Classic Maya Political Ecology: Resource Management, Class Histories, and Political Change in Northwestern Belize


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Series: Ideas, Debates, and Perspectives 6
ISBN: 978-1-931745-70-3
Publication Date: Feb 2013
Price: Pb $67.00, eBook $35.00
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Jon C. Lohse

The Classic Maya of the Central Lowlands crafted one of the ancient world’s great civilizations in what is today Belize, northern Guatemala, and Yucatan, Mexico. Although the Maya have long been known for their artistic and architectural achievements, the economic and agricultural base of this society has received far less attention. Over the past couple of decades, archaeologists have begun to understand how Maya householders reliably farmed this harsh, fragile, and yet highly productive environment for two thousand years. A new view emerges of how regional polities prospered in the face of population increase, political turmoil, and environmental and climatic change.

Classic Maya Political EcologyThis volume examines pre-Columbian political processes grounded in environmental productivity and a mutual interdependence between elite and non-elite classes, both contributing to the long-term success and adaptability of local and regional political communities and the networks that sustained them

Table of Contents
  • Introduction by Jon C. Lohse
  • Ch. 01: Classic Maya Political Ecology, Class Histories, and Political Change in Northwestern Belize by Jon C. Lohse
  • Ch. 02: Northwestern Belize and the Central Lowland Classic World by Brett A.Houk and Jon C. Lohse
  • Ch. 03: Landscape Formation and Agriculture in the Wetlands of Northwestern Belize by Timothy P. Beach, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, and Jon C. Lohse
  • Ch. 04: Transforming Identities and Shifting Goods: Tracking Sociopolitical Change through the Monumental Architecture and Ceramic Assemblages at Blue Creek by W. David Driver and Laura J. Kosakowsky
  • Ch. 05: The Ball Game, Community Ceremony, and Political Development in Northwestern Belize by Jon C. Lohse, Kerry L. Sagebiel, and Joanne P. Baron 
  • Ch. 06: Pots and Politics: Classic Maya Ceramic Production, Exchange, and Political Ecology in Northwestern Belize by Laura J. Kosakowsky, Jon C. Lohse, Nicole C. Little, and Robert J. Speakman
  • Ch. 07: Rural Settlement, Landscape Roles, and Political Change during the Classic Era in Northwestern Belize by Jason J. González
  • Ch. 08: Hinterland Diversity and Ancient Maya Political Economy in Northwestern Belize by Sarah C. Clayton
  • Ch. 09: Enduring the Collapse: Postclassic Occupation at Akab Muclil by Antonio E. Padilla, Molly Morgan, and Kerry L. Sagebiel
  • Ch. 10: Recap: Four Reasons for Rationality by Scott R. Hutson