Jeremy Sabloff Phi Beta Kapa Lecture: "Beyond Ancient Maya Temples, Palaces, and Tombs"

Please join us on Monday, March 27 at 5 pm in Small Special Collections for a talk by Jeremy Sabloff (Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania and Santa Fe Institute), "How Maya Archaeologists Discovered the 99% through the Study of Pre-Columbian Settlement Patterns."

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception.

Abstract: Current scholarly understandings of Pre-Columbian Maya civilization are quite different from the traditional model of ancient Maya civilization that dominated the field of Maya studies until recently and still dominates public perception of the ancient Maya. In part, this new view is due to both the significant increase in archaeological studies in the Maya area in the past few decades and the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic texts, which have provided new insights into Maya history. However, much of the change is due to the introduction and rapid spread of settlement pattern studies more than a half a century ago. This lecture examines the major impact of the methodology of settlement pattern research on Maya archaeology and how such studies have moved archaeological studies away from their concentration on the ruling elites to a broader, more realistic approach that looks at elites and commoners alike.

Professor Sabloff is a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar for 2016-2017. You can learn more about the program here.

Location: 
Harrison Auditorium, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Academic Year: 
2017
Event Photo: 
sabloff
Event Date: 
Monday, March 27, 2017 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM