The Maya

Michael D Coe

ISBN 10: 050027455X / ISBN 13: 9780500274552

Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1987

About this Item

The Maya has long been established as the best, most readable introduction to the New World's greatest ancient civilization. Coe and Houston update this classic by distilling the latest scholarship for the general reader and student.This new edition incorporates the most recent archaeological and epigraphic research, which continues to proceed at a fast pace. Among the finest new discoveries are spectacular stucco sculptures at El Zotz and Holmul, which reveal surprising aspects of Maya royalty and the founding of dynasties. Dramatic refinements in our understanding of the pace of developments of the Maya civilization have led scholars to perceive a pattern of rapid bursts of building and political formation. Other finds include the discovery of the earliest known occupant of the region, the Hoyo Negro girl, recovered from an underwater cavern in the Yucatan peninsula, along with new evidence for the first architecture at Ceibal.

Seller Inventory # 00087939881

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Maya
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
• Publication Date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 050027455X
• ISBN 13: 9780500274552
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 4th Edition
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

"A clear and intelligent description of the development and organization of Maya civilization."—Natural History

The Maya has long been established as the best, most readable introduction to the New World's greatest ancient civilization. In these pages Professor Coe distills a lifetime's scholarship for the general reader and student. Since the publication of the sixth edition of The Maya, new sites have been uncovered and further excavations in old sites have proceeded at an unprecedented pace. Among the many new discoveries is the chance find of extraordinary murals dating to ca. AD 100 at San Bartolo in the Peten. New epigraphic, archaeological, and osteological research has thrown light on the identity of the "founding fathers" of such great sites as Tikal and Copan, and their close affiliation with Teotihuacan in central Mexico. The previously little known center of Ek' Balam in northeastern Yucatan has turned out to be a regional kingdom of major importance, with extraordinary stucco reliefs and a plethora of painted inscriptions. It has now become apparent that the birth of Maya civilization lies not in the Classic but during the Preclassic period, above all in the Mirador Basin of northern Guatemala, where the builders of gigantic ancient cities (interconnected by causeways) erected the world's largest pyramid as early as 200 BC. All of these finds suggest that we must rethink what we mean by "Classic." The seventh edition also presents new evidence for the use of wetlands by the Classic Maya, and fresh perspectives on the catastrophic demise of Classic civilization by the close of the ninth century. 175 illustrations, 17 in color

About the Author

Michael D. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University. His books include The Maya,Mexico, Breaking the Maya Code, Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, and Reading the Maya Glyphs.