For the historical record, the Schedule for the February 1998 conference
Fine Arts Bldg, Cocoa Campus BCC. Some events are in the F.L.A.A.R. office on campus.
Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing: Epigraphy and Iconography, hands-on, 1-to-1, personal instruction for you in archaeology and ancient art of Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Guatemala with epigrapher Dr Barbara MacLeod and iconographer Dr Nicholas Hellmuth.
Evening, approx. 6:30 p.m., distinguished invited speaker (Maya archaeology topic). Precise times will be announced by the first of February.
Maya art and archaeology all day, invited speakers from Mexico, Guatemala, and USA. Topics include Belize, Honduras, Mexico, and Guatemala.
BCC morning session: approx 9 a.m.-2 p.m.: more epigraphy, archaeology of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. F.L.A.A.R. afternoon session: approx 2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: even more epigraphy, iconography, art from the F.L.A.A.R. Photo Archive: ProtoClassic, Early Classic, and Late Classic styles.
Approx 9:15 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., tentative list, subject to additional and subtraction
From Mammiform to Peccary Heads: The earliest painted Maya pottery.
History of Research on the Chama Style of funerary vases: a complete Inventory.
Early Classic Cache Containers: Bringing the raw Copal Incense to the Grave.
Felines: How to tell the difference between Jaguar Spots and Ocelot Patterns when painted as decorations on Maya vases, bowls, and plates: Examples in Guatemala's National Museum and at Tikal.
How to establish the date of the Incensarios in provincial Teotihuacan Style from the Tiquisate province of ancient Escuintla, Guatemala (it turns out they are 5th century A.D.--we present all the evidence).
A remarkable rectangular lidded Ceramic Box in the Teo-Tiquisate Style, and its relationship with the Teotihuacan Doll found at the Maya site of Becan, Campeche.
Catfish and Water Birds: Identification of a major Style Series from the Uaxactun area.
The Paddler Gods: New Examples of the Perforator Paddler from Tabasco.
The Jaguar God of the Underworld:5th to 9th centuries, Copan, Tikal, and the Quiche Region.
God N at Copan, Tikal, and Chichen Itza.
The Cauac Monster (Witz Monster) on Polychrome Ceramics and Monumental Sculpture. Features: Piedras Negras, Copan, Quirigua, Tres Islas, Balamku, and Nim Li Punit.
The Scattering Gesture: Blood Drops or Incense Pellets? Using a Zeiss macro lens with Hasselblad size transparencies we project images of Nim Li Punit and Dos Pilas to reveal new information on perforation and the subsequent ritual of burning copal.
We just returned from doing photography in Guatemala's National Museum specially to prepare all these lectures for you this weekend.
9:30-11:00 a.m. All Maya Sculptural Art of Mexico which shows the Ballgame.
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. All Maya Sculpture of Guatemala which shows the Ballgame. This session includes the only color slides ever projected of the Piedras Negras ballcourt panel. This is new for '97 - we just photographed these ballplayers in the basement of Guatemala's national museum.
Lunch Break
2:00-2:30 p.m. All Copan Ballcourt Sculptures. Added, new for '97, the earlier sculptures, not visible to tourists (stored in IHAH research lab). We just returned from photographing these in Honduras.
2:30-3:30 p.m. All Six Site Q Ballgame Sculptures. Was Site Q really Calakmul?
Break
3:45-4:30 p.m. All Eight Bilbao (Cotzumalhuapa) Ballplayer Stelae in Berlin, with abundant evidence they are not Middle Classic, not just Teotihuacan, but are early Post Classic.
4:30-5:00 p.m. The Ballgame Decapitation Panels from El Tajin, Veracruz, (including two ballplayer panels in the site museum). Will include the decapitation stelae from Vega de Alatorre (Veracruz) and mention of the ballgame decapitation of the murals of Las Higueras, dated circa to the 12th century A.D.
$60 Session Fee for an entire day of outstanding color slides taken on five years of expeditions throughout the world to track down the pertinent polychrome vases, plates, and bowl. Spouse of anyone already paying full fee, $30, no charge for children.
Workbooks are available for some of the lecture topics; these are priced individually. If time permits, either Tuesday or Wednesday, we will offer, additionally, Ballcourts in the Aztec, Mixtec, and Maya Codices: the ball as the moving Sun: the court as the night sky as well as still another popular topic, 16th Century Spanish eye-witness descriptions of the sports of native America.
In most cases the material today has never before been at Maya meetings elsewhere. To attend without need to purchase workbooks, Session Fee is $60. There is no charge to attend for speakers; also no charge for INAH, IDAEH, IHAH, or Department of Archaeology (Belize), UNAM, or Universidad de San Carlos archaeologists.
