31st European Maya Conference: Paris, France – Workshops
“Agency in Mesoamerica”
The 31st Annual European Maya Conference is organised by Wayeb – the European Association of Mayanists – in cooperation with Paris Nanterre, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and Sorbonne University, Centre André-Chastel, École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Centro de Estudios Mexicanos UNAM-Francia, and Archaïos in Paris. The conference will begin with three days of workshops, held from Monday 7th–Wednesday 9th December, and will conclude with a two-day symposium, taking place from Thursday 10th–Friday 11th December 2026. As part of the symposium, we also plan to organise a poster session.
The theme for the 31st European Maya Conference is AGENCY IN MESOAMERICA. The topic will be explored from a variety of perspectives.
During the symposium, we will explore the nature and dynamics of agency in Mesoamerica. The study of agency analyses the mechanisms through which diverse entities gain the power to act, how that power is distributed, and the ways it manifests – from attributing responsibility for actions to its effective execution and impact. It examines the forces at work in societies, their dynamics, and the gradual or abrupt processes of transformations they generate. The notion of “agent” is not restricted to human but extends to non-human entities, including spirits, ancestors, deities, animals, plants, stones, and artefacts.
Drawing on diverse socio-political, domestic, agricultural, artisanal, and everyday contexts – from settlement patterns and (cosmo)diplomatic negotiations embedded in ritual practices and in magical spells to the fabric of collective memory – this meeting explores how the power to act is impulsed, constituted, channelled, contested, and controlled across Mesoamerica. It assesses the sources of these powers, both diachronically and spatially, along with their intensities, directions, and spatiotemporal properties.
An Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs
Marie Botzet (Bonn University), Felix Kupprat (UNAM) & Dimitrios Markianos-Daniolos (Bonn University)
The Beginners Workshop will provide a general introduction to Maya epigraphy. It is open to anyone interested in the topic, and is especially ideal for people who have never worked with Maya inscriptions, although people with limited previous experience are also welcome. The workshop will cover various topics, including cultural background and the inner workings of the writing system itself. Starting from the basics, the participants will learn about the principles of Maya hieroglyphic writing, the Maya calendar, and the structure of texts. Participants will learn through guided hands-on activities, complemented by short lectures and interactive talks given by the tutors. Hieroglyphic inscriptions from different Maya cities will be studied and discussed with a focus on gender and agency. By the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to read simple inscriptions, follow calendrical calculations, and identify key historical figures. Participants are asked to bring a personal digital internet-enabled device, preferably a laptop or tablet, to consult complementary online materials during the workshop.
Tuition: English. The instructors are also able to attend questions and comments in German, Spanish and French.
Limited to 25 participants.
“Exploring Agency in Ancient Maya Writing and Art“
Marc Zender (Tulane University)
Among the Classic Maya, agency (defined here as the ability to express intention and to initiate action) was expressed through hieroglyphic texts and associated art in several interrelated and interdependent ways. As might be expected, texts and imagery frequently document the agency of living humans and their ancestors. But agency was also accorded to the non-human sphere: animals and supernatural beings of various kinds; palaces, temples, and other aspects of the built environment; and forests, mountains, and other features of the natural landscape. Nor were works of art merely passive records of agency. Text-bearing objects, and even texts themselves, were frequently seen as the loci of considerable vitality, and occasionally as agents in their own right.
In this workshop, we will explore the nature and dynamics of ancient Maya agency through a detailed examination of relevant texts and art drawn from the whole of the Classic tradition. Consideration of more than seven centuries of evidence, from the Protoclassic to the Terminal Classic, will allow us to consider changes in the scope and representation of agency through time. Similarly, a broad regional canvas, from the mountains of Honduras to the broad coastal plains of Yucatán, will facilitate our exploration of varying expressions of agency and their effects on both neighboring and more distant traditions. Several themes will recur throughout: (1) contextual analyses of so-called ‘agency expressions’ in Classic texts (e.g., -ichonal ‘before, in front of’, -ilaaj ‘to attend or witness’, -itaaj ‘to accompany’, –kabij ‘to tend to’); (2) consideration of ‘ownership’ expressions, both of objects and people (e.g., ubaak ‘his/her slave’, ucha’n ‘his/her master’, uk’uhuul ‘his/her god(s)’, ulakamtuun ‘his/her stela’, usaajal ‘his/her petty lord’, yajaw ‘his/her vassal’); (3) examination of signatures and their implications for the agency of ajtz’ihb ‘scribes’ and aj’ulxul ‘sculptors’, and vexing questions regarding the ‘authorship’ of Classic texts; (4) grammatical analysis of various agent-related features of Classic Mayan morphology and syntax, including ergativity, the use of active vs. passive voice, and the relevance of the comparatively rare causative derivations; (5) consideration of glyphs-as-actors, in light of the pronounced vitality seen in both animate and full-figure signs; and, finally, (6) the agency of representation (i.e., ‘who is and is not depicted in Classic Maya art?’).
Tuition: English. The instructor is also able to attend questions and comments in Spanish.
Limited to 20 participants. SOLD OUT
“Maya Imagery: Support, Materiality, and Spatiality / Imágenes Mayas: Soporte, materialidad y espacialidad”
Daniel Salazar Lama (Archaïos) & Ana García Barrios (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid)
This workshop proposes to introduce participants to the study of Maya imagery from the Classic period (AD 250–900) through a comprehensive perspective linking iconography, support, materiality, and spatiality. We begin with the premise that the image does not exist in isolation: the support, with its qualities of form, material, texture, colour, and spatial setting, actively contributes to the construction and perception of meaning.
