In this episode we’ll be journeying to pre-Colombian Mesoamerica with Dr Gabrielle Vail, Research Collaborator in the Department of Anthropology, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to explore why the worship of rain gods like Chaak was so crucial to the Mayans and discover the role that food played in these ceremonies.

You may also want to go back and listen to the first episode of Season 2 where I discuss the Day of the Dead celebrations with Maite Gomez-Rejón.

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Useful Links

The Maya Hieroglyphic Codices website features a searchable translation and analysis of four codices (screenfold books) painted by Maya scribes before the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century. The codices contain information about Maya beliefs and rituals, as well as everyday activities, all framed within an astronomical and calendrical context.

Gaby’s co-authored books include:

The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs, Volume Two By Martha J. Macri And Gabrielle Vail (2023)

The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs, Volume 3 By Matthew Looper, Yuriy Polyukhovych, Martha J. Macri And Gabrielle Vail (Out November, 2026)

Madrid Codex: New Approaches to Understanding an Ancient Maya Manuscript (Mesoamerican Worlds: From the Olmecs to the Danzantes) Edited by Gabrielle Vail and Anthony Aveni (2009)

Gaby also contributed a number of chapters to Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage edited by Louis Evan Grivetti, Howard-Yana Shapiro (2008)

You can find out more about the Mayan Melipona Bee Sanctuary Project here.

Suggested Reading

* ‘Water Rituals and Offerings to the Maya Rain Divinities’ by Cristina Vidal Lorenzo and Patricia Horcjada-Campos in the European Journal of Science and Theology, April 2000, Vol.16, No.2, 111-123

* Chocolate in Mesoamerica : a cultural history of cacao ed. Dr Cameron McNeil (2006)

* Water Beings: From Nature Beings to the Environmental Crisis by Veronica Strang (2023)

* ‘Rain and Fertility Rituals in Postclassic Yucatan Featuring Chaak and Chak Chel’ by Gabrielle Vail and Christine Hernandez in The Ancient Maya of Mexico: Reinterpreting the Past of the Northern Maya Lowlands ed. Geoffrey E. Braswell

Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com.

A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast. Sound effects and music provided by Zapsplat and Pond5.

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