Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization

by Arthur Demarest

Arthur Demarest brings the lost civilization of Maya to life by applying a holistic view to the most recently discovered archaeological evidence. His theoretical interpretation simultaneously emphasizes the brilliant rain forest adaptations of the ancient Maya and the Native American spirituality that permeated all aspects of their daily life. Drawing on data from the latest significant archaeological research in Central America, this new study appeals to those interested in the ecological bases of civilization, the function of the state and the causes of the collapse of civilizations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology

373 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Orhan Pelinkovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something remarkably alluring about the ancient Maya art. Perhaps it's the originality and depth of the art enveloped in esoteric elements that effortlessly captivates and keeps one's attention.

However Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest civilization by Arthur Demarest is a case study that covers much more than the Maya art. Its primary focus is chronologically presenting the cultural evolution of the Maya based on archeological and historical data, while interpreting the Maya society through their art, iconography, hieroglyphic inscriptions, architecture, and their sophisticated calendar system.

Unlike the numerous civilizations that emerged in the ancient world, the Maya stand out as they appeared, developed, and remained in the rain forest, thus, can be considered a rainforest civilization.

As for the narrative, it was dry and the book lacked a clear central argument or narrative thread to make the book more readable. A very mechanical composition and erudite work so beware.

Nevertheless, it was great learning about this Mesoamerican culture and its cyclical concept of time, their cosmogram with 13 levels of the heavens and 9 of the underworld, and their version of the Creation's beginnings which started on August 13th, 3114 BCE (by the Gregorian calendar), their ideology, worldview, and untimely the reason(s) for the ancient Maya downfall that still remains debatable.

[Bob Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

De-mystifying the Maya

Reading a carefully researched, painstakingly compiled academic book is always a pleasure for me. As a former academic myself, I know what it takes---the hours, the millions of details, the checking and cross-checking of facts, the gathering of bibliography and weighing the arguments of all the authors, the mental absorption of months and years. You can never get free until it's done. So, when I find a fine book like ANCIENT MAYA, I'm always glad, but I hold a respectful admiration as well. OK, so Demarest's work may not read like some best seller or pop history. If you don't like references scattered thickly on every page, you won't like his book. You've got to get the sequence of Maya culture's stages [archaic, early preclassic, middle preclassic, late preclassic, classic, postclassic, colonial, modern] firmly in mind in order to follow a lot of the text, and if you don't want to be consulting the maps (good ones) every five minutes, it would be good to have some idea of the geography of the region too. It's not bedtime reading, but if you are interested in a wonderful overview of Maya civilization, you've come to the right place.

The first five chapters don't really discuss the Maya, but "how we know what we know" and "theories about the practice of archaeology" if I may put it like that. The reader gets a crash course in the history of Maya archaeology, various weird theories that have been propagated over the years, modern archaeological techniques, and the beginnings of Maya civilization as dimly perceived through archaeology. The description of Classic Maya society begins with chapter six, on agriculture and ecology. Many of the "old chestnut" theories about the Maya are put to rest here. Drought and erosion were not major causes of the "collapse" of Maya classic culture. The Maya secret was to know how to build an advanced civilization in a rain forest environment. In short, they used techniques that mimicked the diversity and dispersion of species in a rain forest. They used many styles of agriculture, no one predominating. The subsequent chapters deal with the overall economy, ideology and power, the political units and history, and the idea of "collapse". There wasn't a real collapse....it was more a transition to other types of society after a period of intensive wars and overpopulation. He calls this period a "rapid decline in complexity". Actually in some parts of the Maya world, new, vibrant political units sprang up after the end of Classic Maya times.

You can learn in great detail about Maya agriculture, trade, statecraft, religion and ritual, mathematics and astronomy, and the glyphs from which we have learned so much about them. You will encounter interesting sketches, photos, and charts. In short, ANCIENT MAYA is a compendium of modern knowledge about that fascinating ancient civilization. I will not tell you it's easy reading, but it's probably the best book on the subject these days.

[Wysterria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reinforced my prior belief that the ancient Maya were a fascinating civilization. Definitely an interesting textbook.

[Dan G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent shorter discussion of the history and culture of the Ancient Maya.

[Damien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idéal pour découvrir cette civilisation sans connaissance préalables

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Délicieux.

[Delway Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will admit now that I have long been intrigued by perhaps the greatest question in archeology of how did the Maya build a great civilization in a resource poor rain forest and why did the Classical Maya disappear and were seemingly forgotten over a period of 50 years (850-910 AD)? This is a academic book, highly footnoted, which lays out all of the available information about the lowland Maya. The author, an archeologist at Vanderbilt, systematically examines all phases of Mayan society, comparing it to civilizations around the world. The difficult part of the book is that it speaks in indexes of generalities, which can become tedious. To my reading the key is the fact that the collapse began in the Pasion River basin in Guatemala where several cities show signs of extensive fortification which did not save them. He also neglects to discuss Tonina, the last city to fall. It also was a site that was highly defendable. In the end, there is no answer. Climate change, resource depletion, generalized war, disease, and so forth are all ruled out to some degree. This is what has led to all sorts of speculation, i.e. aliens. The recent movie, Alien versus Predator, relies on this heavily in its plot. The search continues.

[Marko Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, It really cleared all my doubts about Mayan culture, believe or not the majority of people living in Guatemala barely know about the Maya, they are all still believing that they were from outer space and they were 2 meters tall, I am so glad I've read this book and stepped off the island of ignorance.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted something to read on the Maya before heading down to the Yucatan on vacation and ended up with this book. I generally liked it, although being a book on archaeology more than history it was definitely a little harder for me to maintain momentum.

[Benjamin Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demarest discusses the "collapse" of the ancient Maya political system in great depth in this work. My only criticism is that, at times, the argument gets lost in the minutia of ancient Maya life.