnocac as well as many other infrequently visited sites.
Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. Illustrated by Frederick Catherwood. Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1963.
An unabridged republication of the work first published
by Harper & Brothers in 1843. In 2 volumes. Stephens account of the visit to Iturbide and Catherwood's drawings are in Vol. II.
Andrews et al., 1969. Edzna, Campeche, Mexico: Settlement Patterns & Monumental Architecture. University of Oregon Press, Eugene 1969.
Under the direction of George Andrews, a group of graduate students from the University of Oregon did a preliminary architectural survey and mapping project at Edzna. Fifteen years late, it was re-issued in expanded format to include excavation and restoration in the Great Acropolis and adjacent strutures carried out by staff members of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (I.N.A.H.) of Mexico, the investigation of the canals and water storage systems by Dr. Ray T. Matheny under the joint sponsorship of the New World Archaeological Foundation and I.N.A.H., and the large scale agricultural project in Edzna Valley carried out by the Department of Agriculture of the Mexican government and the government of the State of Campeche. These separate, but related, projects have succeeded in changing Edzna and the Edzna Valley from a relatively obscure and seldom visited archaeological site, at the head of an almost uninhabited valley, to a tourist attraction of considerable importance to Maya civilization as a whole, now situated in the midst of a thriving modern agricultural community. This report contains old photos, maps and architectural drawings.
Coe, Andrew. Archaeological Mexico. Thames and Hudson: 5th edition, 1993.
A practical travel guide for anyone interested in Mexico' prehistoric ruins. Includes photos and maps, summary of recentent research, intro to culture, even advice on where to stay and where to eat.
Coe, Michael D. The Maya. Thames and Hudson: 5th edition, 1993.
This edition has been enlarged and entirely revised. Professor Coe places new emphasis on the pre-classic period and an additional chapter highlights evidence for overpopulation and deforestation as the prime causes of the catastrophic southern Maya collapse in the 9th century AD. However, the focus remains upon the classic period, with its magnificent art and architecture. In a new final chapter Professor Coe pays tribute to the six million or more contemporary Maya, guardians of so many of the ancient traditions. Dr. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University.
Gendrop, Paul. A Guide to Architecture in Ancient Mexico. Mexics. Mexico City, 1991.
García–Gallo, Alfonso Lacadena. The Glyphic Corpus from Ek' Balam, Yucatán, México . Translation for the Spanish by Alex Lomónaco. FAMSI, 2004.
Andrews, George F. Pyramids & Palaces, Monsters & Masks: The Golden Age of Maya Architecture. The Collected Works of George F. Andrews. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1997 (to be re-published November 1997).
In three volumes. Vol.1 covers the architecture of the Puuc and northern plains area. Vol. 2 deals with the Chenes style. Vol. 3 covers the Rio Bec style.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of theChenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region."
Teobert Maler. Explorations in The Department of Peten, Guatemala And Adjacent Region. Memoirs. Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. 1908
Potter, David F. Maya Architecture of the Central Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute 44. New Orleans. Tulane University 1977.
This monograph forms part of a series of final reports on the 1969-1971 National Geographic Society/Tulane University Program of Research in the Rio Bec area of Campeche, directed by E. Wyllys Andrews IV. Detailed coverage of Becan and Chicanna, with Xpuhil mentioned in the Appendix.
Spinden, Herbert J. A Study of Maya Art: Its Subject Matter & Historical Development. With a New Introduction & Bibliography by J. Eric S. Thompson, Formerly on the Staff of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. New York. Dover Publications, Inc. 1975.
Reprint of the work originally published by the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass., in 1913 as Volume VI of the Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Especially interesting is Spinden's analysis of the serpent motif found on Chenes style monster mouth doorways and elsewhere.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of theChenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region."
Potter, David F. Maya Architecture of the Central Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute 44. New Orleans. Tulane University 1977.
This monograph forms part of a series of final reports on the 1969-1971 National Geographic Society/Tulane University Program of Research in the Rio Bec area of Campeche, directed by E. Wyllys Andrews IV. Detailed coverage of Becan and Chicanna, with Xpuhil mentioned in the Appendix.
Ruppert, Karl & John H. Denison, Jr. Archaeological Reconnaissance in Campeche, Quintana Roo, & Peten. Publication 543. Washington D.C. Carnegie Institution of Washington. 1943.
Presents the results of four expeditions sent into southern Campeche and northern Guatemala by the Division of Historical Research of Carnegie Institution of Washingtonin 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1938. Comes with maps, illustrations, photographs and building diagrams, including oversized maps. Includes sections on Becan, Calakmul, and Xpujil, among others.
Clendinnen, Inga. Ambivalent Conquests : Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570. Cambridge Latin American Studies, February 1989.
"This beautifully written and finely researched book is the best account we have of the tragic confrontation between the Yucatan Maya and the Spanish invaders (both military and religious). It throws entirely new light on the far-from-benevolent role of the Franciscans -- especially the famous Diego de Landa -- in the process of crushing native Maya culture. This is a triumph of modern scholarship." (Michael Coe, Yale University).
Coe, Andrew. A Guide to Ancient Cities and Sacred Sites, 2nd Edition. Avalon Travl Publishing, Inc. Emeryville California 2001..
A practical travel guide for anyone interested in Mexico' prehistoric ruins. Includes photos and maps, summary of recentent research, intro to culture, even advice on where to stay and where to eat.
Edgerton, Samuel Y. & Jorge Perez De Lara. Theaters of Conversion: Religious Architecture and Indian Artisans in Colonial Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, May 2001.
Mexico´s churches and conventos display a unique blend of European and native styles. Missionary Mendicant friars arrived in New Spain shortly after Cortes´s conquest of the Aztec empire in 1521 and immediately related their own European architectural and visual arts styles to the tastes and expectations of native Indians. Right from the beginning the friars conceived of conventos as a special architectural theater in which to carry out their proselytizing. Over four hundred conventos were established in Mexico between 1526 and 1600, built and decorated by native Indian artisans who became masters of European techniques and styles even as they added their own influence. The author argues that these magnificent sixteenth-century convents in old Mexico and seventeenth-century churches in New Mexico are as much a part of the artistic patrimony of American Indians as their pre-Conquest temples, pyramids, and kivas. Mexican Indians, in fact, adapted European motifs to their own pictorial traditions and thus made a unique contribution to the worldwide spread of the Italian Renaissance.
The author brings a wealth of knowledge of medieval and Renaissance European history, philosophy, theology, art, and architecture to bear on colonial Mexico at the same time as he focuses on indigenous contributions to the colonial enterprise. This ground-breaking study enriches our understanding of the colonial process and the reciprocal relationship between European friars and native artisans.
Friar Diego de Landa, translated with notes by William Gates. Yucatan Before and After the Conquest. Dover Publications, June 1978.
"Landa did all he could to wipe out Maya culture and civilization. In the famous auto-da-fé of July 1562 at Mani, as he tells us, he destroyed 5,000 "idols" and burned 27 hieroglypic rolls. And yet paradoxically Landa's book, written in Spain to defend himself against charges of despotic mismanagement, is the only significant account of Yucatan done in the early post-Conquest era. As the distinguished Maya scholar William Gates states in his introduction, "ninety-nine percent of what we today know of the Mayas, we know as the result either of what Landa has told us in the pages that follow, or have learned in the use and study of what he told. "Yucatan Before and After the Conquest" is the first English translation of this very important work.
Landa's book gives us a full account of Maya customs, daily activities, history, ceremonial festivals, and the many social and communal functions in which their life was expressed. Included here are the geography and natural history of Yucatan, the history of the Conquest, indigenous architecture and other aspects of Maya civilization (sciences, books, religion, etc.), native historical traditions, the Inquisition instituted by the Spanish clergy, Maya clothing, food, commerce, agriculture, human sacrifices, calendrical lore, and much more."
Sharer, Robert. The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California 1994.
First edition published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946. Thirty-six paintings representing brilliant "restorations" of Maya buildings, with accompanying description of archaeological findings and line drawings of existing remains.
Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. Illustrated by Frederick Catherwood. Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1963.
An unabridged re-publication of the work first published by Harper & Brothers in 1843. In 2 volumes. Includes Stephen's description of their visit in 1841 and Catherwood's drawings.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of theChenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region." Gendrop is THE person to read if you want to know more about monster-mouth temples!
Jeff Karl Kawalski, The Historical Interpretation of the Inscriptions of Uxmal. Online pubication: Mesoweb
Miller, Mary Ellen and Megan O'Neil. Maya Art and Architecture. Thames & Hudson. 2nd Edition 2014.
Rewritten and updated to include the discoveries and new theories from the past decade and a half, this classic guide to the art of the ancient Maya is now illustrated in color throughout. World expert Mary Miller and her co–author Megan O'Neil take the reader through the visual world of the Maya, explaining how and why they created the paintings, sculpture, and monuments that intrigue and compel people the world over. With an array of new material, including the newly found La Corona panels, Waka' figurines, and the Dz'ibanche' staircase; studies of the monuments at Palenque, Zotz, and elsewhere; and paintings discovered in recent years; this new edition will be essential reading for students and scholars—and for travelers to the cities of this mysterious civilization.
Morley, Sylvanus Griswold and George Walton Brainerd. The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press, 1956.
