| Ancestral Maya Economies in Archaeological Perspective Contributor(s): McAnany, Patricia A. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0521895189 ISBN-13: 9780521895187 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $128.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: January 2010 Annotation: In this study, Patricia McAnany addresses how Maya people made a living in a tropical forest environment and presents the first comprehensive, archaeological view of ancestral Maya economic practice. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Latin America - Central America - Social Science | Archaeology |
| Dewey: 972.810 |
| LCCN: 2009011870 |
| Physical Information: 1" H x 6.1" W x 9" (1.45 lbs) 392 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The decipherment of Maya hieroglyphs has enabled scholars to better understand Classic society, but many aspects of this civilization remain shrouded in mystery, particularly its economies and social structures. How did farmers, artisans, and rulers make a living in a tropical forest environment? In this study, Patricia McAnany tackles this question and presents the first comprehensive view of ancestral Maya economic practice. Bringing an archaeological approach to the topic, she demonstrates the vital role of ritual practice in indigenous ecologies, gendered labor, and the construction of colossal architecture. Examining Maya royalty as a kind of social speciation, McAnany also shows the fundamentality of social difference as well as the pervasiveness of artisan production and marketplaces in ancestral Maya societies. Her analysis of royal iconography and hieroglyphic texts provides evidence of a political economy dominated by tribute extraction, thus lifting the veil of opacity over the operation of palace economies. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book situates Maya economies within contemporary social, political, and economic theories of social practice, gender, actor-networks, inalienable goods, materiality, social difference, indigenous ecologies, and strategies of state finance. |