Search results for "MAYA"
showing 10 items of 54 documents
New results in ancient Maya rituals researches: The study of human painted bones fragments from Calakmul archaeological site (Mexico)
2020
Abstract The funeral chambers of the ancient city of Calakmul (Mexico) and the individuals who were buried in them have brought in recent decades new knowledge about the beliefs and funeral customs of the pre-Hispanic Maya. Tombs and bodies were prepared as part of the rituals that should favor the return of ch'ulel to the Underworld, known as Xibalba by the ancient Maya. The ch'ulel is one of the two anemic entities that inhabit the individual, equivalent to our concept of the soul. Bodies preparation included coloured scented body ointments application, with a deep symbolic connotation and probably also a conservative purpose. The aim of this research was to characterize pigments and bind…
The Maya wall paintings from Chajul, Guatemala
2020
The recent renovation of a house in Chajul in western Guatemala has revealed an unparalleled set of wall paintings, most probably from the Colonial period (AD 1524–1821). The iconography of the murals combines pre-Columbian elements with imported European components in a domestic rather than a religious setting, making them a unique example of Colonial-period art. Here, the authors present the results of iconographic, chemical and radiocarbon analyses of the Chajul house paintings. Dating to the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries AD, the paintings may be connected to a revival of the local religious organisation (cofradías) in the context of waning Spanish colonial control.
Development of a Sensitive Detection Method for Alphaviruses and Its Use as a Virus Neutralization Assay
2021
Alphaviruses have a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome that contains two open reading frames encoding either the non-structural or the structural genes. Upon infection, the genomic RNA is translated into the non-structural proteins (nsPs). NsPs are required for viral RNA replication and transcription driven from the subgenomic promoter (sgP). Transfection of an RNA encoding the luciferase gene under the control of the sgP into cells enabled the detection of replication-competent chikungunya virus (CHIKV) or Mayaro virus (MAYV) with high sensitivity as a function of the induced luciferase activity. This assay principle was additionally used to analyze virus-neutralizing antibodies in…
Harnessing Big Data for Communicable Tropical and Sub-Tropical Disorders: Implications From a Systematic Review of the Literature
2018
aim: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), communicable tropical and sub-tropical diseases occur solely, or mainly in the tropics, thriving in hot, and humid conditions. Some of these disorders termed as neglected tropical diseases are par- ticularly overlooked. Communicable tropical/sub-tropical diseases represent a diverse group of communicable disorders occurring in 149 countries, favored by tropical and sub-tropical conditions, affecting more than one billion people and imposing a dramatic societal and economic burden. methods: A systematic review of the extant scholarly literature was carried out, searching in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus. The search string used included prope…
Discovery of indigoid-containing clay pellets from La Blanca: significance with regard to the preparation and use of Maya Blue
2014
Analytical studies using extraction/liquid chromatography, pyrolysis–silylation gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, visible and infrared spectroscopies, solid state voltammetry and electron microscopy on a set of spherical greenish pellets discovered in the Structure 4H1 of the ancient Maya site of La Blanca (Peten Department, Guatemala), dated in the Terminal Classic period, confirm the presence of indigoids (dehydroindigo, indigo) associated to palygorskite. The appearance of such pieces, whose origin and function is uncertain, but most likely correspond to residuals of a decorative plaster, can be considered as indicative of the use of Maya Blue in a quotidian context, thus suggesting …
CORRELATION BETWEEN SPECTRAL, SEM/EDX AND ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MAYA BLUE: A CHEMOMETRIC STUDY*
2009
Visible spectra, composition from SEM/EDX and solid-state electrochemical data are correlated for a set of 12 Maya Blue samples from different archaeological sites of Campeche and Yucatan (Mexico). In addition to indigo and dehydroindigo, indirubin and other possibly indigo-type compounds can be detected in Maya Blue samples. Application of hierarchical cluster analysis techniques allows similarity relationships to be established between samples from different sites, confirming prior results which suggest that the preparation of Maya Blue pigment evolved with time during the Maya culture following a ramified scheme.
Life after death: a physicochemical study of materials used by the ancient Maya in human bone ointments
2021
Ancient Maya believed in life after death. They used to prepare dead bodies during burial ceremonies whose purpose was to celebrate the dead and to help them passing through the way from earthly life to the beyond one. Bodies preparation included coloured scented body ointment application, with a deep symbolic connotation and probably also a conservative purpose. The aim of this research was to characterize pigments and binders used by ancient Maya in the preparation of body oint ments used to paint human bones. Emblematic painted bone samples from Xcambó (Maya archaeological site located in the municipality of Dzemul, in the Mexican state of Yucatán) were investigated through a non-destruc…
Lifestyle, occupation, and whole bone morphology of the pre-Hispanic Maya coastal population from Xcambó, Yucatan, Mexico
2007
The present bioarchaeological study examines the external diaphyseal geometric properties of humeri, radii, femora and tibiae of the Classic period skeletal population of Xcambo, Yucatan, Mexico. The diaphysial proportions are evaluated using a biomechanical approach together with data from the material context and other osteological information. Our intent is to provide new answers to questions concerning lifestyle, domestic labour division and subsistence strategies of this coastal Maya settlement that was inhabited from the Late and Terminal Preclassic (300 BC–350 AD) to the Postclassic Period (900–1500 AD). Our results provide evidence for a marked sexual division of labour when compare…
Venezuela's humanitarian crisis, resurgence of vector-borne diseases, and implications for spillover in the region
2019
In the past 5–10 years, Venezuela has faced a severe economic crisis, precipitated by political instability and declining oil revenue. Public health provision has been affected particularly. In this Review, we assess the impact of Venezuela's health-care crisis on vector-borne diseases, and the spillover into neighbouring countries. Between 2000 and 2015, Venezuela witnessed a 359% increase in malaria cases, followed by a 71% increase in 2017 (411 586 cases) compared with 2016 (240 613). Neighbouring countries, such as Brazil, have reported an escalating trend of imported malaria cases from Venezuela, from 1538 in 2014 to 3129 in 2017. In Venezuela, active Chagas disease transmission has be…
Pugnas por el control de la universidad después de la expulsión de los jesuitas
1990
Mi interés se centra en el análisis de los efectos del extrañamiento en los estudios universitarios y concretamente en Valencia. Resulta evidente que el decreto de extrañamiento produjo una efervescencia reformista en la Universidad. Es lógico porque, desde el momento en que empezó la campaña antijesuita, una de las razones alegadas fue la decadencia cultural que habían propiciado los padres de la Compañía a quienes se les atribuía el control de los instrumentos de poder. Así, los reformistas establecieron siempre una conexión entre la llegada al poder de los manteístas y la reforma de las letras. Desde esa perspectiva se comprende la expectación suscitada por el decreto de expulsión de los…