December 13, 2025 Simon Martin, Penn Museum: “The Last Painted Pots: The Significance of Changes in Classic Maya Polychrome Painting during the Ninth Century CE.”
The tradition of figural painting on Maya ceramics—which had been such a distinctive feature of Classic culture at its height—died out during the 9th century CE, amid the wider process of social unraveling known as the “Maya Collapse.” But those last painted pots are not simply a dying tradition, they contribute important evidence on the realignment of society and politics that took place at this time. More specifically, they reflect the arrival of new ideas from far to the west, innovations that clearly argue for late foreign interventions.
Simon Martin is an Associate Curator and Keeper at the Penn Museum and Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a specialist in Maya hieroglyphic writing, with a particular interest in the history, politics, and religious beliefs of the Classic Period (250-900 CE). Martin’s most recent book was “Ancient Maya Politics: A Political Anthropology of the Classic Period 150-900 CE,” which won prizes from the Association of American Publishers, and the American Historical Association.