Includes index.

Splendid color photos overshadow the text. No references. No index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

An in-depth discussion of the latest archeological findings about the Mayan civilization explores the sophistication of this long-misunderstood culture and addressing such issues as why the civilization disappeared, why they built cities in jungles, and more.

Thousands of years ago, people settled in the part of the world called Mesoamerica. This region consists of southern Mexico and most of Central America as it stretches between what is now called the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Although many different countries now exist within this space, it was the original home to just one civilisation: the Olmec. As time advanced, other well-known groups became dominant in the area. These were primarily the Aztecs and the Mayan. All these early civilizations that existed from approximately 1200 BCE to 900 CE were steeped with culture, tradition, commerce, and conflict. They also offer many mysteries and enigmas to modern understanding. These are the things that make people wonder about how the civilisations arose, gained such power, and why they disappeared. Travel back in time to the first days to discover the questions that still exist in the minds of archaeologists, historians, and others who strive to understand the ancient mysteries of Mesoamerica.

On March 13, 1697, Spanish troops from Yucatán attacked and occupied Nojpeten, the capital of the Maya people known as Itzas, the inhabitants of the last unconquered native New World kingdom. This political and ritual center--located on a small island in a lake in the tropical forests of northern Guatemala--was densely covered with temples, royal palaces, and thatched houses, and its capture represented a decisive moment in the final chapter of the Spanish conquest of the Mayas. The capture of Nojpeten climaxed more than two years of preparation by the Spaniards, after efforts by the military forces and Franciscan missionaries to negotiate a peaceful surrender with the Itzas had been rejected by the Itza ruling council and its ruler Ajaw Kan Ek’. The conquest, far from being final, initiated years of continued struggle between Yucatecan and Guatemalan Spaniards and native Maya groups for control over the surrounding forests. Despite protracted resistance from the native inhabitants, thousands of them were forced to move into mission towns, though in 1704 the Mayas staged an abortive and bloody rebellion that threatened to recapture Nojpeten from the Spaniards. The first complete account of the conquest of the Itzas to appear since 1701, this book details the layers of political intrigue and action that characterized every aspect of the conquest and its aftermath. The author critically reexamines the extensive documentation left by the Spaniards, presenting much new information on Maya political and social organization and Spanish military and diplomatic strategy. This is not only one of the most detailed studies of any Spanish conquest in the Americas but also one of the most comprehensive reconstructions of an independent Maya kingdom in the history of Maya studies. In presenting the story of the Itzas, the author also reveals much about neighboring lowland Maya groups with whom the Itzas interacted, often violently.

1. Mountains of the Maya 2. Lost Kingdoms of the Maya 3. Mystery of the Maya Running Time: 1:47:44 SKU PV000206.

This volume collects leading scholarship on one of the most important archaeological complexes in the ancient Maya world. The authors--internationally renowned experts who participated in the long-running Copan Acropolis Archaeological Project--address enduring themes in Maya archaeology. In addition to site-specific breakthroughs involving dynastic sequences, epigraphy, and chronologies, these essays explore questions of broad interest to archaeologists and other anthropologists, including state formation, architecture and space, and the relationship between history and archaeology as well as among archaeology, epigraphy, and iconography.