David Stuart
@davidsstuart.bsky.social
Archaeologist, art historian, epigrapher, author, teacher. Researching the worlds of the ancient Maya and Mesoamerica. MacArthur Fellow, Professor at UT Austin.
Happy to finally see the new Rockefeller Wing at The Met. The Maya stela from Piedras Negras, Guatemala, always impresses (looted from there in the 60s). One detail I love is the elegantly carved skeleton with a cigar, probably representing a firefly (exoskeleton and cigar light, of course).
June 30, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Happy to finally see the new Rockefeller Wing at The Met. The Maya stela from Piedras Negras, Guatemala, always impresses (looted from there in the 60s). One detail I love is the elegantly carved skeleton with a cigar, probably representing a firefly (exoskeleton and cigar light, of course).
My next book comes out in spring of 2026 from Princeton University Press: “The Four Heavens: A New History of the Ancient Maya.” More details on the way.
June 20, 2025 at 12:28 PM
My next book comes out in spring of 2026 from Princeton University Press: “The Four Heavens: A New History of the Ancient Maya.” More details on the way.
How archaeology is feeling the big pinch from the cut-off of federal funding. Tina Warriner’s ancient Maya DNA project is one of the many unfortunate victims.
I spoke with several leading archaeologists to better understand the impact recent federal funding cuts will have on archaeology in the US. The future doesn’t look good.
#NSF #NEH #archaeology #paleoanthropology #heritage
New at @science.org 🏺🧪
#NSF #NEH #archaeology #paleoanthropology #heritage
New at @science.org 🏺🧪
Funding cuts to U.S. archaeology could imperil field’s future
A Science analysis of canceled and curtailed federal grants reveals hits to research, collections, and training
www.science.org
June 19, 2025 at 8:20 PM
How archaeology is feeling the big pinch from the cut-off of federal funding. Tina Warriner’s ancient Maya DNA project is one of the many unfortunate victims.
Our new article on a painted Teotihuacan altar found far from home, at the Maya city of Tikal.
doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
A Teotihuacan altar at Tikal, Guatemala: central Mexican ritual and elite interaction in the Maya Lowlands | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
A Teotihuacan altar at Tikal, Guatemala: central Mexican ritual and elite interaction in the Maya Lowlands - Volume 99 Issue 404
doi.org
April 8, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Our new article on a painted Teotihuacan altar found far from home, at the Maya city of Tikal.
doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Of course humans have loved avocados for thousands of years. The Maya named one of their festival months, Uniw, after avocados. A guacamole-fest every 365 days sounds like a damn good idea.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/s...
Humans Have Been Perfecting Avocados for 7,500 Years
Ancient peoples of Latin America saved the fleshy fruits from extinction and gradually made them tastier.
www.nytimes.com
March 11, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Of course humans have loved avocados for thousands of years. The Maya named one of their festival months, Uniw, after avocados. A guacamole-fest every 365 days sounds like a damn good idea.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/s...
The last Maya hieroglyphs. Copied ca. 1877, from a lost indigenous historical chronicle in Mani, Yucatán. The glyphs are dates, marking the k’atuns (20 year) periods of history. From the copy of the Codex Perez, now at the Princeton University Library.
February 27, 2025 at 1:12 AM
The last Maya hieroglyphs. Copied ca. 1877, from a lost indigenous historical chronicle in Mani, Yucatán. The glyphs are dates, marking the k’atuns (20 year) periods of history. From the copy of the Codex Perez, now at the Princeton University Library.
Bad-ass duck. Also, Daffy’s self-image.
February 27, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Bad-ass duck. Also, Daffy’s self-image.
Reposted by David Stuart
10 years ago students, staff, and faculty founded UT Antiquities Action, bringing awareness and activism re. cultural heritage to to the UT Austin campus and beyond. On Feb. 22 we'll commemorate a decade of education and advocacy at our sixth annual symposium. Join us! art.utexas.edu/events/2025-...
