Milan Kovac
Comenius University, Department of Comparative Religion, Faculty Member
- Mesoamerican Archaeology, Maya Archaeology, Maya Epigraphy, Classic Maya (Archaeology), Mesoamerican Studies, Mesoamerica (Anthropology), and 22 moreMesoamerican Religion, Mesoamerican Ethnohistory, Maya Art, Archaeology, Astronomy, Iconography, History, Anthropology, Art History, Ancient History, Prehistoric Archaeology, Mesoamerica, Mesoamerican Writing, Maya History, Nahuatl, Archaeoastronomy, Yucatec Maya, Mesoamerican iconography, Writing Systems & Decipherment, Maya History and Religion, Mayan Studies, and Mayan Linguisticsedit
- Professor of Comenius University in Bratislava dealing with Maya and Mesoamerican culture using the perspective of archaeology, anthropology, and history.edit
El libro presenta 30 mitos lacandones recopilados por Milan Kovac entre los anos 1999 y 2005 en los pueblos Naha, San Javier y Betel (Chiapas, Mexico). Aunque editorial Trillas presenta la coleccion en forma dedicada y diseñada para los... more
El libro presenta 30 mitos lacandones recopilados por Milan Kovac entre los anos 1999 y 2005 en los pueblos Naha, San Javier y Betel (Chiapas, Mexico). Aunque editorial Trillas presenta la coleccion en forma dedicada y diseñada para los niños, en la realidad los mitos nunca se contaron para los niños sino adultos y la coleccion no presenta ningun cambio de sus originales grabados en la idioma maya-lacandon. Por lo tanto, todavía pueden representar una fuente importante de la tradición oral lacandona.
Research Interests: Mythology And Folklore, Latin American Studies, Mythology, Maya Art, Maya History, and 15 moreMayan Linguistics, Comparative mythology, Mesoamerican Ethnohistory, Mexican Indigenous Communities (Anthropology), Mayan Studies, Mesoamerican Religion, Narrativas, Ancient Maya, América Latina, Maya History and Religion, Mesoamerican Studies, Anthropology of Religion, Maya Mythology, História Indígena, and Lacandon Maya
THE BEGINNINGS AND PRESENT STATE OF RESEARCH ON ANCIENT AMERICAN CULTURES IN SLOVAKIA AND THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTRE FOR MESOAMERICAN STUDIES AT THE COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA Slovakia was founded in 1993, but it is currently one... more
THE BEGINNINGS AND PRESENT STATE OF RESEARCH ON ANCIENT AMERICAN CULTURES IN SLOVAKIA AND THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTRE FOR MESOAMERICAN STUDIES AT THE COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA
Slovakia was founded in 1993, but it is currently one of the main European research centers of Mesoamerican cultures, especially the Maya. At first glance, it seems as if the current explosion of research and scientific activities has no continuity. Furthermore, few people outside Slovakia understand it in all its complexity. The purpose of the article is to try for the first time to chronologically systematize the interest in Native American cultures in the territory of Slovakia from the 16th century until the present. To show the predecessors, but above all the very dynamic context of the 20th century, when all the prerequisites were prepared
for what happened after 1989. Subsequently, the origin and academic establishment of Mesoamerican studies in the country are analyzed, finally leading to an extensive archaeological investigation in Guatemala.
In particular, the activities of the Center for Mesoamerican Studies are analyzed, which is currently the main institutional framework of the entire process, academic, congress, museum, and educational activities,
which constitute the basis of the unusual dynamics of research. The interdisciplinarity, the continuity of anthropological research, and especially the main achievements of archaeological research will bring the
reader closer to the key facts of the history and present of this discipline in Slovakia.
Slovakia was founded in 1993, but it is currently one of the main European research centers of Mesoamerican cultures, especially the Maya. At first glance, it seems as if the current explosion of research and scientific activities has no continuity. Furthermore, few people outside Slovakia understand it in all its complexity. The purpose of the article is to try for the first time to chronologically systematize the interest in Native American cultures in the territory of Slovakia from the 16th century until the present. To show the predecessors, but above all the very dynamic context of the 20th century, when all the prerequisites were prepared
for what happened after 1989. Subsequently, the origin and academic establishment of Mesoamerican studies in the country are analyzed, finally leading to an extensive archaeological investigation in Guatemala.