Traces the history of this highly developed civilization from its pre-Columbian origins to its demise after the Spanish conquest.
Pollock, H.E.D. The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan & Northern Campeche, Mexico. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum 19. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology 1980.
Pollock's fieldwork was under the auspices of and supported by Carnegie Institution of Washington, and was begun in 1932 and largely completed by 1940. This volume comes with maps and over 934 illustrations, photographs and building diagrams, including oversized maps in a separate packet. Pollock's book includes sections on Labná, Sayil, Uxmal and Chacmultún,among others.
Proskouriakoff, Tatiana. An Album of Maya Architecture. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 1963.
With the imagination of an artist and the precision of a scientist, Tatiana Proskouriakoff has captured in pictures thirty-six restorations of magnificent Maya buildings as their builders saw the scenes more than a thousand years ago. Facing her painting of each structure is a documented text of archaeological findings and a line drawing of the existing remains. First issued by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946, this important volume is returned to print in a new format by the University of Oklahoma Press.
Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. Illustrated by Frederick Catherwood. Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1963.
An unabridged republication of the work first published
by Harper & Brothers in 1843. In 2 volumes.
Stuart, David. The reading of Two Dates from the Codz Pop at Kabah, Yucatan. Maya Decipherment. Online Article, 2014.
Joyce Kelly. An Archaeological Guide to Central and Southern Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 2001.
Great travel guide which covers Kohunlich as well as many other infrequently visited sites.
Nalda, Enrique. Kohunlich. Mexico: INAH, 1994.
Sharer, Robert. The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California 1994.
First edition published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946. Thirty-six paintings representing brilliant "restorations" of Maya buildings, with accompanying description of archaeological findings and line drawings of existing remains.
Gallareta Negrón, Manuel Tómas. The Social Organization of Labna, a Classic Maya Community in the Puuc Region of Yucatan, Mexico. Ph.D. Dissertation, Tulane University, 2013
This dissertation is an archaeological study of the ancient settlement of Labna, a Lowland Maya community in the Puuc Region of Yucatan, Mexico. The form, layout, and architecture of Labna are representative of a large number of Maya centers. The architectural core is considered a model for studying ancient Maya social organization and reflects the debate among Mayanists about the mechanisms and principles that held together Maya communities and states. Analysis of form and layout, as well as of function and meaning of built spaces in Labna, indicates a stratified type of community, with an internal composition based on social units integrated by different organizational principles. This conclusion is based on comparisons of archaeological feature clusters on basal platforms, the remains of several types of roofed spaces on top of such platforms, and the presence/absence and location/distribution of underground cisterns for storing rain water (chultuns), and grinding stones for corn (metates). In the site center, architectural style, form, layout, and iconography were important sources for inferring chronological and functional information. Excavations that exposed the building sequence of structures forming the architectural core of the ancient community revealed several stages of development. Continuous growth and reorganization of the public buildings resulted in changes in form and function of built spaces. A diachronic approach for understanding core composition of the ancient community showed the dynamic nature in the layout of public architecture. The final layout of the urban core of Labna was the result of architectural programs conducted by several generations of rulers. The notion of sequential architectural programs and the identification of a particular form of built space as throne rooms provided a way to define temporal periods. The notion that throne rooms were manufactured in a sequential order in palace complexes, when combined with analysis of architectural styles, suggest three major building episodes, each probably related to a ruler. This dynamic perception of the social organization reflected in the layout of the site center is the result of a long term conjunctive study that included archaeological excavations, site and intersite settlement patterns, iconographic, geographical, and architectural approaches.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of theChenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region." Gendrop is THE person to read if you want to know more about monster-mouth temples!
Pollock, H.E.D. The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan & Northern Campeche, Mexico. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum 19. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology 1980.
Pollock's fieldwork was under the auspices of and supported by Carnegie Institution of Washington, and was begun in 1932 and largely completed by 1940. This volume comes with maps and over 934 illustrations, photographs and building diagrams, including oversized maps in a separate packet. Pollock's book includes sections on Labná, Sayil, Uxmal and Chacmultún,among others.
Linda Schele and Peter Mathews. The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. New York: A Touchstone Book published by Simon & Schuster. 1998.
A study of the symbolism and imagery in Maya architecture.
Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, & the Holy Land. Illustrated by Frederick Catherwood & others. Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1970.
An unabridged republication of the work first published by Harper
& Brothers in 1837, edited and with an introduction by Victor Wolfgang Von Hagen.
Thompson, Edward Herbert. "The Chultunes of Labná, Yucatan: Report of Explorations by the Museum, 1889 and 1890." Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. 1.3 (1897): 75-92.
Edward Thompson did an extensive study of chultunes as part of his explorations of the ruins at Labna. "The use of these structures, so carefully made and so essential as reservoirs, as receptacles for human bones, and the fact that several have on the walls representations of birds, turtles, and other figures, indicate a singular and interesting feature in the customs of the unknown inhabitants of this ancient and ruined city." (F. Putnam, Curator of the Museum).
Adams, Richard E.W. Prehistoric Mesoamerica. University of Oklahoma Press. Revised edition, 1996
When the Spanish first arrived on the shores of Mexico, they were astonished to find a monumental record of civilizations there that stretched back for hundreds, even thousands of years. Richard Adams provides a lively archaeological catalog and history of those civilizations — Olmec, Mayan, Teotihuacan, Toltec, Mixtec, Tarascan, and Aztec — in this well-illustrated reference. New discoveries are constantly forcing revisions in the archaeological record, especially in the chronology, but Adams's book is more up to date than many similar surveys. Travel in his pages through the Merchants barrio, Monte Alban, Palenque, and the great pyramid complexes, and you'll be well prepared for an on-the-ground tour of ancient Mexico.
Pendergast, David M. "Lamanai, Belize: Summary of Excavation Results, 1974-1980." Journal of Field Archaeology, vol. 8, no. 1, 1981, pp. 29–53. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/529781. Accessed 25 Jan. 2023.
Excavations at the ancient Maya center of Lamanai, Belize, were begun in 1974 and are expected to continue through 1983. Selected because the presence of a 16th century Spanish church indicated occupation in late pre-Conquest times, the site is now known to have been occupied continuously for more than two millennia. Excavations have revealed the presence of late Pre-Classic (300 B.C. or earlier) ceremonial and residential construction north of the central ceremonial precinct. The precinct itself, which is laid out in strip for along the western shore of New River Lagoon, has yielded extensive evidence of ceremonial activity, including a 33 m. high structure that is the largest securely dated Pre-Classic building in the Maya Area.
David Pendergast. Royal Ontario Museum. Archaeology in Belize & the Caribbean. Used to be an line resource.
A very informative presentation of the archaeology at Lemanai, Belize, by the archaeologist who directed the excavations.
Lamanai Stela 9: The Archaeological Context. David M. Pendergast; The Hieroglyphic Text of Stela 9, Lamanai, Belize. Michael P. Closs; The Iconography of Lamanai Stela 9 by Dorie Reents-Budet. Center for Maya Research, 1988.
These three articles (number 20, 21, and 22) are bound together and present a very detailed study of the iconography, a text analysis, and the archaeological context of Stela 9.
David M. Pendergast "Lamanai Stela 9: The Archaeological Context"; Michael P. Closs, "The Hieroglyphic Text of Stela 9, Lamanai, Belize"; Dorie Reents-Budet,"The Iconography of Lamanai Stela 9". In Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing. Center for Maya Research, Vol 20-22. Washington D.C. December 1988
Coe, Michael D. The Maya. Thames and Hudson: 5th edition, 1993.
This edition has been enlarged and entirely revised. Professor Coe places new emphasis on the pre-classic period and an additional chapter highlights evidence for overpopulation and deforestation as the prime causes of the catastrophic southern Maya collapse in the 9th century AD. However, the focus remains upon the classic period, with its magnificent art and architecture. In a new final chapter Professor Coe pays tribute to the six million or more contemporary Maya, guardians of so many of the ancient traditions. Dr. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University.
Graham, Ian. Alfred Maudslay and the Maya: A Bibliography. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2002.
In this fascinating biography, the first ever published about Alfred Maudslay (1850-1931), Ian Graham describes this extraordinary Englishman and his pioneering investigations of the ancient Maya ruins.
Maudslay, the grandson of a famous English inventor and engineer, spent his formative adult years in the South Seas as a junior official in Great Britain's Colonial Office. Despite his exotic experiences, he did not find his true vocation until the age of thirty-one, when he arrived in Guatemala.
Maudslay played a crucial role in exploring and documenting the monuments and architecture of the ancient Maya ruins at Palengue Copán, Chichén Itzá, and other sites previously unknown. His photographs and plaster casts have proven to be invaluable in the deciphering of Maya hieroglyphics. Personal resources allowed him to undertake fieldwork at a time when no institution provided such support. He made plaster casts of large stone monuments, accurate maps of sites, and painstaking recordings of inscriptions. His Biologia Centrali–Americana, a multivolume compendium of photographs, drawings, plans, and text published almost a century ago, remains an essential foundation for Maya studies. Perhaps Maudslay's greatest legacy is magnificent collection of glass–negative photographs, many of which are reproduced in this book.
Kubler, George. Studies in Ancient American and European Art: The Collected Essays of George Kubler. Edited by Thomas E. Reese. Yale University Press. New Haven and London 1984.