Antiquities Action's 6th Annual Symposium — Cultural Heritage in Conflict Zones: Protecting Antiquities During War
6th annual symposium of Antiquities Action, a group of students, faculty, and staff at the University of Texas at Austin working to raise awareness about the destruction, looting, and illicit traffick...
art.utexas.edu
February 11, 2025 at 6:50 PM
10 years ago students, staff, and faculty founded UT Antiquities Action, bringing awareness and activism re. cultural heritage to to the UT Austin campus and beyond. On Feb. 22 we'll commemorate a decade of education and advocacy at our sixth annual symposium. Join us! art.utexas.edu/events/2025-...
Reposted by David Stuart
Finally, an article on the decipherment of cuneiform that does justice to the many figures involved, the timeline, competition, and sheer philological grit.
Fascinating and colourful synopsis of how we came to be able to read tablets from ancient Mesopotamia www.smithsonianmag.com/history/myst...
Fascinating and colourful synopsis of how we came to be able to read tablets from ancient Mesopotamia www.smithsonianmag.com/history/myst...
The Mystery of the World's Oldest Writing System Remained Unsolved Until Four Competitive Scholars Raced to Decipher It
In the 1850s, cuneiform was just a series of baffling scratches on clay, waiting to spill the secrets of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia
www.smithsonianmag.com
February 10, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Finally, an article on the decipherment of cuneiform that does justice to the many figures involved, the timeline, competition, and sheer philological grit.
Fascinating and colourful synopsis of how we came to be able to read tablets from ancient Mesopotamia www.smithsonianmag.com/history/myst...
Fascinating and colourful synopsis of how we came to be able to read tablets from ancient Mesopotamia www.smithsonianmag.com/history/myst...
Very proud of my students who did outstanding drawings of Maya texts for their first assignment. None had any background in this stuff two weeks ago. I’ve seen far worse in published articles!
February 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Very proud of my students who did outstanding drawings of Maya texts for their first assignment. None had any background in this stuff two weeks ago. I’ve seen far worse in published articles!
“Cultural heritage.” Now there’s a red flag! Absolute bullshit sweeping over the NSF.
🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.
February 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
“Cultural heritage.” Now there’s a red flag! Absolute bullshit sweeping over the NSF.
Our article is coming out very soon in Antiquity, on an exciting find at the Maya site of Tikal (hint: foreign relations). Details to come!
January 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Our article is coming out very soon in Antiquity, on an exciting find at the Maya site of Tikal (hint: foreign relations). Details to come!
Reposted by David Stuart
Oligarchy (noun): A government of and by a few at the top, who exercise power for their own benefit. Their power and wealth increase as they make laws that favor themselves, manipulate financial markets, and create monopolies that put more wealth into their pockets.
January 20, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Oligarchy (noun): A government of and by a few at the top, who exercise power for their own benefit. Their power and wealth increase as they make laws that favor themselves, manipulate financial markets, and create monopolies that put more wealth into their pockets.
I have 37 students in my Mesoamerican Writing Systems class. Holy crap (k’uhul ta’). Let’s go!
January 14, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I have 37 students in my Mesoamerican Writing Systems class. Holy crap (k’uhul ta’). Let’s go!
First drawing of a temple at Tikal, ca 1853. Earlier explorers Stephens and Catherwood (a better artist!) never penetrated the Petén region of Guatemala and Campeche, so their explorations completely missed many of the largest Maya sites, Tikal among them.
Our collections hold some brilliantly crafted drawings of monuments and items, but there are also drawings done by those who may not have such a gifted hand, but we still love them!
January 7, 2025 at 2:04 PM
First drawing of a temple at Tikal, ca 1853. Earlier explorers Stephens and Catherwood (a better artist!) never penetrated the Petén region of Guatemala and Campeche, so their explorations completely missed many of the largest Maya sites, Tikal among them.
RIP Jimmy Carter. The only president I ever personally met. Back in 1981 he and his sons were on a fishing trip in Mexico near Playa del Carmen, and they stopped at Coba to see the Maya ruins. My father and I were there too, and we all had lunch, talking Georgia archaeology. Amazing day.
December 29, 2024 at 11:06 PM
RIP Jimmy Carter. The only president I ever personally met. Back in 1981 he and his sons were on a fishing trip in Mexico near Playa del Carmen, and they stopped at Coba to see the Maya ruins. My father and I were there too, and we all had lunch, talking Georgia archaeology. Amazing day.
