June 13, 2009 Christopher Jones and Federico Paredes, "Architectural
Narratives at Quirigua: 400 to 800 AD"
History is derived from discovered and/or invented narratives, or
chronologically ordered events. When architecture and historical texts
both survive, these two mutually independent narrative sources can
often enhance, verify or even contradict each other. Dr. Jones and Mr.
Paredes discussed archaeological excavations from 1975 through 1979 at
Quirigua, which reveal a sequence of six main stages of growth in the
probable royal palace. Decipherments from monumental texts found in and
near the palace also reveal sequences of important events in the lives
of the rulers who perhaps lived in those buildings. Together, these two
narratives enrich each other in interesting ways. Newly drafted 3D
computer-assisted, or AUTOCAD, images of six principle stages of palace
growth have made an easier visualization of the changing architecture
of the complex. The developing fortunes and daily lives of the rulers
can sometimes be inferred from a combination of building form and
historical event. The images were presented through direct manipulation
by the speakers, with simulated fly-overs and entry into reconstructed
rooms. These flyovers were particularly compelling images!
Dr.
Christopher Jones is presently a Consulting Scholar and a former Senior
Research Associate at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. He studied
Maya archaeology and epigraphy under Linton Satterthwaite and William
Coe at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his PhD. He
excavated for four years at Tikal and was director of the Site-Core
excavations at Quirigua in 1976 and 1977. His work focuses on the
connections between the historical statements of the inscriptions and
the processes of change that can be observed in archaeological
investigation. Dr. Jones is the author of Inauguration Dates of
Three Late Classic Rulers of Tikal Guatemala, in American Antiquity 42,
1977, The Monuments and Inscriptions of Tikal, with Linton
Satterthwaite, 1982, Deciphering Maya Hieroglyphs, 1984, and
Excavations in the East Plaza of Tikal, Guatemala, 1996. Federico
Paredes, received his licenciatura in archaeology from the Universidad
de San Carlos, Guatemala, and was the assistant Director of the Chocola
Archaeological Project in 2005. He received a Fulbright Scholarship to
attend a university in the United States in 2005, and is now a Doctoral
Candidate in the Anthropology Department of the University of
Pennsylvania. He has been assisting Dr. Jones with the computer
graphics of the Quirigua project. A joint paper on the Quirigua
sequence was presented at the Mesa Redonda at Palenque, Mexico in
November, 2008. Thanks to both for an enlightening presentation!
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