In particular, the activities of the Center for Mesoamerican Studies are analyzed, which is currently the main institutional framework of the entire process, academic, congress, museum, and educational activities,
which constitute the basis of the unusual dynamics of research. The interdisciplinarity, the continuity of anthropological research, and especially the main achievements of archaeological research will bring the
reader closer to the key facts of the history and present of this discipline in Slovakia.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Latin American Studies, American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean History, Amerindian Studies, and 7 moreHistory of Science, Mesoamerican Archaeology, Classic Maya (Archaeology), Maya Archaeology, Mesoamerican Ethnohistory, History of Archaeological Research, and Mesoamerican Studies
The history of the war conflicts between Early Classic Maya polities in the epigraphic records starts with the “Entrada” of the teotihuacanos in AD 378. Previous interpretations of this event as a war between Tikal and Uaxactun proposed... more
The history of the war conflicts between Early Classic Maya polities in the epigraphic records starts with the “Entrada” of the teotihuacanos in AD 378. Previous interpretations of this event as a war between Tikal and Uaxactun proposed by Peter Mathews is outdated. However, the revision of the Early Classic texts from Uaxactun (Stelae 18 and 19) and Tikal (Stela 39) proves that the Tikal victory over Uaxactun did take place, but should be dated earlier, ca. AD 375. Probably the expansion of Tikal provoked the alliance between various Maya dynasties from Petén with Teotihuacan that led to the invasion od Sihyaj K’ahk’ and the establishment of so-called “New Order” in the Central Maya Lowlands.
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Research Interests: Comparative Religion, Archaeology, Mythology, Visual propaganda, Mesoamerican Archaeology, and 15 moreClassic Maya (Archaeology), Maya Archaeology, Maya Art, Maya History, Ancient myth and religion, History Of Propaganda, Maya Epigraphy, Comparative mythology, Mayan Studies, Preclassic Maya Archaeology, Mesoamerican Religion, Ancient Maya, Maya Iconography, Arte Precolombino Maya, and Comparative Study of World Religions
This article deals with the Lacandon cosmology, one of the few Maya cosmologies which has been exceptionally structured and until today, very well preserved. The present study is based mainly on associations related to stone. There are... more
This article deals with the Lacandon cosmology, one of the few Maya cosmologies which has been exceptionally structured and until today, very well preserved. The present study is based mainly on associations related to stone. There are investigated the emic classifications of the Lacandon. Their classification of divine beings according to their location, and their connection to the stone houses, whether of natural or cultural origin. In the article are analyzed the most sacred Lacandon sites such as the rock shelters, cliffs and caves around the Lake Mensäbäk and Lake Yahaw Petha, as well as Yaxchilan, the archaeological site with the long tradition of Lacandon pilgrimages. The Lacandon believe in different types of transfer of spiritual energy through stone. The stones could be considered on different levels as the seat, heart or embodiment of deities. These relationships and contexts are very complex. The article tries to identify it and to offer some linguistic and theoretical approaches.
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Uaxactun is one of the oldest known Maya cities with astronomical associations. The functions and hypotheses associated with astronomical alignments of specific buildings have been widely discussed for more than a century. However, after... more
Uaxactun is one of the oldest known Maya cities with astronomical associations. The functions and hypotheses associated with astronomical alignments of specific buildings have been widely discussed for more than a century. However, after nine years of intensive archaeological excavations, the Regional Archaeological
Project Uaxactun found a whole new set of data and specified the old ones. Therefore, the view of Uaxactun
and its importance for ancient Maya astronomy should be supplemented. That is what our contribution is
doing. We focus in particular on revealing new contexts and architectonical expressions in the Preclassic
period, the original construction of the E-Group and its solar and lunar associations. Furthermore, this article
deals with testing of calendar contexts, the meaning of Venus and Orion for the orientation of the most important buildings as well as testing of landscape features in connection with possible architectural alignments.
Project Uaxactun found a whole new set of data and specified the old ones. Therefore, the view of Uaxactun
and its importance for ancient Maya astronomy should be supplemented. That is what our contribution is
doing. We focus in particular on revealing new contexts and architectonical expressions in the Preclassic
period, the original construction of the E-Group and its solar and lunar associations. Furthermore, this article
deals with testing of calendar contexts, the meaning of Venus and Orion for the orientation of the most important buildings as well as testing of landscape features in connection with possible architectural alignments.
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The present study deals with the mural of Structure B-XIII of the archaeological site of Uaxactun in Guatemala. Although this mural was found in 1937 and initially aroused much interest, it does not appear in recent works, given its... more
The present study deals with the mural of Structure B-XIII of the archaeological site of Uaxactun in Guatemala. Although this mural was found in 1937 and initially aroused much interest, it does not appear in recent works, given its destruction a few years after its discovery. Many new discoveries in the Maya area have been made and this old one has been burdened with interpretations that are far from the current state of the art. So, we have decided to reinitiate the investigation, digitally recreate the mural on the basis of photographs from the time of its discovery and reattempt to understand its meaning by analysing the image, hieroglyphic writing, and calendric record. We summarise the results and place these in a historical context that allows us to combine new mural data with those that we have obtained from the stone monuments of Uaxactun using modern technology. The results shed light on a critical period of Maya history shortly after the so-called Entrada associated with Teotihuacan.
