Karl A. Taube is a scholar of Mesoamerican archaeology and iconography, and this Dumbarton Oaks Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology monograph is his standard academic study identifying the deities of the Maya codices with the Schellhas god-letter system, matching those letter designations to specific named deities and to figures known from the Classic period. Its strength is systematic iconographic and epigraphic analysis grounded in the primary codex and monument evidence, which is why it remains the reference point this atlas cites for figures such as God A, God B, God D, God E, God F, God G and God M. Its limit is that it is a technical identification study aimed at specialists, so a reader wanting a general introduction to Maya religion as lived practice, rather than to its codified deity system, needs a broader source alongside this one.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Published by Dumbarton Oaks in its Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology series as Karl A. Taube's standard academic study, peer reviewed university-level Mesoamerican scholarship. NotesThe standard study identifying the deities of the Maya codices with the Schellhas god-letter designations and with Classic-period figures. Used here for God A, God B, God D, God E, God F, God G and God M.
Citation
AuthorKarl A. Taube
PublisherDumbarton Oaks
Publication Year1992
URLhttps://archive.org/details/taube-the-major-gods-of-ancient-yucatan
Source Typeacademic monograph
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Maya, Figures This source names Maya directly: "study identifying the deities of the Maya codices with the Schellhas god-letter system, matching those letter designations to specific named deities and to figures known from the Classic period."
Claims Backed By This Source (37 claims)
This source backs 37 claims across the atlas. As facts: 20 well-attested. As cited relationships: 7 holds. Plus 10 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Deities, 25 claims: 11 well-attested, 6 holds, 8 general references.
- Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Articles, 1 claims: 1 well-attested.
- Cultures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
- Religions, 1 claims: 1 general references.
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