Workshops
Some of the most exciting components of the Maya at the Playa Conference are the hands-on workshops that we provide. Our workshops take on many forms and appeal to a wide range of audiences. A great variety of topics are covered in these workshops and the hands-on applications range from handouts and a Q and A session to creating your own lithic projectile points.
Maya Hieroglyphs
Dr. Harri Kettunen Dr. Christophe Helmke
University of Helsinki University of Copenhagen
During the last few decades we have witnessed groundbreaking developments in the field of Maya epigraphy. The information contained within Maya hieroglyphic texts has fundamentally changed our understanding of ancient Maya culture. To be able to read what the Maya themselves wrote about their culture and history is an exciting intellectual endeavor and a captivating window onto a past culture – with repercussions for today’s Maya communities of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
The objective of this workshop is to provide the participants with a glance into the ancient Maya culture through written testimonies. The workshop begins with an introductory lecture followed by a hands-on hieroglyphic workshop where participants will decipher ancient Maya texts with the guidance of workshop tutors. During the workshop, a variety of topics relating to the Maya writing system will be discussed. No previous knowledge of ancient Maya script is required to participate in the workshop.
The workshop concentrates on the life and times of K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II (AD 687–729) ruler of what is now known as Piedras Negras, an important archaeological site located in present-day Guatemala.
Ritual, Violence, and the Fall of the Classic Maya Kings
Dr. Gyles Ianone
Trent University
Maya kings, like their counterparts in other early states throughout the world, were held responsible for the prosperity of their kingdoms. When they failed to meet their obligations within the “sacred covenant” that bound them to both their support populations, and the supernatural powers that controlled fertility, kings and their courts were subject to various forms of “termination,” including ritual decommissioning of their royal residential courtyards, and even violent death. This workshop explores a series of such events that coincided with the end of the Late Classic period (ca. 800 A.D.), and the “fall” of a number of southern lowland kingdoms. The data set provides some key insights into the sociopolitical transformation that has long been referred to as the Maya “collapse.”
Lithic Production
Dr. James Stemp
Keene State College
This workshop focuses on lithic technology and the process of making chipped stone tools. It is designed as a hands-on experience in which participants will learn the basics of knapping stone tools and will try their hand at replicating their own tools. Introductory discussion will focus on the properties of stone that can be chipped and the four primary techniques used in almost all chipped stone tool production (hard-hammer percussion, soft-hammer percussion, indirect percussion and pressure-flaking). In addition to the making of stone tools themselves, the value of the debitage (or flaking debris) that is produced in the process of making a tool will also be discussed. No prior training in stone tool replication is required; this workshop is open to all who are curious about how stone tools are made and what archaeologists can determine about past life-ways based on the recovery of lithic artifacts.
Deciphering Sacred Maya Texts: World Renewal Rituals of the Prehispanic Maya
Dr. Gabrielle Vail
New College of Florida
Rituals associated with renewing the world are a common feature of many of the world’s religions, including that of the prehispanic Maya. This workshop focuses on exploring almanacs in the Maya sacred books (codices) designed for this purpose, as well as examples of world renewal events portrayed in painted murals from the site of Tulum and enacted in ceremonies in highland Maya communities today. It is open to beginners and those with some experience in working with Maya hieroglyphic texts.
Illustration Workshop
Dr. Mark van Stone
Southwestern College
Learn the tricks of iconographic and hieroglyphic illustration with the one who wrote the book on the subject.
Exploring Ancient Maya Cave Art as an “Art Detective”
Cameron Griffith
Indiana University
This workshop will focus on an in depth examination of the different types of cave art created by the ancient Maya. Created by painting, carving, and sculpting, these works of subterranean art range from small, crude, and sinister, to monumental, detailed, and exquisite. Participants will become neophyte "Art Detectives" and learn ways to explore many different cave paintings, petroglyphs, and sculptures within the framework of the ancient Maya iconographic tradition.
Maya Ceramic Figurines
Dr. Christina T. Halperin
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Figurines have a long history of scholarly and popular inquiry, yet they often remain elusive in their meaning and use. In the Maya area, ceramic figurines are best known from the island of Jaina, Mexico, where both looted and archaeologically excavated examples from burials portray lively and detailed aspects of Maya social, political, and religious life. Nonetheless, figurine technology, imagery, and practices are quite varied throughout the Maya area, complicating this single case study. This workshop examines Classic period figurine traditions, their variability, and the controversies over their function and significance. Figurine data presented in the workshop will include recently excavated specimens from sites throughout Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. Workshop participants will be asked to comment on and participate in their interpretation.
Diversity in the Contemporary Mayan World
Dr. Robert Sitler
Stetson University
Some seven million Maya currently live in Mesoamerica speaking over two dozen languages. This workshop provides an introduction to contemporary Mayan cultures in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize drawing attention to the extreme cultural diversity among peoples known collectively to the outside world as Maya.
