For centuries, Mayan priest-scribes symbolized the passage of time in texts and almanacs as steps upon a road paced out by gods who repeatedly walk it to complete the cycles that bring order and renewal to the world.
Our workshop will consist of two sessions. We begin with a discussion of the significance of period-endings drawing upon creation mythology and iconography from multiple sources followed by an introduction to Maya calendars and the intricacies of time reckoning. In Session I, we introduce attendees to some of the ways ancient Mayans commemorated the completion of k’atuns during the Classic period (A.D. 200 –900) through an analysis and reading of hieroglyphic texts and iconography carved on stone monuments. In Session II, we turn to the Postclassic-period Dresden Codex painted and used in the centuries prior to the European contact in 1521. We will look at the timing and ritual preparations surrounding the transition from one solar year (haab’) to the next with a focus on the New Year’s tables and related almanacs.
Attendees will create their own facsimile of the tables that they will use as we walk them through the texts, iconography, and calendrical reckoning of the instrument.