Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) provides a new alternative to destructive methods of raw material characterization, such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF), neutron activation analysis (NAA), and traditional thin section petrography, although its effectiveness on coarse-grained materials, such as granite, has been questioned. This project addressed this question by determining the effectiveness of pXRF in characterizing granites from Belize and in sourcing granite ground stone tools from Maya sites in Belize. Geochemical fingerprints were defined for three potential source areas (granite plutons in the Maya Mountains of Belize) using outcrop samples. Samples were analyzed using pXRF, XRF, electron microprobe (EMPA), and thin section analyses. PXRF data from archaeological collections of granite ground stone tools from sites in Belize were then compared to the pluton geochemical signatures. There were two principle results of this research. First, analyses indicated that pXRF can accurately characterize the geochemistry of granites from Belize on a suite of elements. Second, this research demonstrated that the Maya of Belize exploited multiple granite outcrops and participated in different kinds of exchange networks to acquire granite, sometimes acquiring stone from the nearest outcrops and sometimes not. While Mountain Pine Ridge was the dominant source outcrop that was exploited, Cockscomb Basin and Hummingbird Ridge granites were also quarried or scavenged. Sometimes the closest source was used, as is the case at Alabama, who exploited the locally available Cockscomb Basin granite. Through this study it appears that the nearest pluton was not always used. Instead Mountain Pine Ridge granite tools were imported from a greater distance, implying that there were additional factors, such as economic partners and changing political powers, which lead to Mountain Pine Ridge granite being the most pervasive in most archaeological collections within Belize.

A district-wide school garden project has been initiated in the Toledo District of Southern Belize in response to reported high rates of poverty and undernutrition. This paper will discuss research conducted in the summer of 2007 with Q'eqchi' Maya in the Toledo District to determine the effect of school gardens on household diet and gardening, the composition of the household diet, and the makeup of homegardens. Food frequency questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted in two rural villages, one with a school garden program and one without. Various members of NGOs working on school garden projects in the district were also interviewed about the functionality and purpose of the projects. Results discussed herein include the limited effects of the school garden program, the role that both homegardens and school gardens play in household diet and nutrition, the diverse array of fruit trees utilized by the Q'eqchi, and a description and inventory of a typical Q'eqchi' homegarden in Belize.

The Lake Atitlan Basin of highland Guatemala boasted fertile soils and was rich in natural resources, making it an attractive area for permanent settlement. However, the region lacked a number of important items, such as salt, cotton, and obsidian, all of which had to be obtained through trade. Good agricultural land was also scarce in certain parts of the lake and the steep hillslopes were easily eroded, making it necessary for communities to maintain access to emergency supplies of corn. Lake Atitlan’s communities were therefore highly dependent on exchanges with neighboring groups who occupied contrasting ecological zones, especially those in the Pacific Coast. However, the Pacific piedmont was a corridor of interregional trade and a source of valuable goods such as cacao; factors which made it a focus of political contestation and instability. Additionally, the lower coast appears to have been vulnerable to episodes of drought, prompting periodic migrations to higher altitudes. All of these factors must have made it challenging for the communities of Lake Atitlan to maintain access to the resources they needed, and therefore to sustain their way of life. And while there is currently no evidence to suggest a collapse or abandonment of the lake, the majority of the existing data comes from a small number of sites concentrated near the southern shore and the lack of rural settlement data makes it impossible to assess the impact that broad scale political, economic, and environmental changes had on the general population of the lake and their internal organization. The Lake Atitlan Archaeological Project (PALA) set out to rectify this situation by generating systematic settlement and ceramic data for an important sub-region of the lake, namely the southwestern shore. The current dissertation combines the data generated by this project with data from previous investigations, to provide a more comprehensive synthesis of the cultural-historic development of the lake and to place this development in its broader Mesoamerican context. Drawing on resilience and world systems concepts, the two main questions that I set out to answer in this dissertation are: How did Lake Atitlan’s socio-cultural systems adapt to broad scale fluctuations in the Mesoamerican world system, and, did these adaptations succeed in producing a more resilient society?

This study describes the grammar of the Ch’orti’ Maya language as it appears in a collection of oral literature. I collected the stories that form the basis of this study in and around Jocotán, Guatemala, during 2004 and 2005. I worked with bilingual story-tellers to make audio recordings of the original Ch’orti’-language tales, produce textual transcriptions, and Spanish-language translations. Here I have translated the stories into English, and have analyzed the resulting bilingual texts linguistically, producing a description of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language. / acase@tulane.edu

This dissertation analyzes the politics of representing Mayan ethnicity in Guatemalan tourism. Most importantly, it demonstrates the importance of cultural representations in tourism events to local Mayas themselves. It does this by demonstrating how tourism organizations are, in some cases, dynamically challenging long-held stereotypes of Guatemala's Mayan populations and creating new economic resources that are helping to empower local Mayan communities in Guatemala's second largest city, Quetzaltenango. However, through this examination it is also evident that not all tourism organizations in Quetzaltenango share these goals or produce these particular types of social and economic changes. How a tourism organization affects change on social and economic landscapes is often determined by its power to make its goals a reality. By examining tourism organizations with a wide range of ethnic and economic characteristics (be they for-profit, non-profit, indigenous, or non-indigenous), and how these characteristics are managed and manipulated, this dissertation analyzes how tourism organizations accumulate the power to make some changes in Quetzaltenango's social and economic landscapes more possible than others. Additionally, within anthropological literature there is rich material that examines the foundation and growth of indigenous movements in Latin America and the ability of these movements to mobilize political support for collective indigenous rights, cultural diversity, and the celebration of ethnic pride as well as to overcome indigenous political marginalization and poverty. However, within this body of work there is rarely mention of the political potential of tourism to mobilize support, celebrate diversity, and to overcome indigenous marginalization and poverty. This dissertation also demonstrates how the political potential of tourism can help indigenous movements accomplish these goals.

<p> </p><p>To build muscles to enhance the animation of a 3D character takes more time and effort than the standard character rig. In some cases, the muscles will not be noticeable and therefore are unnecessary. This research tried to find the moments when the muscles did or did not make a difference. The new Maya Muscle System is also explored and the procedure to create muscles for a standard rig is explained. The test that was performed showed that the muscles are more noticeable in all cases.</p><p> </p>

<p>It takes time to model buildings in a 3D city environment, for example in a game. Time is usually something very constricted in a production stage of anything, whether it is a personal project at home, at school or more occurring; in the 3D industry. This report will bring forth a method to quickly generate detailed buildings with the help of Python scripting, integrated in Maya 2009. The script will be working with modules that will be assembled together to create a modern city type of building. A comparison will be made between this script and a couple other scripts that offer the same solution but in different ways.</p>

<p>Motion Capture is an essential part of a world full of digital effects in movies and games. Understanding the pipelines between software is a crucial component of this research. Methods that create the motion capture structure today are reviewed, and how they are implemented in order to create the movements that we see in modern games and movies.</p>

<p>Some six million people in modern Central America are considered to be “Maya” and thereby descendants of an ethnic group that created one of the great early civilizations of mankind. The present study, in a first section, looks in some detail at how the Maya became a group of its own, slowly separating itself from Mesoamerican neighbors, taking on an ethnic identity, markers and boundaries Attention is paid to what can be considered uniquely Maya and what remained features shared with other groups. This historic section follows the Maya until early colonization. The next section gives an overview of modern Mayaness, activism and Maya claims to preserve and revitalize a supposed heritage, taking it into the 21st century. With the historic section as a mirror and background, the study aims at identifying how Mayaness is maintained through time, how silent testimonies tell us about the use in the past of ethnic and cultural markers. Proofs are given of such elements still alive. The text goes on to discuss the future of Maya ethnic identity and culture, its continuity while changing.</p>

This research develops a technique focused on shading and texturing, with an emphasis on line work and color, to emulate the unique qualities of copperplate line-engraving from 16th century cartography. A visual analysis of selected maps determines the defining characteristics adapted for three-dimensional computer generated environments. The resulting work is presented in a short time-based animation.