The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and TransformationArthur Andrew Demarest, Prudence M. Rice, Don S. Rice The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands revisits one of the great problems in Mayan archaeology - the apparent collapse of Classic Maya civilization from roughly A.D. 830 to 950. During this period the Maya abandoned their power centers in the southern lowlands and rather abruptly ceased the distinctive cultural practices that marked their apogee in the Classic period. Archaeological fieldwork during the past three decades, however, has uncovered enormous regional variability in the ways the Maya experienced the shift from Classic to Postclassic society, revealing a period of cultural change more complex than acknowledged by traditional models.
Featuring an impressive roster of scholars, The Terminal Classic presents the most recent data and interpretations pertaining to this perplexing period of cultural transformation in the Maya lowlands. Although the research reveals clear interregional patterns, the contributors resist a single overarching explanation. Rather, this volume's diverse and nuanced interpretations provide a new, more properly grounded beginning for continued debate on the nature of lowland Terminal Classic Maya civilization. |
Contents
Hermeneutics Transitions and Transformations in Classic | 12 |
Terminal ClassicPeriod Lowland Ceramics | 28 |
Continuity and Transformation at Seibal | 60 |
Copyright | |
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abandoned Acropolis Aguateca Altar archaeological architecture artifacts assemblages ballcourt buildings burials Calakmul Caracol Caye Coco Cehpech ceramics centers central century ceramic ceramic complex Chapter Chase Chau Hiix Chichén Itzá chronological Classic ceramic Classic Maya Classic Maya collapse Cobá Coner construction contexts Copán core Demarest deposits Dunning Early Classic Early Postclassic Ejar Ek Balam elite evidence excavations Fash Figure Freidel groups hydration dates indicate Itza Ixkun Ixtonton kilometers Lamanai located Maya lowlands meters middens Milpa monuments Mopan obsidian occupation Orange Oxkintok Pasión pattern Pendergast percent Petén Petexbatun phase platform Plaza political polychrome population Postclassic period pottery Preclassic Puuc radiocarbon dates region residential Río Río Azul ritual rulers Sabloff sample Schele Seibal settlement sherds Slate ware Sotuta ceramics southern lowlands square kilometers Stela Structure suggest temple Tepeu Terminal Classic period Tikal tion Tourtellot types Uaxactun Unslipped Uxmal vessels wall Xunantunich Yaxuna Yaxuna IVa Yucatán zone