Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras,not far from the border with Guatemala. It is one of the most important sites of the Mayan civilization,which were not excavated until the 19th century. The ruined citadel and imposing public squares reveal the three main stages of development before the city was abandoned in the early 10th century.
Kʼawiil,in the Post-Classic codices corresponding to God K,is a Maya deity identified with lightning,serpents,fertility and maize. He is characterized by a zoomorphic head,with large eyes,long,upturned snout and attenuated serpent foot. A torch,stone celt,or cigar,normally emitting smoke,comes out of his forehead,while a serpent leg represents a lightning bolt. In this way,Kʼawiil personifies the lightning axe both of the rain deity and of the king as depicted on his stelae.
Tikal is the ruin of an ancient city,which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal,found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén,the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"Spearthrower Owl" was a Mesoamerican person from the Early Classic period,who is identified in Maya inscriptions and iconography. Mayanist David Stuart has suggested that Spearthrower Owl was a ruler of Teotihuacan at the start of the height of its influence across Mesoamerica in the 4th and 5th century,and that he was responsible for an intense period of Teotihuacan presence in the Maya area,including the conquest of Tikal in 378 CE.
Tonina is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas,some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo.
Siyaj Kʼakʼ,also known as Fire is Born,was a prominent political figure mentioned in the glyphs of Classic Period (250–800 CE) Maya civilization monuments,principally Tikal,as well as Uaxactun and the city of Copan. Epigraphers originally identified him by the nickname "Smoking Frog",a description of his name glyph,but later deciphered it as Siyaj Kʼakʼ,meaning "Fire is born". He is believed by some to have been the general of the Teotihuacano ruler Spearthrower Owl.
Maya script,also known as Maya glyphs,is historically the native writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which are identifiably Maya date to the 3rd century BCE in San Bartolo,Guatemala. Maya writing was in continuous use throughout Mesoamerica until the Spanish conquest of the Maya in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche,deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands.
Linda Schele was an American Mesoamerican archaeologist who was an expert in the field of Maya epigraphy and iconography. She played an invaluable role in the decipherment of much of the Maya hieroglyphs. She produced a massive volume of drawings of stelae and inscriptions,which,following her wishes,are free for use to scholars. In 1978,she founded the annual Maya Meetings at The University of Texas at Austin.
Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil,was the 13th ajaw or ruler of the powerful Maya polity associated with the site of Copán in modern Honduras. He ruled from January 2,695,to May 3,738.
Tatiana Proskouriakoff was a Russian-American Mayanist scholar and archaeologist who contributed significantly to the deciphering of Maya hieroglyphs,the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica.
Michael Douglas Coe was an American archaeologist,anthropologist,epigrapher,and author. He is known for his research on pre-Columbian Mesoamerica,particularly the Maya,and was among the foremost Mayanists of the late twentieth century. He specialised in comparative studies of ancient tropical forest civilizations,such as those of Central America and Southeast Asia. He held the chair of Charles J. MacCurdy Professor of Anthropology,Emeritus,Yale University,and was curator emeritus of the Anthropology collection in the Peabody Museum of Natural History,where he had been curator from 1968 to 1994.
Mesoamerica,along with Mesopotamia and China,is one of three known places in the world where writing is thought to have developed independently. Mesoamerican scripts deciphered to date are a combination of logographic and syllabic systems. They are often called hieroglyphs due to the iconic shapes of many of the glyphs,a pattern superficially similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs. Fifteen distinct writing systems have been identified in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica,many from a single inscription. The limits of archaeological dating methods make it difficult to establish which was the earliest and hence the progenitor from which the others developed. The best documented and deciphered Mesoamerican writing system,and the most widely known,is the classic Maya script. Earlier scripts with poorer and varying levels of decipherment include the Olmec hieroglyphs,the Zapotec script,and the Isthmian script,all of which date back to the 1st millennium BC. An extensive Mesoamerican literature has been conserved,partly in indigenous scripts and partly in postconquest transcriptions in the Latin script.
Ancient Maya art comprises the visual arts of the Maya civilization,an eastern and south-eastern Mesoamerican culture made up of a great number of small kingdoms in present-day Mexico,Guatemala,Belize and Honduras. Many regional artistic traditions existed side by side,usually coinciding with the changing boundaries of Maya polities. This civilization took shape in the course of the later Preclassic Period,when the first cities and monumental architecture started to develop and the hieroglyphic script came into being. Its greatest artistic flowering occurred during the seven centuries of the Classic Period.
Talud-tablero is an architectural style most commonly used in platforms,temples,and pyramids in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica,becoming popular in the Early Classic Period of Teotihuacan. Talud-tablero consists of an inward-sloping surface or panel called the talud,with a panel or structure perpendicular to the ground sitting upon the slope called the tablero. This may also be referred to as the slope-and-panel style.
The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. The civilization is also noted for its art,architecture,mathematics,calendar,and astronomical system.
Maya stelae are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall,sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars,although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief,although plain monuments are found throughout the Maya region. The sculpting of these monuments spread throughout the Maya area during the Classic Period,and these pairings of sculpted stelae and circular altars are considered a hallmark of Classic Maya civilization. The earliest dated stela to have been found in situ in the Maya lowlands was recovered from the great city of Tikal in Guatemala. During the Classic Period almost every Maya kingdom in the southern lowlands raised stelae in its ceremonial centre.
Nikolai Grube is a German epigrapher. He was born in Bonn in 1962. Grube entered the University of Hamburg in 1982 and graduated in 1985. His doctoral thesis was published at the same university in 1990. After he received his doctorate,Grube moved to the University of Bonn. Nikolai Grube has been heavily involved in the decipherment of the Maya hieroglyphic script.
The history of Maya civilization is divided into three principal periods:the Preclassic,Classic and Postclassic periods;these were preceded by the Archaic Period,which saw the first settled villages and early developments in agriculture. Modern scholars regard these periods as arbitrary divisions of chronology of the Maya civilization,rather than indicative of cultural evolution or decadence. Definitions of the start and end dates of period spans can vary by as much as a century,depending on the author. The Preclassic lasted from approximately 3000 BC to approximately 250 AD;this was followed by the Classic,from 250 AD to roughly 950 AD,then by the Postclassic,from 950 AD to the middle of the 16th century. Each period is further subdivided:
Yopaat was an important Maya storm god in the southern Maya area that included the cities of Copán and Quiriguáduring the Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology. Yopaat was closely related to Chaac,the Maya rain god. Yopaat is depicted as bearing a flint weapon that represents a thunderbolt. Yopaat was held responsible for especially violent lightning storms,that were believed to cause earthquakes. He was often represented with a snake in place of one leg,demonstrating a close relationship with Kʼawiil,another Maya deity with similar attributes.
