Among their celebrated achievements, the ancient Maya are renowned for developing a highly sophisticated writing system. Their unique hieroglyphic script adorns stone and wood monuments, as well as portable objects. Drawing on a wealth of research, this remarkable book-the third and final volume in The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs series-offers a comprehensive and up-to-date visual reference of the Maya script. As the culmination of The New Catalog, the current volume both summarizes information from the previous volumes and expands on the discussions of decipherment and grapheme functions. Incorporating the most recent research on the script, it reclassifies several signs and adds many more, including those appearing in newly discovered inscriptions. Along with explanatory text, it presents in visual form each individual sign used in the Maya script along with its corresponding three- or four-digit code. Combining cutting-edge scholarship with accessible presentation, this volume serves as a concise reference tool critical for the ongoing research of scholars and students of Mesoamerican writing systems. For enhanced interactivity, readers can also use the guide in coordination with the online Maya Hieroglyphic Database.
Matthew Looper is Professor of Art and Art History at California State University, Chico, and Director of the Maya Hieroglyphic Database. He is the author of several books, including The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs, Volume 1 (with Martha J. Macri). Yuriy Polyukhovych holds a PhD from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he serves as Associate Professor and teaches courses in Pre-Columbian and Latin American studies. He currently serves as Ambassador of Ukraine to Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. Martha J. Macri (Cherokee Nation) is Professor Emerita of Native American Studies and Research Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Davis. She is a co-principal investigator for the Maya Hieroglyphic Database project funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Gabrielle Vail holds a research position in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and collaborates with the Script Encoding Initiative (University of California, Berkeley). She is the author of several books, including The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs, Volume 2 (with Martha J. Macri).
"The New Catalog of Maya Hierglyphs, Volume 3 is a substantial and significant contribution to the field of Maya epigraphy, archaeology, art history, and the study of writing systems. While it builds upon earlier catalogs, it transcends them, serving as the new standard reference."-Michael D. Carrasco, co-editor of Under the Shade of Thipaak: The Ethnoecology of Cycads in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean "A monumental work, The New Catalog of Maya Hierglyphs, Volume 3, showcases cutting-edge scholarship. It provides updates and revisions benefiting from decades of findings. This book will endure and may even be remembered as the beginning of a new era in Mayan epigraphy."-David Mora-Marin, Professor of Linguistics at the University of North Carolina
