Daniel Grana-Behrens

Santa Rosa Xrampak es un sitio bien conocido por su gran palacio, pero poco explorado y apenas mencionado en cuanto a sus inscripciones. El ensayo, tras abordar brevemente la historia de su descubrimiento y los avances arqueologicos, se centra en sus inscripciones, particularmente las contenidas en las estelas, que muestran rasgos locales a la vez que depatrones regionales. Si bien muestran estructuras proximas a las inscripciones de las Tierras Bajas centrales y meridionalcs, se argumenta su insercion en la tradicion propia del area del Yucatan noroccidental.

This book provides a fresh look at the principles of power and the memory of places in Mesoamerica. Toponyms, boundaries and landscapes play an important role in shaping local politics and peoples life’s throughout past and present. Beyond structural and conceptual similarities in calendar, rituals and religion, Mesoamerica shares a devote preference for places, sites or urban centers as distinguishable feature for collectiveness, constantly reshaped and transformed according to the historical circumstances either political, economical or religious. Thus, more than a coincidence, the importance of places over recognizable or by natives documented cultural regions in Mesoamerica seems to be a cultural pattern with deep roots lasting until today.

This paper presents new evidence for hierarchy and power among the Classic Maya (a.d.300–1000) from the northern lowlands. It expands the list of identified emblem glyphs, and, more particularly, focuses on emblems with numerals by questioning their meaning and function in terms of political organization. Furthermore, the paper centers on syntax, especially on the practice of structuring personal names and titles in order to isolate titles and emblem glyphs, as well as to rank individuals and further advance our understanding of ancient Maya political organization. Finally, a dynastic sequence of rulers and noblemen from the Chan or Kan kingdom (most probably Jaina) is proposed, as well as divergent monumental traditions within the northern region and a re-evaluation of interpolity relationships.

In pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica there was a class of distinguished men, and even women, who were referred to as wise men and women. Each was called an itz' aat, " wise one, " in Classic Maya inscriptions from the sixth to the tenth century, and as a tlamatini, " wise one, " in Nahuatl documents from early colonial central Mexico. Although the term itz' aat from the Classic Maya inscriptions has received relatively little attention until recently, 1 ethnographic data from the peninsula of Yucatan and the Maya Mexican and Guatemalan highlands emphasize the importance of elder men, diviners, curers, and healers in Maya communities. 2 In contrast, the term tlama-tini as it is recorded in early colonial documents from central Mexico has been studied more closely. It has been shown that the tlamatini served to guard the holy books, to prophesy the future, to cure, and to advise kings and people through divination. In general, people in this position are considered the keepers of the collective memory. 3 However, the continuity of their importance was challenged as a result of the Spanish invasion and three hundred years of colonial domination. 4 This chapter has two objectives. First, it explores the pre-Hispanic concept of the wise one among the Mayas and the Nahuas and argues that in both areas these individuals served as keepers of the collective memory in royal courts as well as within small-scale political units and communities. Second, it draws from Maya and to a lesser extent from central Mexican ethnographic data to argue that Spanish colo-nialism did not extinguish the concept of the wise one in either culture zone. In both regions, however, the function was transformed and the use of hieroglyphic or painted books as a source of moral authority suffered some decline. The Itz' aat among the Classic Maya In the Classic period, the Mayas in the lowlands were organized in more than eighty city-state-like kingdoms, each one ruled by an ajaw, literally perhaps, " he who shouts. " 5 To distinguish these supreme rulers from other noblemen in the inscriptions using the same title, the Mayas constructed a complex epithet that today is usually referred to as the emblem glyph. Maya rulers, thus, were named as k'uhul ajaw. They were extremely self-centered; during their lifetimes they erected huge public monuments, especially in the form of stelae and altars, to recognize the performance and fulfillment of their ritual duties but also to commemorate wars and other political affairs during their reigns. In many cases, however, instead of contemporaneous

