Ancient Maya
The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization

Ancient Maya comes to life in this new holistic and theoretical study.

Arthur Demarest (Author)

9780521533904, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 9 December 2004

389 pages, 111 b/w illus. 16 maps
22.8 x 15.3 x 2.6 cm, 0.615 kg

'In Ancient Maya, Arthur Demarest, an authority on the Olmec and Maya civilisations, applies an holistic, theoretically-integrated perspective to this study of archaeology, paleoecology, and epigraphy, as well as to his evaluations of fellow scholars. The resulting interpretation covers both practical and spiritual aspects of Classic Maya life from the first to the eighth centuries, including their adaptations to their rainforest environment (agriculture, arboriculture, hydraulic works, and so on), economics and trade, religion and ideology, and politics.' British Bulletin of Publications

In this new archaeological study, Arthur Demarest brings the lost pre-Columbian civilization of the Maya to life. In applying a holistic perspective to the most recent evidence from archaeology, paleoecology, and epigraphy, this theoretical interpretation emphasises both the brilliant rain forest adaptations of the ancient Maya and the Native American spirituality that permeated all aspects of their daily life. Demarest draws on his own discoveries and the findings of colleagues to reconstruct the complex lifeways and volatile political history of the Classic Maya states of the first to eighth centuries. He provides a new explanation of the long-standing mystery of the ninth-century abandonment of most of the great rain forest cities. Finally, he draws lessons from the history of the Classic Maya cities for contemporary society and for the ongoing struggles and resurgence of the modern Maya peoples, who are now re-emerging from six centuries of oppression.

1. The mystery and the challenge of the Ancient Maya
2. Background: geography, chronology, and theoretical perspective
3. The exploration and archaeology of the Maya: a brief history
4. Obscure beginnings and the preclassic florescence
5. The splinter of classic Maya florescence in the lowlands
6. Settlement and subsistence: the rain forest adaptation
7. Classic Maya economics
8. Religion and ideology: beliefs and ritual of the theater state
9. Classic Maya politics and history: the dynamics of the theater state
10. The end of classic Maya civilization: collapse, transition, and transformation
11. The legacy of the classic Maya civilization: postclassic, colonial, and modern traditions
12. The lessons of Maya history and prehistory.

Subject Areas: Anthropology [JHM], Archaeology by period / region [HDD], General & world history [HBG]