Primary sources of Maya history – part four

In the last column we looked briefly at the history of the decipherment of the Maya hieroglyphic writing system and some of the modern myths about the ancient Maya propagated by certain popular writers, such as J. M. Jenkins ( Galactic Alignment theory) and J. Argüelles ( Dreamspell Calendar). My purpose was not simply to discredit these popular […]

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Primary sources of Maya history – part two

Four major cultural areas provide us with the most extensive documentation in Mesoamerica: the Valley of Mexico (Aztec), Northern Yucatan (Lowland Maya), Western Oaxaca (Mixtec), and Guatemala (Highland Maya and Cakchiquel). In previous articles we looked at the first two of these primary sources of native historical tradition. Most of the pre-Hispanic historical codices come […]

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Primary sources of Maya history – part three

Decipherment of the Maya hieroglyphic system of writing represents perhaps the greatest breakthrough in unravelling the history of the ancient Maya. Estimates vary on the actual percentage of the glyphs that have been successfully interpreted so far, but enough progress has been made to enable researchers to piece together much of the early dynastic histories […]

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Reinventing the Aztecs, Part two

In Part One we looked at a new interpretation of ancient Aztec literature, which, if correct, calls into question, perhaps even invalidates, much of the previous research. To recapitulate: the current controversy centres on the Cantares Mexicanos, a collection of Aztec lyric poems recorded in Classical Nahuatl around the middle of the 16th century. Two Mexican scholars, […]

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Reinventing the Aztecs, Part three

In previous articles we looked at some Aztec lyric poems contained in the Cantares Mexicanos and other manuscript collections. The current controversy over the correct translation and interpretation of these poems in the classical Nahuatl language of Mexico-Tenochtitlán and surrounding area is an important issue in Mesoamerican studies because it calls into question the standard interpretation by […]

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