"A carefully reasoned and brilliantly suggestive essay in defense of the view that the history of art can be the study of formal relationships, as against the view that it should concentrate on ideas of symbols or biography." —Harpers
Martin, Simon & Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. 2nd Edition. Thames & Hudson Ltd, London 2008.
The only comprehensive, kingdom-by-kingdom history of the ancient Maya, this Chronicle has now been revised and updated to include coverage of the most recent discoveries, from previously unknown rulers and new glyphic readings to expanded coverage of diplomacy and warfare.
Museum Catalog for the exhibition "MAYA", Palazzo Grassi, Venice. Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 1998. Text by various contributors, here of interest is Martha Cuevas García on the ceramic censor bases found at Palenque.
A fantastic exhibition catalog gloriously illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs. The exhibition was organized by the National Council for Culture and Arts of Mexico and under the patronage of the President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León and the President of the Italian Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.
Maudslay, Alfred Percival. Biologia Centrali–Americana; or Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America. Volume I & II (Plates). Edited by F. Ducane Goodman and Osbert Salvin. R.H.Porter & Dulau & Co., London 1889—1902
Contains oversize plates of Alfred Maudslay's iconic photos and drawings published 1889–1902. Vol. IV includes photographs and drawings from Palenque.
Martin, Simon, Kathleen Berrin, Mary Miller. Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya. Thames & Hudson, London, 2004
Written by leading authorities and including thirteen personal accounts of the latest ground-breaking research, Courtly Arts of the Ancient Maya examines the royal courts and their art in unprecedented depth. Color photographs and specially commissioned drawings reveal a dazzling array of objects that still have the power to engage and astonish observers centuries after their creation. The book investigates the rise in the importance of the court, its mythical backdrop, the role of women and the place of warfare. The works of artists and scribes — ceramic censers, stucco heads, jade masks, terracotta figurines, stone boxes, and great carved limestone lintels — bring alive the form, texture, and color of their vanished world.
Mesoweb: The Group of the Cross Project.
The story of the discovery and restoration of the polychrome stucco panel from Temple XIX showing the ruler U Pakal K'inich, probably the younger brother of Ahkal Mo' Nahb, is available online from Mesoweb. It is a fascinating read.
Mary Ellen Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica form Olmec to Aztec. Thames & Hudson, London, 2019
Expanded and revised in its sixth edition, The Art of Mesoamerica surveys the artistic achievements of the high pre–Hispanic civilizations of Central America–Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec—as well as those of their lesser-known contemporaries.
Providing an in–depth examination of central works, this book guides readers through the most iconic palaces, pyramids, sculptures, and paintings. From the Olmec colossal head 5 recovered from San Lorenzo to the Aztec calendar stone found in Mexico City's Zocalo in 1790, this book reveals the complexity and innovation behind the art and architecture produced in pre–Hispanic civilizations.
This new edition incorporates fifty new lavish color images and extensive updates based on the latest research and dozens of recent discoveries, particularly in Maya art, where excavations at Teotihuacan, the largest city of Mesoamerica, and Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs, have yielded new sculptures.
Linda Schele and Peter Mathews. The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. New York: A Touchstone Book published by Simon & Schuster. 1998.
A study of the symbolism and imagery in Maya architecture.
Schele, Linda & David Freidel, with color photographs by Justin Kerr. A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. William Morrow " Co., New York, 1990
The recent interpretation of Maya hieroglyphs has given us the first written history of the New World as it existed before the European invasion. Now, two central figures in the massive effort to decode the glyphs, Lina Schele and David Freidel, make this history available for the first time in all its detail. Forest of Kings is the story of Maya kingship, from the beginning of its institution and the first great pyramid builders two thousand years ago to the decline of Maya civilization and its destruction by the Spanish. Here the great historic rulers of Precolumbian civilization come to life again with the decipherment of their writing. At its height, Maya civilization flourished under great kings like Shield-Jaguar, who ruled for over sixty years, expanding his kingdom and building some of the most impressive works of architecture in the ancient world. Long placed on a mist-shrouded pedestal as austere, peaceful stargazers, the Maya elites are now know to have been the rulers of populous, aggressive city-states.
Schele, Linda, Mary Ellen Miller, et al. The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. United Kingdom, Kimbell Art Museum, University of Texas, 1986
An illustrated study of the Maya civilization, drawing from interpretations of the texts embedded in pictorial scenes or carved on stone tablets to provide the meaning of the art and architecture of the ancient culture.
The Linda Schele Photo Collection. FAMSI: Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc.
Linda Schele was a prolific Mesoamerican scholar who died in 1998. She originally trained as a studio art teacher and has written several great books which include "Maya Glyphs: The Verbs" (Schele 1982), the "Palenque Bodega" book (Schele and Mathews 1979), "The Blood of Kings" (Schele and Miller 1986), "A Forest of Kings" (Schele and Freidel 1990), "Maya Cosmos" (Freidel, Schele, and Parker 1993), and "The Code of Kings" (Schele and Mathews 1998).
Linda wanted her spirit of openness and sharing to continue after her death, and she and her husband David stipulated that FAMSI should be the central clearing-house for the public dissemination of her photographs and drawings, via its web-site. The original images have been bequeathed to the Schele Collection in the Benson Library at the University of Texas.
Skidmore, Joel. The Rulers of Palenque. Fifth edition. Mesoweb: www.mesoweb.com/palenque/ resources/rulers/PalenqueRulers-05.pdf. 2010
Stuart, David with Photographs by Jorge Péres de Lara. The Inscriptions from Temple XIX at Palenque. The Precolumbian Art Research Institute. San Francisco, 2005.
Online PDF of the book. Before 1998 little attention was paid to Temple XIX, then one of a great many mounds enveloped in the dark rain forest surrounding Palenque's main center. The location of the building within the larger architectural complex of the Cross Group, and its apparent orientation facing directly toward the Temple of the Cross, indicated its importance to the few visitors who paid Temple XIX any attention, but the absence of standing walls and decoration had long prevented its meaningful study. This anonymity quickly changed with the excavations undertaken at Temple XIX under the auspices of the Proyecto Grupo de las Cruces, the joint effort of the Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute and Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). The results of the excavations show that Temple XIX is one of the major ritual structures at Palenque and among the city's richest sources of hieroglyphic inscriptions. The present study offers an initial assessment of these extraordinary texts, which open many doors onto Palenque's history and mythology, as well as the religion of the ancient Maya in general.
Stuart, David. Maya Decipherment: Ideas on Ancient Maya Writing and Iconography.
Great article on Palenque's Temple of the Skull and possible link of K'inich Kan Bahlam to the rich tomb discovered beneath the Temple of the Skull in 1994.
David Stuart & George Stuart. Palenque: Eternal City of the Maya. Thames & Hudson. London, 2008.
Through the eyes of David and George Stuart, we travel with pioneer artists and archaeologists from the eighteenth century on as they rediscovered Palenque and attempted, in the oppressive tropical heat, to document the city's graceful and ornate palaces, temples, bas-reliefs, and hieroglyphic inscriptions. These inscriptions lay largely unread until, in the late twentieth century, major breakthroughs in decipherment revealed Palenque's history. David Stuart, one of the leading decipherers, portrays a lost world of palace intrigue, of brilliant architects, of gods and revered ancestors.
Agurcia Fasquelle, Ricardo. A Tale of Two City States: Quirigua's Victory over Copan in 738 CE. Penn Museum: Great Battles Lecture Series. YouTube, October 3rd, 2012.
Honduran archaeologist Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle, Executive Director of the Copan Association, presents this inaugural lecture in the Great Battles Series. Until recently scholars depicted the ancient Maya as a peaceful civilization devoid of warfare. This somewhat romantic notion has been overturned by evidence of a starker reality: during the Classic period (ca. 250--900 CE) an array of Maya kingdoms were engaged in a series of major wars that ravaged the heart of the Maya homeland. For much of this era the major kingdom of Copan appears to have escaped these conflicts. Everything changed in 738 CE, however, when Copan was dramatically defeated by its far smaller vassal, Quirigua.
Fash, William L. Scribes, Warriors and Kings: The City of Copán and the Ancient Maya, with drawings by Barbara W. Fash. Revised Edition, Thames & Hudson, London. 2001
Copan in modern Honduras was one of the great cities of the Classic Maya. Abandoned to the rain forest for nearly a thousand years, it was rediscovered in the early 1800s. Now, two centuries later, an international team of scholars is solving the puzzle of Copan and the ancient Maya. William Fash, himself one of the key contributors to the recent breakthroughs, describes how decipherment of the Maya inscriptions together with tomb finds have unlocked the secrets of Copan's history. For this revised edition, Professor Fash shows how recent discoveries in the Acropolis, urban wards, and rural redoubts of the Copan kingdom reveal fascinating insights into the life and times of royalty, nobles, and commoners in this distinguished Maya city. The uncovering of the extraordinary tomb of the dynasty's founder provides illuminating information on his origins and accomplishments, while archaeological and hieroglyphic studies have demonstrated the importance of Tikal and the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the founding and long-term legitimization of the Copan royal line. New excavations in the royal residential area give a blueprint for the layout and functioning of Maya palaces, as well as dramatic evidence for the violent and sudden end to dynastic rule. 11 color and 109 b/w illustrations.
