Ancient Maya commerce : multidisciplinary research at Chunchucmil

Summary: Nearly two decades of research at Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico documented a thriving city of 40,000 people without the powerful kings and massive temples seen at other Maya centers. What brought people to this area, the driest in the Maya world, and how did they survive? Ancient Maya Commerce provides a pioneering study in economic anthropology, making the strongest case yet that ancient Maya economies were quite complex, containing markets in addition to other forms of exchange. Multiple lines of evidence including household archaeology, regional survey, paleo-ecology and soil chemistry show that Chunchucmil was a major center for both short and long distance trade, integrating the Guatemalan highlands, the Gulf of Mexico and the interior of the northern Maya lowlands. By placing Chunchucmil into the broader context of emerging research at other Maya cities, this book helps reorient our understanding of ancient Maya economies, foregrounding the increasingly important role of commerce.

Record details

OCLC: ocn973100736
ISBN: 1607326973
ISBN: 160732539X
ISBN: 9781607325390
ISBN: 1607327236
ISBN: 9781607326977
ISBN: 1607325551
ISBN: 9781607327233
ISBN: 9781607325550
Physical Description: 1 online resource
remote
Publisher: Boulder : University Press of Colorado, [2017]

Content descriptions

Bibliography:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents:

Introduction / Scott R. Hutson, Bruce H. Dahlin -- Map of Chunchucmil / Scott Hutson, Aline Magnoni -- Architectural group typology and excavation sampling within Chunchucmil / Scott R. Hutson, Aline Magnoni, Bruce H. Dahlin -- Chunchucmil chronology and site dynamics / Socorro Jimenez, Aline Magnoni, Eugenia Mansell, Tara Bond-Freeman -- Chunchucmil's urban population / Scott R. Hutson, Aline Magnoni, Traci Ardren, Chelsea Blackmore, Travis Stanton -- Environmental heterogeneity in the Chunchucmil economic region / David Hixson, Timothy Beach, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Bruce H. Dahlin -- Hydrology on the edge of the Chicxulub Crater : Chunchucmil and Uc-Cansahcab groundwater resources / Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Timothy Beach -- Hinterland settlement patterns within the Chunchucmil economic region / David R. Hixson, Daniel E. Mazeau -- Soils and agricultural carrying capacity / Timothy Beach, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Ryan V. Sweetwood, Patrice Farrell, Daniel E. Mazeau, Richard E. Terry -- Perishable resources produced for exchange in the Chunchucmil economic region / Bruce H. Dahlin, Traci Ardren, David R. Hixson, Anthony P. Andrews -- Marketing within Chunchucmil / Scott R. Hutson, Richard E. Terry, Bruce H. Dahlin -- Connections beyond Chunchucmil / Traci Ardren, Scott R. Hutson, David R. Hixson, Justin Lowry -- Conclusion / Scott R. Hutson.