THE MAYA, Michael D. Coe, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1975 (1966)
Chapter One, "Introduction" (pp. 21-41), describes similarities among
the pre-Columbian Mesoamericans:
...hieroglyphic writing, books of bark paper or deerskin which
were folded like screens, a complex permutation calendar, a game
played with a rubber ball in a special court, highly specialized
markets in which choco;ate beans were used as money, an emphasis
upon self-sacrifice and mutilation, and a pantheon which included
a rain god as well as a culture hero known as the Feathered
Serpent. Also in all Mesoamerican religions was the idea of a
multitiered heaven and underworld, and of a universe oriented to
the four directions with specific colours (figure 40) and gods
assigned to the cardinal points and to the centre. p. 22
The chapter continues with a look at the geographical setting
(highlands, and lowlands, including Yucatan; water can be scarce in
some lowland regions and there are underground sinkholes), at
evolving archaeological awareness and understanding, and at the
differences in the Mayan languages.
Chapter Two, "The Earliest Maya" (pp. 42-60) begins with creation
myths and mentions the difficulty of the tropical environment,
lacking many rock shelters and caves, for preservation of early
archaeological sites. It mentions prevailing opinions on the crossing
of humans from Asia and their populating the Americas by the Ninth
millennium B.C.E. It proceeds with artifacts: the Clovis obsidian
projectile point, archaic nut-cracking stones, handstones and querne,
an obsidian workshop, pollen analysis and formative villages
cultivating maize.
Every Ocus house, its pole walls daubed with mud and whitewashed,
was raised above the ground on a low, earthen platform so as to
avoid the inundations of the summer rainy period. p. 54
The early Formative Ocus culture also contained what is thought to be
a temple platform. There is the sudden appearance of the Olmec
culture along the Gulf Coast. Olmec sites include San Lorenzo and La
Venta. Michael Coe writes that the Olmec likely invented writing and
the Long Count Calendar (p. 56). He mentions Mayan cultures of the
Middle Formative Period, and their lack of what we consider the
characteristics of Mayan civilization.
Chapter Three, "The Rise of Maya Civilization" (pp. 61-86) begins by
mentioning and discounting previous theories of Old World influences
and stating that the maya were not isolated from contact with other
Mesoamerican cultures. This chapter proceeds to the numerical system,
base twenty, represented by dots, lines and a zero, and the 260 and
365 day calendars, as well as the 52 year cycle. Next comes a look at
Izapan art and its development of the Olmec rain god, as well as the
pot bellied statues from Monte Alto. Then comes Kaminaljuyu and
references to Mayan pyramids as tombs. This site also indicates
literary and sculpture foreshadowing classic Mayan styles. The
chapter closes with a look at pyramid building in the lowlands in the
Late Formative Period.
Chapter Four, "Classic Splendour: The Early Period" (pp. 87-106)
defines the term:
The Classic can only be defined accurately as that span during
which the lowland Maya were using the Long Count calendar on their
monuments. p. 87
It mentions the division into early and late periods at c. 600 C.E.
due to cultural differences and to the upheaval which divides them.
Next comes the significance of the central Mexican city of
Teotihuacan and the imitation of this city's non-Mayan architecture
by those living at Kaminaljuyu. Then there's the Tzakul culture in
the lowlands and Cotzumalhuapan sites in Yucatan.
Chapter Five, "Classic Splendour: The Late Period" (pp. 107-134),
begins by stating that the Maya did not really have cities.
One has to think of a dispersed population corresponding in some
ways to our township with the minor centre, usually comprising a
small temple pyramid and several palace-like buildings, serving as
a focus for religious and civic activities. Because of the
amorphous nature of Maya settlement -- there were no real town
plans, no checkerboard of neatly planned streets -- there
sometimes is no clear break between zones, so that some unwary
archaeologists in the lowlands, stumbling on ruins extending for
many miles, have imagined that they have discovered the biggest
site in the world. p. 108
It mentions the largest site of Tikal with some three thousand
structures in roughly six square miles. It describes a typical
centre, proceeds Copan, Quiriqua, Palenque and other sites, including
Uxmal. It considers sculpture, pottery and jade, as well as the end
of the Classical period.
Not only the demise of the Classic centres must be explained, but
also the disappearance of the maya people throughout most of the
Central Area. Among the causes for these events which have been
advanced are agricultural collapse, epidemic diseases like yellow
fever, invasion by foreigners from Mexico, social revolution,
forced evacuation by the early Toltec rulers of Yucatan, and even
earthquakes and an unbalanced sex ratio! p. 133
Chapter Six, "The Post Classic" (pp. 135-160), begins with reference
to Spanish material derived from the Mayans. While this should be
used with great caution, it does offer some account of Post Classical
events. This refers to the arrival of the Toltecs at Tula, the
discord causing the Toltec leader Quetzalcoatl to move to the Gulf
Coast, the destruction of Tula, the rise of Chichen Itza with its
sacrificial well, the founding of Mayapan, revolts, political
disintegration and predictions of the Spanish conquest.
Chapter Seven, "Maya Life" (pp. 161-172), considers agriculture,
hunting, salt collecting and trade. It looks at the life cycle, from
flattening the heads of infants, the bathing rite, military training,
the ball game, marriage, body painting, burial and the afterlife. It
mentions civil administration, warfare and human sacrifice.
Chapter Eight, "Maya Thought" (pp. 173-203) mentions the literary
characteristics of Mayan civilization:
These are written on long strips of bark paper, folded like
screens and covered with gesso. According to the early sources,
the Maya books contained histories, prophecies, songs, 'sciences'
and genealogies, but our three examples are completely ritual, or
ritual-astronomical, works compiled in the Northern Area during
the Post Classic. p. 173
It mentions concepts of ancient, cyclical time and multitiered space.
Each of the thirteen layers of heaven had its own god, that of the
uppermost being the muan bird, a kind of screech-owl. The
underworld was nine-layered with nine corresponding 'Lords of the
Night' ruling over it...p. 175
It refers to the pantheon, the priesthood, to a great extent
hereditary, rituals, often connected to the agricultural cycle, the
numerical system and the calendar, calculations of the revolutions of
Venus (584 days) and possibly Mars and Mercury, Mayan writing and
inscriptions.
This volume is very well illustrated. It is an easy to read
introduction to a fascinating topic.
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