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This creative thesis involved making an animated short film from scratch, dubbed “Laundry Day” for the time being. The film follows two sentient clothing characters, a hoodie and a pair of pants, who need to get out of their owner’s room to get to the laundry room after accidentally being left behind. Please watch the short here and use the password “goodiehoodie”: https://vimeo.com/415387205 This was a time consuming, challenging, and multifaceted project, but provided an accurate glimpse into how feature animation is made. The process of making any project like this is commonly called a pipeline, and can be simplified to seven categories: Story, Character, Environment, Animation, Effects, and Rendering. This paper will go into each of these and explain the technical and creative challenges I had to overcome to reach the final product.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the grammatical system of Classical Ch'olti', the language of the Classic Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions, as attested in inscriptions of the Early Classic (approximately AD 200-600). Around 300 Lowland Maya Hieroglyphic inscriptions have been dated to the Early Classic or before, nearly one third of these remain unpublished. Previous work on the monumental inscriptions of the Early Classic (Mathews 1985; Proskouriakoff 1950) has examined Early Classic monuments primarily as works of art. Mora-Marin (2001) examined the language of inscriptions found on early portable texts, a small subset of the corpus here examined. In great part, however, this study of the language of Early Classic inscriptions breaks new ground. The body of the thesis consists of a description of the linguistic system attested in Early Classic texts, with particular emphasis on morphology. The corpus is divided into three general sections according to date: Cycle 8 Texts, including all texts which date prior to the end of the Eighth Baktun in AD 435; Early Ninth Baktun Texts, covering the years between AD 435 and AD 534 (9.0.0.0.0-9.5.0.0.0 in the Maya Long Count), and ‘Terminal Early Classic’ Texts, which includes texts from between AD 534 and AD 633 (9.5.0.0.0-9.10.0.0.0). With these divisions it is possible to track the development of the attested linguistic system of the Early Classic inscriptions. It is discovered that the core elements of that system are already in place by the end of the Baktun 8. The morphological features first attested during the Eighth Baktun continue in use for the duration of the Early Classic, though in both of the subsequent time periods new features are added to the inventory of Early Classic morphemes. The static nature of the language, as suggested by its apparent continuity throughout the centuries which comprise the Early Classic, is consistent with the prestige status proposed for that language by Houston et al. (2000).

One of the most significant finds at the site of Blackman Eddy, Belize, is a series of superimposed structures that date between 1200 B.C.-A.D. 600 (calibrated). Because it was continuously occupied for over 1800 years, this site provides a unique opportunity to examine long-term socio-economic changes in the eastern Maya lowlands. This thesis is a diachronic study of the chipped stone tool artifacts of Blackman Eddy using technological, attribute, and use-wear analysis. The data collected for this study were examined to see what types of raw materials were used in tool production, what types of tools were produced, how they were produced, and what they were used for during the Middle Preclassic, Late Preclassic, and Classic periods. Each of the attributes studied in this thesis creates different opportunities and constraints for the various chipped stone tool industries of Blackman Eddy, and changes in chipped stone artifact attributes between the different structures may be indicative of socio-economic change over time.

The militaristic interpretations of the art of Chichen Itza, Yucatán, Mexico, fails to sufficiently describe its entire decorative program. Absent from discussions of the art tradition is the apparent focus on merchant activity in the city. The influence and power of merchants strengthened during the transition from the Classic to Postclassic in Mesoamerica. With an increase in demand of foreign goods, new exchange relationships developed between centers in Central Mexico, the Gulf, and Maya region. As a result, several cultural regions participated in a vast economic network that created political alliances and syncretic art styles. Focusing on the mural tradition of Chichen Itza, this study proposes a chronological sequence for the wall paintings by examining their style, subject matter, and architectural setting. Analysis of the painted images demonstrates the progressive development of merchant activity in the city and its influence in establishing Chichen Itza as one of the major centers of long-distance trade by the Terminal Classic.

The current global flows of people, capital, technology, images and ideas--a phenomenon described as "mediascapes" by Arjun Appadurai (1996), traverse the most isolated Maya communities in Guatemala. These flows have recently influenced the creation of hybrid media products among the Maya. Among them we find an emerging indigenous musical genre called "Rock-Maya." I use reception analysis methods to document the encoding and decoding of this new indigenous medium of communication. Through qualitative interviews I attempt to show how K'iche'-Maya youth appropriate, what Motti Regev (1997) calls, the rock aesthetic to promote a sense of K'iche'-Maya youth identity in a modern local, national and global context. I conclude that Rock-Maya music serves as a form of cultural communication and a source for identity construction among young Maya adults. The production and consumption of this music also creates spaces for colonial relationships to be redefined and equalized in Guatemala. A short music video clip forms part of the study.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and document parentage statements and paired stela found on Maya monuments or portable objects. While the existence of parentage statements, within the Maya text, has been known since the late 1970s, no thesis or major research project has ever been published pertaining to this class of glyphs within the Maya script. In 1977 Christopher Jones is credited with the discovery of parentage statements in Maya hieroglyphic texts (Jones 1977). His discovery was followed by a detailed analysis of parentage statements by Floyd Lounsbury, Peter Mathews, and Linda Schele (1977). They introduced most of the known parentage statements and detailed their use in the hieroglyphic texts. While their work, which introduced parentage statements, in general, is cited regularly as the all-encompassing source of information about parentage statements, it remains unpublished. This thesis provides a source for all new and previous work done on parentage statements and insight into possibly why parentage statements were used by the Classic Maya. An analysis of 253 archaeological sites containing a total of 2473 glyphic monuments was conducted as part of this thesis. Justin Kerr's online vase and photo collections were also checked for parentage statements on portable objects and ceramic vessels. Parentage statements were found on 225 monuments and 70 portable objects bringing the total to 295 different monuments with parentage statements. Each parentage statement is identified and transcribed phonetically. The usage of each parentage statement and its variants are then mapped through time. Also introduced in this thesis is the death of a parent glyph commonly known as the Winged Capped Ajaw Death Phrase. An analysis of its usage demonstrates that it refers to the death of a parent. Paired stelae were analyzed as another possible form of parentage statements. This thesis tests three hypotheses on why parentage statements were used. They included ancestor worship, political legitimacy, and heir designation. The weaknesses and strengths of each hypothesis are demonstrated through case studies. Lastly, the appendices include source material for each site and monument researched as part of this thesis.

