Maya script 1494968 225861557 2008-07-15T19:14:03Z Reddi 13833 {{Infobox WS |name=Maya |type=Alternative - Logosyllabic |typedesc=(used both [[Logogram]]s and [[Syllabary|syllabic]] characters) |time=3rd century BCE to 16th century CE |languages=[[Mayan languages]] |iso15924=Maya }} {{Maya civilization}} The '''Maya script''', also known as '''Maya hieroglyphs''', was the [[Writing systems|writing system]] of the [[pre-Columbian]] [[Maya civilization]] of [[Mesoamerica]], presently the only deciphered [[Mesoamerican writing systems|Mesoamerican writing system]]. The earliest inscriptions which are identifiably Maya date to the [[3rd century BCE]],<ref>[http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/106/2 ''Science''] (subscription required)</ref> and writing was in continuous use until shortly after the arrival of the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] ''[[conquistador]]es'' in the 16th century CE (and even later in isolated areas such as [[Tayasal]]). Maya writing used [[logogram]]s complemented by a set of [[syllabary|syllabic]] [[glyph]]s, somewhat similar in function to modern [[Japanese writing]]. Maya writing was called "hieroglyphics" or "hieroglyphs" by early European explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries who did not understand it but found its general appearance reminiscent of [[Egyptian hieroglyph]]s, to which however the Maya writing system is not at all related. ==The languages== It is now thought that the codices and other Classic texts were written in a literary form of the [[Ch'olti' language]]. It is possible that the Maya elite spoke this language as a ''[[lingua franca]]'' over the entire Maya-speaking area, but also that texts were written in other [[Mayan languages]] of the [[Petén Basin|Peten]] and [[Yucatán Peninsula|Yucatán]], especially [[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec]]. There is also some evidence that the script may have been occasionally used to write Mayan languages of the [[Guatemalan Highlands]].<ref>Kettunen and Helmke (2005, p.12)</ref> However, if other languages were written, they may have been written by Ch'olti [[scribe]]s, and therefore have Ch'olti elements. ==Structure== Maya writing consisted of a highly elaborate set of glyphs, which were laboriously painted on ceramics, walls or bark-paper [[codex|codices]], carved in wood or stone, or molded in [[stucco]]. Carved and molded glyphs were painted, but the paint has not often survived. About three-quarters or more of Maya writing can now be read with varying degrees of certainty, enough to give a comprehensive idea of its structure. [[Image:NaranjoStela10Maler.jpg|190px|right|thumb|An inscription in Maya glyphs from the site of [[Naranjo]], relating to the reign of king ''Itzamnaaj K'awil'', [[784]]-[[810]].]] The Maya script was a [[logogram|logosyllabic]] system. Individual symbols ("glyphs") could represent either a word (actually a [[morpheme]]) or a [[syllable]]; indeed, the same glyph could often be used for both. For example, the calendaric glyph <small>MANIK’</small> was also used to represent the syllable ''chi''. (It's customary to write logographic readings in all capitals and phonetic readings in italics.) It is possible, but not certain, that these conflicting readings arose as the script was adapted to new languages, as also happened with Japanese [[kanji]] and with Assyro-Babylonian and Hittite [[cuneiform]]. There was ambiguity in the other direction as well: Different glyphs could be read the same way. For example, half a dozen apparently unrelated glyphs were used to write the very common [[grammatical person|third person]] pronoun ''u-''. Maya was usually written in blocks arranged in columns two blocks wide, read as follows: [[Image:Maya script reading direction.png|thumb|left|200px|Maya inscriptions were most often written in columns two glyphs wide, with each such column read left to right, top to bottom]] Within each block, glyphs were arranged top-to-bottom and left-to-right, superficially rather like Korean [[Hangul]] syllabic blocks. However, in the case of Maya, each block tended to correspond to a noun or verb [[phrase]] such as ''his green headband''. Also, glyphs were sometimes ''conflated,'' where an element of one glyph would replace part of a second. Conflation occurs in other scripts: For example, in medieval Spanish manuscripts the word ''de'' 'of' was sometimes written Ð (a D with the arm of an E). An English example is the [[ampersand]] (&) which is a conflation of the Latin "et". In place of the standard block configuration Maya was also sometimes written in a single row or column, 'L', or 'T' shapes. These variations