The Allegory of Xibalba: Confronting Shadowy Realities in the ancient Maya Underworld

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Technique and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Cave archaeologists around the world are increasingly utilizing many new platforms and techniques to document subterranean artwork, including digital imaging and scanning technologies. In this presentation I "throw shade" at these high-tech approaches by revisiting and focusing upon the oldest of the old-school technologies involved with the visualization of cave art: Light. I also explore related phenomenological issues critical to understanding and identification of cave art, specifically vantage points, perspective, methodology, and perception to further illuminate the ancient Maya artistic phenomenon known as Monumental Modified Speleothem Sculpture (MMSS).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Technique and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23863