Browsing by Subject "Maya"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 48

Ancient Maya cosmological landscapes : early classic mural paintings at Rio Azul, Peten, Guatemala
(2007-05) Acuna, Mary Jane, 1978-; Stuart, David, 1965-
The ancient Maya site of Rio Azul, located in the tropical lowlands of Guatemala, contains several Early Classic (250 – 550/600 CE) tombs with beautiful mural paintings. Commissioned for the interment of the royal elite, the tomb murals are painted with wonderful examples of Maya calligraphy depicting iconographic scenes of the watery underworld and hieroglyphs naming particular mountains of a cosmological landscape. This study focuses on the analysis and interpretation of the paintings and compares them to other examples in the Maya lowlands to demonstrate the widespread notion of cosmological landmarks associated to death and the rebirth of venerated ancestors.
Ancient Maya wetland fields revealed under tropical forest canopy from laser scanning and multiproxy evidence
(National Academy of Sciences, 2019-10-22) Beach, Timothy; Luzzadder-Beach, Sheryl; Krause, Samantha; Guderjan, Tom; Valdez Jr., Fred; Fernandez-Diaz, Juan Carlos; Eshleman, Sara; Doyle, Colin
We report on a large area of ancient Maya wetland field systems in Belize, Central America, based on airborne lidar survey coupled with multiple proxies and radiocarbon dates that reveal ancient field uses and chronology. The lidar survey indicated four main areas of wetland complexes, including the Birds of Paradise wetland field complex that is five times larger than earlier remote and ground survey had indicated, and revealed a previously unknown wetland field complex that is even larger. The field systems date mainly to the Maya Late and Terminal Classic (∼1,400–1,000 y ago), but with evidence from as early as the Late Preclassic (∼1,800 y ago) and as late as the Early Postclassic (∼900 y ago). Previous study showed that these were polycultural systems that grew typical ancient Maya crops including maize, arrowroot, squash, avocado, and other fruits and harvested fauna. The wetland fields were active at a time of population expansion, landscape alteration, and droughts and could have been adaptations to all of these major shifts in Maya civilization. These wetland-farming systems add to the evidence for early and extensive human impacts on the global tropics. Broader evidence suggests a wide distribution of wetland agroecosystems across the Maya Lowlands and Americas, and we hypothesize the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane from burning, preparing, and maintaining these field systems contributed to the Early Anthropocene.
Animate architecture at Kabah : terminal classic art and politics in the Puuc region of Yucatán, Mexico
(2016-01-22) Rubenstein Dankenbring, Meghan Lee; Guernsey, Julia, 1964-; Stuart, David, 1965-; Kowalski, Jeff K; Papalexandrou, Athanasio; Miro, Juan
This dissertation explores sociopolitical dynamics in the Puuc region during the Terminal Classic period (c. 750-1000 CE) through a multi-level examination of architectural sculpture. It begins with a broad look at the regional iconography, reassessing the meaning of the most common motifs within an architectural context. It then narrows in on Kabah, where I consider the range of art and architecture present at a single site. The remainder of the dissertation is devoted to one of Kabah’s most remarkable buildings, the Codz Pop. In light of recent archaeological discoveries and extensive archival research, I suggest that while shared Puuc iconography reflects a regional ideology, the modification of such imagery allowed powerful rulers to transform buildings into symbols of local authority and instruments of social order. Fundamental to this argument is the idea that Puuc architecture was conceived of as an animate extension of the natural world, imbued with a supernatural energy that was harnessed by local rulers. In addition to an iconographic analysis, this dissertation includes a summary of archaeological work at Kabah and a detailed historiography of the Codz Pop. The text is further supplemented by an extensive collection of images, including recent photographs of Kabah, new illustrations of the sculpted doorjambs from the site, and a catalog assembling the loose stones from the Codz Pop’s Hieroglyphic Platform. The result is a comprehensive overview of Puuc iconography that not only expands our knowledge of regional ideology and history, but more broadly contributes to studies on the articulation of rulership in ancient Mesoamerica.
