Synopses & Reviews
andldquo;This volume is the first of its kind. A complex mosaic of how a relatively small Late Classic Maya polity was economically, socially, and politically organized. A must-read for all Maya scholars.andrdquo;andmdash;James F. Garber, editor ofand#160;The Ancient Maya of the Belize Valley
andldquo;The editors have assembled a remarkable array of evidence, including several innovative analytical methods. The product is a synthetic model that will shape how we understand and study Classic Maya political economy for the next several decades.andrdquo;andmdash;Jason Yaeger, editor ofand#160;Classic Maya Provincial Politics
Scholars have long debated the nature of Maya political organization during the Classic period (AD 250andndash;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 Josandeacute;.
By presenting a coherent interdisciplinary body of archaeological and environmental data, the volume offers an intensely 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, as well as an extensive tribute system.
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Review
andldquo;A robust presentationandhellip;.
Motul de San Josandeacute; joins a group of edited volumes published in recent years that offer state-of-the-art synthetic overviews of the archeology of a site or region in the Maya area...among these volumes
Motul de San Josandeacute; is remarkable in the range of data presented and the syntheses attempted.andrdquo;andmdash;
Journal of Anthropological ResearchReview
andldquo;Superb. . . . an invaluable workandhellip;replete with the richness and variety present in Late Classic Maya society.andrdquo;andmdash;
Current AnthropologyReview
andldquo;Features synthetic but also data-rich chapters from a wide variety of specialists.andrdquo;andmdash;
AntiquityReview
andldquo;Superb. . . . Address[es] all aspects of the complex web of interaction and integration that was the Late Classic polity of Motul de San Josandeacute;, including political history, craft production, and animal and agricultural economies. . . .An invaluable work that paints a picture, replete
with the richness and variety present in Late Classic Maya society.andrdquo;andmdash;Current Anthropology
About the Author
Antonia E. Foias, professor of anthropology at Williams College, is the author of Ceramics, Production, and Exchange in the Petexbatun Region: The Economic Parameters of the Classic Maya Collapse. Kitty F. Emery is assistant curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History and associate professor at the University of Florida.