In the 1960s, Gordon Willey and a team of Harvard archaeologists led the investigation of Ceibal, a Maya site in Guatemala. Their research revealed that Ceibal was a very early settlement, one that predated the cities constructed in the heyday of Maya civilization. Recent excavations in Ceibal, directed by Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan, have produced exciting new findings, including the discovery of what is considered the earliest ceremonial complex in the Maya lowlands, dating to 950 BCE. Inomata and Triadan discuss the new discoveries and what they reveal about the origins of Maya culture and society.
This Gordon R. Willey Lecture was co-presented by the Museum of Science, Boston and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology on February 19, 2015.