June 11, 2011 Talk: Michael Coe, PhD: "Time and Space in Southeast Asia
and
Mesoamerica: Connection or Disconnection?" and Codex Wookshop: Dr.
Gabrielle
Vail, New College of Florida in Sarasota, "Venus Deities
among the Prehispanic and Contemporary Maya"
Striking similarities between the cosmological
systems of Southeast Asia and Mesoamerica raise the questions of common
origin, diffusion, and/or independent invention. For example, how do we
explain the resemblance of the intricate Mesoamerican permutation
calendar to that of contemporary Bali, or the organization of space by
the color-direction complex found in eastern Asia and in New World
cultures from the Southwestern US through northern Columbia? These
topics may currently be unfashionable, but they are still worthy of
pursuit.
Michael D. Coe, PhD. is an pre-eminent American
archaeologist, anthropologist, epigrapher and author. Primarily known
for his research in the field of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican studies,
and in particular, for his work on the Maya civilization, where he is
regarded as one of the foremost Mayanist scholars of the latter 20th
century, Dr. Coe has also made extensive investigations across a
variety of other archaeological sites in North and South America. He
has also specialized in comparative studies of ancient tropical forest
civilizations, such as those of Central America and Southeast Asia. He
currently holds the chair of Charles J. MacCurdy Professor of
Anthropology, Emeritus, Yale University, and is Curator Emeritus of the
Anthropology collection in the Peabody Museum of Natural History, where
he had been Curator from 1968 to 1994.
The talk was proceeded by a Special Codex Workshop: "Venus Deities
among the Prehispanic and Contemporary Maya," offered by Dr. Gabrielle
Vail, New College of Florida in Sarasota. Dr. Vail
presented an intermediate level hieroglyphic workshop, with an
accompanying
workbook.
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