Motul de San José : politics, history, and economy in a classic Maya polity / edited by Antonia E. Foias and Kitty F. Emery.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Foias, Antonia E.

Emery, Kitty F.

Series:

Maya studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mayas--Guatemala--Petén (Department)--Antiquities.

Mayas.

Excavations (Archaeology)--Guatemala--Petén (Department).

Excavations (Archaeology).

Antiquities.

Petén (Guatemala : Department)--Antiquities.

Petén (Guatemala : Department).

Guatemala--Petén (Department).

Physical Description:

xiv, 535 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Gainesville : University Press of Florida, [2012]

Summary:

Scholars have long debated the nature of Maya political organization during the Classic period (AD 250-950). Complex questions regarding political centralization, economic change, and the role of politics and economics in the rise and collapse of the civilization have been examined and reexamined from a variety of perspectives. Antonia Foias and Kitty Emery have assembled a broad collection of essays all focused on a single polity, that of Motul de San José.

By presenting a coherent interdisciplinary body of archaeological and environmental data, the volume offers a deep, focused investigation of the various models of the ancient Maya political and economic systems. Research conducted over six seasons of fieldwork reveals a more centralized political system than expected and uncovers the workings of the ancient economic structure. The contributors offer new details concerning how involved royals and nonroyal elites were in the politics of nearby states and outline an extensive tribute system. Book jacket.

Contents:

Politics and economics: theoretical perspectives of the Motul de San José project / Antonia E. Foias and Kitty F. Emery

Lords of windy water: the royal court of Motul de San José in classic Maya inscriptions / Alexander Tokovinine and Marc Zender

Identity and interaction: ceramic styles and social history of the Ik' Polity, Guatemala / Dorie Reents-Budet, Stanley Guenter, Ronald L. Bishop, and M. James Blackman

Architecture, volumetrics, and social stratification at Motul de San José during the late and terminal classic / Antonia E. Foias, Christina T. Halperin, Elly Spensley Moriarty, and Jeanette Castellanos

Figurine economies at Motul de San José: multiple and shifting modes of valuation / Christina T. Halperin

Motul de San José palace pottery production: reconstructions from wasters and debris / Christina T. Halperin and Antonia E. Foias

History, politics, and ceramics: the ceramic sequence of Trinidad de Nosotros, El Petén, Guatemala / Matthew D. Moriarty

Wealth, status, and stucco: micromorphology studies at Trinidad, a secondary center in the Motul de San José periphery / Ellen Spensley Moriarty

Akte: settlement, chronology, and monuments at the minor ceremonial center Akte in the Motul de San José periphery / Suzanna C. Yorgey and Matthew D. Moriarty

Preliminary investigations in macro- and microbotany at Motul de San José / Andrew R. Wyatt, David M. Jarzen, Lizzy Hare, and Kitty F. Emery

The Motul de San José animals in an economic perspective / Kitty F. Emery

Animal resource use and exchange at an inland Maya port: zooarchaeological investigations at Trinidad de Nosotros / Erin Kennedy Thornton

In search of markets and fields: soil chemical investigations at Motul de San José / Daniel A. Bair and Richard E. Terry

Stable carbon isotope evidence of ancient maize cultivation on the soils of Motul de San José / Elizabeth A. Webb and Henry P. Schwarcz

Landscape, economies, and the politics of power in the Motul de San José polity / Kitty F. Emery and Antonia E. Foias

Control without controlling: Motul de San José and its environs from an outsider's perspective / Elizabeth Graham.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [443]-518) and index.

ISBN:

9780813041902

0813041902

OCLC:

777602109