Midwest Mesos Logistics

The conference will be in Cochrane-Woods Art Center, 5540 S. Greenwood Ave., Chicago IL.  The keynote speech and Saturday sessions will be in Room 157.  Parking is available in the structure at the corner of 55th and Greenwood, or on the street nearby.

The conference is free and open to the public.  Please join us!  Because of space constraints, the Field Museum reception will be open only to conference attendees.

Conference poster here: 2018 Mesos Conference Poster-rz0jle

2018 Midwest Mesos Final Schedule

Midwest Conference on Mesoamerican Archaeology and Ethnohistory

Cochrane-Woods Art Center Room 157, 5540 S. Greenwood Ave.

University of Chicago, March 16-17, 2018

Friday, March 16, Keynote address

5-6 pm Lowland Maya Archaeology in a Gilded Age: The University of Pennsylvania Museum’s Tikal Project

Hattula Moholy-Nagy, Consulting Scholar, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Reception to follow

 

Saturday, March 17

8:30-8:50 Coffee

8:50-9 Opening remarks

9-9:25 Formative pottery at the Tayata site, Mixteca Alta: A regional and macro-regional perspective

Maria Teresa Palomares Rodriguez, doctoral student, Southern Illinois University

9:25-9:50 The Tale of the Maya Urns from Lake Petha, Chiapas: Context, Iconography, Sourcing, Surprises

Joel Palka, Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago

9:50-10:15 I Threw it All Away; Consumer goods at the 19th century Maya refugee site at Tikal, Guatemala

James Meierhoff, doctoral student, University of Illinois at Chicago

10:15-10:45 Coffee Break

10:45-11:10 Dressing: Essence and Transformation in Maya Iconography

Karon Winzenz, Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

11:10-11:35 Vitality Materialized: On the Piercing and Adornment of the Body in Mesoamerica

Andrew Finegold, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago

11:35-12 Comparative Analysis of Copper Artifacts from Mensabak, Chiapas, Mexico

Jackson Krause, Joel Palka, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago

12-1:30 Lunch break

1:30-1:55 Stones of Sight: Ethnographic and Ethnohistorical Analogies for Interpreting Classic Maya Effigy Flints and Obsidians

Zachary Hruby, Northern Kentucky University

1:55-2:20 The invention of an ancient object for the art market: a case study of Greater Nicoya style metates

Alanna S. Radlo-Dzur, Graduate student, The Ohio State University

2:20-2:45 Postclassic Quetzalcoatl in the American Southeast

Alice B. Kehoe, Professor Emeritus, Marquette University

2:45-3:15 Break

3:15-3:40 Storm God Chasing in the Valley of Oaxaca

Andrew Kracinski, University of Illinois at Chicago

3:40-4:05 ‘It’s Our Tradition to Maintain the Forest:’ Indigenous Water Management in San Miguel Totonicapán

Matthew Krystal, Associate Professor, North Central College

4:05-4:30 Calling the Rain, Cutting the Storm: Cultural Models Research as a Pathway to Understanding the Relationship Between Nature and Humans in a Semi-Rural Central Mexican Community

Charles Stapleton, Northern Illinois University and College of DuPage; Maria Stapleton, Northern Illinois University

4:30 Wrap-up

5-8 pm Reception at the Field Museum

Celebrating the Mummies exhibition, and in conjunction with the Annual Midwest Conference on Andean and Amazonian
Archaeology and Ethnohistory

Please enter through the West entrance to the Museum

 

This conference is supported by generous sponsorship from the University of Chicago Art History Department, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Neubauer Collegium, and the Oriental Institute

 

Kaqchikel-grown coffee donated by Conscious Bean Coffee, courtesy of Matthew Krystal

 

 

Reception at the Field Museum

We are pleased to announce that the conference will end with a reception at the Field Museum, on Saturday night from 5-8 pm. The reception celebrates the opening of the Mummies exhibition at the Field, and is held in conjunction with the Midwest Conference on Andean and Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory.

Midwest Mesos Preliminary Schedule

Here is the preliminary schedule for the Midwest Mesos conference.  Please check back for the final schedule, and for news about the post-conference reception.

 

Midwest Conference on Mesoamerican Archaeology and Ethnohistory

University of Chicago, March 16-17, 2018

 

Friday, March 16, Keynote address 

5-6 pm Lowland Maya Archaeology in a Gilded Age: The University of Pennsylvania Museum’s Tikal Project

Hattula Moholy-Nagy, Consulting Scholar, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

 

Saturday, March 17

9-9:30 Formative pottery types in Tayata site, Mixteca Alta: A regional and macro-regional perspective

Maria Teresa Palomares Rodriguez, Doctoral Student, Southern Illinois University

9:30-10 The Tale of the Maya Urns from Lake Petha, Chiapas: Context, Iconography, Sourcing, Surprises

Joel Palka, University of Illinois at Chicago

10-10:30 I Threw it All Away; Consumer goods at the 19th century Maya refugee site at Tikal, Guatemala

James Meierhoff, University of Illinois at Chicago

 

10:30-11 Coffee Break

 

11-11:30 Dressing: Essence and Transformation in Maya Iconography

Karon Winzenz, Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

11:30-12 Vitality Materialized: On the Piercing and Adornment of the Body in Mesoamerica

Andrew Finegold, University of Illinois at Chicago

12-12:30 Comparative Analysis of Copper Artifacts from Mensabak, Chiapas, Mexico

Jackson Krause, Joel Palka, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago

 

12:30-2 Lunch break

 

2-2:30 Stones of Sight: Ethnographic and Ethnohistorical Analogies for Interpreting Classic Maya Effigy Flints and Obsidians

Zachary Hruby, Northern Kentucky University

2:30-3 The invention of an ancient object for the art market: a case study of Greater Nicoya style metates

Alanna S. Radlo-Dzur, Graduate student, The Ohio State University

3-3:30 Postclassic Quetzalcoatl in the American Southeast

Alice B. Kehoe, Professor Emeritus, Marquette University

 

3:30-4 Break

 

4-4:30 Storm God Chasing in the Valley of Oaxaca

Andrew Kracinski, University of Illinois at Chicago

4:30-5 ‘It’s Our Tradition to Maintain the Forest:’ Indigenous Water Management in San Miguel Totonicapán

Matthew Krystal, North Central College

5-5:30 Calling the Rain, Cutting the Storm: Cultural Models Research as a Pathway to Understanding the Relationship Between Nature and Humans in a Semi-Rural Central Mexican Community

Charles Stapleton, Northern Illinois University and College of DuPage; Maria Stapleton, Northern Illinois University

2018 Midwest Mesos, March 16-17

The 2018 Meetings of the Midwest Conference on Mesoamerican Archaeology and Etnnohistory will be held at the University of Chicago on March 16-17, with a keynote speech by Hattula Moholy-Nagy on Friday evening and presentations all day Saturday.  If you would like to propose a presentation for the sessions on Saturday, March 17, please submit title, abstract (250-word maximum), name, institutional affiliation and address (including e-mail) by February 1 by email to brittenham@uchicago.edu .