
Memory in Fragments
The Lives of Ancient Maya Sculptures
Megan E. O'Neil(Author)
University of Texas Press
Published on 2. July 2024
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-1-4773-2939-9 (ISBN)
Description
An exploration of how the ancient Maya engaged with their history by using, altering, and burying stone sculptures.
For the ancient Maya, monumental stone sculptures were infused with agency. As they were used, reused, altered, and buried, such sculptures retained ceremonial meaning. In Memory in Fragments, Megan E. O'Neil explores how ancient Maya people engaged with history through these sculptures, as well as how they interacted with the stones themselves over the course of the sculptures' long "lives." Considering Maya religious practices, historiography, and conceptions of materials and things, O'Neil explores how Maya viewers perceived sculptures that were fragmented, scarred, burned, damaged by enemies, or set in unusual locations. In each case, she demonstrates how different human interactions, amid dynamic religious, political, and historical contexts, led to new episodes in the sculptures' lives.
A rare example of cross-temporal and geographical work in this field, Memory in Fragments both compares sculptures within ancient Maya culture across Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize over hundreds of years and reveals how memory may accrue around and be evoked in material remains.
For the ancient Maya, monumental stone sculptures were infused with agency. As they were used, reused, altered, and buried, such sculptures retained ceremonial meaning. In Memory in Fragments, Megan E. O'Neil explores how ancient Maya people engaged with history through these sculptures, as well as how they interacted with the stones themselves over the course of the sculptures' long "lives." Considering Maya religious practices, historiography, and conceptions of materials and things, O'Neil explores how Maya viewers perceived sculptures that were fragmented, scarred, burned, damaged by enemies, or set in unusual locations. In each case, she demonstrates how different human interactions, amid dynamic religious, political, and historical contexts, led to new episodes in the sculptures' lives.
A rare example of cross-temporal and geographical work in this field, Memory in Fragments both compares sculptures within ancient Maya culture across Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize over hundreds of years and reveals how memory may accrue around and be evoked in material remains.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Austin, TX
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
216 color & b-w photos
Dimensions
Height: 282 mm
Width: 220 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
1098 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4773-2939-9 (9781477329399)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Megan E. O'Neil is an assistant professor of art history at Emory University; the author of Engaging Ancient Maya Sculpture at Piedras Negras, Guatemala and The Maya; and the coauthor of a revised edition of Maya Art and Architecture.
Content
List of Illustrations
A Note on Language, Spelling, and Calendar Conventions
Preface and Acknowledgments
Section I. Shaping the Present and the Past
Chapter 1. Fragments of and in the Past
Chapter 2. Multidisciplinary Methodologies and Theoretical Approaches
Chapter 3. About Time: Engaging Time, History, and Materiality
Section II. Breakage and Reuse
Chapter 4. Violence, Transformation, and Renewal: Material Changes to Ancient Maya Sculptures
Chapter 5. Memory and Materiality of Reused, Reset, and Repurposed Monuments
Section III. Burial
Chapter 6. Ancient Maya Sculptures, Seen and Unseen: Part I, Burial and Renewal
Chapter 7. Ancient Maya Sculptures, Seen and Unseen: Part II, Sculptures Buried in Architecture
Conclusion. Lives of Things
Notes
Works Cited
Index
A Note on Language, Spelling, and Calendar Conventions
Preface and Acknowledgments
Section I. Shaping the Present and the Past
Chapter 1. Fragments of and in the Past
Chapter 2. Multidisciplinary Methodologies and Theoretical Approaches
Chapter 3. About Time: Engaging Time, History, and Materiality
Section II. Breakage and Reuse
Chapter 4. Violence, Transformation, and Renewal: Material Changes to Ancient Maya Sculptures
Chapter 5. Memory and Materiality of Reused, Reset, and Repurposed Monuments
Section III. Burial
Chapter 6. Ancient Maya Sculptures, Seen and Unseen: Part I, Burial and Renewal
Chapter 7. Ancient Maya Sculptures, Seen and Unseen: Part II, Sculptures Buried in Architecture
Conclusion. Lives of Things
Notes
Works Cited
Index