Archaeological Investigations at Punta De Cacao, an Ancient Maya Town-Sized Settlement in Orange Walk District, Northwest Belize, Central America; The University of the Incarnate Word Project, 2001-2004
(University of Texas at Austin, 2015) Robichaux, Hubert R.; Hartnett, Kristen; Pruett, Candace; Miller, Alexandra
Table of Contents : In Memoriam (p.iii) -- Acknowledgements (p.v) -- Introduction (p.1-10) -- A Regional Perspective of the Punta de Cacao Ceramic Complexes / by Fred Valdez, Jr. (p.11-20) -- Mapping Punta de Cacao (p.21-28) -- Excavations at Punta de Cacao (p.29-44) -- The Central Precinct of Punta de Cacao (p.45-54) -- Punta de Cacao as a Whole: Total Area, Population Density, and Total Population (p.55-58) -- Town Layout (p.59-62) -- Social Stratification at Punta de Cacao: Implications Derived from the Structure Data Base (p.63-64) -- Punta de Cacao through Time: Its Life Cycle (p.65-70) -- Final Thoughts (p.69-70) -- APPENDIX A: Structure Type Codes (p.71-13) -- APPENDIX B: Vegetation Codes (p.73-75) -- APPENDIX C: Punta de Cacao Structure Data Base -- (p.75-93) --APPENDIX D: Excavation/Temporal Data (p.93-94) -- APPENDIX D: Excavation/Temporal Data (p.95-96) -- References Cited (p.97)
At the edge of the Maya world : power, politics, and identity in monuments from the Comitán Valley, Chiapas, Mexico
(2015-05) Earley, Caitlin Cargile; Guernsey, Julia, 1964-; Stuart, David, 1965-
In the Comitán Valley of Chiapas, Mexico, several large Maya centers flourished in the Late Classic (600-900 CE) and Early Postclassic (900-1250 CE) periods. These centers left behind monumental architecture, elaborate burials, and over fifty inscribed stone monuments. This project represents the first comprehensive study of those monuments, combining art historical analysis with archaeological data to reconstruct the history of sites in this area. This analysis reveals that ancient Maya centers in the Comitán Valley participated in widespread Maya customs of artistic representation, but they did so using local styles and iconographic motifs. The resulting artistic programs are innovative and profoundly local, and they provide a point of access into concepts of identity in different Maya centers. The monuments of Tenam Puente, for example, revolve around militarism, while the sculptures of Chinkultic emphasize ritual and history, pointing to the role of the site as the dynastic center of the eastern Comitán Valley. The sculptures of the Comitán Valley offer unique insight into the history of the region, but they also provide a new perspective on the creation of regional iconography, the role of frontier sites in Maya politics, and the diversity of ancient Maya art. The eclectic artistic programs of sites in the Comitán Valley are the result of the active appropriation and reformulation of broad artistic concepts. Analysis of this corpus reveals political affiliations and evidence of warfare, suggesting that frontier centers like those in the Comitán Valley were involved in the complex sociopolitical dynamics of the western Maya area. When many other centers were abandoned at the end of the Classic period, moreover, sites of the Comitán Valley continued to thrive; the breakage and re-use of monuments in this era sheds light on the changing role of Maya sculpture in the Postclassic period. Finally, the sculptures of the Comitán Valley point to the diversity of ancient Maya art. From the appropriation of Central Mexican motifs to the curation of ancestor figures associated with caves, sites in this area exhibit a variety of approaches to the creation and display of sculpture.
Bodies politic, bodies in stone : imagery of the human and the divine in the sculpture of Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyú, Guatemala
(2013-05) Henderson, Lucia; Guernsey, Julia, 1964-; Stuart, David, 1965-
Bulldozed, effaced, and paved over by the buildings and winding streets of Guatemala City, the vast majority of the archaeological remains of Kaminaljuyú are now lost to us. This early site, which reached its peak during the Late Preclassic period (ca. 300BC-250AD), was once the largest and most influential site of the Maya highlands and one of the most important sites of early Mesoamerica. This dissertation, begun as an art historical salvage project, is at once documentary and analytical. It not only focuses on recording and preserving the Late Preclassic bas-relief stone sculptures of Kaminaljuyú through accurate technical drawings, but also provides cautious and detailed analyses regarding what this iconography can tell us about this ancient site. In essence, the following chapters approach, flesh out, and describe the bodies of Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyú---the stone bodies, the divine bodies, and the human bodies that interacted with them across the built landscape. They discuss topics like human sacrifice, the Principal Bird Deity, and the myriad supernatural forms related to water and wind at Kaminaljuyú. They consider the noisiness of performance, the sensory impact of costumed rulers, and the ways in which these kings utilized the mythical, supernatural, and divine to sustain their rule. In addition to untangling the complex iconography of these early sculptures, these chapters give voice to the significance of these stones beyond their carved surfaces. They contemplate the materiality of stone and the ways in which the kingly body and sculpted monuments were inscribed, made meaningful, and performed to establish and maintain ideological, socio-political, and economic structures. In essence, then, these chapters deal with the interwoven themes of stone and bone and flesh and blood; with the structuring of human, sculpted, and divine bodies; and with the performative role these bodies shared as transformative spaces where extraordinary things could happen. In other words, this dissertation not only addresses stone carvings as crucial points of access into the belief structures and political strategies of Kaminaljuyú, but as active participants in the social, economic, and ideological processes that shaped human history at this ancient site.