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El estudio comenta el mural del Palacio B-XIII del sitio maya Uaxactún, en Guatemala. Aunque dicho mural fue encontrado ya en 1937 e inicialmente llamó mucha atención, no aparece en los trabajos recientes. Se han producido muchos descubrimientos nuevos en el área maya y este hallazgo antiguo se ha quedado medio olvidado, con interpretaciones que están lejos de los ultimos avances. Por lo tanto, hemos decidido reconstruirlo, volver a pintarlo digitalmente de nuevo sobre la base de las fotografías de época y una vez más tratar de comprender su significado, estudiando la imágen, el texto glífico y el registro de calendario. Analizamos los resultados y los colocamos en un contexto histórico que nos permite combinar los nuevos datos sobre el mural con los datos que hemos obtenido de los monumentos de piedra de Uaxactún, utilizando una tecnología avanzada. Los resultados arrojan más luz al período crítico de la historia maya poco después de la llamada Entrada asociada con Teotihuacán.
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El estudio comenta el mural del Palacio B-XIII del sitio maya Uaxactún, en Guatemala. Aunque dicho mural fue encontrado ya en 1937 e inicialmente llamó mucha atención, no aparece en los trabajos recientes. Se han producido muchos descubrimientos nuevos en el área maya y este hallazgo antiguo se ha quedado medio olvidado, con interpretaciones que están lejos de los ultimos avances. Por lo tanto, hemos decidido reconstruirlo, volver a pintarlo digitalmente de nuevo sobre la base de las fotografías de época y una vez más tratar de comprender su significado, estudiando la imágen, el texto glífico y el registro de calendario. Analizamos los resultados y los colocamos en un contexto histórico que nos permite combinar los nuevos datos sobre el mural con los datos que hemos obtenido de los monumentos de piedra de Uaxactún, utilizando una tecnología avanzada. Los resultados arrojan más luz al período crítico de la historia maya poco después de la llamada Entrada asociada con Teotihuacán.
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This article will focus on the interpretation of vessels as living objects, subjects of action with their own cycle of life, both in everyday life and in sacred spaces, according to their forms, uses, context and iconography. Supporting... more
This article will focus on the interpretation of vessels as living objects, subjects of action with their own cycle of life, both in everyday life and in sacred spaces, according to their forms, uses, context and iconography. Supporting archaeological evidences with historical, mythological sources and various ethnographic elements, we try to reconstruct spiritual aspects of Maya pottery within the category of animacy.
Research Interests: Mesoamerican Archaeology, Classic Maya (Archaeology), Maya Archaeology, Maya Art, Mesoamerica (Anthropology), and 11 moreMaya Epigraphy, Mayan Studies, Mesoamerican Religion, Mesoamerican iconography, Ancient Maya, Maya Iconography, Maya History and Religion, Maya Culture, Maya Anthropology, Mayan Religion, and Estudios Mesoamericanos
Airborne LiDAR produced large amounts of data for archaeological research over the past decade. Labeling this type of archaeological data is a tedious process. We used a data set from Pacunam LiDAR Initiative survey of lowland Maya region... more
Airborne LiDAR produced large amounts of data for archaeological research over the past decade. Labeling this type of archaeological data is a tedious process. We used a data set from Pacunam LiDAR Initiative survey of lowland Maya region in Guatemala. The data set contains ancient Maya structures that were manually labeled, and ground verified to a large extent. We have built and compared two deep learning-based models, U-Net and Mask R-CNN, for semantic segmentation. The segmentation models were used in two tasks: identification of areas of ancient construction activity, and identification of the remnants of ancient Maya buildings. The U-Net based model performed better in both tasks and was capable of correctly identifying 60-66% of all objects, and 74-81% of medium sized objects. The quality of the resulting prediction was evaluated using a variety of quantifiers. Furthermore, we discuss the problems of re-purposing the archaeological style labeling for production of valid machine learning training sets. Ultimately, we outline the value of these models for archaeological research and present the road map to produce a useful decision support system for recognition of ancient objects in LiDAR data.
Research Interests: Artificial Intelligence, Remote Sensing, Mesoamerican Archaeology, Classic Maya (Archaeology), Maya Archaeology, and 7 moreRemote sensing and GIS applications in Landscape Research, Mayan Studies, Artificial Neural Networks for modeling purposes, Artificial Neural Networks, LiDAR for Landscape Archaeology, Inteligencia artificial, and LiDAR for Archaeology
Hallazgo de un cetro/perforador preclásico en Uaxactun, su contexto arqueológico, epigráfico y simbólico.
