A Forest of History
The Maya after the Emergence of Divine Kingship
Published on 1. July 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
358 pages
978-1-64642-235-7 (ISBN)
Description
David Freidel and Linda Schele's monumental work A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya (1990) offered an innovative, rigorous, and controversial approach to studying the ancient Maya, unifying archaeological, iconographic, and epigraphic data in a form accessible to both scholars and laypeople. Travis Stanton and Kathryn Brown's A Forest of History: The Maya after the Emergence of Divine Kingship presents a collection of essays that critically engage with and build upon the lasting contributions A Forest of Kings made to Maya epigraphy, iconography, material culture, and history.
These original papers present new, cutting-edge research focusing on the social changes leading up to the spread of divine kingship across the lowlands in the first part of the Early Classic. The contributors continue avenues of inquiry such as the timing of the Classic Maya collapse across the southern lowlands, the nature of Maya warfare, the notion of usurpation and "stranger-kings" in the Classic period, the social relationships between the ruler and elite of the Classic period Yaxchilan polity, and struggles for sociopolitical dominance among the later Classic period polities of Chichen Itza, Coba, and the Puuc kingdoms.
Many of the interpretations and approaches in A Forest of Kings have withstood the test of time, while others have not; a complete understanding of the Classic Maya world is still developing. In A Forest of History recent discoveries are considered in the context of prior scholarship, illustrating both the progress the field has made in the past quarter century and the myriad questions that remain. The volume will be a significant contribution to the literature for students, scholars, and general readers interested in Mesoamerican and Maya archaeology.
Contributors:
Wendy Ashmore, Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase, Wilberth Cruz Alvarado, Arthur A. Demarest, Keith Eppich, David A. Freidel, Charles W. Golden, Stanley P. Guenter, Annabeth Headrick, Aline Magnoni, Joyce Marcus, Marilyn A. Masson, Damaris Menendez, Susan Milbrath, Olivia C. Navarro-Farr, Jose Osorio Leon, Carlos Peraza Lope, Juan Carlos Perez Calderon, Griselda Perez Robles, Francisco Perez Ruiz, Michelle Rich, Jeremy A. Sabloff, Andrew K. Scherer, Karl A. Taube
These original papers present new, cutting-edge research focusing on the social changes leading up to the spread of divine kingship across the lowlands in the first part of the Early Classic. The contributors continue avenues of inquiry such as the timing of the Classic Maya collapse across the southern lowlands, the nature of Maya warfare, the notion of usurpation and "stranger-kings" in the Classic period, the social relationships between the ruler and elite of the Classic period Yaxchilan polity, and struggles for sociopolitical dominance among the later Classic period polities of Chichen Itza, Coba, and the Puuc kingdoms.
Many of the interpretations and approaches in A Forest of Kings have withstood the test of time, while others have not; a complete understanding of the Classic Maya world is still developing. In A Forest of History recent discoveries are considered in the context of prior scholarship, illustrating both the progress the field has made in the past quarter century and the myriad questions that remain. The volume will be a significant contribution to the literature for students, scholars, and general readers interested in Mesoamerican and Maya archaeology.
Contributors:
Wendy Ashmore, Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase, Wilberth Cruz Alvarado, Arthur A. Demarest, Keith Eppich, David A. Freidel, Charles W. Golden, Stanley P. Guenter, Annabeth Headrick, Aline Magnoni, Joyce Marcus, Marilyn A. Masson, Damaris Menendez, Susan Milbrath, Olivia C. Navarro-Farr, Jose Osorio Leon, Carlos Peraza Lope, Juan Carlos Perez Calderon, Griselda Perez Robles, Francisco Perez Ruiz, Michelle Rich, Jeremy A. Sabloff, Andrew K. Scherer, Karl A. Taube
Reviews / Votes
"A wonderful tribute to A Forest of Kings. It captures the spirit of that work and highlights many of the discoveries made since its publication. Oftentimes, the papers in this volume portray A Forest of Kings as prescient: it certainly was."-James Fitzsimmons, Middlebury College
"Stanton and Brown have done an excellent job bringing together world-class scholars who continue to push the advancement of Maya studies through their contributions. These works highlight the depth of knowledge that archaeologists, epigraphers, and art historians have gained over the past twenty-five-plus years."
-Jeffrey B. Glover, Georgia State University
"This book is a very comprehensive, often daring, and very personal set of syntheses."
-Americae
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Colorado
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Interest Age: From 18 to 99 years
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
504 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64642-235-7 (9781646422357)
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
Persons
Travis W. Stanton is professor of anthropology at the University of California, Riverside. He is codirector of the Proyecto de Interaccion Politica del Centro de Yucatan with Traci Ardren and of the Proyecto Sacbe Yaxuna-Coba with Aline Magnoni and Traci Ardren. He is the author, coauthor, editor, or coeditor of several books, including Ruins of the Past, The Archaeology of Yucatan, The Past in the Present, and Before Kukulkan.
M. Kathryn Brown is the Lutcher Brown Endowed Professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the director of the Mopan Valley Preclassic Project in Belize. Her research focuses on the role of ritual and religion in the rise of complexity in the Maya lowlands. She has numerous publications including two coedited books titled Pathways to Complexity and Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare.
M. Kathryn Brown is the Lutcher Brown Endowed Professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the director of the Mopan Valley Preclassic Project in Belize. Her research focuses on the role of ritual and religion in the rise of complexity in the Maya lowlands. She has numerous publications including two coedited books titled Pathways to Complexity and Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare.