14 Feb 1996 The following are notes from some sessions at the 4th Annual Maya Symposium at Brevard Community College, February 8-11, 1996 (Cocoa, FL) Many thanks to Helton "Hep" Aldridge, Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth, and all the staff at the BCC Center for Latin American Studies for a fine conference. All errors, omissions, and misinterpretations (and misspellings) are solely my responsibility. Anthony J. Beninati, Ph.D. Director-Orlando Center Barry University beninati@ace.barry.edu Opening Presentation: Dr. George Stuart, V.P. for Exploration and Research, National Geographic Society "The Olmec: New Discoveries" Dr. Stuart traced the history of our knowledge of this early Mesoamerican civilization, from the discovery of the famous huge stone heads at Tres Zapotes in 1862 through the work by Matthew Stirling and Miguel Covarrubias at La Venta in the 1930s. The "Olmec Heartland" so far has been primarily defined as the neighboring states of Veracruz and Tabasco in east Central Mexico. However, evidence of Olmec activity and influence have been discovered as far away as Copan, Honduras. Other excavations have revealed Olmec sites in the Tuxla Mountains on the Gulf Coast to the Pacific Coast region of Guatemala. Thus Olmec civilization encompassed both highland and lowland settlements. Dr. Stuart highlighted recent recent which pushes back our dating of Olmec emergence in the region to at least 1500 B.C. at sites like San Lorenzo in southeastern Veracruz state. Their presence in the region may go back as far as 3,000 B.C. That we have often overlooked artifacts such as Olmec wooden statutes found in the area of Cerro Manati and items such as ceremonial rubber balls extracted from rivers and swamps indicates that we still have much to learn about the nature of Olmec society. Many questions remain unanswered about this early Mesoamerican group which undoubtedly influenced other subsequent societies. We still know nothing about their spoken language, the rules of their ceremonial ball games, the basics of their everyday life, and little about their material culture. Sessions: Dr. Peter Harrison, Maxwell Museum of Art, University of New Mexico "The Central Acropolis of Tikal;: Function and Dynasty in an Ancient Palace Complex" The Central Acropolis is one of the major architectural features in Central Tikal. Dr. Harrison explored its role in the growth and development of the Great Plaza as the focal eye of both the physical settlement and sacred cosmos of Tikal. In tracing the construction of buildings, placement of burials, and the alignments among them, he discovered that "the buildings of the dead determined the placement of the buildings of the living." Through examination of the contributions made to the complex by the great dynasty of the Jaguar Paw family through the rule of Yax-Ain II, Dr. Harrison discovered that the layout of the principal buildings followed the pattern of pythagorean triangles (a2 + b2 =c2), with the alignments of central portals often formed on a 3:4:5 or 5:12:13 relationship. This was done to indicate family relationships, lines of authority, and considerations of respect and honor of ancestors. The complexity of these alignments also show why the plaza areas do not conform to our expectations of square or quadrangular arrangement and seem to be "out of whack." Dr. Stephen Houston, Brigham Young University "Hoop Shots and Hieroglyphs: The Textual Evidence for the Classic Maya Ballgame" The Ballgame of the Maya Classic period has evoked fascination primarily for to its architectural attributes, which have varied among diverse Maya sites. Dr. Houston sought textual evidence for the role of the games in Maya politics, society, and cosmology by studying hieroglyphic texts and the evolutions of our knowledge of glyphs relating to ballcourts and ball playing. Dr. Houston noted that the game took different forms in different areas, often combining some elements of boxing in some of these areas. He also indicated that ball playing references often coincided with references to important political events or convulsions. Importantly, he concluded that the ballgame had linkages to Maya mythology incorporated into its playing, with participants impersonating the Gods, such as the Water Serpent and the Wind God, and with ball, called the "yellow stone," having a relationship with the sun. The game may also have had a role in summoning or conjuring up the Gods for some purposes. His readings of Maya texts revealed many references to the game, particularly in the era around 9.14.0.0.0 (roughly equivalent to the 7th century A.D.) throughout much of the Maya area of Mesoamerica. The glyphs for pit sa' , translated as "is playing ball," were often linked to various lords. While we previously thought that a glyph depicting a ball bouncing down steps might have indicated "ball court" or ballplaying, we now know that this glyph meant "stairway." The ball court glyph actually looks more like the letter Y or a tulip shape, with a round object between the uprights - a ball between two walls! Dr. Barbara Tedlock, SUNY - Buffalo "Ancient and Modern Maya Astronomy" Dr. Tedlock examined how both the Maya of antiquity and those of the present day Yucatan observed the heavens to measure interlocking and overlapping measures of time, exploring time relationships thousands of years into the past as well as into the future, She noted that Maya shaman involved in the observations of heavenly bodies could also be female, highlighting the role of Lady Xuk at Yaxitlan, the half-sister of ruler Shield Jaguar, as a priest- astronomer. She also indicated that a ceremonial huipil (poncho-like shawl) with astronomical depictions is worn by present day female Maya shamans. Dr. Tedlock described architectural evidence for horizontal observation of celestial bodies as sites such as Uxmal. However, her studies of a contemporary Maya community revealed their awareness of the rising of stars, particularly Venus, and their relationship of these movements to the positions of the sun, moon, and other planets and stars. In her review of several of the Maya Codices, she found references to lunar cycles, but also Venus Tables of 584 cycles (and 5 Venus year cycles of 2920 days over 5 pages of Codex text, equivalent to 8 of our 365 earth years!). This coordinated with epigraphic evidence at the central doorway at Kipsup, which pointed to the position of an event taking placing every 8 years -t he reappearance of the Venus morning star. She noted that Venus eastern risings were also seen as times propitious for warfare, planting and sowing, childbearing, etc. Referring to Positional Astronomy, Dr. Tedlock noted references in the Codices to the conjunction of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and other stars we see in the constellations. Interestingly, the Maya also used the Scorpion sign in the Paris codex, an eery resemblance with the Zodiac sign! The Big Dipper was known by the Maya as "7 Macaw," and many of the other constellations with which we are familiar were also observed by the Maya. Thus, it seems highly likely that the Maya utilized both horizontal and coordinate astronomy. THEATER 360 - "Mesoamerican Vision" A 5-screen "planetarium-like" audiovisual presentation in the BCC 360 degree theater, with a pictorial overview of Mesoamerican pre-Columbian development. Presented material on sites such as Teotihuacan, Copan, Uxmal, Tikal, and numerous others. About an hour! A great production, impressive in the 5 screen (about 150 degree span) format. OTHER SESSIONS: Dr. Dennis Tedlock - SUNY Buffalo "After the Ballgame in Xibalba or How to Drink Chocolate from a Skull" Dr. John Scott - Univ of Florida "Development of Yokes in Pre-Columbian Veracruz T.W. Rutledge - Artist "Chaos out of Order: The Maya through the Eyes of an Artistic Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth - Found. for Latin Amer. Anthropological Research "Decapitation Aspects of the Ballgame" Dr. Linnea Wren - Gustavus Adolphus College "Ballgame Imagery at Chichen Itza" Dr. Eric Taladoire - Universite de Paris, Sorbonne "Evolution of the Pre-Columbian Ballgame