Knowing the Present through the Past: Maya Ethnohistory, Identity, and Ethnogenesis
Dr. Ashley Kistler
Rollins College
This workshop will explore the ways in which the contemporary Maya of Guatemala conceptualize their own history. Specifically, participants will examine how Maya groups use historical knowledge as the as the basis of their contemporary ethnic identity in the post-civil war era. Participants will consider how the Maya use stories of both Pre-Columbian and Independence-era heroic figures to define and legitimize their place in Guatemalan politics today. Recent interest in the revitalization of such stories helps to empower Maya communities long oppressed by colonial forces.
The Maya and the World of Water
Dr. George Stuart
"The Maya and the World of Water" looks at what we know of the ancient Maya view of the cosmos and the survivals of traditional beliefs among the living Maya. The presentation of the Maya universe will focus on water as the key element of life and death, and its varied manifestations in the sacred world of nature.
Chronology and Causation of the Classic Maya Collapse
Stanley Guenter
Southern Methodist University
Numerous theories have been proposed to explain the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization between the 9th and 10th centuries A.D. Recently, a number of proponents have suggested a series of devastating droughts were responsible, but many other scholars have doubted this due to a lack of direct evidence found at a number of sites, as well as the fact that individual sites seem to have collapsed at different times, leading to a drawn out collapse that is seen earlier in the southern lowlands than the northern lowlands. Even in the southern lowlands, it has been argued, the collapse begins in specific regions and does not affect other areas until decades later. This workshop will re-examine the issue of the chronology of the collapse, and the implications of this study for questions about the causation of collapse. Evidence will be presented and discussed that suggests a series of individual, short episodes of collapse during this period were interspersed with attempts at recovery, and that this has seriously confused the archaeological record. Evidence will also be presented to show that the collapse of the northern lowlands parallels the pattern seen in the south, contrary to many recent interpretations. This evidence for contemporaneous collapse patterns and episodes, then, will be discussed in terms of its implications for the ultimate causes of the Classic Maya Collapse.
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Maya at the Playa
American Foreign Academic Research and The Archaeological Institute of America
September 30 - October 3, 2010
The Archaeology of Us: What Can We Learn of Ourselves from the Past
David Lee
Southern Methodist University
Archaeology serves as the point of departure for much of our own reflective cultural discussion. It’s the plot-de-jour for much of our popular literature and film; it fuels our most fantastical claims about others and ourselves: it is used to explain the extraterrestrial as well as the terrestrial; it unlocks not only the past, but also the future. In short, archaeology has become the fertile ground in which we plant our own mythology. In the first half of this workshop we will discuss the origins of archaeology and consider some of the modern and historical motives behind our deep interest in the past. In the second half you will guide the discussion – what should archaeologists be providing to better educate the public? Should archaeologists address and utilize the influence they wield in our popular culture and modern mythology, and if so how? Help chart a future course for the culture of archaeology.
Common Love for the Game: The Maya Ballgame Impacts on Different Levels of Maya Society
Patrick Wilkinson
University of Arkansas
Archaeology and history have traditionally labeled the Mesoamerican ballgames, in their various forms, as activities limited to the elites. While there is considerable evidence to support elites dominating the game, new discoveries support the supposition that commoners too might have played and that the ballgame had enormous impact on their lives. I have reviewed the known sites in the Belize River Valley and have discovered patterns of construction techniques, architectural style, and population ratios that show far more people were playing the ballgame than the two percent usually referred to as elites by anthropologists. In particular, as access to elite residential complexes became restricted in the Late Classic period, new courts were constructed outside of the civic centers, and the only logical explanation for this is that they were constructed for non-elite use.
Archaeological Illustrations of Ceramics: Drawing Conventions and Practices in the Maya Area
Dr. Reiko Ishihara
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library
Workshop participants will learn why archaeologists draw artifacts, in particular, ceramic sherds and whole vessels, what the conventions used in the Maya area are, and get some hands-on experience!
The Spiritual Conquest at the Yucatan and Florida Peninsulas: A Comparison of Native Cultural Resilience Under the Franciscan Social Engineering Program
Armando Anaya Hernandez
Universidad Autonoma de Campeche
At the beginning of the sixteenth century the Franciscan mendicant order was the largest and most vigorous order in Spain. This implies that the order was nourished by hundreds of youths that were willing to abandon the pleasures of earthly life precisely in the exciting years that followed the discovery of the New World. What motivation would a Spanish youth have to join the Franciscan order? Why did the Franciscans succeed in their evangelization efforts in the New World, where other regular and secular priests failed? And most importantly, how did native populations of the Yucatan and Florida peninsulas react to these efforts? In this workshop we will review the philosophical underpinnings of the Franciscan order, their religious zeal, and their superb social engineering program that they developed in order to carry out what in the surface seemed as the successful conversion of the natives, with special interest on the covert efforts of the natives to maintain their religious practices.
The End of the Cycle: Ritual Process and Social Implications of the Abandonment of Ancient Maya Communities
Max Lamoureux-St.Hilaire
Trent University
Is life an endless cycle of death and rebirth ? The ritual philosophy of the regeneration of life is embodied in numerous facets of the ancient Maya civilization. This presentation will explore how Maya architecture perfectly embodies this belief, focusing on the termination of structures at the time of site abandonment. With the ancient Maya community of Minanha, Belize, as a focal point, Max Lamoureux St-Hilaire will explore the concepts of settlement abandonment and termination rituals and inquire into the implications for a whole household to abandon its homeland, primordial locus where its venerated ancestors lived for numerous centuries.
