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                                                                                     most recent update  16 Dec 2007

The Mostly Maya and Pre-Columbian

 Links Lists

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(Yum bo'otik to the late John Montgomery for kind 

permission to use his drawings on this website!)

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Amigos de Santa Cruz works to help support education, better health care,

 a cleaner environment and sustainable economic development for the remote

 village of Santa Cruz la Laguna, Guatemala and other outlying areas.

Pura Vida seeks to improve local health and trash usage in the Lake Atitlan area

 by reusing the plastic trash in construction and useful ways. 

Ak' Tenamit. This organization seeks to help the Kekchi people around Río Dulce, Guatemala, many of whom were displaced by fighting in the Civil War there.

Allianza Verde. (in Spanish) The Green Alliance is a group local businesses that believes that the only hope for saving even a part of the Petén Jungle is through responsible tourism that involve the local populations. 

Amigos de Santa Cruz works to help support education, better health care, a cleaner environment and sustainable economic development for the remote village of Santa Cruz la Laguna, Guatemala and other outlying areas.

Ancient America's list of Museum Exhibitions, Lectures and Conferences is regularly updated and well worth a look to see what is going on. 

Ancient Mesoamerica.  A biennial and scholarly magazine.

Ancient Mesoamerican Civilizations. Covering the Maya, Mixtec, Zapotec and Aztec, this site deals with pre-Columbian writing systems, religions and government styles.

The Archaeology Channel has some interesting videos, including about Yaxuná.

Arte Maya Tz'utuhil Museum and Gallery. This features the works of artists living in villages at Lake Atitlán.

Aztlan E-journal. Get on this anthropology e-mailing list.  Articles are sent for private use only.

Archaeology Channel

Backstrap Weaving in Jacaltenango. See how it is done. 

Belize First. A commercial site, but it is interesting and covers Belize well.

The Belize Postclassic Project. "The program is dedicated to understanding processes of social transformation of Maya populations living in northern Belize after the "collapse" of Classic period Maya city state civilizations, from A.D. 1000 until the 16th century era of colonial Spain".

The Belize Valley Archaeology Reconnaissance Project. This teaches students archaeological techniques in summer efforts at several sites in Belize, most of which are close to Cayo. The fee includes weekday meals and lodging. The minimum recommended stay is two weeks. 

Bibliography on Mesoamerican Peoples. Although not anywhere as extensive as the foregoing source, this is a compilation in Spanish of readings about Aztec, Maya, Mixtec, Olmec, Purepecha and Zapotec peoples. 

The Bonampak Documentation Project. This group of artists has  reconstructed the way the murals were when first produced, except that they didn't guess at parts that were damaged beyond recognition. They are in the process of putting this online. They also gave a copy to INAH to put at the site of Bonampak.

Casa Guatemala. This organization acts has an orphanage in Río Dulce for abandoned children who are wards of the government. Consider a donation.

The Center for Maya Research by George Stuart. This is located at the Boundary End Study Center at 1459 Dillingham Road, Box 220 Barnardsville, NC 28709-0220   

The Chicago Maya Society has no website or page, but is active and has regular meetings. If you live in the Chicago area and are interested in Mayan epigraphy, email for more information.

CHAAAC.  The Center for the History of Ancient American Art and Culture "is designed to stimulate and facilitate the creative exploration of ancient American civilizations and to establish contact between scholars in the Americas, The University of Texas at Austin, and the rest of the world."

The Chiapas Photography Project is an artistic effort by and for indigenous

 photographers in Chiapas since 1995 when it was started in collaboration with CIESAS Sureste.

Chronological Table of Mesoamerican Archaeology.  This seems to cover it all. 

Coincidence of travel in Yucatán by Randy Johnson. A delightful account of seeing many of the ruins seen by Stephens and Catherwood. He provides descriptions of how he got to certain ones. I notice that, like me, he couldn't find any Rio Bec site.

Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fail? This particular portion of the program by Annenberg/ CPB Learner.org deals with the Maya Collapse as it took place at Copan. It is an interactive learning program for students and gives clues for them to determine what archaeology indicates happened there. 

