THE RISE OF THE MAYA CIVILIZATION
The ancient Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America reached a pinnacle of socio-political development and complexity during the first millennium AD. As one of the few examples of statehood in the ancient world, the manner in which this socio-political complexity developed is of great historical and anthropological interest. Recent research along the Mexican and Guatemalan Pacific coasts, in the Guatemalan highlands, in humid lowlands of the Peten, and in arid northern Yucatecan plain indicates that the development of this complexity took place much earlier in time than once previously thought. In fact, the emergence of kingdoms, a large noble class, complex systems of long-distance exchange, monumental architecture, and specialized artisans can best be understood by studying the first millennium BC of Maya prehistory. This conference will focus on this period to investigate how and why the Maya developed and sustained more than a thousand years of complex society across such a varied cultural and environmental landscape.
Speakers
"The Classic Preclassic: Perspectives of the Middle Preclassic Period in the Mirador Basin and the Maya Lowlands" -- Richard D. Hansen
"Economy, society, and culture in the Maya Middle Preclassic at Cuello, Belize" -- Norman Hammond
“The Dawn of Social Complexity in Northwest Yucatan” -- David S. Anderson, Fernando Robles Castellanos, and Anthony P. Andrews
“The Preclassic in the Maya Highlands” -- Barbara Arroyo
“La Blanca in the Middle Preclassic Maya World” -- Michael Love
“Early Ceramics in the Northern Lowlands: New Interpretations from Komchen and Kiuic, Yucatan” -- E. Wyllys Andrews V and George J. Bey III
“The Rise of Maya Civilization in the Eastern Lowlands: A Belize River Valley Perspective” -- Jaime J. Awe
“Early Evidences of Monumental Architecture in Yucatan, Mexico” -- Tomás Gallareta Negrón
“What did the beginnings of Maya Civilization look like? A view from Cival, Peten, Guatemala” -- Francisco Estrada-Belli
"Preclassic sculpture, ancestry, and state formation: rethinking the enigmatic “potbelly” monuments" --Julia Guernsey
"Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphic Writing" -- Markus Eberl