30th European Maya Conference: Bratislava, Slovakia - Workshops

“Time in Mesoamerica”

 

EMC_30

The 30th Annual European Maya Conference is organized by Wayeb – the European Association of Mayanists – in cooperation with the Center for Mesoamerican Studies, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava. The conference will begin with an introductory lecture on the evening of Monday 24th November, followed by three days of workshops (25th-27th November), and concluding with a two-day symposium held from Friday 28th November to Saturday 29th November 2025.

The theme for the 30th European Maya Conference is TIME IN MESOAMERICA. The topic will be explored from a variety of perspectives.

During this conference, we will explore questions concerning timekeeping, and the significance of time, in Mesoamerica, including:

  • Mesoamerican Calendars
  • Origins and development of calendars
  • Perception of time
  • Chronology in Mesoamerican archaeology
  • Temporal rituals and ceremonies
  • Ethnohistorical perspectives on time
  • Archaeoastronomy and time
  • Alignment of structures and celestial events
  • Archaeological approaches to the study of time

The theme of the conference will be approached from various disciplinary points of view – including (but not restricted to) anthropology, archaeology, archaeoastronomy, biology, epigraphy, history, iconography, linguistics, and psychology – as well as interdisciplinary approaches exploring the intersection of these disciplinary perspectives.

Introduction to Maya Glyphs and Calendars

Jakub Špoták, Eva Jobbová, Kristína Lopušanová, and Iveta Puchovanová

The Beginners’ workshop will provide a general introduction to Maya epigraphy, with a particular emphasis on the calendrical system and its role in Maya writing. It is open to anyone interested in the topic, and is especially ideal for people who have never worked with Maya inscriptions, although participants with limited previous experience are also welcome. The workshop will cover a broad range of topics, including the history of decipherment, an overview of the corpus, and the inner workings of the writing system itself. Starting from the basics, participants will learn about the principles of Maya hieroglyphic writing and the structure of texts, while special attention will be devoted to the Maya calendar and its interlocking systems — the Long Count, Tzolk’in, and Haab’, as well as the Supplementary Series and Year Bearers. Through practical exercises, participants will practice calculating distance numbers, exploring ceremonies tied to calendrical cycles, and analyzing examples from both monumental inscriptions and codices. Hieroglyphic texts from different Maya cities will be studied to illustrate how calendar reckoning structured political, ritual, and historical narratives in the ancient Maya world. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to read simple inscriptions, follow calendrical calculations, and understand the basic logic of Maya time reckoning.

Instruction language: The workshop will be conducted in English, but individual explanations will also be available in Slovak and Spanish.

Admittance: 20 attendees (max.).

"Deep Time and the (Grand) Long Count"

Marie Botzet and Dimitrios Markianos-Daniolos

Tracking the passage of time, the movements of celestial bodies, and the occurrence of significant days and events was a central aspect of Classic Maya culture. This emphasis gave rise to the invention of several calendars, used by the Maya and other Mesoamerican peoples, some of which remain in use today. This workshop will focus on the Long Count, which played a pivotal role during the Classic Period, and introduces most monumental texts. But just how long was it? Beginner and intermediate students of Maya hieroglyphic writing are familiar with the five main periods used to construct a Long Count date (bak’tun, k’atun, tun, winal, k’in), but there were many more periods whose lengths dwarf the five main ones we see in most inscriptions, in what has been called the “Grand Long Count”. Mathematician scribes used these periods to make calculations involving numbers of astronomical lengths. These “expanded versions” of the Long Count helped to refer to events in the deep past or even the distant future, many of them supernatural in character. These grand narratives take the reader on journeys through cosmic time and creation events which were fundamental for Classic Maya dynasties. In this workshop, we will cover the history of the Long Count system and examine a selection of “deep time” inscriptions and their enigmatic narratives.  When was the world created? What came before our current era? Is there a beginning and an end to the Maya calendar? What was all the fuss with 2012? We will tackle all of these questions and more in our workshop, as we navigate through deep Maya time. By the end of this workshop, the student will have a better grasp of the Maya Long Count and will have the opportunity to read through some unique monumental texts, further appreciating the tradition of Maya timekeeping.