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PETNAL - Una ciudad competente de San Bartolo descubrida en su vecinidad, primeras excavaciones, grafitos preclasicos, cronología y papel político,,,,
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Lowland Maya civilization flourished in the tropical region of the Yucatan peninsula and environs for more than 2500 years (~1000 BCE to 1500 CE). Known for its sophistication in writing, art, architecture, astronomy, and mathematics,... more
Lowland Maya civilization flourished in the tropical region of the Yucatan peninsula and environs for more than 2500 years (~1000 BCE to 1500 CE). Known for its sophistication in writing, art, architecture, astronomy, and mathematics, Maya civilization still poses questions about the nature of its cities and surrounding populations because of its location in an inaccessible forest. In 2016, an aerial lidar survey across 2144 square kilometers of northern Guatemala mapped natural terrain and archaeological features over several distinct areas. We present results from these data, revealing interconnected urban settlement and landscapes with extensive infrastructural development. Studied through a joint international effort of interdisciplinary teams sharing protocols, this lidar survey compels a reevaluation of Maya demography, agriculture, and political economy and suggests future avenues of field research.
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Седьмой полевой сезон работы регионального отряда Вашактунского археологического проекта Института археологии и истории Словакии (SAHI-Uaxactun) был посвящен изучению четырех памятников древних майя северо-восточной части гватемальского... more
Седьмой полевой сезон работы регионального отряда Вашактунского археологического проекта Института археологии и истории Словакии (SAHI-Uaxactun) был посвящен изучению четырех памятников древних майя северо-восточной части гватемальского департамента Петен. Авторы настоящей статьи (И.А. Савченко — в качестве начальника раскопов, М. Ковач — в качестве директора проекта) провели исследования шести объектов на территории археологических памятников Эль-Манантиаль / Ч’аналь, Ц’ибатнах, Петналь и Химбаль, результаты которых представлены в настоящей статье.
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Research Interests: Mesoamerican Archaeology, Classic Maya (Archaeology), Maya Archaeology, Maya Art, Maya History, and 11 moreMesoamerica, Maya Epigraphy, Mayan Linguistics, Mayan Studies, Mesoamerican Religion, Mayan archaeology, Mesoamerican iconography, Maya Iconography, Maya History and Religion, Maya Culture, and Estudios Mesoamericanos
The article is focused on two female taboos linked with menstruation and pregnancy existing among the contemporary members of the Lacandon community. Despite the references about one female taboo associated with different restrictions for... more
The article is focused on two female taboos linked with menstruation and pregnancy existing among the contemporary
members of the Lacandon community. Despite the references about one female taboo associated with different restrictions
for women (sacred places, participation in rituals and other specific activities), in this research we analyse two categories of
reasons for these taboos. The first one related to menstruation takes into account the spiritual essence of blood and the necessity
of keeping it under control during rituals. Menstruation in this case represents an outflow of spiritual powers that cannot be
controlled, with possible risks for the community. In the case of pregnancy, the reason for it being a taboo is different because it
concerns the lack of blood. In this sense, the presented theory is based on the concepts of nagualism, indicating that the existence
of two souls/beings in one body presupposes magic power and healing possibilities with a high risk of magic attacks. The evidence
obtained during long-term fieldwork clarify that the so-called female taboo is composed of two different reasons. It is not
the same phenomenon because the expectations, as well as the consequences, are different. To conclude, a phenomenon formally
comparable with other similar phenomenon from the Old World could possibly have different origins.
members of the Lacandon community. Despite the references about one female taboo associated with different restrictions
for women (sacred places, participation in rituals and other specific activities), in this research we analyse two categories of
reasons for these taboos. The first one related to menstruation takes into account the spiritual essence of blood and the necessity
of keeping it under control during rituals. Menstruation in this case represents an outflow of spiritual powers that cannot be
controlled, with possible risks for the community. In the case of pregnancy, the reason for it being a taboo is different because it
concerns the lack of blood. In this sense, the presented theory is based on the concepts of nagualism, indicating that the existence
of two souls/beings in one body presupposes magic power and healing possibilities with a high risk of magic attacks. The evidence
obtained during long-term fieldwork clarify that the so-called female taboo is composed of two different reasons. It is not
the same phenomenon because the expectations, as well as the consequences, are different. To conclude, a phenomenon formally
comparable with other similar phenomenon from the Old World could possibly have different origins.
