Resources
Maya epigraphy and inscription resources
Broad inscription corpora and research portals
Maya Hieroglyphic Text and Image Archive (Bonn / ClassicMayan) – A modern archive of Maya inscriptions with faceted search, photos, drawings, metadata, and ongoing transcription and translation work. One of the best broad inscription archives, although many entries are still incomplete. Link
ClassicMayan Portal – A major modern research portal for Maya writing and epigraphy. It includes the inscription archive, image archive, bibliography, archaeological site resources, museums, calendar tools, 3D artefacts, and a sign catalog. Link
Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions (Peabody / Harvard) – The classic Ian Graham-led documentation project. One of the most important scholarly resources for Maya epigraphy, with photographs and detailed line drawings of monuments and inscriptions. Link
Ian Graham archives / CMHI negatives (Peabody Collections) – A collection record for Ian Graham’s Corpus materials, including field notes, drawings, photographs, and negatives. Useful as a pointer to the archival material behind many Corpus publications. Link
FAMSI main database portal – The main entry point for several important Maya-related databases, including Schele materials, MayaVase, Montgomery drawings, Tikal Digital Access, and other research tools. Link
Translation-focused resources
Maya Codices – A translation-focused resource with searchable translations and analysis of four Maya codices. Very useful if the priority is to read translated Maya texts, although it focuses on codices rather than a broad monument corpus. Link
The Hieroglyphic Inscriptions of Southern Belize – A downloadable PDF study of inscriptions from southern Belize. Especially useful because it analyzes each text on a glyph-by-glyph basis with transliteration and translation. Link
Some Working Notes on the Text of Tikal Stela 31 – A Mesoweb PDF focused on the reading and interpretation of Tikal Stela 31. A good example of a translation-oriented study of a single inscription. Link
Drawing and image archives
Schele Drawing Collection (Ancient Americas / LACMA) – The main online home for the Linda Schele drawings. A large digital archive of drawings, including monument drawings, glyph studies, rollout drawings, and site plans. Link
Ancient Americas at LACMA – A broader portal for high-resolution drawings, photographs, and digital collections from the ancient Americas. Useful as a general entry point beyond the Schele archive itself. Link
FAMSI Schele Drawings Search Page – The older FAMSI gateway for the Schele drawings. Still useful as a search page and points users to the updated collection at AncientAmericas.org. Link
Schele Photo Collection (FAMSI) – A searchable photographic archive associated with Linda Schele, useful alongside the drawing collection when looking for visual documentation of monuments, objects, and sites. Link
Montgomery Drawings Collection (FAMSI) – A searchable collection of John Montgomery’s drawings of Maya inscriptions, often with brief comments explaining the content of the text. Link
Tikal Digital Access Project (FAMSI) – A searchable image archive for Tikal with monument, inscription, and excavation photography. Very useful for site-specific visual documentation. Link
MayaVase / Justin Kerr Database – A major resource for painted ceramic texts, especially rollout photographs of Maya vessels. Some entries include links to translations of the texts and to scholarly essays explaining the inscriptions and iconography. Main site Database Articles
Site studies, journals, and downloadable publications
Mesoweb – One of the most important Maya research websites online. It hosts site studies, epigraphic papers, reference PDFs, and many classic publications useful for inscriptions, iconography, and decipherment. Link
PARI Online Publications – The online publication portal for the Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute. It includes many downloadable epigraphic studies, translations, and back issues of The PARI Journal. Link
Sign catalogs, dictionaries, and reference tools
Digital Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs (ClassicMayan) – A resource focused on the digital cataloging and classification of Maya signs. Especially useful for sign forms and script analysis. Link
Maya Hieroglyph Dictionary (FAMSI) – A searchable dictionary by Peter Mathews and Péter Bíró, with drawings by John Montgomery. Useful for looking up words, spellings, and hieroglyphic readings. Link
