4th Cracow Maya Conference 2015, Poland
Into the Underworld
Archaeological and Anthropological Perspectives on the Afterlife in the Pre-Columbian Americas
19 – 22 February, 2015
The conference will concern the most recent research results on religions, politics as well as cultural and social phenomena related to the concepts of death and afterlife of the New World. Although the subject of the conference is relatively poorly examined, it offers a unique opportunity to have insight into the world of symbols, power, knowledge and beliefs of traditional communities. The leading specialists in contemporary American studies from Poland and abroad will take part in the symposium. They will present their results of archaeological and anthropological research in Americas and promote the history and cultural heritage of the mentioned region. Moreover, the symposium will also be an opportunity for integration of the scientific environment, students and individuals interested in this subject. As part of the conference, the institutes will hold workshops on the Maya hieroglyphic writing system.
Thursday (19.02.)
Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences
S?awkowska 17 Street
REGISTRATION
8.15 – 8.50
WELCOME ADDRESS
8:50 – 9:10
Prof. dr hab. Janusz K. Koz?owski
Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University & Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences
Prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Cia?owicz
Director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University
Dr hab. Marcin Brocki
Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the Jagiellonian University
SESSION 1
Burials, ancestors and the Maya Underworld: archaeological and architectural perspectives
9:10 – 9:40
Norman Hammond (Cambridge University and Boston University)
Mortality and Immortality: Maya Mortuary Practice
9:40 – 10:10
Cristina Vidal (University of Valencia) and Gaspar Muñoz (Polytechnic University of Valencia)
Las arquitecturas ocultas de las Acrópolis de La Blanca y Chilonché
10:10 – 10:30
Coffee break
10:30 – 11:00
Jaros?aw ?ra?ka, Wies?aw Koszkul, and Bogumi? Pilarski (Jagiellonian University)
Burials, offerings, flints and rituals of veneration in Nakum Structure X: the cult of ancestors and a horizon of tombs with lithic deposits in Maya area.
11:00 – 11:30
Jan Szyma?ski (University of Warsaw)
Out of the Underworld: Maize God’s resurrection and its architectural context
11:30 – 13:00
Lunch break
SESSION 2
Sacred places, supernatural creatures and death in Maya and Mesoamerican worldview
13:00-13:30
Alexander Safronov (Moscow State University)
Sacral Places in the Classic Maya Political Landscape
13:30-14:00
Harri Ketunnen (University of Helsinki)
Cuando el Tecolote Canta: Owls in Mesoamerican Art, Writing, Mythology & Ethnozoology
14:00-14:30
Agnieszka Hamann (University of Warsaw)
Through the valley of the shadow of death: Death as a typical domain requiring non-literal treatment
14:30-15:00
Coffee break
SESSION 3
Death, mountains and caves among the Highland Maya: Ethnographic perspective
15:00-15:30
Piotr Grzegorz Michalik (Jagiellonian University)
Who dwells inside the mountain and underneath the ground? A modern Tzotzil point of view
15:30-16:00
Monika Banach (Jagiellonian University)
Vi’ Vitz y Xe’ Naloj: montañas y cuevas en el paisaje sagrado de los Mayas Ixil
16:00-16:30
Leif Korsbaek (Mexico’s National School of Anthropology) & Marcela Barrios Luna
The cargo system, death and the graveyard in the highlands of Chiapas
16:30-17:00
Coffee break
SESSION 4
Caves and Underworld places in ancient Mesoamerica
17:00-17:30
Christophe Helmke (University of Copenhagen) and Ismael Arturo Montero García (Ipan Tepeme Ihuan Oztome)
Caves and New Fire Ceremonies in Central Mexico
17:30-18:00
Jesper Nielsen (University of Copenhagen)
The Cave and the Butterfly: Death and Rebirth in Ancient Central Mexico
18:00-18:30
John S. Henderson (Cornell University) and Kathryn M. Hudson (University at Buffalo)
Otherworldly Places: Caves as Bidirectional Portals in Maya Cosmology
18:30-19:00
Ramzy Barrois (independent scholar)
How the Underworld became Hell in our understanding of the Maya Ballgame
Friday (20.02.)
Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences
S?awkowska 17 Street
REGISTRATION
9:30-10:00
SESSION 5
Burial customs and Otherworld places in Mesoamerica and other parts of the New World
10:00-10:30
Kazimiera Miko? and ?ukasz Byrski (Jagellonian University)
The Monument 1 of Chalcatzingo – an enthronement scene or Olmec cave paradise?
10:30-11:00
Elena Novoselova (Moscow State University)
Ritos fúnebres y poder supremo en la Civilización Andina (en el ejemplo de Wari, Tiwanaku y Tawantinsuyu)
11:00-11:30
Rados?aw Palonka and Jakub Nawrot (Jagiellonian University)
Burial customs and perspectives on the afterlife in Pueblo culture from the North American Southwest
Friday-Sunday (20-22.02.)
Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology
Go??bia 9 Street
1. DAY (20.02) | 13:00 – 15:00 and 15:30 – 19:00
2-3. DAY (21-22.02) 9:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 18:00
Maya Workshop I (basic):
Sacral Maya Rituals and Ceremonies in Classic Texts and Images
by Alexander Safronov, Ivan Savchenko and Magdalena Rusek
Maya Workshop II:
Underworld Creatures in Maya Art and Writing
by Harri Kettunen and Guido Krempel
Nahua Workshop:
Introducción al estudio de los Códices Borgia, Vaticano B y Cospi
by Katarzyna Mikulska and Ana Guadalupe Díaz (via Skype)
MOVIE
Saturday, (21.02.), 20:00
Granito: How to Nail a Dictator
by Pamela Yates
Introduction letter: Pablo Ceto (Alcaldía Indígena de Nebaj, Ixil University of Guatemala)
Sign-up
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