History of Mesoamerica

One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original. This article is an excerpt of pages 98-99 from the March 1990 National Geographic Magazine article "America's Ancient Skywatchers" by John B. Carlson with a numbered photographic arrangement of the Grolier Codex depicting the author's discovery that Codex pages 10 and 11 are actually two parts of the same "page 10".  Carlson clarifies the identities of Venus deities depicted in the Grolier Codex from a comparison of images from the Cacaxtla murals and links the images of the Grolier Codex with ancient Maya astronomically timed ritual warfare and sacrifice. (Grolier Codex photographs: Enrico Ferorelli; Mural photograph: Bob Sacha)

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

The Grolier Codex is discussed in the context of the archaeoastronomy of the ancient Americas on pages 98-99 of the March 1990 National Geographic Magazine article "America's Ancient Skywatchers" by John B. Carlson. One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of the planet Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original. A numbered photographic arrangement of the Grolier Codex depictes the author's discovery that Codex pages 10 and 11 are actually two parts of the same "page 10".  Carlson clarifies the identities of Venus deities depicted in the Grolier Codex from a comparison of images from the Cacaxtla murals and links the images of the Grolier Codex with ancient Maya astronomically timed ritual warfare and sacrifice. (Grolier Codex photographs: Enrico Ferorelli; Other photos: Bob Sacha)

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

The Grolier Codex (Codice Maya de Mexico, CMM) is discussed in the context of the archaeoastronomy of the ancient Americas on pages 98-99 of the March 1990 National Geographic Magazine article "America's Ancient Skywatchers" by John B. Carlson. One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of the planet Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original. A numbered photographic arrangement of the Grolier Codex depictes the author's discovery that Codex pages 10 and 11 are actually two parts of the same "page 10".  Carlson clarifies the identities of Venus deities depicted in the Grolier Codex from a comparison of images from the Cacaxtla murals and links the images of the Grolier Codex with ancient Maya astronomically timed ritual warfare and sacrifice. (Grolier Codex photographs: Enrico Ferorelli; Other photos: Bob Sacha)

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

En El Salvador, el trabajo en materia musical prehispánica es mínimo, lo cual planteó la necesidad de hacer un primer análisis organológico enmarcado en las principales corrientes teórico-metodológicas contemporáneas.

El presente trabajo representa un primer paso; que manifiesta la necesidad de utilizar nuevos parámetros clasificatorios, propone el uso de nuevos métodos de análisis y revela la diversidad de artefactos sonoros de una sociedad de la Zona Oriente de El Salvador, que habitó durante el Período Clásico Tardío el sitio arqueológico Asanyamba.

In this article, see pages 164, 166-168 for Stuart's discussion of the Grolier Codex.  It is highly significant that the Mexican State of Chiapas and the Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas chose to include the Grolier Codex as an authentic ancient Maya book in 1985 and make a fine color facsimile available along with the Dresden, Paris, and Madrid codices for further research. 

This review and essay of "Los Codices Mayas" is being posted as a personal tribute to my friend and colleague, the late George E. Stuart, Ph.D. (1935 - 2014) for his great generosity and many extraordinary contributions promoting world archaeology over several generations.

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

"Selected proceedings of the “First International Conference on Ethnoastronomy: Indigenous Astronomical and Cosmological Traditions of the World”held at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 5-9 September 1983."

Available on Amazon.com  - see link in listing. Ships internationally from the USA.

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The fourth known pre-Columbian Maya codex—the only one discovered in the 20th century—was found by looters in the mid-1960s. First exhibited in New York in 1971, what has come to be known as the Grolier Codex is half of a hybrid-style 20-page, 104-year Mesoamerican divinatory Venus Almanac. With new radiocarbon dates that place it in the 13th century CE, it is likely to be the oldest surviving book on paper from the Americas as well as the only ancient Maya codex now residing in Mexico. Although most Mayanists have accepted it as authentic, based in part on the author’s 40 years of research,* it remains an unacknowledged Mexican national treasure as it has never been officially recognized except in the State of Chiapas. Mesoamerican Venus Almanacs were widely used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica to regulate practices of sacred warfare and ritual sacrifice, the goal of which was to obtain captives whose blood was shed to invoke the personified forces of rain and fertility. The Grolier Codex offers unique images of 10 of the 20 manifestations of Venus (named in the Maya Dresden Codex), greatly enriching our knowledge of these traditions documented in four other pre-Columbian codices as well as numerous archaeological and ethnohistoric sources. This article is a summary of the talk given on November 7, 2014 to the Pre-Columbian Society of Washington DC and includes a brief history of accounts of the discovery of the Grolier Codex and allegedly associated artifacts; photographic history; outlines the author’s comprehensive program of research, including several new scientific discoveries leading to an interpretation of the Codex—based on the Dresden Codex and other sources; and offers a new Latinized name that recognizes that the “Codex Mayano-Mexicanus” is an authentic ancient book deriving from the Maya culture and now properly residing in Mexico.

          *See <http://umd.academia.edu/JohnBCarlson>.

Also utilized as part of the November 7, 2014 talk are TWO 1983 historical STUDY GUIDE documents which can be viewed at the following academia.edu links:

• GROLIER CODEX Page Study Guide: Pages 1-9 and Reconstructed Page 10/11 (1983): 

https://www.academia.edu/7911420/GROLIER_CODEX_Page_Study_Guide_Pages_1-9_and_Reconstructed_Page_10_11

• GROLIER CODEX Comparative Study Guide (1983): Grolier pages 1-9 and reconstructed page 10/11 with Maya Dresden Codex Venus Almanac page numbers 48/1 – 50/2 with Venus Station and Directional Associations; Names (on Dresden Rows 17 & 22) of the associated Venus Impersonators; and Initial (1983) interpretations of the Grolier Codex scenes & iconographic interpretations. Over the three decades since 1983, some of the glyphic and iconographic interpretations have changed, as discussed in the presentation. The details are in press:

https://www.academia.edu/9208071/GROLIER_CODEX_Comparative_Study_Guide_1983_

*****

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

The fourth known pre-Columbian Maya codex, the only one discovered in the twentieth century, was found by looters in the mid-1960s. First exhibited in New York in 1971, what has come to be known as the  Grolier Codex is half of a 20-page, 104-year divinatory hybrid-style Mesoamerican Venus Almanac, probably the physically oldest surviving pre-Columbian book, and with new radiocarbon dates that place it in the thirteenth century CE. It is likely to be the oldest surviving book on paper from the Americas as well as the only ancient Maya codex now residing in Mexico. Although most Mayanists have accepted it as authentic, based in part on the author’s 40 years of research, it remains an unacknowledged Mexican national treasure, as it has never been officially recognized. Mesoamerican Venus Almanacs were widely used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica to regulate practices of sacred warfare, the goal of which was to obtain captives for sacrifice, their blood shed to invoke the personified forces of rain and fertility. The  Codex offers unique images of 10 of the 20 manifestations of Venus, greatly enriching our knowledge of these traditions. The present study offers a brief history of accounts of the discovery of the Codex and allegedly associated artifacts; presents a documented photographic history; outlines the author’s comprehensive program of research, including several new scientific discoveries; and offers a new Latinized name that recognizes that the Codex Mayano-Mexicanus is an authentic ancient book deriving from the Maya culture and now properly residing in Mexico.


*****
This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

La ciudad de Santiago de Guatemala fue abandonada a causa de los terremotos de Santa Marta de 1773. Se ordenó su traslado a un nuevo sitio, el que ocupa la actual ciudad de Guatemala.
Este libro trata sobre el proceso de abandono, sus secuelas y consecuencias.
En él se explica como fue ese proceso y como esta ciudad llegó a desaparecer, para después resurgir como la que hoy conocemos como La Antigua Guatemala.

This study explores the multifaceted Maya Deluge Myth, from its pre-Columbian origins to current fantasies about a great world-destroying flood at the 13 Baktun period ending of the Maya Long Count on 21 (or 23) December 2012. No such flood is prophesied in any Maya records for this date, and the famous scene on Dresden Codex page 74 is discussed in its context as a symbolic depiction of the annual world-renewing downpours at the onset of the rainy season in springtime in the Maya world. The presiding gods of warfare and blood sacrifice were the agents of fertility and the regeneration of nature, and not the agents for the destruction of the Maya in a world-ending deluge. The misinterpretation of Dresden page 74 has propagated, unchallenged, for over a century of Maya scholarship and found its way into “new age,” fringe, and popular culture. This research helps to set the record straight along with providing a history of the meme.