The Copan Association is a non-profit organization that was founded to protect and conserve the cultural and natural patrimonies of Honduras. 

The Copan Maya Foundation funds educational, cultural and environmental projects, while keeping Copan  as close to its original state as possible. It partners with the Copan Association, its Honduran sister organization.

The Daily Glyph is not exactly daily and the owner does not allow direct access to this web log, it is interesting and gives  current info about the status of the proposed Usumacinta dam. Comments on his posts are allowed and if you have a question on something he writes, he is likely to answer you.

Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs. Look up the glyph, using either English or Maya word. 

Dumbarton Oaks. This delightful museum has numerous wide ranging Pre-Columbian pages online. To really appreciate Dumbarton Oaks, you have to go there, but this is a pleasant vicarious visit.

El Eden is an ecological preserve relatively near Cancun Mexico.

El Pilar. See the conservation efforts at a small site in Belize.

Exploring Colonial Yucatán. This covers a lot and is part of a larger site dealing with colonial Mexico.

The Fallen Stones Butterfly Farm is intended as a demonstration to show how an area of rainforest maintained, could generate more income than  such an area cleared for agricultural purposes. It also includes a lodge where tourists can stay. The farm sells butterfly pupae primarily to the UK market.

The Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc.  FAMSI was created in 1993 to foster increased understanding of ancient Mesoamerican cultures. The Foundation aims to assist and promote qualified scholars who might otherwise be unable to undertake or complete their programs of research and synthesis. Projects in the following disciplines are urged to apply: anthropology, archaeology, art history, epigraphy, ethnography, ethnohistory, linguistics, and related fields. Look up FAMSI reports on their search page.

FAMSI in Español

The Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies. FARES works toward the establishment of educational programs for indigenous populations dealing with health, ecology, agricultural techniques, eco-tourism, financial management, health, first aid, reforestation, literacy, tourist services, artesian products, wilderness and national monument management, sustainable development, and preservation of the tropical rainforest and  in northern Guatemala and southern Mexico. A particular emphasis is the Mirador Basin.

Friends of Calakmul.  Working to help the Calakmul Biosphere.

Fundación Agri-Cultura, described as healing the wounds of the civil war in Guatemala, its stated goals are "to promote peace, the Maya cultural heritage, sustainable development, and preservation of the environment through both action and education, and by encouraging cooperation among organizations involved in these areas. " 

GB Online's Mesoamerica  is an extensive site about the Aztec, Mixtec and Maya.

Glyph Dictionary online. 

Gomaya.com contains a lot of Chiapas-oriented information. Scroll down to the bottom to see other page options. It also has a blog devoted to the Maya, entitled The Daily Glyph. 

Hach Winik. The website of the Lacandón Maya and it is very informative. No, they are not online, but you can send an e-mail that will be relayed to them. This site has a lot of information on the Lacandons, Robert D. Bruce, Trudi Blom, and much more.

Hach Winik.  Another site; this is a study of the Lacandons.

"Hello" in many languages, of course, including Mayan ones.

Hispano Maya. A school for learning the Mam language or Spanish in Guatemala. 

The Institute of Latin American Studies.  At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, this has Yucatec Maya courses each summer.

The Institute for Mesoamerican Studies. This is a non-profit educational research institute dedicated to the study and dissemination of knowledge concerning the peoples and cultures of Mesoamerica (Mexico and northern Central America).      

Intercambio Cultura Maya. Spend ten days in a small village among the Maya as a volunteer. The Winter 2001 project requires no special skills and costs $1125, including airfare from Indianapolis. 

The Iris Foundation for Education. This organization was established in November 2001 to help meet the critical education needs of children in southern Belize following Hurricane Iris. One of the major efforts has been to build a children's library in Placencia, but it has also distributed shoes to children in the area and it has worked on school reconstruction and teacher training. 

The K'inal Winik Cultural Center was instituted by Cleveland State University to provide a site for archival storage of books, research materials, and artifacts related to Mayan culture.

La Milpa. Boston University's archaeological project in Belize.  

Lords of Palenque, The first Palenque Round Table online.

Valhalla Experimental Station near Antigua is a macadamia farm using sustainable agriculture, and growing trees for reforestation projects.

