The White Shaman Mural:
An Archaic Codex
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Carolyn Boyd signs the UT Press contract with Shumla staff members at her side. |
This morning, as Shumla Staff looked on, Research Director, Carolyn Boyd signed an Author Contract with The University of Texas Press to publish the book "The White Shaman Mural: An Archaic Codex" by Carolyn Boyd, in collaboration with Kim Cox.
It was a pivotal moment for Carolyn and for Shumla. The book not only represents the culmination of countless hours of research and writing. It also signals a major shift in the understanding of ancient pictographic murals in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands.
In the book, Carolyn demonstrates that these ancient murals can be "read" or interpreted. They are visual narratives that, like books, were composed with purpose and meaning. Carolyn's innovative and meticulous research yielded overwhelming evidence that the White Shaman mural is a creation myth likely painted by early Uto-Aztecan speakers who shared a belief-system that has endured for thousands of years in Mesoamerica.
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A very happy Carolyn Boyd, signing the contract in front of her rendering of the White Shaman mural. |
UT Press determined that the book will be published in the distinguished 'Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies.' Scheduled to come out in mid-2016, it will be printed in full-color with 150 images and a fold-out rendering of the mural in a pocket in the back.
UT Press wasn't the only one impressed with the book. The book and the ideas it holds were peer reviewed by other researchers in the field of Anthropology/Archaeology, as well as Mesoamerican archaeologists and iconographers (see below). All were excited by Carolyn's ground-breaking findings and the many research opportunities that they will bring.
One peer reviewer, Thomas Guderjan, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Texas at Tyler, stated, "This is THE most significant contribution to the study of Lower Pecos art and archaeology in decades...or more."
Congratulations, Carolyn! You've come a long way since this picture was taken at the White Shaman mural in 1989!