This paper compares the Central Mexican and Maya myths about the world creation, and deals in particular with the creation of two parallel Suns, one of which was redundant. This mythological motif is subsequently analysed by the author through Maya narratives over time, and specifically among Lacandons, a Maya group with the best preserved original mythological sources. In the myths and their fragments that he collected from Lacandons he identifies and classifies various versions, in the background of which he observes the same motif which has survived thousands of years. The reason for such survival, as noted by the author in the conclusion, is its ability to absorb social antagonisms, explain them and accept them on the basis of a traditional cosmological model.

In this paper presented at the Pre-Columbian Society of Washington DC, November 2013, the author proposes answers to questions which have puzzled scholars since the 19th century concerning the enigmatic recumbent Mesoamerican figure known as the "chacmool", so named by French adventurer and photographer Augustus Le Plongeon.  While most scholars are convinced that chacmools were a genuine innovation for a specific type of sacrificial altar for the placement of an offering bowl, several key questions have remained: (1) What was the culture and place of origin of this remarkable sculptural innovation? (2) Who were these male figures?  (3) What is the origin and meaning of the challenging recumbent pose for these human figures with the unblinking, enigmatic gaze? (4) What were they, and what were they called, or described with a phrase, in any Mesoamerican language? Based on recent archaeological discoveries, the author presents a new interpretation of the "chacmool" as the elite "hip ulama" ball game ballplayer stylistically rendered in a serene and formalized ritual “por abajo” stance, well after the game is over, to play the final role as the recipient of the sacrifices. With this new interpretation the author hopes to open the door to finding the indigenous name or description of the "chacmool".

Año 4 N°10 Enero-Abril 2015

Sistemas de perspectiva prehispánica
Jorge Angulo Villaseñor P. 9

Con la muerte en la mirada
América Malbrán Porto P. 36           

El carácter venusino en el Tonalpohualli
de los códices Borgia, Vaticano B
y Cospi
Ofelia Márquez Huitzil P. 62

"This brief essay introduces eight papers in
a thematic volume of Archaeoastronomy devoted
to research into the Maya calendar,
creation mythology, prophecy, and the 2012
phenomenon. It includes six new and expanded
discussions of research presented at the special
session “The 2012 Phenomenon: Maya Calendar,
Astronomy, and Apocalypticism in the
Worlds of Scholarship and Popular Culture,”
which was part of the Ninth “Oxford” International
Symposium on Archaeoastronomy
(IAU S278) held in Lima, Peru, January 5–9,
2011. These eight papers, including a brief introduction
(immediately following) by Mark
Van Stone to the Maya calendar and the Long
Count in particular, address research interests
within six categories of investigation, including
several caveats outlined here."

El Cacao: de los dioses para el mundo
América Malbrán Porto P.  9

Rituales de las láminas 15 a 17 del Códice Borgia:
¿Nacimiento del tlamacazqui?
Ofelia Márquez Huitzil P. 43           

Abrigo Rincón Mariano, un álbum de trabajo
Enrique Méndez Torres P. 115

The 1983 manuscript published in "Calendars in Mesoamerica and Peru: Native American computations of time". Aveni, Anthony F. & Brotherston, Gordon, eds., BAR International Series 174, Oxford from the 1982 manuscript presented both at the 44th International Congress of Americanists, Manchester, England in 1982 and the American Astronomical Society in Boston, January 1983.  This research article is the only scholarly study that provides an independent proof that the Grolier Codex must be a genuine pre-Columbian codex – because it contains key iconographic and other data that could not have been known to a potential fabricator in the mid-1960s when the Codex was found.  One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of the planet Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original. The author also demonstrates his discovery that the previously labeled pages 10 and 11 of the Codex are actually two parts of the same page "10".

