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Hieroglyphic inscriptions provide one of the most important sources of information on Classic period Maya rulers, and on the sociopolitical relations between lowland Maya polities. The discovery of new inscribed monuments and artifacts, particularly in Maya sub-regions where inscriptions are rare, can therefore provide critical new information on the political significance of these sites. In this paper, we describe the recent discovery at Cahal Pech of three bone rings, a bone pin, and fragments of turtle shell that were decorated with low-relief inscriptions. The hieroglyphic texts from Cahal Pech, along with the rich contents of the tomb where the artifacts were discovered, provide compelling evidence that Classic period Belize Valley elite employed symbols of rulership akin to those used by the powerful rulers of larger centers in the Maya lowlands. Inscripciones jeroglificas proveen una de las fuentes de información más importantes sobre los gobernantes mayas del periodo Clásico y sobre las relaciones socio-políticas entre las entidades politicas de las tierras bajas mayas. El descubrimiento de nuevos monumentos y artefactos inscritos, particularmente en las sub-regiones Mayas donde las inscripciones son raras, pueden por lo tanto proveer nueva información crítica sobre el significado político de estos sitios. En este artículo, describimos el reciente descubrimiento en Cahal Pech de très anillos de hueso, un alfiler de hueso y fragmentos de caparazón de tortuga, los cuales estuvieron decorados con inscripciones de bajo relieve. Los textos jeroglificos de Cahal Pech, junto con los ricos contenidos de la tumba en la cual los objetos fueron descubiertos, proveen evidencia convincente de que la élite del Valle de Beiice del periodo Clásico empleó símbolos de soberania semejantes a aquéllos usados por los poderosos gobernantes de los grandes centros de las tierras bajas Mayas. Hieroglypheninschriften bilden eine der wichtigsten Quellen für Information über die Herrscher der Maya der Klassischen Zeit, sowie über die sozio-politischen Beziehungen zwischen den Staaten des Maya-Tieflands. Die Entdeckung von neuen beschrifteten Monumenten, insbesondere in Subregionen der Maya-Welt in denen Inschriften ansonsten selten sind, kann deshalb wichtige neue Information über die politische Bedeutung dieser Stätten liefern. In diesem Artikel beschreiben wir die erst kürzlich in Cahal Pech entdeckten drei Knochenringe, eine Knochennadel und Fragmente von Schildkrötenpanzern, die mit Inschriften im Flachrelief beschriftet sind. Die Inschriften von Cahal Pech, zusammen mit dem reichen Inhalt des Grabes wo die Artefakte gefunden wurden liefern eindeutige Hinweise darauf, dass die Elite des Belize Valley in der Klassik die gleichen Symbole der Herrschaft verwendete wie mächtigere Herrscher aus den großen Zentren des Maya-Tieflands.

Late Classic interaction between Copan and western El Salvador has been archaeologically recognized in prestige items, monumental influences, and the common use of Copador ceramics. An inscribed flask excavated in 1952 in the main pyramid at Tazumal, El Salvador provides historical evidence for these ties. The flask is dedicated as the property of K'ahk' Uti' Witz' K'awiil (Copan Ruler 12), a long-lived seventh-century ruler who presided over the expansion of Copan's influence far outside of the Copan valley. The flask is the only hieroglyphic text from El Salvador naming a recognizable individual or that can be dated to an absolute calendrical span, one of only a few miniature Classic Maya vessels tagged with an individual's name, and the only one naming an ajaw (lord). The vessel's text, iconography, and context brings the political relationship between Copan and western El Salvador into sharper focus. La interacción durante el período clásico tardío entre Copan y El Salvador occidental ha sido reconocido arqueológicamente por medio de artículos de prestigio, influencias en monumentos y el uso común del tipo de cerámica polícroma Copador. Un frasco grabadoexcavado en 1952 por Stanley Boggs, en la pirámide principal de Tazumal, El Salvador, ofrece evidencias históricas de estos lazos. Frascos de este tipo fueron usados en varios casos para contener tabaco y muchos se produjeron en el área de Copan. El frasco de Tazumal se encontró en un entierro acompañado de fragmentos de jade y pirita y luego estuvo guardado en el Museo Nacional de Antropología después de la excavación, muchos años antes de los avances históricos en el deciframiento de la escritura maya. El frasco es único en que tiene una Secuencia Primaria Estándar que se dedica como propiedad de K'ahk' Uti' Witz' K'awiil (Rey 12 de Copan), un gobernante de larga vida del siglo VII que presidió sobre la expansión de Copan y la dispersión de su influencia lejos del valle de Copán. El frasco es el único texto jeroglífico de El Salvador que nombra un individuo reconocible o que se puede fechar a un período calendárico absoluto, uno de los pocos vasos miniaturas mayas del período clásico fichados con el nombre de un individuo y el único que nombra a un ajaw (señor). La iconografía muestra temas de tributo y el intercambio de regalos entre patrones y clientes políticos. La combinación del texto, la iconografía y el contexto del frasco de Tazumal sugiere que Copan tenía una relación política formal con el oeste de El Salvador durante el reino de Rey 12. En esta capacidad, el frasco es similar en uso a varias vasijas cilíndricas de las tierras bajas mayas, marcando relaciones entre tributarios o aliados en la época clásica.

