Overview

For more than a century researchers have studied Maya ruins, and sites like Tikal, Palenque, Copán, and Chichén Itzá have shaped our understanding of the Maya. Yet the lowlands of Belize, which were once home to a rich urban tradition that persisted and evolved for almost 2,000 years, are treated as peripheral to these great Classic period sites. The hot and humid climate and dense forests are inhospitable and make preservation of the ruins difficult, but this oft-ignored area reveals much about Maya urbanism and culture. Using data collected from different sites throughout the Maya lowlands, including the Vaca Plateau and the Belize River Valley, Brett Houk presents the first synthesis of these unique monuments and discusses methods for mapping and excavating. Considering the sites through the theoretical lenses of the built environmentand ancient urban planning, Houk vividly reconstructs their political history, how they fit into the larger political landscape of the Classic Maya, and how the ancient cities fell apart over time.

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9780813060637

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Reviews

The standardized comparative approach used in this work is unique in Maya studies and will be a useful starting point for site-planning studies outside Belize as well. . . . Highly recommended. Choice A useful synthesis and analysis of Maya architecture in Belize. . . . Constantly returns to the builders of these cities and details how their social world is reflected in their permanent structures. . . . Houk writes clearly, with an approachable style. Journalof AnthropologicalResearch A tremendous book, intellectually rich, detailed, ambitious, and articulate. Latin American Antiquity A solid, workmanlike and badly needed general account of Belize s under-valued sites. Antiquity A useful synthesis and analysis of Maya architecture in Belize. . . . Constantly returns to the builders of these cities and details how their social world is reflected in their permanent structures. . . . Houk writes clearly, with an approachable style. Journal of AnthropologicalResearch The standardized comparative approach used in this work is unique in Maya studies and will be a useful starting point for site-planning studies outside Belize as well. . . . Highly recommended. Choice A tremendous book, intellectually rich, detailed, ambitious, and articulate. Latin American Antiquity A solid, workmanlike and badly needed general account of Belize s under-valued sites. Antiquity

A useful synthesis and analysis of Maya architecture in Belize. . . . Constantly returns to the builders of these cities and details how their social world is reflected in their permanent structures. . . . Houk writes clearly, with an approachable style. Journal of AnthropologicalResearch

The standardized comparative approach used in this work is unique in Maya studies and will be a useful starting point for site-planning studies outside Belize as well. . . . Highly recommended. Choice

The standardized comparative approach used in this work is unique in Maya studies and will be a useful starting point for site-planning studies outside Belize as well. . . . Highly recommended. <b><i>Choice</i></b>

Author Information

Brett A. Houk is associate professor of archaeology at Texas Tech University, USA.

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