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SERIES Advanced Seminar »
CATEGORIES Ancient Americas » Archaeology »

The Classic Maya Collapse

 

Edited by T. Patrick Culbert

Of the many mysteries surrounding ancient Maya civilization, none has attracted greater interest than its collapse in the eighth and ninth centuries AD. Until recently, speculations on the causes of the collapse have been more numerous than excavated sites in the area. But the past twenty-five years have produced many new findings. In this book, thirteen leading scholars use new data to revise the image of ancient Maya civilization and create a new model of its collapse—a general model of sociopolitical collapse not limited to the cultural history of the Maya alone.

1973. 572 pp., figures, maps, tables, notes, references, index, 6 x 9

Contributors: Richard E. W. Adams, E. Wyllys Andrews IV, William R. Bullard Jr., T. Patrick Culbert, John A. Graham, Robert L. Rands, William L. Rathje, Jeremy A. Sabloff, William T. Sanders, Frank P. Saul, Demitri B. Shimkin, Malcom C. Webb, Gordon R. Willey

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  1. Introduction: A Prologue to Classic Maya Culture and the Problem of Its Collapse T. Patrick Culbert
  2. The Collapse of Maya Civilization: A Review of Previous Theories Richard E. W. Adams
  3. Major Themes in the Past Hypotheses of the Maya Collapse Jeremy A. Sabloff
  4. The Classic Collapse in the Southern Maya Lowlands: Chronology Robert L. Rands
  5. The Maya Downfall at Tikal T. Patrick Culbert
  6. Certain Aspects of the Late Classic to Postclassic Periods in the Belize Valley Gordon R. Willey
  7. Continuity and Disruption During Terminal Late Classic Times at Seibal: Ceramic and Other Evidence Jeremy A. Sabloff
  8. Maya Collapse: Transformation and Termination in the Ceramic Sequence at Altar de Sacrificios Richard E. W. Adams
  9. The Classic Maya Collapse: Usumacinta Zone and the Northwestern Periphery Robert L. Rands
  10. Aspects of Non-Classic Presences in the Inscriptions and Sculptural Art of Seibal John A. Graham
  11. Postclassic Culture in Central Peten and Adjacent British Honduras William R. Bullard Jr.
  12. The Development of Maya Civilization After Abandonment of the Southern Cities E. Wyllys Andrews IV
  13. Models for the Downfall: Some Ecological and Culture-Historical Considerations Demitri B. Shimkin
  14. Disease in the Maya Area: The Pre-Columbian Evidence Frank P. Saul
  15. The Cultural Ecology of the Lowland Maya: A Reevaluation William T. Sanders
  16. The Peten Mayan Decline Viewed in the Perspective of State Formation Malcom C. Webb
  17. Classic Maya Development and Denouement: A Research Design William L. Rathje
  18. The Maya Collapse: A Summary View Gordon R. Willey and Demitri B. Shimkin

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