ART & THE SENSES IN ANCIENT AMERICA

Art and the Senses in Ancient America addresses three essential questions. The first is the materiality of the arts in pre-Columbian America, considering different cultures of both ancient Mesoamerica and the Andean area. In several of its chapters, the importance of physicochemical studies applied to the study of the art of past cultures is evident, because they offer results on the raw materials that were used, which were not always referenced in written or visual sources. The volume approaches art not only from its tangible dimension, but also from its immaterial one, as demonstrated by chapters focused on the culinary, aromatic and musical arts, which appeal to the senses of taste, smell and hearing. This brings us to the second dimension under discussion: the close relationship between the materiality of the arts and their sociocultural meanings. In this sense, the raw materials from which the images, textures, sounds, fragrances and flavors were made, which were part of the art and daily life of these pre-Columbian cultures, had meanings of great importance in their environments of belonging and use, whether they were public or private. This, finally, leads to the third argument that this book explores: the senses and sensory perception of art and daily life that participated in the sacred and the profane, giving identity to numerous sociocultural practices that are present in today’s indigenous communities, who safeguard the historical memory of their ancestors.

Ph.D. in Geography and History from the Universitat de València, and PhD in Art History from the Universitat Politècnica de València. She is a full professor at the Universitat de València. Her research career has been focused on the optimization of new technologies applied to the analysis, conservation and dissemination of cultural heritage in America and Europe, both tangible and intangible. Her line of research has been the archaeometry of the senses in past cultures, with special emphasis on America, ancient Near Est and Europe. She is the recipient of several research fellowships and grants in this topic and served as the Principal Investigator of International R&D+i Projects, such as “Digital Alliances in the Era of Smart Cultural Tourism: Safeguarding and Inmersive Multi-Sensorial Storytelling inthe (In)Material Cultural Heritage of Hygeia-Hipanic Roma” (2023-2024). She also shares the scientific direction of other international projects, such as “Gender Relations, identity and Transgenerationality in Maya Culture. Interdisciplinary Approaches for the Construction of New Narratives of the Maya Past and Present” (2023-2027). She is the author of numerous papers, book chapters and books in prestigious journals and publishing houses, and she has given nearly two hundred specialized conferences in America and Europe.

PhD. Cum Laude from the Faculty of Geography and History at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). Is Full Professor at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain. She has participated in eight research projects, seven of them in Mexico as director, archaeologist, and head of iconography. Her research activity is focused on two main lines: (1) The study of the religion of the Classic Maya period. (2) And the analysis of the art that was created in the first years of the XVI century in New Spain. Mainly unique pieces found in Spain, although they were made in Mexico. His works have been published in more than 50 national and international scientific papers, including articles, books, and book chapters.

Megan E. O’Neil is associate professor of art history at Emory University and is a specialist in the ancient Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures. She received her doctorate in the history of art from Yale University. One aspect of her research focuses on ancient Maya creation of and engagement with stone sculptures, explored in her first book, Engaging Ancient Maya Sculpture at Piedras Negras, Guatemala (Oklahoma), and Memory in Fragments: The Lives of Ancient Maya Sculptures (Texas). She also published a revised edition of Maya Art and Architecture (Thames and Hudson, co-authored with Mary Miller), The Maya (Reaktion), and articles in journals and edited volumes about Maya sculpture, painting, and ceramics that address topics such as iconoclasm, touch and tactility, and materiality, as well as histories of collecting and the reception of Mesoamerican art and culture into the modern day.