Anthropology Colloquium Series Fall Semster 2006

"Puzzling out the Great Earthwork of Tikal: Water, Warfare, or Thoroughfare," Jay Silverstein, Forensic Archeologist, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC),Hickam AFB. The discovery of the Great Earthwork of Tikal, Guatemala, in the 1960s helped to shatter the myth of the Classic Maya as a pristine peaceful people. The earthworks also became the feature that defined the territorial limits of the Maya polity. Unfortunately, since the initial discovery few people had actually seen the earthworks and no one had systematically studied them. From 2001 to 2006, the EFAT project undertook a new study of the earthworks including exploration, survey, and excavation. The preliminary results indicate that the earthworks differ considerably from the model that has been embedded in the literature, but the new data has only served to magnify the mystery. Here, Dr. Silverstein puts forth a provocative theory about a possible hydraulic function for the massive constructions.

Jay Silverstein received his PhD from Penn State in 2000 and specializes in the archaeology of militarism and Mesoamerica. Jay currently works as a forensic archaeologist for the Central Identification Lab of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and has recently completely work as a director on the Estudio de Las Fortelezas de Tikal (EFAT), Guatemala.

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Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manoa

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Denise Wandasan, 956-7153, wandasan@hawaii.edu

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