SPECIAL ISSUE
contents spring 2012
VOLUME 54, NUMBER 1
features
7 12 18 36
7 12 18 24 26 36 44 46
WHY MAYA 2012 FASCINATES US
By Anthony F. Aveni WHO WERE THE MAYA?
By Robert Sharer TIME, kINGSHIP, AND THE MAYA UNIVERSE
By Simon Martin MAYA CALENDARS: AN OVERVIEW
By Simon Martin TIME OF kINGS AND qUEENS
By Robert Sharer TIME BEYOND kINGS
By Loa Traxler 2012 AND BEYOND
By Loa Traxler THE MODERN MAYA AND RECENT HISTORY
By Richard M. Leventhal, Carlos Chan Espinosa, and Cristina Coc departments
2 3 4 52 53 55
From the Editor From the Director From the Archives—The Excavation of the Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copan Book News & Reviews—Bringing Maya Sculpture to Life Museum Mosaic—People, Places, Projects Looking Back on the cover: This jade figurine cached beneath a Copan Acropolis building
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dedicated by Wi’ Yohl K’inich (Ruler 8) in ca. 541–542 CE represents the rebirth of the Maize God rising from a spondylus shell, a pivotal event during the Maya creation myth. This suggests that Wi’ Yohl K’inich, like other Maya kings, closely identified himself with the Maize God to reinforce his status as a “Lord of Time.” Photo by Kenneth Garrett; excavated by the Early Copan Acropolis Program, Penn Museum; courtesy Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia.
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