This accessible, state-of-the-art review of Mayan hieroglyphics and cosmology also serves as a tribute to one of the field's most noted pioneers. The core of this book focuses on the current study of Mayan hieroglyphics as inspired by the recently deceased Mayanist Linda Schele. As author or coauthor of more than 200 books or articles on the Maya, Schele served as the chief disseminator of knowledge to the general public about this ancient Mesoamerican culture, similar to the way in which Margaret Mead introduced anthropology and the people of Borneo to the English-speaking world. Twenty-five contributors offer scholarly writings on subjects ranging from the ritual function of public space at the Olmec site and the gardens of the Great Goddess at Teotihuacan to the understanding of Jupiter in Maya astronomy and the meaning of the water throne of Quirigua Zoomorph P. The workshops on Maya history and writing that Schele conducted in Guatemala and Mexico for the highland people, modern descendants of the Mayan civilization, are thoroughly addressed as is the phenomenon termed "Maya mania"—the explosive growth of interest in Maya epigraphy, iconography, astronomy, and cosmology that Schele stimulated. An appendix provides a bibliography of Schele's publications and a collection of Scheleana, written memories of "the Rabbit Woman" by some of her colleagues and students. Of interest to professionals as well as generalists, this collection will stand as a marker of the state of Mayan studies at the turn of the 21st century and as a tribute to the remarkable personality who guided a large part of that archaeological research for more than two decades.

Advances in hieroglyphic decipherment and in language contact typology provide new data and theories with which to investigate and reassess prior interpretations of Mayan linguistic history. The present study considers the shift from proto-Mayan *k and *k' to /ch/ and /ch'/, a sound change that affected several Mayan languages in different phonological contexts. This sound change, with a very particular set of conditions, has been highlighted as a defining feature of the Cholan-Tseltalan branch of the Mayan language family. New evidence suggests that this sound change was shared as a result of contact around the time of the Classic period, rather than reflecting an inherited sound change that would have taken place at a much earlier stage of the language family. Hieroglyphic data provide further evidence that this sound change was adopted in the hieroglyphic language in a word-by-word fashion, rather than applying to all similar phonological contexts at the same time.

The ancient Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions of the upper Usumacinta region record an intensive interaction that took place among its regional capitals. The precise geographic locations of some of these sites are presently unknown. Through the application of the Gravity Model within the framework of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we present the probable locations and possible territorial extents of a few of these: Sak Tz’i’, Hix-Witz, and the “Knot-Site.” On this occasion, however, we concentrate our discussion on the role that the kingdom of Sak Tz’i’ played in the geopolitical scenario of the region. It is our belief that this case study constitutes a good example of how, through a conjunctive approach that integrates the archaeological with the epigraphic data, GIS can represent an excellent analytical tool to approach archaeological issues such as the political organization of the Maya Lowlands during the Late Classic period.

The interpretation of deixis in language is heavily context-dependent. In spoken language, the addressee(s) have the context of an utterance to aid in its interpretation. In writing, however, language can become separated from both its creator and the context of its creation. This article investigates the use of certain deictics—first and second person markers—in ancient Maya hieroglyphics (circa AD 250–900). The temporal and cultural gap that separates modern language scholars from the creators of these texts means that much of the larger cultural context in which these texts would have been interpreted has been lost. An analysis of the way in which first and second person reference was framed and deployed in Maya hieroglyphs, even when identifying the intended referent proves impossible, provides insights concerning how people recontextualize textual language and how the authors of these texts adapted the form of their messages in response to the modality used.

