Tatiana Proskouriakoff: Interpreting the Ancient Maya

235 Pages·2002·2.96 MB·English

by  Char Solomon

TATIANA PROSKOURIAKOFF

TATIANA PROSKOURIAKOFF
Interpreting the Ancient Maya
BY CHAR SOLOMON
UNIVERSITYOFOKLAHOMAPRESS • NORMAN
This book is published with the generous assistance of The Kerr Foun-
dation, Inc.
Page ii: Detail from The Red House at Chichén Itzá, by Tania, at the
Peabody Museum, Harvard University. Courtesy of President & Fellows
of Harvard College, Peabody Museum, Harvard University (N28438).
Page iii: Tania, undated. Courtesy of Mike Beetem.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Solomon, Char, 1949–
Tatiana Proskouriakoff : interpreting the ancient Maya / Char
Solomon.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–8061–3445–3(hc : alk. paper)
1. Proskouriakoff, Tatiana, 1909– 2. Mayan languages—
Writing. 3. Inscriptions, Mayan. 4. Names, Mayan. 5. Women
archaeologists—Latin America—Biography. 6. Women
epigraphists—Latin America—Biography. I. Title.
F1435.3.W75P767 2002
980.03'092—dc21
[B]
2002020561
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and dura-
bility of the committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources, Inc. ∞
Copyright ©2002by Char Solomon. Published by the University of
Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division of the University. All
rights reserved. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
To Tom,who helped me believe,and
to Sean and Kate,that they may know no limits.
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
chapter one The Russian Years 3
chapter two ANew Beginning (1916–1925) 11
chapter three Architecture at Penn State and Beyond
(1926–1935) 20
chapter four Into the Jungle: The University of Pennsylvania
Expeditions (1936–1938) 28
chapter five Copán and the Carnegie Institution
of Washington (1939) 41
chapter six The War Years (1940–1944) 60
chapter seven Reconnaissance Trips through
Central America (1944–1947) 80
chapter eight Mayapán and the Demise of the Carnegie Division
of Historical Research (1947–1958) 99
chapter nine Resolution and Changing Priorities
(1954–1958) 126
chapter ten Research, Hieroglyphs, and Further Adventure
(1958–1965) 137
chapter eleven Seminars, Jades, and Accolades
(1965–1985) 149
chapter twelve The Ceremony of the Ashes (1998) 168
Notes 173
Selected Writings of Tatiana
Proskouriakoff 197
—viii—
Bibliography 201
S
T
N
E Index 209
T
N
O
C
ILLUSTRATIONS
Avenir and Alla Proskouriakoff, Siberia, 1906 6
Grandmother Nekrassova, Ksenia (Cassia),
Tatiana (Tania), and Alla Proskouriakoff, Siberia, 1914 8
Alla, Tania, and Cassia, Dayton, Ohio, 1916 14
Lansdowne High School 1926Yearbook staff,
Lansdowne, Pennsylvania 19
Proskouriakoff family photo, Lansdowne, Pennsylvania 25
Tania 26
Tania with the Satterthwaites, awaiting
transport en route to Piedras Negras, 1937 33
University of Pennsylvania Piedras Negras camp
along the Usumacinta River, 1931 35
Tania, measuring Structure j-11at Piedras Negras, 1937 37
Piedras Negras, June 10, 1937 38
Watercolor of the Piedras Negras Acropolis, by Tania 42
Map of the Maya region, by Tania 46
Drawing of the Acropolis at Copán, by Tania 52
Tania’s watercolor of the Hacienda at Chichén Itzá 66
The Red House at Chichén Itzá, by Tania 67
Tania with her nephew, Mike Beetem 70
Tania at El Tajín, Veracruz, Mexico 88
A. Ledyard Smith 95