The Maya and Zelia Nuttall

Hello, you're listening to the Women of the Field podcast. Today's episode will provide a brief timeline for the Maya civilization of Central America. In addition to that, we will be talking about the life and work of Zelia Natal, a woman archaeologist who dedicated her time and life to the study of ancient Mexico. This will be the last episode in this miniseries. Thanks for listening. Welcome to the podcast. This is your host, Mackenzie Edmonds. In the last episode, we discussed Egypt and the godmother of Egyptology. Egypt and Mesopotamia had very different structures. Egypt was a unified kingdom, whereas Mesopotamia operated mainly as city states. This difference may also be directly responsible for the difference and emphasized religion in the two places. Institutionalized religion was key for the success of Egypt, resulting in mechanisms of control for the rulers. For Mesopotamia, however, although religion was present, it was likely not as unified and depended upon for the control of the civilization. This week's group, the Maya civilization in Central America, was likely more similar to the structure of Mesopotamia than Egypt, as it was organized in a series of independent states. The Maya civilization rose to prominence in a hot, semi-tropical forest and through the highlands from what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas into lower Central America. The land was covered in a rich, thick layer of soil from wind, water erosion, and volcanic ash. The agricultural productivity of this area was enforced by hard seasonal rains, and the heart of the Maya civilization lies in the tropical lowlands. The first great stone buildings, what are classed as monumental architecture, appeared in the Maya civilization by at least 600 BC. This appears as one of the first signs of transformation to the massive and powerful civilization to come. As far as how the Maya came to this area and what exactly caused the start of their civilization, many previous theories are no longer supported by the knowledge of the pre-classic "Mine civilization". It could be due to any number of things, including irrigation, agriculture, or the development of Maya ideology. Early states show evidence of a mindset shift among people, believing themselves to belong to groups far beyond the immediate family. This change is reflected in the architecture during this period, which featured depictions of gods and ancestors. Of the pre-classic Maya community, the largest was located in the jungle, called El Miroador. This center displayed many precursors to the core elements of the classic Maya culture. Simply put, El Miroador was incredibly impressive. Pyramid complexes, mass representations of Maya gods, and Maya writing have all been recovered at this site. The examples of writing are likely some of the earliest of Maya writing. Many of the states of the Maya civilization follow a similar timeline. There's a rise to prominence, a few generations of glory, and infating and dying relatively quickly. Unlike the civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia which are marked by millennia in terms of staying power, the city states of the Maya had a tendency to rule for only 400 to 600 years. Looking into 300 AD, we reach the period of the classic Maya culture. Like Egypt and Mesopotamia, the shift into a more uniform culture is most notable through the artifact style distribution. In many cases, and in the case of the Maya, this is noted by a change to consistent pottery style that was used all over the 250,000 kilometers of the Maya civilization. Classic Maya period, lasting from 300 to 900 AD, represents the highest point of the Maya culture. Hundreds of pyramids, temples, and other architectural marvels combined with the flourishing paint and sculpture paint a picture of the prospering Maya civilization. And for a while, it was. Southern Mesoamerica was filled with white limestone pyramids and temples, flinked by ball courts and thriving cities. It was a time of feast, competitions, rituals for negotiating power. It was military triumph, social stratification, and complex political organization. Relationships between city states varied greatly, dependent upon the lens through which they are viewed, whether that be politically, economically, or ideologically. It was also during this time that many written works were made. The Maya writing system is incredibly complex. It was a system of glyphs or pictures with phonetic values. The translation of this writing system had to be done without the use of any parallel scripts, and therefore it took a good bit of time before it could be well translated. It is somewhat similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics in format. And the writing is generally clinical and historical, rather than economic, like for the Mesopotamia people. They were focused on recording when things happened. There were also incredible mathematicians making use of a base 20 system, discovering the concept of zero and using a place value notation system to note extremely large numbers. They made use of a dual calendar system, part of which appears to be inherited in a way from the precursor civilization, the Olmec. From 760 to 1180, we observe the end of the classic Maya civilization. The collapse of the Maya civilization is still at for much debate in both the archaeological community