Ancient Maya Women

by Traci Ardren (Editor)

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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Traci Ardren is professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Miami.

Reviews

[lizard · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In other cases, women are not directly mentioned, but their presence is implicit in political alliances and in the production of royal heirs. That is, most of the time it is probably the same old story: the men stand out in front in the funny costumes; the women just tell their husbands and sons what to do from behind the scenes." - Chapter 8: Women in Classic Maya Hieroglyphic Texts, Dr. Josserand

This is a collection of academic articles I stumbled across in my search for literature on the Maya, after wandering through the AMNH's Hall of Mexico and Central America and being utterly dazzled (and very confused—why were the Goddesses referred to by letters?). Even better that this collections' subject matter has to do with women, both commoner and noble, pre-Classic, Classic, and modern.

Despite being published before I was born (lol), I was pleased with the topics this collection touched on: not just in terms of Mesoamerican history and present, which I know too little of to have any opinion on as of yet, but the cultural roles of gender identity. Maybe I'm too pessimistic in my view of academia, but I was very pleased to see an article on two-spirit identity (or it's Maya equivalent, that being a North American indigenous term), and the truly ethnographic, nuanced readings of data.

In particular, the articles by the collection's editor were a pleasure to read. I plan to get my hands on more of Ardren's work and wish this had more than single-digit ratings here on Goodreads.

[Jayme Horne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for anyone interested in ancient Mesoamerica. I am also indebted to this collection forever because Matthew Looper's chapter on third-gender identity is pretty much the basis for my own thesis. Truly integral to my academic career.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

another great influence of gendered archaeology