Ritual, Violence, and the Fall of the Classic Maya Kings (Maya Studies) - Hardcover

"Much has been written about the successes of ancient Maya kings. . . . Much less studied have been their failures. . . . This volume focuses on the losses of kings' legitimacy to rule in the southern Maya lowlands. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice "Us[es] solid empirical data to address meaning, motivation and political action in the past."--Antiquity "A comprehensive look at kingship from a variety of site specific, ninth-century case examples. It is a worthy addition to the literature and will doubtless influence our thinking on the politics of the Terminal Classic."--Anthropos

Maya kings who failed to ensure the prosperity of their kingdoms were subject to various forms of termination, including the ritual defacing and destruction of monuments and even violent death. This is the first comprehensive volume to focus on the variedresponses to the failure of Classic period dynasties in the southern lowlands. The contributors offer new insights into the Maya "collapse," evaluating the trope of the scapegoat king and the demise of the traditional institution of kingship in the early ninthcentury AD-a time of intense environmental, economic, social, political, and even ideological change.