Reading List
Suggested Readings for: Ancient Maya Culture and
Rainforest Ecology
* = recommended
Readings on the Ancient Maya:
*
The Ancient Maya, fifth edition. Robert Sharer. Stanford
University Press. 1994. A very in-depth, detailed look at the ancient Maya
with excellent illustrations.
Ancient Maya Civilization. Norman Hammond. Rutgers
University Press. 1982 A solid text on the subject, but a bit
dated.
The Aztecs, Maya and Their Predecessors, third edition.
Muriel Porter Weaver. Academic Press, 1993. A detailed text on the ancient
cultures of Mesoamerica.
Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Simon Martin and
Nikolai Grube. Thames and Hudson, 2000. A detailed examination of the Maya
dynasties.
* The Maya. Michael Coe. Sixth edition. Thames and Hudson,
1999. A detailed look at ancient Maya life. Fully illustrated.
Maya Civilization. T. Patrick Culbert. Smithsonian
Institution Press. 1993 An excellent, clearly written overview of ancient
Maya civilization with superb color photographs.
The New Archaeology and the Ancient Maya. Jeremy
Sabloff. W.H. Freeman & Co. 1990. Comprehensive overview of ancient
Maya life and current archaeological research strategies used to
understand the Maya.
Time Among the Maya. Ronald Wright. Henry Holt and
Company, 1991.
The World of the Ancient Maya, Second edition. John
Henderson. Cornell University Press. 1994 An excellent, comprehensive text
with great illustrations and figures.
Readings on
Archaeology:
"Archaeology".
Gordon R. Willey. In The Dictionary of Anthropology, edited by Thomas
Barfield, pp. 23-27. Blackwell Publishers, 1997. A detailed definition of
the field of archaeology written by a preeminent Maya
archaeologist.
"Complex Society". Timothy K. Earle. In The Dictionary of Anthropology, edited by Thomas
Barfield, pp. 79-81. Blackwell Publishers, 1997. A detailed definition of
the concept of complex societies and their defining features.
Discovering Our Past: A Brief Introduction to
Archaeology. Wendy Ashmore and Robert J. Sharer. Mayfield Publishing
Company, 2000. A current summary introduction of the field of archaeology
written by two Maya archaeologists.
Out of the Past: An Introduction to Archaeology. David
Webster, Susan Evans, and William Sanders. Mayfield Publishing Company,
(purchased by McGraw-Hill), 1993. An outstanding, comprehensive
introduction to the field of archaeology witten by three Mesoamerican
archaeologists (two Mayanists) using numerous examples taken from
archaeological research at the large Maya site of
Copan.
For the history of Belize:
Belize: A New Nation in Central America. Nigel Bolland.
Westview Press, 1986.
Colonialism and Resistance in Belize -
Essays in Historical Sociology. Nigel Bolland. Cubola Productions,
Belize, 1988.
The Formation of a Colonial Society: Belize, from Conquest
to Crown Colony. Nigel Bolland. Johns Hopkins University Press,
1977.
In Focus: Belize, A Guide to the People, Politics, and
Culture. Ian Peedle. Interlink Books, 1999.
Maya Resistance to Spanish Rule. Grant D. Jones.
University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1989.
Books
on Belize by Historian Emory King:
Hey Dad, This is
Belize
I Spent it All in
Belize
The Little World of Danny
Vasquez
Belize, 1798 - The Road to
Glory
Slavery in Belize - A
Family Affair
The Great Story of Belize -
Vol. I
The Great Story of Belize -
Vol. II
Readings
for Natural History and Rainforest Ecology
Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide.
Victoria Schlensinger. University of Texas Press, 2001.
The Bat Wings in the Night Sky. Brock Fenton. Key Porter
Books, 1998.
* Belize & Northern Guatemala: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife
Guide: A Volume in the The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guides Series. Les
D. Beletsky. Academic Press, 1998.
* A Field Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas:
Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Ernest Preston Edwards and Edward
Murrell Butler (Illustrator). University of Texas Press, 1998.
* A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America and
Southeast Mexico. Fiona Ried. Oxford Press, 1997.
* A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central
America. Steve Howell and Sophie Webb. Oxford Press, 1995.
A Guide to Toads and Frogs of Belize. J. Meyer and C.
Foster. Krieger Publishing Company, 1996.
Neotropical Companion. J. Kricher. Princeton University
Press, 1989.
Neotropical Rainforest Mammals. L. Emmons. University of
Chicago Press,
1997.
Panti Maya Medicine Trail Field
Guide. Rosita Arvigo. Ix Chel Tropical Research Foundation Inc.,
1992.
The Rainforest. B. Goodman. Michael Freedman
Publishing, 1991.
Peterson's Field Guide to Mexican Birds. R. Peterson and
E. Chalif. Houghton Mifflin, 1973.
Readings related to the
archaeology of Belize, but especially Lamanai:
Closs,
Michael
1988. The Hieroglyphic Text of Stela 9, Lamanai, Belize. In
Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing, 21, pp. 9-15. Center for
Maya Research, Washington. D.C.