Martin, Simon & Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. 2nd Edition. Thames & Hudson Ltd, London 2008.
The only comprehensive, kingdom-by-kingdom history of the ancient Maya, this Chronicle has now been revised and updated to include coverage of the most recent discoveries, from previously unknown rulers and new glyphic readings to expanded coverage of diplomacy and warfare.
Maudslay, Alfred Percival. Biologia Centrali–Americana; or Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America. Volume I & II (Plates). Edited by F. Ducane Goodman and Osbert Salvin. R.H.Porter & Dulau & Co., London 1889—1902
Contains oversize plates of Alfred Maudslay's iconic photos and drawings published 1889–1902. Vol. II includes photographs and drawings from Quirigua.
Newsome, Elizabeth A. Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World: The Serial Stela Cycle of "18–Rabbit–God K," King of Copan. University of Texas Press. Austin, 2001.
Assemblies of rectangular stone pillars, or stelae, fill the plazas and courts of ancient Maya cities throughout the lowlands of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras. Mute testimony to state rituals that linked the king's power to rule with the rhythms and renewal of time, the stelae document the ritual acts of rulers who sacrificed, danced, and experienced visionary ecstasy in connection with celebrations marking the end of major calendrical cycles. The kings' portraits are carved in relief on the main surfaces of the stones, deifying them as incarnations of the mythical trees of life.
Based on a thorough analysis of the imagery and inscriptions of seven stelae erected in the Great Plaza at Copan, Honduras, by the Classic Period ruler "18-Rabbit-God K," this ambitious study argues that stelae were erected not only to support a ruler's temporal claims to power but more importantly to express the fundamental connection in Maya worldview between rulership and the cosmology inherent in their vision of cyclical time. After an overview of the archaeology and history of Copan and the reign and monuments of "18-Rabbit-God K," Elizabeth Newsome interprets the iconography and inscriptions on the stelae, illustrating the way they fulfilled a coordinated vision of the king's ceremonial role in Copan's period-ending rites. She also links their imagery to key Maya concepts about the origin of the universe, expressed in the cosmologies and mythic lore of ancient and living Maya peoples.
Sharer, Robert J. Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center and its Sculptures. Carolina Academic Press. Durham, North Carolina, 1990.
Quirigua was the subject of recent intensive archaeological investigation by a project from the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the Institute of Anthropology and History of Guatemala. The author, who directed this research project (1972–1979), presents a detailed guide to the site of Quirigua an its spectacular sculptured monuments. The Quirigua Project was able to combine information from both archaeological and historical sources—the latter gained from recent advances in deciphering the hieroglyphic texts on the Quirigua monuments. Against a background review of the most recent findings pertaining to ancient Maya civilization, the author uses this information to summarize our current understanding of the origins, development, and demise of Quirigua.
Coe, Michael D. The Maya. Thames and Hudson: 5th edition, 1993.
This edition has been enlarged and entirely revised. Professor Coe places new emphasis on the pre-classic period and an additional chapter highlights evidence for overpopulation and deforestation as the prime causes of the catastrophic southern Maya collapse in the 9th century AD. However, the focus remains upon the classic period, with its magnificent art and architecture. In a new final chapter Professor Coe pays tribute to the six million or more contemporary Maya, guardians of so many of the ancient traditions. Dr. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University.
Ferguson, William M. & Arthur H. Rohn with photographs by John Q. Royce and William Ferguson. Mesoamerica's Ancient Cities. University Press of Colorado. Niwot, Colorado. 1990.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of theChenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region." Gendrop is THE person to read if you want to know more about monster-mouth temples!
Killion, T.W., J.A. Sabloff, G. Tourtellot, & N.P. Dunning. "Intensive Surface Collection of Residential Clusters at Terminal Classic Sayil, Yucatan, Mexico." Journal of Field Archaeology 16 (1989): 273-94.
Maya cities in the Puuc were garden cities, meaning that residential communities and monumental architecture were located directly on, or adjacent to, prime agricultural land. The basic unit of settlement was the residential platform, built on rock outcroppings or low rises, and elevated to a height between 15 inches to 5 feet. This platform contained open patio space, thatched houses/outbuildings, and chultunes, or underground cisterns, and supported between 13 and 26 people. Between these residential platforms were cleared and fertilized vegetable plots. Each residential platform averaged a little over one and a half acres of garden plot.
Sabloff, Jeremy. "Settlement Patterns and Community Organization in the Maya Lowlands." Expedition: The Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 38.1 (1996): 3-13.
Sayil is an area with very rich soils but no natural sources of water. The Maya who lived between 800 and 1000 A.D. situated their houses on small natural rises where the hard limestone cap was very thin, allowing them to break through to the softer marl below where they could excavate cisterns to capture rain water during the rainy season. They used the excavated material to level the irregular rises and build platforms to rise their houses off the forest floor. The platforms also supported a plastered area to catch the rain and fill the cistern. Thus, the Maya of Sayil did not build large communal reservoirs as they did elsewhere. This and other evidence, such as the relative independence of the farmers, points to decentralized political & economic organization at Sayil.
Smyth, Michael P. & Christopher D. Dore. "Maya Urbanism at Sayil, Yucatan." Research & Exploration 10.1 (1994): 38-55.
This article presents evidence to support the following hypotheses: 1) Large monumental buildings were probably not elite residences, but rather special places for political, ceremonial & economic activity of the greater community. 2) Sayil appears to have had a large community specializing in the manufacture of ceramic vessels. The ceramic-making barrio had many stone building yet a low percentage of elite ceramics and no stone altars, which suggests an economically viable but politically constrained middle class. 3) Elite communities were spatially decentralized & distributed across the site in patterns that suggests they controlled the largest and most fertile tracts of cultivable land within the city. 4) The distribution of stone altars within & outside the civic-ceremonial precinct imply that ceremonialism, elite groups, and perhaps political power was not rigidly centralized at Sayil but shared among competing factions within Maya society.
Smyth, Michael P., Christopher D. Dore, & Nicholas P. Dunning. "Interpreting Prehistoric Settlement Patterns: Lessons from the Maya Center of Sayil, Yucatan" Journal of Field Archaeology 22 (1995): 321-347
Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. Illustrated by Frederick Catherwood. Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1963.
An unabridged re-publication of the work first published by Harper & Brothers in 1843. In 2 volumes. Includes Stephen's description of their visit in 1841 and Catherwood's drawings.
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology initiated the Tikal Digital Access Project in February 2002 in order to address the preservation of and access to the Tikal Archive. The Archive is the result of the Museum's historic 15 year (1956-1970) archaeological investigation at the ancient Maya site of Tikal, Guatemala. The entire contents of the archive will be made available to international scholarly and interested public audiences through a digitized web-accessible catalog and virtual facsimiles of the originals.
The contents include primary documents such as field notes, correspondence, administrative records, maps, drawings, negatives, print photographs, slides, films, and secondary records such as published and unpublished papers, theses and dissertations, and analytic materials. The Tikal Archive was chosen for digitization because of its completeness, its organization based on a system of nomenclature later widely adopted by Maya archaeological projects and that will translate well for web delivery, and the potential for previously unpublished data to change our understanding of the Maya past.
Jorge Perez Lara. A Tour of Tikal with a Brief History of its Rediscovery and Archaeological Work at the Site. Includes beautiful, although small, photographs by a master professional photographer.
Carr, Robert F. & James E. Hazard. Tikal Reports no. 11, Map of the Ruins of Tikal, El Peten, Guatemala. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Philadelphia 1961.
All the PennMuseum Tikal Reports are available for purchase from this link. You can use the search box on the top right of the form to help locate them.
Coe, William R. Tikal Reports no. 14, Excavations in the Great Plaza, North Terrace, and North Acropolis of Tikal. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Philadelphia 1990.
Coe, William C. Tikal: A Handbook of the Ancient Maya Ruins. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum Publications, Philadelphia, 1997.
This handbook contains a large folded map of the site of Tikal.After a brief introduction to the site, the ruins and discussed building by building. Carved monuments, the growth and decline of Tikal are discussed in separate chapters. There is also an appendix focusing on Maya methods of dating at Tikal. There is also a Bibliography.
Culbert, T. Patrick. Tikal Reports no. 25, The Ceramics of Tikal: Vessels from the Burials, Caches, and Problematical Deposits. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Philadelphia 1993.
Trik, Helen Webster. Tikal Reports no. 31, The Graffiti of Tikal. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Philadelphia 1983.
Jones, Christopher, Linton Satterthwaite; illustrations by Wm. R. Coe. Tikal Reports no. 33, The Monuments and Inscriptions of Tikal. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Philadelphia 1982.
Coe, William R. Tikal, a handbook of the ancient Maya ruins. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Philadelphia 1988.
Harrison, Peter D. The Lords of Tikal: Rulers of an Ancient Maya City. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. 1999.
Jones, Christopher. The Twin-Pyramid Group Pattern, a Classic Maya Architectural Assemblage at Tikal, Guatemala. Philadelphia: 1969.
Martin, Simon and Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens London: Thames and Hudson, 2000.
Maudslay, Alfred Percival. Biologia Centrali–Americana; or Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America. Volume I & II (Plates). Edited by F. Ducane Goodman and Osbert Salvin. R.H.Porter & Dulau & Co., London 1889—1902
Contains oversize plates of Alfred Maudslay's iconic photos and drawings published 1889–1902. Vol. III includes photographs and drawings from Tikál.