The Madrid Codex Data Base Project. Learn about all the codices and search its data base. 

Maya Adventure. By the Science Museum of Minnesota, this is a site that highlights science activities and information related to ancient and modern Maya culture and centered around eight ruin sites and the Chiapas Highlands.

Maya Archaeology covers Maya, Olmec, Teotihuacán art, architecture, deities, hieroglyphic writing and the latest digital photography.

Maya Architecture provides an intriguing look at Maya architecture from hut to pyramid and in many sites.

The Maya Astronomy Page has a nice overview of not only Maya astronomy, but writing, mathematics and calendar as well.

Maya Exploration Center (MEC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of ancient Maya civilization.
Maya Hieroglyphs: everything you ever wanted to know about Mayan writing and then some.

Maya Hieroglyphics Data Base site features a translation and analysis of four codices painted by Maya scribes before the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century.

Maya history by chronological Period: an excellent overview of Maya history.

Maya Ik. This organization works to help tourism that benefits  the Maya, rather than large tourism operations.

Maya Info. This site has a lot of good photos of many Maya ruins in four countries that load quickly on your screen.  

Maya Long Count Calculator is a free download that will calculate any date for you in Long Count.  

Maya Museum Data base "attempts to give students, scholars, and anyone interested in Maya art a good starting point for their research."

Maya Photo Archive.  Pictures of nine Maya cities.

Maya Research Program. Help with a dig at Blue Creek, Belize. Spend lots of money to do it too.

Maya Ruins.: Nice expanding collection of photos of Maya ruins and overview of the Maya.

Maya ruins before and after. See Temple I at Tikal, the Palace at Palenque and others - you guessed it -- before and after reconstruction.

Maya Society of Minnesota. Here is one reason that it wouldn't be so bad to live in Minnesota! See their active program schedule. 

Maya Stories. Examples of Maya story tellers' art.

Maya Vase Database from Justin Kerr. This is at FAMSI and it has a wonderful collection of his work. 

maya.pagina.nl. This is what is an extensive website about the Maya in Dutch. I can attest that  there are some nice photos. I presume that they have good taste, because the only reason I found out about them is because they have a link to my website.  .

Mayan Calendar Tools. Find out the Maya or Gregorian Date.

The Mayan Esteem Project. This works toward " the recovery of stolen artifacts and the restoration of a pyramid site at Chilón, Chiapas, México. The project entails efforts of reclamation, restoration, excavation and the building of a depository to safely keep the artifacts and promote the appreciation of the ancient Mayan ruins in their original context".

Mayan Epigraphic Database Project is an experiment in networked scholarship with the purpose of enhancing Classic Mayan epigraphic research.

The Mayan Languages has a searchable database of Maya Languages done by the University of Southern Denmark.

Mayanruins.com.  Select from many Maya sites to see pictures.

Mayacuisine.com. See Yucatec recipes provided by the Yaxché Maya Cuisine Restaurant in Playa del Carmen.  

The Mesoamerican Ballgame. Watch or play and get an introduction to the sport. This is an educational game in which one scores based on knowledge of Mesoamerica and its ballgame.

The Mesoamerican Languages Documentation Project (PDLMA). As of 3 June 2005, there are two language dictionaries, Oluta and San Miguel Chimalapa Soke. Although the website doesn't get updated very often, Terry Kaufman and John S. Justeson have are making strides in their offline efforts.  

Mesoamerican Photo archives. Excellent photos of a number of Maya and other sites.

Mesoweb. This site covers Mesoamerica and carries numerous articles and current information about the Maya. 

Mexicon, en Exploration of Mesoamerican Cultures. 

Middle America Research Institute conducts, supports, and publishes research in the anthropology, and especially the archaeology of Mexico and Central America.

The Mirador Basin Project seeks to study an incredible array of Pre-classic Maya sites that collapsed around 150 CE. They have a lot of ground to cover and need donations for their archaeological work.  They also claim to need volunteers, but did not respond to my inquiry as to how a person would go about doing that. 

The Monkey Bay Wildlife Refuge. The organization running this is involved in a number of projects involving conservation management, environmental education and eco-tourism. They also have basic accommodations at the refuge. 

