FLAAR publications on monumental Maya architecture All three regional styles (Puuc, Chenes and Rio Bec) at one site: Santa Rosa Xtampak, Campeche, Mexico

Posted August 29, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth

Maya temples, palaces, acropolises and ballcourts were my research focus starting in 1961, when, at age 16, I went from my Spanish language school in Saltillo, Mexico (north of Monterrey) all the way to Palenque, Chiapas, in 3rd class buses. I stayed several days at Palenque, using a Leica camera that my father had loaned me. I took photos of the Classic Maya architecture but also the rain forest surrounding the ruins. I went back to Saltillo and then drove back to St Louis where I did my high school theses on Maya architecture. Since not many high school students write their thesis on Classic Maya architecture, my thesis won 1st prize in my class. This helped me get accepted to study architectural sciences at Harvard because I was not at the top of my class—universities also want people who do atypical projects. Then a year or so later I was kindly accepted by an INAH team what I met in Tabasco to help them carry their equipment and baggage the many kilometers to Bonampak, and I also offered to help them set up their camp. No airstrip at Bonampak in the early 1960’s, so your Cessna landed at a Lacandon village far away.

Then the Tikal Project asked me to help them as an architectural recorder and photographer at Tikal for an entire year of 1965, so again, my focus was on Maya architecture an entire year. During the 1960’s I also visited lots of Puuc ruins and in the 1970’s and 1980’s lots of Chenes and Rio Bec ruins. So when I learned that Santa Rosa Xtampak had a palace with a Chenes monster mask and also Rio Bec towers I coordinated with William Folan and the INAH team in Campeche to have a permit to accomplish photographic documentation of Santa Rosa Xtampak. While there in 1989 we noticed and documented Puuc architectural features in addition to the Chenes and Rio Bec aspects.

We have dedicated lots of time and effort to scan all our 1989 reports and wish to make them all available to INAH of Mexico and to archaeologists and students around the world.

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First Season Photography and Analysis of Standing Architecture at Santa Rosa Xtampak, Campeche, Mexico. Vol. I 146 pages of text plus 31 pages of photographs = 177 pages	An Introduction to Chenes, Puuc and Rio Bec Palaces: the Example of Three Palaces at Santa Rosa Xtampak, Campeche. Mexico. Vol. II 124 pages of text plus 26 pages of photographs = 150 pages	Wood that has Lasted one Thousand Years: Lintels and Vault Beams in Maya Temples and Palaces, the Example of the Main Palace, Santa Rosa Xtampak, Campeche. Vol. III 36 pages of text plus 11 pages of photographs = 47 pages

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Advances in Knowledge of the Monumental Architecture of Santa Rosa Xtampak Based on Photography and Mapping of June-July 1989 231 pages of text plus 34 pages of photos = 265 pages	Notes on ROOM-#5-SUITE of the South-East Quadrangle of the ruins at Santa Rosa Xtampak, Campeche, Mexico by Jack Sulak, 1992 28 pages of text plus 38 illustrations plus front matter = 69 pages in the PDF	Medium Format Hasselblad Photographs of Santa Rosa Xtampak, Campeche, Mexico 1989, by FLAAR Contact Sheet Series 449941, Roll 08 11 pages, mostly photos with captions

We have been unable to find the helpful publication of Eldon Leiter, 1989, Inventory of the Lintels of the Main Palace at Santa Rosa Xtampak. If anyone in Campeche has a copy, a PDF would be appreciated.

Lots of capable 3D digital documentation of the main palace are by Erwin Heine, also from Graz. All his work cites his team; all their publications are in the bibliography of the remarkable 3D reconstruction of the main palace by architect and architectural historian Hasso Hohmann, also from Graz. FLAAR was headquartered in Graz before, during, and after Hellmuth’s 1986 PhD dissertation, but also simultaneously in 1989 as a guest visiting research professor at Rollins College, Florida. Hellmuth was also simultaneously a Guest Visiting Research Fellow at Yale University for multiple appointments, including 1989.

• HOHMANN, Hasso
• 2017
• The Maya Temple-Palace of Santa Rosa Xtampak, Mexico. Documentation and Reconstruction of Form, Construction, and Function. Verlag der Technischen Universität Graz. Austria.
  Super-helpful that this university put the entire book on-line as a nice download:
  https://diglib.tugraz.at/download.php?id=5def5202c2bd7&location=browse

Trees, Beverages, and Maya Cacao Glyphs

Posted August 25, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth

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We warmly invite you to join us for the Universidad Francisco Marroquin, lecture: Trees, Beverages, and Maya Cacao Glyphs, where we will explore the fascinating world of cacao in ancient Maya culture. Discover the symbolic role of trees, the importance of cacao-based beverages, and the rich legacy preserved in Maya glyphs. This event offers a unique opportunity to connect history, culture, and tradition, while deepening our appreciation of one of the most cherished plants of Mesoamerica.

