Like their regal counterparts in societies around the globe, ancient Maya rulers departed this world with elaborate burial ceremonies and lavish grave goods, which often included ceramics, red pigments, earflares, stingray spines, jades, pearls, obsidian blades, and mosaics. Archaeological investigation of these burials, as well as the decipherment of inscriptions that record Maya rulers' funerary rites, have opened a fascinating window on how the ancient Maya envisaged the ruler's passage from the world of the living to the realm of the ancestors. Focusing on the Classic Period (AD 250-900), James Fitzsimmons examines and compares textual and archaeological evidence for rites of death and burial in the Maya lowlands, from which he creates models of royal Maya funerary behavior. Exploring ancient Maya attitudes toward death expressed at well-known sites such as Tikal, Guatemala, and Copan, Honduras, as well as less-explored archaeological locations, Fitzsimmons reconstructs royal mortuary rites and expands our understanding of key Maya concepts including the afterlife and ancestor veneration.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
University of Texas Press
ISBN-13
9780292718906
eBay Product ID (ePID)
94780958
Product Key Features
Author
James L. Fitzsimmons
Publication Name
Death and the Classic Maya Kings
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
Archaeology
Publication Year
2009
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
321 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
229mm
Item Width
178mm
Item Weight
879g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
James L. Fitzsimmons
Series Title
The Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies