This project will develop a web portal for MayaLab, an international collaborative environment for exploration of the archaeology of the Classic Maya city-state network that developed in Central America between AD 250 and 800, one of the most significant examples of a literate ancient society in the world. Based on research in the area of the Mexican state of Chiapas that was dominated by a Maya polity centered at the World Heritage site of Palenque, where a collaboration between Berkeley and Mexico's UNAM is underway, the goal of MayaLab is two-fold: to provide an outward-facing public forum for the public, including students, interested in authoritative and reliable information about the archaeology of the Maya, where people can engage in structured ways with the scholarly community; and to provide an inward-facing environment for archaeologists to share early developments of research in stages prior to their preparation for publication or public dissemination. The MayaLab website will be hosted at Berkeley, using links to provide access to datasets at institutional repositories at Berkeley and beyond.
