THE SOUTHWESTERN PALAEO-HISPANIC SCRIPT: STATE OF KNOWLEDGE, HYPOTHESES AND CONTROVERSIES (original) (raw)
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This chapter presents the main characteristics of each Palaeohispanic script and discuss the current research lines to deepen the comprehension of their origin, development and mutual dependency. All Palaeohispanic scripts are characterised by a similar corpus of signs along with some common structural features, the most notorious being the coexistence of alphabetical and syllabic characters; moreover, most of them present a feature labelled as "the dual system", consisting in the possibility to differentiate some similar signs with close phonetic value by the addition of a stroke to the basic shape of the character. All these common elements suggest that the Palaeohispanic scripts have a common ancestor, which is considered to ultimately arise from the Phoenician alphabet. However, they also present some important differences between them, mainly concerning the different value of the signs in every script; upon this, the scripts can be divided into two separate groups: the northern and the southern scripts, whose decipherment is not at the same stage; whereas the northern scripts can be considered as fully deciphered, the southern ones are today only partially decoded.
This paper examines various lines of evidence for the classification and linguistic affiliation of writing at Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyu. The linguistic evidence for the ethnic composition of the Maya highlands and Pacific slopes during the Late Preclassic period points to contact among Ch'olan-Tzeltalan, Greater K'iche'an, and other non-Mayan languages, and to a dominant political economic role of Ch'olan-Tzeltalan. The epigraphic evidence supports classifying the script together with the Lowland Mayan script, and separately from the Epi-Olmec script, and hints at the presence of uniquely Ch'olan traits, some of which have been pointed out by other authors. A comparison with contemporaneous texts of unambiguous Lowland Mayan (Ch'olan or Yukatekan) affiliation suggests an overlap of orthographic, calligraphic, and semantic traits. Both lines of evidence support the hypotheses that Ch'olan-Tzeltalan speakers were the innovators of the Maya script, and that such a development perhaps took place in the Maya highlands. At the very least, the evidence points to a much closer relationship between the Maya highlands and lowlands during the Late Preclassic than previously thought.
Anthropology 1170: Mesoamerican Writing Systems
This seminar explores the role of writing broadly defined in the social, political, and religious fabric of ancient civilizations of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. The region, known as Mesoamerica, is characterized by an amazing variety of indigenous writing systems, from phonetic ones like Maya hieroglyphs, to largely pictographic notations such as Mixtec records. The course offers a survey of Mesoamerican writing systems that centers on the basic properties of the scripts and their uses. It highlights how specific features of Mesoamerican writing systems reflect broader regional traditions with respect to the role of writing in social, political, and religious life of ancient societies. The history of the study of writing systems in Mesoamerica is also brought into view with a particular emphasis on current discussions and recent advancements in our understanding of the indigenous scripts. The course combines lectures with seminar-style discussions, as well as some hands-on exploration of Pre-Columbian and Early Colonial texts on different media from the collections of the Peabody Museum and Harvard libraries.
Some Observations on the Historical Development of CVC Phonograms in Mayan Writing.
The Codex, 2024
Welcome to the "32-year book" of The Codex. lajcha' k'atun jun tun hun Now in its 32 nd year, The Codex continues to publish materials of substance in the world of Pre-Columbian and Mesoamerican studies. We continue that tradition in this issue. We apologize for the later than usual appearance of this issue of The Codex. Although the Covid pandemic has eased, the disease is still with us, and both the editor and one of the authors were struck with stubborn cases of it resulting in an unavoidable delay. However, we persevered, and have produced an issue that is up to our usual standards. Olga Stavrakis and Cedric Puleston share more pages from Dennis Puleston's journal of his summer at Tikal in 1963, once again showing behind the scenes details of life at a pioneering archaeological project. William Haviland brings us up-to-date on some particulars in part 2 of Dennis Puleston's Summer 1963 journal. David Mora-Marín's bout of Covid prevented him from working on the 3 nd part of his discussion and analysis of the Initial Sign Collocation (ISC). However, he had another paper in process on CVC phonograms in the Maya script, and we are very grateful that he offered to submit it for this issue. And, Lady Sharp Tongue reports on a royal mystery at Piedras Negras. Although The Codex has become a publication of substance in the world of Pre-Columbian and Mesoamerican studies, we do not plan to rest on our laurels. We welcome suggestions for new features and ideas for future issues that will build on our success.