How did farmers, artisans, and rulers make a living in a tropical forest environment? In this study, Patricia McAnany tackles this question and presents the first comprehensive view of ancestral Maya economic practice. Bringing an archaeological approach to the topic, she demonstrates the vital role of ritual practice in indigenous ecologies, gendered labour, and the construction of colossal architecture. Examining Maya royalty as a kind of social speciation, McAnany also shows the fundamentality of social difference as well as the pervasiveness of artisan production and marketplaces in ancestral Maya societies. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book situates Maya economies within contemporary social, political, and economic theories of social practice, gender, actor-networks, inalienable goods, materiality, social difference, indigenous ecologies, and strategies of state finance.
o First book ever to present a comprehensive view of ancestral Maya economies o Integrates archaeology with evidence from hieroglyphic decipherment, iconography, history, and ethnography o Situates Maya archaeology within the larger frame of contemporary social, political, and economic theory, including approaches to social practice, gender, actor-network, inalienable goods, materiality, social difference, indigenous ecologies, and strategies of state finance