In addition to the more focused studies, also fruitful have been collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches in which epigraphic, iconographic, and material evidence are brought together, particularly in the context of archaeological projects. After the University of Pennsylvania’s large-scale excavations in the 1930s, the second major archaeological project at Piedras Negras was the Piedras Negras Archaeological Project (PNAP), a joint project led by Stephen Houston and Hector Escobedo from 1997 to 2000 and in 2005. The interdisciplinary project involved archaeologists, physical anthropologists, epigraphers, geologists, art historians, and more; research topics were wide-ranging and looked at various levels of society, including temples
And palaces in the site center, architectural complexes of secondary nobles on the edges of the site center, and more humble residences on the periphery.
Epigraphic decipherments provided the motivation for some of the excavations. For example, because the inscriptions on the Piedras Negras carved panels narrate censing events in rulers’ burial hills, one of the project’s many research goals was to seek these tombs. During their search, archaeologists discovered Burial 13 at the base of Structure O-13, which they posit is Itzam K’an Ahk Il’s tomb (Barrientos, Escobedo, and Houston 1997:8; Escobedo 2004; Escobedo and Alvarado 1998:13; Houston et al. 1999; Houston, Escobedo, Forsyth, et al. 1998:18-19; Wright 1997:214; see also chapters 3 and 4, this book). The excavation of this tomb and interpretation of the data in concert with pictorial and epigraphic evidence revealed a wealth of information about Classic period burials, funerary practices, and later commemorative ceremonies to ancestors.
This project produced a wealth of data published in reports submitted to Guatemala’s Institute of Anthropology and History (IDAEH). In addition, a number of articles, dissertations, and books came out of the project; they include the dissertations of Mark Child (2006), James Fitzsimmons (2002), Charles Golden (2002), Zachary Hruby (2006), Sarah Jackson (2005), Arturo Rene Munoz (2006), Zachary Nelson (2005), and Andrew Scherer (2004), as well as a book by Fitzsimmons (2009) and another book, in progress, coauthored by Houston, Escobedo, and David Webster (2008).
World History