most often appeared when they would better fit the surface being inscribed. Maya glyphs were fundamentally logographic. Generally the glyphs used as phonetic elements were originally logograms that stood for words that were themselves single syllables, syllables that either ended in a vowel or in a weak consonant such as ''y, w, h,'' or [[glottal stop]]. For example, the logogram for 'fish fin' (Maya [kah] — found in two forms, as a fish fin and as a fish with prominent fins), came to represent the syllable ''ka.'' These syllabic glyphs performed two primary functions: They were used as phonetic complements to disambiguate logograms which had more than one reading, as also occurred in Egyptian, and they were used to write grammatical elements such as verbal inflections which did not have dedicated logograms, as in modern Japanese. For example, ''b'alam'' 'jaguar' could be written as a single logogram, <small>BALAM</small>, complemented phonetically as ''ba-''<small>BALAM</small>, or <small>BALAM</small>''-ma,'' or ''ba-''<small>BALAM</small>-''ma,'' or written completely phonetically as ''ba-la-ma.'' Phonetic glyphs stood for simple consonant-vowel or bare-vowel syllables. However, Maya [[phonotactics]] is slightly more complicated than this: Most Maya words end in a consonant, not a vowel, and there may be sequences of two consonants within a word as well, as in ''xolte’'' {{IPA|[ʃolteʔ]}} 'scepter', which is CVCCVC. When these final consonants were [[sonorant]]s ''(l, m, n)'' or [[glottal consonant|glottals]] ''(h, ’)'' they were sometimes ignored ("underspelled"), but more often final consonants were written, which meant that an extra vowel was written as well. This was typically an "echo" vowel that repeated the vowel of the previous syllable. That is, the word [kah] 'fish fin' would be written in full as ''ka-ha.'' However, there are many cases where some other vowel was used, and the orthographic rules for this are only partially understood. Here's our current understanding: * A CVC syllable was written ''CV-CV,'' where the two vowels (V) were the same: ''yo-po'' [yop] 'leaf' * A syllable with a long vowel (CVVC) was written ''CV-Ci,'' unless the long vowel was [i], in which case it was written ''CiCa: ba-ki'' [baak] 'captive', ''yi-tzi-na'' [yihtziin] 'younger brother' * A syllable with a [[glottalization|glottalized]] vowel (CV’C or CV’VC) was written with a final ''a'' if the vowel was [e, o, u], or with a final ''u'' if the vowel was [a] or [i]: ''hu-na'' [hu’n] 'paper', ''ba-tz’u'' [ba’tz’] 'howler monkey'. A more complex spelling is ''ha-o-bo ko-ko-no-ma'' for [ha’o’b kohkno’m] 'they are the guardians'. (Vowel length and glottalization are not always indicated in common words like 'they are'.) A minimal set, not fully translated, is, :''ba-ka'' [bak] :''ba-ki'' [baak] :''ba-ku'' [ba’k] or [ba’ak] :''ba-ke'' [baakel] (underspelled) See [http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/handbook/WH2004.pdf here] for a more substantial discussion and, from page 70 on, a partial list of glyphs and glyph blocks. ==Emblem glyphs== An "emblem glyph" is a kind of royal title. It consists of a word ''[[ajaw]]'' – a Classic Maya term for “lord” of yet unclear etymology but well-attested in Colonial sources<ref>Lacadena García-Gallo, A. and A. Ciudad Ruiz (1998). Reflexiones sobre la estructura política maya clásica. Anatomía de una Civilización: Aproximaciones Interdisciplinarias a la Cultura Maya. A. Cuidad Ruiz, M. I. Ponce de León and M. Martínez Martínez. Madrid, Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas: 31-64.</ref> – and a place name that precedes the word ''ajaw'' and functions as an adjective. An expression “Boston lord” would be a perfect English analogy. Sometimes, the title is introduced by an adjective ''k’uhul'' (“holy, divine” or “sacred”), just as if someone wanted to say “holy Boston lord”. Of course, an "emblem glyph" is not a "glyph" at all: it can be spelled with any number of syllabic or logographic signs and several alternative spellings are attested for the words ''k’uhul'' and ''ajaw'', which form the stable core of the title. The term "emblem glyph" simply reflects the times when mayanists could not read Classic Maya inscriptions and had to come up with some nicknames isolating certain recurrent structural components of the written narratives. [[Image:Tikalemblem.jpg|right|thumb|Tikal or "Mutal" Emblem Glyph, Stela in Tikal's Museum]] This title was identified in 1958 by [[Heinrich Berlin]],<ref>Berlin, H. (1958). "El Glifo Emblema en las inscripciones Maya." Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris 47: 111-119.