The Apotheosis of Janaab’ Pakal: Science, History, and Religion at Classic Maya Palenque

The Apotheosis of Janaab’ Pakal takes up anew the riddles within a number of Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions first recognized by Floyd Lounsbury. Gerardo Aldana unpacks these mathematical riddles using an approach grounded in a reading of the texts made possible by recent advances in decipherment. Using a history of science methodology, he expands upon (and sometimes questions) the foundational work of archaeoastronomers.

Gerardo Aldana is an assistant professor in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.