The Ancient Maya

by Sharer, Robert J.

• ISBN13: 9780804748179
• ISBN10: 0804748179
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

This book traces the evolution of Maya civilization through the Pre-Columbian era, a span of some 2,500 years from the origins of complex society within Mesoamerica to the end of the Pre-Columbian world with the Spanish Conquest in the 16th century. The sixth edition presents new archaeological evidence and historical studies and offers the most extensive revisions of this classic work to date. The result is the most thorough and incisive study of the origins and development of ancient Maya civilization ever published.

Author Biography

Robert J. Sharer is Shoemaker Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, and Curator of the American Section at the university's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He is the author of Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center and Its Sculpture and Everyday Life in Maya Civilization, as well as two previous editions of The Ancient Maya. Loa P. Traxler is a Research Scientist in the American Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	xii
List of Figures	xiii
List of Boxes	xxiii
List of Color Plates	xxvi
Preface	xxvii
Acknowledgments	xxxi
A Note on Names and Pronunciation	xxxiii
Introduction	1	(3)
Discovery and Conquest by Europeans	4	(2)
The Fate of the Maya Heritage	6	(1)
The Meaning of Maya Civilization	7	(1)
Foreign Domination and Rebirth of the Maya Heritage	8	(8)
The Destruction of the Maya Heritage	16	(7)
The Setting of Maya Civilization	23	(34)
Natural and Cultural Subdivisions of the Maya Area	29	(2)
The Pacific Coastal Plain	31	(3)
The Highlands	34	(7)
The Lowlands	41	(12)
The Consequences of Ecological Diversity	53	(4)
Archaeology and Maya Civilization	57	(42)
Reconstructing the Past	57	(3)
Changing Perspectives on the Maya Past	60	(11)
Models of Past Societies	71	(2)
Development of Complex Society and Civilization	73	(2)
The Evolution of Civilizations	75	(4)
Understanding the Evolution of Maya Civilization	79	(1)
The Maya Economy	80	(6)
Maya Social and Political Systems	86	(5)
Maya Ideology and Religion	91	(2)
The Ancient Maya World	93	(3)
Elite and Nonelite Views of the Ancient Maya	96	(2)
Chronology	98	(1)
History and Maya Civilization	99	(54)
Time and Maya History	99	(1)
Numerals	100	(2)
The Calendar	102	(14)
Measuring the Cycles of Time	116	(2)
Recording the Cycles of Time	118	(2)
Sources of Maya History	120	(3)
The Maya Chronicles	123	(2)
Ancient Writing Systems	125	(1)
Pre-Columbian Maya Texts	125	(9)
Ancient Maya Writing	134	(11)
Milestones in Decipherment	145	(2)
Contributions to Understanding the Ancient Maya	147	(5)
History and Maya Civilization	152	(1)
The Origins of Maya Civilization	153	(24)
The Chronology of Pre-Columbian Development	153	(4)
The Archaic: Origins of Highland and Coastal Cultural Traditions	157	(3)
The Early Preclassic: Agriculture, Warfare, and Evidence of Complex Society	160	(4)
Preclassic Developments on the Gulf Coast of Mexico	164	(4)
Preclassic Developments in Highland Mexico	168	(5)
Summary of Archaic and Early Preclassic Developments	173	(1)
Patterns in the Evolution of Mesoamerican Civilization	174	(3)
The Emergence of Maya Civilization in the Middle Preclassic	177	(46)
The Emergence of Complex Societies	178	(1)
Markers of Complex Societies	179	(6)
The Pacific Plain in the Middle Preclassic	185	(5)
Middle Preclassic Commodities and Monuments	190	(4)
The Highlands in the Middle Preclassic	194	(7)
The Lowlands in the Middle Preclassic	201	(1)
Middle Preclassic Communities	202	(5)
The Rise of Complex Society in the Lowlands	207	(7)
Further Middle Preclassic Developments in the Lowlands	214	(5)
Summary: The Middle Preclassic Precursors of Maya Civilization	219	(4)
The Origins of Maya States in the Late Preclassic	223	(64)
Late Preclassic Maya Civilization and Writing Traditions	223	(2)
The Late Preclassic Isthmian Tradition	225	(6)
The Late Preclassic Southern Maya	231	(20)
Highland-Lowland Interaction in the Preclassic	251	(1)
The Maya Lowlands in the Late Preclassic	251	(18)
Patterns of Late Preclassic Rulership	269	(7)
Preclassic Developments in the Northern Lowlands	276	(2)
Late Preclassic Lowland Maya Civilization	278	(1)
Decline in the Terminal Preclassic	279	(5)
Summary: Reconstructing the Maya Preclassic	284	(3)
The Expansion of Maya States in the Early Classic	287	(90)
