Maya Zooarchaeology

Maya Zooarchaeology
Author: Kitty F. Emery
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2004-12-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1938770730

A comprehensive work, combining traditional zooarchaeological reports and various state-of-the-art summaries of methods and theoretical perspectives. This combination of detailed discussions of basic zooarchaeological data with reviews of important themes in Maya zooarchaeology emphasizes the central issues that guide our research from basic data collection through final comparative interpretation. The chapters emphasize the newest developments in technical methods, the most recent trends in the analysis of "social zooarchaeology," and the broadening perspectives provided by a new geographic range of investigations. The main focus of the volume remains on fostering cooperation among Mesoamerican zooarchaeologists at the levels of both preliminary analysis and final theoretical reconstruction.

The New Archaeology and the Ancient Maya

The New Archaeology and the Ancient Maya
Author: Jeremy A. Sabloff
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Total Pages: 314
Release: 1994-08-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1466814446

Nowadays, archaeological investigators don't just dig up the past They use high-tech equipment, chemical analyses, sampling strategies, and other modern means to gain a better understanding of why and how cultures change. Using the study of the Maya as a test case, Jeremy Sabloff shows how the exciting transformation of archaeology is shedding new light on past civilizations.

The Archaeology of Mesoamerican Animals

The Archaeology of Mesoamerican Animals
Author: Kitty F. Emery
Publisher: Lockwood Press
Total Pages: 809
Release: 2013-11-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1937040151

Recognition of the role of animals in ancient diet, economy, politics, and ritual is vital to understanding ancient cultures fully, while following the clues available from animal remains in reconstructing environments is vital to understanding the ancient relationship between humans and the world around them. In response to the growing interest in the field of zooarchaeology, this volume presents current research from across the many cultures and regions of Mesoamerica, dealing specifically with the most current issues in zooarchaeological literature. Geographically, the essays collected here index the different aspects of animal use by the indigenous populations of the entire area between the northern borders of Mexico and the southern borders of lower Central America. This includes such diverse cultures as the north Mexican hunter-gatherers, the Olmec, Maya, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Central American Indians. The time frame of the volume extends from the earliest human occupation, the Preclassic, Classic, Postclassic, and Colonial manifestations, to recent times. The book's chapters, written by experts in the field of Mesoamerican zooarchaeology, provide important general background on the domestic and ritual use of animals in early and classic Mesoamerica and Central America, but deal also with special aspects of human-animal relationships such as early domestication and symbolism of animals, and important yet otherwise poorly represented aspects of taphonomy and zooarchaeological methodology. Spanish-language version also available (ISBN 978-1-937040-12-3).

Maya Archaeology and Ethnohistory

Maya Archaeology and Ethnohistory
Author: Norman Hammond
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2014-04-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0292762577

Embracing a wide range of research, this book offers various views on the intellectual history of Maya archaeology and ethnohistory and the processes operating in the rise and fall of Maya civilization. The fourteen studies were selected from those presented at the Second Cambridge Symposium on Recent Research in Mesoamerican Archaeology and are presented in three major sections. The first of these deals with the application of theory, both anthropological and historical, to the great civilization of the Classic Maya, which flourished in the Yucatan, Guatemala, and Belize during the first millennium A.D. The structural remains of the Classic Period have impressed travelers and archaeologists for over a century, and aspects of the development and decline of this strange and brilliant tropical forest culture are examined here in the light of archaeological research. The second section presents the results of field research ranging from the Highlands of Mexico east to Honduras and north into the Lowland heart of Maya civilization, and iconographic study of excavated material. The third section covers the ethnohistoric approach to archaeology, the conjunction of material and documentary evidence. Early European documents are used to illuminate historic Maya culture. This section includes transcriptions of previously unpublished archival material. Although not formally linked beyond their common field of inquiry, the essays here offer a conspectus of late-twentieth century Maya research and a series of case histories of the work of some of the leading scholars in the field.

Continuities and Changes in Maya Archaeology

Continuities and Changes in Maya Archaeology
Author: Charles Golden
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2004-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1135946078

This book presents the current state of Maya archaeology by focusing on the history of the field for the last 100 years, present day research, and forward looking prescription for the direction of the field.

