Archaeology
Short Teaching Module: Maya Writing
In the period from 200 to 900 C.E, which scholars later labelled the Classic Period, the Maya developed the most complex writing system in the Americas, a script with nearly a thousand characters (termed “glyphs”) that represent concepts and sounds, which over the last fifty years has been largel
Maya Deity-Face Jade Pendant, 7th-8th century
This small carved jade ornament, about 2 inches square, was most likely the central ornament on the paper headband of a Maya ruler.
Maya Drinking Vessel with Seated Lord, 7th-8th century
This large ceramic vessel, made for drinking chocolate, shows a figure wearing a loincloth, necklace, and a large headdress that looks like the tail feathers of the quetzal bird.
Maya Vase with Mythological Scene, 7th-8th century
This drinking cup shows the aging Rain God Chank with a ceremonial ax in one hand and the other on a building that has split open.
Maya Monument with glyphs, 4th-9th centuries
This stone monument carved with glyphs comes from Tortuguero, a Maya archeological site in southernmost Tabasco, Mexico that has been badly damaged by development. The monument is in a museum in Tabasco, and the smaller fragment is in the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.
CyArk
In order to prevent the complete loss of these sites to history, the project works by keeping records of significant sites, and sharing and displaying these places using 3D modeling.
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
This website provides links to lesson plans based on exhibits, as well as images from the museum’s collection that may not otherwise be available to visitors.
UM Museum of Anthropological Archaeology Image Database
What makes this site useful is its open accessibility to see the results of archaeological digs and excavations.
Digital Giza: The Giza Project at Harvard University
The website itself has 3D reconstructions...a glossary which gives brief descriptions of people and places, terms, and acronyms... [and links to] NEH lesson plans, Egyptology videos, blogs, and other related sources.
Ruins of the Convento de San Francisco
These structures are all that remain from a convent built near the coast of modern-day Uruguay in the 1690s. It is located in Colonia del Sacramento, a city that switched back and forth from Spanish rule to Portuguese rule several times during the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries.