The pre-Columbian Maya civilisation flourished in the jungles of Central America, where many monumental centres developed with examples of sophisticated architectural complexes, such as pyramids, temples, palaces and ballcourts. The interiors of some of these buildings were inscribed or painted with depictions that escape the canons of classic Maya art and are usually described as ‘graffiti’. Maya graffiti constitute one of the most fascinating but still poorly studied aspects of pre-Columbian art. This chapter deals with several different aspects of pre-Columbian Maya graffiti, such as their architectural and archaeo- logical contexts, dating and meaning. We will also elaborate on the subject of an exact definition of graffiti in the scientific discourse of Maya and Mesoamerican studies. As we will demonstrate, the style and content of graffiti are highly com- plex and may reflect different authors and diverse motivations behind their creation. This contribution will also deal with the iconographic diversity of the ancient Maya graffiti corpus, pointing out differences and similarities to graffiti from other pre-industrial societies