</ref> who coined the term "emblem glyph". Berlin noticed that the "emblem glyphs" consisted of a larger "main sign" and two smaller signs now read as ''[[k'uhul ajaw|k’uhul ajaw]]''. Berlin also noticed that while the smaller elements remained relatively constant, the main sign changed from site to site. Berlin proposed that the main signs identified individual cities, their ruling dynasties, or the territories they controlled. Subsequently, Marcus<ref>Marcus, J. (1976). Emblem and state in the classic Maya Lowlands: an epigraphic approach to territorial organization. Washington, Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University.</ref> argued that the "emblem glyphs" referred to archaeological sites, broken down in a 5-tiered hierarchy of asymmetrical distribution. Marcus' research assumed that the emblem glyphs were distributed in a pattern of relative site importance depending on broadness of distribution, roughly broken down as follows: '''Primary regional centers (capitals)''' (Tikal, Calakmul, and other "superpowers") were generally first in the region to acquire a unique emblem glyph(s). Texts referring to other primary regional centers occur in the texts of these "capitals", and dependencies exist which utilize the primary center's glyph. '''Secondary centers''' (Altun Ha, Luubantuun, Xunantunich, and other mid-sized cities had their own glyphs but are only rarely mentioned in texts found in the primary regional center, while repeatedly mentioning the regional center in their own texts. '''Tertiary centers''' (towns) had no glyphs of their own, but have texts mentioning the primary regional centers and perhaps secondary regional centers on occasion. These were followed by the '''villages''' with no emblem glyphs and no texts mentioning the larger centers, and '''hamlets''' with little evidence of texts at all.<ref>Marcus, J. (1973) Territorial Organization of the Lowland Classic Maya. Science. 1973 June 1;180 (4089):pp. 911-916</ref> This model was largely unchallenged for over a decade until Mathews and Justeson,<ref>See Mathews (1991)</ref> as well as Houston<ref>Houston, S. D. (1986). Problematic emblem glyphs: examples from Altar de Sacrificios, El Chorro, Río Azul, and Xultun. Washington, D.C., Center for Maya Research.</ref> argued once again that the ‘emblem glyphs’ were the titles of Maya rulers with some geographical association. The debate on the nature of "emblem glyphs" received a new spin with the monograph by Stuart and Houston.<ref>Stuart, D. and S. D. Houston (1994). Classic Maya place names. Washington, D.C., Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.</ref> The authors convincingly demonstrated that there were lots of place names-proper, some real, some mythological, mentioned in the hieroglyphic inscriptions. Some of these place names also appeared in the "emblem glyphs," some were attested in the "titles of origin" (various expressions like “a person from Boston”), but some were not incorporated in personal titles at all. Moreover, the authors also highlighted the cases when the "titles of origin" and the "emblem glyphs" did not overlap, building upon an earlier research by Houston.<ref>Houston (1993; in particular, pp.97–101).</ref> Houston noticed that the establishment and spread of the Tikal-originated dynasty in the Petexbatun region was accompanied by the proliferation of rulers using the Tikal "emblem glyph" placing political and dynastic ascendancy above the current seats of rulership.<ref>Source: A.Tokovinine(2006)People from a place: re-interpreting Classic Maya "Emblem Glyphs". Paper presented at the 11th European Maya Conference "Ecology, Power, and Religion in Maya Landscapes", Malmö University, Sweden, December 4-9, 2006</ref> ==History== It was until recently thought that the Maya may have adopted writing from the [[Olmec]] or [[Epi-Olmec script|Epi-Olmec]]. However, recent discoveries have pushed back the origin of Maya writing by several centuries, and it now seems possible that the Maya were the ones who invented writing in Mesoamerica.<ref>See Saturno, ''et al.'' (2006).