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Research Interests: Mesoamerican Archaeology, Classic Maya (Archaeology), Maya Archaeology, Maya Art, Maya History, and 14 moreMesoamerica (Anthropology), Mesoamerica, Maya Epigraphy, Mayan Linguistics, Mesoamerican Ethnohistory, Mayan Studies, Mesoamerican Religion, Mesoamerican iconography, Ancient Maya, Mitos Y Religión De Mesoamerica, Mayas, Mesoamerican Studies, Maya Culture, and Mesoamerican Writing
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Research Interests: Mesoamerican Archaeology, Classic Maya (Archaeology), Ancient Maya Knowledge, Maya Archaeology, History of Mesoamerica, and 18 moreMaya Art, Maya History, Mesoamerica (Anthropology), Mesoamerica, Maya Epigraphy, Mayan Linguistics, Mesoamerican Ethnohistory, Mayan Studies, Maya ethnography, Mesoamerican Religion, Mesoamerican iconography, Yucatec Maya, Maya History and Religion, Maya Religion, Mesoamerican Studies, Maya Anthropology, Cutural anthropology and ethnology. Mesoamerican civilisations. Mesoamerican and South American native cultures. Native people in Mexico, Guatemala and South America, and Maya Mythology
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arqueología mexicana , vol. XXIII, num. 137, enero 2016, pp. 38-45
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Novena temporada de las excavaciones de Uaxactun que incluye las excavaciones de los rasgos de LiDAR, rasgos de agricultura, juegos de pelota y descubrimiento de un marcador tallado con inscripciones del Clásico Temprano.
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Excavaciones en los sitios no excavados en el Peten noreste: Manantial, Petnal, Tz´ibatnah y Jimbal. Resultados de la temporada 2015.
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The mystery of the Maya collapse never ceases to be one of the most fascinating topics in studying the history of world civilizations. It has been suggested many times, that climate played a key role in understanding this unprecedented... more
The mystery of the Maya collapse never ceases to be one of the most fascinating topics in studying the history of world civilizations. It has been suggested many times, that climate played a key role in understanding this unprecedented collapse of the most advanced civilization of the Americas. While there are works that highlight the role of climate, specifically catastrophic drought, others offer ample counter-arguments. I will try to present the data from the most recent world research and relate it to the results of the Slovak research to offer as complete a picture as possible,
what all happened in the critical moments of Mayan history and what role
climate change played in.
Záhada mayského kolapsu neprestáva byť jednou z najfascinujúcejších
tém pri štúdiu dejín svetových civilizácií. Mnohokrát sa naznačovalo,
že kľúčovú odpoveď pri pochopení tohto nebývalého zrútenia najvyspelejšej civilizácie oboch Amerík zohrávala klíma. Aj keď existujú práce, ktoré úlohu klímy, konkrétne katastrofického sucha vyzdvihujú, iné
zase ponúkajú dostatok protiargumentov. Pokúsim sa predstaviť dáta
z najnovších svetových výskumov a spojiť ich s výsledkami slovenského
bádania tak, aby som ponúkol pokiaľ možno najucelenejší obraz o tom,
čo všetko sa v kritických okamihoch mayských dejín stalo a akú rolu
v tom zohrávala klimatická zmena.
what all happened in the critical moments of Mayan history and what role
climate change played in.
Záhada mayského kolapsu neprestáva byť jednou z najfascinujúcejších
tém pri štúdiu dejín svetových civilizácií. Mnohokrát sa naznačovalo,
že kľúčovú odpoveď pri pochopení tohto nebývalého zrútenia najvyspelejšej civilizácie oboch Amerík zohrávala klíma. Aj keď existujú práce, ktoré úlohu klímy, konkrétne katastrofického sucha vyzdvihujú, iné
zase ponúkajú dostatok protiargumentov. Pokúsim sa predstaviť dáta
z najnovších svetových výskumov a spojiť ich s výsledkami slovenského
bádania tak, aby som ponúkol pokiaľ možno najucelenejší obraz o tom,
čo všetko sa v kritických okamihoch mayských dejín stalo a akú rolu
v tom zohrávala klimatická zmena.
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My research into the rituals, temples, gods and sacred inscriptions of the ancient Maya gradually led me to assemble a highly skilled Slovak and international team, as well as to manage extensive excavations in the rainforest area of the... more
My research into the rituals, temples, gods and
sacred inscriptions of the ancient Maya gradually
led me to assemble a highly skilled Slovak
and international team, as well as to manage
extensive excavations in the rainforest area of
the Petén region of Guatemala. The investigation
this year completes 15 years of excavation,
making it the longest and probably the largest
overseas archaeological research in Slovakia.
Despite being an archaeological project, it has
been multidisciplinary from the outset, as it
focuses on many aspects of Maya culture and
religion, ultimately comparing them to the lives
of Maya communities today. However, as it is
primarily an exploration of ruins only very faintly
accessible in the depths of the rainforest, the
project has gradually evolved into a very efficient
and sophisticated use of the latest technologies.