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes: Transitions and Thresholds Throughout Central America and Beyond
(University of Texas at Austin, 2016) Aebersold, Luisa; Krause, Samantha M.
Table of Contents : In Consideration of “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes: Transitions and Thresholds throughout Central America and Beyond” / by Luisa Aebersold, Samantha M. Krause, and Fred Valdez, Jr. (p.1-4) -- Health Indicators through Time: Maya Health in the Three Rivers Region, Belize / by Hannah Plumer (p.5-14) -- Climate Change and Chiefdom Ecodynamics in the Eastern Andean Cordillera of Colombia / by Michael P. Smyth, Timothy P. Beach, and Eric M. Weaver (p.15-32) -- The Blue Creek Rejollada Revisited: Transitional Imprints on Sedimentological Records / by Luisa Aebersold, Timothy P. Beach, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Tom Guderjan, and Fred Valdez, Jr. (p.33-48) -- Social Technology: The Production of Hyphenated and Hybrid Ceramics within Romanized Iberia / by Elizabeth M. de Marigny (p.49-60) -- Sixty Years of Remote Sensing in the Maya Lowlands: A Review of Techniques and Tools / by Samantha M. Krause, Thomas Guderjan, Timothy Beach, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach (p.61-80) -- To the Four Winds – Communal Identities and Destinies on New Spain’s Far Northern Frontier: The Piro and Tiwa Provinces of New Mexico, CA. 1540-1740 / by Michael P. Bletzer (p.81-100) -- Creating an Interdisciplinary Map of Social Change through GIS and Bioarchaeology / by Marc Wolf and Katherine Miller Wolf (p.101-112) -- Did Restructuring at the End of the Maya Classic Period Include the Beginnings of Private Land Tenure? / by Thomas Guderjan (p.113)
Chocholá ceramics and the polities of northwestern Yucatán
(2010-05) Werness, Maline Diane; Stuart, David, 1965-
Maya artists working in the northern Yucatán Peninsula c. 700-800 CE began creating a new ceramic style. Deeply carved and exhibiting complex iconography and hieroglyphic inscriptions, Chocholá ceramics have long been recognized as among the most beautiful items produced by ancient Maya craftsmen. Indeed, the Chocholá style can be associated with a number of firsts in Maya studies: the first published explorations, the first major art historical investigations of ceramics, the first attempts at ceramic seriation and the first translations of the dedicatory formula all include images of Chocholá pots. Many examples lack provenience, however, due to extensive looting and the corpus has been relegated to a shadowy corner of the Maya world as a result. With the aid of new archaeological information and advances in iconographic and epigraphic studies, I develop an interdisciplinary rubric for classifying Chocholá pieces. Additionally, I analyze vessel imagery and texts, thus deciphering ostensible meanings as well as identifying the kinds of messages elites were trying to project through ownership and exchange. As with other high-status commodities, these ceramics functioned as prestige items and facilitated regional alliances through gifting and feasting. An analysis of temporal setting illuminates the aesthetic innovation and traditionalism Chocholá patrons manipulated in order to legitimize their own standing in such contexts. My work results in a more refined picture of extended northern socio-political interaction and interconnection. I show that one extremely powerful site—Oxkintok, in the hilly Puuc region of Yucatán—produced such vessels and disseminated them south, west and northeast. In dialogue with Oxkintok's expanding sphere of political influence, stylistic variations also developed in these outlying regions. Ultimately, I use the confluence of data to reconstruct a more concrete system of intra-regional connection and interchange.
