Maya Iconography

by Elizabeth P. Benson (Editor), Gillett G. Griffin (Editor)

This volume presents recent work on Maya iconography from practitioners in a variety of fields: archaeology, anthropology, art history, linguistics, astronomy, photography, and medicine. The time period discussed runs from the last centuries B.C. through the great Maya Classic period, with some discussion of later eras and of regions outside the Maya area. The papers are placed in an order that most clearly brings out the emerging themes: the book shows how certain Maya beliefs grew over time, and for the first time makes connections between Preclassic and Classic iconography.



The contributors are John Carlson, Michael Coe, David Freidel, Donald Hales, Norman Hammond, Nicholas Hellmuth, John Justeson, Barbara Kerr, Justin Kerr, Mary Ellen Miller, William Norman, Lee Parsons, Francis Robicsek, Linda Schele, David Stuart, and Karl Taube. The book includes an introduction by the editors.

400 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1988

About the author

Elizabeth P. Benson is an American art historian, curator and scholar, known for her extensive contributions over a long career to the study of pre-Columbian art, in particular that of Mesoamerica and the Andes. A former Andrew S. Keck Distinguished Visiting Professor of Art History at the American University in Washington, D.C., Benson had also a long association with the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, where she served both as director of pre-Columbian studies and as curator of the institution's collection of pre-Columbian artworks.