Classic Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings – A PDF reference work useful alongside inscription corpora. It gives Classic Maya terms with English translations, hieroglyphic spellings, and transliterations. Link
Beginner's Visual Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs – A practical visual catalog intended for beginners and intermediate students of the script, useful for identifying common signs and variants. Link
Learning and study guides
Hieroglyphic Decipherment Guide – A practical guide for understanding Maya glyphs, transliteration conventions, and literal translations. Not a corpus, but very useful when working with inscription resources. Link
Maya Writing: Maya Hieroglyphics Study Guide – A structured study guide with illustrations and decipherments of many words used in Classic Maya inscriptions. Useful as a learning tool alongside the primary archives. Link
Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs – A substantial introduction to Maya hieroglyphic writing and epigraphic method. Good for orientation before diving into the larger archives. Link
Online museum collections of Maya artefacts
Museums with direct collection portals or filtered browse pages
- Museo Amparo – Museum collection portal with a dedicated Cultura Maya tag page and individual object records. Useful because it also connects many pieces to talks, essays, and digital publications. Link
- British Museum: Maya collection search – Filtered search page for Maya material in the British Museum collection. Useful for browsing objects by culture/period and findspot. Link
- The Walters Art Museum: Artwork by Maya – Browse page for works attributed to Maya makers in the Walters online collection. Individual object pages include images, object data, and often downloadable files. Link
- Penn Museum Online Collections – Searchable digital collections portal with object records, images, highlights, videos, and bibliography. Especially useful for Maya material from sites such as Piedras Negras, Tikal, Caracol, and Chama. Link
- Harvard Peabody Museum Collections Online – Large collections database connected to the Peabody Museum. Useful for exploring Maya objects, casts, expedition materials, and other collection records, although the interface may require JavaScript. Link
- Denver Art Museum: Arts of the Ancient Americas – Collection overview page for the museum’s Ancient Americas holdings. The Maya material is noted as a particular strength, especially stone reliefs and ceramics. Link
- Cleveland Museum of Art: Indigenous Art of the Americas – Collection overview page for the museum’s Indigenous American holdings. Especially strong in Classic Maya works in stone, ceramic, and shell. Link
Representative public object records from major museums with strong Maya holdings
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art (example Maya object record) – Public collection record from the Met’s online collection. A useful entry point for the museum’s Maya ceramics, jade, relief sculpture, and other works in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Link
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art / LACMA (example Maya object record) – Public collection record from LACMA’s online collections. Useful as an entry point into one of the stronger museum collections of Maya painted ceramics and related Ancient Americas material. Link
- Brooklyn Museum (example Maya object record) – Public collection record from the Brooklyn Museum’s online collection. A useful entry point into the museum’s Maya holdings in jade, stone, and other media. Link
Useful museum highlights and related collection pages
- Penn Museum: Stela 14 highlight page – Highlight page for one of the Penn Museum’s best-known Maya monuments from Piedras Negras. Useful as a museum-written introduction to the collection and its historical importance. Link
- Penn Museum: Stela 14 full object record – Full object page with images, details, and bibliography for Piedras Negras Stela 14. Link
- Museo Amparo: Figurilla de mujer maya – Example object record from the Museo Amparo Maya holdings. Useful for seeing the level of catalog detail on individual pieces. Link
- The Walters Art Museum: Maya Polychrome Lidded Urn with Seated Figure – Example object record from the Walters Maya holdings, with image download and catalog information. Link
- Denver Art Museum: Effigy Drum Vessel with Hieroglyphic Inscription – Example object record from the Denver Maya collection, useful because it includes a substantial discussion of the hieroglyphic text. Link
