In the late nineteenth century, Western Powers launched military campaigns in sub-Saharan Africa resulting in the colonization of vast territories and the spoliation of cultural property. To justify the conquest, they asserted the supremacy of Western culture and disregarded principles of international law in their dealings with African states, communities, and individuals. This article examines colonialist legal justifications such as the denial of statehood of pre-colonial sub-Saharan African societies, the notion that conquest and spoliation were justifiable, and the belief that African legal systems lacked concepts of property. The article details why these arguments contradict well-established nineteenth-century legal principles, particularly state sovereignty and private property, which together form the conceptual basis for the prohibition of spoliation. The universal nature of those principles allows for the nondiscriminatory application and interpretation of historical law and consequently the protection of African pre-colonial states and private as well as public cultural property.

Classic Maya history was rife with shifting political coalitions and disputes with the key antagonists, Tikal and the Kaan regime, at the center. Understanding how power dynamics and political shifts were experienced among subordinate polities is best viewed from multiple perspectives. We employ elements of Graeber and Sahlins' (2017) stranger-king model, focusing on exogamous marriage practices in relation to two Snake Queens ruling at Waka’. They served as direct links between the Kaan regime and the subordinate Wak polity. We focus on the political and diplomatic nature of their roles in crafting Waka's place in the overarching narratives of alliance and conquest during the sixth through the early part of the eighth centuries. The pairing of archaeological and textual data surrounding Ix Ikoom in the sixth century and Lady K'abel during the seventh century permit interrogation of women's prominence with respect to Kaan regime-building strategies during these centuries.

The ancient Maya political landscape was permeated by regional systems of political asymmetry. These hegemonic networks fluctuated through time, but the steady presence of a few especially dominant polities shows that they were a persistent feature with very real sociopolitical effects. Based on research carried out at the sites of La Corona and Achiotal, and epigraphic studies in many other sites in the Maya Central Lowlands, we offer a general interpretation of the historical and sociopolitical development of one of these hegemonic polities: the Kaanul dynasty. Combining epigraphic and archaeological data, we discuss the Early Classic political landscape in the northern Peten region (“Chatahn” Winik, Suutz', and Sak Wahyis), as well as the development and maintenance of political relations with the Kaanul dynasty for over two centuries. These data allow us to suggest that the northwestern Peten was not only a strategic point for the initial expansion of the Kaanul dynasty in the sixth century a.d., but also an important lynchpin for the maintenance of its hegemonic control in the seventh and eighth centuries a.d. We suggest that epigraphic and archaeological data of the northern Peten from the Classic period help to illuminate how a unique regional hegemony over the Maya Lowlands was achieved and maintained.

The story of the Classic Maya “Snake” kingdom is truly a tale of two cities, with a capital that evidently switched from Dzibanche to Calakmul in the seventh century a.d. This article explores the era of transition between them in search of an elusive sequence of kings, while asking why the transfer came about and who played principal roles in it. Although grounded in finds at Calakmul, any attempt to answer complex questions of this nature must draw on a wider body of materials, both epigraphic and archaeological, from across the southern Maya Lowlands. Whatever portrait of the serpent kingdom is now possible, it is one that can only arise from close collaboration and the fusion of many scattered sources and clues.

This article presents some preliminary results of the first field season of 3D documentation of buildings, monuments, and portable artifacts from the archaeological site of Dzibanche in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Documentation took place at Dzibanche, in the INAH regional research center in Chetumal, and in the Maya Museum of Cancun. Part of the resultant corpus of imagery and inscriptions has not been previously disseminated in academic literature. The analysis of published texts and iconography has benefited from higher resolution and visualization tools made possible by 3D digitization. The presentation proposes several updates to the published interpretations of Dzibanche monuments, and it highlights how new additions to the corpus expand our understanding of Dzibanche's political history and ideology.

The article presents the results of the last decade of archaeological and epigraphic research, which clarified the history of the polities of the ancient Maya sites of Holmul and Naranjo during the expansion of the Dzibanche royal dynasty in the eastern area of the Department of Peten, Guatemala, from the second half of the sixth century through the first half of the seventh century a.d. The discussion centers on the textual and material indicators of the geopolitical contacts of the royal families of Sak Chuwen of Naranjo and Chak Tok Wayaab of Holmul, including changes in polychrome pottery and hieroglyphic inscriptions, in particular, rhetoric of good governance and political loyalty. In the case of Holmul, the transformation affects the urban landscape of the site. New data clarify the relationship between Holmul and Naranjo during the initial period of their subordination to the kings of Dzibanche. The emerging picture of these secondary alliances and hierarchies within the Kaanu'l domain is essential for a better understanding of Classic Maya political systems at local and regional levels.

