While preparing a presentation on Maya archaeology, a student takes the following notes:
- Tatiana Proskouriakoff was an art historian and archaeologist who studied Maya hieroglyphic writing.
- Before her research in the 1960s, most scholars believed Maya hieroglyphs depicted only calendar dates and astronomical events.
- Proskouriakoff analyzed sequences of dates carved on monuments at the site of Piedras Negras.
- She demonstrated that the span between the earliest and latest dates on a single monument never exceeded a human lifespan.
- Based on this finding, she argued that the hieroglyphs recorded the historical biographies of Maya rulers rather than astronomical events.
The student wants to support the claim that Proskouriakoff’s work changed how archaeologists understood the primary function of Maya hieroglyphs. Which choice most effectively uses information from the given notes to accomplish this goal?
- Before Proskouriakoff’s research in the 1960s, scholars believed Maya hieroglyphs recorded only calendar dates and astronomical events, but she demonstrated that they actually recorded the historical biographies of actual Maya rulers.Answer
- BTatiana Proskouriakoff, an art historian and archaeologist who studied Maya hieroglyphic writing, analyzed sequences of dates carved on monuments at Piedras Negras.
- CBy demonstrating that the hieroglyphs recorded the life stories of rulers, Proskouriakoff enabled future archaeologists to reconstruct complete dynastic lineages across all major Maya city-states.
- DProskouriakoff’s analysis of monument dates at Piedras Negras proved that ancient Maya rulers typically had short lifespans that never exceeded sixty years.