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Maya E Groups: Calendars, Astronomy, and Urbanism in the Early Lowlands (Maya Studies) (Paperback)

Maya E Groups: Calendars, Astronomy, and Urbanism in the Early Lowlands (Maya Studies) Cover Image
By David a. Freidel (Editor), Arlen F. Chase (Editor), Anne S. Dowd (Editor)
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Description


As complex societies emerged in the Maya lowlands during the first millennium BCE, so did stable communities focused around public squares and the worship of a divine ruler tied to a Maize God cult. "E Groups," central to many of these settlements, are architectural complexes: typically, a long platform supporting three structures and facing a western pyramid across a formal plaza. Aligned with the movements of the sun, E Groups have long been interpreted as giant calendrical devices crucial to the rise of Maya civilization. This volume presents new archaeological data to reveal that E Groups were constructed earlier than previously thought. In fact, they are the earliest identifiable architectural plan at many Maya settlements. More than just astronomical observatories or calendars, E Groups were a key element of community organization, urbanism, and identity in the heart of the Maya lowlands. They served as gathering places for emerging communities and centers of ritual; they were the very first civic-religious public architecture in the Maya lowlands. Investigating a wide variety of E Group sites--including some of the most famous like the Mundo Perdido in Tikal and the hitherto little known complex at Chan, as well as others in Ceibal, El Palmar, Cival, Calakmul, Caracol, Xunantunich, Yaxnohcah, Yaxun , and San Bartolo--this volume pieces together the development of social and political complexity in ancient Maya civilization. Contributors: James Aimers Anthony F. Aveni Jamie J. Awe Boris Beltran M. Kathryn Brown Arlen F. Chase Diane Z. Chase Anne S. Dowd James Doyle Francisco Estrada-Belli David A. Freidel Julie A. Hoggarth Takeshi Inomata Patricia A. Mcanany Susan Milbrath Jerry Murdock Kathryn Reese-Taylor Prudence M. Rice Cynthia Robin Franco D. Rossi Jeremy A. Sabloff William A. Saturno Travis W. Stanton A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase.

About the Author


David A. Freidel is professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Product Details
ISBN: 9780813064390
ISBN-10: 0813064392
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Publication Date: January 14th, 2020
Pages: 654
Language: English
Series: Maya Studies