Since the early days of North American and Mesoamerican studies, the ethnographic present was used to illustrate the characteristics of the past. Later, the approach was refined as a method of upstreaming in order to better explain past societies by analyzing cultural concepts of their present-day counterparts (Fenton 1952). This technique permitted the formulation of some key concepts of cultural understanding; for example, the Maya in Mesoamerica considered temples to be living mountains (Vogt 1969). However, criticism of the implications of assumed cultural continuity and hypothetical past traditions meant that this method came under severe scrutiny (Chance 1996). Nonetheless, research of the past two decades has shown that ethnographic data are still fruitful aids to better understand past Maya cultural concepts, rituals, or religion. Thus, if the method of upstreaming remains appropriate, we need more input and reflection on that issue. How can we avoid the pitfalls of a reliance on cultural continuity or an invented history? The paper explores the methodological and theoretical limitations of the technique of upstreaming and its usefulness in situations where proper historical, ethnohistorical, archaeological explanations fails to provide better understanding of the past. Resumen Desde que se comenzaron a estudiar la región del Norte de América y Mesoamérica el presente etnográfico fue utilizado para ilustrar las características del pasado. Más tarde, ese enfoque fue refinado y recibió el nombre de " method of upstreaming " con el fin de explicar mejor las antiguas sociedades a través de conceptos culturas de sus contrapartes contemporáneos (Fenton 1952). Esa técnica permitió formular algunos conceptos claves para el entendimiento cultural, por ejemplo, los Mayas de Mesoamérica consideraban templos como montañas vivientes (Vogt 1969). Sin embargo, las implicaciones de una continuidad cultural y tradiciones hipotéticas del pasado fueron sujeto de críticas de modo que este método fue severamente sometido a revisión (Chance 1996). No obstante, la investigación en las últimas dos décadas ha demostrado de que los datos etnográficos aun son una ayuda importante para entender mejor conceptos culturales, rituales o la religión de los Mayas del pasado. Así, sí el método " upstreaming " paarece tener aun su valor, esto significa que eso requiere más atención e investigación. ¿Y cómo se puede evitar de caer en la trampa de seguir postular una continuidad cultural o una historia inventada? El presente trabajo analiza las limitaciones metódicas y teoréticas de la llamada técnica " upstreaming " y su provecho en situaciones en las cuales explicaciones históricas, etnológicas o arqueológicas propiamente fallan en entender mejor el pasado. his paper addresses the question of whether the past can be inferred from the ethnographic present, a methodological issue that has not received much attention in the past fifteen years because anthropology has pivoted to explain more the future from the present than the past, for example by focusing on globalization, environmental studies and cognitive anthropology (cf. Hannerz 2010). The past refers not simply to events in the course of time, but cultural aspects, traits, customs, traditions and so on that are somehow and up to a certain point still inexplicably tangible in the ethnographic present. This kind of past drove anthropologists to construct theories explaining how past survived in the present, like essentialism and primordialism. However, these theories have methodological and theoretical limitations that cannot be neglected and are no longer favored. Nonetheless, there is no substitute at hand. So how does one explain that in some regions and among some people the past— even the most remote one—seems to be more vividly present today than elsewhere? And, especially, what shall we do with the information from the present outside of just documenting trends towards the future? Can we still use it to T

