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Very Short Introductions #656
The Maya: A Very Short Introduction
The Maya forged one of the greatest societies in the history of the ancient Americas and in all of human history. Long before contact with Europeans, Maya communities built spectacular cities with large, well-fed large populations. They mastered the visual arts, and developed a sophisticated writing system that recorded extraordinary knowledge in calendrics, mathematics, and astronomy. The Maya achieved all this without area-wide centralized control. There was never a single, unified Maya state or empire, but always numerous, evolving ethnic groups speaking dozens of distinct Mayan languages. The people we call "Maya" never thought of themselves as such; yet something definable, unique, and endlessly fascinating - what we call Maya culture - has clearly existed for millennia. So what was their self-identity and how did Maya civilization come to be "invented?"
With the Maya historically subdivided and misunderstood in so many ways, the pursuit of what made them "the Maya" is all the more important. In this Very Short Introduction, Restall and Solari explore the themes of Maya identity, city-state political culture, art and architecture, the Maya concept of the cosmos, and the Maya experience of contact with including invasion by outsiders. Despite its brevity, this book is unique for its treatment of all periods of Maya civilization, from its origins to the present.
With the Maya historically subdivided and misunderstood in so many ways, the pursuit of what made them "the Maya" is all the more important. In this Very Short Introduction, Restall and Solari explore the themes of Maya identity, city-state political culture, art and architecture, the Maya concept of the cosmos, and the Maya experience of contact with including invasion by outsiders. Despite its brevity, this book is unique for its treatment of all periods of Maya civilization, from its origins to the present.
160 pages, Paperback
Published June 30, 2020
About the author
Matthew Restall
25 books51 followersMatthew Restall is a historian of Colonial Latin America. He is an ethnohistorian and a scholar of conquest, colonization, and the African diaspora in the Americas. He is currently Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Latin American History and Anthropology, and Director of Latin American Studies, at the Pennsylvania State University. He is President of the American Society for Ethnohistory, a former editor of Ethnohistory journal, a senior editor of the Hispanic American Historical Review, editor of the book series Latin American Originals, and co-editor of the Cambridge Latin American Studies book series.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 30, 2021
Too many new names for my tiny brain to comprehend
November 18, 2021
"The Maya forged the greatest society in the history of the ancient Americas and one of the great societies in human history. For thousands of years they have lived—and continue to live—in the region that today comprises southern Mexico and its Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, northwestern Honduras, and western El Salvador.
Long before contact with Europeans, Maya communities built spectacular cities with large, well-fed populations. They mastered the visual arts and developed a sophisticated writing system that recorded extraordinary knowledge in calendrics, mathematics, and astronomy."
The Maya was a somewhat decent introduction to the topic. I have read quite a few books in the "Very Short Introduction" series, and have found that they can generally be pretty hit-or-miss...
Author Matthew Restall is a historian of Colonial Latin America. He is an ethnohistorian and a scholar of conquest, colonization, and the African diaspora in the Americas. He is currently Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Latin American History and Anthropology, and Director of Latin American Studies, at the Pennsylvania State University.
Matthew Restall:
Restall opens the book with a good first chapter. He mentions its scope, as well as gives the reader a brief overview. He notes that the term "Maya" will be used mostly here, as the term "Mayan" is only used when discussing their languages.
He also provides the reader with this map, detailing the extent of their historic empire:
Restall also mentions the supposed end of the world in 2012 prophesized by the Maya:
And the cracking of the Mayan hieroglyphic language:
********************
The Maya was a failry run-of-the-mill book. While there was nothing really wrong with it per se, it was not exactly a thrilling page-turner, either...
2.5 stars.
Long before contact with Europeans, Maya communities built spectacular cities with large, well-fed populations. They mastered the visual arts and developed a sophisticated writing system that recorded extraordinary knowledge in calendrics, mathematics, and astronomy."
The Maya was a somewhat decent introduction to the topic. I have read quite a few books in the "Very Short Introduction" series, and have found that they can generally be pretty hit-or-miss...
