The World of the Ancient Maya - Tapa blanda

"The World of Ancient Maya by Cornell University's John Henderson, one of the leading Maya scholars, captures the excitement of recent research and much more, taking the reader from the earliest archaeological traces, to the great city-states, to the Spanish conquest of the 16th century. . . . Concise, well-written, and easy to understand, it is the best view of the Maya world available today." American Archaeology" "A thorough, possibly definitive work. . . . Henderson's ordered, meticulous social historian's approach . . . succeeds in reconstructing a vivid sense of civilization which emerged and stabilized during a 1,500-year period; flourished between AD 300-900; and peaked about 600 years before the arrival of the Spanish, only to disappear. . . . Henderson provides a detailed, somber, authoritative, and certainly up-to-date account of a mysterious world which lives on through its dramatic architecture." Irish Times" "The best available guide to the rich and extraordinary culture of the Maya. . . . d104 is carefully thought out and presented, together with new illustrations that put the incredible Maya culture into perspective. . . . It is a book that everyone interested in this fascinating people will need to have." Peter A. Clayton, Minerva"

Henderson explores the entire Maya cultural tradition, from the earliest traces of settlement through the period of the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century. The ancient Maya were the only fully literate pre-Columbian people in the Americas, and Henderson incorporates deciphered Maya texts in his reconstruction of ancient Maya societies. Superb scientists, the Maya developed highly sophisticated mathematics and an intricate and accurate calendar system. Theirs was one of the few complex societies to emerge in and to adapt successfully to a tropical-forest environment. Their architecture, sculpture, and painting were sophisticated and compellingly beautiful. Henderson's wide-ranging and judiciously balanced account treats diverse aspects of the Maya world, including religion and philosophy, the environments of the various Maya peoples, and their links with neighbors and relatives in the area. Throughout, he considers the interaction among Maya societies and stresses the importance of the cultural variations from region to region, as well as the common Maya heritage.