In underground exploration, it is ground-penetrating
radar GPR, in high-altitude exploration it
is LiDAR, in ceramic processing it is Laser Aided
Profiler LAP, X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry
XRF, geophysical analysis, in the study of
inscriptions on stelae and objects it is
Reflectance Transformation Imaging RTI. In
processing, it is GIS, but more recently artificial
intelligence and neural networks. Close collaboration
of the humanities with the natural sciences
and the cumulative deployment of a whole suite
of state-of-the-art technologies have enabled
us to overcome the inaccessibility of the terrain
and the absence of primary information. Today,
it is thanks to these technologies that we are
one of the world’s leading centers for Maya
research. Thanks to the synergy of technology
and the close integration of the humanities and
the natural sciences, we are now able to compile
complete dynastic histories of kingdoms, bringing
entirely new information from the names
of kings, the form of architecture, rituals and
magic, to political organization and the history of
warfare in a region that is completely overgrown
by jungle.
sacred inscriptions of the ancient Maya gradually
led me to assemble a highly skilled Slovak
and international team, as well as to manage
extensive excavations in the rainforest area of
the Petén region of Guatemala. The investigation
this year completes 15 years of excavation,
making it the longest and probably the largest
overseas archaeological research in Slovakia.
Despite being an archaeological project, it has
been multidisciplinary from the outset, as it
focuses on many aspects of Maya culture and
religion, ultimately comparing them to the lives
of Maya communities today. However, as it is
primarily an exploration of ruins only very faintly
accessible in the depths of the rainforest, the
project has gradually evolved into a very efficient
and sophisticated use of the latest technologies.
In underground exploration, it is ground-penetrating
radar GPR, in high-altitude exploration it
is LiDAR, in ceramic processing it is Laser Aided
Profiler LAP, X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry
XRF, geophysical analysis, in the study of
inscriptions on stelae and objects it is
Reflectance Transformation Imaging RTI. In
processing, it is GIS, but more recently artificial
intelligence and neural networks. Close collaboration
of the humanities with the natural sciences
and the cumulative deployment of a whole suite
of state-of-the-art technologies have enabled
us to overcome the inaccessibility of the terrain
and the absence of primary information. Today,
it is thanks to these technologies that we are
one of the world’s leading centers for Maya
research. Thanks to the synergy of technology
and the close integration of the humanities and
the natural sciences, we are now able to compile
complete dynastic histories of kingdoms, bringing
entirely new information from the names
of kings, the form of architecture, rituals and
magic, to political organization and the history of
warfare in a region that is completely overgrown
by jungle.
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Figuras de hule y otras formas de sustitución de sacrificio humano y ofrendas de sangre entre los mayas - lacandones contemporáneos.
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In: AXIS MUNDI 1/2016
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The contribution is based on the self-reflection of the author, who spent his childhood and adolescence in the city of Nová Dubnica. Through his memoirs, he tries to explain, above all, a child's perspective of urban topography and social... more
The contribution is based on the self-reflection of the author, who spent his childhood and adolescence in the city of Nová Dubnica. Through his memoirs, he tries to explain, above all, a child's perspective of urban topography and social stratigraphy. However, it also deals mainly with children groups and their militarization under the influence of the
high concentration of the defense industry and access to explosive materials. He also discusses the level of conformity that, through “soldier games” and childish militarism, developed in parallel with a regime that prepared society for the coming war. In the second plan, the contribution points to the developing counterculture, which manifested itself in
the children's world just as intensely. It was based on deepening the relationship with nature and self-identification with the natural world of the American Indians. It offered a way out of the industrially and ideologically shackled world.
high concentration of the defense industry and access to explosive materials. He also discusses the level of conformity that, through “soldier games” and childish militarism, developed in parallel with a regime that prepared society for the coming war. In the second plan, the contribution points to the developing counterculture, which manifested itself in
the children's world just as intensely. It was based on deepening the relationship with nature and self-identification with the natural world of the American Indians. It offered a way out of the industrially and ideologically shackled world.
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The present study deals with the mural of Structure B-XIII of the archaeological site of Uaxactun in Guatemala. Although this mural was found in 1937 and initially aroused much interest, it does not appear in recent works, given its... more
The present study deals with the mural of Structure B-XIII of the archaeological site of Uaxactun in Guatemala. Although this mural was found in 1937 and initially aroused much interest, it does not appear in recent works, given its destruction a few years after its discovery. Many new discoveries in the Maya area have been made and this old one has been burdened with interpretations that are far from the current state of the art. So, we have decided to reinitiate the investigation, digitally recreate the mural on the basis of photographs from the time of its discovery and reattempt to understand its meaning by analysing the image, hieroglyphic writing, and calendric record. We summarise the results and place these in a historical context that allows us to combine new mural data with those that we have obtained from the stone monuments of Uaxactun using modern technology. The results shed light on a critical period of Maya history shortly after the so-called Entrada associated with ...