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, 7pm, Museo Popol Vuh, Universidad Francisco Marroquin, lecture Maya Cacao Trees, Maya Cacao Drinks, Maya Cacao Hieroglyphs, And Cacao Pods shown in Classic Maya Art and Tiquisate Style Ceramic Female Portraits Revelation of LOTS of other Native Fruits of Guatemala are same Size and Shape as Cacao Pods.

Previously unpublished Late Classic Maya Pseudo-Glyphs now available to study

Posted August 14, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth

Inga Calvin has dedicated considerable research and an excellent year 2006 PhD dissertation on Maya pseudo-glyphs. But today in 2025 there are dozens and dozens of additional (previously unpublished) Maya vases, bowls, and plates with pseudo-glyphs, so it is helpful to make all these texts available to epigraphers, linguists, iconographers, and ceramicists. There is now material for a completely new PhD dissertation that can learn from the suggestions in the July 31st epigraphy presentation by Nicholas Hellmuth.

This PDF is the English version of his Spanish presentation (the updated Spanish edition will hopefully be available next week). The present 196-page English edition has over a dozen new photos to add to the extensive corpus in the lecture. We coincide with multiple epigraphers who agree that some of these “pseudo-glyphs” should be studied in depth to learn which types of pseudo-glyphs are actually written to present a message.

VIII Seminario Internacional de Epigrafía Maya, Museo Popol Vuh, Universidad Francisco Marroquin, Guatemala, Camilo Luin, Organizer.

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Download the 196 pages of photos, information, and bibliography on Maya Pseudo Glyphs.

Full-Figure Personified Maya Hieroglyphs now available in a Thousand-Page MA thesis

Posted July 1, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth

Since I have been studying full-figure Maya hieroglyphs for several years, I was pleasantly surprised to find a 1,064 page opus that is the most comprehensive list (inventory, catalog) of full-figure Maya hieroglyphs ever published.

He shows more full-figure Maya hieroglyphs than Morley, Thompson and all other books “Introductions to Maya Hieroglyphs” combined. I have been preparing lists of full-figure Maya glyphs since 2023 and I estimate that Mauricio Moreno Magariño has found and documented many more that I had not yet found.

If you are an epigrapher, iconographer or archaeologist this thousand-pages of hieroglyphic research is essential. It is the most comprehensive corpus of full-figure glyphs ever amassed—with the majority cited as to source (site and sculpture name), illustrator, and where published.

If you are a student or member of the interested public, and you would like to learn more about Maya hieroglyphs, full-figure glyphs are the easiest way to learn—since each glyph is literally a complete bird, complete jaguar, complete rabbit, etc. So they are not just symbols.

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With the permission of Mauricio Moreno Magariño we are posting his MA thesis on the FLAAR web site. His drawings are excellent and include the remarkable full-figure hieroglyphs of Yaxchilan Throne 2, one of the most amazing full-figure text other than the many at Copan, Quirigua, Yaxchilan, Palenque and elsewhere. The hundreds of illustrations also show which animals are present as full-figure representations. Since it is the academic tradition that no thesis or dissertation has a photograph or drawing as the front page, I have added a drawing to recreate a front page as a download icon.

Full-Figure Hieroglyphs in three Maya Codices Codex Dresden, Codex Madrid and Codex Paris

Posted July 1, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth

80% of helpful studies of full-figure Maya hieroglyphs have been on stone sculptures (stelae, lintels, altars, wall panels, etc.) and 20% have found and make available full-figure hieroglyphs on artifacts, especially Maya vases and bowls, found usually in burials and cached offerings. I now add to these helpful studies a comprehensive catalog (inventory, list) of 98% of all full-figure hieroglyphs in the three Maya codices. I estimate that there could be another few glyphs that I missed. Mauricio Moreno kindly sent me two images that I added. Any other examples would be welcomed.

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Full-Figure Maya Hieroglyphs Found in Codex Dresden, Codex Madrid and Codex Paris

What the Classic Maya actually had available for Food is very different than how Classic Maya Food Sources are presented in Books, Sympsosium Presentations, and Scholarly Articles

Posted February 21, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth

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Complete two-hundred pages of photographs of flowers, fruits, leaves, of vines, trees, palms and LOTS of other wild plants native to the Peten rain forests that were available to the Clas-sic Maya for thousands of years.

Before the lecture for IMS (Institute for Maya Studies) we showed a preview—now here are the complete 200+ pages of beautiful photos of edible wild plants of savannas of Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum, Naranjo and Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre, Peten.

