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"Coe and Houston update this classic by distilling the latest scholarship for the general reader and student. This new edition incorporates the most recent archaeological and epigraphic research, which continues to proceed at a fast pace. Among the finest new discoveries are spectacular stucco sculptures at El Zotz and Holmul, which reveal surprising aspects of Maya royalty and the founding of dynasties. Dramatic refinements in our understanding the pace of changes in the Maya world have led scholars to perceive a pattern of rapid bursts of building and political formation. Other finds include the discovery of the earliest known occupant of the region, the Hoyo Negro girl, recovered from an underwater cavern in the Yucatan peninsula, along with new evidence for the first architecture at Ceibal."--Back cover.… (more)
User reviews
Michael Coe gives a historical overview of this once great civilization, explaining their
This book is highly recommended to anyone who is interested in precolumbian civilizations, or even just mesoamerican civilizations.
Fun trivia: you know that 2012 bs? It's
Length? – Several days day’s read.
Characters? – Memorable, several characters.
Setting? – Real World, Ancient Maya.
Written approximately? – 1999.
Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Yes - What was daily life like for
Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.
Short storyline: A lot of discussion around the Maya.
Notes for the reader: The first 50 pages are useful. There are a lot of pictures, though few maps to figure out the places and times they are talking about about. After the first 50 pages, when they get to an interesting point, they mention it will be covered in chapter nine. I'm not so sure it was. Chapter ten totally confused me. I think the layout could be improved with a few headings that clarify what they are discussing in many places. It's confusing. As if they lumped it all together, and leave it up to the reader to figure out when one time period, or place ends and another begins. The pictures keep it from being a 2.
I found the book fascinating. I just looked at it on the shelf for a number of years, and then decided to read it in installments, finishing today. Ancient history is normally not my bag, but I finished two this year, the other being Thucydides
The book is a slog but then so is any book when you're not familiar with the underlying material, in this case Mayan history. My familiarity, such as it is, comes from a Scarsdale Adult School course I took either during fall 1972 or 1973, and from tours of the Chichen Itza and Uxmal pyramids during October 1989 and March 1990, from Club Med Cancun.