Courting the Classic Maya: A Study of the Natural and Supernatural Parallels between the Ballcourt and the Royal Court as Depicted in Classic Period Painted Ceramics
Priscilla Mollard
San Francisco State University
The Classic Period Maya ballgame served a purpose more akin to a religious ritual than a game. The ballcourt during this time was not only the physical setting of this ritual but also the vertex of both the natural and supernatural axes on which the ritual acted. Similarly, the Classic Maya royal court was a seat of government that derived its power from both the natural and the supernatural. This paper addresses the archaeological evidence pertaining to the ballgame ritual during the Classic Period, and examines the links between the ballcourt and the Classic Maya royal court. Data is derived mainly from Classic Period ceramic scenes depicting both the ballcourt and the royal court, and the similarities in iconographic vocabulary between the two. Previous authors have addressed the ritual aspects of the Classic Period ballgame, as others have done for the Classic Period royal court, but few have attempted to study the links in form and function between the two. This paper argues that each represented a physical locus of metaphysical power and, as such, painted ceramic depictions of both should follow the same iconographic rules. Where significant differences are observed between the two, it is further suggested that these differences correlate with specific supernatural contexts. While the forms by which these functions present themselves may be disparate, it is argued that the functions themselves derive from a similar source.
Maya Architecture and Engineering
Rick Slazyk and Joaquin Rodriguez III
Institute of Maya Studies
The first half of this workshop will cover the different architectural styles of the Maya with emphasis on the Puuc, Rio Bec/Chenes, and Chiapas varieties. We will cover the various architectural elements and construction differences of the varieties. The second half of the workshop will cover the construction engineering technologies of the vaults and investigate their properties numerically and practically with sample masonry bricks. We will also cover regional and temporal variations.
Mythology in Contemporary Maya Communities
Patricio Balona
The origin of Mythology as it is known in some societies and how similar it is to known Maya mythology. The presentation particularly looks at how these mythological ideologies -- mostly stories -- shaped San Antonio's traditions and culture. This segment will discuss a couple special ceremonies observed to honor special occasions in the village -- K'in Pixan -- Souls Day and planting time. Also, how a combination of these mythological beliefs and Catholicism instilled values in Maya children, thus shaping values and morals in my village.
The Power Behind the Throne: Maya Women and Warfare
Barbara Hughes
University of Colorado Denver
This paper will address the role of Maya women in warfare. It is generally acknowledged that Maya lords were the primary protagonists in battles with other polities. But what of the women? What role, if any, did they play in battle? We may discover that were it not for the royal women, Maya lords may not have been such active participants or as adequately prepared for their battles. I argue that without celestial intervention, and on a smaller scale, active participation of the women behind the throne, Maya men may not have been as willing to engage in warfare with their neighbors. To substantiate this claim, this paper will examine the literature on gender and warfare from principle sites in the Petén, including Dos Pilas, El Mirador, Naranjo, Piedras Negras, and Tikal. This analysis expects to find that Maya royal women were frequently more than passive participants in territorial battles; they were, in fact, the power behind the throne.
The Osteological Story of el Mundo Maya
Amanda Harvey
University of Southern Mississippi
The archaeological record can provide much insight into the lives of the ancient Maya. A skeleton, on the other hand, can provide information that ceramics and architecture cannot such as nutrition and health. Bioarchaeology not only tells of basic biological and physical traits such as sex, age, and stature but also explores other modifications to the body. Cultural characteristics such as cranial and dental modifications along with trauma and sacrifice will all be explored in this workshop. Will your cranium measure to be modified? Find out in the Bioarchaeology workshop?
Organizing a Pre-Columbian Art Exhibit
Traci Ardren
University of Miami
Take a behind the scenes look at putting together a major pre-Columbian art exhibit. This workshop will include how to select objects that tell a story, how to deal with donors and art dealers, how to purchase a Maya vase (legally!), and how an exhibit is designed to appeal to visitors.
Enjoy More, Learn More, Through Travel Journaling
Mary McFate
Your travel journal may serve you in many ways: to share experiences with others; to help with photo labeling; to heighten your visual and hearing perceptions; to bring order to your ongoing study of Mayan history. This participatory workshop will include exercises in writing, conversational descriptions, and "mental aerobics" to sharpen your observational & memory mining skills.
Settlement, Households, and Domestic Pursuits
Julie Hoggarth Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown
University of Pittsburg University of Calgary
This workshop will focus on settlement, houses, households, and domestic pursuits of the Maya. Learn how and why archaeologists study these topics, and what these studies have revealed about the everyday life of the Maya.
The Power of Pottery
Lauren Sullivan
University of Massachusetts / Boston
Pottery has the power to provide great insight regarding many aspects of the Maya– ranging from daily life to ritual and religious activities. This paper will begin with a discussion of the different kinds of information archaeologists can obtain through pottery analysis. We will then focus on different examples from the archaeological record where pottery has been used to look at the relationship between different groups of elites, as well as elites and commoners.