The Early Classic and the Origins of Maya Civilization	287	(1)
The Southern Maya Area in the Classic Period	288	(6)
The Classic Transition in the Lowlands	294	(1)
The Expansion of States in the Maya Lowlands	295	(4)
Competition and Warfare in the Classic Lowlands	299	(2)
The Early Classic in the Maya Lowlands	301	(9)
The Rise of Tikal in the Early Classic (ca. 100-378)	310	(7)
Neighboring Centers in the Central Lowlands (ca. 328-416)	317	(4)
Strangers in the Lowlands (378-456)	321	(12)
Expansion into the Southeastern Area (406-37)	333	(9)
Archaeology, History, and Copan's Dynastic Founding (ca. 400-470)	342	(9)
The Founder of Quirigua	351	(7)
The Rise of the Calakmul Dynasty (435-561)	358	(3)
The Calakmul-Caracol Alliance	361	(1)
Prosperity and Problems at Tikal (458-562)	362	(7)
The Defeat of Tikal (562)	369	(2)
Summary: The Early Classic States of the Maya Lowlands	371	(6)
The Apogee of Maya States in the Late Classic	377	(122)
Ascendancy of Calakmul (562-695)	379	(11)
The Resurgence of Tikal (682-768)	390	(13)
Rise and Fall of the Petexbatun Kingdom (682-802)	403	(10)
The End of the Calakmul Dynasty (695-909)	413	(2)
Recovery and Decline at Caracol (798-859)	415	(2)
The End of the Tikal Dynasty (768-869)	417	(4)
Expansion of the Usumacinta Polities	421	(30)
Expansion of the Western Polities	451	(25)
Expansion of the Southeastern Polities	476	(19)
Summary: Development of States in the Late Classic Lowlands	495	(4)
Transformations in the Terminal Classic	499	(90)
Decline in the Classic Heartland	499	(4)
The Downfall of Classic Maya States	503	(2)
Explanations for the End of Maya States	505	(8)
A Scenario for the Downfall of Classic Maya States	513	(7)
Survival and Revival of Classic Enclaves	520	(5)
Transformation in the Terminal Classic	525	(4)
The Transitional Regional Traditions	529	(2)
The Rise of the Northern Lowland Polities	531	(1)
Polities in Northwestern Yucatan	532	(22)
Polities in Northeastern Yucatan	554	(4)
The Rise of Chichen Itza	558	(12)
The Itza Economy	570	(10)
The Itza State	580	(2)
The Cult of K'uk'ulkan	582	(1)
Changes in the Southern Maya Area	583	(2)
Summary: Culmination and Transition in the Terminal Classic	585	(4)
Reformulation and Revival in the Postclassic	589	(42)
The Downfall of Chichen Itza	591	(1)
The Rise of Mayapan	592	(9)
The Mayapan State	601	(2)
The Fall of Mayapan and the Rise of Petty States	603	(1)
The East Coast of Yucatan	604	(9)
Revival of Fortunes in the Central Lowlands	613	(5)
The Southern Maya Area in the Postclassic	618	(8)
Summary: Reformulation and Revival in the Postclassic	626	(2)
Overview: Changing Perspectives on Maya Civilization	628	(3)
The Ancient Maya Economy	631	(34)
The Political Economy	632	(3)
The Social Economy	635	(1)
Mobilization of Labor	636	(1)
Ancient Maya Subsistence	637	(11)
Reconstructing the Patterns of Subsistence	648	(3)
Production of Goods	651	(6)
Distribution of Goods	657	(3)
The Importance of Trade	660	(1)
Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Long-Distance Trade	661	(4)
The Organization of Maya Society	665	(54)
Reconstructing the Social Landscape	665	(1)
Maya Society in the Pre-Columbian Era	666	(9)
Marriage and the Family	675	(2)
Ancient Maya Households	677	(5)
Settlement in the Maya Lowlands	682	(8)
Social Stratification	690	(2)
Residential and Descent Groups	692	(3)
Residential Groups and the House Model	695	(1)
Reconstructing the Political Landscape	696	(1)
Divine Kings and the Hierarchy of Power	696	(7)
Maya Polities	703	(5)
Cycles of Growth and Decline	708	(3)
State Organizational Models	711	(3)
The Basis of Political Power	714	(5)
Maya Ideology and Religion	719	(38)
Maya World View	719	(1)
Origins of Maya Ideology	720	(2)
Transformations by Outsiders	722	(4)
Cosmology	726	(9)
Maya Deities	735	(10)
Rituals and Ceremonies	745	(2)
Royal Rituals of the Classic Period	747	(1)
Rituals of the Postclassic and Conquest Periods	748	(7)
The Ideological Foundations of Maya Civilization	755	(2)
EPILOGUE The Conquest of the Maya	757	(22)
First Contacts, 1502--25	758	(4)
The Period of Conquest, 1524--1697	762	(1)
The Subjugation of the Southern Maya by Pedro de Alvarado, 1524--27	763	(3)
The Subjugation of Yucatan by the Montejos, 1527--46	766	(6)
The Independent Itza, 1525--1696	772	(4)
The Subjugation of the Itza, 1696--97	776	(3)
Appendix Dates for K'atun and Half-K'atun Endings	779	(6)
Bibliographic Summaries	785	(26)
Bibliography	811	(78)
Illustration Credits	889	(4)
Index	893