In 2017, the Belizean Institute of Archaeology gave permissions for the modern Pok-a-tok (ballgame) team to play on the ball court at the Classic #Maya site of Nim li Punit located in the Toledo District during 🍫 #Cacao Fest! It was a great event that showcased the ball game to the public.
We hosted 2 outreach events at local schools in villages near Classic #Maya archaeological sites in Belize: one in the Toledo District near Lubaantun and one in NW Belize near Gallon Jug. We taught the kids about different ancient #games 🎲 and played tambuchi and patolli. #archaeogaming
Our short article on 🧩 Games in #Mesoamerica ⚽️ was published in the Toledo Howler, the newsletter 📃 for the Toledo district of Belize. We highlight three games 🎲 drawing on archaeological, ethnohistoric, and modern examples: pok-a-tok or ulama (the ball game), tambuchi, & patolli. #archaeology
Back in 2021, I collaborated with watercolorist extraordinaire Aaron Alfano to produce this amazing reconstruction of the support area of the Later Classic Maya palace of La Corona, Guatemala. I still love this piece very much.
#archaeology #watercolor #ancientmaya #palace #reconstruction
At this point, there isn’t a public link to purchase the game online. However, I can connect you with the BEAST archaeological project outreach director (they aren’t on 🦋), who ordered the game boards for me that I used in my class. Let me know!
The patolli board was modeled off several game boards that BEAST archaeologists 🏺 found incised into the floor of an elite residence at the site of Gallon Jug in NW #Belize 🇧🇿 The rules were adapted from those documented by Spanish chroniclers in central Mexico. #archaeology
In my Sustainable #Maya Geographies at UT, we discussed how aspects of sacred spaces are embedded in Maya & Mesoamerican games 🎲, such as the ball game and patolli. Students played a version of Patolli that was created by the BEAST archaeological project outreach team #archaeogaming #geography
Teaching writing to #archaeology graduate #students? In an article in @saa-aap.bsky.social, @archaeologyamy.bsky.social et al guide us on how to engage students in the #publication process in class, with digital reviews: doi.org/10.1017/aap..... Let's see if this post is picked up by @altmetric.com!
(reposting w/ slight CFP change!)
Just Announced! The next #ConnectedPast in 2025 will take place in Coimbra Portugal! You have until March 15 to submit your abstracts! Share widely amongst your networks! @fionacoward.bsky.social #networks #archaeology more details: www.connectedpast.net
Contributed to the "City space and inequality" workshop hosted by @clusterroots.bsky.social last week. It was a great opportunity to share evidence of egalitarian economies in the past, and think about how they can help us envision a fairer future. Looking forward to next steps!
I participated in a workshop on #inequality in #urban spaces hosted by @clusterroots.bsky.social at U of Kiel. I shared my insights on multi-scalar inequality in ancient #Maya cities. It was a fantastic workshop and I’m looking forward to this new collaboration with scholars from around the world.
Next week, an international workshop at #UniKiel will address the topic of "City space and #inequality from #prehistory to #earlymodern period". If you want to join the discussion please contact our colleague Paweł Cembrzyński. More information and the complete programme 👇
🏺 🗃️
Digitizing ancient #Maya houses documented during pedestrian survey on our #NSF funded project! During the survey 🥾 team members take #GPS points, draw sketch maps, and take distance 📏 and direction 🧭 measurements that are translated into a #GIS in the SEA Lab 🔬in UT Austin Geography Department
Kicked off my research leave semester with two fantastic workshops in early January. One on Maya and Sustainability & one on lidar in NW Belize 🇧🇿! 📸: BEAST lidar team (from TTU anthro + UT Austin geography) and collaborators from MARI (Tulane), UTSA anthro, & San Antonio College natural sciences
Cover of the journal Advances in Archaeological Practice, featuring students at work.
Thinking about teaching grad students writing for publication? Read this new OA article about 3 students who published digital reviews in @saa-aap.bsky.social for a UTAustin course. The cover image of the latest AAP , containing the article, features the students at work: doi.org/10.1017/aap....
Our digital reviews editor worked with a classroom in Austin,TX to offer students real world experience in publishing. Here’s how it went.
This was a fantastic way to teach the publication process to students and I’m grateful for the collaborative efforts with the editors of Advances in Archaeological Practice in supporting this endeavor.
Camila Cortina wrote a book review on the Archaeology of Ancient Cities by Glenn Story. Her book review is published in Southeastern Archaeology
Chris Ploetz is a grad student in geography at UT Austin and wrote about the process of solving an ancient script based on cumulative clues in the video game Heaven’s Vault:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Rubi Landa (UT Austin geography grad student) focused on how archaeology is portrayed in the lore of League of Legends: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Furthermore, you can read each of the students’ papers, which are available open access as well! Yuhana Khan’s DR focuses on how archaeologists use TikTok to disseminate information: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
This was also a great learning experience for Peter Cobb and me. We wrote about this process, our experiences, and student feedback in a recent paper published in Advances in Archaeological Practice! The paper is open access 🔓 Check it out ⬇️
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Overall the students reported this was a great learning experience and it showed them realistically how long the publication process takes, the challenges of conflicting reviewer comments, & the many additional details needed when submitting a paper.
Students wrote cover letters for their manuscripts, created engaging high-resolution images, and ensured their papers adhered to the journal formatting requirements — all skills that are needed when submitting research papers for peer review.
The AAP DR editor, Peter Cobb & I worked with students throughout the semester, providing feedback on outlines, abstracts, and drafts of the paper. Students conducted a round-table peer-review of each other’s work and had to incorporate “reviewer” feedback into their drafts.
As part of the assignment, students who chose the DR had to submit it for publication. Submitting the book review 📚 for publication was optional & I worked with the editor of Southeastern Archaeology. In total, 4/5 students published their reviews!
🧵While teaching my first grad seminar at UTAustin in Sp22, I integrated learning how the peer review process works & writing for publication into the course. Students had the option of writing a book review or a digital review (DR) for Advances in Archaeological Practice (AAP) @saa-aap.bsky.social
Thank you! I’ll check out the keyword feeds — I’m still learning and figuring out how BlueSky works :)
I’m an assistant professor in the dept of Geography and the Environment at The University of Texas at Austin. In my free time, I enjoy hiking 🥾at Texas State Parks, playing board games 🎲, traveling the world 🌍, & trying new coffee shops ☕️ in Austin.
Happy new year! My first post on Bluesky is to introduce myself: I’m an anthropological #archaeologist & #geographer who studies human-environment interactions and #inequality among the ancient #Maya using #GIS, #lidar, and multi-proxy chronology building (c14, ceramics, glyphs).