Michel, Genevieve. The Rulers of TIkal: A Historical Reconstruction & Field Guide to the Stelae. Guatemala, C.A.: Publicaciones Vista, 1991.
Trik, Aubrey S. The Splendid Tomb of Temple I at Tikal, Guatemala. Expedition: The Bulletin of The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol. 6 Number 1, Fall 1963.
Schele, Linda and Peter Mathews. "Tikal: Toh-Chak-Ich'ak's Palace", in The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. New York: A Touchstone Book published by Simon & Schuster. 1998.
This study of the the palace of Great Jaguar Paw at Tikal, in the words of Schele and Mathews' heading, does indeed succeed in "Putting People Back in the Palaces of Tikal".
Stuart, David. "The Arrival of Strangers": Teotihuacan and Tollan in Classic Maya History. Online article. P.A.R.I. Online Publications: Newsletter #25 - July, 1998.
The "Arrival of Strangers" with ties to Teotihuacan on the very day that Great Jaguar Paw died resulted in a break in royal succession and possibly the single most important political or military episode of early Classic Maya history, when Teotihuacan established itself as a dominant force in the politics and elite culture of the central Peten.
Coe, Michael D. The Maya. Thames and Hudson: 5th edition, 1993.
This edition has been enlarged and entirely revised. Professor Coe places new emphasis on the pre-classic period and an additional chapter highlights evidence for overpopulation and deforestation as the prime causes of the catastrophic southern Maya collapse in the 9th century AD. However, the focus remains upon the classic period, with its magnificent art and architecture. In a new final chapter Professor Coe pays tribute to the six million or more contemporary Maya, guardians of so many of the ancient traditions. Dr. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University.
Houston, Stephen D., et al. "Folk Classification of Classic Maya Pottery." American Anthropologist, vol. 91, no. 3, 1989, pp. 720–26. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/680877. Accessed 27 Jan. 2023.
Sharer, Robert. The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California. Fifth edition, 1994.
First edition published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946. Thirty-six paintings representing brilliant "restorations" of Maya buildings, with accompanying description of archaeological findings and line drawings of existing remains.
Reents–Budet, Dorie. Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. Duke University Press. Durham, North Caroling, 1994.
Lavishly illustrated with nearly 400 color images, Painting the Maya Universe is the most thorough study and brilliant display of Classic Maya ceramic painting yet published. Building on twenty years of research and debate, Dorie Reents–Budet and her collaborators Joseph W. Ball, Ronald L. Bishop, Virginia M. Fields, and Barbara MacLeod bring together many perspectives, including the art historical, archaeological, epigraphical, and ethnohistorical, to examine one of the world's great but overlooked painting traditions. With an emphasis on sixth—to eighth–century pottery featuring both pictorial and hieroglyphic imagery, Painting the Maya Universe presents an extraordinary exploration of the cultural roles and meanings of these Guatemalan, Belizean, and Mexican elite painted ceramics. Maya pottery is discussed both in aesthetic terms and for the important information it reveals about Maya society, artistry, politics, history, religion, and ritual. The range of ceramic painting styles developed during this period is also presented and defined in detail. Painting the Maya Universe is the first publication to present a definitive translation of the hieroglyphic texts painted on these objects. With many glyphs deciphered here for the first time, this analysis reveals much about how these vessels were perceived and used by the Maya, their owners' names, and, in several cases, the names of the artists who created them. This information is combined with archaeological and other data, including nuclear chemical analyses, to correlate painting styles with specific Maya sites.
Tate, Carolyn E. Yaxchilan: The Design of a Maya Ceremonial City. University of Texas Press. Austin 1991.
"Tate has done for Yaxchilan what no one has done for any other Maya site, even Palenque perhaps, which is to demonstrate that each arrangement of monument, building, scene, costume, and gesture was conscious and purposeful. They can be explained in human terms as rational acts of faith or power....the book reads like a detective story, where logic leads from one truth to another. People who have never heard of the Maya can enjoy it." Christopher Jones, Tikal Project, University of Pennsylvania Museum
Linda Schele and Peter Mathews. "Uxmal: The Nunnery Quadrangle of Chan-Chak-K'ak'nal-Ahaw", in The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. New York: A Touchstone Book published by Simon & Schuster. 1998.
A study of the symbolism and imagery of the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal.
Kowalski, Jeff Karl. A Historical Interpretation of the Inscriptions of Uxmal. P.A.R.I. Online Publications, October 2003: La Cuarta Mesa Redonda.
Originally presented at the Fourth Palenque Round Table in 1980. Published in Fourth Palenque Round Table, 1980, edited by Elizabeth P. Benson. This paper is presented in digital format for its historical interest.
Kowalski, Jeff Karl. The House of the Governor: a Maya palace at Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 1987.
A 298 page study of the House of the Governor at Uxmal. Contains comparisons with other architecture at Uxmal as well as at nearby sites in the Puuc region.
Kowalski, Jeff Karl. Guide to Uxmal & the Puuc Region: Kabah, Sayil and Labna. Producción Editorial Dante. Mérida, México 1990.
A tourist guide to Uxmal and the Puuc ruins of Kabáh, Sayil and Labná.
Rubio, Alfredo Barrera & José Huchím Herrera. English translation by Carlos A. Uribe. Architectural Restoration at Uxmal, 1989-1987. University of Pittsburgh Latin American Archaeology Reports 1. Pittsburgh, 1990.
Covers the restoration of the great Platform of the Governor and the southern stairway to the Nunnery Quadrangle by IHAH in 1986-87.
Rosenthal, David. Venus and the Maya. Used to be an online resource.
Pictorial story of the expedition to document the southernmost rise of the planet Venus as seen from the ancient Mayan city of Uxmal in the Yucatan Peninsula. This event only occurs once every eight years and the account describes efforts necessary to view and photograph it from a Mayan temple specially oriented to face it.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of theChenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region." Gendrop is THE person to read if you want to know more about monster-mouth temples!
Joyce Kelly. An Archaeological Guide to Northern Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 1996.
Great travel guide, especially for ruins in Guatemala. It is highly regarded by guides in the area as a means to enhance their knowledge; I ended up giving it to our guide at the end of our trip.
Pollock, H.E.D. The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan & Northern Campeche, Mexico. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum 19. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology 1980.
Pollock's fieldwork was under the auspices of and supported by Carnegie Institution of Washington, and was begun in 1932 and largely completed by 1940. This volume comes with maps and over 934 illustrations, photographs and building diagrams, including oversized maps in a separate packet. Pollock's book includes sections on Labná, Sayil, Uxmal and Chacmultún,among others.
Gendrop, Paul. Rio Bec, Chenes, & Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press. Lancaster, California 1998.
This work was originally published in Spanish as Los Estilos Rîo Bec, Chenes y Puuc in 1983. As George Andrews writes in the introduction, "...Paul's work still stands as the most comprehensive effort to date to reveal those cultural interactions that culminated in the development of theChenes and later Puuc architectural styles (Colonnette, Mosaic, and Late Uxmal styles) from their beginnings in the Río Bec region." Gendrop is THE person to read if you want to know more about monster-mouth temples!
Potter, David F. Maya Architecture of the Central Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute 44. New Orleans. Tulane University 1977.
This monograph forms part of a series of final reports on the 1969-1971 National Geographic Society/Tulane University Program of Research in the Rio Bec area of Campeche, directed by E. Wyllys Andrews IV. Detailed coverage of Becan and Chicanna, with Xpuhil mentioned in the Appendix.
Proskouriakoff, Tatiana. An Album of Maya Architecture. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 1963.
First edition published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946. Thirty-six paintings representing brilliant "restorations" of Maya buildings, with accompanying description of archaeological findings and line drawings of existing remains.
Ruppert, Karl & John H. Denison, Jr. Archaeological Reconnaissance in Campeche, Quintana Roo, & Peten. Publication 543. Washington D.C. Carnegie Institution of Washington. 1943.
Presents the results of four expeditions sent into southern Campeche and northern Guatemala by the Division of Historical Research of Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1938. Comes with maps, illustrations, photographs and building diagrams, including oversized maps. Includes section on Xpujil.
Ashmore, Wendy. Secrets of the Stone Maiden. Penn Gazette, February 1997.
Short article on the Castillo by Dr Wendy Ashmore, archaeologist with the Xunantunich Archaeological Project sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania and the National Science Foundation.
Euan W. Mackie, New Light on the End of Classic Maya Culture at Benque Viejo, British Honduras. Published online by Cambridge University Press, 20 January 2017.
Teobert Maler. Explorations in The Department of Peten, Guatemala And Adjacent Region. Memoirs. Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. 1908
Pendergast, David M. & Graham, Elizabeth. "Fighting a Looting Battle: Zunantunich, Belize." Archaeology. July/August 1981.
Satterthwaite, Linton. "Plastic Art on a Maya Palace." Archaeology. Winter 1950.
An account of the uncovering of the great astronomical frieze at Xunantunich.
Willey, Gordon R. et al. Prehistoric Maya Settlement in the Belize Valley. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Vol. 54. Harvard University. Cambridge Mass. 1965.