The lintels of Yaxchilan Structure 23 seem to be a demonstrable case wherein specific symbols are singled out and deliberately used in an ordered sequence. Taken together as a unified series, Yaxchilan Lintels 24, 25, and 26 summarize the multi-step process of royal autosacrifice. An iconographic study of the huipil patterns depicted on these lintels yields a better understanding of complex bloodletting iconography and the way in which depictions of ceremonial autosacrifice reinforce Classic Maya beliefs relating to the divine role of Maya elite in eliciting communion with the gods and the subsequent rebirth of the cosmos. The rich iconography of the lintels gives depth to our understanding of importance of royal bloodletting on a cosmic level. Their detailed imagery clarifies what seems to have occurred during each step of the ritual process. The events and symbolism depicted on the three lintels build from each other to form a unified iconographic whole centered on the rebirth of the gods and the cosmos through royal autosacrifice. Iconographic changes from one lintel to the next communicate the pervasiveness of cycles of death and rebirth in Classic Maya cosmology. The symbolism of each lintel communicates the interrelatedness of death and rebirth, while underscoring the role of the ruler in initiating cosmic renewal through autosacrifice. As Yaxchilan Lintels 24, 25, and 26 present themselves in an interrelated series, the subtle differences within the iconography from one lintel to the next represent important progressions within cycles of death and rebirth, elucidating the significance of certain steps within the royal bloodletting ritual and the cosmic rebirth that takes place as a result. As a set, the combined iconographies present on the queen's huipil—crosses, flowers, and toads—epitomize the objective of the ritual, namely rebirthing the cosmos and the gods through the sacrifice of divine blood.

The purpose of this thesis is to document the changes in archaeological origin narratives concerning the lowland Preclassic Maya. This was accomplished by tracking the changes in four major narratives over several decades. These narratives include Herbert J. Spinden's Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America; The Ancient Maya written by Sylvanus G. Morley, with additional editors, George Brainerd, Robert J. Sharer, and Loa Traxler; Michael D. Coe's The Maya, and Richard E.W. Adams's Prehistoric Mesoamerica. The specific parts of the narratives analyzed were the origins of agriculture, ceramic technology, writing, and monumental architecture. Changes in metaphorical language and illustrations that accompanied these texts were also analyzed. Shifts in narratives were tracked through the changes made to the texts in sequential editions, and were then compared between editions, and between books. The analysis of these narratives showed that the changes in the narratives resulted from a number of factors, including new technology, such as radiocarbon dating; new discoveries, in the form of artwork, sites, and artifacts; the decipherment of the Maya glyphs; and changes in the field of archaeology. The largest change that archaeological research has shown that Maya civilization is older than first imagined. Writing, ceramic technology, and monumental architecture are all now known be to centuries older than previously thought, all of which require a much different narrative than first told in 1841 by John Lloyd Stephens.

Two plazas at Cobá, Mexico, may have been the place of market activity during the classic Maya period. The intense decomposition in the warm, moist soils of the Yucatan Peninsula precludes the identification of organic artifacts in archaeological contexts, but phosphorus and trace elements accumulation in soils may provide evidence of marketing activities. The spatial patterns of P and trace element concentrations were used to elucidate the types of ancient Maya activities that took place in those plazas. Phosphorus concentrations are highly correlated (p-value <0.01) with Fe, Mn, and Zn levels in both Plaza B and D. Although the soil geochemistry of Plaza B does not show a marketplace pattern in comparison with previous studies, the elemental concentrations and distributions within Plaza D join other lines of evidence to support the premise that marketplace activities took place at that location. Soil samples were analyzed using DTPA extraction, Mehlich II, Olsen, and Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (PXRF). Experiments were performed to study the suitability of PXRF for field studies. Aspects that were studied include granule size, soil moisture content, protective plastic films that could interfere with the X-Ray signal when placing the samples on top of the analyzer, and a comparison of certified soil standards to the PXRF elemental concentration readings. The results suggest that a field laboratory could be set up to air-dry and sieve soil samples to a minimum mesh size of #10 (> 2 mm).