</ref> Knowledge of the Maya writing system continued into the early colonial era and reportedly a few of the early [[Spain|Spanish]] priests who went to [[Yucatán]] learned it. However, as part of his campaign to eradicate pagan rites, Bishop [[Diego de Landa]] ordered the collection and destruction of written Maya works, and a sizeable number of [[Maya codices]] were destroyed. Later, seeking to use their native language to convert the Maya to Christianity, he derived what he believed to be a Maya "alphabet" (the so-called [[de Landa alphabet]]). Although the Maya did not actually write alphabetically, nevertheless he recorded a glossary of Maya sounds and related symbols, which was long dismissed as nonsense but eventually became a key resource in [[decipherment|deciphering]] the Maya script, though it has itself not been completely deciphered. The difficulty was that there was no simple correspondence between the two systems, and the names of the letters of the Spanish alphabet meant nothing to Landa's Maya scribe, so Landa ended up asking the equivalent of ''write H: a-i-tee-cee-aitch "aitch",'' and glossed a part of the result as "H". Landa was also involved in creating a Latin [[orthography]] for the [[Yukatek Maya language]], meaning that he created a system for writing Yukatek in the [[Latin alphabet]]. This was the first Latin orthography for any of the Mayan languages,{{Fact|date=February 2007}} which number around thirty. Only four [[Maya codices]] are known to have survived the conquistadors. Most surviving texts are found on pottery recovered from Maya tombs, or from [[monument]]s and [[stela]]e erected in sites which were abandoned or buried before the arrival of the Spanish. Knowledge of the writing system was lost, probably by the end of the 16th century. Renewed interest in it was sparked by published accounts of [[List of Maya sites|ruined Maya sites]] in the [[19th century]]. ==Decipherment== [[Image:Palenque glyphs-edit1.jpg|thumb|left|400px|Maya glyphs in stucco at the ''Museo de sitio'' in [[Palenque]], Mexico]] The decipherment of the writing was a long and laborious process. Nineteenth century and early 20th century investigators managed to decode the [[Maya numerals|Maya numbers]] and portions of the texts related to [[astronomy]] and the [[Maya calendar]], but understanding of most of the rest long eluded scholars. A major role in deciphering Maya hieroglyphic writing was played by [[Yuri Knorozov]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9001728/Yury-Valentinovich-Knorozov Yuri Knorozov] at Britannica</ref> In 1952 he published a paper "Ancient Writing of Central America" arguing that the so-called "de Landa alphabet" contained in [[Bishop Diego de Landa]]'s manuscript ''Relación de las Cosas de Yucatán'' was actually made of [[syllabary|syllabic]], rather than [[alphabet]]ic symbols. He further improved his decipherment technique in his 1963 [[monograph]] "The Writing of the Maya Indians"<ref>{{ru icon}}[http://mesoamerica.narod.ru/knorozov.html Yuri Knorozov]</ref> and published translations of Maya manuscripts in his 1975 work "Maya Hieroglyphic Manuscripts". In the [[1960s]], progress revealed the dynastic records of Maya rulers. Since the early [[1980s]] it has been demonstrated that most of the previously unknown symbols form a [[syllabary]], and progress in reading the Maya writing has advanced rapidly since. The Maya may seem to have inherited some elements, and perhaps the entire basis, of their ancient writing system from the [[Olmec]]s,<ref>Schele and Friedel (1990), Soustelle (1984).</ref> which was significantly modified and expanded by the Maya of the Pre-Classic era. Pre-Classic texts are less numerous and less well understood by archaeologists than the later Classic and Post-Classic texts. (However, the [[Isthmian script|Isthmian (or Epi-Olmec)]] script once thought of as a possible direct ancestor of the Maya script is now known to be several centuries too recent, and may instead be a descendant.) Other related and nearby Mesoamerican cultures of the period were also heirs to the Olmec writing system, and developed parallel systems which shared key attributes (such as the base-twenty [[numeral system|numerical system]] written with a system of bars and dots). However, it is generally believed that the Maya developed the only complete writing system in [[Mesoamerica]], meaning that they were the only civilization that could write everything they could say. == Other breakthroughs == As Knorozov's early essays contained few new readings,{{Fact|date=September 2007}} and the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] editors added propagandistic claims{{Fact|date=September 2007}} to the effect that Knorozov was using a peculiarly "[[Marxism|Marxist]]-[[Leninism|Leninist]]" approach to decipherment,{{Fact|date=September 2007}} many Western [[Mayanist]]s simply dismissed Knorozov's work. However, in the 1960s more came to see the syllabic approach as potentially fruitful, and possible phonetic readings for symbols whose general meaning was understood from context began to be developed. Prominent older epigrapher [[J. Eric S. Thompson]] was one of the last major opponents of Knorozov and the syllabic approach. Thompson's disagreements are sometimes said to have held back advances in decipherment.