This talk addresses aspects of O'Neil's new book, forthcoming from UT Press, that explores how ancient Maya people interacted with monumental stone sculptures over the course of the sculptures’ life histories, including breaking, resetting, enshrinement, and burial. By tracing the sculptures’ own histories, we can learn more about how ancient Maya people used sculptures to engage with the past and how they may have perceived sculptures (or pieces of them) over time. O'Neil also considers questions of materiality and memory and the importance of human interaction with sculptures at various points of their life histories.
Megan E. O'Neil is Assistant Professor of Art History at Emory University. She received her B.A. in Archaeological Studies from Yale College, a Master’s in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in History of Art from Yale. She has published several books: Engaging Ancient Maya Sculpture at Piedras Negras, Guatemala, a revised edition of Maya Art and Architecture (with Mary Miller), Forces of Nature: Ancient Maya Arts from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and The Maya. Another, Memory in Fragments: The Lives of Ancient Maya Sculptures, is forthcoming from UT Press.