{"id":110,"date":"2021-11-10T14:15:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T14:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/avashahres\/?p=110"},"modified":"2021-11-10T15:46:37","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T15:46:37","slug":"historical-artifact-mayan-glyphs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/avashahres\/2021\/11\/10\/historical-artifact-mayan-glyphs\/","title":{"rendered":"Historical Artifact: Mayan Glyphs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For my artifact, I decided to go with the Mayan writing system that we touched on during our first Survey lecture. I gravitated towards this for a couple of reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My final product. I thought all the greenery would give it an “earthly” feel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For one, it was a chance to use clay again! Ever since I\u2019ve gotten into this program, personal work has kind of been pushed to the side, especially sculpture. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d get an opportunity to use clay at all during the semester. I figured, since I was given the opportunity, now would be a good time to bring out those materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was also fascinated by the glyphs themselves. I\u2019ve never seen a writing system quite as beautiful as this one. Although we mentioned them in class, I was having a hard time understanding how you were supposed to read them. The combination of curiosity and aesthetic appreciation was what won me over in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3 of the glyphs I made were referenced directly from this. I loved the size and look of these. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My choice of materials was, unfortunately, made out of pure convenience. Realistically, the texture of on air-dry clay would\u2019ve looked more convincing. Cheaper ones tend to have more imperfections, like cracking, which would\u2019ve been the desired look. However, I didn\u2019t have the energy to wait out a 10-hour drying time. I went with polymer clay instead. It cures quickly after being exposed to heat, which speeds up the entire process significantly. But, the surface is relatively smooth. I made sure to add extra texture into the clay, dry brushing over with acrylic to enhance that, to make up for the lack of natural \u2018wonkiness\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Even more glyphs! I referenced one of these as well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If I had dedicated more time to the project, I would have probably done added more glyphs. It was just hard to know how many was enough. I didn\u2019t want it to look like I wasn\u2019t trying, but I honestly couldn\u2019t afford to drop too much time into it. I made ended up making 4, because I got inspired by a photo I saw online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The image that inspired my formatting choice. Putting them in a tablet with a border harmonized those shapes, I think.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The entire project took me about 7 hours total. It would have taken a lot longer, If I had tried to make glyphs I knew the meaning to. I read about how the Mayan system worked, and how each pictograph represented a word, but I got confused. It was a lot of information I didn\u2019t feel super confident in representing. It felt more worthwhile to take from real examples of these glyphs, even if I didn\u2019t know what it meant, instead of trying to structure my own word and butcher it completely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Example of how the glyph structure works. I slipped the “jaguar” symbol into my label because I thought it was so cute.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think I\u2019d give myself a 12. I think the artifact itself looks nice, but I could\u2019ve done much more. The same goes for the museum label. I don\u2019t think either is incorrect by any means, they could just be expanded upon. I think that, aesthetically, I was successful in capturing the \u2018look\u2019 of the system, and the individual glyphs ended up turning out very nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Variant “spellings” of the same word. This is what ultimately pushed me to not write my own phrase. 2 of these make an appearance on my museum label, too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2007, February 21). Mayan hieroglyphic writing<\/em>. Encyclopedia Britannica<\/em>. https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Mayan-hieroglyphic-writing<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Davies, D. Maya Writing System and Hieroglyphic Script<\/em>. www.mayaarchaeologist.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2021, from https:\/\/www.mayaarchaeologist.co.uk\/public-resources\/maya-world\/maya-writing-system\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images Retrieved From:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/article\/655\/maya-writing\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Maya_script<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.historymuseum.ca\/cmc\/exhibitions\/civil\/maya\/mmc04eng.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Maya Writing System<\/a><\/blockquote>