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Después de varias temporadas de recorridos en la región alrededor del sitio, se encontraron varias canchas de juego de pelota en la parte oeste de Uaxactun, confirmados por LiDAR. Estas están relacionadas con sitios satelitales, ubicados... more
Después de varias temporadas de recorridos en la región alrededor del sitio, se encontraron varias canchas de juego de pelota en la parte oeste de Uaxactun, confirmados por LiDAR. Estas están relacionadas con sitios satelitales, ubicados a una distancia de entre 2 a 10 km del núcleo de la ciudad. Las excavaciones en la temporada 2017 ayudaron a averiguar la existencia de estas estructuras y definir su cronología. La información obtenida nos lleva conocer mejor el desarrollo urbano, social y las relaciones políticas dentro del sistema de la ciudad-estado. Dentro del programa de investigación, destaca el hallazgo de un marcador fechado para el Clásico Temprano, de mucha importancia por su iconografía e inscripciones bien conservadas. Nos ayuda a entender aún mejor la secuencia dinástica y el ritualismo en la ciudad antigua de Uaxactun
Research Interests: Mesoamerican Archaeology, Maya Archaeology, Maya Art, Maya History, Mesoamerica, and 12 moreMaya Epigraphy, Mayan Linguistics, Mayan Studies, Mesoamerican Religion, Mayan archaeology, Mesoamerican iconography, Maya Iconography, Maya History and Religion, Maya Culture, Classic Maya archaeology, Estudios Mesoamericanos, and Petén
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Research Interests:
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Airborne LiDAR produced large amounts of data for archaeological research over the past decade. Labeling this type of archaeological data is a tedious process. We used a data set from Pacunam LiDAR Initiative survey of lowland Maya region... more
Airborne LiDAR produced large amounts of data for archaeological research over the past decade. Labeling this type of archaeological data is a tedious process. We used a data set from Pacunam LiDAR Initiative survey of lowland Maya region in Guatemala. The data set contains ancient Maya structures that were manually labeled, and ground verified to a large extent. We have built and compared two deep learning-based models, U-Net and Mask R-CNN, for semantic segmentation. The segmentation models were used in two tasks: identification of areas of ancient construction activity, and identification of the remnants of ancient Maya buildings. The U-Net based model performed better in both tasks and was capable of correctly identifying 60–66% of all objects, and 74–81% of medium sized objects. The quality of the resulting prediction was evaluated using a variety of quantifiers. Furthermore, we discuss the problems of re-purposing the archaeological style labeling for production of valid machi...
Research Interests: Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Remote Sensing, Mesoamerican Archaeology, LiDAR, and 10 moreMaya Archaeology, Remote sensing and GIS applications in Landscape Research, Mayan Studies, Artificial Neural Networks for modeling purposes, Artificial Neural Networks, LiDAR for Landscape Archaeology, Inteligencia artificial, Classic Maya archaeology, Point Cloud, and LiDAR for Archaeology
This article deals with the Lacandon cosmology, one of the few Maya cosmologies which has been exceptionally structured and until today, very well preserved. The present study is based mainly on associations related to stone. There are... more
This article deals with the Lacandon cosmology, one of the few Maya cosmologies which has been exceptionally structured and until today, very well preserved. The present study is based mainly on associations related to stone. There are investigated the emic classifications of the Lacandon. Their classification of divine beings according to their location, and their connection to the stone houses, whether of natural or cultural origin. In the article are analyzed the most sacred Lacandon sites such as the rock shelters, cliffs and caves around the Lake Mensäbäk and Lake Yahaw Petha, as well as Yaxchilan, the archaeological site with the long tradition of Lacandon pilgrimages. The Lacandon believe in different types of transfer of spiritual energy through stone. The stones could be considered on different levels as the seat, heart or embodiment of deities. These relationships and contexts are very complex. The article tries to identify it and to offer some linguistic and theoretical a...
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Durante las excavaciones en la temporada 2017, una parte de las operaciones se enfocó a la identificación de las áreas agrícolas prehispánicas de Uaxactún y sus alrededores. Dentro de las excavaciones se tomaron 2 muestras del suelo de... more
Durante las excavaciones en la temporada 2017, una parte de las operaciones se enfocó a la identificación de las áreas agrícolas prehispánicas de Uaxactún y sus alrededores. Dentro de las excavaciones se tomaron 2 muestras del suelo de diferentes niveles de las terrazas del sitio Dos Torres y 2 muestras de diferentes sondeos de los canales de Chival/Buena Vista. Además, se llevaron 3 muestras comparativas de las milpas de agricultura contemporánea. Todas las muestras fueron examinadas en el laboratorio del Departamento de Pedología (Estudio de los suelos) de la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Comenio en Bratislava, bajo la dirección del Prof. Dr. Pavel Dlapa.