<ref>Coe 1992, pp. 125-144</ref> In 1959, examining what Russian-American scholar [[Tatiana Proskouriakoff]] called "a peculiar pattern of dates" on stone monument inscriptions at the Classic Maya site of [[Piedras Negras, Guatemala|Piedras Negras]], Proskouriakoff determined that these represented events in the lifespan of an individual, rather than relating to religion, astronomy, or prophecy, as held by the "old school" exemplified by Thompson. This proved to be true of many Maya inscriptions, and revealed the Maya [[epigraphy|epigraphic]] record to be one relating actual histories of ruling individuals: dynastic histories similar in nature to those recorded in literate human cultures throughout the world. Suddenly, the Maya entered written history.<ref>Coe 1992, pp. 167-184</ref> Although it was now clear what was on many Maya inscriptions, they still could not literally be read. However, further progress was made during the 1960s and 1970s, using a multitude of approaches including pattern analysis, de Landa's "alphabet," Knorozov's breakthroughs, and others. In the story of Maya decipherment, the work of [[archaeology|archaeologists]], art historians, epigraphers, [[linguistics|linguists]], and [[anthropology|anthropologists]] cannot be separated. All contributed to a process that was truly and essentially multidisciplinary. Key figures included [[David Kelley (Mayanist)|David Kelley]], [[Ian Graham]], [[Gilette Griffin]], and [[Michael Coe]]. Dramatic breakthroughs occurred in the 1970s – in particular, at the first [[Mesa Redonda de Palenque]], a scholarly conference organized by [[Merle Greene Robertson]] at the Classic Maya site of [[Palenque]] held in December, 1973. A [[working group]] was led by [[Linda Schele]], an art historian and epigrapher at the [[University of Texas at Austin]], which included [[Floyd Lounsbury]], a linguist from [[Yale University|Yale]], and [[Peter Mathews (Mayanist)|Peter Mathews]], then an undergraduate student of David Kelley's at the [[University of Calgary]] (whom Kelley sent because he could not attend). In one afternoon they managed to decipher the first [[King list|dynastic list]] of Maya kings – the ancient kings of the city of Palenque. By identifying a sign as an important royal title (now read as the recurring name K'inich), the group was able to identify and "read" the life histories (from birth, to accession to the throne, to death) of six kings of Palenque. From that point, progress proceeded at an exponential pace, not only in the decipherment of the Maya glyphs, but also towards the construction of a new, historically-based understanding of Maya civilization. The "old school" continued to resist the results of the new scholarship for some time. A decisive event which helped to turn the tide in favor of the new approach occurred in 1986, at an exhibition entitled "[[The Blood of Kings: A New Interpretation of Maya Art]]". It was organized by [[InterCultura]] and the [[Kimbell Art Museum]] and curated by Schele and Yale art historian [[Mary Miller]]. This exhibition and attendant catalogue – and international publicity – revealed to a wide audience the new world which had latterly been opened up by progress in decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics. Not only could a real history of ancient America now be read and understood, but the light it shed on the material remains of the Maya showed them to be real, recognisable individuals. They stood revealed as a people with a history like that of all other human societies: full of wars, dynastic struggles, shifting political alliances, complex religious and artistic systems, expressions of personal property and ownership, and so forth. Moreover, the new interpretation, as the exhibition demonstrated, made sense out of many works of art whose meaning had been unclear, and showed how the material culture of the Maya represented a fully-integrated cultural system and world view. Gone was the old Thompson view of the Maya as peaceable astronomers without conflict or other attributes characteristic of most human societies. However, three years later in 1989, a final counter-assault was launched by supporters who were still resisting the modern decipherment interpretation. This occurred at a conference at [[Dumbarton Oaks]]. It did not directly attack the methodology or results of decipherment, but instead contended that the ancient Maya texts had indeed been read but were "epiphenomenal". This argument was extended from a populist perspective to say that the deciphered texts tell us only about the concerns and beliefs of the society's elite, and not about the ordinary Maya. Michael Coe in opposition to this idea described "epiphenomenal" as: :a ten penny word meaning that Maya writing is only of marginal application since it is secondary to those more primary institutions – economics and society – so well studied by the dirt archaeologists. Linda Schele noted following the conference that this is like saying that the inscriptions of ancient Egypt – or the writings of Greek philosophers or historians – do not reveal anything important about their cultures. Most written documents in most cultures tell us about the elite, because in most cultures in the past, they were the ones who could write (or could have things written down by scribes or inscribed on monuments). Progress in decipherment continues at a rapid pace today, and it is generally agreed by scholars that over 90 percent of the Maya texts can now be read with reasonable accuracy. As of 2004, at least one phonetic glyph was known for each of the syllables marked in this chart: :{| class=wikitable |- ! !!(’)!!b!!ch!!ch’!!h!!j!!k!!k’!!l!!m!!n!!p!!p’!!s!!t!!t’!!tz!!tz’!!w!!x!!y |- bgcolor="#f0c0c0" align=center |bgcolor="#ffffff"|'''a'''||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|•||width="20"|• |- bgcolor="#f0c0c0" align=center |bgcolor="#ffffff"|'''e'''||•||•||•||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||width="20" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||•||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||• |- bgcolor="#f0c0c0" align=center |bgcolor="#ffffff"|'''i'''||•||•||•||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||width="20" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||•||•||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||•||•||•||•||• |- bgcolor="#f0c0c0" align=center |bgcolor="#ffffff"|'''o'''||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||width="20" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||•||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||•||•||• |- bgcolor="#f0c0c0" align=center |bgcolor="#ffffff"|'''u'''||•||•||•||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||•||width="20" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||•||•||•||•||•||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||bgcolor="#e0e0e0"|&nbsp;||• |} Current leaders in the field of interpreting Maya culture and Maya decipherment include many archaeologists, epigraphers, linguists, and art historians. Key names working at present are: * David Friedel at [[Southern Methodist University|SMU]] * [[David Stuart (Mayanist)|David Stuart]] at the [[University of Texas]] * Nikolai Grube at the [[University of Bonn]], Germany * Alfonso Lacadena at the [[Universidad Complutense de Madrid]] * Simon Martin at the [[University of Pennsylvania Museum]] * William Fash at [[Harvard University]] * Diane Chase and Arlen Chase at the [[University of Central Florida]] * Stephen Houston at [[Brown University]] * [[Arthur Demarest]] at [[Vanderbilt University]] * Robert Sharer at the University of Pennsylvania, * William Sanders of [[Pennsylvania State University]] * Karl Taube at the University of California, Riverside * Marc Zender at Harvard, Peabody Museum * Dmitri Beliaev, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow * linguists Katherine Josserand (deceased as of 2007) and Nicholas Hopkins * linguist John Robertson at [[Brigham Young University]] * linguist [[Søren Wichmann]] the [[Max Planck]] Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology at [[Leipzig]] and many others, including a growing number of scholars in Latin America, in the nations of the Maya area. ==References== ===Notes=== {{reflist|2}} ===Bibliography=== {{ref indent}}<!-- BEGIN hanging indent style. Pls use a colon (:) instead of asterisk (*) for bullet markers in the references list --> : {{cite book |author={{aut|Coe, Michael D.}} |authorlink=Michael D. Coe |year=1992 |title=Breaking the Maya Code |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |id=ISBN 0-500-05061-9}} : {{cite book |author={{aut|Houston, Stephen D.}} |authorlink=Stephen D. Houston |year=1986 |title=Problematic Emblem Glyphs: Examples from Altar de Sacrificios, El Chorro, Rio Azul, and Xultun |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/bearc/cmr/03.html |format=[[PDF]] |edition=Mesoweb online facsimile edition|series=Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing, 3. |location=Washington D.C|publisher=Center for Maya Research|isbn=B0006EOYNY}} : {{cite book |author={{aut|Houston, Stephen D.