BIRDS AMONG THE MODERN AND ANCIENT MAYA

Ongoing field work by the authors among seven Mayan linguistic communities in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize reveal details about the important roles that birds play in the daily lives of modern Mayan hunting, farming, and urban communities.  These discoveries shed additional light on birds as depicted in Mayan ethnohistorical accounts as well as Ancient Mayan texts and iconography.  Individual birds play specific roles in Mayan mythology and social practices, while birds in general are frequently viewed as spirit messengers that play important roles in forecasting social, meteorological, and ecological events in the community.