Instruction language: English. The instructors are also able to attend questions and comments in Spanish, German, and Greek.

Admittance: 25 attendees (max.).

"Ancient Maya Astronomy and Timekeeping"

Marc Zender, Felix Kupprat, Harri Kettunen & Albert Davletshin

The academic study of Maya calendars and astronomy began in the late 19th century, predating the phonetic decipherment of Maya writing by over 75 years, and has produced a complex and multilingual literature. For these reasons, but also due to the demanding specializations of astronomy and mathematics, the findings of this field are often inaccessible to anthropologists, iconographers, epigraphers, and linguists who might otherwise be fascinated by Maya astronomy, but lack the necessary background to absorb the frequently forbidding literature on this subject. Our purpose in this team-taught seminar-style long workshop is to provide that background, as well as a thorough review of what can be said with some confidence about ancient Maya astronomy and timekeeping.

The workshop begins with a review of the major Maya calendars (i.e., the so-called Tzolkin, Haab, Calendar Round, Long Count, and Lunar Series). We then provide a ‘crash course’ in observational astronomy, focusing on the major bodies and phenomena observed and recorded by the Maya: (1) the Sun (particularly the length of the year, and its natural division by solstitial and equinoctial stations); (2) the Moon (including its phases and central involvement in both lunar and solar eclipses); (3) Venus; (4) Mars, and; (5) the constellations. These provide a ‘springboard’ to several linked, thematic surveys of Maya astronomical records in Colonial sources, Postclassic codices, and Classic stone monuments.

Over the course of this three-day workshop, students will be exposed to all of the most important astronomical information in Maya art, writing, and language, including (but not limited to): rare but important colonial Maya terms for stars, planets, and constellations (e.g., ek, ac ek, chac ek, çinan ek, tzab ek, xux ek, etc.) and their echoes of Classic Maya terms; the Madrid Codex cosmogram; the Dresden Codex eclipse pages and relevant Classic texts from Poco Uinic, Xultun, and  Quirigua; the Venus tables of the Dresden and Grolier/Mexico codices, the alignments of the Caracol observatory at Chichen Itza. and a rare Venus event recorded in Copan’s Temple 11 EN Panel; the Dresden Codex Mars Table; and the Paris Codex constellations, with relevant evidence from skybands and depictions of constellations in Maya art. It is of course impossible to cover everything that has been either discerned or guessed about Maya astronomy in a mere three days, but we are confident that the most important and consensual topics can indeed be introduced and explained in the time we have before us.

Instruction language: English. The instructors are also able to address questions and comments in a selection of Indo-European and Uralic languages.

Admittance: 30 attendees (max.)

“Fragmentos que hablan, el lenguaje de la cerámica maya”

Dora Maritza García Patzán & Socorro del Pilar Jiménez Álvarez

El taller especial de cerámica maya iniciará con el aprendizaje de los conceptos básicos para el análisis de este material tan importante que trasciende el tiempo, abordando el lenguaje técnico especial para su descripción y estudio. En este punto también se abordarán las metodologías existentes y se realizarán comparaciones de estilos regionales e iconografía. La cerámica también es importante para el establecimiento de cronologías y tipologías a través de métodos modernos que nos ayudan a ubicar los hallazgos a través del tiempo. Por lo tanto, nos adentraremos en el papel e importancia de los recipientes de barro en la vida cotidiana y en varios tipos de contextos, su significado, iconografía e interpretación. La pregunta principal a abordar será ¿qué nos dicen los objetos de barro de sus creadores?, el objetivo es adentrarnos en el mundo del barro, además de las descripciones formales y técnicas.  En cuanto a las técnicas de manufactura también nos adentraremos en los estudios etnográficos sobre la elaboración de cerámica prehispánica y su permanencia en las comunidades actuales, estaremos analizando materiales audiovisuales de algunos ejemplos en Guatemala. La cerámica, por tanto, no son solo objetos sino también sujetos de acción que poseen una función y papel dentro de las comunidades. Finalmente tendremos algunos ejercicios prácticos donde los participantes podrán aplicar los conocimientos adquiridos.

Instruction language: Spanish.

Admittance: 14 attendees (max.)

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