[Aztlan] zero does not mean "shell"

[Anna Blume]

Dear Listserv,

I am watching and noting carefully this discussion of Maya zero.  It is a
topic I have been and continue to be researching for an article I look to
publish at the end of this year.  In terms of the iconography of Maya zero,
the shell is only one of several visual forms and glyphs that the Maya used.
The shell is predominant in the codices, but on pots and in the inscriptions
it is more commonly represented as a partially visible quatrefoil, shell in
hand, or as the enigmatic god of the number zero with hand over his jaw.  It
is through looking at each of these variants that I have begun to see
something as we say "through a glass darkly."

Anna


Professor Anna Blume
School of Visual Arts
209 East 23rd Street
New York, New York 10010