In 1946, explorers stumbled upon two unexpected discoveries in the jungles of Chiapas, Mexico: a treasure of well-preserved Classic Maya murals and a thriving society of indigenous Maya peoples living in the lowland rainforest. Over subsequent decades, these Lacandon Maya were assumed to be the direct descendants of the Classic Maya, who created the spectacular temples and monumental art of the region. As impressive as this lineage may be, Joel Palka argues that many scholars have romanticized it at the expense of documenting the substantive social changes the Lacandon experienced after the...
In 1946, explorers stumbled upon two unexpected discoveries in the jungles of Chiapas, Mexico: a treasure of well-preserved Classic Maya murals and a ...
New models of research and analysis, as well as breakthroughs in deciphering Mesoamerican writing, have recently produced a watershed of information on the regional use and importance of cacao, or chocolate as it is commonly called today. McNeil brings together scholars in the fields of archaeology, history, art history, linguistics, epigraphy, botany, chemistry, and cultural anthropology to explore the domestication, preparation, representation, and significance of cacao in ancient and modern communities of the Americas, with a concentration on its use in Mesoamerica. Cacao was used by many...
New models of research and analysis, as well as breakthroughs in deciphering Mesoamerican writing, have recently produced a watershed of information o...
"McKillop has completed a remarkable task in bringing out significant new data concerning ancient Maya salt making. The implications of environmental exploitation, technological development, and economic possibilities provide the opportunity to revisit these issues on more solid ground."--Fred Valdez Jr., University of Texas, Austin
"Long-accepted ideas about Late Classic activities and the role of coastal communities in supporting Late Classic society--even the society of Tikal and the Peten--will now have to change as the result of McKillop s findings."--Elizabeth Graham,...
"McKillop has completed a remarkable task in bringing out significant new data concerning ancient Maya salt making. The implications of environment...
Winner of the Society for Economic Botany's Mary W. Klinger Book Award
"A triumph of four-field anthropology. Botany, archaeology, linguistics, ethnography, and a small bit of physical anthropology are seamlessly united. . . . Without integration of the fields, few or none of the interesting conclusions in this work could have been reached."--American Anthropologist
"Contains a watershed of interesting and exciting information. . . . For those with a serious interest in food history and foodways, it is an invaluable source of up-to-date information on one...
Winner of the Society for Economic Botany's Mary W. Klinger Book Award
"A triumph of four-field anthropology. Botany, archaeology, lin...
Ambitious and comprehensive. It presents the results of two decades of research in a Maya lowland region that has seen more activity than most. Its chapters are synthetic, contributing to both archaeological theory and to culture history. . . . Will be a boon to students and professional archaeologists. Journal of Field Archaeology
Brings together recent findings and interpretations by many of the archaeologists active in and around the Belize Valley, one of the most intensively studied regions of the Maya lowlands. . . . A substantial contribution to Maya archaeology...
Ambitious and comprehensive. It presents the results of two decades of research in a Maya lowland region that has seen more activity than most. It...
This volume is the first of its kind. A complex mosaic of how a relatively small Late Classic Maya polity was economically, socially, and politically organized. A must-read for all Maya scholars. James F. Garber, editor ofThe Ancient Maya of the Belize Valley
The editors have assembled a remarkable array of evidence, including several innovative analytical methods. The product is a synthetic model that will shape how we understand and study Classic Maya political economy for the next several decades. Jason Yaeger, editor ofClassic Maya Provincial Politics
Scholars...
This volume is the first of its kind. A complex mosaic of how a relatively small Late Classic Maya polity was economically, socially, and politica...
Aimers has brought together leading Maya ceramicists who provide their candid views on how they classify pottery. This volume is of particular theoretical strength for the discussion on terminology in classification, both for critically evaluating the type-variety system and for general classification of pottery. Heather McKillop, author ofSalt
At last, we have the opportunity to learn the potential strengths as well as the pitfalls of a single method for the study of the prehistoric Maya. Fred Valdez Jr., coeditor ofAncient Maya Commoners
An intriguing journey...
Aimers has brought together leading Maya ceramicists who provide their candid views on how they classify pottery. This volume is of particular the...
"What stands out in the Chan research is the variability and complexity of the strategies for living in this small community--clearly not the faceless homogeneous masses at the bottom of the socio-economic scale, but a diverse group of people in households who were successful for some 2,000 years in maintaining a balance in the face of a changing political landscape around them"--Heather McKillop, author of In Search of Maya Sea Traders
"This book is more than theory-building, it is paradigm-changing. Cynthia Robin and her colleagues have discovered how the farming village of...
"What stands out in the Chan research is the variability and complexity of the strategies for living in this small community--clearly not the facel...
"An impressive overview of recent scholarship coupled with the results of a long-term research project at the site and region of Motul de San Jose. It contributes significantly to the anthropological literature on politics and power." --Daniela Triadan, coeditor of Burned Palaces and Elite Residences of Aguateca
"A long overdue and particularly welcome piece of scholarly work. It synthesizes, digests, and makes available the results of the tremendous boom in political studies in the Maya area that has occurred in the last twenty years as a consequence of rapid glyph...
"An impressive overview of recent scholarship coupled with the results of a long-term research project at the site and region of Motul de San Jose....
"Aimers has brought together leading Maya ceramicists who provide their candid views on how they classify pottery. This volume is of particular theoretical strength for the discussion on terminology in classification, both for critically evaluating the type-variety system and for general classification of pottery."--Heather McKillop, author of Salt
"At last, we have the opportunity to learn the potential strengths as well as the pitfalls of a single method for the study of the prehistoric Maya."--Fred Valdez Jr., coeditor of Ancient Maya Commoners
"An intriguing...
"Aimers has brought together leading Maya ceramicists who provide their candid views on how they classify pottery. This volume is of particular the...
