7th European Maya Conference

Jaws of the Underworld. Life, Death and Rebirth among the Ancient Maya

This conference was held from November 5 through 10, 2002 at The British Museum, United Kingdom. The workshop took place November 5 to 7, 2001 at the Institute of Archaeology (UCL). The event was coordinated by Institute of Archaeology (UCL).

You can download the complete program of the conference as well as the abstracts of the papers presented:

Symposium

The papers presented at the conference were the following:

Research symposium (November 8, 2002):

John F. Chuchiak IV
Department of History,
Southwest Missouri
State University

Yaab Uih Yetel Maya Cimil - Colonial Famines, Plagues, and Catastrophes and their Impact on Changing Yucatec Maya Concepts of Death and Dying, 1580-1660

Markus Eberl
Tulane University

Buried in Stone: On Burial Customs of Classic Maya Rulers

Lilia Fernández Souza
Universiad Autónoma de Yucatán

Death and Memory in Chichén Itzá

James L. Fitzsimmons
Department of Anthropology,
Harvard University

Tomb Re-Entry Among the Classic Maya: Archaeology and Epigraphy in Mortuary Ceremonialism

Stanley Guenter
Dept. of Anthropology,
Southern Methodist University

Fire Mountain and the Headless Kings of Tikal

Kerry Hull
Dept. of Anthropology,
University of Texas at Austin

Journey from the Tomb: Ropes, Roads, and the Point of Departure

Emiliano Melgar
Archaeology INAH, Mexico

Water Sources for Death: Bones, Sacrifices and Cremations at Cenotes

Elisabeth Wagner
University of Bonn

White Earth Bundles: The Symbolic Sealing and Burial of Buildings among the Ancient Maya

Estella Weiss-Krejci
(Dept. of Social and Cultural
Anthropology, University of Vienna;
Faculty of Arts,
University of Oporto, Portugal)

The Maya Corpse: Body Processing from Preclassic to Postclassic Times in the Maya Highlands and Lowlands

Public symposium (November 9-10, 2002):

Héctor Escobedo
Universidad del Valle, Guatemala

Requiems for Dead Kings: Temples and Mortuary Pyramids at Piedras Negras

Elizabeth Graham
Institute of Archaeology, UCL, UK

Pagans in Paradise

Nikolai Grube
(University of Bonn, Germany;
University of Texas, USA

Fantastic Creatures: Death Gods, Spirit Companions and Infernal Monsters

Norman Hammond
Boston University, USA

Life, Death and the Ancient Maya

Stephen Houston
Brigham Young University, USA

Ideology of the Maya Tomb

Simon Martin
Institute of Archaeology, UCL, UK

Mortuary Themes in Maya Art and Writing

Mary Ellen Miller
Yale University, USA

The Stuff of Maize: Life, Death and Resurrection of Maya Kings

Enrique Nalda
INAH, Mexico

Funerary Practices in Dzibanché: the Royal Tomb in Temple 11

Dorie Reents-Budet
Smithonian Institution, USA

The Parallel Universe: Ritual Caves of the Maya

Frank and Julie Saul
Lucas County
Coroners Office, Ohio, USA

Life and Death: As Recorded in their Skeletons

Robert Sharer
University of Pennsylvania, USA

Finding the Founder: Early Tombs at Copán, Honduras

David Stuart
Peabody Museum,
Harvard University, USA

Mountains, Caverns and Waters: The Ancient Maya Underworld as Ritual Landscape

Karl Taube
University of Riverside,
California, USA

Heaven and Hell: Portals, Xibalba and the Flowery Paradise