Spring/Summer 1998
Recent Advances in the Archaeology of the Northern Andes Patricia and William P. Simpson hold a representation of the Maya glyph Alautun, which Simpson chose for his company's logo and which appears on his bookplates. His company is named Tucul (the Maya word for "thinking").	ON SITE Apologies The staff of Backdirt apologizes to Phyllisa Eisentraut and to Brian D. Dillon for the misspelling of their names in the Fall/Winter 1997 issue of Backdirt. New Volume Published Recent Advances in the Archaeology of the Northern Andes: In Memory of Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff, edited by Augusto Oyuela-Caycedo and J. Scott Raymond, is the 39th volume in the Institute's monograph series. See excerpt. Divine Rulers: Royal Histories of the Ancient Maya is title for 5th Annual Maya Weekend The 5th Annual Maya Weekend will be held in the Lenart Auditorium of the Fowler Museum on October 17th and 18th. Its theme is "Divine Rulers: Royal Histories of the Ancient Maya." With the ongoing decipherment of the ancient Maya script over the past 30 years, scholars have begun to examine the nature of power and organization within ancient Maya society. This examination has come from both ongoing archaeological investigations at Maya sites throughout the Maya lowlands and from new and different decipherments of the ancient script. Our understanding of Maya political, social, and economic organization is changing with new views of rulership, inheritance, and polity relationships across the lowlands. The speakers, including Ian Graham, William Fash, Matthew Looper, Robert Sharer, Karl Taube, Maricela Ayala, Dorie Reents-Budet, Simon Martin, Julia Kappelman, and Patricia McAnany, will present some of the newest and most up-to-date archaeological and epigraphic finds, analyses, and interpretations. For information, call the Maya hotline at 310/825-8064. Posnansky Given African Arts Council Award Merrick Posnansky, Emeritus Professor of History and Anthropology,has been selected for the Leadership Award of the Arts Council of the African Studies Association for his contributions to the understanding and advancement of African art studies. The award was presented at the Triennial Symposium on African Art at New Orleans on April 11th. Professor Posnansky is one of the founding members of the Council and was responsible for establishing the first public gallery for African art in eastern Africa in Kampala in 1959 and taught the first university classes on art history in tropical Africa in Nairobi in 1957. He has also undertaken research on the rock art of Uganda and has reviewed many books on African rock art. Gutman Reading Room gets ready to open The journals are all organized alphabetically and call numbers are on the books as the Gutman Reading Room gets ready to open its doors on May 21st. The reading room is named for Theodore E. Gutman, a tireless friend of archaeology and of the Institute, who died in 1997. We hope both his memory and his philosophy will be embodied in this reading room. The Institute has long wanted to have a reading room for the use of graduate students, faculty, and staff. William P. Simpson's recent donation of his vast Maya collection to the Institute, along with Ruth Gutman's donation of some of her husband's archaeological books and journals and Lynn Cooper's donation of her late husband Bob's books and journals, form the basis of the collection. John Steinberg serves as librarian, and volunteer Don Corbett is soliciting donations of funds as well as books and journal subscriptions for its support. A searchable catalog is available online (http://gutman.ioa.ucla.edu/).
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