Na Bolom.  In Spanish and English. This website tells about the work done by Na Bolom in Chiapas in reforestation and organic gardening and  for the Lacandóns and the Lacandón rainforest as well. This was the home of archaeologist, Frans Blom and his wife, Trudi. 

The National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) of Belize encompasses the archeological efforts there as well. 

New Prehistoric News from the University of Minnesota.

New World Archaeological Foundation (NWAF) includes a good number of  BYU field reports from areas in  Meso-America

Nova; Before and After. This has pictures of Maya Ruins  before restorations and afterwards.

The Palenque Project. See updates on the current archaeological work or see what they uncovered in the past.   

The Precolumbian Art Research Institute. The primary purpose of PARI is to support and carry on research and exploration of Mesoamerican civilizations, their art, archaeology and glyphic texts, as well as research concerning the tropical environment and its ancient monuments.

The Precolumbian Society at the University of Pennsylvania.  This began as a Maya-related group, but it goes well beyond that. Monthly speakers (Sept-June) cover a wide variety of pre-Columbian topics. A glyph group meets every month on the same morning as the meeting.

Pre-Columbian Society of Washington D.C.  This one also has an impressive and interesting array of speakers.

Project Mosaic Guatemala. PMG "provides a bridge by helping people from around the world to find volunteer placements in organizations that work to make Guatemala a better place".

ProPetén works to conserve the tropical forest and the vast biodiversity of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, and to provide economic benefits for the inhabitants of Petén, Guatemala. This website is in Spanish.

Pura Vida seeks to improve local health and trash usage in the Lake Atitlan area by reusing the plastic trash in construction and useful ways.

Randy's Travel Pages has some delightful tales of hitchhiking in Maya and other areas. 

Rios Mayas.  The coalition has photos (including Yaxchilán and Piedras Negras) and lists of sources of info about saving the Usumacinta watershed. 

Safe Passage works to help the children of scavengers at the Guate City dump get an education. It also maintains a home for abused children near Antigua.

Sierra del Lacandón Archaeological Project. This organization proposes surveying and studying archaeological sites in the the Parque Nacional Sierra del Lacandón, Petén, Guatemala. 

Safe Passage works to help the children of scavengers at the Guate City dump get an education.  It also maintains a home for abused children near Antigua.

The Tikal Association.  Its goals are to promote and collaborate in the protection and conservation of the pre-Columbian and historical heritage of Guatemala, as well as its ongoing traditions. It seeks to spread the knowledge of this cultural wealth through publications, conferences, visits to archaeological and historic places and diverse cultural activities. It works to create scholarship programs and investigations in anthropology including archaeology and ethnology.

The Tikal Digital Access Project. By University of Penn Museum, this is to preserve of provide and access to the Tikal Archive, which is the result of the Museum's 15 year (1956-1970) archaeological investigation at the ancient  of Tikal, Guatemala. The entire contents of the archive will be made available to international scholarly and interested public audiences through a digitized web-accessible catalog and virtual facsimiles of the originals. Donations for this effort will be appreciated by the folks at Penn.
Todos Santos Cuchumatan. A small city in the Guatemala highlands. 

The Tropical Rainforest Foundation.  Its "most important projects are centered in the preservation of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, which deal mainly with environmental education, mass-media, and projects of sustainable development, carbon sequestering and certification in areas of private administration, regarding tropical rainforests."

Tropico Verde (in Español) is working to protect the jungles of Petén and trying to stop the land grab by ranchers there.

University of Pennsylvania Museum. Home of the original Maya Weekend.  Need I say more?

Unmasking the Maya; the Story of Sna Jtz'ibajom in Chiapas  "celebrates ancient Maya traditions while unmasking the bitter realities that besiege the modern Maya world."

Wolf Calls has quite a large number of interesting and worthwhile photos of Maya sites.

Woven Voices. This covers textile traditions of the highland Maya.

Yaxcopoil. This is a hacienda near Mérida. See how the overlords lived.

Yax Te' Books of the K'inal Winik Cultural Center at Cleveland State University focuses primarily on the work of contemporary Maya writers and on materials that enhance understanding of those works. 

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