February 7, 2026 A joint presentation of the PCS and The Maya Research Program. Christophe Helmke, PhD, University of Copenhagen: “A Mythological Baktun 12 Text from Tulix Mul, Belize.”
Note: The recorded talk will not be available for viewing by members until after publication of the material.
Ancient Maya calendrical records offer Mesoamericanists a unique opportunity to document a wealth of historical events for the Classic period. Most inscriptions date from the third to ninth centuries AD, typically commemorating events shortly after they occurred. However, one set of dates diverges markedly, anchored more than three millennia earlier—in the distant past—around the Long Count “era” date of 13.0.0.0.0. Long recognized by Mayanists as a pivotal turning point, this date serves not merely as a retrospective zero date for the current era but was also framed as a mythic reckoning point for the Maya Long Count.
Texts referencing mythological events on the eve of this pivotal date have come to light, revealing intricate narratives about supernatural entities and their deeds in primordial time. Whereas some primordial dates are implied through calendrical notations known as “ring numbers”, which we will also explore, texts with complete Baktun 12 Long Count dates remain exceptional.
This rarity makes the recent discovery at Tulix Mul, in northern Belize, particularly significant. There, a partly faded text—rendered in faded black brushwork on the walls of a shrine—fortuitously preserves a fragmentary mythological account, headed by one of the few securely attested Baktun 12 dates. This paper introduces the Tulix Mul text, examines its archaeological context, and explores the implications for our understanding of ancient Maya conceptions of measured mythic time, emic conceptualizations of deep time and their regional manifestations.
Christophe Helmke is Associate professor of American Indian Languages and Cultures at the Institute of Cross-cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the archaeology, epigraphy, iconography and languages of Mesoamerica. Since 2000 he has tutored hieroglyphic workshops as part of a series of conferences in Europe as well as North and Central America. Besides Maya archaeology and epigraphy, his other research interests include Mesoamerican writing systems as well as comparative Amerindian mythology. He has collaborated with The Maya Research Program since 2018, and serves as project epigrapher focusing on the graffiti and murals of Tulix Mul.