Wolfgang Gockel

Who was Wolfgang Gockel?

Wolfgang Gockel was a German archaeologist, best known for his efforts at deciphering the Mayan hieroglyphs.

Gockel's early life did not seem to predestine him for the study of archaeology. He was born in Rönsahl, a small town in North Rhine-Westphalia. After completing his schooling in Bochum, he first began an apprenticeship as a machinist. However he quickly abandoned the factory for the high seas. After qualifying as an able bodied seaman, he traveled the world. It was at this time that his interest in archaeology was awakened.

Gockel served in the German Bundeswehr, eventually becoming a helicopter pilot. In 1975, he completed his university qualifying examination and began his studies of archaeology in Cologne, Bonn and Göttingen, with a concentration on the near east, Assyriology and classical archaeology. He completed his M.A. in 1979 with a thesis on sculpture in Mesopotamia and Elam from the early Sumerian to the early dynastic period. During his studies of "Altamerikanistik" at the "Völkerkunde-Institut" in Bonn, he was introduced to the problem of reading the Mayan hieroglyphs, which would occupy him till the end of his life.