Cynthia Robin

Associate Professor of Anthropology
Northwestern University

"New Discoveries about the Ancient Maya: Peopling the Past"

Monday, March 17, 2008
4:30 pm - C103 Hesburgh Center

Abstract

The ancient Maya were one of the most remarkable of the world's ancient civilizations. Without metal tools, wheeled vehicles, or beasts of burden they created one of the most intellectually and artistically sophisticated urban civilizations the world has ever known. Over the past few decades new discoveries have dramatically changed our understanding of the lives of the ancient Maya people—from kings and queens to peasant farmers. Some of these new discoveries include the decipherment of ancient Maya hieroglyphs and the excavations of the people’s homes. With this new knowledge, we can begin to put together a picture of what the ancient Maya world was like for its people.

Biography

Cynthia Robin, an associate professor of anthropology at Northwestern University, specializes in the study of the everyday lives of ordinary people in ancient Maya society. An anthropological archaeologist, Robin has paid particular attention to household and gender relations. By documenting archaeologically how ordinary people make a difference in the past, she believes, we become aware that people are not the mere pawns of history or prehistory. Since 2001 Robin has led an international multidisciplinary team that is studying the 2000-year history of the ancient Maya farming community of Chan in Belize. Chan’s occupation spans the periods of the rise and fall of pre-Columbian Maya civilization, making Chan an ideal place not only to learn about Maya farmers, but also to explore how ordinary life affected and was affected by broader changes in a society. Her research at Chan has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the John J. Heinz III Charitable Trust, and Northwestern University.