9:15-9:45 a.m. All polychrome Maya Plates from Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Peten which show hunting deer or peccary.
9:45-10:45 a.m. All polychrome Maya Bowls and Vases which show Hunting: The Relation of Hunter's Hats and Skirts with Ballplayer Outfits.
Break
11:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m. All Maya Polychrome Vases: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, which show the ancient Ballgames.
Lunch
1:00-1:30 p.m. God L Headddresses: Warriors and their Relation to Ballplayer Headdresses.
1:30-2:45 p.m. To what extent was the Maya ballgame a gladitorial sport? All carved Maya Vases (Chochola Style, Mexico) which show the ballgame being played by individuals wearing the insignia of battle captives.
Break
3:00-3:45 p.m. All the Tiquisate (Escuintla) Pottery which pictures Ballgame Decapitation.
Break
4:00-4:30 p.m. Yokes and Hachas as Ballgame Gear and as an Art Form.
4:30 until end What are the Relationships between the Aztec, Teotihuacan, Huastec, and
Classic Maya Gambling Game of Patolli and the Ballgame?
$60 Session Fee for an entire day of outstanding color slides taken on five years of expeditions throughout the world to track down the pertinent polychrome vases, plates, and bowl. Spouse of anyone already paying full fee, $30, no charge for children.
No charge to speakers, or any IHAH, INAH, IDAEH, UNAM, Dept. of Archaeology, Belize, etc.Workbooks are available for some of the lecture topics; these are priced individually.
ROLLOUT DEMONSTRATION: We have the Swiss rollout camera with us to demo to all those whose substantial contributions have helped us purchase this remarkable system. Since we are still paying off this camera, we encourage you to sign up as a Benefactor, Sponsor, or Patron.
(10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) ,
(10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and Sunday, Feb. 15th, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
We offer personalized instruction, training, and experience for you.
ADOBE software: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Streamline, Adobe SiteMill, and Adobe PageMill (for Web design), plus Live Picture, Macromedia xRes.
There is no formal schedule, no hour-by-hour details, since we imagine that each individual will come from a totally different background.
This fee helps us cover the cost of hardware and software which was not possible to cover from our recent grant (which is now exhausted in any event).
YOU WILL GET ACCESS TO: $100,000 worth of experience, since we just finished a $100,000 grant to upgrade our equipment and training. In addition to this, Dr. Hellmuth was flown to Osaka, Japan, for 6-months training at the National Museum of Japan. As a result of all this experience and financial aid, F.L.A.A.R. has blossomed into a leader in professional digital imaging within Maya archaeology and iconography. You can get hands-on access to our office that would not be possible at other workshops (where you can look but not touch). If you are unable to stay as late as Thursday and Friday, we can accelerate your training evenings or, in special cases, earlier in the week.
The amount of information you learn as a result of this Workshop will more than repay you just in the cost of money you save in hardware and software, since we can provide you with information on what not to buy. When you have to be careful how much you are spending for equipment, it sure helps to find out from someone else, in advance, where and how to save thousands of dollars.
No previous experience is required whatsoever, though it does help if you have basic computer literacy. We can train you on Mac or on PC systems (F.L.A.A.R. has both systems in-house).
F.L.A.A.R. also has dedicated 35mm slide scanner (Polaroid) and flatbed scanners (Umax and Microtek). In Japan we had access to almost everything imaginable, so we can really help you learn about hardware and software. We use Kaidan technology for creating Virtual Reality.
It would help us plan if we know whether you will be signing up for the digital imaging workshop.
The F.L.A.A.R. staff has been working full-time for many months. The expeditions we sent to Tikal and Copan, plus Guatemala City's national museum (in the basement, where you can otherwise never have access to study the fascinating material), have returned with tons of color slides. As a result, if you stay for Sunday afternoon and Monday, you will get all these new facts and artifacts in full color. If you stay for Wednesday and Thursday you get all the pre-Colombian ballgame information. If you stay Friday through Sunday we hand-hold you for an instruction to the digital world.
In ten years all archaeological recording will be handled digitally. Get a head start with F.L.A.A.R. digital photography training programs.
Unfortunately the successful six years of annual Maya meetings in Cocoa, Florida has come to an end. The District President was forced into retirement in a political coup. The new administration decided to concentrate on the local students, on the local situation of Brevard county. Pre-Columbian civilization did not fit into the new policies.
F.L.A.A.R. was and still is interested in developing international recognition, a state-of-the-art digital imaging technology test center, and attracting people from across the USA and from other countries to our programs. But none of this was of interest to the new campus politics, so our contract was not renewed and we gracefully withdrew. Now, independent, we are busy as always with new projects with digital rollout cameras, and using the Internet to reach the world community.