Northwestern University anthropology Associate Professor Cynthia Robin, an internationally known archaeologist who has documented the lives and times of ancient Maya farmers in Central America, will give a free public lecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Saturday, Jan. 26.
Robin's presentation, the 14th annual Distinguished Archaeology Lecture, will draw heavily on her research at Chan, an ancient village in Belize that flourished from about 1000 B.C. to roughly 1200 A.D. Because the occupation period of Chan spans the rise and fall of Maya civilization, findings by Robin and her team illuminate the relationship between ordinary people and small communities and the broader Mayan society, as both evolved over time.
The lecture will be at 7 p.m. in room 270 of the Hale Sciences Building, located just southeast of the intersection of Broadway and University Avenue. Parking is available along University Avenue and in the Euclid AutoPark just east of the University Memorial Center at 15th Street and Broadway.
Although the ancient Maya had no metal tools, wheeled vehicles or beasts of burden, they created one of the most intellectually and artistically sophisticated civilizations ever known, according to Robin. Robin will talk about some of the newest archaeological discoveries, including the decipherment of ancient Maya hieroglyphs and the excavations of the households of ancient Mayan people at Chan.
Over the past several decades, new archaeological discoveries have dramatically changed the understanding of the lives of ancient Maya, from kings and queens to peasant farmers, according to Robin. The homes, agricultural terraces and a small ceremonial center constructed at Chan are providing new information on the organizational structure of the villagers, including gender and class issues.
"The old view that portrayed ancient Maya landscape as a relatively unpopulated expanse of empty ceremonial centers where a few priests guided the lives of a few peasants . . . " is changing, wrote Robin in a perspective piece for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The old perception "is giving way to a picture of an active and vibrant Maya world, with a socially and economically distinctive cast of characters who all had something to offer to the society and us."
Sponsored by Western Cultural Resource Management of Boulder and the CU-Boulder anthropology department, the event will include a question-and-answer session with the audience. A public reception with Robin will follow. The National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society and the John J. Heinz Charitable Trust have funded Robin's research in Belize.
Robin received her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. She is the author of several books and scores of articles, book chapters and technical reports on Mesoamerican archaeology. Robin first visited Belize after high school, when she joined the Peace Corps and became involved in educational programs teaching Belizean children native history.