Gordon Willey created the field of "settlement pattern studies" and was interested in, but was also concerned with wider questions,
Grube, Nikolai. "Classic Maya Dance: Evidence from Hieroglyphs and Iconography." Ancient Mesoamerica, vol. 3, no. 2, 1992, p. 201–8. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26307137. Accessed 20 Jan. 2023.
Josserand, J. Kathryn. "The Missing Heir at Yaxchilán: Literary Analysis of a Maya Historical Puzzle." Latin American Antiquity, vol. 18, no. 3, 2007, pp. 295–12. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/25478182. Accessed 21 Jan. 2023.
Graham, Ian. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Harvard University. Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions: Inscriptions at Yaxchilán
Transliterations and translations of the glyphs of all Yaxchilán's lintels are available online at the above link. These translations and drawings of the inscriptions at Yaschilán are part of the monumental work of Ian Graham to document in photographs and detailed line drawings all known Maya inscriptions and their associated figurative art.
William Saterno, the archaeologist who discovered the San Bartolo murals, worked for Ian Graham early in his career, describes him as a larger-than-life Indiana Jones type character in this remarkable portrait of his mentor at timestamp 11:10.
Martin, Simon & Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. 2nd Edition. Thames & Hudson Ltd, London 2008.
The only comprehensive, kingdom-by-kingdom history of the ancient Maya, this Chronicle has now been revised and updated to include coverage of the most recent discoveries, from previously unknown rulers and new glyphic readings to expanded coverage of diplomacy and warfare.
Sánchez Gamboa, Ángel A. and Krempel, Guido. Mesoweb Online Resources: Monuments of Yaxchilan: Lintel 14 .
Tate, Carolyn E. Yaxchilan: The Design of a Maya Ceremonial City. University of Texas Press. Austin 1991.
"Tate has done for Yaxchilan what no one has done for any other Maya site, even Palenque perhaps, which is to demonstrate that each arrangement of monument, building, scene, costume, and gesture was conscious and purposeful. They can be explained in human terms as rational acts of faith or power....the book reads like a detective story, where logic leads from one truth to another. People who have never heard of the Maya can enjoy it." Christopher Jones, Tikal Project, University of Pennsylvania Museum
Shaw, Christopher Sacred Monkley River: A Canoe Trip with the Gods. W.W. Norton & Company. New York and London, 2000.
"By and large, the Maya were a riverine people who transported goods and people in dugout canoes. On four bones from a tomb at Tikal, life and death are symbolized as a canoe trip with the gods." Linda Schele and Mary Ellen Miller, The Blood of Kings
Michael D. Coe. Breaking the Maya Code. Thames and Hudson: 1992.
"Breaking the Maya Code tells the story of the last great decipherment of an ancient script. Twenty years ago the ruined monuments of Maya civilization were mute, the hieroglyphic inscriptions on magnificent stelae, temples and palaces largely unread. Today, thanks to an extraordinary scientific breakthrough, these inscribed remains are revealing a history lost to humanity for a millennium."
YouTube has Michael Coe's masterful lectures "Deciphering the Maya Script: What We Know and What We don't Know" given on October 10, 2000 at The University of California at Berkeley.
David Lebrun, Director. Breaking the Maya Code: The 200-Year Quest to Decipher the Hieroglyphs of the Ancient Maya
This film/DVD is the story of the 200-year struggle to unlock the secrets of the hieroglyphs of the ancient Mayans. Based on archaeologist Michael Coe's book, filmed in 9 countries and staring many of the archaeologists and gifted amateurs who actually did the work of decipherment, this amazing detective story is filled with the excitement of a successful intellectual quest. Riveting and highly recommended!
John F. Harris and Stephen K. Stearns. Understanding Maya Inscriptions. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia: 1992.
"Unlike other books on Maya hieroglyphics, created for use in tandem with workshop attendance, this volume is designed to function as a self-teaching tool, to help the neophyte, and yet be of value to those more knowledgeable. The book incorporates the new understanding of the language(s) used in the inscriptions, the phonetic nature of the glyphs, and explains the techniques used to ferret out their meanings.
Written by two men whose professional lives are far removed from academia, this volume exemplifies the close cooperation between professional and amateur in the field of Maya epigraphy. The authors, founding members of the Pre-Columbian Society at The University Museum [at the University of Pennsylvania], and of its glyph group, are veteran leaders of hieroglyph workshops. Their ability to explain the complexities of Maya writing has been honed through the monthly PCS workshops, where individual texts are gnawed over until their meanings are revealed or, at least, suggested, and by their participation as workshop leaders at national and regional glyph workshops, including the annual Maya Weekend at The University Museum. Students in their classes and workshops have lauded Harris and Stearns for their ability to illuminate some of the more esoteric aspects of the inscriptions.
Here, then, is the result of their collaboration: a book that can teach you how to read the ancient Maya inscriptions, and put you on the path of an intellectual adventure whose fascination never ends. "
Martin, Simon. Inside Emblem Glyphs: Tracking Royal Identities at Calakmul and Dzibanche. Penn Museum: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. YouTube video.
The John F. Harris Glyph Group currently meets one morning a month on Zoom to work on a pre-announced text. The session continues in the afternoon with guest speakers presenting various Maya-related topics.
Maya Decipherment: Ideas on Maya Writing and Iconography. Boundary End Archaeological Research Center.
Maya Decipherment focuses on the dissemination and serious discussion of ideas related to Maya hieroglyphs and iconography, encompassing archaeology, linguistics, and other pertinent fields. It is not a personal blog.
Stuart, David. Maya Hieroglyph Syllabary. Department of Art and Art History. University of Texas, Austin. Version 2, 2013.
A chart with drawings of the Maya hieroglyphic syllabary as it is currently known. Essential for translating Maya gylphs.
Dunbarton Oaks. The Maya Longcount Calendar: Diagrams and Explanation
Ivan Sprajc, Takeshi Inomata, and Anthony F. Aveni. Origins of Mesoamerican astronomy and calendar: Evidence from the Olmec and Maya Regions. Science Advances, Vol 9, Issue 1. 6 Jan 2023.
Archaeoastronomical studies have demonstrated that the important civic and ceremonial buildings in Mesoamerica were largely oriented to sunrises or sunsets on specific dates, but the origin and spread of orientation practices were not clear. Using aerial laser scanning (lidar) data, we analyzed orientations of a large number of ceremonial complexes in the area along the southern Gulf Coast, including many recently identified Formative sites dating to 1100 BCE to 250 CE. The distribution pattern of dates marked by solar alignments indicates their subsistence-related ritual significance. The orientations of complexes built between 1100 and 750 BCE, in particular, represent the earliest evidence of the use of the 260-day calendar, centuries earlier than its previously known use in textual records.
Saturno, William. Murals and Mysteries of the Maya at timestamp 47:24. Museum of Science, Boston.
In my opinion, one of the very best explanations of the Maya calendar and the Maya concept of time appears at timestamp 47:24 in this video in a section named "Numbers"
Converting a Maya Longcount Calendar date to either a Gregorian or Julian Calendar Date. Handy date conversion app. from Kelsan Online Calculator.
Converting any Date to a Maya Longcount Date. Handy date conversion app. from Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
Bassie-Sweet, Karen. At the Edge of the World: Caves and Late Classic Maya World View . University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 1996.
A study of the significance of caves in the Mayan world view.
Stone, Andrea J. Naj Tunich & the Tradition of Maya Cave Painting. University of Texas Press. Austin 1995.
A multidisciplinary effort to explain the ritual significance of caves and cave painting for the Maya.
George E. Stuart, with photographs by Wilbur E. Garrett. Maya Art Treasures Discovered in Cave, in National Geographic: Vol. 160, No. 2 (1981).
"Recently discovered inscriptions and paintings made 1,2000 years ago in a remote cavern in Guatemala are a boon to scholars--but also a lure for thieves who already have damaged some of the artworks with saws. Guards have been appointed to protect the art and writings, which name dates and notables of the Classic period."
Lavishly illustrated with photos and diagrams. A real adventure tale!
Dr. George Stuart explores Balankanch. Maya Field Workshops, December 2013. YouTube video.
A marvelous invocation of the adventures and dangers of cave discovery and exploration. Wonderful!
Inga Clendinnen Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570. Cambridge Latin American Studies, February 1989.
"This beautifully written and finely researched book is the best account we have of the tragic confrontation between the Yucatan Maya and the Spanish invaders (both military and religious). It throws entirely new light on the far-from-benevolent role of the Franciscans — especially the famous Diego de Landa — in the process of crushing native Maya culture. This is a triumph of modern scholarship." (Michael Coe, Yale University).
Samuel Y. Edgerton and Jorge Perez De Lara Theaters of Conversion: Religious Architecture and Indian Artisans in Colonial Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, May 2001.
Mexico´s churches and conventos display a unique blend of European and native styles. Missionary Mendicant friars arrived in New Spain shortly after Cortes's conquest of the Aztec empire in 1521 and immediately related their own European architectural and visual arts styles to the tastes and expectations of native Indians. Right from the beginning the friars conceived of conventos as a special architectural theater in which to carry out their proselytizing. Over four hundred conventos were established in Mexico between 1526 and 1600, built and decorated by native Indian artisans who became masters of European techniques and styles even as they added their own influence. The author argues that these magnificent sixteenth-century convents in old Mexico and seventeenth-century churches in New Mexico are as much a part of the artistic patrimony of American Indians as their pre-Conquest temples, pyramids, and kivas. Mexican Indians, in fact, adapted European motifs to their own pictorial traditions and thus made a unique contribution to the worldwide spread of the Italian Renaissance.
