Mesoamerican Mythologies

Mesoamerican Mythologies
Symposium
October 18, 2008

Beckman Center of the
National Academies of Sciences and Engineering
Irvine, California

This one-day conference brings together some of the foremost
scholars to present their research on and knowledge about
ancient Mesoamerican Mythological belief systems and
to discuss how these mythologies are reflected
in their art, architecture, and sacred texts.
The symposium guest speakers include
Karl Taube, Michael Coe, Wendy Ashmore,
David Stuart, John Pohl, and Leonardo Lopez Lujan
Speakers' Reception and Banquet are open to the public
(with separate registration) featuring our Keynote Speaker
Dr. Mary Ellen Miller, Yale University
Only 90 seats available - register early!
The prior symposium on Maya Murals, held at the same venue,
sold out very quickly, so keep Saturday, October 18 on your calendar and
watch for updates on this website at mesoamericanmythologies.info.

Early Bird Registration (Before Sept.15) - $145
Registration Form
Symposium Brochure

Note: Seating in the Beckman Auditorium is very limited. Symposium
registration will be "cut-off" after receiving the first 200 registrants.

Saturday Schedule:

7:30am Breakfast & Registration

8:45am Introduction & Opening Event

Karl Taube
University of California Riverside Maya Mythology and the
Ancient Mesoamerican World

Thanks to recent breakthroughs in the understanding of ancient Maya writing and iconography, much can be said concerning Maya mythology of the Classic period. It is now known that many episodes of the 16th century Popol Vuh can be traced to the Classic and even Late Preclassic periods. In addition, the names of many Classic Maya deities can be uttered once again in Mayan. However, the Classic Maya did not exist in isolation. Not only were they in contact with contemporary cultures of the Gulf Coast and highland Mexico, but they also inherited many traditions from the earlier Olmec. In this study, I will discuss many traits of Classic Maya mythology pertaining to maize, the earth monster, the plumed serpent and other topics in the greater context of Mesoamerica, including both the Formative Olmec and the Late Postclassic Aztec.

.

.

Michael Coe
Yale University Izapa: Mixe-Zoquean or Maya?

In the late Gareth W. Lowe’s seminal report of 1982, the great site of Izapa, situated in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, was the product of Mixe-Zoquean speakers. However, more recent information on the Late Formative of southeastern Mesoamerica places Izapa well within the Maya world, and establishes it as a key site in the development of Maya religion.

.

.

Wendy Ashmore
University of California Riverside Encountering Maya Mythic Space

Ancient Maya kings and artisans commemorated events of creation via buildings, mural painting, and such other enduring media as pottery. In millennia past, these physical forms were crafted as avenues for entering mythic space and time, whether made accessible to a wide public or only a privileged few. Images in this talk illustrate that experiencing what are now Maya archaeological sites continues strongly to evoke the myths they were built to embody.

.

David Stuart
University of Texas, Austin The Jeweled Eagle and the One King:
New Insights Into the "Principal Bird Deity" in Pre-Classic and Classic Maya Mythology

.

The "Principal Bird Deity" (PBD) is widely recognized as one of the most important entities in Maya mythology, but it (or they) still remains enigmatic in many ways. He is clearly related to "Seven Macaw" of the Popol Vuh, but a nuanced understanding of the great bird is best approached from ancient, contemporaneous sources. New finds and interpretations are now revealing the outlines of a complex mythological narrative wherein the Principal Bird Deity, a solar eagle, represented cosmic directionality and primordial concepts of kingship, power and wealth. Its "descent from the sky" was a foundational episode in Maya mythology, establishing the charter of royal authority and its appropriation by "One Ajaw," the mythical hunter-king of the Classic Maya.

.

.

John Pohl
Fowler Museum, University of California Los Angeles Nahua, Mixtec, and Zapotec
Religious Practices

Between A.D. 1150-1520, southern Mexico was dominated by a powerful confederacy of the Eastern Nahua, Mixtec, and Zapotec civilizations. Nevertheless, profound differences in ritual practices are evident in their art. The Eastern Nahuas emphasized iconography related to sorcery and divination. The Mixtecs, invoked the heroes of their creation stories depicted in codices. The Zapotecs ornamented their vessels with three-dimensional representations of a Zapotec god known as Bezelao or Lord Thirteen Flower, patron of an elysium-like afterlife.

.

.

Leonardo Lopez Lujan
INAH, Mexico D.F. Tlaltecuhtli, the Aztec Earth Goddess:
Recent Discoveries in Downtown Mexico City

On October 2, 2006, a huge monolith was unearthed in Mexico City in front of the ruins of the Aztec Great Temple and behind the Metropolitan Cathedral. Representing the earth goddess Tlaltecuhtli, this monument is the largest Aztec sculpture known to date. Professor López Luján will discuss the discovery of this incredible monument, the iconographic identification of the goddess and its possible funerary functions.

.

.

All Panelists Mesoamerican Roundtable

followed by
Speaker Reception
& Keynote Dinner

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Maya Women & Men -
At Work And Play
In The Ancient Courts

Dr. Mary Ellen Miller
Professor at Yale University

Keynote Speaker Dinner Saturday 5:45pm
Keynote Dinner Cost: $75
Seating is limited - Register early

Who were the people of the ancient Maya court, and what roles did they play? This talk will look at the musicians and artists, along with the family members and hangers on - in short, the royal entourage. This survey of the Bonampak murals will help shape a view on the eve of the Maya "collapse", circa AD 800.
Mary Ellen Miller is an American art historian and academic at Yale University. In 1998, she was appointed as the Vincent Scully, Jr. Professor of the History of Art. In 2008, she was appointed as Sterling Professor at Yale. She is the master of Yale's Saybrook College. Dr. Miller studies and lectures on the art and architecture of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, on which she has authored or co-authored a number of important works.

