Sign-In
Cart
Chan: An Ancient Maya Farming Community
Paperback
Series: Maya and Mesoamerican Studies
ArchaeologyCentral American History
ISBN13: 9780813049632
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Published: Oct 17 2013
Pages: 416
Weight: 1.39
Height: 0.92 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
What stands out in the Chan research is the variability and complexity of the strategies for living in this small community--clearly not the faceless homogeneous masses at the bottom of the socio-economic scale, but a diverse group of people in households who were successful for some 2,000 years in maintaining a balance in the face of a changing political landscape around them--Heather McKillop, author of In Search of Maya Sea Traders
This book is more than theory-building, it is paradigm-changing. Cynthia Robin and her colleagues have discovered how the farming village of Chan achieved sustainability in the tropics for two thousand years, in contrast to the three cities that emerged nearby but only lasted two hundred years and then collapsed. The successes of Chan in managing their rainforest, soils, population relative to resources, society, and religion embody lessons for today. There is no other book like it, clearly demonstrating from the ground up how a society can adapt to a challenging environment by understanding and respecting it, thereby avoiding the population explosions, environmental degradations and collapses of the competitive big cities.--Payson Sheets, University of Colorado, Boulder
The farming community of Chan thrived for over twenty centuries, surpassing the longevity of many larger Maya urban centers. Between 800 BC and 1200 AD it was a major food production center, and this collection of essays reveals the important role played by Maya farmers in the development of ancient Maya society.
Chan offers a synthesis of compelling and groundbreaking discoveries gathered over ten years of research at this one archaeological site in Belize. The contributors develop three central themes, which structure the book. They examine how sustainable farming practices maintained the surrounding forest, allowing the community to exist for two millennia. They trace the origins of elite Maya state religion to the complex religious belief system developed in small communities such as Chan. Finally, they describe how the group-focused political strategies employed by local leaders differed from the highly hierarchical strategies of the Classic Maya kings in their large cities. In breadth, methodology, and findings, this volume scales new heights in the study of Maya society and culture.Also in
Archaeology
The Death of Christ: The Bible and Popular Culture Vs Archaeological and Historical Evidence
Rutledge, Steven
Hardcover
Things We Found in the Ground: Discovering the History Buried Beneath Our Feet
Bruce, Ellie
Gray, Lucie
Paperback
Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts
Langlands, Alexander
Paperback
Treasures of Egypt: A Legacy in Photographs from the Pyramids to Cleopatra
National Geographic
Hardcover
The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World
Wisnom, Selena
Hardcover
Archaeology and the People of the Bible: Exploring the Evidence for the Historical Existence of Bible Characters
Kennedy, Titus
Paperback
Love, War, and Diplomacy: The Discovery of the Amarna Letters and the Bronze Age World They Revealed
Cline, Eric H.
Hardcover
Those Who Walked Before: Fossil Footprints at White Sands
Bustos, David F.
Odess, Daniel
Bennett, Matthew
Paperback
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
Anthony, David W.
Paperback
The Indo-Europeans Rediscovered: How a Scientific Revolution Is Rewriting Their Story
Mallory, J. P.
Hardcover
The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke
Lawler, Andrew
Paperback
Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings: Evidence of Advanced Civilization in the Ice Age
Hapgood, Charles
Paperback
Escape from Pompeii: The Great Eruption of Mount Vesuvius and Its Survivors
Tuck, Steven L.
Hardcover
American Archaeology: Living History, Stolen Pasts, and Defending the Future
Burillo, R. E.
Paperback
An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya
Taube, Karl
Miller, Mary Ellen
Paperback
The Language Puzzle: Piecing Together the Six-Million-Year Story of How Words Evolved
Mithen, Steven
Hardcover
The Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun
The Countess of Carnarvon
Paperback
Slaving States: From West Africa to the Ancient Mediterranean
Fentress, Elizabeth
Rabinowitz, Adam
Hardcover
The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World
Wisnom, Selena
Paperback
A Shark Going Inland Is My Chief: The Island Civilization of Ancient Hawai'i
Kirch, Patrick Vinton
Paperback
The First Americans: In Pursuit of Archaeology's Greatest Mystery
Adovasio, James
Page, Jake
Paperback
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
Anthony, David W.
