The Center for 2012 Studies

The Center for 2012 Studies is a think-tank dedicated to investigating how the ancient Maya conceived and thought about the 13-Bak'tun period ending of December 21, 2012. Evidence from a variety of disciplines will be assessed. Opinions and statements of scholars and investigators will be discussed. Links to pertinent academic resources will be provided.

The Center for 2012 Studies is not a place for addressing the wide spectrum of pop culture manifestations in the "2012 phenomenon" or the mass media's distortion and abuse of Maya tradition. There are other places where that has been and can be pursued. Here, we want to provide a clear space for investigating the origins of the Long Count system and the evidence that 2012 was an intentional artifact of the ancient Maya's calendrical cosmology.

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"The Maya Exploration Center Facebook Discussion on the Astronomy of 2012 and Tortuguero Monument 6." A critique and discussion of my SAA paper (linked above), sponsored by the Maya Exploration Center and hosted on Facebook in November-December 2010. Compiled by John Major Jenkins, January 2011. 212 pages. Contributors include Barb MacLeod, Michael Grofe, Carlos Barrera Atuesta, Ed Barnhart, Stanley Guenter, Robert Sitler, John Major Jenkins, Geoff Stray, Miguel Sague, and Gerardo Aldana.

"The Birth-Sacrifice Monument." John Major Jenkins. Posted online July 8, 2011.
An examination of the iconography and setting of a previously undocumented large carved boulder near the pre-Classic site of Izapa in southern Chiapas. Explores its relationships with Maya Creation Myth and symbolism at nearby Izapa. Includes photos of two additional undocumented carved boulders.

Email exchange with Dr Ed Barnhart, July 2010. This email exchange with the Director of the Maya Exploration Center resulted from my SAA presentation in April, 2010 (linked above). It led to the Maya Exploration Center Facebook Discussion in November-December, 2010 (also linked above).

"Review-Essay of Dennis Tedlock’s Book 2000 Years of Mayan Literature (2010)." April 10, 2010. Some have criticized Tedlock's re-languaging of the names of Maya sites, deities, and temples. Unfortunately, this distracts from his many compelling observations about Maya astronomy and mythology, which I focus on in my review-essay. Namely, Tedlock repeatedly demonstrates that the dark rift in the Milky Way is an important reference point for ritual events. He also alludes, albeit obliquely and incompletely, to the era-2012 alignment. He also elaborates on the 2012 perspective that he and Barbara Tedlock presented at the Tulane "2012" conference in February 2009.

"Dating the Construction of the Izapan Ballcourt, and Corrections on the Study of Astronomy in the Izapan Ballcourt." October 18, 2011. Summary: First, there is no hard evidence that dates the construction of the Izapan ballcourt to the Classic Period or post-Classic Period, as insinuated by the Brigham Young University (BYU) archaeologists who studied the site. Rather, the C-14 dates that were taken from Mound 125a, which "adjoins" the ballcourt, are in fact pre-Classic and Middle pre-Classic. Clarifications of statements made by the BYU archaeologists are provided, and their assumptions about the original function of the ballcourt are questioned. Second, misleading statements and citations that don't check out by one Maya scholar are corrected, regarding the history of the study of astronomy in the Izapan ballcourt. Third, one example of academic omission in citing my earlier published work on Izapan iconography and astronomy is discussed, and corrected.

"A Tripartite Figure from the Izapa Group F Ballcourt." This essay, written in early 2007 and originally titled "Three Mini-Essays on the Trinary Structure of Maya Cosmology," explores the tripartite symbolism of a figure found in the mound at the west end of the Izapa ballcourt. It draws from the work of Susannah Ekholm and offers a composite image of the reconstructed figure. The tripartite symbolism is supportive of the three-level symbolism I have proposed for Izapa (Jenkins 1998), which is identifiable in the geographical layout around the site (ocean, land, sky), as well as in the three main monument groups (A, B, and F) with their respective "cosmic centers" and associated deities. Two additional notes in this essay explore a tripartite clan structure in Highland Maya society and the three-level ritual symbolism of metates and thrones.

"The Comalcalco '2012' Date - an Academic / Media Rerun." A response to the AP piece of November 2011 in which a purported "discovery" of a second 2012 date is announced by INAH in Mexico. This piece is designed to concisely address and clarify the background to this story, which is actually a rerun of earlier events. November 29, 2011.

"Toward Reconstructing the Ixil/Quiché Venus Calendar." (Or: How the Dresden Codex Venus Calendar placement (November 18th, 934 A.D. = 1 Ahau 18 Kayab) evolved into one possibly used by the Highland Maya of Guatemala.) Here's one from the archives, folks! Written in 1992, this essay explores an adjustment mechanism to the predictive Venus Round system evident in th Drtesden Codex — a possible and putative one-time shift around 1246 AD among one or more Maya groups in Highland Guatemala, achieving: 1) a corrective recalibration of the predictive system with actual Venus risings, and 2) a coordination of the Venus Round beginning date with the Calednar Round beginning date. This essay is also revealing of my knowledge-base and the level of work I was doing twenty years ago, when I declined to pursue a course of Guaranteed Student Debt by attending the University of Colorado at Boulder (where I had been accepted as a 27-year-old non-traditional student). I do not regret that decision. May 1992.

I am collecting many items of research into an Occasional Notes archive. About eighteen of these are relatively short items already completed but never posted or published. As I prepare them as PDFs they will be posted below.