•  
  •  
 

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

Maya sculptor, epigraphic, iconographic, ancient writing systems

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Anthropology

Abstract

The existence of artistic authorship within ancient writing systems, though rare, is a significant diagnostic tool. Such signatures can illuminate social positions of artists and networks of artistic production. They also represent a unique genre of text outside of formal written language which can reveal aspects of the language never considered before. Recently, Mayan epigraphers have begun to ask if such a program of authorship existed among the Classic Maya. For my research project I undertook the collection and decipherment of 95 proposed signatures or “name-tags” on stelae and carved monuments from 23 sites in the Central Maya region of Mexico and Guatemala. These short texts began to appear on monuments suddenly around AD 603 (Mathews I 978:61, fig. 1) and disappeared with the collapse of the Maya civilization at circa. AD 900. “Nametags” usually occur separately from the primary text of the monument. In many cases the size of these inscriptions is notably smaller than the main text, similar to a subscript or marginal glossing. Nor are they usually emphasized in the deep relief common to main texts. Also a characteristic glyph combination, known as the lu-bat glyph, together with the possessive prefix WJ. usually precedes this series of names and titles. This glyph combination, together with the characteristic low relief carving style, makes these “name-tags” easy to identify. Originally thought to be verbal clauses (Schele 1982:124-128) over a hundred of these “tags” are now known to exist, and though many have been analyzed individually, to date no comparative analysis has been made of all of them.

Download

Included in

Anthropology Commons

Share

COinS