The Ancient Maya
ANT 310
Spring 2009
Instructor: Scott E. Simmons, Ph.D.
T, Th 11:00-12:15
SBS Rm 209, UNCW
simmonss@uncw.edu;
910.962.3429
Office Hours: M, W 2-4 pm
http://people.uncw.edu/simmonss
Course Description:
The Maya created one of the most sophisticated civilizations in the ancient world. Their achievements in the arts and sciences, along with their complex social, political and economic systems, make them one of the most remarkable culture groups in the precolumbian Americas. This course will provide you with an overview of the history and culture of the Maya, both past and present, with a main emphasis on precolumbian cultural developments. We will be learning about various aspects of the ancient and contemporary Maya people, including their social, economic, and belief systems, among other topics. We also will explore both the continuities and changes that have occurred in Maya society from precolumbian to modern times. Information will be drawn primarily from the results of archaeological investigations, translations of hieroglyphs, ethnographic accounts, and Spanish ethnohistoric documentary sources. This class will be structured as an open discussion format based on readings from both the course text, The Ancient Maya by Heather McKillop, as well as special readings (Reading Packets) that will augment material from the textbook.
Class Session Topics of Discussion Assigned Readings
Week 1 Introduction: Maya Research, Environment, Culture and Chronology
Jan 8
McKillop Chaps 1 & 2
Week 2 Brief History of Research in the Maya Area
Jan 13 & 15 McKillop Chapter 3
Week 3 The Earliest Maya - Paleoindian and Archaic Peoples
Jan 20 & 22 Early and Middle Preclassic Periods and Olmec Influences
McKillop Chapter 4 (pp. 71-80)
Week 4 Case Study: Ancestor Veneration in Middle Preclassic times at K’Axob
Jan 27 & 29 The Middle Preclassic in the Maya Lowlands Reading Packet 1
Week 5 The Beginnings of Maya Civilization – Late Preclassic Florescence
Feb 3 & 5 Video: Dawn of the Maya McKillop Chapter 4, (pp. 80-90)
Week 6 Case Study: An early Maya Giant – El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala
Feb 10 & 12 Exam I – Thursday, February 12 Reading Packet 2
Week 7 The Early Classic Period: Settlements, Subsistence & Economy
Feb 17 & 19 McKillop Chapter 4 (pp. 90-96) & Chapter 5
Week 8 Case Study: The Cerén Site – A Middle Classic agrarian village
Feb 24 & 26 Commoners and Kings in Ancient Maya Society McKillop Chapter 6
Reading Packet 3
Week 9 Maya Religion and Politics during Late Classic times
March 3 & 5 Video: The Popol Vuh McKillop Ch 7 & 8
Reading Packet 4
Week 10 SPRING BREAK – NO CLASSES
March 10 & 12
Week 11 Late Classic Maya Civilization–Society and Culture McKillop Chapter 9
March 17 & 19 Case Study: Copán – Maya kingdom in full bloom Reading Packet 5
Week 13 Exam II –Thursday April 2
Week 15 The Spanish Colonial Period - Maya Strategies for Survival
April 14 & 16 McKillop Chapter 11
Week 16 The Maya of Today: Cultural Continuities and Discontinuities
April 21 & 23 (Last class Tuesday 21 April) Reading Packet 9
Final Exam Tuesday May 5 8:00 – 11:00 am
Course Reading Packets
The Ancient Maya (ANT 310)
Packet 1:
Sharer, Robert J. and Loa P. Traxler
2006 The Ancient Maya. Sixth edition, pp. 202-222. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
McAnany, Patricia A.
2002 Ancestor Veneration in Lowland Maya Society: A Case Study from K’Axob, Belize. In Archaeology: Original Readings in Method and Practice, edited by Peter N. Perigrine, Carol R. Ember and Melvin Ember, pp. 360-377. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. ISBN 0-13-093978-1
Packet 2:
Matheny, Ray T.
1986 Investigations at El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala. National Geographic Research 2(3): 332-353.
Packet 3:
Marcus, Joyce
2004 Maya Commoners: The Stereotype and the Reality. In Maya Commoners, edited by Jon C. Lohse and Fred Valdez, Jr., pp. 255-283. University of Texas Press, Austin. ISBN 0-292-7051-9
1997 New World Pompeii. Discover. February 1997, pp. 74-80.
Packet 4:
Karl Taube
2007 The Classic Maya Gods. In Maya: Divine Kings of the Rainforest, edited by Nikolai Grube, pp. 263-279. H. F. Ulmann, Oxford. ISBN 978-3-8331-4339-7
Packet 5:
Webster, David, AnnCorinne Freter and Nancy Gonlin
2000 Copán: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Maya Kingdom. Chapter 12, pp. 175-193. Harcourt College Publishers, New York. ISBN 0-15-505808-8
Packet 6:
Webster, David
2000 The Fall of the Ancient Maya: Solving the Mystery of the Maya Collapse, pp. 213-259. Thames & Hudson Ltd., London. ISBN 0-500-05113-5
Packet 7:
Masson, Marilyn
2007 The Dynamics of Maturing Statehood in Postclassic Maya Civilization. In Maya: Divine Kings of the Rainforest, edited by Nikolai Grube, pp. 341-353. H. F. Ulmann, Oxford. ISBN 978-3-8331-4339-7
Packet 8:
Pendergast, David M.
1990 Up from the Dust: The Central Lowlands Postclassic as seen from Lamanai and Marco Gonzalez, Belize. In Vision and Revision in Maya Studies, edited by Flora S. Clancy and Peter D. Harrison, pp. 169-177. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. ISBN 0-8263-1220-9
Packet 9:
Grube, Nikolai
2007 Maya Today – From Indios Deprived of Rights to the Maya Movement. In Maya: Divine Kings of the Rainforest, edited by Nikolai Grube, pp. 417-424. H. F. Ulmann, Oxford. ISBN 978-3-8331-4339-7
Course Readings:
All of the supplemental readings for this course are on electronic reserve. Since all of the assigned readings supplement the material that is presented in class, it is important that you complete the assigned readings before the end of each week. Required text: The Ancient Maya by Heather McKillop. 2004. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-53390-2
Grading:
There will be three exams, including a final exam. Each exam will cover a third of the material we’ve discussed in class, so no exam will be a “comprehensive” exam. Exams will cover all of the material that is part of the class, including assigned readings, lectures, slides and videos.
Grades are based on a 500 point system:
Exam I - 100 points Exam II – 100 points Final Exam - 100 points
Attendance, Participation & Discussion Questions – 200 points
Grade Breakdown for the course:
A = 450 - 500 pts C = 350 - 399 pts F = anything less than 300 pts
B = 400 - 449 pts D = 300 - 349 pts