Decoding Maya Hieroglyphs with 3D Technology

Date: 

Wednesday, November 8, 2017, 6:00pm

Location: 

Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

Free Public Lecture

Barbara Fash, Director, Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions Program and the Gordon R. Willey Laboratory for Mesoamerican Studies, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology

The Peabody Museum has conducted archaeological research in the Maya site of Copan, Honduras, since the 1890s. One of Copan’s most iconic elements is a staircase made of over 620 blocks carved with Maya glyphs. Dating back to the eighth century CE, this stairway has captivated Mayanists since its discovery, but the meaning of its texts has remained a mystery—until now. Barbara Fash will discuss how 3D technology and scholarly collaborations are merging to decode the Hieroglyphic Stairway, in conjunction with Honduran and international organizations aimed at conserving this World Heritage Site.

Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Free event parking at 52 Oxford Street Garage.

Related exhibition: See videos and 3D-printed scale models from Copan in All the World Is Here: Harvard’s Peabody Museum and the Invention of American Anthropology