YouTube channels related to Maya culture
Dedicated or strongly Maya-focused channels
- Dr Diane Davies – Channel by a Maya archaeologist, with videos on the Maya, archaeology, and the rainforest. Link
- Living Maya: Language & Culture – Channel focused on living Maya language and culture, especially Ch'ol Maya, with lessons, legends, greetings, and community-life videos. Link
- Hidden Maya World – Documentary-style channel focused on Maya history, science, engineering, astronomy, and major sites such as Tikal. Link
- Belize Q'eqchi Maya Culture – Channel with videos on Q'eqchi' Maya cultural practices, music, dance, festivals, and community life in Belize. Link
Broader channels with strong Maya coverage
- Museo Popol Vuh – Official channel of the Museo Popol Vuh, with lectures, museum content, and materials related to Maya archaeology and the history of Guatemala. Link
- Arqueología Guatemalteca – Channel focused on Guatemalan archaeology, with many videos on Maya sites such as Yaxhá, Piedras Negras, Aguateca, Cancuén, and Tikal. Link
- Ancient Americas – A broader channel on the ancient Americas, but with strong Maya coverage, including videos on Maya script, the Popol Vuh, the Classic period, and the Maya collapse. Link
3D models and reconstructions of Maya cities and monuments
Dedicated reconstructions and interactive explorers
MAYA 3D – A dedicated reconstruction website with digital reconstructions of major Maya sites. The Chichén Itzá section covers much of the inner area, including El Caracol, El Castillo, the Great Ballcourt, Las Monjas, the Ossuary, the Platform of Venus, and Casa Colorada. Link
Chichén Itzá 3D Explorer – A public interactive page focused on the main buildings of Chichén Itzá, useful as a simple visual explorer of the site. Link
CyArk: Chichén Itzá – A major digital heritage resource with an overview, exhibit, video, 3D models, in-depth interpretation, resources, and lesson plans for Chichén Itzá, including structures such as El Castillo and the Caracol. Link Link
Google Arts & Culture: Exploring the Maya World – A digital exhibition combining ancient Maya history, early documentation, and modern digital technology. Useful for visual storytelling and reconstruction context. Link
Google Arts & Culture / British Museum: Preserving Maya Heritage – A strong public 3D resource featuring models such as Quiriguá Zoomorph B, the combined casts of Quiriguá Stela E, and casts from Tikal Temple 4. Link Link
Research and digital heritage projects
MayaArch3D – A major research project centered on Copán. Its site includes digital collections, a 3D object viewer, an archaeological database, and project publications related to 3D visualization and analysis of Maya archaeology. Link Link
Quiriguá 3D Project – A digital heritage project focused on 3D laser scanning and documentation of monuments at Quiriguá, Guatemala. Link
Palenque 3D Archaeological Atlas – A scholarly 3D archaeology project centered on Palenque, focused on building an interoperable digital atlas and visualization workflow for the site. Link
British Museum / Google Maya Project – A major digitization effort that created lifelike 3D models of more than 400 Maya casts from the Maudslay collection and made them available through Google Arts & Culture. Link Link
Public 3D model repositories
Sketchfab: Chichén Itzá Pyramid 3D Reconstruction – A downloadable public 3D model of Chichén Itzá. Link
Sketchfab: Temple of Inscriptions, Palenque – A public 3D model of the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque. Link
Sketchfab: Uxmal – A downloadable public 3D model entry for Uxmal. Link
Sketchfab: UXMAL pirámide del adivino – A public 3D model focused on the Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal. Link
Sketchfab: Chaac, Uxmal – A public 3D model of an architectural Chaac element from Uxmal. Link
Sketchfab: Stela A, Copán, Honduras – A photogrammetric 3D model of Copán Stela A. Link
Sketchfab: Altar M, Parque Arqueológico Copán Ruinas – A public 3D photogrammetric model of Altar M at Copán. Link
Sketchfab: Modelo 3D Altar Estela N, Copán – A public 3D model of Altar/Stela N from Copán. Link
Sketchfab collections with Maya material – Community-made collections that gather multiple Maya-related models in one place, including monuments, sculptures, vessels, and murals. [https://sketchfab.com/d3v1lman/collections/mayan-4ce267b42e8f4bc985321197bb9e9611
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