and outside of it. It could have been to do to some large natural disaster, warfare among city states leading to economic disaster and collateral damage, civil unrest that accompanied the rapid population growth, famine that caused an inability to support the nutritional needs of those within the civilization, or perhaps some environmental change such as drought, or another change in the climate that would negatively impact the ability to support its citizens. Like their brief rule of glory, the Maya were able to accomplish a huge amount in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, law and order, and art. Today's episode will be focusing on the life of Zili and Atal, an American archaeologist and anthropologist whose specialization was in pre-Astec Mexican cultures and pre-Columbian manuscripts. Zili and Atal was born in San Francisco in 1857. She was the second of six children and her passion for archaeology was inherited from her Mexican-born mother. When she was young, she was given a copy of Antiquities of Mexico, which had sparked a lifelong fascination with the people of ancient Mexico. She studied the rich illustrations covering the page, and before she had even reached 8 years old, her attentions were focused on the exploration of this unfamiliar culture. Within her family, wealth had allowed them to move and live all around Europe, and as a result, Atal had been educated in many different places, picking up at least four languages, an attending college in London. Upon returning to San Francisco in 1876, Atal had already faced the world and was ready to have another go at it. At this time, she had also met Alfonz Louis Pinar, an explorer, anthropologist, and linguist who spent his own fortune pursuing scholarly interests. The two would marry, have a child, and separate within about four years. And when her divorce was finalized in 1888, Nathal had reclaimed her maiden name for herself and her daughter, and set her sights on travel. Her career quickly took off, and unlike the two other archaeologists we've discussed, Atal's achievements were not likely to be overlooked. She was stubborn, and intelligent, and made sure that her contributions were rightly noted, going so far as to correct a prominent male archaeologist with a long paper, absolutely obliterating his stance and evidence on where he had chosen to steal from her. I've included Thoink to said paper in the description if you're interested. It is titled "The Island of Sacrificeos." Nathal's main intention throughout her studies of ancient Mexico was to give recognition and pride to its present. At a time where Western archaeology seemed more interested in crafting a story worthy of tabloids, than paying the respect due to the ancient cultures they had been studying. She publicly called out those who were to represent the ancient Mexicans as bloodthirsty savages, and highlighted their known accomplishments. She would also work to ensure the preservation of indigenous Mexican heritage, teaching Manuel Gamiyo, who would become one of Mexico's most famous archaeologists. Nathal was passionate about including the people of Mexico, and chose to orient her work around the ancient Mexicans to promote ideas about shared humanity among the different people and communities of the world. She thrived in the mostly male environment and spent many years uncovering the history of ancient Mexico and its pre-Astec people. It's important to note a common similarity between Nathal and the previous female archaeologist I've discussed on this podcast. Wealth. Without the wealth of her family, Nathal would not have been able to receive the education she did and pursue her interest in the ancient Mexico. Like Gertrude Bell and Amelia Edwards, she had advantages over many women of the day, simply because of the family she was born into. [BLANK_AUDIO] She not been set up for success in this way. It is unlikely that we would have a lot of the knowledge and experience brought to the field by Natal. There's a lot to say for how many minds have been wasted because of economic disadvantages, but I think that's a subject for an entirely different type of podcast. Natal's successes continued throughout her entire life and career. She served as a field director, advisor to the Anthropology Department at the University of California, and was made an honorary professor in the National Museum of Mexico. In addition to her scholarly work, she was a shining advocate for the revival of native culture in Mexico. Pushing for the celebrations of annual festivals in schools was only one way in which she advocated for this cause. Outside of archaeology and Mexican culture, she was a successful botanist, cultivating native Mexican plants and medicinal herbs as a support to her studies. Zillion Natal was a single mother, explorer, scholar, and overall, an incredibly motivated woman whose contributions to the field of ancient Mexican archaeology are undeniable. Thanks for listening to today's podcast, and for following along this mini-series. I hope you had the chance to learn something new or just something interesting. If you're interested in learning more about women in archaeology, Trialblazers.com is a great resource to start with. There are many short biographies about women who have contributed to the field. This has been Women of the Field, by me, your host, Mackenzie Edmonds. Thanks for tuning in.