En la Mesa Redonda de Palenque de 2004 Erik Velásquez propuso que los gobernantes mayas que portaban el glifo emblema de Kaanuˀl pudieron haber residido durante el Clásico Temprano en Dzibanché, pues no existen referencias que los vinculen con Calakmul antes de 631 d.C. Aquí revisamos los datos sobre su presencia en Dzibanché y otros asentamientos de la región. Argumentos de distinta naturaleza que apoyan este escenario se publicaron desde 2005 hasta 2016, incluyendo los hallazgos de Xunantunich (Helmke y Awe 2016a, 2016b), que permiten conjeturar que una facción disidente de la dinastía se separó de Dzibanché y fundó en 635 d.C. una sede alternativa en Calakmul. Ello produjo el panorama que proponemos en el Clásico Tardío, donde había mandatarios simultáneos de la dinastía Kaanuˀl en el sur de Campeche y en el sur de Quintana Roo, toda vez que en Dzibanché seguían residiendo gobernantes Kaanuˀl al menos hasta el siglo VII.

The Kaanuˀl dynasty ruled a hegemonic state with political influence over much of the Classic Maya Lowlands between a.d. 520 and 751. The present article introduces the subject for a special section of the journal, which refocuses attention on the archaeological zone of Dzibanche in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, where new data are emerging about the origins of the Kaanuˀl dynasty, its urban organization, and its connections to neighboring centers. In this article, we present new data from a recent lidar survey as well as from previous work by Enrique Nalda's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) project to reevaluate Dzibanche's characteristics vis-à-vis its rise as a kingdom with far-reaching political influence. We complement these archaeological data with epigraphic information from new monuments and reanalysis of existing ones based on 3D scanning to update the list of Dzibanche rulers. We then revisit the chronology of Dzibanche's royal burials proposing correlations with known Early Classic Kaanuˀl rulers. Overall, the contributions to this special section present new perspectives on the Kaanuˀl's rise to power and its relationship with distant vassals in the crucial period of expansion into northern Peten, leading to the defeat of Tikal and eventually to its transition to a new dynastic seat at Calakmul in the a.d. 630s.

Many questions remain about the hieroglyphic stair dedicated in a.d. 642 by K'an II, the great king of Caracol. Constituent panels have been found at Caracol, Ucanal, Naranjo, and Xunantunich—archaeological sites spread between Guatemala and Belize. The most recently discovered Panels 3 and 4 at Xunantunich shed light on the tumultuous decades of the seventh century. Panel 4, which opened the hieroglyphic stair, makes a surprising statement from the outset, clarifying that Kanu'l political authority was irrevocably established at Calakmul. This bold statement serves as a synoptic précis for the entire narrative and explains why the deeds of K'an II are related, but only to the extent that these could be interwoven with the history of the Kanu'l. This makes the hieroglyphic stair such an important source, because it tracks the rulers of the Kanu'l dynasty from the vantage of a close ally. These monuments attest to the fissioning of the Kanu'l dynasty and its eventual restoration at Calakmul, from whence Classic Maya politics would be overseen for the remainder of the seventh century. In this article, we build on earlier studies and add our most recent observations and new readings based on renewed inspections of the existing panels.

The Society of Antiquaries of London’s collection of one hundred and seventy historical printing plates, dating from the early eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries, has long been a hidden gem. This paper presents the results of a research project initiated in 2022, focusing on the provenance, manufacture and bibliographical use of these plates. It explores the evolution of printing practices and the role of coppersmith stamps, shedding light on production methods and industry connections. The project involved digitising the plates for improved accessibility and preservation and cataloguing efforts to establish standardised guidelines for similar collections. Furthermore, the study uncovers the Society’s historical interest in maintaining and utilising these plates, providing valuable insights into past printing practices and collection management. This research enriches our understanding of the Antiquaries’ holdings through meticulous investigation and documentation and underscores the significance of exploring overlooked aspects of historical collections. It also calls for future research endeavours and collaborations to explore connections within the Society’s collections further and expand our knowledge of printing history. Overall, this study emphasises the importance of preserving and studying printing technology as valuable artefacts that contribute to our understanding of the past.

Many years ago, I taught a course at the University of Aberdeen on the ‘4As’ of anthropology, archaeology, art and architecture (Ingold 2013). As we had been discussing flint-knapping, I invited the master-knapper, John Lord, to give a demonstration. We watched in awe as he skilfully detached flakes from a flint nodule of irregular shape to reveal the classical, bifacial form of an Acheulean handaxe. Then it was our turn to use wooden or antler hammers to detach flakes from fragments of flint. After an hour or two, none of us had made any headway. What looked simple in practised hands would have required years to learn, not a single afternoon! Nevertheless, the workshop taught us an important lesson. As Bentley and O'Brien (2024) remind us, mastering the skills to make an Acheulean biface requires hundreds of hours of practice. The question is, why does it need so long? What is going on during these many hours?