[Aztlan] zero is a shell and a whole lot more

[John Major Jenkins]

Anna,
Very interesting. The spectrum of iconographic references that you noted should result in a kind of expanded polyvalent concept for what we are used to simply calling "zero" --- a limited identification that will no doubt eventually be exposed as only a small slice of what the Maya were intending to express. Best wishes,

JMJ
  

-----Original Message-----
>From: Anna Blume <annablume at mindspring.com>
>Sent: Jul 23, 2008 11:40 AM
>To: chunchucmil at yahoo.com, aztlan at lists.famsi.org
>Subject: Re: [Aztlan] zero does not mean "shell"
>
>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
>
>
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