The analysis will start with Classic ceramic vessels, examining themes, characters, and narrative strategies. We will study in detail how the painted surface of the vessel conditions the development of the scenes, as well as the relationship between composition and the three-dimensionality of the support. We will also explore the technological aspects and plastic resources that visually transform the ceramics, such as surface preparation, slips, pigments, textures, and colour palette.
Subsequently, this methodology will be applied to the study of sculptural and architectural monuments. In the case of stelae, iconography will be analyzed in relation to setting, orientation, visibility, and its articulation with movement through plazas and between buildings. In turn, several monumental façades will be examined, considering sculptural volume, the play of light and shadow, and movement.
Finally, the application of colour on both façades and building interiors will be addressed, evaluating its role in structuring space and developing visual narratives. Overall, the workshop proposes an analytical trajectory moving from image to object, and from object to space, integrating the sensory and contextual dimensions of Maya imagery.
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Este taller propone introducir a los participantes en el estudio de las imágenes mayas del periodo Clásico (250–900 d. C.) a través de una perspectiva integral que vincula iconografía, soporte, materialidad y espacialidad. Partimos de la premisa de que la imagen no existe de forma aislada: el soporte, con sus cualidades de forma, material, textura, color y emplazamiento espacial, contribuye activamente a la construcción y percepción del significado.
El análisis comenzará con los recipientes cerámicos del Clásico, examinando temas, personajes y estrategias narrativas. Estudiaremos en detalle cómo la superficie pintada del recipiente condiciona el desarrollo de las escenas, así como la relación entre la composición y la tridimensionalidad del soporte. Asimismo, exploraremos los aspectos tecnológicos y recursos plásticos que transforman visualmente la cerámica, tales como la preparación de la superficie, los engobes, los pigmentos, las texturas y la paleta cromática.
Posteriormente, esta metodología se aplicará al estudio de monumentos escultóricos y arquitectónicos. En el caso de las estelas, se analizará la iconografía en relación con el emplazamiento, la orientación, la visibilidad y su articulación con el tránsito a través de las plazas y entre los edificios. A su vez, se examinarán varias fachadas monumentales considerando el volumen escultórico, el juego de luces y sombras y el movimiento.
Por último, se abordará la aplicación del color tanto en fachadas como en interiores de edificios, evaluando su papel en la estructuración del espacio y en el desarrollo de narrativas visuales. En conjunto, el taller propone una trayectoria analítica que va de la imagen al objeto, y del objeto al espacio, integrando las dimensiones sensoriales y contextuales de las imágenes mayas.
Tuition: English and Spanish
Limited to 25 participants.
“Mesoamerican Foodways / Tradiciones culinarias en Mesoamérica”
Dora Maritza García Patzán (Comenius University), Fátima Tec Pool (Comenius University), Verónica Amellali Vázquez López (UCL) & Harri Kettunen (University of Helsinki)
This three-day workshop offers an overview of the cultural history of foodways in Mesoamerica, with particular attention to the Maya area and Central Mexico. We will provide a general overview of the main lines of evidence that inform the study of culinary practices before European contact. We will discuss ingredients, utensils, and cooking techniques, as well as sociocultural contexts related to food, such as ritual ceremonies. We will also explore the continuity of these practices today, as well as the impact – in both directions – of contact between Mesoamerica and Europe. In this way, the workshop explores archaeological, historical, ethnographic, iconographic, and epigraphic perspectives.
Although the workshop does not include hands-on cooking, we will have interactive experiences with ingredients and utensils.
Topics include, e.g.:
– Methodological approaches to the study of ancient Mesoamerican foodways
– Ingredients, utensils, and techniques
– Food and its sociocultural contexts through epigraphy and iconography
– Foodways today (ethnography)
– Food for the gods
– Exchange between the Americas and Europe
The workshop will be taught bilingually, in English and Spanish, with presentations in both languages. Familiarity with both languages is an advantage, but fluency in both is not required. We will do our utmost to make the workshop accessible to participants with varying levels of proficiency in either language.
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Este taller de tres días ofrece una visión general de la historia cultural de las tradiciones culinarias en Mesoamérica, con especial atención al área maya y al centro de México. Daremos un panorama general de las principales líneas de evidencia que aportan información para el estudio de las prácticas culinarias antes del periodo de contacto con Europa. Hablaremos de los ingredientes, utensilios y técnicas de cocina, así como de los ámbitos socioculturales relacionados con los alimentos, como ceremonias rituales. También exploraremos la continuidad de estas prácticas en la actualidad, así como el impacto —en ambas direcciones— del contacto entre Mesoamérica y Europa. De esta manera, este taller explora aspectos arqueológicos, históricos, etnográficos, iconográficos y epigráficos.
Si bien el taller no incluye prácticas de cocina, tendremos experiencias interactivas con ingredientes y utensilios
Temas:
– Aspectos metodológicos para el estudio de las antiguas tradiciones culinarias en Mesoamérica
– Ingredientes, utensilios y técnicas
– Comida y sus contextos socioculturales desde la epigrafía e iconografía
– Prácticas culinarias en la actualidad (etnografía)
– Comida para los dioses
– Intercambio entre las Américas y Europa
El taller se impartirá de forma bilingüe, en inglés y español, con presentaciones. Es aconsejable tener un conocimiento práctico de ambos idiomas, pero no es necesario dominarlos con fluidez. Haremos todo lo posible para que el taller sea accesible para participantes con distintos niveles de cualquiera de los dos idiomas.
Tuition: English and Spanish
Limited to 25 participants.
