This course presents the principles of classic Maya hieroglyphic writing, its history, and methods of its decipherment. Classic Maya mathematics are also introduced, as are calendrics and astronomy. Maya grammar and text structure, and a survey of monumental texts from selected sites. The cultural conceptions of supernatural reality with emphasis on comparative understanding of myth and ritual, the religious experience, and religious evolution and revitalization movements. Topics in PreColumbian Art and Iconography.
Attention is paid to cosmology and the socio-cultural context of art in each society.
Selected topics related to consumption, commodities, exchange, and gender. Controversies over forager and egalitarian societies. Areas of study include political theory, political ritual, conflict and conflict resolution, gender politics, evolution of political forms, and human rights. Sex roles in anthropological perspective with emphasis on data from physical anthropology, archaeology, and ethnology. Special emphasis on the interpretation of sex roles by the anthropologist in the field.