Doctoral Dissertation Research: What Do Maya Pseudo-Glyphs Say? An Analysis of Late Classic Period Pottery from the Southern Maya Lowlands

在过去的50年里，我们对古典时期（公元250-900年）玛雅社会的理解越来越重要的一部分来自对玛雅象形文字的研究。学者们现在认识到，玛雅抄写员使用一种混合的语音和图像书写系统来记录精英的功绩，记录皇家血统，并在文物上刻上所有权声明。 玛雅象形文字被语言学家定义为完整的文字，它代表了一种图形符号系统，可以用来记录和传达任何可以说出的思想。解读彩绘陶器上的文字揭示了有关特定器皿的功能、地理和社会起源的信息，并提供了对玛雅信仰和精英互动性质的深入了解。 在研究这些陶瓷文本的过程中，金石学家将彩绘符号分为两类：（1）传统的象形文字，可以通过语音阅读并翻译成有意义的单词或短语，（2）被描述为“伪象形文字”的符号，因为它们不符合已建立的象形文字形态学（Longyear 1944，1952）。 在国家科学基金会的支持下，这项研究旨在通过记录和检查大量科学挖掘的装饰有伪象形文字的陶瓷样品，更清楚地定义古典时期玛雅社会成员的识字性质。 这项研究将强调考古背景和雕刻分析，以评估伪陶器装饰的社会功能和意义。在创建了一个全面的照片数据库后，由危地马拉博物馆人类学和民族学博物馆，人类学和历史研究所的Ceramateca和莫利博物馆在危地马拉策展的船只，以及各种正在进行的实地项目的船只，本研究的目的，是要确定这些伪象形文字是否像传统的陶文一样，形成了一个传达意义的书面符号系统。 对文本的统计和比较分析应该揭示什么样的伪字形（如果有的话）是一贯使用或组合的，以及伪字形是否表现出语法。 此外，比较从不同地点挖掘出的船只可能会揭示伪象形文字是否在风格上起到了标志种族，性别，亲属关系或经济身份的作用。 例如，伪装饰陶器是否最常出现在家庭或较低地位的环境中？或者是否有迹象表明，这种陶器不成比例地出现在一个特定的网站或网站组？通过创建第一个科学挖掘的玛雅陶瓷数据库，这些陶瓷被装饰有伪象形文字，这项研究将为未来解释古典时期玛雅文化的本质奠定基础。 更广泛地说，这种分析可以与其他社会中的书写使用进行跨文化比较。

Over the past 50 years, an increasingly significant part of our understanding of Classic Period (A.D. 250-900) Maya society has derived from the study of Maya hieroglyphics. Scholars now recognize that Maya scribes used a mixed phonetic and iconographic system of writing to record elite exploits, document royal lineages and inscribe artifacts with ownership statements. Defined by linguists as full writing, Maya hieroglyphics represent a system of graphic symbols that could be used to record and convey any thought that could be spoken.Deciphering the texts painted on polychrome pottery has revealed information regarding the function, geographic and social origin of particular vessels and provided insight into Maya beliefs and the nature of elite interactions. In the process of examining these ceramic texts, epigraphers have divided the painted signs into two categories: (1) conventional hieroglyphs that can be phonetically read and translated into meaningful words or phrases, and (2) symbols described as "pseudo-glyphs" because they do not conform to the established canons of glyph morphology (Longyear 1944, 1952). With National Science Foundation support, this study seeks to define more clearly the nature of literacy for members of Classic Period Maya society by documenting and examining a large sample of scientifically-excavated ceramics decorated with pseudo-glyphs. This study will emphasize both archaeological context and glyphic analysis to assess the social function and significance of pseudo-glyph-decorated pottery.After creating a comprehensive photographic database of vessels curated in Guatemala by the Museo de Antropologia e Ethnologia, the Ceramateca of the Instituto de Antropologia e Historia and the Morley Museum, and vessels from various in-process field projects, this study seeks to establish whether pseudo-glyphs, like conventional pottery texts, form a written symbol system that conveys meaning. Statistical and comparative analysis of the texts should reveal what pseudo-glyphs, if any, are consistently employed or combined and whether pseudo-glyphs exhibit a grammar. Additionally, comparing the vessels excavated from different locations may reveal whether pseudo-glyphs functioned stylistically to signal ethnic, gender, kinship, or economic identity. For example, does pseudo-glyph embellished pottery appear most frequently in household or lower-status contexts? Or is there an indication that such pottery appears disproportionately at a particular site or group of sites?By creating the first database of scientifically-excavated Maya ceramics that are embellished with pseudo-glyphs, this research will form a foundation for future interpretations of the nature of Maya literacy during the Classic Period. More broadly, this analysis may be cross-culturally compared with the uses of writing in other societies.