Our Keynote event will start with a three-course dinner, featuring the popular Chilean Sea Bass (a signature entrée of the Beckman Center), and will again include a fine selection of California wines. Our speaker, Dr. Mary Ellen Miller, will highlight the evening.

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Beckman Center
National Academies
of Sciences & Engineering
100 Academy
Irvine CA 92617

Located on seven acres adjacent to the University of California at Irvine, the Beckman Center is ideally suited to host what again should be a most memorable symposium. The facility operates under the ownership of the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering and offers a retreat-like venue for collaboration in a wide range of pursuits.

Presented by the New World Archaeology Council in conjunction with
the Archaeological Institute of America – Orange County Society and
the Anthropology Department of University of California Riverside

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Navigate the Mesoamerican Mythologies web pages:
[ Symposium Schedule | Keynote Dinner | Location ]

[ Symposium Brochure | Registration Form ]

Join our mailing list at newworldarch@yahoo.com

This URL: http://mesoamericanmythologies.info
2008 - New World Archaology Council [] Last Update: 18 August 2008
Revised intermittently

	7:30am Breakfast & Registration
	8:45am Introduction & Opening Event
Karl Taube University of California Riverside	Maya Mythology and the Ancient Mesoamerican World
	Thanks to recent breakthroughs in the understanding of ancient Maya writing and iconography, much can be said concerning Maya mythology of the Classic period. It is now known that many episodes of the 16th century Popol Vuh can be traced to the Classic and even Late Preclassic periods. In addition, the names of many Classic Maya deities can be uttered once again in Mayan. However, the Classic Maya did not exist in isolation. Not only were they in contact with contemporary cultures of the Gulf Coast and highland Mexico, but they also inherited many traditions from the earlier Olmec. In this study, I will discuss many traits of Classic Maya mythology pertaining to maize, the earth monster, the plumed serpent and other topics in the greater context of Mesoamerica, including both the Formative Olmec and the Late Postclassic Aztec.
.
.
Michael Coe Yale University	Izapa: Mixe-Zoquean or Maya?
	In the late Gareth W. Lowe’s seminal report of 1982, the great site of Izapa, situated in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, was the product of Mixe-Zoquean speakers. However, more recent information on the Late Formative of southeastern Mesoamerica places Izapa well within the Maya world, and establishes it as a key site in the development of Maya religion.
.
.
Wendy Ashmore University of California Riverside	Encountering Maya Mythic Space
	Ancient Maya kings and artisans commemorated events of creation via buildings, mural painting, and such other enduring media as pottery. In millennia past, these physical forms were crafted as avenues for entering mythic space and time, whether made accessible to a wide public or only a privileged few. Images in this talk illustrate that experiencing what are now Maya archaeological sites continues strongly to evoke the myths they were built to embody.
.
David Stuart University of Texas, Austin	The Jeweled Eagle and the One King: New Insights Into the "Principal Bird Deity" in Pre-Classic and Classic Maya Mythology
.
	The "Principal Bird Deity" (PBD) is widely recognized as one of the most important entities in Maya mythology, but it (or they) still remains enigmatic in many ways. He is clearly related to "Seven Macaw" of the Popol Vuh, but a nuanced understanding of the great bird is best approached from ancient, contemporaneous sources. New finds and interpretations are now revealing the outlines of a complex mythological narrative wherein the Principal Bird Deity, a solar eagle, represented cosmic directionality and primordial concepts of kingship, power and wealth. Its "descent from the sky" was a foundational episode in Maya mythology, establishing the charter of royal authority and its appropriation by "One Ajaw," the mythical hunter-king of the Classic Maya.
.
.
John Pohl Fowler Museum, University of California Los Angeles	Nahua, Mixtec, and Zapotec Religious Practices
	Between A.D. 1150-1520, southern Mexico was dominated by a powerful confederacy of the Eastern Nahua, Mixtec, and Zapotec civilizations. Nevertheless, profound differences in ritual practices are evident in their art. The Eastern Nahuas emphasized iconography related to sorcery and divination. The Mixtecs, invoked the heroes of their creation stories depicted in codices. The Zapotecs ornamented their vessels with three-dimensional representations of a Zapotec god known as Bezelao or Lord Thirteen Flower, patron of an elysium-like afterlife.
.
.
Leonardo Lopez Lujan INAH, Mexico D.F.	Tlaltecuhtli, the Aztec Earth Goddess: Recent Discoveries in Downtown Mexico City
	On October 2, 2006, a huge monolith was unearthed in Mexico City in front of the ruins of the Aztec Great Temple and behind the Metropolitan Cathedral. Representing the earth goddess Tlaltecuhtli, this monument is the largest Aztec sculpture known to date. Professor López Luján will discuss the discovery of this incredible monument, the iconographic identification of the goddess and its possible funerary functions.
.
.
All Panelists	Mesoamerican Roundtable
	followed by Speaker Reception & Keynote Dinner
.