Listen Now

Cuauhtémoc Vidal Guzmán es candidato al doctorado en la Universidad de George Washington. Estudió antropología en la Universidad de Albany-SUNY y luego estudió la maestría en antropología en la Universidad de Colorado Boulder. Ha participado en proyectos arqueológicos en los estados mexicanos de Yucatán, Chiapas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, y Oaxaca. Su tesis doctoral examina la transición del Clásico Tardío al Posclásico en Etlatongo, un sitio en la Mixteca Alta de Oaxaca. Sus intereses incluyen la persistencia indígena, la investigación participatoria, el nuevo materialismo, y la memoria social.

Cuauhtémoc Vidal Guzmán is currently a PhD candidate at the George Washington University. He studied his BA in anthropology at the University at Albany-SUNY. Then, he studied his MA, also in anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has participated in archaeological projects in the Mexican states of Yucatan, Chiapas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, and Oaxaca. His current dissertation research studies the Late Classic Postclassic transition at Etlatongo, a site in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca. His interests gravitate around Indigenous persistence, participatory research, new materialism, and social memory.

Join Tony and Catherine as they discuss the recent article "Household salt production by the Late Classic Maya: underwater excavations at Ta'ab Nuk Na" by Heather McKillop and E. Cory Sills, and other examples of how salt appears in the archaeological and visual records of ancient Mesoamerica. We talk about the importance of salt and what it reveals and suggests about the lives of everyday people. Sources for Further Reading: McKillop, Heather, and E. Cory Sills. "Household salt production by the Late Classic Maya: underwater excavations at Ta'ab Nuk Na." Antiquity 96, no. 389 (2022): 1232-1250. Guernsey, Julia. "Water, maize, salt, and canoes: An iconography of economics at Late Preclassic Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico." Latin American Antiquity 27, no. 3 (2016): 340-356. Williams, Eduardo. "Ancient West Mexico in the Mesoamerican Ecumene." Ancient West Mexico in the Mesoamerican Ecumene (2020): 1-466. Williams, Eduardo. "Salt production in the coastal area of Michoacan, Mexico: An ethnoarchaeological study." Ancient Mesoamerica 13, no. 2 (2002): 237-253. Williams, Eduardo. "Salt-Making in Mesoamerica: Production Sites and Tool Assemblages." Ancient Mesoamerica (2021): 1-23. Williams, Eduardo. "Salt production and trade in Ancient Mesoamerica." In Pre-Columbian Foodways, pp. 175-190. Springer, New York, NY, 2009.

Mtro. Cesar V. Hernández Estrada: Arqueólogo por la Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH). Maestro en Análisis espacial y Geoinformática en la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (UAEMEX) y Especialista en Geomática por el Centro en Investigación en Ciencias de Información Geoespacial (CONACYT). He dirigido y participado en proyectos de investigación, salvamento y rescate arqueológico en diferentes Centro Regionales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, El Colegio de Michoacán (COLMICH) y el Centro de Estudios Mesoamericanos y Centroamericanos (CEMCA-Francia) en la Ciudad de México y en el interior del país. He sido docente de la Licenciatura en Arqueología de la Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Universidad Tecnológica de México.  Participe en el Salvamento Arqueológico del Tren Maya donde proceso la nube de puntos LIDAR, he realizado levantamientos fotogramétricos y en zonas arqueológicas de Michoacán, Veracruz, Querétaro y la Ciudad de México. Como Analista he laborado en proyectos sobre Geografía de la salud y actualización de catastro y como Asesor en la liquidación de Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (SAE-SHCP). Actualmente preparo diferentes proyectos que están enfocados en el uso y desarrollo de temas acerca de Geomática, análisis espacial, drones y fotogrametría en arqueología.

