This nuanced account explores Maya mythology through the lens of art, text, and culture. It offers an important reexamination of the mid-16th-century Popol Vuh, long considered an authoritative text, which is better understood as one among many crucial sources for the interpretation of ancient Maya art and myth. Using materials gathered across Mesoamerica, Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos bridges the gap between written texts and artistic representations, identifying key mythical subjects and uncovering their variations in narratives and visual depictions. Central characters—including a secluded young goddess, a malevolent grandmother, a dead father, and the young gods who became the sun and the moon—are identified in pottery, sculpture, mural painting, and hieroglyphic inscriptions. Highlighting such previously overlooked topics as sexuality and generational struggles, this beautifully illustrated book paves the way for a new understanding of Maya myths and their lavish expression in ancient art.

Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya

Arts & Photography

Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

Review\n“Impressively comprehensive in scope. . . . Revealing a rich and varied knowledge tradition, Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya is written in a manner that is accessible to undergraduates, and it should be read by every student of Mesoamerica.”— Patricia A. McAnany, American Antiquity\n“This is an important book which will have a lasting influence on Mesoamerican scholarship and serve as a model for generations to come. It is a compelling study that will open up new areas for investigation of Maya art and new methods for research.”—Claudia Brittenham, University of Chicago\n“Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos has crafted a provocative book that addresses key aspects of Maya mythology, its narratives, variations, and relationships to other mythic traditions across Mesoamerica. It is an important book, both for its content and its methodological approach, which is novel and timely.”—Julia Guernsey, University of Texas at Austin\nA nuanced look at Maya mythology, from the literary record of the Popol Vuh to a broad range of artistic depictions by ancient Maya artists

The Technology of Maya Civilization: Political Economy Amd Beyond in Lithic Studies (Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology)

The ancient Maya shaped their world with stone tools. Lithic artifacts helped create the cityscape and were central to warfare and hunting, craft activities, cooking, and ritual performance. 'The Technology of Maya Civilization' examines Maya lithic artefacts made of chert, obsidian, silicified limestone, and jade to explore the relationship between ancient civilizations and natural resources. The volume presents case studies of archaeological sites in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. The analysis draws on innovative anthropological theory to argue that stone artefacts were not merely cultural products but tools that reproduced, modified, and created the fabric of society.

History

Hruby, Zachary X.

Braswell, Geoffrey E.

Americas

Routledge

The goal of the Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions is to document in photographs and detailed line drawings all known Maya inscriptions and their associated figurative art. When complete, the Corpus will have published the inscriptions from over 200 sites and 2,000 monuments. The series has been instrumental in the remarkable success of the ongoing process of deciphering Maya writing, making available hundreds of texts to epigraphers working around the world.
This is the first of four volumes on the famous Pacific Coast site of Cotzumalhuapa, Escuintla, Guatemala. This fascicle describes the site and history of exploration at one of the major Late Classic cities of Mesoamerica, as well as the city’s interchange and cultural overlaps with the lowland Maya region. It includes coverage of twenty-one monuments from Bilbao, a major ceremonial compound with sculptures that serve as distinctive examples of the Cotzumalhuapa art style.

Cotzumalhuapa (Part 1) (Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions)

Peabody Museum Press

Cotzumalguapa: la ciudad arqueológica. El Baúl – Bilbao – El Castillo (Colección Are u xe Arqueología mesoamericana) (Spanish Edition)

F&G Editores

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Books by Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo