2014 Maya Meetings Symposium Tikal and Its Neighbors

2014 Maya Meetings Symposium Tikal and Its Neighbors

2014 Maya Meetings Symposium
Tikal and Its Neighbors
For the first time in over a decade 2014 Maya Meetings will focus on the
archaeology and history of Tikal, Guatemala – long renowned as one of the
great kingdoms of ancient Maya civilization. The conference and workshops
will feature new research on various fronts, revealing changes in our
conception of Tikal as a city, as a court, and as a community. Presentations by
noted and upcoming scholars will highlight the ways archaeology and
epigraphy are reevaluating Tikal’s key role in the political and cultural history
of the central lowlands. The meetings will also look at the history of research
at Tikal, and the remarkable legacy of early excavations on the present-day
methods and science of Maya archaeology.
The 2014 Maya Meetings is pleased to collaborate with El Centro de
Formación de la Cooperación Española en la Antigua Guatemala (CFCE
Antigua). All workshops and Symposium will take place at Cooperación
Española. Simultaneous translation (English to Spanish and Spanish to
English) will be provided during the Symposium. Please direct any questions
about the event to [email protected]
Friday, January 10
Cooperación Española
La Antigua, Guatemala
9:00-9:30 am
Registration
9:45 am
Welcome Remarks Dr. David Stuart
10:00-10:40 am
Towards the Setting Sun: Thoughts on Tikal, El Zotz, and
Points West
Stephen Houston
Tikal is large but not alone: to the west lay the ancient kingdom of what is
now called El Zotz, along with other kingdoms beyond. To understand Tikal
is, at times, to displace our focus to the polities that lay on its edges, some of
which, as in the case of El Zotz, have been explored intensively since 2008.
This presentation explores the findings, controversies, and broader import of
the archaeology and epigraphy of El Zotz. Fragmentary and often frustrating,
this evidence shows that Tikal can partly be studied by indirect means,
through its effects on contemporaries.
10:40-11:20 am
“The Population of Tikal”
David Webster
This lecture will review old conceptions of the spatial extent of the local Tikal
polity and how these have been altered by more recent evidence. Ideas about
Tikal’s demography are considered in a broader context of what we know
about other ancient agrarian states. I propose that Tikal’s population in the 8th
Century was less dense that we usually imagine and that its agrarian economy
was still heavily based on upland agriculture that included swidden
components. By the 8th century niche construction and niche inheritance
created strong internal stresses and competition among framers on the Tikal
landscape.
11:20- 12:00 pm
Compartiendo cultura con los vecinos cercanos y lejanos.
Arqueología de las pequeñas cosas.
María Josefa Isaac Iglesias Ponce de León
Los objetos son la parte más visible del registro arqueológico y de ellos los
especialistas extraen información sobre la sociedad a estudiar. Las similitudes
o disimilitudes formales que encontramos en los objetos nos ayudan a realizar
inferencias acerca de las relaciones que comparten los habitantes de un lugar
con sus vecinos más o menos próximos , pero ¿qué podemos inferir cuando
"los vecinos" proceden en origen desde 1000 km de distancia?
Esta aportación trata sobre "aquellas pequeñas cosas" que comparten en Tikal
durante el periodo Clásico Temprano gentes procedentes de culturas
diferentes, y que nos ayudan a comprender las relaciones que pudieron existir
entre las élites de ciudades tan esenciales en el ámbito mesoamericano de la
época como Teotihuacan y Tikal.
12:00-2:00 pm
Lunch Break
2:00-2:40 pm
Oswaldo Gomez
Lecture TBA
2:40-3:20 pm
Edwin Ramirez
Lecture TBA
3:20-3:45
Coffee Break
3:45-4:25 pm
David Stuart
Lecture TBA
4:25-5:00
Speakers Q&A
Saturday, January 11
Cooperación Española
La Antigua, Guatemala
10:30-11:10 am
Simon Martin
Title TBA
11:15-12:00 am
Yaxha: Los Vecinos del Agua Verde-Azul
Laura Gamez
Ubicado hacia el este de Tikal, el antiguo reino de Yaxha dominó el territorio
en derredor de la cuenca de las lagunas Yaxha y Sacnab. Los inicios de la
historia de Yaxha se remontan al menos al período Preclásico Medio y se
extiende hasta el Clásico Terminal. Durante el Clásico Tardío y Terminal,
Yaxha fue un reino de considerables dimensiones que controlaba importantes
recursos naturales. Se identificaba con su propio ‘glifo emblema’ y mantenía
un centro cívico-ceremonial con impresionantes monumentos arquitectónicos
y escultóricos. Dada su cercanía, la historia de Yaxha estuvo estrechamente
ligada a la de su poderoso vecino, Tikal. La información epigráfica indica que
Yaxha participaba activamente del sistema político regional Maya Clásico,
viéndose inmiscuido en más de una ocasión en los conflictos regionales del
Clásico. La evidencia arqueológica sugiere una estrecha relación con Tikal.
Esta ponencia presenta un recorrido por la historia de Yaxha y sus vínculos
con Tikal, incluyendo los resultados de las investigaciones más recientes en la
antigua ciudad.
12:00- 2:00
Lunch Break
2:15- 3:30 pm
Roundtable “The Legacy of the Penn Tikal Excavations”
Moderator: David Stuart. Participants: Clemency Coggins
Christopher Jones, Peter Harrison.
Saturday, January 11
5:30-7:30 pm
Closing Reception for The Maya Meetings
Casa Herrera
La Antigua, Guatemala
Join us for the closing reception cocktail to celebrate the end of
another successful Maya Meetings.
Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served