Author Matthew Restall is a historian of Colonial Latin America. He is an ethnohistorian and a scholar of conquest, colonization, and the African diaspora in the Americas. He is currently Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Latin American History and Anthropology, and Director of Latin American Studies, at the Pennsylvania State University.
Matthew Restall:
Restall opens the book with a good first chapter. He mentions its scope, as well as gives the reader a brief overview. He notes that the term "Maya" will be used mostly here, as the term "Mayan" is only used when discussing their languages.
He also provides the reader with this map, detailing the extent of their historic empire:
Restall also mentions the supposed end of the world in 2012 prophesized by the Maya:
And the cracking of the Mayan hieroglyphic language:
********************
The Maya was a failry run-of-the-mill book. While there was nothing really wrong with it per se, it was not exactly a thrilling page-turner, either...
2.5 stars.
April 9, 2022
* Broad history outline:
Maya achieved advanced culture without a centralize polity. Their history is separated into 3 periods with the classic period (250-950 CE) more advanced than before or after.
The region had been settled by 9000 BCE with maize farming by 3000 BCE. In their creation myth men are created using while and yellow cornmeal. Some of the myths are recorded in temples of the so-called “Cross group”. Giant monuments were created around El Mirado c. 300 BCE. The region has numerous cities by 300 BCE forming a political network.
The classic period saw divine kings reign. Stelas document their conquests often using both a yearly dating system and a linear long-count system dating from 3114 BCE. Teotihuacan is the greatest urban center with about 100K population. Trade and warfares occurred between kingdoms. In the 9th and 10th.c. The system started to disappear, possibly due to natural resources and warfares. There is no abrupt collapse and there is regional variation.
* Life and art:
Art was central to Mayan life and so ubiquitous that there is no term for it in their language. Also writer-painter is one term. Their writing system was logophonetic (signs used for meaning as well phonetic) and only decoded in 1980s.
Homes are one large room. At death, the body is interred in the house floor. Beyond family, they are organized by kinship with a large group of people living together. There are rituals for puberty, beyond which girls are kept at home for marriage and boys removed to train for warfare, hunting, and trade. Maize is of central importance and became mythological. The Mayans are very successful for food production. Due myriad of factors led to frequent ecological crises. Cities are not just ceremonial. There were markets too. Literacy rate is uncertain but it’s likely most Mayans could read basic glyphs.
The similarities between architecture and iconography of Mayan regions were once thought to be sign of conquests, but now believed to be due to contact and trade. The general pattern is regional variation plus external influence.
* Spanish conquest:
Most of the Spanish conquest occurred during 1517-1547, but some independent Mayan kingdom lasted until 17th.c, and the final subjugation of a Mayan polity is in 1933. The Mayans had more than 40 polities by 1500 with no big empire. The Spaniards exploited the local rivalry, but the claim of conquest was tenuous, sometimes there was initial welcome and later revolt. Mayans are sometimes independent and other times accepting Spanish rule. There were significant missionary pushes, but most Mayans stay independent. During conflict between Spain and England, many Mayan retreated further inland from Belize region, leading to claims of Belize being uninhabited. Mayan scribes perform many duties such as recording deeds. During the campaign against “idolatry” many books and effigies were destroyed. Scribes gradually start to use an new alphabet for documents.
* Today:
Mayans didn’t disappear in modern times. In fact, there are as many Mayans today as 1000 years ago, except they now represent a much smaller percentage. But they are spread over 5 countries and occasionally face genocidal pressures. Early studies tend to romanticize Mayan. Today many Mayans are constantly adapting.
Maya achieved advanced culture without a centralize polity. Their history is separated into 3 periods with the classic period (250-950 CE) more advanced than before or after.
The region had been settled by 9000 BCE with maize farming by 3000 BCE. In their creation myth men are created using while and yellow cornmeal. Some of the myths are recorded in temples of the so-called “Cross group”. Giant monuments were created around El Mirado c. 300 BCE. The region has numerous cities by 300 BCE forming a political network.