The author brings a wealth of knowledge of medieval and Renaissance European history, philosophy, theology, art, and architecture to bear on colonial Mexico at the same time as he focuses on indigenous contributions to the colonial enterprise. This ground-breaking study enriches our understanding of the colonial process and the reciprocal relationship between European friars and native artisans.
Jeanette Favrot Peterson. The Paradise Garden Murals of Malinalco: Utopia and Empire in Sixteenth-Century Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, May 2001.
"In this study, Jeanette F. Peterson examines the murals within the dual heritage of pre-Hispanic and European muralism to reveal how the wall paintings promoted the political and religious agendas of the Spanish conquerors while preserving a record of pre-Columbian rituals and imagery....Peterson argues that the incorporation of native features ultimately worked to undermine the orthodoxy of the Christian messages. She places the murals´ imagery within the pre-Columbian tlacuilo (scribe-painter) tradition...and explores mural painting as an artistic response to acculturation."
Friar Diego de Landa, translated with notes by William Gates. Yucatan Before and After the Conquest. Dover Publications, June 1978.
"Landa did all he could to wipe out Maya culture and civilization. In the famous auto-da-fé of July 1562 at Mani, as he tells us, he destroyed 5,000 "idols" and burned 27 hieroglypic rolls. And yet paradoxically Landa's book, written in Spain to defend himself against charges of despotic mismanagement, is the only significant account of Yucatan done in the early post-Conquest era. As the distinguished Maya scholar William Gates states in his introduction, "ninety-nine percent of what we today know of the Mayas, we know as the result either of what Landa has told us in the pages that follow, or have learned in the use and study of what he told. "Yucatan Before and After the Conquest" is the first English translation of this very important work.
Landa's book gives us a full account of Maya customs, daily activities, history, ceremonial festivals, and the many social and communal functions in which their life was expressed. Included here are the geography and natural history of Yucatan, the history of the Conquest, indigenous architecture and other aspects of Maya civilization (sciences, books, religion, etc.), native historical traditions, the Inquisition instituted by the Spanish clergy, Maya clothing, food, commerce, agriculture, human sacrifices, calendrical lore, and much more."
Nelson Reed. The Caste War of Yucatan. Stanford University Press, 1964. 2nd Edition, June 2001.
"Not only is this exciting history (as compelling and dramatic as the best of historical fiction) but it covers events unaccountably neglected by historians....A brilliant contribution to history. Don´t miss this book." (Los Angeles Times)
In his Introduction, Nelson Reed writes "There should be enough battles in this book for anyone's taste, but the reader must be warned that the shooting doesn't start until Chapter Three. Without intending to write a history of Yucatan or a cultural study of the Maya, I felt that some background information on these subjects was necessary to an understanding of the Caste War, and I have tried to give the essentials in the first two chapters. I have also included, in the later chapters, a certain amount of political and economic history, to explain or give perspective to post-Caste War developments among the Maya".
Miguel A. Bretos, with photographs by Christian Rasmussen. Iglesias de Yucatán. Mérida, Yucatán: Producción Editorial Dante, 1992.
A classic study of the early churches of Yucatan, with numerous photographs. Unfortunately, it is now out of print.
Popul Vuh: The Creation Myth of the Maya. Patricia Amlin. YouTube video, 1989.
Directed, written and produced by Patricia Amlin. This much-honored animated film employs authentic imagery from ancient Maya ceramics to create a riveting depiction of the Popol Vuh, the Maya creation myth. Similar to the Biblical story of Genesis in its breadth, scope, and themes, the Popol Vuh is the origin of many myths and beliefs that spread throughout North America and formed the foundation of most Native American religious, philosophical, and ethical beliefs. The film introduces the Maya and relates the entire tale, beginning with the creation of the world and concluding with the victory of the Hero Twins over the evil lords of the Underworld.
Linda Schele. Maya Cosmos. YouTube video, 2019.
Epigrapher Dr. Linda Schele recounts core Maya myths and worldview as revealed in the Popul Vuh and in its retelling by contemporary Maya.
Familiarity with this mythology is a essential for understanding Maya art, iconography and ritual.
Dennis Tedlock. Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and The Glories of Gods and Kings. Touchstone Publishing, Chicago, Illinois, January 31, 1996
Popol Vuh, the Quiché Mayan book of creation, is not only the most important text in the native languages of the Americas, it is also an extraordinary document of the human imagination. It begins with the deeds of Mayan gods in the darkness of a primeval sea and ends with the radiant splendor of the Mayan lords who founded the Quiché kingdom in the Guatemalan highlands. Originally written in Mayan hieroglyphs, it was transcribed into the Roman alphabet in the sixteenth century. This new edition of Dennis Tedlock's unabridged, widely praised translation includes new notes and commentary, newly translated passages, newly deciphered hieroglyphs, and over forty new illustrations.
Miguel Ángel Asturias. The Mirror of Lida Sal: Tales Based on Mayan Myths and Guatemalan Legends. Latin American Literary Review Press. September 1997.
"...the book challenges readers with frequent convolutions leading to destinations that are hard to pin down...a surreal journey through a landscape charged with light irony and weighty implications." NY Times Book Review by James Polk.
Miguel Ángel Asturias, Nobel Laureate 1967. Men of Maize: Critical Edition. Translated by Gerald Martin. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa. 1993.
"Originally published in 1949, Men of Maize was the first great experiment in what critics now call "magical realism". It remains one of the most challenging Latin American novels to be published in this century. Gerald Martin's masterful translation, with over 100 pages of explanatory notes, brings this significant work to the English-speaking reader.
Mythological and historical, it traces the shattering impact of internal colonialism, private property, and market economics on the descendants of the Mayan Indians. Modernizers from the outside destroy a way of life based on corn as the sacred plant; ancestral customs and beliefs of the Mayans are buried beneath the debris of capitalism.
Miguel Asturias was among the pioneers who sparked renewed critical interest in Latin American literature between the 1920s and 1940s, a trailblazing modernist whose work led to the emergence of a distinctively Latin American style in succeeding decades."
Octavio Paz. The Other Mexico, in The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings. Grove Press: June 1985.
A famous investigation of the Mexican psyche by a Nobel prize winner in Literature.
Coe, Andrew. Archaeological Mexico. Thames and Hudson: 5th edition, 1993.
A practical travel guide for anyone interested in Mexico' prehistoric ruins. Includes photos and maps, summary of recentent research, intro to culture, even advice on where to stay and where to eat.
Gendrop, Paul. A Guide to Architecture in Ancient Mexico. Mexics. Mexico City, 1991.
Joyce Kelly. An Archaeological Guide to Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 1993.
Great travel guide which covers many infrequently visited sites. Each site has a "recent history" section which summarizes archaeological excavation, restoration & consolidation work done to date. Kelly also includes information on how to get to each site.
Joyce Kelly. An Archaeological Guide to Northern Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman and London 1996.
Great travel guide, especially for ruins in Guatemala. It is highly regarded by guides in the area as a means to enhance their knowledge; I ended up giving it to our guide at the end of our trip.
Richard & Rosalind Perry. Maya Missions: Exploring the Spanish Colonial Churches of Yucatan Santa Barbara: Espadaña Press. 1988.
A traveler's guide to exploring the colonial churches of Yucatan. Perry writes, "Our focus is on the Spanish mission churches, built and maintained by the Maya over the centuries. More than one hundred of these still grace the towns and villages of Yucatan, coming in a wonderful variety of sizes and styles: from venerable Franciscan monasteries to elegant parish churches and timeless little country chapels....When you are basking on the beaches of Yucatan or clambering over the ancient ruins, you are among other tourists; but when you explore the missions, you are among the Maya people in their own communities. While you are visiting their churches, savor also their unique culture and customs, before the powerful currents of change sweep this traditional society away."
Richard D. Perry. More Maya Missions: Exploring Colonial Chiapas Santa Barbara: Espadaña Press. 1995.
Noted for its dramatic scenery, this remote province with its large Maya population has long fascinated travellers, especially its ancient Maya cities of Palenque, Toniná, and Chincultic. The unique Maya folk culture of Chiapas has survived in the highland villages, but the area also has a less well-known Spanish heritage. For over three hundred years, Chiapas was ruled from Guatemala, and today this legacy lives on in its language, culture, and rich variety of Spanish colonial buildings. These range from sophisticated urban churches, convents, and palaces, to old Dominican missions and vernacular village churches in the countryside. This new book will intrigue travellers along the Ruta Maya. Three itineraries cover all the principal monuments of the region, which include cathedrals, ornate parish churches, and fortress-like monasteries in addition to rural missions. All the buildings are described in their original settings and illustrated with original line drawings.
Kelemen, Pál and Elizabeth. The Kelemen Journals: Incidents of Discovery of Art in the Americas, 1932—1964. Photographs by Elisabeth Kelemen. Edited by Judith Hancock Sandoval, Forward by Mary E. Miller. Sunbelt Publications. San Diego 2005.
