Areas of Research
Archaeology, the Visual Record, Conservation, and Urbanization & Ecology
Archaeology
PRASBX investigates the material aspects of ancient Maya life—hosting a variety archaeological research projects from settlement patterns to hydrology to household economies to scribal pedagogy. Ongoing research continues to bring old and new methodologies to bear on furthering scholarship of lowland Maya communities in Petén.
Conservation
Conservation is central to our project’s past and future. Since 2002, PRASBX has been continually monitoring the San Bartolo murals and the environmental conditions of the mural chamber. Stabilization of the San Bartolo mural chamber and its access tunnels involved an intensive 10-year effort by an international team of conservators, architectural engineers, materials scientists, and local masons. While the murals are in an excellent state of preservation, this is a delicate environmental balance. Similar to the well-known caves of Lascaux, the murals are threatened by the introduction of biological organisms and changing conditions. Ongoing work with SBX’s murals, remarkable sculpted friezes, and over 20 stelae are the focus of work on site, while collaboration with MUNAE addresses the curation of nearly 7000 fragments of mural painting collected during archaeological investigations.
The Visual Record
The SBX region offers an unparalleled view of ancient Maya visual media through time. In situ murals, friezes, and monumental sculpture spanning more than a millennium offer key clues for the origins of Maya writing, trends in political representation, and the development of scribal practice and artistic method. In addition to scholarly interpretation, we are exploring new methods for providing increased access to these visual media through digital models that sustain education and research.
Urbanization & Ecology
Building on previous applications of remote sensing and paleoclimate studies on site, PRASBX is developing new collaborative initiatives illuminating histories of anthropogenic intervention in the immediate region. We are synthesizing lidar (courtesy of Pacunam Lidar Initiative), previously collected ecological data from the cities of San Bartolo and Xultun, and new data on biological diversity, water resources, and landscape attributes of the intra-site and inter-site area. This study aims to construct a local ecological history to better understand multi-scalar effects of environmental change on human adaptation and resilience over an extended time-period in one of Petén’s earliest urban regions.
Current Initiatives
NEH Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research award: Murals in Landscape: An investigation of human-nature relationships in Maya myth and design at San Bartolo, Guatemala (2022-2025)
This award will support a three-year program combining archaeology and ethnography to investigate a newly discovered road system and previously undocumented art and architecture at the ancient Maya site of San Bartolo, Guatemala. The research team will investigate road/termini groups, several new stone monuments located at periphery groups, and consider the landscape within cosmologies represented in the murals. In collaboration with Indigenous and local communities, this project will explore multiple views on human-nature relationships, Maya art, and placemaking practices.
SBX WINS ICOMOS CULUTRE-NATURE PRIZE
Maya Biocultural Landscapes: Co-creating a Diccionario Ilustrado y Geografía de Especies (DIGS, 2023)
Our team is honored to receive international recognition for “significant contributions to the heritage field in innovative and effective ways.” The ICOMOS Culture-Nature prize will be used by the SBX team to co-create an illustrated dictionary of the San Bartolo mural biota and topographic features, paired with a species inventory from our study area within the Maya Biosphere Reserve. The San Bartolo-Xultun Archaeological Project is dedicated to the study, conservation, and dissemination of these murals, the ancient cities where they were created, and the natural habitat.
NEH Digital Humanities Advancement grant: Architectural walking tour of ancient Maya masterpieces: Visualizations of San Bartolo and Xultun, Guatemala (2021-2022)
This project will develop a web-based platform that will interactively present the San Bartolo murals and the Los Árboles temple friezes at Xultun, Guatemala. These important artifacts of Indigenous Maya cultural heritage are nearly impossible to access and visitors to the sealed tunnels threaten their very preservation. Our innovative digital models will expand virtual access to scholars, students, and the public for research, teaching, and learning.
SBX: The Murals
San Bartolo and Xultun were centers of art and writing for more than 1200 years. The outstanding discovery of well-preserved murals at each site has contributed greatly to our understanding of the development of wall painting traditions, what materials were used, and how art factored into public narratives of statecraft at key moments in Maya history.
Research and conservation have gone hand and hand since project inception. We will be adding resources to the website providing an overview of San Bartolo and Xultun mural imagery, information on conservation practices, as well as new research. Check back often!