Responding to the upsurge in interest in "the Maya prophecies", Prof. Mark Van Stone has spent the last several years researching What the Ancient Maya Actually Said about 2012. The result is a full-color, 170-page book, *2012 - Science and Prophecy of the Ancient Maya*, based entirely on science, archaeology and Precolumbian art. Starting as a physicist, working in the University of New Hampshire's Space Science Center, Van Stone pursued a career in art, and eventually earned his Ph.D. in Maya Hieroglyphs under the legendary Linda Schele and David Stuart. Dr. Van Stone is also co-author, with Michael Coe, of *Reading the Maya Glyphs* (2001), the leading book on deciphering Maya inscriptions.
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Mark Van Stone, Ph.D., G.F. Professor of Art History, Southwestern College
Dr. Van Stone received his undergraduate degree (Oxy '73) in Physics and worked in the gamma-ray astronomy laboratory at the University of New Hampshire for four years, until lured away to self-employment as a calligrapher and carver. In the world of calligraphy and type design, he established himself as an expert in paleography and the evolution of written forms, teaching and lecturing widely on the subject for the next twenty years.
A lifelong autodidact, he constantly availed himself of opportunities to study in the reading rooms and storerooms of libraries and museums great and small throughout the world. A stint as a clay-animator at Will Vinton Studios and study with netsuke carver Saito Bishu Sensei in Kawaguchi, Japan focused his skills as a sculptor, along with his understanding of the cultures of animation, filmmaking, and Japan. A Guggenheim Fellowship took him around the world, studying and photographing manuscripts and inscriptions of many nations, from Medieval Europe and the Islamic world, to Southeast Asia and Japan, to Central America.
Although conversant in all these calligraphic traditions, he chose to focus on the most-complex and least-well-understood script, Maya Hieroglyphs, and entered the University of Texas graduate school under the reknowned Linda Schele in 1994. He received his MA in 1996 and his Ph.D. in 2005. During this time, he co-authored "Reading the Maya Glyphs" with eminent archaeologist Michael Coe; it is the standard introduction to the topic.
He is now Professor of Art History at Southwestern College, with a new book, "2012 - Science and Prophecy of the Ancient Maya" published in 2010. He considers his dual background in science and art essential to his unique understanding of Maya calligraphy, and of the development of all writing systems as visual art.
If you want to know what the Ancient Maya said about 2012, why not ask one? Dr. Van Stone has examined virtually every piece of actual Mayan literature about this subject (and a few that are only tangentially relevant, but very entertaining). And he has come up with a readable, funny, intelligent conclusion, one simple enough for terrified high-schoolers who worry that they won't grow up, as well as the serious scholar. The several dozen essays are independent enough to read in any order, but exhaustively cross-referenced so they lead logically from one to another.
Dr. Van Stone offers us a credible version of the Maya, based on a passionate yet scholarly study of their writings. Instead of coopting, hyping,catastrophizing, or otherwise distorting the information, he gives the open-minded reader a glimpse of a fascinating people. With illustrations and lively rhetoric, he brings new life and light to a popular but too often misunderstood culture.
We have just received our copy of your book. We heard you speak at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in September and were very intrigued and interested in exploring this subject further. Your book is one of the most interesting, informative and beautifully illustrated books we have ever seen. The book is an automatic magnet for all who visit us and see it proudly displayed on our coffee table. It is getting a lot of interest from all our friends and family. We may have to order another copy or two...
Your parents must be very proud of you and your work.