The Classic Maya

The Classic Maya
Author: Stephen D. Houston
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2009-09-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780521660068

In the first millennium AD, the Classic Maya created courtly societies in and around the Yucatan Peninsula that have left some of the most striking intellectual and aesthetic achievements of the ancient world, including large settlements like Tikal, Copan, and Palenque. This book is the first in-depth synthesis of the Classic Maya. It is richly informed by new decipherments of hieroglyphs and decades of intensive excavation and survey. Structured by categories of person in society, it reports on kings, queens, nobles, gods, and ancestors, as well as the many millions of farmers and other figures who lived in societies predicated on sacred kingship and varying political programs. The Classic Maya presents a tandem model of societies bound by moral covenants and convulsed by unavoidable tensions between groups, all affected by demographic trends and changing environments. Focusing on the Classic heartland but referring to other zones, it will serve as the basic source for all readers interested in the civilization of the Maya.

Archaeology and Bioarchaeology of Population Movement among the Prehispanic Maya

Archaeology and Bioarchaeology of Population Movement among the Prehispanic Maya
Author: Andrea Cucina
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2014-11-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319108581

Archaeological evidence - i.e. presence of exogenous, foreign material objects (pottery, obsidian and so on) - is used to make inferences on ancient trade, while population movement can only be assessed when the biological component of an ancient community is analyzed (i.e. the human skeletal remains). But the exchange of goods or the presence of foreign architectural patterns does not necessarily imply genetic admixture between groups, while at the same time humans can migrate for reasons that may not be related only to trading. The Prehispanic Maya were a complex, highly stratified society. During the Classic period, city-states governed over large regions, establishing complex ties of alliance and commerce with the region’s minor centers and their allies, against other city-states within and outside the Maya realm. The fall of the political system during the Classic period (the Maya collapse) led to hypothetical invasions of leading groups from the Gulf of Mexico into the northern Maya lowland at the onset of the Postclassic. However, it is still unclear whether this collapse was already underway when this movement of people started. The whole picture of population dynamics in Maya Prehispanic times, during the Classic and the Postclassic, can slowly emerge only when all the pieces of the puzzle are put together in a holistic and multidisciplinary fashion. The contributions of this volume bring together contributions from archaeology, archaeometry, paleodemography and bioarchaeology. They provide an initial account of the dynamic qualities behind large–scale ancient population dynamics, and at the same time represent novel multidisciplinary points of departure towards an integrated reconstruction and understanding of Prehispanic population dynamics in the Maya region.

National Geographic Investigates: Ancient Maya

National Geographic Investigates: Ancient Maya
Author: Nathaniel Harris
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 68
Release: 2008
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1426302274

As Europe endured its Dark Ages, the Maya mapped the heavens and mastered mathematics. They constructed vast cities in jungle landscapes, leaving legacies in stone at places like Palenque and Uxmal. In overgrown sites, archaeologists now piece together this civilization with the aid of satellite technology. Modern-day experts provide windows into the Mayan world by interpreting ancient messages, inscribed for future generations. National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources. Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

Lifeways in the Northern Maya Lowlands

Lifeways in the Northern Maya Lowlands
Author: Jennifer P. Mathews
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2006
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780816524167

The flat, dry reaches of the northern Yucat‡n Peninsula have been largely ignored by archaeologists drawn to the more illustrious sites of the south. This book is the first volume to focus entirely on the northern Maya lowlands, presenting a broad cross-section of current research projects in the region by both established and up-and-coming scholars. To address the heretofore unrecognized importance of the northern lowlands in Maya prehistory, the contributors cover key topics relevant to Maya studies: the environmental and historical significance of the region, the archaeology of both large and small sites, the development of agriculture, resource management, ancient politics, and long-distance interaction among sites. As a volume in the series Native Peoples of the Americas, it adds a human dimension to archaeological findings by incorporating modern ethnographic data. By exploring various social and political levels of Maya society through a broad expanse of time, Lifeways in the Northern Maya Lowlands not only reconstructs a little-known past, it also suggests the broad implications of archaeology for related studies of tourism, household economies, and ethno-archaeology. It is a benchmark work that pointedly demonstrates the need for researchers in both north and south to ignore modern geographic boundaries in their search for new ideas to further their understanding of the ancient Maya.