Tatiana Proskouriakoff: Interpreting the Ancient Maya, Char Solomon

"Rarely is a scholar able to change the direction of research in his or her chosen field, yet this is precisely what Tatiana Proskouriakoff did during her 50-year career in Mesoamerican archaeology. While she was first known for her artistic reconstruction renderings of Maya architecture, it was her work with Maya hieroglyphic texts that earned her the highest awards in the field. Proskouriakoff pursued her research on the Maya with thoroughness and integrity, following the evidence wherever it led, even when it ran contrary to accepted beliefs of the leading scholars of her time. That she, a single woman, rose to the pinnacle of Maya studies at a time when the field was still dominated by Ivy League-educated men of means, was something she characteristically downplayed in herlife."

The above is an excerpt from an article solicited by the editor of American Archaeology Magazine for the feature, Legends in Archaeology. It appeared in the Fall, 2003 issue.