Deciphering Maya Writing

With Carlos Pallán , from National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

Abstract:

Maya writing is by far the most sophisticated script ever developed in the New World. Its stunning visual complexity is unparalleled through human history. Over 10,000 texts carved on stone and painted on ceramic vessels, murals and extant Codices (bark-paper books) attest to its magnificence. Yet, despite over 100 years of scholarship, by the mid 20th century very little of the inner workings of the Maya script were known. This situation started to change with the seminal contributions of Tatiana Proskouriakoff, Heinrich Berlin and Yuriy Knorosov, which paved the way to the current 80% plus understanding brought by the modern era of decipherment, truly to be regarded as one of milestones of human intellectual achievement.

Today, decipherment increasingly profits from state-of-the-art technologies, ranging from the 3D Documentation of Maya Cultural Heritage (CH), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), relational databases and computer analyses aided by Automatic Vision, as currently pursued by a new international joint-effort undertaken by the IDIAP Institute, along with the Universities at Geneva and Bonn. Advancements such as these have the potential to further unlock a rich Universe of historical and mythological significance, encoded within the ancient carvings and paintings, to the extent that key historical events, the name of their protagonist and the places where these unfolded, as well as the gods to whom they prayed and their underlying mythical narratives are no longer hidden to our understanding.

Short bio:

Carlos Pallán (Mexico City, 1974) currently conducts doctoral research at the University of Bonn, Germany. He holds a M.A. in Mesoamerican Studies from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), as well as an Archaeology Degree from the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH). He is the founder and director of Mexico’s Hieroglyphic and Iconographic Maya Archive (Ajimaya), and has worked in most of the main Maya archaeological sites within Mexico. He has authored a number of books, book chapters and scientific papers centered on the Epigraphy and Archaeology of Maya Civilization. From his work he has obtained awards such as the National Archaeology Prize “Alfonso Caso” in Mexico and the DAAD Scholarship in Germany.

Date: Tuesday November 22th, 2011 - 4.15 pm

Place: Battelle building A - Auditorium (ground floor)

15 novembre 2011

À la Une