If you’re looking for a great Christmas gift for a person who loves the ancient Maya, this is it. Noted Maya scholar Michael Coe and renowned photographer Barry Burkoff have joined forces to create a coffee table book that is a feast for the eyes and an excellent discussion of the latest Maya archaeology.
Coe, who is a professor emeritus at Yale and the author of many Maya studies, deftly leads the reader through the entire history of the Maya, from their origins in the earlier Olmec culture, to their peak in the ninth century A.D. This was followed by a decline lasting some 500 years that terminated with the Spanish conquest. Of course the Maya did not simply disappear. Some eight million Maya still inhabit southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and northern Honduras, and they still speak a variety of Maya languages.
The focus of this tome is the great Maya cities of the region. Coe arranges the text around the chronological development of these great centers with their pyramids, temples, and palaces. Burkoff complements the text with vivid photographs of the Maya architecture and environment. The story begins in earnest with a description of the great pre-Classic center of El Mirador in the forests of northern Guatemala. It may be the largest of all the Maya cities and the first to fall into ruin, only to be superseded by the rise of the magnificent Classic centers of the central lowlands. Tikal, Calakmul, Yaxchilán, Palenque, and others are vividly described as their great kings rise and fall. Here the photographs give a sense not only of their architectural grandeur, but of the rise of Maya art as well, especially at the spectacular frescos of Bonampak. Some of the lesser known and visited centers featuring Chenes- and Rio Bec-style architecture are also included.
As Coe makes clear, there was no single Maya collapse, but a series of declines that moved from the southern lowlands to the northern Yucatán. As great centers like Palenque and Copán faded away, they were replaced by equally great centers of the Puuk world like Kabah and Uxmal. Finally the last great Maya centers are built at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán in the far northern Yucatán.
This is not an in depth study of the Maya culture, but rather a brief and graphic description of a great culture as seen through its greatest cities. As a commanding introduction to the Maya world, it is unsurpassed. – Mark Michel
