Jesper Nielsen (born 1972), Ph.D. and Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen received his MA (1998) and Ph.D. (2003) from the Department of American Indian Languages and Cultures from the University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on Mesoamerican iconography, epigraphy and religion, in particular in Maya, Teotihuacan and Epiclassic cultures. He also has a strong interest in early Colonial studies in central Mexico and the Maya region, as well as research history. Currently Jesper is also a member of the Proyecto La Pintura Mural Prehispánica en México at the UNAM, and he has published numerous books and articles in international peer-reviewed journals (including Ancient Mesoamerica, Antiquity, Latin American Antiquity, Mexicon, The PARI Journal and Ancient America) and edited volumes. Recent book publications include Palaces and Courtly Culture in Ancient Mesoamerica, co-edited with Julie Nehammer Knub & Christophe Helmke, Archaeopress Pre-Columbian Archaeology 4, Archaeopress, Oxford, 2014; The Maya in a Mesoamerican Context: Comparative Approaches to Maya Studies, co-edited with Christophe Helmke, Proceedings of the 16^th European Maya Conference, Copenhagen 2011. Acta Americana, Volume 26, Verlag Anton Saurwein, Markt Schwaben, 2013 and The Writing System of Cacaxtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico, co-authored with Christophe Helmke, Ancient America Special Publication No. 2, Boundary End Archaeology Research Center, Barnardsville, North Carolina, 2011. As of 2015 he is also a member of the consejo de asesores of the Mexican journal Arqueología Mexicana.