In this episode I talk with Christopher Hernández about his recent archaeological work on Postclassic Maya warfare.  Christopher Hernández is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Loyola University Chicago. His work in anthropological archaeology is fundamentally shaped by the issue of contemporary relevance. How does the past matter or not? This question stems from his upbringing in Chicago as the child of Guatemalan migrants who talked endlessly about their love for Guatemala and the importance of ancient Maya history. Searching for a sense of self in a country that treats all Latinx peoples as foreigners led him to study ancient pyramids as well as contemporary culture: given the pride felt for the Indigenous past, why are contemporary Maya peoples treated so poorly in Guatemala and other part of Latin America? This formative experience shapes how and why he conducts research. Christopher Hernández’s current research is focused on issues of archaeological ethics, the application of community-based methods, relational philosophy, and understanding social conflict in long-term perspective. Through the application of aerial laser scanning (lidar), documentary analysis, and traditional excavation methods, he investigates how the process of making war shaped landscapes at a regional level. This analysis entails collaborative research into martial tactics and the consolidation of archaeological remains to attract tourism. The reconstruction of ancient structures is conducted in service of the local Indigenous community of Puerto Bello Metzabok.

Today we discuss Anabelle Rodríguez' work at the site of Xunantunich, Belize, for her dissertation. Her dissertation is titled Curating Xunantunich and it is based on fieldwork and archival research related to the preservation of culture and nature at the Xunantunich Archaeological Reserve, a popular tourist attraction in Belize, Central America. Anabelle Rodríguez is an artist/curator/educator from Puerto Rico and a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers University. Before joining Rutgers, Anabelle curated exhibitions for alternative art spaces, cultural organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies in Philadelphia and New York City. She is the founder of an independent research platform called The ~curARTorial LAB and her current interests include: art + anthropology; anthropologies and sociologies of art; art as craft/craft as art; art law and repatriation; Caribbean archaeology and Indigenous identities; cultural imperialisms and (de)coloniality; experimental ethnographies; feminist, queer, and Indigenous art histories; the illicit traffic of global antiquities; natureculture preservation; peripheral art worlds; problematic archives and collections; sacred sites and heritages; visual research methodologies.

Have you heard of Dream Rider? This new comic by Daniel Parada and Louise Fogerty takes place in an alternate, futuristic world inspired by ancient Mesoamerica. In this episode, we interview the creators about their creative process, what the project looks like, and how future readers can help bring this project to life!  Click here to support the Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zotz/dream-rider-vol-1

Join me in welcoming the podcast's new co-host, Tony DeLuca! Tony has worked for over a decade on the social media channel Tlatollotl, and has agreed to come onto the podcast as the co-host for our new segments, Mesoamerica in the Media and Mesoamerica in Pop Culture. In this episode Tony and I discuss the ideas that brought this change about, and what we hope for the podcast's future. 

In this episode, I sit with Gerardo Aldana to discuss his new book, Calculating Brilliance: An Intellectual History of Mayan Astronomy at Chich'en Itza. We discuss the ways in which this work humanizes the study of history, proposes new theories for how ancient people would have interacted with astronomical events, and challenges past ways of thinking about ancient Maya brilliance. Gerardo Aldana is a professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. His research interests include Maya hieroglyphic history, Mesoamerican art, experimental archaeology, science studies, culture theory, and indigeneity. You can purchase Calculating Brilliance at this link: https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/calculating-brilliance

Desde una glifoteca en línea, hasta un recurso para el aprendizaje, y ahora a juegos de mesa– el Proyecto Maya Scripta está transformando la manera en que la gente en Guatemala y en el extranjero interactúa con la escritura maya. En este episodio platicamos con epigrafista y lingüista Rubén Morales Forte, quien co-dirige el proyecto Maya Scripta. Este proyecto formó su tesis de maestría en la Universidad de Tulane y comenzó durante su licenciatura en la Universidad del Valle Guatemala. Rubén Morales Forte nació y creció en Guatemala, donde obtuvo una licenciatura en Arqueología de la Universidad del Valle. Luego continuó con una Maestría en Estudios Latinoamericanos y es actualmente un estudiante de doctorado en Antropología, ambos en la universidad de Tulane. Sus intereses principales son el estudio integral de la cultura maya antigua y contemporánea, la implementación del involucramiento comunitario y de otras metodologías de divulgación pública como el aprendizaje lúdico. Cuando no está trabajando en esto, le encanta ver y hacer deporte, especialmente montar bicicleta y explorar la naturaleza.

From an online glyphs database to a teaching aid to a set of historical board games, Maya Scripta is transforming the way people in Guatemala and abroad interact with Maya hieroglyphic writing. In this episode we talk with epigrapher and linguist Rubén Morales Forte, a Mayanist scholar co-leading the Maya Scripta project. The project formed the topic of his Master's thesis at Tulane University and stemmed from his licenciatura (undergraduate degree) studies at Universidad del Valle Guatemala. Rubén Morales Forte was born and raised in Guatemala, where he did his undergraduate in Archaeology. He then did an MA in Latin American Studies and is currently enrolled as a Ph.D. Student in Anthropology, both at Tulane University. His main interests are the integral study of ancient and modern Maya culture, the implementation of community-engaged scholarship, and other public outreach methodologies such as gamification. When he is not working on this, he loves to do and watch sports, especially riding his bike and exploring nature.

En este episodio platicamos con historiador Mario Enrique Fuente Cid sobre su tesis de maestría, que se enfoca en la historia de la metalurgia mesoamericana vista a través de los códices mesoamericanos. Su investigación interdisciplinaria abarca la historia, el arte, y la lingüística que identifican los diferentes tipos de metal usados en Mesoamérica. Escucha ahora para conocer más sobre sus conclusiones y siguientes proyectos! Mario Fuente Cid es historiador, profesor, y estudiante graduado de maestría en la Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Entregó su tesis de maestría en 2022, titulada In Tepoztli, in Quauhximalli un estudio de las hachas y otros instrumentos metálicos en el Códice Mendoza. Ve más en la página web: http://mesoamericanstudiesonline.com/mesoamerican-studies-on-air-season-3-ep-20-onwards/mesoamerican-studies-on-air-episode-22/ 

In this episode I interview Dimitris Markianos and Marie Botzet, who together run the Instagram account Ancient Maya History. We discuss their individual research projects as well as the public engagement work they undertake via their Instagram account. See images and more resources on the web page for this episode: http://mesoamericanstudiesonline.com/mesoamerican-studies-on-air-season-3-ep-20-onwards/mesoamerican-studies-on-air-episode-21/

In this episode we dive into some of the scenes discovered on the painted walls of a structure at Calakmul, a Maya site in the Yucatan peninsula. We'll talk about why these murals are unique, and what the hieroglyphic captions tell us about these scenes. See more on the web page for this episode: http://mesoamericanstudiesonline.com/mesoamerican-studies-on-air-season-2-preview/mesoamerican-studies-on-air-episode-20/ 

In part two of a two-episode section, archaeologist Anthony DeLuca explains the environmental and political instability of West Mexico's later days. He provides detail about West Mexico's relationship with other parts of Mesoamerica and his favorite aspects of the region.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mesoamericanstudiesonline)

In this first part of a two-episode section, archaeologist Anthony DeLuca gives us a detailed introduction to West Mexico (1-2:50), the age of the West Mexican region (3-6) and why it has received less focus than other Mesoamerican regions (6:10-7). He will explain the shaft tomb traditions of West Mexico, Its Interactions with other regions, and his own research Into the area's rich history. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mesoamericanstudiesonline)

Maya epigrapher Mary Kate Kelly describes her work with the Maya hieroglyphic writing system, what we can learn from the glyphs, and why she loves the work that she does. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mesoamericanstudiesonline)

With this episode, we wrap up our discussion of the Preclassic Period by covering Olmec art and a review of the site of Chalcatzingo!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mesoamericanstudiesonline)

En este episodio, entrevistamos al arqueólogo Omar Espinosa acerca de su trabajo en el sitio preclásico de Chalcatzingo.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mesoamericanstudiesonline)

In this episode we dive deep into an academic debate that is arguing whether or not the Isthmian writing system has been successfully deciphered. Buckle up for some verbal punches and straight talk!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mesoamericanstudiesonline)