Maya and Mesoamerican Studies

Edited by Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase

Series Description:

Books in this series focus on the ancient and contemporary Maya and Mesoamerican peoples of Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The goal of the series is to provide an integrated outlet for scholarly works in anthropology, archaeology, epigraphy, ethnography, and history based in this region. The series will particularly seek cutting-edge theoretical works in the form of monographs or tightly-organized edited volumes.

For more Information:

There are 25 books in this series.


Please note that while you may order forthcoming books at any time, they will not be available for shipment until shortly before publication date

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Archaeology and Ethnohistory of Iximché

This book reconstructs the history of Iximche, the capital of the Cakchiquel Maya in highland Guatemala, based on archaeological and ethnohistorical information.

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El Perú-Waka’: New Archaeological Perspectives on the Kingdom of the Centipede

Presenting the most current research on the Maya rainforest city El Perú-Waka’, this volume discusses occupation at the site spanning from 300 BC to 1000 CE and offers researchers an unmatched view of ancient life in a tropical urban environment.

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The Materialization of Time in the Ancient Maya World: Mythic History and Ritual Order

This book discusses the range of ways the ancient Maya people expressed timekeeping in daily life through their architecture, arts, writing, beliefs, and practices.

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Lacandón Maya in the Twenty-First Century: Indigenous Knowledge and Conservation in Mexico's Tropical Rainforest

This book tells the story of how Lacandón Maya families have adapted to the contemporary world while applying their ancestral knowledge to create an ecologically sustainable future in Mexico’s largest remaining tropical rainforest.

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Maya Kingship: Rupture and Transformation from Classic to Postclassic Times

Examining changes to the institution of divine kingship from 750 to 950 CE in the Maya lowland cities, this volume presents a new way of studying the collapse of that civilization and the transformation of political systems between the Terminal Classic and Postclassic Periods.

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The Real Business of Ancient Maya Economies: From Farmers’ Fields to Rulers’ Realms

A timely synthesis of the latest research and perspectives on ancient Maya economics, this volume illuminates the sophistication and intricacy of economic systems in the Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic periods.   

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Maya Christians and Their Churches in Sixteenth-Century Belize

Viewing historical and archaeological data through the lens of her personal experience of Roman Catholicism, and informed by feminist approaches, Elizabeth Graham assesses the concept of religion, the significance of doctrine, the empowerment of the individual, and the process of conversion by examining the meanings attributed to ideas, objects and images by the Maya, by Iberian Christians, and by archaeologists. Graham’s provocative study also makes the case that the impact of Christianity in Belize was a phenomenon that uniquely shaped the development of the modern nation.

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Approaches to Monumental Landscapes of the Ancient Maya

This volume brings together a wide spectrum of new approaches to ancient Maya studies in an innovative exploration of how the Preclassic and Classic Maya shaped their world. Moving beyond the towering temples and palaces typically associated with the Maya civilization, contributors present unconventional examples of monumental Maya landscapes.

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Migrations in Late Mesoamerica

Bringing the often-neglected topic of migration to the forefront of ancient Mesoamerican studies, this volume uses an illuminating multidisciplinary approach to address the role of population movements in Mexico and Central America from AD 500 to 1500, the tumultuous centuries before European contact.  

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The Market for Mesoamerica: Reflections on the Sale of Pre-Columbian Antiquities

This timely volume explores past, current, and future policies and trends concerning the sales of antiquities from pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, which are among the most popular items on the international antiquities market.