27th European Maya Conference: Krakow, Poland
Symposium
02-03 December 2022

The 27th Annual European Maya Conference is co-organised by the European Association of Mayanists (Wayeb) together with the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. The conference will begin with an opening keynote talk on Monday November 28th, followed by three-day workshops, and concludes with a two-day symposium held from Friday December 2nd to Saturday December 3rd 2022 at the Jagiellonian University Conference Center “Auditorium Maximum.”
The theme for the 27th European Maya Conference is Mapping Mesoamerica. The topic will be explored from a variety of perspectives and disciplines, taking into account the time-depth and cultural and geographic expanse of Mesoamerica. Among others, we would like to present the results of recent research focused on the mapping of the Maya area, and other parts of Mesoamerica, with a particular emphasis on LiDAR technology. LiDAR has revolutionized our perception of settlement patterns, demography, and the scale of landscape modification during pre-Columbian times. LiDAR and other modern mapping techniques have facilitated higher-resolution documentation of ancient structures, roads, agricultural terraces, water reservoirs, etc. They have also helped uncover many natural features that were used by ancient communities (such as caves and cenotes). During this conference, we will attempt to answer questions concerning the nature of settlements in Mesoamerica, the scale of human interaction and its impact on the local environment. This conference will also address another important topic: how space and landscape were perceived and represented in the art and writing systems of inhabitants during the pre-Hispanic and Colonial periods. The theme of the conference will be approached from various disciplinary points of view – including archaeology, cartography, historical geography, toponymy, art history, epigraphy, and linguistics – as well as interdisciplinary perspectives exploring the intersection of these disciplinary approaches.
The main topic is broken down into the following subthemes:
– Modern mapping technologies (e.g., LiDAR)
– Perception of place and space by ancient Mesoamericans
– Maps in Colonial Mesoamerica
– Epigraphic and iconographic representations of landscape, place and space in pre-Hispanic and Colonial sources
Mapping Mesoamerica
List of Speakers:
Harri Kettunen (University of Helsinki), Panos Kratimenos (University College London), Jarosław Źrałka (Jagiellonian University), Dorota Bojkowska (Jagiellonian University) – Mapping Mesoamerica: An Introduction to the Theme of This Year’s EMC
Takeshi Inomata (University of Arizona) – Maya Ethnogenesis Seen through High- and Low-resolution Lidar
Marcello A. Canuto (Tulane University), Luke Auld-Thomas (Tulane University) – Beyond the Beautiful Site Map: Toward Large-scale Modeling of Lowland Maya Settlement Patterns
Thomas G. Garrison (University of Texas at Austin), J. Dennis Baldwin (University of Texas at Austin), Stephen Houston (Brown University), Rafael Cambranes (Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala) – Paths through the Palimpsest: Building Chronology from Lidar-based Survey in the Buenavista Valley, Guatemala
Milan Kováč (Comenius University of Bratislava), Marek Bundzel (Comenius University of Bratislava), Tibor Lieskovský (Comenius University of Bratislava), Jakub Špoták (Comenius University of Bratislava), Lucia Chvaštulová (Comenius University of Bratislava) – Automated Creation of Maps of Maya Cities Using Neural Networks Based on LiDAR Data
Felix A. Kupprat (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), Kathryn Reese-Taylor (University of Calgary), F. C. Atasta Flores Esquivel (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), Armando Anaya Hernández (Universidad Autónoma de Campeche), Nicholas P. Dunning (University of Cincinnati), Debra S. Walker (University of Florida), Verónica A. Vázquez López (Tulane University), Adriana Velázquez Morlet (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia) – Settlement Patterns in the Bajo Laberinto Region in a Multiscalar and Diachronic Perspective
Paul Graf (University of Bonn) – The Maya under the Surface: An Integrated Approach for the Detection of Invisible Settlements in the Peripheries of Tamarindito and Tzikin Tzakan in Petén, Guatemala
Eva Jobbová (Trinity College Dublin) and Christophe Helmke (University of Copenhagen) – Directional Patterns and Planning in Urban and Rural Spaces in Central Lowland Maya Settlement
Daniel Prusaczyk (University of Warsaw) and Karolina Juszczyk (University of Warsaw) – In Pursuit of Water. Mapping of Pre-Hispanic Aqueducts in the Acolhua Region
Carolina Collaro (University of Jaén) – A Case Study of Lidar Survey by Drone in the Archaeological Maya Landscape of Guatemala
Francisco Estrada-Belli (Tulane University), Alexandre Tokovinine (University of Alabama) – On the Path of the Kaanu’l Dynasty in Northeastern Peten. Recent Investigations at Chochkitam
Jan Szymański (University of Warsaw), Joachim Martecki (University of Warsaw) – No Lines to Cross: Space and Identity in Mesoamerican and Central American Studies
Przemysław Adrian Trześniowski (independent researcher) – Corridors of Xibalba – Mapping of Inundated Caves of Yucatan Peninsula
Michael Pittman (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Thomas G. Kaye (Foundation of Scientific Advancement, Sierra Vista, Arizona), Elizabeth Graham (Institute of Archaeology, UCL) – Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence Imaging Investigating Monuments and Artefacts from Lamanai, northern Belize
Gaia Carosi (University of Bonn) – Mapping Late Postclassic Tabasco: Preliminary Results of the TopoMSL Project
Maria Felicia Rega (Sapienza University of Rome and Comenius University of Bratislava) – Take Me Out to the Ballgame: Reconstructing Regional Borders Through Ballcourts Distribution in Peten, Guatemala
Daniel Salazar Lama (Université Paris 1 – Panthéon-Sorbonne), Benjamín Esqueda Lazo de la Vega (Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán) – Reconstruyendo el espacio del mito en la Subestructura II C de Calakmul, Campeche, México
John F. Chuchiak IV (Missouri University) – “The Hills are of Live Rock, Dry and Waterless”: Early Cartographic Encounters of Spanish Explorers and Conquistadors with the terrain of the Yucatan Peninsula, 1511-1600
Victor Castillo (Jagiellonian University) – Mapping Zaculeu: An Overview of the Historical Cartography of the Maya Highlands of Guatemala
Margarita Cossich (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) – Tlaxcaltecas y quauhquecholtecas mapeando la Guatemala del siglo XVI
Rogelio Valencia Rivera (independent researcher) – Throwing Arrows and Stones: Domestic Space Demarcation and Appropriation in Colonial New Spain
Enrico Straffi (Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH), Mexico) – Mapeando el quincunce en área maya: propuesta teórico-practica
Monika Banach (Jagiellonian University) – Mapping Sacred Landscape in the Ixil Region of Guatemala
Feliciana Herrera (Alcaldía Indígena de Nebaj) – Cosmovisión e identidad del pueblo ixil desde espacios cartografícos
For further information, please contact the Wayeb Conference Board or the local organisers at emc2022@wayeb.org.
Related Links
Workshop Handbook
The EMC Workshop Handbook is available for download in English, Spanish, French, Polish.
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