David Freidel – författare

The mystique of the pre-Columbian Maya has prompted much speculation about the nature of this sophisticated people. With the breaking of their elaborate hieroglyphic code, Schele and Freidel, Mayan scholars of note, provide a new look at the Maya. Structured on sound scholarly principles, their presentation abounds in notes, references, indexes, and chronologies with profuse line-drawings of temple and other inscriptions. They devote a chapter to each of the major Mayan city-states. What makes this volume more accessible and of greater impact than the average scholarly study are the frequent vignettes of great events, kingly acts, etc., told dramatically, in a fictive but plausible style that allows the ancient Maya at last to speak for themselves. Recommended for informed laypersons, as well as specialist and young adult readers.

Recent research and discoveries at a prominent Maya rainforest cityThis volume presents the most current research on the ancient Maya city El Perú-Waka’, or “Kingdom of the Centipede.” Located in the Laguna del Tigre National Park of Guatemala, this city has been a major focus of recent archaeological inquiry, which has uncovered a long occupation at the site spanning from 300 BC to 1000 CE. The chapters in El Perú-Waka’ examine the Maya who lived here and the rainforest city they built, complete with its pyramids, palaces, temples, roads, reservoirs, and residences. Contributors reconstruct urban settlement patterns, look at health and dietary differences between elites and commoners, and analyze epigraphs and art, among other topics. The book includes a detailed discussion of the tomb of the city’s famous queen, Lady K’abel, showing that the queen’s choice to be interred within Waka’s most prominent dynastic monument demonstrates the power of Maya royal women to not only direct political discourse during their lives but also impact the reigns of their successors.The evidence in this volume indicates the city’s importance in the political and ritual landscape of the Maya Lowlands, and with the site’s long record of habitation and dense population, this book offers researchers an unmatched view of ancient life in a tropical urban environment.A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Recent research and discoveries at aprominent Maya rainforest city

 

This volume presentsthe most current research on the ancient Maya city El Perú-Waka’, or “Kingdomof the Centipede.” Located in the Laguna del Tigre National Park of Guatemala,this city has been a major focus of recent archaeological inquiry, which hasuncovered a long occupation at the site spanning from 300 BC to 1000 CE. Thechapters in El Perú-Waka’ examine the Maya who lived here and the rainforestcity they built, complete with its pyramids, palaces, temples, roads,reservoirs, and residences.

Contributorsreconstruct urban settlement patterns, look at health and dietary differencesbetween elites and commoners, and analyze epigraphs and art, among other topics.The book includes a detailed discussion of the tomb of the city’s famous queen,Lady K’abel, showing that the queen’s choice to be interred within Waka’s mostprominent dynastic monument demonstrates the power of Maya royal women to notonly direct political discourse during their lives but also impact the reignsof their successors.

Theevidence in this volume indicates the city’s importance in the political andritual landscape of the Maya Lowlands, and with the site’s long record ofhabitation and dense population, this book offers researchers an unmatched viewof ancient life in a tropical urban environment.

Contributors:  MatthewC. Ricker | Damien B. Marken | Juan Carlos Pérez | Diana N. Fridberg | OliviaC. Navarro-Farr | Sarah Van Oss | David Freidel | Griselda Pérez Robles | ElsaDamaris Menéndez | Mary Kate Kelly | Erin E. Patterson | Michelle Rich | KeithEppich

 

A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited byDiane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase