In contrast to a traditional ethno-archaeological approach, in which contemporary communities are mined for information that can be applied to the past, this study considers that the interpretation... Show moreIn contrast to a traditional ethno-archaeological approach, in which contemporary communities are mined for information that can be applied to the past, this study considers that the interpretation of Maya material culture belongs to the people whose identity has been formed within the natural and material environments of that area, and through the effects of cultural interactions and differences (such as the Spanish Conquest and modernity) alongside certain continuities. The aim of this investigation has been to make this study of the past relevant to the present, specifically to people in the Maya area. As such, the theoretical framework, alongside anthropological and archaeological research, looks to philosophies surrounding personhood and materiality that have been extracted from interviewees from the Maya community of Santa Elena, in Yucatan, Mexico. European and Maya theories have been used together to re-position the philosophies behind the investigation of what we call Maya __art.__ Show less
