Resource Links for Maya Pottery Examples and Information

Music of the Maya
http://www.tlapitzalli.com/rvelaz.geo/bonampak/hom.html

http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/collections/aaa/
(scroll down to the music from the land of the jaguar)

http://www.famsi.org/reports/03075/CKguidebook_english.pdf (page 58)
http://www.famsi.org/sphider/search.php?query=maya+music&search=1

http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11162005-171011/unrestricted/Bourg_thesis.pdf (page 47)
http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11162005-171011/unrestricted/Bourg_thesis.pd

Effigy
http://mcis2.princeton.edu/sorcerers/index.html

Nova's  interactive details of the San Bartolo North Wall muralhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/maya-masterpiece-revealed.html

Maya blue

http://phys.org/news/2012-04-discovery-evidence-pre-columbian-sources-maya.html

http://phys.org/news/2011-05-famous-maya-blue-indigo-compounds.html#nRlv

http://phys.org/news199713481.html#nRlv

Colorantshttp://www.maya-archaeology.org/FLAAR_Reports_on_Mayan_archaeology_Iconography_publications_books_articles/13_etnobothany_etnohistory_archaeology_precolumbian_mayan_civilization_natural_dye_fibers_textile_ink.pdf

http://www.maya-archaeology.org/Mayan_anthropology_ethnography_
archaeology_art_history_iconography_epigraphy/Mayan_colors_colorants
_pigments_dyes_geology_clays_minerals_murals_pottery_ceramics_painting
_ethnohistory.php

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/dying_and_weaving.htm
 http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v16/bp16-05.html

Ceiba Tree
http://www.maya-archaeology.org/pre-Columbian_Mesoamerican_Mayan_
ethnobotany_Mayan_iconography_archaeology_anthropology_research/sacred
_ceiba_tree_flowers_kapok_spines_yaxche_incense_burners.php

Sacred Food and Drink

http://www.wide-format-printers.org/FLAAR_report_covers/705528_Sacred_drinks_and_food.pdf

Videos:
Dona Rosa -potter of Coyotepec http://www.archive.org/details/dona_rosa_potter_of_coyotepec
Gabriela Martinez: Pottery of San Bartoto Coyotopec http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tigmlNYaB8
Del Proyecto Trilingue-El Barro Negro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZLQvhuK91Y&feature=player_embedded

San Marcos Tlapazola pottery making, by Nicole Caracciolo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9PkGHOM-_E&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoqd3FIbsrk&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFdq-i3rWQ&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEg4xnxujZA&feature=youtube_gdata

Poetry Reading in Q'anjobal Maya by Gaspar Pedro Gonzalez Roda

Here is the translation below:

When the gods created the world,

They created it from four colors:

Red, black, white and yellow.

Man was made of maize.

In the east the red corn,

In the west the black corn,

In the north the white corn,

In the south the yellow corn.

The goddess ixchel grounded on her stone

Kernels of each color.

And as a result,

A single masa of humankind

In the four corners of the world.

Mayan Pottery at Yale Art Gallery in New Haven

Here are two pieces of beautiful Mayan pottery that are on display Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, CT:

Quadrupod vessel
Maya, Guatemala or Mexico, ca. A.D. 250–400
Ceramic, 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm) high
Gift of Peggy and Richard M. Danziger, LL.B. 1963
2001.82.1a–b

Decoration in paint and modeled clay covers all available space on this lidded bowl, created by a Maya artist ca. A.D. 250–400. The handle applied to the vessel's lid is formed by the arching neck and head of a bird pulling a fish into its mouth; the bodies of both the bird and the fish are painted on the surface of the lid in tan, red, and black. The body of the vessel features a variety of geometric designs painted in black, green, and white, set against a red background. The vessel's legs are modeled peccary heads, their snouts down, eyes painted in, and mouths indicated by slits, into which ceramic beads were inserted to create a rattle effect.

Cylinder vessel for cacao
Maya, Guatemala or Mexico, ca. A.D. 700–800
Ceramic with clay slip and painted stucco, 10 7/16 in. (26.5 cm) high
Stephen Carlton Clark, B.A. 1903, Fund
1989.96.1

The decoration of this tall and narrow cylindrical vessel sets twelve black flowers, arranged in three horizontal bands, against a cream background. The four-petaled floral motifs may represent stylized water lilies. The hieroglyphic text running around the rim of the vessel belongs to the Primary Standard Sequence (PSS), a formulaic string of about thirty-five Maya glyphs, segments of which are reproduced on many Maya ceramics. The texts generally indicate the name of the vessel's owner and his or her titles, as well as the function of the vessel—in this case, a drinking vessel intended to hold cacao. Because this vessel was a grave offering, the chocolate drink it contained would likewise have been meant as a gift for the deceased.

Mayan History and Beyond

I just finished a wonderful workshop at Yale University put on by Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER), the Council on Latin America and Iberian Studies (CLAIS) and the Peabody Museum of Natural History.
http://peabody.yale.edu/teachers/indigenous-peoples-americas-institute

I am in the process of organizing the information I learned into lesson plans to teach ceramic/pottery students about the methods and techniques used by the Ancient Mayan and some of these same methods and techniques that are used today in the Mayan culture.

For starters, lets point out where exactly the Mayans were located. Here are several maps:

This first map shows the anicent Mayan territory before our modern-day borders were placed:

This map shows different artifacts and where they were discovered:

And finally, this map shows the modern-day borders with the Mayan area highlighted: