The Pre-Columbian Society at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is a group of amateurs and professionals engaged in the study and understanding of the indigenous peoples of the Americas during the pre-Columbian era and today. Common anthropological and archeological interests center on the pre-Columbian cultures of North, Central and South America, with an emphasis on Mesoamerica (Maya, Olmec, Aztec, Mixtec, Inca, Moche, Nazca), with occasional lectures on similar interests on indigenous groups in the U.S.  Professionals in the field present their research and findings via monthly lectures.  Additionally, we have a Glyph Group that concentrates on decipherment of hieroglyphs found at various historical sites throughout Mesoamerica.

Meetings are held on the second Saturday of the month during the academic year (September to May). Meetings usually begin at 1:30 pm and are followed by refreshments and informal discussion. The Glyph Group usually meets at 10:30 am throughout the year.

In the past, meetings were usually held at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. However, all meetings of The Pre-Columbian Society at the Penn Museum, both talks and Glyph Group meetings, will be online via Zoom for the foreseeable future.

News

The next scheduled meeting will be held on Saturday March 14, 2026 at 1:30 pm EST. The speaker will be Martha Macri, Professor Emerita University of California-Davis. Her talk will be entitled “The Isthmian Script: A New Approach to Decipherment.“

Instead of the usual glyph group, there will probably be a workshop on the Isthmian Code lead by our speaker, Dr. Martha Macri.

 To join the meeting, click here. The Meeting ID is 380 468 5493.

September is our annual membership renewal month. Although our programs are free to the public, we encourage membership to support the goals of the Society. Added benefits of membership include access to recorded talks of previous meetings in the Meeting Archives, and access to the Codex Archives, which contains previous copies of The Codex to download. Members receive a password to access these archives when renewing membership. If for some reason a member does not have the password, they can request it here.

If you do not wish to become a member and you find some of our offerings to be valuable, we encourage you to Donate to the Society. Any amount would be appreciated.

A sample issue of The Codex for June 2015 is available to download without membership.