The Nature of an Ancient Maya City
182 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
40
Paperback
Release Date:09 Dec 2007
ISBN:9780817354268
The Nature of an Ancient Maya City
Resources, Interaction, and Power at Blue Creek, Belize
University of Alabama Press
Reveals what daily Maya life was like
For two millennia, the site now known as Blue Creek in northwestern Belize was a Maya community that became an economic and political center that included some 15,000-20,000 people at its height. Fairly well protected from human destruction, the site offers the full range of city components including monumental ceremonial structures, elite and non-elite residences, ditched agricultural fields, and residential clusters just outside the core. Since 1992, a multi-disciplinary, multi-national research team has intensively investigated Blue Creek in an integrated study of the dynamic structure and functional inter-relationships among the parts of a single Maya city. Documented in coverage by National Geographic, Archaeology magazine, and a documentary film aired on the Discovery Channel, Blue Creek is recognized as a unique site offering the full range of undisturbed architectural construction to reveal the mosaic that was the ancient city. Moving beyond the debate of what constitutes a city, Guderjan’s long-term research reveals what daily Maya life was like.
For two millennia, the site now known as Blue Creek in northwestern Belize was a Maya community that became an economic and political center that included some 15,000-20,000 people at its height. Fairly well protected from human destruction, the site offers the full range of city components including monumental ceremonial structures, elite and non-elite residences, ditched agricultural fields, and residential clusters just outside the core. Since 1992, a multi-disciplinary, multi-national research team has intensively investigated Blue Creek in an integrated study of the dynamic structure and functional inter-relationships among the parts of a single Maya city. Documented in coverage by National Geographic, Archaeology magazine, and a documentary film aired on the Discovery Channel, Blue Creek is recognized as a unique site offering the full range of undisturbed architectural construction to reveal the mosaic that was the ancient city. Moving beyond the debate of what constitutes a city, Guderjan’s long-term research reveals what daily Maya life was like.
Clearly written, substantive, and well-organized, this volume is a summary of the most important aspects of the research and is designed to alert the discipline to the major discoveries and interpretations.’
—David Freidel, Southern Methodist University
Guderjan (Maya Research Program) reconstructs status, residence, population (about 12,500), trading, and other activities, providing a fascinating reconstruction of life in a Maya city. . . . Highly recommended.’
—CHOICE
Thomas H. Guderjan is the president of Maya Research Program, a non-profit research organization. He received his Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University and has been a faculty member at St. Mary’s University and Texas Christian University.