This 1983 version of the manuscript has publisher introduced typographical errors. Please see the original 1982 manuscript (click "LINK" on this paper listing) for the complete version or follow the link below: 

http://www.academia.edu/7908428/The_Grolier_Codex_A_Preliminary_Report_on_the_Content_and_Authenticity_of_a_Thirteenth-Century_Maya_Venus_Almanac_1982_

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Grolier Codex.

The April 21, 1971 New York Times article by George Gent covering the opening of the Grolier Club exhibition, "Ancient Mayan Calligraphy" with interview quotes by Yale anthropologist Michael D. Coe. The article focuses on the significant importance of the Grolier Codex and features the first published photographs of four of the Codex pages by a NYT photographer.

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Grolier Codex.

The December 13, 1977 New York Times article by Laurie Johnson giving a brief history on the whereabouts of the Grolier Codex since its exhibition at the Grolier Club in New York City in 1971.

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Grolier Codex.

The original 1982 manuscript presented both at the 44th International Congress of Americanists, Manchester, England in 1982 and the American Astronomical Society in Boston, January 1983.  This research article is the only scholarly study that provides an independent proof that the Codice Maya de Mexico, (CMM) formerly known as the Grolier Codex, must be a genuine pre-Columbian codex – because it contains key iconographic and other data that could not have been known to a potential fabricator in the mid-1960s when the Codex was found.  One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of the planet Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original. The author also demonstrates his discovery that the previously labeled pages 10 and 11 of the Codex are actually two parts of the same page "10".

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Grolier Codex.

México y aplicado al Valle del Mezquital, han permitido conocer algunas dinámicas socioculturales y el tipo de población que pudo haberse establecido en diferentes periodos de tiempo en esta región. En el Preclásico existieron pequeños asentamientos con influencia Chupícuaro y Ticoman, pero, aparentemente, la región se encontraba despoblada; durante el periodo Clásico se inició el poblamiento en el noroccidente por los grupos Xajay, con posibles herencias de Chupícuaro-Mixtlan, mientras que los grupos de filiación teotihuacana, posiblemente accediendo por el sureste del Valle, fundaron cabeceras en las inmediaciones de Tula. Para el periodo Epiclásico se abandonaron los sitios teotihuacanos y se desarrollaron sistemas autónomos vinculados con Coyotlatelco, mientras que los asentamientos Xajay permanecieron ocupados, en especial sus centros cívico-ceremoniales. En este momento se inició el poblamiento de la región árida a partir del río Tula, aunque el valle no parece haber sido densamente poblado. Con el surgimiento de la ciudad de Tula se dio un incremento poblacional en el valle que ocupó la cabecera, mientras que en el resto de la región bajó la densidad de la población, concentrándose en núcleos de asentamiento específicos. En el Posclásico Tardío la región es dominada por la Triple Alianza, se observa un fuerte incremento poblacional con la ocupación de todo el Valle mediante sistemas de asentamiento dispersos y centros ceremoniales en las cimas de los cerros. La presencia del grupo etnobiológico otomí, en estas dinámicas, es evidente desde el Epiclásico.

A single page astronomical study guide of the ten Maya Grolier Codex pages.  This guide labels pages 1-9 and Carlson's reconstruction of page 10/11 based on the author's discovery that Codex pages 10 and 11 are actually two parts of the same "page 10".  One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of the planet Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original.

This guide has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Grolier Codex.

En referencia a lo que se sabe de los mexica y demás grupos nahuas, se menciona que el concepto que se tenía sobre los dioses que regían en el Cosmos, en el Inframundo y en el plano terrestre, donde se desenvuelve el ser humano; o el arriba, el abajo y la biósfera como actualmente es conceptuada, eran la residencia de todas las energías manifiestas en deidades duales con funciones polarizadas y complementarias que, a la vez, se podían dividir en otras dualidades para ejercer sus diversas funciones.
Parece que ese mismo concepto de dualidad genética fue compartido, desde etapas muy tempranas, por todas las deidades mesoamericanas y tal vez panamericanas, puesto que en el caso de los dioses del agua, existen representaciones masculinas y femeninas de este primordial elemento de la naturaleza, conocidas como Tlaloc y Chachiuhitlicue.

