Embodied Signs

In this article, we couple Peircean semiotic theory with Laban movement analysis (LMA) to interpret scenes of Classic period Maya dance. We focus primarily on depictions found on polychrome ceramics that feature the dances of the Maize God and contrast them with those featuring thewahycreatures that inhabit the underworld. We interpret their inner emotional states based on their postural and gestural vocabularies using LMA, developed for that very purpose. The body can be considered a semiotic sign, and is therefore capable of simultaneously conveying iconic, symbolic, and indexical meanings. Maya dance has typically been interpreted at the iconic or symbolic levels, which reveal its mimetic or representational qualities. We explore the indexical qualities of the bodies of the dancers, and propose that shifting our attention to the indicative mode enables us to gain yet more insight into their embodied states

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Creatures · Dance · Embodied cognition · Focus (optics · Gesture · Indexicality · Linguistics · Maya · Natural (archaeology · Reading (process · Semiotics · Sign (mathematics · Sign system · Visual arts · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture · Cognitive Science and Education Research · Computer Science · Media, Communication, and Education · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence · Communication · History · Philosophy

• Sobre la enseñanza de las artes en la historia

  Open Access•Juan Luis Rubio Mayoral, Guadalupe Trigueros Gordillo•Historia de la Educación•2022

  Incluir item

• Semiología de la danza escénica. Aportación de conocimientos en el currículum de la formación superior

  Open Access•Natalia Ollora-Triana, Natalia Ollora Triana et al.•Historia de la Educación•2022

  Incluir item

• The Ancient Maya Script of Hand Forms Embedded in Figural Art

  Open Access•Rich A Sandoval•Transactions of the Philological…•2025

  Incluir item

• Semiologic process in the performance of a dance performance

  Open Access•Natalia Ollora-Triana, Miguel Corbi Santamaría et al.•Arte individuo y sociedad•2023

  Incluir item

• The Maya book of the dead

  Francis Robicsek•The Maya book of the dead•1981

  Incluir item

• Houses in a Landscape

  Open Access•Julia A Hendon, Lynn Meskell•Houses in a Landscape•2010

  Incluir item

• Images from the Underworld

  Andrea J Stone, Andrea Stone•Images from the Underworld•1995

  Incluir item

• Semiotics

  Daniel Chandler•Semiotics•2003

  Incluir item

• The Essential Peirce, Volume 2

  Peirce Edition Project Peirce Edition Project, Peirce Edition Peirce Edition…•Essential Peirce, Volume 2•1998

  Incluir item

• The blood of kings

  Linda Schele, Mary Ellen Miller•The blood of kings•1986

  Incluir item

• The Memory of Bones

  Houston, Stephen Houston et al.•Memory of Bones•2006

  Incluir item

• The Indian Christ, the Indian King

  Victoria Reifler Bricker•Indian Christ, the Indian King•1981

  Incluir item

• (UN)Masking Gender — Gold Foil (DIS)Embodiments in Late Iron Age Scandinavia

  Ing-Marie Back Danielsson•Thinking Through the Body•2002

  Incluir item

• Art and Writing in the Maya Cities, A.D. 600–800

  Open Access•Maya E O’neil, Megan O'Neil•American Anthropologist•2006

  Incluir item

• Obsidian Symbolism in a Temple Offering from La Laguna, Tlaxcala

  D M Carballo•Obsidian Reflections•2014

  Incluir item

• Body, Movement, and Culture

  Sally Ann Ness•Body, Movement, and Culture•1992

  Incluir item

• Archaeological Semiotics

  Open Access•Robert Preucel, Robert W Preucel•Archaeological Semiotics•2006

  Incluir item

• Pottery politics

  Open Access•C T Halperin, Antonia E Foias•Journal of Anthropological…•2010

  Incluir item

• “All That Is Solid…”

  Open Access•R Hutson, Aline Magnoni et al.•Ancient Mesoamerica•2012

  Incluir item

• Late Classic Maya Pottery Production

  Open Access•P M Rice•Journal of Archaeological Method…•2009

  Incluir item

• The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures

  David Soto Carrasco, Davíd Carrasco•The Oxford encyclopedia of…•2001

  Incluir item

• The Blood of Kings. Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art

  John Lunsford•African Arts•1986

  Incluir item

• Nahua in Ancient Mesoamerica

  Open Access•Martha J Macri, Matthew G Looper•Ancient Mesoamerica•2003

  Incluir item

• Do facial expressions signal specific emotions? Judging emotion from the face in context

  James M Carroll, James A Russell•Journal of Personality and Social…•1996

  Incluir item

• Imagining Courtly Communities

  Open Access•Sarah E Jackson•Ancient Mesoamerica•2009

  Incluir item

• Classic Maya Dance

  Open Access•Nikolai Grube•Ancient Mesoamerica•1992

  Incluir item

• Archaeological Pragmatics

  Robert W Preucel, Alexander A Bauer•Norwegian Archaeological Review•2001

  Incluir item

• Course in General Linguistics

  Ferdinand Desaussure•Course in General Linguistics•2013

  Incluir item

• The Lowland Maya Area. Three Millennia at the Human-Wildland Interface

  Open Access•Anthony S Amend, Anthony Amend•Economic Botany•2004

  Incluir item

• Left/Right Symbolism and the Body in Ancient Maya Iconography and Culture

  Open Access•Joel W Palka, Joel Palka•Latin American Antiquity•2002

  Incluir item

• Decorous bodies and disordered passions

  Houston, Stephen D Houston•World Archaeology•2001

  Incluir item

• Archaeology of the Body

  R A Joyce•Annual Review of Anthropology•2005

  Incluir item