Affiliation: Brown University
Stephen Houston is a leading scholar of Mesoamerica, particularly on Classic Maya kingship, writing systems, and urbanism. He has led major archaeological excavations at sites including Piedras Negras and El Zotz in Guatemala, contributing to a greater understanding of Maya court life and ritual. Houston is also a notable expert in the decipherment and interpretation of ancient scripts. His extensive publication record spans topics from epigraphy and architecture to the history of communication and the disappearance of writing systems.
(Lecture to be given with Felipe Rojas)
A large part of the globe uses an alphabet of some sort. But what does it mean when it is put on display as an “abecedary,” a graphic sequence of letters? This talk explores the abecedary as a means of promoting a “secondary system” of writing–the alphabet–long after the primary inventions of script in Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica.
