Ancient Maya Women

Edited volume tracing the state of knowledge of gender in Ancient Mayan society.

The flood of archaeological work in Maya lands has revolutionized our understanding of gender in ancient Maya society. The dozen contributors to this volume use a wide range of methodological strategies—archaeology, bioarchaeology, iconography, ethnohistory, epigraphy, ethnography—to tease out the details of the lives, actions, and identities of women of Mesoamerica. The chapters, most based upon recent fieldwork in Central America, examine the role of women in Maya society, their place in the political hierarchy and lineage structures, the gendered division of labor, and the discrepancy between idealized Mayan womanhood and the daily reality, among other topics. In each case, the complexities and nuances of gender relations is highlighted and the limitations of our knowledge acknowledged. These pieces represent an important advance in the understanding of Maya socioeconomic, political, and cultural life—and the archaeology of gender—and will be of great interest to scholars and students.

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 1. Women and Gender in the Ancient Maya World
Chapter 3 2. Gender and Mayan Farming: Chan Noohol, Belize
Chapter 4 3. Gender Divisions of Labor and Lowland Terrace Agriculture
Chapter 5 4. Spindle Whorls: Household Specialization at Ceren
Chapter 6 5. Death Became Her: Imagery of Female Power from Yaxuna Burials
Chapter 7 6. Engendering a Dynasty: A Royal Woman in the Margarita Tomb, Copan
Chapter 8 7. Lady K'awil, Goddess O, and Maya Warfare
Chapter 9 8. Women in Classic Maya Hieroglyphic Texts
Chapter 10 9. Women in the Hieroglyphic Inscriptions of Chichen Itza
Chapter 11 10. Women-Men (and Men-Women): Classic Maya Rulers and the Third Gender
Chapter 12 11. Representations of Women in Postclassic and Colonial Maya Literature and Art
Chapter 13 12. Encountering Maya Women
Chapter 14 Index
Chapter 15 About the Authors