Las circunstancias de la violencia eran comunes en las distintas colonias hispanoamericanas y para ilustrar el caso de la pena de muerte se utilizara como ejemplo lo que sucedía en la ciudad de Santiago de Guatemala, capital del Reino de Guatemala, en el siglo XVIII.
En la Edad Moderna, tanto en Europa como en las colonias españolas en Hispanoamérica se sufría de un alto índice de criminalidad, que el aparato oficial era incapaz de contener. El castigo era la única forma de contener las conductas rechazadas y debía de ser aplicada con vergüenza pública por medio de castigos corporales difamantes (azotes, rollo, ahorcamiento, etc.). Si la mayor parte de la población estaba compuesta de grupos socio económicos bajos y muy pobres, sin ninguna clase de educación formal, el visualizar castigos corporales infamantes servía para atemorizarla y disuadirla.
El castigo y su amenaza es uno de lo instrumentos con los que cuenta la sociedad para restablecer el equilibrio y el orden. El castigo no tenía una única función, era un hecho judicial de gran poder simbólico y real que satisfacía las necesidades de los múltiples protagonistas. El Estado, al monopolizarlo, conseguía afianzar su modelo político y social. La iglesia, gracias al concepto de delito-pecado, veía reforzados sus dogmas y proyecto de hombre cristiano. La sociedad lograba la ansiada seguridad. El condenado recibía su merecido por el delito cometido permitiéndole expiar su pecado. Y se proporcionaba el ejemplo necesario para que nadie quisiera seguir los pasos del delincuente-pecador. La espectacularidad teatral que rodeo a la administración de los castigos fue el medio a través del cual se lograron los objetivos. La justicia a través del castigo, fue un medio de control social.

Los materiales arqueológicos que denominamos orgánicos en un momento estuvieron vivos, al morir, su composición química y estructura física se vuelven vulnerables con el paso del tiempo por lo que difícilmente desde el pasado llegan hasta nuestras manos. Es por eso que la colección de copal, madera, maguey, cestería, y concha, procedente del Nevado de Toluca es relevante y única en su tipo. Los trabajos arqueológicos de la Subdirección de Arqueología Subacuática del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, realizados durante el mes de mayo de 2007 en las lagunas del Sol y la Luna en el Nevado de Toluca, nos permiten una aproximación a la cultura material de quienes ofrendaban desde hace cientos de años en estos cuerpos de agua de alta montaña.

En el sector I-B de Chalcatzingo se localizan seis grandes rocas con bajorrelieves que fueron descritos y estudiados por Piña Chán. En este nuevo intento interpretativo de las escenas y motivos iconográficos se propone que estos relieves se entiendan como mensajes que no se pueden leer de forma aislada ni considerar como monumentos individuales ya que deben verse como un conjunto seriado cuya misiva complementa relatos míticos relacionados con las etapas de creación-destrucción por las que pasaron dioses y humanos en el génesis de su existencia para poblar la Tierra.

In this article was invited by the National Endowment for the Humanities for its "Humanities" magazine special issue on "Technology", John B. Carlson defines the development of the field of archaeoastronomy as the study of astronomy in culture through such fields as history, art, architecture, religion, and writing.  Focusing on the Maya of ancient Mesoamerica, the author outlines the interdisciplinary approach used to understand the Venus cycle's impacted on ancient Maya society.  Of particular note is the study of the Grolier Codex, one of four known ancient Maya books, which depicts different manifestations of Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original.

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

The May 1983 Science 83 news article covering the authentication of the Maya Grolier Codex by University of Maryland professor John B. Carlson, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Archaeoastronomy.  Carlson's findings indicate that no fabricator (at the time the Codex was found) could have known the existence of the Venus evening star figure Carlson discovered when he realized that Grolier Codex pages 10 and 11 were both parts of page "10". The manuscript is of special importance as it is the only pre-Columbian Mayan manuscript that remains in Mexican hands.

(Carlson presented his research findings both at the 44th International Congress of Americanists, Manchester, England in 1982 and the American Astronomical Society in Boston, January 1983 in the research manuscript "The Grolier Codex: A Preliminary Report on the Content and Authenticity of a Thirteenth-Century Maya Venus Almanac".)

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Grolier Codex.