The classic period saw divine kings reign. Stelas document their conquests often using both a yearly dating system and a linear long-count system dating from 3114 BCE. Teotihuacan is the greatest urban center with about 100K population. Trade and warfares occurred between kingdoms. In the 9th and 10th.c. The system started to disappear, possibly due to natural resources and warfares. There is no abrupt collapse and there is regional variation.
* Life and art:
Art was central to Mayan life and so ubiquitous that there is no term for it in their language. Also writer-painter is one term. Their writing system was logophonetic (signs used for meaning as well phonetic) and only decoded in 1980s.
Homes are one large room. At death, the body is interred in the house floor. Beyond family, they are organized by kinship with a large group of people living together. There are rituals for puberty, beyond which girls are kept at home for marriage and boys removed to train for warfare, hunting, and trade. Maize is of central importance and became mythological. The Mayans are very successful for food production. Due myriad of factors led to frequent ecological crises. Cities are not just ceremonial. There were markets too. Literacy rate is uncertain but it’s likely most Mayans could read basic glyphs.
The similarities between architecture and iconography of Mayan regions were once thought to be sign of conquests, but now believed to be due to contact and trade. The general pattern is regional variation plus external influence.
* Spanish conquest:
Most of the Spanish conquest occurred during 1517-1547, but some independent Mayan kingdom lasted until 17th.c, and the final subjugation of a Mayan polity is in 1933. The Mayans had more than 40 polities by 1500 with no big empire. The Spaniards exploited the local rivalry, but the claim of conquest was tenuous, sometimes there was initial welcome and later revolt. Mayans are sometimes independent and other times accepting Spanish rule. There were significant missionary pushes, but most Mayans stay independent. During conflict between Spain and England, many Mayan retreated further inland from Belize region, leading to claims of Belize being uninhabited. Mayan scribes perform many duties such as recording deeds. During the campaign against “idolatry” many books and effigies were destroyed. Scribes gradually start to use an new alphabet for documents.
* Today:
Mayans didn’t disappear in modern times. In fact, there are as many Mayans today as 1000 years ago, except they now represent a much smaller percentage. But they are spread over 5 countries and occasionally face genocidal pressures. Early studies tend to romanticize Mayan. Today many Mayans are constantly adapting.
December 26, 2022
This is a wonderful history for how concise it is. Restall and Solari do a wonderful job of addressing and correcting the troubled, colonial historiography of the Maya in this text while still covering a huge breadth of information. The book is very readable and not dry at all, in my opinion. The only real complaint is that it doesn't provide a more straightforward history of the period, but that may be a lack of evidence or a challenge of its short length. I'm very grateful for this book and view it as a solid resource for beginning to learn about the Maya!
June 23, 2023
was so good it made me rethink all my career choices in life and my hate for history. I am now a black hole that can babble on for hours about mayan culture and society to anyone who will listen
August 12, 2021
I picked this up in anticipation of a trip to Cozumel, Mexico. I already planned to read this book as part of the personal syllabus I have created to learn more about myths, religions, and antiquity. I have visited the sights of Tulum and Chichen Itza and I hope to visit many more Mayan sites. This book was a great introduction to the Maya and the many periods they went through, the cultural influences, religious beliefs, and the archaeological sites. I am fascinated by this subject. I started this book and finished it before my trip, around the same time as I began Maya to Aztec: Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed. I am working through it right now and I highly recommend it. After reading through this book I also began reading Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya and these all tie in brilliantly. It inspired me to purchase Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings and A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya, which both came recommended in the Great Courses recommendations as well as this Oxford introduction. I highly recommend these books in the A Very Short Introduction series for introductions on any subject. I never did make it to see San Gervasio ruins in Cozumel, but I'll be back one day.
August 13, 2024
Instead of taking my meds tonight I instead decided to spend about an hour and a half reading an introduction to Mayan society in anticipation for my reading of the journals and autobiographies of Bernal Diaz del Castillo who wrote about his time as a Spanish conquistador under Hernan Cortez when he did the funny in modern Mexico and the rest of the Yucatan peninsula.
