"What stands out in the Chan research is the variability and
complexity of the strategies for living in this small
community--clearly not the faceless homogeneous masses at the
bottom of the socio-economic scale, but a diverse group of people
in households who were successful for some 2,000 years in
maintaining a balance in the face of a changing political landscape
around them"--Heather McKillop, author of "In Search of Maya Sea
Traders" "This book is more than theory-building, it is
paradigm-changing. Cynthia Robin and her colleagues have discovered
how the farming village of Chan achieved sustainability in the
tropics for two thousand years, in contrast to the three cities
that emerged nearby but only lasted two hundred years and then
collapsed. The successes of Chan in managing their rainforest,
soils, population relative to resources, society, and religion
embody lessons for today. There is no other book like it, clearly
demonstrating from the ground up how a society can adapt to a
challenging environment by understanding and respecting it, thereby
avoiding the population explosions, environmental degradations and
collapses of the competitive big cities."--Payson Sheets,
University of Colorado, Boulder The farming community of Chan
thrived for over twenty centuries, surpassing the longevity of many
larger Maya urban centers. Between 800 BC and 1200 AD it was a
major food production center, and this collection of essays reveals
the important role played by Maya farmers in the development of
ancient Maya society. "Chan" offers a synthesis of compelling and
groundbreaking discoveries gathered over ten years of research at
this one archaeological site in Belize. The contributors develop
three central themes, which structure the book. They examine how
sustainable farming practices maintained the surrounding forest,
allowing the community to exist for two millennia. They trace the
origins of elite Maya state religion to the complex religious
belief system developed in small communities such as Chan. Finally,
they describe how the group-focused political strategies employed
by local leaders differed from the highly hierarchical strategies
of the Classic Maya kings in their large cities. In breadth,
methodology, and findings, this volume scales new heights in the
study of Maya society and culture. Cynthia Robin is associate
professor of anthropology at Northwestern University and assistant
curator at the Field Museum in Chicago. She is the coeditor of
"Gender, Households, and Society."
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