Mayanist

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Mayanist is a term which has been in widespread use from the late 19th century onwards, to refer to scholars who have specialised in research and study of the Central American pre-Columbian Maya civilization.

Mayanists working in this specialised field have drawn upon their expertise in many inter-related disciplines: archaeology, linguistics, epigraphy, ethnology, history, photography/art, architecture, astronomy, ceramics, to name but a few.

The term has particularly been adopted by those who have studied and contributed to the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics, the complex and elaborate writing system which was developed by the ancient Maya.

The term was coined by parallel with specialised fields studying other historical civilizations; see for example, Egyptologist (Ancient Egypt) and Assyriologist (Ancient Mesopotamia).