"Written by the late Pál Keleman, an art historian of Hungarian extraction, and his wife, Elizabeth, an opera singer by training, the journals chronicle the couple's extensive travels throughout the Americas, an odyssey that began with a visit to Harvard's Peabody Museum in the fall of 1932. At that time, only a few of the sites the Kelemens would visit had been excavated, much less opened to mass tourism, and literature on the subject of Precolumbian archaeology was all but nonexistent.
Encouraged by the Peabody's Alfred Tozzer, a prominent Mesoamerian archaeologist, the Kelemens set out not only to document a broad array of Precolumbian material both in museum collections and in the field, but to comment on and interpret it as art historians. The result of the their efforts, Medieval American Art, was a seminal work, and for decades the only one of its kind. Subsequent scholarship eventually rendered it obsolete.
Abundantly illustrated with Elizabeth's photographs and delightfully written, The Kelemen Journals presents the story behind the story, relaying the actual adventures the couple experienced in their pursuit of scholarship and the extraordinary peoples they encountered." Archaeology: A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America, May/June 2005
Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. Illustrated by Frederick Catherwood. Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1963.
An unabridged republication of the work first published
by Harper & Brothers in 1843. In 2 volumes.
William Sauterno has a wonderful explanation of the significance of Stephens & Catherwood in introducing the Maya ruins to a popular audience.
Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, & Yucatan. Illustrated by Frederick Catherwood. Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1969.
An unabridged republication of the work first published
by Harper & Brothers in 1841, to which has been added certain material
from the edition published by
Arthur Hall, Virtue & Co., London, in 1854. In 2 volumes.
Lugares INAH. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia de México. The section on Archaeological Sites features spectacular drone flyover videos that give a unique 3D perspective on the ruins of Mexico (the Becán flyover is amazing). The section on Mexican museums displays collections of Maya artifacts, just enter "Maya" in the search bar.
From the website: Includes texts in Spanish or English about the archeological zones and the museums under the INAH's responsibility, with brief but meticulous explanations intended to support observation with knowledge. Numerous experts have written new pieces offering their opinions on different aspects of the zones and museums. Up to date practical information is also provided for visiting the sites, including cost, how to get there, contact information, and links to videos, audios, external websites and virtual tours. In the case of the archeological zones, more detailed descriptions of the structures are given together with suggestions for routes to get the most out of a visit. For the museums, maps are provided with an overview of the galleries, collections, exhibitions and pieces. All the information has been approved by authorities in the relevant fields.
The British Museum's Maya Research Project contains high-resolution digitized versions of the museum's Maya collection, as well as an account by the Project Curator explaining how a new partnership with Google enables them to share and study this extraordinary collection of 19th-century photographs and casts of ancient Maya sites.
The Maudslay Collection contains 1,686 high-resolution digitized and contextualized versions of Maudslay's superb glass plate negatives and casts from the 19th century, as well as drawings of glyphs and monuments by two professional artists Maudslay hired for this task: Annie Hunter and Edwin Lambert. The quality of all of this work is such that even today epigraphers refer to these photos and drawings as references.
The section The Ancient Maya at the British Museum: A brief history of the British Museum's fascinating collections features artifacts in the collections of 19th century explorers Alfred Percival Maudslay, Charles Fenton, Thomas Gann, Thomas Athol Joyce, and Sir John Eric Sidney Thompson.
The section Exploring the Maya World|30 Videos, contains short videos of "Before/After" animated photos of important structures, video walkthru footage, and many other interesting clips.
BEARC's virtual lecture series on the ancient Americas.
An especially exciting video is "Dr. George Stuart explores Balankanche Cave, Yucatan" which shows archaeology and exploration at its best.
From the website: Since 1997, the Boundary End Archaeology Research Center (BEARC) is a unique meeting space, library and residence for artists and scholars set in the Smokey Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. Virtual and in-person workshops feature anthropological and archaeological topics often covering the First Peoples of Southeastern United States, Mesoamerica and Andean cultures. Visit this channel or the Boundary End website for the latest events schedule.
BEARC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established as a scholarly retreat, library and meeting space place by Dr. George Stuart, formerly Associate Editor of the National Geographic Magazine.
The Bibliografia Mesoamericana (FAMSI).
This bibliography is a joint project of FAMSI and the Library of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. It can be searched by Author, Title, Site, or Subject, and is a fantastic resource for finding scholarly publications on the Maya sites.
The Tikal Digital Access Project Images (FAMSI).
In 2002, the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI) provided University of Pennsylvania Museum's Tikal Digital Access Project (TDAP) with support to produce an online archive of 500 historic images from the UPM Tikal Project collection. This support provided TDAP with the opportunity to address the physical care of the image collection, identify and catalog undocumented color transparencies, establish standards for digitization and digital document management, establish a thesaurus for Maya archaeology derived from the system of nomenclature established by the UPM Tikal Project which drives the online keyword searches, and deliver the 500 images via FAMSI's website. This support has been critical in establishing the foundation for future web access to the entire contents of the UPM Tikal Archive. A full report on FAMSI-funded activities will be available shortly.
Justin Kerr. The Maya Vase Database (FAMSI).
An archive of rollout photographs of Maya vases, plus the Maya Vase Database, an extension of the Maya Vase Books by Justin Kerr, containing over a thousand rollout photographs that can be viewed by using the database search pages. The database contains information about each vase: its dimensions, its type, (painted, carved, incised) and its location, if known. This is a spectacular site!
The Linda Schele Drawings (FAMSI).
"This wonderful archive represents the drawings made over the career of the great Mesoamerican scholar Linda Schele, who died in 1998. Linda was a prolific scholar who originally trained as a studio art teacher. Most of the drawings in this collection were made by her as illustrations for her numerous publications." Peter Mathews.
The John Montgomery Drawing Archive (FAMSI).
John Montgomery is a widely recognized illustrator of PreColumbian art and Maya hieroglyphic writing, with special interest in hieroglyphic artists' signatures and the "hand" or artistic style of sculptors and scribes. His work is featured in major publications on Maya writing.
An invaluable resource for scholarly articles, with numerous online publications, photos and books, as well as an interactive online search feature and an index of Mesoweb's publications.
Mesoweb is devoted to the ancient cultures of Mexico and adjacent Central America, with a particular emphasis on the Maya. A great resource for scholarly publications. It is maintained in cooperation with the Ancient Cultures Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation, and various academic researchers and scholars.
Numerous Harvard academic lectures on the Maya are available on YouTube: search "peabody museum lectures maya".
Graham, Ian. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Harvard University. Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions.
This monumental work began with Ian Graham's work to document in photographs and detailed line drawings of all known Maya inscriptions and their associated figurative art. This archive is searchable and available online and in print publications.
William Saterno, the archaeologist who discovered the San Bartolo murals, worked for Ian Graham early in his career and describes him as a larger-than-life Indiana Jones type character in this remarkable portrait of his mentor.
Under the current direction of Barbara Fash, the CMHI is actively engaged in field research, documentation, and preservation of monuments and is utilizing modern high-tech methods such as 3D scanning and 3D printing for accurate reconstruction of monumets.
Mexico and Central America Collection, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University.
Collections of artifacts from Central America, including parts of the Caribbean, account for nearly 20% of the Peabody's collection. The Peabody Museum has conducted excavations and explorations in Mexico and Central America almost from its first decade and include objects created by Mayan and Aztec people from sites in Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The collections also include colonial and contemporary objects such as textiles and masks, crafted by artists in Mexico and other regions in Central America.
Numerous academic lectures on the Maya from Penn Museum are available on YouTube: search "penn museum maya lectures"
A large collection of scholarly lectures given at the Penn Museum on Maya topics. Many of these are from Penn Museum's "Maya Weekends" which were held for many years and were at one time the largest and oldest meetings in the United States devoted to Maya studies.
University of Pennsylvania Museum: Penn Museum Videos & Films.
The Penn Museum has an extensive collection of digitized archival films and born-digital videos covering a range of archaeological and anthropological topics and expeditions sponsored by the museum. More than 1,100 online resources can be browsed via their thumbnails or via a dropdown menu of Videos. Alternatively, a simple search function allows discovery via content available in the video and film titles.
Penn Museum: Mexico & Central America Gallery
A virtual gallery tour of objects in the Penn Mexico and Central American Gallery is available online, as is a Spanish version of the tour La galerí de México y América Central.
Tulane University, Middle American Research Institute (M.A.R.I.)
From the website: Founded in 1924, the Middle American Research Institute (M.A.R.I.) at Tulane University strives to promote greater understanding of the vibrant and diverse cultures of Middle America. It stewards an extensive collection of textiles, artifacts, and an archive of letters, field notes, maps, and photographs from the scores of field projects it has sponsored and continues to sponsor. We strive to make these accessible to researchers and the general public through a variety of exhibitions, workshops, and symposia.
Furthermore, M.A.R.I. continues to support anthropological, archaeological, ethnohistorical, linguistic, and ethnographic research projects throughout Mexico and Central America.
Tulane collaborates with Guatemala's Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale on the Pacunam LiDAR Initiative mapping project. Francisco Estrada Belli's The Pacunam LiDAR Initiative: Changing views on Maya Urbanism, Landscape and Methodology is available on YouTube.
Tulane's Michael Canuto gives a fascinating hi-tech talk entitled Mapping the World of the Maya from "Talks at Google" where he discusses the use of LIDAR and other modern technologies to map the ancient ruins.