Stopped a few days ago at the Maya site of Balamku, known for its well preserved temple facade, ca. 400-450 CE. The iconography shows 4 ancestral figures being reborn from cosmic mountains. Similar ideas of landscape and ancestry are found today in Maya communities in highland Guatemala & Mexico.
December 18, 2024 at 4:49 AM
Stopped a few days ago at the Maya site of Balamku, known for its well preserved temple facade, ca. 400-450 CE. The iconography shows 4 ancestral figures being reborn from cosmic mountains. Similar ideas of landscape and ancestry are found today in Maya communities in highland Guatemala & Mexico.
My new article is out, on the importance of naming in Maya and other early writing systems. Part of an excellent new book on Maya archaeology, art and history, in honor of my friend Steve Houston.
December 4, 2024 at 3:40 PM
My new article is out, on the importance of naming in Maya and other early writing systems. Part of an excellent new book on Maya archaeology, art and history, in honor of my friend Steve Houston.
Waxaklajun Ubah K’awil, the ancient Maya ruler of the city we know today as Copan, Honduras. Crowned in 695 CE, captured and executed in 738. Image: portrait on Stela A, dedicated in 731.
December 2, 2024 at 8:19 PM
Waxaklajun Ubah K’awil, the ancient Maya ruler of the city we know today as Copan, Honduras. Crowned in 695 CE, captured and executed in 738. Image: portrait on Stela A, dedicated in 731.
One of my favorite Mexica (Aztec) sculptures. A mad puma, just waking up from a nap. Gotta love the whiskers. Museo Templo Mayor, CDMX.
November 25, 2024 at 10:49 PM
One of my favorite Mexica (Aztec) sculptures. A mad puma, just waking up from a nap. Gotta love the whiskers. Museo Templo Mayor, CDMX.
An example of ancient Maya writing. What I’ve studied and worked to decipher over the last fifty(?!) years.
November 25, 2024 at 2:45 AM
An example of ancient Maya writing. What I’ve studied and worked to decipher over the last fifty(?!) years.
Bolo’s had enough with these cabinet picks.
November 25, 2024 at 1:49 AM
Bolo’s had enough with these cabinet picks.
Reposted by David Stuart
Recently digitised, the remarkable 1577 Florentine Codex, in 10 volumes, 2,400 pages & thousands of hand-painted images, documents the language, culture, natural science & history of the Mexica and other Indigenous people of Mesoamérica. See full text at florentinecodex.getty.edu
October 31, 2023 at 6:30 AM
Recently digitised, the remarkable 1577 Florentine Codex, in 10 volumes, 2,400 pages & thousands of hand-painted images, documents the language, culture, natural science & history of the Mexica and other Indigenous people of Mesoamérica. See full text at florentinecodex.getty.edu
“Many” archaeologists? I would say all. A firm consensus agrees that Graham Hancock and his ideas are bananas. This isn’t “gate-keeping,” just advocating for science and evidence. As an archaeologist, and alum (‘89) I’m frustrated to see this PAW article, but glad sane voices were also included.
For Princeton Alumni Weekly, I investigated the scientific furor over Netflix's popular "Ancient Apocalypse" documentary series, which many archaeologists assert promotes pseudoscience.
Bruce Kennedy ’92’s Show About Ice Age Theory Angers Archaeologists
Scientists say the advanced Ice Age civilization depicted in the wildly popular Netflix series never existed, and promoting it fuels racist theories
paw.princeton.edu
November 21, 2024 at 2:17 AM
“Many” archaeologists? I would say all. A firm consensus agrees that Graham Hancock and his ideas are bananas. This isn’t “gate-keeping,” just advocating for science and evidence. As an archaeologist, and alum (‘89) I’m frustrated to see this PAW article, but glad sane voices were also included.
In addition to wearing my professor hat, I’m an author who aims to make ancient Mesoamerica far more accessible and known to the public. So, I’m now putting finishing touches my new book, The Ancient Maya: A New History, for Princeton U Press. A drudge now, but excited at the idea it’ll be out.
November 19, 2024 at 1:06 AM
In addition to wearing my professor hat, I’m an author who aims to make ancient Mesoamerica far more accessible and known to the public. So, I’m now putting finishing touches my new book, The Ancient Maya: A New History, for Princeton U Press. A drudge now, but excited at the idea it’ll be out.