Complement and purpose clauses in K’iche’
(2015-05) Can Pixabaj, Telma Angelina; England, Nora C.; Aissen, Judith, 1948-; Wechsler, Stephen; Zavala Maldonado, Roberto; Woodbury, Anthony C.; Epps, Patience L.
This dissertation describes the morphological and syntactic properties of complement and purpose clauses in K’iche’. K’iche’ is a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala. Complement clauses are clausal elements that correspond to an argument of the matrix clause (Noonan 2007). In this study I show that syntactically there are three types of complement clause in K’iche’: finite complements with complementizers (CP-complements), finite complements without complementizers (S-complements), and non-finite complements. CP-complements are full clauses. S-complements have a less elaborated structure where negation and topic do not have space. Therefore these are separate types of complements contrary to what has been said (Larsen 1988). Besides that, S-complements usually require coreference of an argument of the matrix with an argument of the complement, whereas CP-complements do not have such restrictions. Non-finite complements do not bear time/aspect/mood (TAM) marking nor subject agreement markers. Therefore this type of complement has a smaller structure than either of the finite complements. They depend on the matrix clause for the interpretation of TAM and they display interesting control relations that are also found in non-finite purpose clauses. I also propose three types of purpose clauses in K’iche’ that pattern with complement clauses: finite purpose clauses with subordinators, finite purpose clauses without subordinators, and non-finite purpose clauses. Finite purpose clauses with subordinators are like non-finite complement clauses without complementizers in the sense that they are like independent clauses. The only difference is that it is not possible to extract any element from a purpose clause, while extraction is possible with finite complements. Non-finite purpose clauses are like non-finite complement clauses, except that non-finite purpose clauses are adjuncts rather than arguments. Although finite purpose clauses without subordinators and finite complements without complementizers look like the same, I show that the former are paratactic while the latter are embedded. Here is where the parallelism between complement and purpose clauses breaks down. In this study I provide an inventory of verbs that select each type of complement. I show that the morphosyntactic integration resembles the semantic integration between the matrix and the complement clause, as Kockelman (2003) shows for Q’eqchi’.
Dancing in the watery past : mythical history and performative architecture in the Palace of Palenque
(2012-05) Rodriguez, Gretel; Stuart, David, 1965-; Guernsey, Julia
This thesis analyzes a series of stucco reliefs that decorate the piers of House D of the Palace of Palenque, a Classic Maya city in modern Chiapas, Mexico. Each of the five extant piers of House D depict pairs of individuals facing each other and engaged in what appears to be ritual performances associated with dance and sacrifice. I rely on an iconographic analysis of the reliefs of House D and on a reading of the architecture in relation to the surrounding built environment in order to reconstruct ancient patterns of viewership. I argue that the reliefs of House D of the Palace present a royal narrative where myth and history are fused, and that this combination is validated through ritual performance. The integration of mythical and historical narratives is transmitted through the ruler's enactment of past events that take place in a watery environment signifying the mythical origins of the city of Palenque. This performative narrative at the same time reproduces and perpetuates the actual ceremonies that took place in and around the building, specifically in the monumental stairway and in the ceremonial plaza that flank the building on its western margin. The dynastic messages embedded in the narrative of the piers, and its incorporation into the performances associated with the building, serve to promote the military accomplishments and the political legitimacy of a new ruling dynasty, initiated by the king of Palenque K'inich Janab Pakal, who is the main figure portrayed on the reliefs.
Defining the Red Background style: the production of object and identity in an ancient Maya court
(2014-05) Lopez-Finn, Elliot Michelle; Stuart, David, 1965-; Guernsey, Julia, 1964-
As one of many other distinct painting styles that appeared on ceramics throughout the Guatemalan Lowlands of the Late Classic Period (AD 600-900), the Red Background vases represented the economic reach of the owner into local and foreign courtly culture. Supernatural processions, playful hieroglyphic texts, and the distinctive red background circulated on vases, plates, and bowls in order to perform prestige and the elite identity in public feasts. The diverse narrative content of these vessels reveals the importance of mytho-historic origin stories and supernatural identities to the prevailing political order, while the unique hieroglyphic texts link the style and its imagery to the royal court of Pa’ Chan. However, the lack of context for most of these vases thwarts a straightforward understanding of their role in Maya society as objects from a specific geographic place with archaeological provenience. Despite this inability to embed the Red Background vases within a robust archaeological framework, the production and circulation of a visually distinct style by a named community still indicates that the creators of these objects wished to communicate a unique artistic identity through an intersection of formal qualities. Refocusing the question of agency through the lens of the final product reveals that these works acted as part of a larger campaign to create the typical courtly trappings of master artisan production and public social feasting with representatives of other powerful polities. This Master’s Thesis aims to examine the current corpus of almost sixty vases in order to describe how the Red Background style manifests. In addition, my study explores the tendency of many polychrome styles to link a specific royal court with the artistic product through hieroglyphic emblems. I conclude that the unique Pa’ Chan emblem takes this extroverted statement of belonging to a higher level, providing an emic classification of the vase where the text comprises a social category of art that performs identity through its distinct visuals.