The interpretation of deixis in language is heavily context‐dependent. In spoken language, the addressee(s) have the context of an utterance to aid in its interpretation. In writing, however, language can become separated from both its creator and the context of its creation. This article investigates the use of certain deictics—first and second person markers—in ancient M aya hieroglyphics (circa AD 250–900). The temporal and cultural gap that separates modern language scholars from the creators of these texts means that much of the larger cultural context in which these texts would have been interpreted has been lost. An analysis of the way in which first and second person reference was framed and deployed in M aya hieroglyphs, even when identifying the intended referent proves impossible, provides insights concerning how people recontextualize textual language and how the authors of these texts adapted the form of their messages in response to the modality used.

Sometime in the early 17th century, at Magdalena de Cao, a community of resettled native peoples in the Chicama Valley on the North Coast of Peru, a Spaniard used the back of a letter to jot down the terms for numbers in a local language. Four hundred years later, the authors of this article were able to recover and study this piece of paper. We present information on this otherwise unknown language, on numeracy, and on cultural relations of ethnolinguistic groups in pre-and early-post-Conquest northern Peru. Our investigations have determined that, while several of the Magadalena number terms were likely borrowed from a Quechuan language, the remainder record a decimal number system in an otherwise unknown language. Historical sources of the region mention at least two potential candidate languages, Pescadora and Quingnam; however, because neither is documented beyond its name, a definite connection remains impossible to establish. En los inicios del siglo diecisiete, en el sitio de Magdalena de Cao, una comunidad de indígenas reducidos en el valle de Chicama en la costa norte del Perú, un español usó el reverso de una carta para anotar las palabras que traducían números en un idioma local. Cuatrocientos años después, la carta fue recuperada y estudiada por los autores de este artículo. Presentamos información acerca de este idioma desconocido, tanto como sobre los conceptos numéricos, y sobre las relaciones culturales de grupos etnolinguísticos en la costa norte del Perú antes y después de la conquista español. Nuestras investigaciones habían determinado que, mientras algunas de las palabras numéricas son probablemente prestadas de un idioma quechua, los demás vienen de un sistema numérico decimal de un idioma hasta ahora desconocido. Las fuentes históricas en la región mencionan al menos dos idiomas como candidatos potenciales, o sea Pescadora y Quingnam, pero como no sabemos sino esos dos nombres, es imposible identificar a que idiomas pertenecieron.

ABSTRACT  Sometime in the early 17th century, at Magdalena de Cao, a community of resettled native peoples in the Chicama Valley on the North Coast of Peru, a Spaniard used the back of a letter to jot down the terms for numbers in a local language. Four hundred years later, the authors of this article were able to recover and study this piece of paper. We present information on this otherwise unknown language, on numeracy, and on cultural relations of ethnolinguistic groups in pre‐ and early‐post‐Conquest northern Peru. Our investigations have determined that, while several of the Magadalena number terms were likely borrowed from a Quechuan language, the remainder record a decimal number system in an otherwise unknown language. Historical sources of the region mention at least two potential candidate languages, Pescadora and Quingnam; however, because neither is documented beyond its name, a definite connection remains impossible to establish. RESUMEN  En los inicios del siglo diecisiete, en el sitio de Magdalena de Cao, una comunidad de indígenas reducidos en el valle de Chicama en la costa norte del Perú, un español usó el reverso de una carta para anotar las palabras que traducían números en un idioma local. Cuatrocientos años después, la carta fue recuperada y estudiada por los autores de este artículo. Presentamos información acerca de este idioma desconocido, tanto como sobre los conceptos numéricos, y sobre las relaciones culturales de grupos etnolinguísticos en la costa norte del Perú antes y después de la conquista español. Nuestras investigaciones habían determinado que, mientras algunas de las palabras numéricas son probablemente prestadas de un idioma quechua, los demás vienen de un sistema numérico decimal de un idioma hasta ahora desconocido. Las fuentes históricas en la región mencionan al menos dos idiomas como candidatos potenciales, o sea Pescadora y Quingnam, pero como no sabemos sino esos dos nombres, es imposible identificar a que idiomas pertenecieron.