Death and the Classic Maya Kings
Published on 15. January 2009
Book
Hardback
321 pages
978-0-292-71890-6 (ISBN)
Description
Like their regal counterparts in societies around the globe, ancient Maya rulers departed this world with elaborate burial ceremonies and lavish grave goods, which often included ceramics, red pigments, earflares, stingray spines, jades, pearls, obsidian blades, and mosaics. Archaeological investigation of these burials, as well as the decipherment of inscriptions that record Maya rulers' funerary rites, have opened a fascinating window on how the ancient Maya envisaged the ruler's passage from the world of the living to the realm of the ancestors.
Focusing on the Classic Period (AD 250-900), James Fitzsimmons examines and compares textual and archaeological evidence for rites of death and burial in the Maya lowlands, from which he creates models of royal Maya funerary behavior. Exploring ancient Maya attitudes toward death expressed at well-known sites such as Tikal, Guatemala, and Copan, Honduras, as well as less-explored archaeological locations, Fitzsimmons reconstructs royal mortuary rites and expands our understanding of key Maya concepts including the afterlife and ancestor veneration.
Focusing on the Classic Period (AD 250-900), James Fitzsimmons examines and compares textual and archaeological evidence for rites of death and burial in the Maya lowlands, from which he creates models of royal Maya funerary behavior. Exploring ancient Maya attitudes toward death expressed at well-known sites such as Tikal, Guatemala, and Copan, Honduras, as well as less-explored archaeological locations, Fitzsimmons reconstructs royal mortuary rites and expands our understanding of key Maya concepts including the afterlife and ancestor veneration.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Austin, TX
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
With dust jacket
Illustrations
12 color photos, 60 b&w illus., 4 b&w maps, 6 tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
880 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-292-71890-6 (9780292718906)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
James L. Fitzsimmons is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Middlebury College and is currently directing excavations at the site of Zapote Bobal, Guatemala.
Content
A Note on Orthography
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Celebrations for the Dead
Anthropology and Death Rituals
The Classic Maya Case
Methodological Concerns
Kingship and the Ancestors
Chapter 2: Death and the Afterlife in the Lowlands
Earth
Maize
Mortality
Writing Death
The Self and the Soul
Breaths of Life and Death
Way
To the Afterlife
Celestial Bodies and Maize Gods
Chapter 3: Royal Funerals
Waiting for Interment
Gravemakers
Tombs as Underworld Surfaces
Tombs as Caves
Tombs as Houses
Timing and the Ritual Process
Embalming and Processing
Dressing and Bundling the Corpse
Painting
Arranging the Body, Arranging the Furniture
Sealing the Tomb
Chapter 4: Death and Landscape
K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo'
Lowland Founders and Local Variations
Cults of Personality
Bird Jaguar IV
Gods and Orchards at Palenque
Souls within Buildings
Ancestor Shrines
Chapter 5: Entering the Tombs of the Classic Maya Kings
Patterns of Reentry at Piedras Negras
Fire in the Motmot Burial
Fire and History at Tonina
Family Affairs
False Reentry
Painting, Drilling, and Bone Peeling
The Portable Dead
Chapter 6: The Dead King and the Body Politic
Royal Funerals: Public or Private?
Bodies and Monuments
Corpses, Souls, and Mourners in Transition
Guide to Appendixes
Appendix 1: Burial Structures and Contexts
Appendix 2: Body Preparations and Funerary Activities
Appendix 3: Grave Goods
Notes
References
Index
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Celebrations for the Dead
Anthropology and Death Rituals
The Classic Maya Case
Methodological Concerns
Kingship and the Ancestors
Chapter 2: Death and the Afterlife in the Lowlands
Earth
Maize
Mortality
Writing Death
The Self and the Soul
Breaths of Life and Death
Way
To the Afterlife
Celestial Bodies and Maize Gods
Chapter 3: Royal Funerals
Waiting for Interment
Gravemakers
Tombs as Underworld Surfaces
Tombs as Caves
Tombs as Houses
Timing and the Ritual Process
Embalming and Processing
Dressing and Bundling the Corpse
Painting
Arranging the Body, Arranging the Furniture
Sealing the Tomb
Chapter 4: Death and Landscape
K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo'
Lowland Founders and Local Variations
Cults of Personality
Bird Jaguar IV
Gods and Orchards at Palenque
Souls within Buildings
Ancestor Shrines
Chapter 5: Entering the Tombs of the Classic Maya Kings
Patterns of Reentry at Piedras Negras
Fire in the Motmot Burial
Fire and History at Tonina
Family Affairs
False Reentry
Painting, Drilling, and Bone Peeling
The Portable Dead
Chapter 6: The Dead King and the Body Politic
Royal Funerals: Public or Private?
Bodies and Monuments
Corpses, Souls, and Mourners in Transition
Guide to Appendixes
Appendix 1: Burial Structures and Contexts
Appendix 2: Body Preparations and Funerary Activities
Appendix 3: Grave Goods
Notes
References
Index