Dragons in the Sky: The Maya Cosmos, Place, and Power as Expressed through Skybands2021
(2021-11-30) Juroska, Hayden
Embodying the kingly persona : ephemerality and memory in Temple 18 of Copan
(2016-05) Madsen, Alexandra Isabel; Stuart, David, 1965; Guernsey, Julia, 1964
This thesis analyzes a late Classic temple located in the southern reaches of the Maya world. Temple 18, the subject of this study, occupied Copan’s acropolis, positioned between the site’s ceremonial center and residence of the final king, Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat. Temple 18 was the last construction at the site of Copan, and in many ways reflects the increasing turmoil at the site and surrounding areas. In this thesis I explore the temple’s importance within Copan and larger Mesoamerica to better understand its position, layout and function as a funerary crypt. I seek to comprehend the temple’s iconographic message, both historical and mythical, seen in the inclusion of military and maize imagery. I rely on iconographic analysis, spatial analysis, and archaeological and epigraphic data to understand its importance and nuances. I argue that Temple 18 legitimized Yax Pasaj’s rule, and ultimately served as an extension of the kingly persona; Temple 18 memorialized the last’s king’s rule, permanently interring his presence in Copan’s landscape.
Emerging perspectives : a new cross-contextual analysis of the niche monument corpus
(2019-07-16) Nuckols Wilde, Catherine Lindsey; Guernsey, Julia, 1964-; Stuart, David, 1965-; Covey, Ronald; Papalexandrou, Athanasio
Preclassic niche monuments, found from Guatemala to Chiapas to Veracruz, portray anthropomorphic figures emerging from a high-relief cavity. Despite being frequently lumped into other, more well-known categories (niche altars/thrones, boulder monuments, etc.), certain of these monuments along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Guatemala exhibit characteristics that merit their own sculptural category. Presently there is no study of the monuments as such. For this project, I aim to fill this gap in the scholarship. By focusing on niche monuments found along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Guatemala, I have assembled a corpus of seven monuments and situated them within a broader matrix of communication and exchange. In this paper, I will present my analysis of the corpus of niche monuments, including their context (when available), iconography, and their geographic and chronological qualities. By studying these monuments as a corpus, I have found significant similarities between them that include a variant of the Olmec-style “flamed eyebrow”, watery contexts, and central niche figures likely linked to notions of transformation or were-jaguar imagery. Recognition of these traits will provide greater insight into the sculptural program of the Middle to Late Preclassic transition, as well as the scope of this artistic style within Mesoamerica prior to and following this period
Environmental change & landscape adaptation at an ancient Maya aguada, Buctzotz Yucatán
(2022-05-26) Dale, Jedidiah Ernest; Beach, Timothy Paul; Luzzadder-Beach, Sheryl; Breecker, Daniel
Aguadas, or ancient Maya reservoirs, represent a significant feature of Maya water management and landscape adaption. Through constructing aguadas, Maya settlements were able to increase their access to fresh water. There is significant variability in the form and function of aguadas throughout the Maya Lowlands. As a result interpreting the natural and human history of a given aguada requires a multi-proxy approach. Maya water management aguadas can provide an important record of paleoenvironmental change in close proximity to Maya sites. Here we present multi-proxy geoarchaeological data of an Aguada from the Late Preclassic and Post Classic (BP 2500 to 1040) occupation site of Santa Rosa, Mexico located northeast of the town of Buctzotz in the northern Yucatan coastal plain. We retrieved a 255cm long sediment core form the aguada. We were unable to identify pollen in the sample, so we focused on opal phytoliths to infer the biogenic depositional environment. Geochemical information, obtained through XRF, provides additional proxies for the study of changes in sedimentation and core lithology. We find evidence of human activity, including cultivation, in the watershed beginning in the Late Preclassic. Two significant drought periods are present in the record, one likely at the Terminal Preclassic, and one likely at the Terminal Classic. We find persistence of human utilization through both events, demonstrating the complexity of past Maya responses to climactic instability.
