About
The project is focused on a new reading of Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions from the cradle of Mayan civilization in the area of Uaxactún(Guatemala), where prof. Milan Kováč PhD. from Comenius University led a long-term multidisciplinary project in past years. There are monuments of pre-Classic and Classic Maya culture, which have not been adequately documented and interpreted. The research group in the first phase will focus on complex documentation of epigraphical monuments (stelae) with modern technology. In the second phase, with the assistance of invited world´s top experts, will be made an evaluation of collected data and will lead to new interpretations and readings of the hieroglyphic inscriptions of Uaxactún. The main outcome of the project will be a new corpus of hieroglyphic inscriptions in the English language. We expect shifts in dating, changes of the history of royal dynasties and politics of the site. Outcomes will be world class and will have a European scientific relevance to the current state of knowledge in Mayology.
Goals
In consideration of a relevance of the project as well as lack of elaboration of the issues, the project is scheduled for four years, in which they will pursue the following objectives:
1. Documentation: The hieroglyphic inscriptions on monuments (stelae) in Uaxactun belongs among the oldest monuments. It was founded in 1916 by S. G. Morley. Documentation of inscriptions was conducted during the late 80´s of the 20th century when was created a catalog of inscriptions (Graham 1986). In consideration of the state of deciphering, as well as the eroded surface of these stelae, the drawings are wrong by almost 30%. Our goal is, therefore, a new documentation of inscriptions with modern technologies, which enable digitalization and reconstruction of eroded, almost invisible part of inscriptions. The output will be an electronic database of inscriptions, and after that, it will be available online.
2. Interpretation: Only interpretation of the inscriptions is from early 90´s (Valdés et al. 1999) and corresponds to the level of deciphering of that time. Over the past 13 years, however, in this area by moving to a breakthrough. Therefore, we initiated research of the inscriptions at the current level of deciphering of hieroglyphic texts. Since, this is an early form of inscriptions, its necessary to compile an international team. A new interpretation will move the frontiers of scientific knowledge in this field and deciphered glyphs become part of syllabary in hieroglyphic textbooks and dictionaries. The output will be an international workshop, which will bring new drawings and also readings of inscriptions from Uaxactun.
3. Publication: The final phase will be focused on a new corpus of hieroglyphic inscriptions, where the inscriptions will be represented by most advanced methods of documentation (frottage, night photography, RTI(Reflectance Transformation Imaging), digitalization, 3–D photogrammetry). As a final interpretation will be in a new corpus and new redraw will be published with relevant scientific interpretation.