Loten, H.S. and David M.
Pendergast
1984. A Lexicon for Maya Architecture. Archaeology
Monograph 8. Royal Ontario Musuem.
Pendergast, David
M.
1993. Worlds in Collision: The Maya/Spanish Encounter in
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Belize. In The Meetings of Two Worlds: Europe and the Americas,
1492-1650, ed. by Warwick Bray, pp. 105-143. Proceedings of The
British Academy No. 81. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
1993. The
Center and the Edge: Archaeology in Belize, 1809-1992. Journal of World
Prehistory 7:1-33.
1991. The Southern Maya Lowlands Contact
Experience: The View from Lamanai, Belize. In Columbian Consequences Volume 3: The Spanish Borderlands in
Pan-American Perspective, ed. by D.H. Thomas, pp. 336-354.
Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
1990. Excavations
at Altun Ha, Belize, 1964-1970, Volume 3. Royal Ontario Museum,
Toronto.
1988. Lamanai Stela 9: The Archaeological Context.
Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing 20. Center for Maya Research,
Washington, D.C.
1986. Stability Through Change: Lamanai, Belize,
from the Ninth to the Seventeenth Century. In Late Lowland Maya Civilization: Classic to
Postclassic, ed. by J.A. Sabloff and E. W. Andrews V, pp. 223-249.
U. of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
1985. Lamanai, Belize: An
Updated View. In The Lowland Maya Postclassic, ed. by A. F.
Chase
* 1981. Lamanai, Belize: Summary of Excavation Results,
1974-1980. Journal of Field Archaeology 8:29-53.
1979. Excavations
at Altun Ha, Belize, 1965-1970, Volume 1. R.O.M.
Pendergast, David M.,
Grant D. Jones and E. Graham
1993.
Locating Spanish Colonial Towns in the Maya Lowlands: Belize as a Case
Study. Latin American Antiquity 4:59-73.
White, C.D., L.E.
Wright and David M. Pendergast
1993. Biological Disruption in
the Early Colonial Period at Lamanai. In In the Wake of Contact: Biological Responses to
Conquest, edited by Clark S. Larsen and George R. Milner, pp.
135-145. Wiley-Liss, New York.
Other readings on the Late
Postclassic and Spanish Colonial period in Belize:
Graham, Elizabeth
1987. Terminal Classic to Historic-Period Vessel Forms from
Belize. In Maya Ceramics: Papers from the 1985 Maya Ceramic
Conference, ed. by P.M. Rice and R.J. Sharer. BAR International Series
345(i):73-98.
1991. Archaeological Insights into Colonial Period
Maya Life at Tipu, Belize. In Columbian Consequences, Volume 3: The Spanish Borderlands in
Pan-American Perspective, ed. by D.H. Thomas, pp. 319-335.
Smithsonian Institution Press.
1998. Mission Archaeology. Annual
Review of Anthropology 27:25-62.
Graham, Elizabeth and Sharon
Bennett
1989. The 1986-1987 Excavations at Negroman-Tipu, Belize.
Mexicon 11(6):114-117.
Graham, Elizabeth, Grant D. Jones and
Robert R. Kautz
1985. Archaeology and Ethnohistory on a Spanish
Colonial Frontier: The Macal-Tipu Project in Western Belize. In The Lowland Maya Postclassic, edited by A.F.
Chase and P.M. Rice, pp. 206-214. University of Texas Press,
Austin.
Graham, Elizabeth, David M. Pendergast and Grant D.
Jones
1989. On the Fringes of Conquest: Maya-Spanish Contact in
Early Belize. Science 2 46:1254-1259.
Jones, Grant D
1998
The Conquest of the Last Maya Kingdom. Stanford
University Press, Stanford.
Willey, Gordon R.
1986. The
Postclassic of the Maya Lowlands: A Prelimanary Overview. In Late Lowland Maya Civilization: Classic to
Postclassic, edited by J. A. Sabloff and E. W. Andrews V, pp.
17-51. University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque.
Readings on
sites of importance
Chase, Diane and Arlen
Chase
1987 Investigations at the Classic Maya City of Caracol,
Belize: 1985 87, Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute Monograph 3, San
Francisco (with A.F. Chase).
1994 Studies in the Archaeology of
Caracol, Belize, Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute Monograph 7, San
Francisco (edited with A.F. Chase).
1989 "The Investigation of
Classic Period Maya Warfare at Caracol, Belize," Mayab 5: 5-18 (with A.F.
Chase).
Coe, Michael
1988 Tikal: A Handbook of Ancient
Maya Ruins, Second Edition. Asociacion Tikal, Centro Impresor Piedra
Santa, Guatemala.
Harrison, Peter
1999 The Lords of Tikal: Rulers of an Ancient Maya City.
Thames and Hudson, New York.
LeCount, Lisa, Jason Yaeger,
Richard M. Leventhal, and Wendy Ashmore
n.d. Dating the Rise
and Fall of Xunantunich, Belize: A Late and Terminal Classic Lowland Maya
Secondary Center. Ancient Mesoamerica.