The ethics of ruins in Petén, Guatemala : problematizing architectural conservation in the context of people, practice, and politics
(2013-05) Coronado Ruiz, Anabell; Stuart, David, 1965-; Guernsey, Julia, 1964-; William, Saturno; Brian, Stross; Samuel, Wilson
Maya buildings have always been multifaceted in nature, both in the past and during present times. The preservation of such artifacts is dictated by current archaeological research, tourist agendas in the region, conservation practice, and national cultural policies. This dissertation problematizes the practices of the architectural conservator in Petén, Guatemala, situating them within the many challenges currently faced by archaeological research and the study and preservation of ancient constructions. In this approach, it is argued that architecture is a living artifact charged with historic significance serving variable roles in archaeology, tourism, heritage, or Maya religion. The history of conservation in the Maya area has proven successful for professionals working with a multidisciplinary agenda in which the methodologies employed by archaeologists and conservators coexist, but this thesis focuses on the philosophical dilemmas that specifically surround archaeological work in Guatemala today. The role of the state and its cultural policies is questioned in the context of archaeology, international conventions on cultural heritage, and activist demands of local communities and indigenous people. While the technical aspects of conservation have reached new levels of acceptance among the archaeological community, this dissertation argues that the ethical dilemmas inherent in the conservation of Maya ruins need to be addressed from the particular vantage point of a multicultural and multiethnic country like Guatemala. Based on ten years of fieldwork, this research describes and reflects on the conservation work at the site of San Bartolo, Petén, and the multi-faceted dynamics that influenced the intervention. Finally, this dissertation addresses the possibilities of transcending the current multidisciplinary work among Maya scholars and transforming it into a community-based and inclusive archaeology that incorporates long-term sustainable conservation methods with shared values and interests.
Expressions of Maya Identity and Culture in Los Angeles: Challenges and Success Among Maya Youth
(Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, 2010) Batz, Giovanni
Expressions of Maya Identity and Culture in Los Angeles: Challenges and Success among Maya Youth
(2010-02-06) Batz, Giovanni
A household perspective : ceramics from a domestic structure at Kichpanha, Belize
(2010-05) Root-Garey, Emily Donna; Rodriguez-Alegría, Enrique R.; Valdez, Fred
Research at Kichpanha, Belize, has primarily focused on the Late Preclassic, elite contexts, and the regional economic and political roles of the site. This study is an initial step in expanding qualitative research at Kichpanha across the Classic period and into the smaller scale of domestic contexts, analyzing ceramics recovered in association with a Late Classic mound structure and Late Preclassic lithic workshop. Drawing on literature in household archaeology and pre-Columbian Maya commoners, I focus on structure function and social status of occupants. Additionally, I examine how the ceramics fit into the established chronology at Kichpanha, and address the spatiotemporal relationship between the mound structure and lithic workshop.
Identity-Based Revitalization in the Maya Communities of Guatemala: A Focus on Dress and Language
(2020-05) McChesney, Hannah
The Maya people have lived in Central America since as early as 250 A.D. and speak 22 officially recognized languages, inhabiting what is now present-day Guatemala. These communities have for centuries been the target of subversive socioeconomic and political policies imposed by Spanish colonizers, then later the national government, and most recently were the victims of a State-led genocide in the early 1980s. However, these communities have continued to fight for the recognition of their rights and the freedom to peacefully express their culture through traditional practices of dress, language, religion, and other customs that vary geographically and between distinct ethnic groups. This work focuses primarily on revitalization efforts in dress and language since the mid-twentieth century that have sought to reverse cultural repression tactics implemented by the State and overturn social prejudices. The research is based on information from historical studies, primary sources, and a cultural anthropological study done with Maya people in Guatemala. Detailed in this work is the essence of the Maya cultural identity, the history of its suppression, and the three fronts on which the revitalization movement has been based: political mobilization, works of the Pan-Maya Movement and Maya scholars, and community-based efforts centered around education.