ArchaeoMaya

Mel Gibson in Perspective

2006-09-21T11:27:00.000-05:00

I think this picture speaks for itself about Mel's state of mind while making Apocalypto. Queztalcoatl has returned once again!

New Apocalypto Trailer

2006-09-20T10:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Gibson put out the latest trailer for his movie about the ancient Maya - Apocalypto, set to release December 8th. Overall, I must say this one is much better than the first. There were less cultural errors and no baboons this time! The costuming seemed a bit better, less metal, more jade. While the wooden pins in the face are more amazonian, the teeth inlays are very Maya. The haircuts showing a high forehead are also a good touch.

That being said, their are still a few points on the problematic side. Big picture, there is little to no proof that the Aztec were attacking and enslaving the Maya in the 14th century. I guess every epic story needs a great enemy, and the Aztec fit the bill in this case. It would have been nice if he had moved 100 years ahead and done the Spanish contact instead. Europe is always a good candidate for vilification.

The architecture in the Maya city is also another glaring error. The temple in the foreground is an odd mix of Palenque's palace and the Temple of the Niches in El Tajin (not a Maya city and located in northern Veracruz). The one's in the back ground are Tikal style, stylistically dating them to 600 years before the movie's time period. The chak masks behind the priests head are more from the Post Classic, but the mixing of architecture styles really denotes a lack of attention to details.

Perhaps the most eye catching inconsistency is the way Mel bastardized the Bonampak murals to be more bloody and violent. Though the actual murals are indeed scenes of captive presentation and sacrifice, Gibson decided to add severed heads and removed hearts being held aloft in clenched fists. I wonder how he'd feel if he saw an altered version of the Sistine Chapel's murals, maybe showing a bot more skin? Making up his own murals would have been fine, but changing a classic piece of art to fit his story line is insensitive.

Overall, I think it's going to be an exciting movie and one that really puts Maya culture on the world stage. The proof of Mel's success or failure will be judged not by guys like me, but by what the modern Maya think of it. Oddly, Mel is going out tomorrow to preview the movie to his first test group - North American Indians of Oklahoma. Why not the Maya first?

In any event, I'll try to keep an eye out for more news. The links below will take you to the new trailer on the official Apocalypto web site and to an Apocalypto fan club blog that is paying much closer attention than I.

View the Trailer on Apocalypto's official website - www.apocalypto.movies.go.com

Visit the fan site blog - Apocalypto Watch - www.apocalyptowatch.blogspot.com

Cascajal Block Debated

2006-09-17T11:56:00.000-05:00

Here's a good news report on the questions surrounding and brought up by the newly resurfaced Cascajal Block.
The Cascajal Block, on www.archaeology.about.com

Oldest Writing in the New World Discovered

2006-09-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

The news this week is reporting that the earliest example of writing in the America's was found in 1999 within a construction backfill pit in Veracruz, Mexico. Said to date back 2900 years, it is believed to have come out of an Olmec site. Stephen Houston appears to be the lead researcher, and has both dated and confirmed the nature of the text. For me, I have two worries - one, it's always suspect when you've lost the provenience of an object and it's context is secured by someone's account, and two, that is the wierdiest arrangement I've ever seen for a Mesoamerican text. Every other example I've ever seen, Olmec or otherwise, is arranged in a relatively grid pattern. I just hope that the site it was unearthed from can be returned to, and that further excavation can put this incredible find in a bit more context. Check out the published details in tomorrow's Science, or in this article:
Oldest Writing in the New World Discovered in Veracruz, Mexico

El Baul's Giant Stone Head

2006-09-06T18:44:00.000-05:00

At the archaeological site of El Baul, on the Pacific slope of the Guatemalan Highlands, stands this giant stone head, blackened with centuries of burning rituals conducted at it's base. Note the freshly burned and beheaded chicken on top. I suspect, based on the monument nearby and the others in the community museum, that this monument dates to around 200-300AD.

I need validation

2006-09-05T16:17:00.000-05:00

Hey Ted, you might be the only person who is looking at this blog right now. Please leave a comment so I don't feel so alone. It's cold out here in cyber-space.

Palenque Wind-ows

2006-09-04T00:39:00.000-05:00

This is one of the t-shaped windows in Palenque. The "T" is the hieroglyphic symbol "Ik" for wind, and in this context it makes sense. Ik is also the symbol of Palenque's royal lineage, so this one in the Palace tower has a double meaning.

Pakal of Palenque's name in hieroglyphs

2006-09-04T00:18:00.000-05:00

Ok, here's the first informational post. This is Pakal's name. His full name is Kinich' Hanab Pakal, or "Sun Faced Lord Flower Shield. Look at the glyph, the right side is a logograph of a shield with a flower inside. The left side is a glyph with the sun symbol as its central element.

Introducing Myself

2006-09-02T14:46:00.000-05:00

Hi, I'm Dr. Ed Barnhart, Director of the Maya Exploration Center. This is the place where I'll be doing my beta-blog from, so I can learn. I done a lot of exploring and archaeology in Mesoamerica in the last 15 years, and this is where I'll be sharing that info. This is a picture of me from July 2006, at the site of Yaxha on the Guatemala, Belize border.