Karl Taube facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Karl Andreas Taube
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Karl Taube, American anthropologist and archeologist, 2022.
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| Born | September 14, 1957 |
| Parent(s) | Henry Taube |
Karl Andreas Taube (born September 14, 1957) is an American expert on ancient cultures. He studies the history, art, and symbols of Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. Mesoamerica is a historical region that includes parts of Mexico and Central America.
Karl Taube is a professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Riverside. Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures. He is known for his many books and research papers.
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Family Background
Karl Taube's father was Henry Taube. He was born in Canada. Henry Taube won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1983. He passed away in 2005.
Education and Learning
Karl Taube started his college studies at Stanford University. He then moved to the University of California, Berkeley. There, he earned his first degree in Anthropology in 1980.
He continued his advanced studies at Yale University. He earned his Masters degree in 1983. He then received his highest degree, a Doctorate, in 1988. At Yale, he learned from famous experts on the Maya people. One of his teachers was Mary Miller. Later, he wrote a well-known book with her. It was called The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya.
What Does an Archaeologist Do?
Karl Taube has done a lot of field research. This means he travels to different places to study ancient sites. He has worked on projects in many areas. These include the Chiapas highlands, the Yucatán Peninsula, and central Mexico. He has also worked in Honduras and Guatemala.
Since 2003, Taube has been the main expert on symbols for the Proyecto San Bartolo. This project studies an ancient Maya site. His job is to understand the meaning of the old paintings found there. These paintings are called murals. They date back to the first century B.C.
In 2004, Taube helped lead a project. It found new places where "Olmec Blue" jadeite came from. Jadeite is a valuable stone. These places were in eastern Guatemala. Taube has also explored ancient sites in Ecuador and Peru.
Key Research Topics
Karl Taube's most important books are "The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan" (1992) and "Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks" (2004). The first book looked again at the gods of the ancient Maya. It connected them to gods from a later time. His work on the San Bartolo murals is also very important. It helps us understand early Maya art.
One of Taube's early research topics was farming in Mesoamerica. He studied how farming developed and its symbols. For example, he identified the Maya maize god. Maize is another word for corn. He also wrote about how corn was important to other cultures. He connected Olmec corn symbols with those in the American Southwest.
Taube is very interested in how different ancient cultures connected. He studies how ideas and goods were exchanged. This includes cultures in Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica, and the American Southwest. He wrote an important article in 2004. It was about the "Flower Mountain." This idea was about life, beauty, and paradise for the Classic Maya.
Taube also researched how Teotihuacan interacted with Maya cities. Teotihuacan was a very powerful city in ancient Mexico.
Since 2017, many of Taube's articles have been put online. These articles are about the art and symbols of Mesoamerica, especially the Maya.
In 2023, Taube wrote about an important Olmec stone monument. It was called an 'Earth monster'. This monument had been stolen from an ancient site in Mexico. Taube helped bring it back to its home country.
Archaeological Journeys
Karl Taube also leads educational trips. These trips are for people who want to learn about ancient sites. He guides tours for Far Horizons Archaeological and Cultural trips.
- Taube's tour page Karl Taube
See also
In Spanish: Karl Taube para niños
