Ancient Maya Commerce: Multidisciplinary Research At Chunchucmil
by Scott R. Hutson /
2017 / English / PDF
18 MB Download
Ancient Maya Commerce
Ancient Maya Commerce presents nearly two decades
of multidisciplinary research at Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico—a
thriving Classic period Maya center organized around commercial
exchange rather than agriculture. An urban center without a
king and unable to sustain agrarian independence, Chunchucmil
is a rare example of a Maya city in which economics, not
political rituals, served as the engine of growth. Trade was
the raison d’être of the city itself.
presents nearly two decades
of multidisciplinary research at Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico—a
thriving Classic period Maya center organized around commercial
exchange rather than agriculture. An urban center without a
king and unable to sustain agrarian independence, Chunchucmil
is a rare example of a Maya city in which economics, not
political rituals, served as the engine of growth. Trade was
the raison d’être of the city itself.
Using a variety of evidence—archaeological, botanical,
geomorphological, and soil-based—contributors show how the city
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, the book reorients the understanding of
ancient Maya economies. The book is accompanied by a highly
detailed digital map that reveals the dense population of the
city and the hundreds of streets its inhabitants constructed to
make the city navigable, shifting the knowledge of urbanism
among the ancient Maya.
Using a variety of evidence—archaeological, botanical,
geomorphological, and soil-based—contributors show how the city
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, the book reorients the understanding of
ancient Maya economies. The book is accompanied by a highly
detailed digital map that reveals the dense population of the
city and the hundreds of streets its inhabitants constructed to
make the city navigable, shifting the knowledge of urbanism
among the ancient Maya.Ancient Maya Commerce
Ancient Maya Commerce is a pioneering, thoroughly
documented case study of a premodern market center and makes a
strong case for the importance of early market economies in the
Maya region. It will be a valuable addition to the literature
for Mayanists, Mesoamericanists, economic anthropologists, and
environmental archaeologists.
is a pioneering, thoroughly
documented case study of a premodern market center and makes a
strong case for the importance of early market economies in the
Maya region. It will be a valuable addition to the literature
for Mayanists, Mesoamericanists, economic anthropologists, and
environmental archaeologists.Contributors
Contributors: Bruce H. Dahlin,Scott R.
Hutson,Anthony P. Andrews, Traci Ardren, Sheryl
Luzzadder-Beach, Timothy Beach, Chelsea Blackmore, Tara
Bond-Freeman, Patrice Farrell, David Hixson, Socorro Jimenez,
Justin Lowry, Aline Magnoni, Eugenia Mansell, Daniel E. Mazeau,
Travis Stanton, Ryan V. Sweetwood, Richard E. Terry
: Bruce H. Dahlin,Scott R.
Hutson,Anthony P. Andrews, Traci Ardren, Sheryl
Luzzadder-Beach, Timothy Beach, Chelsea Blackmore, Tara
Bond-Freeman, Patrice Farrell, David Hixson, Socorro Jimenez,
Justin Lowry, Aline Magnoni, Eugenia Mansell, Daniel E. Mazeau,
Travis Stanton, Ryan V. Sweetwood, Richard E. Terry