Códice Maya de México: Understanding the Oldest Surviving Book of the Americas (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Oldest Surviving Pre-Columbian Book in the Americas
The Smoking Mirror, 2020
After 54 years of polemics about the Codex Grolier, INAH, the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia of Mexico finally decided to undertake major scientific studies on this document to evaluate its authenticity. During 2017, several research teams analyzed the codex using both non-invasive and invasive methods to produce the largest scientific corpus of data ever created for any Mesoamerican codex to date. Here, I present the results of the tests undertaken by the Colors of History Project and Laboratory of the University of Colorado-Boulder. The presence of the pigment Maya Blue was confirmed; in addition, no modern inks or materials were found, and three more AMS C 14 dates placed the manufacture of the document in the Early Postclassic period. All of the material evidence rejects the idea that this document was a fabrication of the 20 th century; instead, the various studies support the authenticity of the Códice Maya de Mexico and place it as the oldest surviving book manufactured in the Americas.
Alejandra Moreno Toscano y Baltazar Brito Guadarrama (coords.), Códice Maya de México. Almanaque de Venus. Facsimilar impreso en amate elaborado por artesanos indígenas otomíes de San Pablito Pahuatlán, Puebla, 2021
This paper explains the historical and cultural context where the Códice Maya de México, before Grolier, was produced, which is the oldest readable book in America: dated by radiocarbon between 1159 and 1261 AD, but whose Venus table records phenomena between 1129 and 1233. En este trabajo se explica el contexto histórico y cultural donde se produjo el Códice Maya de México, antes Grolier, que es el libro legible más antiguo de América: datado por radiocarbono entre 1159 y 1261 d.C., pero cuya tabla de Venus registra fenómenos entre 1129 y 1233.
The discovery of mural paintings at the Classic Maya site of Xultun, Guatemala, provides an important context for the study of ancient literacy and writing in practice. The mural chamber was a place of writing where the hands of multiple scribes recorded events and astronomical tabulations on walls that were also painted with portraits of ritual specialists and the reigning king. We present evidence suggesting that creation and inscription of indigenous Maya books, called codices, also took place onsite by a specific cohort of ritual specialists called taaj. In this article, we seek to archaeologically “situate” these codex-like inscriptions in the mural room—revealing a crucial and distinctly Precolumbian window (as opposed to colonial Spanish view) into Maya bookmaking, its practitioners, and the physical contexts in which it was carried out. Together, the images, texts, and archaeological materials found in and around the chamber enable us to contextualize acts of writing and their authorship as well as engage larger questions regarding the social and political structures shaping literacy in Maya society during the eighth century.
Reevaluating Chronology and Historical Content in the Maya Books of Chilam Balam
Ethnohistory, 2014
This article examines the so-called First Chronicle of the Maya Books of Chilam Balam, a segment of shared content found in three of the native copybooks from northern Yucatán, including the Tizimin, the Chumayel, and the Maní, also known as the Códice Pérez. I reevaluate the chronology and historical content of the First Chronicle found in these books by examining the following: (1) the dates applied to the katun cycles (increments of roughly twenty-year periods) in light of recent archaeological finds from Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, Champotón, and Mayapán; (2) Maya conventions of time as expressed in the katun chronicles; (3) the shared subject matter found in all three books; and (4) the internal structure and transcription conventions of the First Chronicle. This study suggests that the early chronicles may offer a larger measure of historical accuracy and reliability than is currently accepted.
Re-Creating Primordial Time: Foundation Rituals and Mythology in the Postclassic Maya Codices
2013
This book offers a new perspective on the Maya codices, documenting the extensive use of creation mythology and foundational rituals in the hieroglyphic texts and iconography of these important manuscripts. Focusing on both pre-Columbian codices and early colonial creation accounts, Vail and Hernandez show that in spite of significant cultural change during the Post-classic and Colonial periods, the mythological traditions reveal significant continuity, beginning as far back as the Classic period. Remarkable similarities exist within the Maya tradition, even as new mythologies were introduced through contact with the Gulf Coast region and highland central Mexico. Vail and Hernandez analyse the extant Maya codices within the context of later literary sources such as the 'Books of Chilam Balam', the 'Popol Vuh', and the 'Codice Chimalpopoca' to present numerous examples highlighting the relationship among creation mythology, rituals, and lore. Compiling and com...