The objective of this paper is to analyze the recently discovered inscriptions of a building in H-Wasil (Yucatán). In order to understand these inscriptions better, I will start by describing similar building inscriptions from some better known sites of Xcalumkin (Campeche), as well as from other sites in the Northwest of Yucatan. Finally, I will proceed to the reconstruction of those in H-Wasil and propose a reading and interpretation. Northwest Yucatán―a region extending approximately from Edzna (Campeche) in the southwest to Ek Balam (Yucatán) in the northeast on the Yucatecan peninsula―can be distinguished from other Maya regions because of its stone buildings, in which doorjambs and other architectonical features at the main entrances or interiors are sometimes adorned by inscriptions. 1 Some of the best known buildings showing those features are the ones from Xcalumkin (Campeche), an archaeological site in the western part of this region which was already visited in the nineteenth century by explorers like Teobert Maler. Inscriptions from Xcalumkin In Xcalumkin, the principal entrances of three buildings―two buildings from the so-called Hieroglyphic Group and one building from the Initial Series Group―exhibit sculptured hieroglyphs, feature which is also to be found partially on the doorways to their inner rooms. In all three buildings with hieroglyphs the main entrances are divided up by two columns; the inscriptions are to be found on the columns and capitals, on the related lintels, as well as on both the exterior and interior parts of the doorjambs. In a few of the buildings' elements are seated or standing persons portrayed, and some of them are partially armed (Figure 1a-b). Even on a ceramic bowl (Kerr 8017) the arrangement of the glyphs resembles building elements of an entrance like those known from Xcalumkin (Figure 2). The inscription along the vase's rim corresponds in this case to the inscriptions found on capitals and lintels, and the vertical sections are to be equated with inscriptions on columns. Between these two vertical sections are two people: they are seated according to their different status, just as they would be seated in a real building. Although the bowl's exact origin is unclear, it is possible to say that it comes from northwest Yucatan, yet a personal name known from the inscriptions of Xcalumkin is mentioned. As we can see in the building inscriptions as well on the bowl, the building's elements embody semantic text units, although it is unclear in which way they relate to each other. 1 For the present article the Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions (Graham 1975: 1:23) has been used as much as possible as a guide for the orthography of the archaeological sites.

Among the different forms of interactions between deer and humans or between deer and gods attested in the iconography of the Maya area and hinted at in among various forms of data in other parts of Mesoamerica, the context on the stela from Dzehkabtún is probably unique. In a very vivid manner the monument appears to depict a deer as a “carrier” of a deceased ruler out of the otherworld. This adventure must be undertaken before the ruler can finally enter the realm of death and be venerated as an ancestor.

Resumen: Los mayas del Clásico (300-1000 d.C.) usaban varios calendarios, entre ellos la llamada Cuenta de los K'atunes o K'atuno'ob, que señala un período de 20 años (k'atun) mediante el signo ajaw, costumbre que continuó existiendo durante el Pos-clásico. Sin embargo, aunque se conoce su mecanismo calendárico, no se ha puesto mucha atención a la presentación morfológica y sintáctica en los textos epigráficos para distinguirla de otras formas que también permiten anotar una fecha del k'atun, como el día ajaw del Tzolk'in, el cual sólo marca el último día pero no el período en sí. Ade-más de presentar los argumentos correspondientes, esta contribución hace también hincapié en algunos rituales regionales importantes relacionados con la Cuenta de los K'atuno'ob en el Clásico, como la llamada práctica del medio k'atun, descrita aún en el siglo XVI por fray Diego de Landa, y la relación que guarda esta cuenta para referirse a gobernantes muertos y ancestros. PalabRas clave: ajaw, k'atun, medio k'atun, Diego de Landa, rituales. abstRact: The Classic Maya (AD 300-1000) used different calendars, one of them named as " the Count of the k'atun " or " k'atuno'ob " which emphasized a period of 20 years (k'atun) by means of the sign ajaw, a practice that continued to exist during the Postclassic Period. While the calendar mechanism is well-known, not much attention has been paid on the morphology and syntax in the hieroglyphic texts in order to differentiate it from other forms to annotate equally the date of the k'atun. For example the system of the tzolk'in day ajaw, which allows the recording of a k'atun as well, however only the final day of the period gets recorded but not the period itself. The present paper not only develops the corresponding arguments but also emphasizes on regional uses related to this count in the Classic, among them the so-called practice of the half-k'atun still described by fray Diego de Landa in the XVI century and the relation with death kings and ancestors.