Traci Ardren NCF '88 Speaks on Queens in Classic Maya Society
QUEENS IN CLASSIC MAYA SOCIETY:
EXPLORATIONS OF SECULAR POWER AND DIVINE AUTHORITY
A Public Lecture by
Traci Ardren
(NC '88; Ph.D. Yale University, 1997)
Maya Archaeologist and
Associate Professor of Anthropology
University of Miami
In the Chae Auditorium, October 30, 5:30pm
Sponsored by the Anthropology and Gender Studies Programs
The names of many royal women from Classic Maya society have long been known to modern scholars, but their identification as "queens" is a more recent phenomenon. This lecture will present archaeological and epigraphic data available on ancient Maya queens and explores their roles in comparison to royal queens from other cultures. Worldwide the notion of queendom exists at the intersection of culturally specific ideas of gender and power, and many Maya queens can be shown to have expanded upon local notions of gender roles appropriate for elite women. Such achievements were possible because Classic Maya culture contained a belief in not only royal divine kings, but also divine queens.