Ancient Maya Political Dynamics

Description

“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 José. 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 decipherment, increased archaeological data, and more sophisticated theoretical modeling.”—Eleanor M. King, Howard University   The study of politics, a dominating force throughout history, can provide great insight into the lives of ancient people. Because of the richness and complexity of Maya society, archaeologists and anthropologists have spent decades attempting to reconstruct its political systems. In Ancient Maya Political Dynamics, Antonia Foias argues that there is no single Maya political history but multiple histories, no single Maya state but multiple polities that need to be understood at the level of the lived, individual experience. She explores the ways in which the dynamics of political power shaped the lives and landscape of the Maya and how this information can be used to look at other complex societies.   Cover Ancient Maya Political Dynamics Title Copyright Contents List of Figures List of Tables Foreword Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. Political Anthropology, Archaeology, and Ancient Politics 3. Archaeological Studies of Ancient Politics 4. Reconstructing Classic Maya Polities: The Macro Scale of Political Analysis 5. Internal Dynamics, Bureaucracy, and Political Centralization: The Middle Scale of Political Analysis 6. The Flow and Use of Power: The Micro Scale of Political Analysis 7. Conclusions: Toward an Archaeology of Power References Cited Index