Ancient Maya Civilization

THE MAYA

Piedmont Adult School, Piedmont, CA. Spring 1999 510-420-3655 jamesbporter@prodigy.org mayaglyphs@mail.org bmw.autobahn.org/~jbporter adult@piedmont.k12.ca.us

This six week course outlines one of the longest sustained cultural traditions in the Western Hemisphere. The cultural developments, forms and historical relationships of Maya civilization are presented through examination of surviving art, architecture and other physical remains as well as through examination of Contact Period documentation and cultural survivals among Modern Maya. Religion, calendrics and Maya writing are also introduced.

Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to identify and distinguish the major phases and subregions of Maya culture. Students will also have a basic understanding of unresolved issues within this field of study. Each week consists of two hours of lecture and slide presentation. Additional materials are provided for internet users at the links associated with each week's topic in the online syllabus.

Week 1: Lecture, Setting, Chronology, Origins, Preclassic, Sharer, Chapts. 1-3. Cycle 6?, Kaminaljuyu,
Week 2: Lecture, Classic. Sharer, Chapts. 4-5. Porter 1994, Proskouriakoff 1950
Week 3: Lecture, Postclassic. Sharer, Chapter 7. Maya Books.
Week 4: Lecture, Subsistence, Trade, Society. Sharer, Chapts. 8-10. Paradigms, Porter 1988, Proskouriakoff 1960.
Week 5: Lecture, World View and Sciences, Sharer, Chapts. 11-12.
Week 6: Lecture, Arts and Humanities, Sharer, Chapts. 13-15.

TEXTS

Sharer, Robert J.
1994 The Ancient Maya. Fifth Edition. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto. New $xx.xx, Used $xx.xx.
Landa, Diego de
1963 Yucatan before and after the Conquest. Dover Books, New York. New $x.xx, Used $x.xx.
Tedlock, Barbara
1982 Time and the Highland Maya. Revised Edition. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. $xx.xx, Used $xx.xx.

James B. Porter Ph.D. (1989, UC Berkeley)

University Extension

THE MAYA

Anthropology, Archaeology, Native American Studies, Latin American Studies
This ten week course examines the development, forms and history of the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America from the earliest discovered remains to the Ethnographic Present. Emphasis is on the artistic and intellectual achievements of the Maya people and on the role of archaeological science in reconstructing Maya culture history. Lectures, liberally illustrated with slides from the instructor's collection, address the major phases and sites of Maya culture history. The course is equivalent to 2 semester units in Anthropology, Art History or Native American/Chicano studies.

Week 1 Lecture, Origins. Sharer chpts. 1, 2.
Week 2 Lecture, Preclassic. Sharer chpt. 3.
Week 3 Lecture, Early Classic. Sharer chpt. 4.
Week 4 Lecture, Late Classic. Sharer chpt. 5.
Week 5 Lecture, Terminal Classic. Sharer chpt. 6.
Week 6 Lecture, Postclassic. REVIEW Sharer chpt. 7.
Week 7 Lecture, Subsistence and Trade. Sharer chpts. 8, 9. FIRST EXAM DUE
Week 8 Lecture, Organization of Maya Society. Sharer chpt. 10.
Week 9 Lecture, Ideology and Cosmology. REVIEW Sharer chpt. 11.
Week 10 Lecture, Arithmetic, Calendrics, Language and Writing. Sharer chpts. 12, 13. SECOND EXAM AND FINAL EXERCIZE DUE

REQUIRED TEXT

Sharer, Robert, J.
1. The Ancient Maya, Fifth Edition. Stanford University Press.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS

Landa, Diego de
2. Yucatan Before and After the Conquest. William Gates, Trans. Dover.

Tedlock, Barbara
3. Time and The Highland Maya, Second Edition. University of New Mexico Press.

This course is the second in a series of three:

1. Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America.
2. Ancient Maya Civilization.
3. Maya Hieroglyphic Writing.

James B. Porter Ph.D. (1989, UC Berkeley)

THE MAYA

This eighteen week course details one of the longest sustained traditions of Civilization in the Western Hemisphere. The cultural developments, forms and historical relationships of ancient Maya civilization are outlined through examination of the art, architecture and other physical remains as well as through examination of Contact Period documentation and cultural survivals among Modern Maya. Religion, the calendar and Maya hieroglyphic writing are also outlined. Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to identify and distinguish the major phazes and subregions of Maya civilization. Students will also have a basic understanding of unresolved issues within this field of study. Each week consists of three houres of lecture and slide presentations.

Week 1: Lecture, Introduction, Setting. Sharer chpt. 1
Week 3: Lecture, Origins. Sharer chpt. 2
Week 3: Lecture, Preclassic. Sharer chpt. 3
Week 4: Lecture, Early Classic. Sharer chpt. 4
Week 5: Lecture, Late Classic. Sharer chpt. 5
Week 6: Lecture, Terminal Classic. Sharer chpt. 6
Week 7: Lecture, Early Postclassic. Sharer chpt. 7
Week 8: Lecture, Late Postclassic. Sharer chpt. 7REVIEW.
Week 9: FIRST EXAM.
Week 10: Lecture, Subsistence. Sharer chpt. 8
Week 11: Lecture, Trade. Sharer chpt. 9
Week 12: Lecture, Social Structure. Sharer chpt. 10
Week 13: Lecture, Ideology and Cosmology. Sharer chpt. 11
Week 14: Lecture, Ideology and Cosmology. Sharer chpt. 11
Week 15: Lecture, Arithmetic Calendrics and Astronomy. Sharer chpt. 12
Week 16: Lecture, Language and Writing. Sharer chpt. 13
Week 17: Lecture, Language and Writing. Sharer chpt. 13 REVIEW.
Week 18: SECOND EXAM, FINAL EXERCIZE DUE.

REQUIRED TEXT

Sharer, Robert J.
1994 The Ancient Maya. Fifth Edition. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto. New $xx.xx, Used $xx.xx.

RECOMENDED TEXTS

Landa, Diego de
1963 Yucatan before and after the Conquest. Dover Books, New York. New $x.xx, Used $x.xx.

Tedlock, Barbara
1982 Time and the Highland Maya. Revised Edition. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. $xx.xx, Used $xx.xx.

James B. Porter Ph.D. (1989, UC Berkeley) has taught courses at UC Berkeley and has written extensively on Maya Art and Hieroglyphs. He has traveled widely in Mexico and Central America and was in charge of iconographic studies and monument recording for UC Berkeley excavations at the site of Abaj Takalik in Guatemala. He has lived and studied in Indian Yucatan and speaks Yucatec Maya.

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