The themes of the Tak´alik Ab´aj project will be presented on Friday the 25th of July in Salon 2
- 04:00 - 04:30 pm The Discovery of Altar 48 in Tak'alik Ab'aj. Christa Schieber de Lavarreda and Miguel Orrego Corzo
- 05:00 - 05:30 pm The dawn replaces the stars. Marion Popenoe de Hatch
The mayor themes included in the Archeology Symposium are:
Archeology of the Colonial time, Studies in Archeology and Ethno history, Analysis of materials: stucco, stone and metal, Archeological Studies in Yucatan and Chiapas
Archeological sites of the Mayan area and the challenges of conservation:
- Integration of Archeological Research and Conservation
- Conservation of Archeological Materials
- Sustainability and balance between conservation and public use
Architecture and rituals of the lower lands, Archeological studies in El Salvador, Archeological aspects of the lower lands, Studies about the myth of the deer, Advances of the projects of the lower lands, Studies of figures and ceramic materials, Aspects of Conservation of the Archeological Heritage, Archeology and Ethnohistory of the lower lands, Archeology of the High lands, Studies of the soil and analysis of bone rests, Caves in the Mayan World, Archeological aspects of the lower lands, Aspects of the conservation of the Archeological Heritage, Studies of conservation of the Archeological Heritage, Archeology of the Pacific Coast, Studies of Iconography and Epigraphy
The Guatemala Times will make a concerted effort to publish more material of this symposium and other archeological events and projects in Guatemala. We want to invite the Archeologists and Ethnologist to contact us and send us their very important information so it can be published and reach a vast audience of readers.
Most information about Archeology in Guatemala never gets known beyond a small circle of experts. We aim to change that, supplying the reader with texts that are understandable by non experts and enjoyable to read.
Abstract by:
Christa Schieber de Lavarreda y Miguel Orrego Corzo
Proyecto Nacional Tak’alik Ab’aj
Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes/DGPCN
The discovery of Altar 48 at Tak’alik Ab’aj
Since 2005 the National Project Tak'alik Ab'aj is conducting an excavation program aimed to recover the information about the context of the sculptures at Tak'alik Ab'aj.
That is how a new sculpture, Altar 48, was found underneath Stele 14. This monumental stele had been positioned carefully above Altar 48 in order to protect it, which gives a hint about the magnitude of the meaning of this altar.
Altar 48 portrays on its surface the beautiful design of a crocodile; the body represented in the form of the quatrefoil symbol of the cave or portal. Inside the quatrefoil a personage depicted with headdress and loincloth is seated on his throne in Mayan fashion. Three sides of the altar present also a mythological theme each and the side at the base of the principal theme sculpted on the surface of the altar shows four early glyphs. These four glyphs appear to refer directly to this personage.
The crocodile with the quatrefoil symbol on its back resembles the representations of the turtle with its shell in the form of the same symbol. The figure of the Maize god emerging from the open shell of a turtle is frequently found in Maya iconography relating to the ancestral representation of the world.
The four early glyphs open the possibility to relate this powerful mythological theme to a real personage, a ruler, at the beginning of Late Preclassic times, when the early Maya system was "institutionalized" and the universal symbols "mint", which ruled through all epochs of the Mayan world. Altar 48 at Tak'alik Ab'aj might be one of the earliest mythological representations of Maya cosmovision used for political purposes.