}} |authorlink=Stephen D. Houston |year=1993 |title=Hieroglyphs and History at Dos Pilas: Dynastic Politics of the Classic Maya |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73855-2}} : {{cite book |author={{aut|Kettunen, Harri}} |coauthors= and {{aut|Christophe Helmke}} |year=2005 |title=Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs |format=[[PDF]] |publisher=Wayeb and Leiden University |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/handbook/index.html|accessdate=2006-10-10}} : {{cite book |author={{aut|Lacadena García-Gallo, Alfonso}} |coauthors=and {{aut|Andrés Ciudad Ruiz}} |year=1998 |chapter=Reflexiones sobre la estructura política maya clásica |title=Anatomía de una Civilización: Aproximaciones Interdisciplinarias a la Cultura Maya |editor=Andrés Ciudad Ruiz, Yolanda Fernández Marquínez, José Miguel García Campillo, Maria Josefa Iglesias Ponce de León, Alfonso Lacadena García-Gallo, Luis T. Sanz Castro (Eds.) |publisher=Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas |location=Madrid |isbn=84-923545-0-X}} {{es icon}} : {{cite book |author={{aut|Marcus, Joyce}} |authorlink=Joyce Marcus |year=1976 |title=Emblem and State in the Classic Maya Lowlands: an Epigraphic Approach to Territorial Organization |series=Dumbarton Oaks Other Titles in Pre-Columbian Studies |location=Washington D.C. |publisher=[[Dumbarton Oaks]] Research Library and Collection, [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=0-88402-066-5}} : {{cite book |author={{aut|Mathews, Peter}} |authorlink=Peter Mathews (Mayanist) |year=1991 |chapter=Classic Maya emblem glyphs |title=Classic Maya Political History: Hieroglyphic and Archaeological Evidence |series=School of American Research Advanced Seminars |editor=T. Patrick Culvert (Ed.) |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge and New York |pages=pp.19–29|isbn=0-521-39210-1}} : {{cite journal | author={{aut|Saturno, William A.}} | coauthors ={{aut|[[David Stuart (Mayanist)|David Stuart]]}}, and {{aut|Boris Beltrán}} | year = 2006 | month = 3 March | title = Early Maya writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala |url=http://www.sanbartolo.org/science.pdf |format=[[PDF]] ''Science'' Express republ.| journal = Science | volume = 311 | issue = 5765 | pages =pp.1281–1283 |issn=0036-8075 |doi=10.1126/science.1121745 |pmid = 16400112 |accessdate=2007-06-15}} : {{cite book |author={{aut|Schele, Linda}} |authorlink=Linda Schele |coauthors= and {{aut|David Friedel}} |year=1990 |title=A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya |publisher=William Morrow |location=New York |id=ISBN 0-688-07456-1}} : {{cite book |author={{aut|Schele, Linda}} |authorlink=Linda Schele |coauthors= and {{aut|[[Mary Miller|Mary Ellen Miller]]}} |year=1992 |origyear=1986 |title=Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art |others=[[Justin Kerr]] (photographer) |edition=reprint edition |publisher=George Braziller |location=New York |id=ISBN 0-8076-1278-2}} : {{cite book|author={{aut|Soustelle, Jacques}}|authorlink=Jacques Soustelle |title=The Olmecs: The Oldest Civilization in Mexico | year=1984 | location=New York | publisher=Doubleday and Co | id=ISBN 0-385-17249-4}} : {{cite book |author={{aut|Stuart, David}} |authorlink=David Stuart (Mayanist) |coauthors=and {{aut|[[Stephen D. Houston]]}} |year=1994 |title=Classic Maya Place Names |series=Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology Series, 33 |location=Washington D.C. |publisher=[[Dumbarton Oaks]] Research Library and Collection, [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=0-88402-209-9}} {{ref indent-end}}<!-- END hanging indent style --> ==External links== * [http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/handbook/index.html Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs by Harri Kettunen and Christophe Helmke] * [http://learningobjects.wesleyan.edu/palenque/glyphs/temple_inscriptions/ A partial transcription, transliteration, and translation of the Temple of Inscriptions text by Michael D. Carrasco] * [http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/vocabulary/Vocabulary.pdf A Preliminary Classic Maya-English/English-Classic Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings by Eric Boot] * [http://www.famsi.org/mayawriting/ FAMSI resources on Maya Hieroglyphic writing] * [http://www.authenticmaya.com/maya_writing.htm Maya Writing in: Guatemala, Cradle of the Maya Civilization] * [http://www.mayaweb.nl/ Mayaweb: Learn how to write your name in Maya Hieroglyphs] <!--spacing, please do not remove--> {{writing systems}} [[Category:Maya writing| ]] [[Category:Mesoamerican writing systems]] [[Category:Hieroglyphs]] [[de:Maya-Schrift]] [[es:Escritura maya]] [[fr:Écriture maya]] [[ko:마야 문자]] [[it:Scrittura maya]] [[ja:マヤ文字]] [[nn:Mayahieroglyfar]] [[pl:Pismo Majów]] [[pt:Escrita maia]] [[ru:Майя (письмо)]] [[fi:Mayojen kirjoitusjärjestelmä]] [[sv:Mayaskrift]] [[th:อักษรมายา]]