The intellectual achievements of the Classic Period Maya civilization (c. 250 – 900 C.E.), including the development of a complex, fully functional writing system capable of expressing human speech, continue to fascinate and inspire contemporary observers. Scribes carved or painted glyphs onto limestone stelae, fine polychrome pottery, and other media. They also wrote in bark-paper books, only four of which survived the ravages of time, a jungle climate, and the Spanish Conquest. Fortunately, numerous texts of considerable length remain, as for example the famous riser text on Copan’s Hieroglyphic Staircase. The Classic Maya writing system was well established by 250 C.E. Maya archaeologists and epigraphers have recently discovered a new set of inscriptions at the site of San Bartolo that pushes back the existence of Maya writing hundres of years, to a time referred to by scholars as the Preclassic Period. The discovery is a major breakthrough, not least of which because it suggests that early Maya polities might have been as complex, from a socio-political standpoint, as those that existed during the later Classic Period. Such evidence has been mounting for at least two decades. The precise relationship between the Maya writing system and other Mesoamerican scripts, like the ones that evolved independently in Oaxaca and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, is not well understood. The tortuous process of decipherment of the Classic Period texts has occupied scholars’ attention for roughly the past fifty years. As a result of their hard work, the ancient Maya have finally emerged from the shadows of prehistory. Obtain more information about this exciting discovery at Mesoweb. –David C. Murray

According to an article published in the January 27, 2006 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education, over the past several years the number of history Ph.D. graduates has decreased even as the number of positions on offer at colleges and universities around the United States has steadily increased. While job markets are cyclical, the statistics can only be good news for history graduate students. The addition of more than a dozen new, highly regarded history faculty at Temple over the past several years certainly bears out this trend. –David C. Murray

Faculty often require students to read specific books and journal articles for class. The easiest way to ensure that all students have equal access to the required material is to use Library Reserves. Required books can still be placed on physical reserve in Access Services at the Circulation Desk in Tuttleman. As indicated below, journal articles will now be made available through e-reserves only. Visit this page for more information about e-reserves and to fill out the online form. Students can access articles here. The following is a message from Penelope Myers, Head of Access Services: “Effective Spring 2006 semester Paley reserves will supply articles as e-reserves only. We will have backups of all articles on CD should Diamond ever go down. This is being done as we anticipate that so many students will be wanting to access materials remotely rather than coming into Paley/Tuttleman to check out photocopies, and also with the advent of e-z proxy remote access issues having largely disappeared.” –David C. Murray

View a list of recently purchased books on the history of the Americas (i.e. U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean). The list was generated as part of a trial collection of new book lists, and contains all books and e-books acquired in the past month. Titles are organized by Library of Congress classification number (E and F), not by title or date. –David C. Murray

The History News category will serve as a forum for library-related news, events, and discussion of interest to Temple’s History Department. Find announcements about new databases, trials, search tips, etc. An RSS feed is available. Contact David Murray, history subject specialist, if you have an announcement relevant to this category. This site replaces the Library News section on the Main History Subject Guide. –David C. Murray