Ancestral Maya economies in archaeological perspective

"The first comprehensive treatment of ancestral Maya economies, this book brings an array of evidence - archaeological, epigraphic, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic - to bear on the question of economic integration. In the process, McAnany demonstrates interconnectivity between ritual practice and indigenous ecologies, gendered labor, and the construction of colossal architecture. Examining Maya royaltyas a kind of social speciation, the author shows the fundamentality of social difference in ancestral Maya societies. The pervasiveness of artisan production is understood in terms of identity - both personal and community-wide. Her analysis of royal iconography and hieroglyphic texts provides evidence of a politicnl economy dominated by tribute extraction, thus lifting the veil of opacity over the financing of palace economies. This book interprets Maya economies in reference to contemporary theories of social practice, gender, actor networks, inalienable goods, materiality, hierarchy, indigenous ecologies, and strategies of state finance."--BOOK JACKET.

Year

2009

Language

English

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Editions

1

Pages

373

ISBN

9780521895187

Data source: Wikidata