One thing I appreciate about this little introduction is that Restall doesn't throw facts at you like fastballs but he actually tries to guide you through the biases and prejudices that many of the firsthand accounts you'll be reading about the Maya are subject to. This is good for me because facts are for nerds and people who make money and I am very stupid and, more importantly, very poor. I don't want an unbiased account of straight facts because that's not as interesting as understanding the peoples behind the facts. The Mayan script has been deciphered decades ago (at least whatever Diego de Landa didn't burn) and I personally find it hard to discern when reading the works of an objective archaeologist whether or not they're blowing smoke up my ass.
On the content of the book I'm most thankful that he divided the eras of the Mayan society into three neat little categories: Pre-classic, classic, and Post-classic. Pre-classic is when the aliens came or something idk he doesn't really talk about it a whole lot besides just mentioning it. The classic era is when the rise and "fall" of the Mayan society occurred, and the post-classic is what we find ourselves in now where there's a couple thousand Mayans remaining in the Yucatan in their "historical sites" which is even more insulting and egregious than Native American reservations.
He takes some shots at various authors and the academic community as a whole catches some strays but I mean, when the majority of the academic community is comprised of a bunch of people who are misguiding me at best and straight up lying at worst I can sympathize with him a bit. This gave me a bit of context that will be helpful when reading Castillo and yeah looking forward to it.
One thing I appreciate about this little introduction is that Restall doesn't throw facts at you like fastballs but he actually tries to guide you through the biases and prejudices that many of the firsthand accounts you'll be reading about the Maya are subject to. This is good for me because facts are for nerds and people who make money and I am very stupid and, more importantly, very poor. I don't want an unbiased account of straight facts because that's not as interesting as understanding the peoples behind the facts. The Mayan script has been deciphered decades ago (at least whatever Diego de Landa didn't burn) and I personally find it hard to discern when reading the works of an objective archaeologist whether or not they're blowing smoke up my ass.
On the content of the book I'm most thankful that he divided the eras of the Mayan society into three neat little categories: Pre-classic, classic, and Post-classic. Pre-classic is when the aliens came or something idk he doesn't really talk about it a whole lot besides just mentioning it. The classic era is when the rise and "fall" of the Mayan society occurred, and the post-classic is what we find ourselves in now where there's a couple thousand Mayans remaining in the Yucatan in their "historical sites" which is even more insulting and egregious than Native American reservations.
He takes some shots at various authors and the academic community as a whole catches some strays but I mean, when the majority of the academic community is comprised of a bunch of people who are misguiding me at best and straight up lying at worst I can sympathize with him a bit. This gave me a bit of context that will be helpful when reading Castillo and yeah looking forward to it.
September 13, 2024
At the recommendation of The Bamboo Traveler, whose web page "18 Must-Read Books About the Maya: For Novices and Nerds" suggests starting here when studying the Maya, I paused my reading of Michael Coe and Stephen Houston’s The Maya to work through this book instead. This was probably a decent decision. I appreciate the level of generalization this book provides as it outlines the historical periods of the Maya (really until the present day) and paints some of the relevant themes of studying the Maya, including their daily life, their politics, their art and architecture, their cosmogony and religion, and their relationship with their physical environment. Because the book touches each topic so briefly and quickly, I feel like I could have read this book twice and picked up just as much in the second read as the first. I think a downfall of many of the Very Short Introductions is that I always wish there were more visuals (more regional maps, local maps, diagrams of architecture, examples of art), but those are a promise of other, lengthier texts, not this one. This text delivers on its promise in providing a useful, intelligible overview of the Maya.
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August 10, 2024Amara Solari y Matthew Restall ofrecen una intruducción a los pueblos mayenses —que habitan entre México, Guatemala, Belicé, Honduras y Nicaragua; pero, también han emigrado a Canadá y los EUA— desde que se tiene evidencia de su aparición en el primer milenio antes de nuestra era. Plantean cómo fueron sus sociedades a lo largo del tiempo, en lo que se ha dado en llamar el preclásico, el clásico y el postclásico, así como la forma en la que enfrentaron la llegada europea y lo que significó el proceso de colonzación y cómo han enfrentado y negociado con los estados nación después de que estos obtuvieran su independencia.
