09/04/2026
September 7, 8:00 PM ET
Aztlander Zoom
“An Overview of Zapotec Hieroglyphic Writing”
with John Justeson, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Anthropology, University at Albany (NY)
Access this hyperlink to join in the event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87554247704
This talk will present my work with Terrence Kaufman† toward the decipherment of Zapotec hieroglyphic writing, based primarily on the texts from the Zapotec capital at Monte Alban in Oaxaca, Mexico. As usual in the study of Mesoamerican writing systems, numerical and calendrical data has been instrumental in structuring research on the script; reading words and sentences in the Monte Alban texts depends on analyzing hieroglyphic patterns in terms of the sound systems and grammatical patterns of Zapotecan languages. This talk will illustrate these patterns and exemplify them along with their patterning in Zapotec hieroglyphic texts.
After a few years of adjunct teaching and earning an MS in computer science and electrical engineering (1986-88) at Stanford, John Justeson worked in the Department of Artificial Intelligence at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights NY. Thereafter, he taught for 30-1/3 years in the Department of Anthropology at the State University of New York in Albany (August 1990 to January 2021). He has co-authored two monographs and authored or co-authored 90 articles; most are devoted to Mesoamerican languages and/or hieroglyphic writing, the rest mostly to other languages and scripts or to computational linguistics.
Now retired, John doesn’t always share his knowledge in a public forum. It is a great honor to host him in an Aztlander virtual event. This is a special opportunity to learn something new and interact with with an expert in the field directly. Please plan on attending!