Paperback
The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution
Hicks, Dan
Paperback
Man Corn: Cannibalism and Violence in the Prehistoric American Southwest
Turner, Christy G., II
Paperback
Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age
Sheppard, Kathleen
Hardcover
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts
Finkelstein, Israel
Silberman, Neil Asher
Paperback
The Valkyries' Loom: The Archaeology of Cloth Production and Female Power in the North Atlantic
Smith, Michèle Hayeur
Paperback
Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns
Fransen, LILLI
Nørgård, Anna
ØStergård, Else
Paperback
Behind the Bears Ears: Exploring the Cultural and Natural Histories of a Sacred Landscape
Burrillo, R. E.
Paperback
Turtle Island and the Tradition of Giants: When Earth Met Sky and Men Walked with Gods
Hamilton, Ross
Paperback
Macedonia Under the Argead Kings: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Superpower
Worthington, Ian
Hardcover
Classic Maya Social Inequality, Networks, and Collapse at DOS Pilas, Petén, Guatemala
Palka, Joel W.
Hardcover
The Bible's First Kings: Uncovering the Story of Saul, David, and Solomon
Farber, Zev I.
Faust, Avraham
Hardcover
Uncovering America's First War: Contact, Conflict, and Coronado's Expedition to the Rio Grande
Schmader, Matthew F.
Hardcover
Arrowheads and Stone Artifacts: A Practical Guide for the Amateur Archaeologist
Yeager, C. G.
Paperback
The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World
Broodbank, Cyprian
Hardcover
The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World's Oldest Symbols
Von Petzinger, Genevieve
Paperback
The Trouble with Ancient DNA: Telling Stories of the Past with Genomic Science
Källén, Anna
Paperback
An Archaeology of Milpa Cultures: Maize and Ecological Worldbuilding in Central Mexico
Alcántara, Keitlyn
Paperback
Roman Maritime Villas: Rediscovering Architecture in Southern Latium and Its Wider Context
Ferritto, Roberta
Hardcover
Stones Still Speak: How Biblical Archaeology Illuminates the Stories You Thought You Knew
Haley, Amanda Hope
Paperback
The Founding of Thessaloniki: A Comparison of Literary, Archaeological and Topographical Evidence
Manoledakis, Manolis
Paperback
Pueblo Bonito and Chaco Canyon Revisited: The Published Versus the Unpublished Record
Reyman, Jonathan E.
Paperback
Talking to the Rain: Paintings and Carvings on Stone in Chihuahuan Desert Landscapes
Schaafsma, Polly
Hardcover
Flaked Stone Artifacts from the East Wenatchee Clovis Cache
Mehringer, Peter J., Jr.
Bradley, Bruce A.
Huckell, Bruce
Hardcover
Joining the Dots: uniting Salisbury's past through holes in the ground
Mepham, Lorraine
Harding, Phil
Higbee, Lorrain
Hardcover
The Trouble with Ancient DNA: Telling Stories of the Past with Genomic Science
Källén, Anna
Hardcover
Sins of the Shovel: Looting, Murder, and the Evolution of American Archaeology
Morgan, Rachel
Paperback
Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales: Fossils of Washington State
Williams, David B.
Nesbitt, Elizabeth A.
Paperback
Guardians of the Dragon Path: Ancient Temples of the Pyrenees, the Way of the Stars Camino, A Magdalena Meridian
Williams, Ani
Paperback
Archaeology of the Bible: The Greatest Discoveries from Genesis to the Roman Era
Isbouts, Jean-Pierre
Hardcover
Paper Number 89: Coastal Archaeology of Suchitepéquez and Escuintla, Guatemala; Paper Number 90: Environment and Settlement in the Jesús River Drainag
Arroyo, Barbara
Pye, Mary Elizabeth
Paperback
Ancient Effigy Mound Landscapes of Upper Midwestern North America
Birmingham, Robert A.
Rosebrough, Amy L.
Paperback
Ancient and Modern Methods of Arrow Release (History of Archery Series)
Morse, Edward S.
Ford, Horace A.
Paperback
Silk Roads, Steppe Roads: History Unearthed from the Tombs of Medieval China
Skaff, Jonathan Karam
Hardcover
How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-By-Step Guide to Teach Yourself
Manley, Bill
Collier, Mark
Hardcover
Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean
Barber, E. J. W.
Paperback