We show the flowers in addition to the actual plants and fruits, and show the swamps and savannas where we found all these edible wild plants during recent six years of field work in remote areas of the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya, RBM.

Palm Paradise Peten—“Islands” of Solid Palm Trees in PNYNN

Posted February 18, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth

In the 1970’s, while hiking from Yaxha to improve an earlier map of Nakum, the FLAAR team experienced two incredible islands of solid corozo palms so thick with palms that it was amazing. Local people call these a corozera. They are an estimated 80% corozo palm and 10% guano/botan palm—so 90% solid palm trees as far as the eye can see. We have documented the two “palm islands” between Yaxha and Nakum (see below) and now for April 2025 will be hiking to a previously unexplored and undocumented “solid palm jungle area” to the east of the main trail (a corozera that park ranger Teco, Moises Daniel Perez Diaz, told us about recently).

We will also document an escobal/botonal “island” of escoba and botan palms west of Nakum. Then drive through Tikal National Park to reach Uaxactun to explore an amazing corozera south of Uaxactun. We will also document, photograph and map two corozeras adjacent to the Maya ruins of Naranjo-Sa’al. In future field trips, once we have suggestions by park administrators and park rangers at other parks, we wish to document more ecosystems that are solid palms (each about the size of one or two football fields). Most are surrounded by bajo vegetation but the one south of Uaxactun and one at the entrance of Naranjo-Sa’al are partially on karst limestone hills.

Palm Paradise Peten can attract eco-tourists who want to walk through a palm area that no TV documentary has ever shown. Eco-tourism helps encourage to protect fragile ecosystems and provides income for local guides and local hotels.

It would help if a kind soul or foundation could donate the funds so we can purchase a multi-spectral drone—these can map each ecosystem and show from the air the boundary of each “island of palm”. If the helpful individual or family can also donate the cost of a field trip, they can come along and experience the Palm Paradise Peten together with the team of FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala). This project is part of the 5-year program of cooperation and coordination with CONAP (Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas) and with the administrators of each national park in this Neotropical rain forest area of Guatemala.

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Besides Maize, Beans and Squash, what did the Classic Maya Eat? We now show you HUNDREDS of WILD edible plants that require no agriculture.

Posted February 14, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth

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Preview of the Feb 19th lecture as an easy download.

There are edible flowers, edible leaves, edible roots and tubers, and obviously edible seeds, nuts and fruits—ALL from WILD tropical plants—that do not require destructive slash-and-burn milpa agriculture.

During many decades the teams of FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala) have been accomplishing library research and field trips to learn about which WILD plants are edible. The Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum, Naranjo asked us to undertake field work on undocumented flora, fauna and ecosystems for a year (circa 2018). The Municipio de Livingston was so impressed with our findings in Peten that they asked us to undertake 18 months of research and field work in Izabal, so we did more than a dozen one-week field trips into remote areas of the Caribbean coast and found LOTS of edible and usable palm trees—one had the strongest fibers, so strong they would be amazing for house construction.

Then CONAP (Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas) requested a project of coordination and cooperation for five years in the entire Reserva de la Biosfera Maya. We focused on PNYNN, PANAT, and PNLT. In PNYNN and PNLT we found dozens of savannas and other ecosystems not documented by earlier ecologists, geologists or botanists or archaeologists because to reach these areas is many kilometers of hiking back-and-forth (and no hotel to recuperate in—we stay in tents surrounded by the jungle).

For WEDNESDAY, February 14, at 8 PM ET we will present over 200 remarkable photographs of ecosystems, flowers, and other plants that are WILD and EDIBLE.

Access and download this active hyperlink: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86930585524

History of the Mystery of the “Blom Plate”

Posted January 20, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth

In 1950 Frans Blom published a black-and-white photo of a polychrome Maya plate that shows the Hero Twins, the Principal Bird Deity, and a well-preserved Primary Standard Sequence of hieroglyphs. For my 1980’s PhD dissertation I wanted a full color photograph and close-up photos of each part of the scene. But how do you find the plate—it was obtained by the engineer who was working on building the landing field of the Chetumal airport. The bulldozers flattened pyramids and obviously there were Maya tombs there in the 1940’s.

The FLAAR Reports on this plate details how I finally found where in Oaxaca the engineer had retired to. He kindly allowed me to photograph the plate. Since he noticed how much interest I had in studying the plate, and since he had it since at least 1949 and now in the 1980’s he himself was no longer interested in it, he asked me what he should do with the plate—but I explained that I do not collect artifacts and that since the plate was an important part of the national patrimony of Mexico, it should be available to all scholars and it should be donated to IHAH. As a result the plate is now in an IHAH museum in Mexico.

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The Story of the Blom Plate: a Masterpiece of Maya Iconography and Primary Standard Sequence, PSS, Hieroglyphs