Flourishing by A.D. 250-300, Maya civilization extended over large
sections of modern Mexico and Guatemala, as well as Belize, and
into present-day El Salvador and Honduras. The pre-Conquest
inhabitants of this vast area left important clues to their
understanding of religious and historical events in the remains of
their architecture, painting, sculpture, distinctive polychrome
ceramics, and sophisticated hieroglyphic writing. A vital key to
understanding these clues is an appreciation of the solar, lunar,
and planetary cycles that are woven through the Maya chronological
records. The Maya concepts of time figured heavily in their
association of human rulers with celestial deities and cosmic
events, and in the physical orientation of cities and buildings. In
fact, scholars are now realizing that virtually every aspect of
pre-Hispanic Mayan life was ordered by a religion based on the
apparent annual movement of the sun through the sky.
In "The Cosmos of the Yucatec Maya," Merideth Paxton provides an
ingenious and thorough new study of parts of two of the Maya books,
or codices, with particular focus on a previously unrecognized
image of the solar year that appears in the manuscript known as the
Madrid Codex. The motif of the solar year also underlies her
identification of a regional organization among the ruins of the
Yucatec Maya settlements. Incorporating analyses of art,
archaeology, astronomy, and colonial and modern ethnography
pertaining to Yucatn, as well as studies of sixteenth-century
Spanish beliefs, Dr. Paxton elicits fascinating new meanings from
her sources and she invites Mesoamerican specialists and students
to consider links between components of pre-Conquest
Mayacivilization. This innovative, scholarly text is essential
reading for all who are interested in Mesoamerica, and it is sure
to stimulate additional developments in the field of Maya cosmology
and ideology.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
