Evidence is drawn from archeology, art, architecture, and ethnography.
Aspects of prehistoric society covered includes subsistence system, trade, social and political organizations, ideology, calendric and astronomy, language and writing, artifacts, architecture, sculpture and painting. Format is seminar with presentations, research reports, and discussion. This course presents the principles of classics 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. Attention is paid to cosmology and the socio-cultural context of art in each society.