{"product_id":"as-the-gods-kill-morality-and-social-violence-among-the-precolonial-maya-hardback-9781477331941","title":"As the Gods Kill; Morality and Social Violence Among the Precolonial Maya (Hardback) 9781477331941","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eAs the Gods Kill\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eMorality and Social Violence Among the Precolonial Maya\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eAndrew K. Scherer (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781477331941, University of Texas Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 9 December 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e280 pages, 96 color and 9 b\u0026amp;w photos, 16 color and 73 b\u0026amp;w illustrations, 2 color maps\u003cbr\u003e27.9 x 21.6 x 1.5 cm, 1.42 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In this tour de force, Andrew Scherer breaks new ground in the study of war, violence, and sacrifice in precolonial Maya society. Drawing on diverse lines of evidence—from bioarchaeology and archaeology to epigraphy, iconography, and ethnohistory—he offers fresh insights into how the Maya understood and experienced violence. Informed by sensitivity to, and respect for, Maya senses of morality and ontologies, this work challenges us to reflect on our own notions of violence. The book will be of interest to scholars of Maya culture and those more broadly concerned with the intersections of violence and society.\" - Takeshi Inomata, \u003ci\u003eUniversity of Arizona\u003c\/i\u003e, coeditor of \u003ci\u003eMesoamerican Plazas: Arenas of Community and Power\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn exploration of war, violence, and sacrifice in precolonial Maya culture and its importance in religious practices.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAs the Gods Kill \u003c\/i\u003edelivers new insights into warfare, weaponry, violence, and human sacrifice among the ancient Maya. While attending to the particularity of a singular historical context, anthropologist and archaeologist Andrew Scherer also suggests that Maya practices have something to tell us about human propensities toward violence more broadly. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Focusing on moral frameworks surrounding deliberate injury and killing, Scherer examines Maya justifications of violence-in particular the obligations to one another, to ancestors, and to the gods that made violence not only permissible but necessary. The analysis isolates key themes underpinning the morality of violence-including justice, vengeance, payment, and \u003ci\u003ecostumbre\u003c\/i\u003e (ritual)-and explores the ethics of violent agents, including warriors, ritual specialists, and the gods. Finally, Scherer addresses motivations for warfare, including the acquisition of spoils, tribute, captives, and slaves. An interdisciplinary case study of morality in an ancient society, \u003ci\u003eAs the Gods Kill\u003c\/i\u003e synthesizes scholarship on an important dimension of precolonial American culture while taking stock of its implications for the social sciences at large. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e List of Illustrations \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Introduction \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 1. How the Maya Killed \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 2. Morality \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 3. Sociality of Killing \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 4. Ontology of Killers \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 5. By Tooth and Hand \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 6. Justice, Punishment, and Vengeance \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Departing Thoughts \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Acknowledgments \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Notes \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e References \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Index \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Texas Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52670805082392,"sku":"9781477331941","price":48.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/as-the-gods-kill-morality-and-social-violence-among-the-precolonial-maya-hardback-9781477331941","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}