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Resumen El 14 de enero de 378 d.C. llega al reino de Mutul un personaje excepcional llamado Sihyaj K'ahk'. antes de llegar a Tikal, pasó por otras ciudades mayas que registraron su viaje. Su expedición parece haber llegado... more
Resumen El 14 de enero de 378 d.C. llega al reino de Mutul un personaje excepcional llamado Sihyaj K'ahk'. antes de llegar a Tikal, pasó por otras ciudades mayas que registraron su viaje. Su expedición parece haber llegado hasta Río Azul. La llegada de este personaje implica cambios radicales en todo el centro del Peten. Se ve una influencia de Teotihuacan en las ciudades mayas, tanto en la iconografía como en la arquitectura. Algunos investigadores piensan que Sihyaj K'ahk' era un invasor enviado por la gran ciudad del centro de México. Este artículo se enfoca sobre el viaje de Sihyaj K'ahk', según los datos conocidos desde hace mucho tiempo y también los recogidos durante la temporada 2009 del proyecto SAHI-Uaxactun. Luego, intentaremos definir el papel de este hombre, que fue el primero en llevar el título de Kaloomte', señor de los señores. Este título se volverá, en el Clásico Tardío, el privilegio de los más grandes dirigentes mayas de Calakmul, Copan, Tikal y Dos Pilas. Uno de los aspectos más enigmáticos de Sihyaj K'ahk' es no saber la sede de su poder. Los últimos descubrimientos hechos por el proyecto SAHI-Uaxactun permiten emitir nuevas hipótesis. Abstract On the 14th of January 378 AD, an exceptional character arrives in the realm of Mutul by the name of Sihyaj K'ahk'. Before arriving in Tikal, he passed through other Maya cities which registred his journey. His expedition probably reached Rio Azul. The arrival of this character caused radical changes in the center of Peten. This journey introduced Teotihuacan influences in architecture and iconography across the Maya land. Some scholars believe that Sihyaj K'ahk' was an invader working on behalf of the Great City of Central Mexico. This article will focus on the journey of Sihyaj K'ahk' based on previously collected data and that gathered by the SAHI-Uaxactun project in the 2009 field season. Additionally, we will try to define the role of this character who was the first to have the title of Kaloomte', lord of lords. This title will be held, during the Late Classic, by major Maya leaders of Calakmul, Copan, Tikal and Dos Pilas. One of the most enigmatic aspects of Sihyaj K'ahk' is where his seat was located. Recent discoveries by the SAHI-Uaxactun project provide a new hypothesis. INTRODUCCIóN Uaxactun juega un papel importante en todos los datos que se relacionan con el personaje de Sihyaj K'ahk'. Este individuo casi mítico aparece en la zona maya central más o menos al mismo tiempo que la introducción masiva de elementos supuestamente teotihuacanos en el Contributions in New World Archaeology 4: 113-126
Prispevok sumarizuje zakladne výsledky z prvých dvoch sezon archeologickeho výskumu mayskeho mesta Uaxactun. Ťažisko tvoria prirodne discipliny využivane v archeologii.
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Research Interests:
Lowland Maya civilization flourished in the tropical region of the Yucatan peninsula and environs for more than 2500 years (~1000 BCE to 1500 CE). Known for its sophistication in writing, art, architecture, astronomy, and mathematics,... more
Lowland Maya civilization flourished in the tropical region of the Yucatan peninsula and environs for more than 2500 years (~1000 BCE to 1500 CE). Known for its sophistication in writing, art, architecture, astronomy, and mathematics, Maya civilization still poses questions about the nature of its cities and surrounding populations because of its location in an inaccessible forest. In 2016, an aerial lidar survey across 2144 square kilometers of northern Guatemala mapped natural terrain and archaeological features over several distinct areas. We present results from these data, revealing interconnected urban settlement and landscapes with extensive infrastructural development. Studied through a joint international effort of interdisciplinary teams sharing protocols, this lidar survey compels a reevaluation of Maya demography, agriculture, and political economy and suggests future avenues of field research.
Research Interests: Geography, Demography, Archaeology, Remote Sensing, Settlement Patterns, and 14 moreScience, LiDAR, Agriculture, Maya Archaeology, Medicine, Subsistence systems (Archaeology), Multidisciplinary, Ancient Warfare, Civilization, Maya, Population, Development of complex societies, LiDAR for Archaeology, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
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Airborne LiDAR produced large amounts of data for archaeological research over the past decade. Labeling this type of archaeological data is a tedious process. We used a data set from Pacunam LiDAR Initiative survey of lowland Maya region... more
Airborne LiDAR produced large amounts of data for archaeological research over the past decade. Labeling this type of archaeological data is a tedious process. We used a data set from Pacunam LiDAR Initiative survey of lowland Maya region in Guatemala. The data set contains ancient Maya structures that were manually labeled, and ground verified to a large extent. We have built and compared two deep learning-based models, U-Net and Mask R-CNN, for semantic segmentation. The segmentation models were used in two tasks: identification of areas of ancient construction activity, and identification of the remnants of ancient Maya buildings. The U-Net based model performed better in both tasks and was capable of correctly identifying 60–66% of all objects, and 74–81% of medium sized objects. The quality of the resulting prediction was evaluated using a variety of quantifiers. Furthermore, we discuss the problems of re-purposing the archaeological style labeling for production of valid machi...