January 29, 2024
It's sad Restall has to have a go at all 'nonacademic' (used as a pejorative) writers on the Maya. I don't see how his comments about theories of the Maya origins are helpful, if anything they will just further deepen the antagonism towards academia from such proponents. In particular his claims that these writers are white supremacists are without any reference or citation, and he fails to specify which writers he believes are white supremacists. It's like a shadow punch at the culture wars from an otherwise sound book.
April 28, 2023
This book was an excellent short introduction to Maya history both leading up to and during a recent trip to Guatemala. It was great to read about Maya history, mythology, civilization, subsequent colonization, and modern-day practices while experiencing all of those things firsthand.
There were quite a few times I wish the book had gone into greater detail or expanded on an idea, but as the title said, this is a "very short introduction."
There were quite a few times I wish the book had gone into greater detail or expanded on an idea, but as the title said, this is a "very short introduction."
March 8, 2023
A good, short yet thorough overview of contemporary Mayanist understanding. I wouldn’t call the writing incredibly readable, but I feel like I learned a good bit and have a much better understanding of Maya history. Will certainly help my Maya lecture next year for World History, and bring some background knowledge for my trip to Chichen Itza!
May 3, 2023
Fascinating; it surprised me to realize how little I know about this culture. I love how the book includes mythistory content as well as history artifacts that have been found in several sites. I recognized a couple of words like “nixtamal” that are still used in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, that’s pretty amazing!
June 26, 2023
Indeed a very short introduction, and compared to his ancient history I’m intrigued by their modern development of identity, culture and political movement. I recently came into contact with my tour guide in Yucatán, a Mayan, I can see the modern and tradition combination on him(he speaks Spanish, some kind of mayan language and English), and how tourism drastically influenced their lives.
December 10, 2020
This is a no frills history of the Maya peoples. Don’t come looking for anything super in-depth but if you want a nice overview this is the book for you. That’s what I came in looking for and it did the trick in giving me some basic knowledge about Mayan civilization.
May 15, 2022
I did not know any of this, and even had some misconceptions that were corrected, so I would say I have been very successfully very shortly introduced. Looking forward to checking out some of the suggestions for further reading.
December 28, 2022
Very easy to read, and totally upended my perception of the so-called "Lost civilization". Maya people continue their life after they abandoned their pyramid and their self-claimed divine kings. They lived through the plague and colonization brought by the Spanish. They changed but lives on.
May 22, 2024
Read to understand more about the connection of cacao to the Maya. It gave a very good overview of the Mayan society. Some of it was a little harder to get through as history can sometimes be with all the names and dates in such a succinct book, but overall of value.
June 17, 2024
A short-ish book but packs a punch. Really is a great introduction to Maya studies, and clears up a lot of common misconceptions like total collapse of the civilization. Generally also summarizes main reasons and effects, and includes recent history up to the 2000s.
April 24, 2021
Did a good job of bridging known and unknown, past and future, political and cultural history.
April 23, 2022
After visiting Chichen Itza, have been curious to learn more about the Mayans.
December 23, 2022
REALLY good overview and timeline, covers a lot of contemporary misconceptions and myths propelled by western non-Maya people
March 16, 2023
I'm a big fan of these Very Short Introductions! This gave me a good overview before my trip to the Yucatan and various Maya sites in January.
April 3, 2023
A good intro, a few boring chapters parts but overall enjoyed and loved that I got to read it while in the yucatan peninsula visiting some of the sites it mentioned 👏🏽
September 27, 2023
it was good, informative, but quite dense and difficult to understand
March 16, 2024
I’m not a huge fan of non fiction and so even though it was interesting, I wasn’t hugely gripped.
March 17, 2024
So much Information… was super interesting to read!
September 11, 2024
I learned a lot about the Mayan culture. The names and dates did blur together.
December 31, 2020
Disappointing. Poorly organized. Often speculative. Just didn’t feel it delivered the kind of overview I had hoped for.
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