Death and the classic Maya kings / / James L. Fitzsimmons

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910827142103321
• Autore: Fitzsimmons James L
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Austin, : University of Texas Press, 2009
• ISBN: 0-292-79370-7
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (312 p.)
• Collana: The Linda Schele series in Maya and pre-columbian studies
• Disciplina: 393.0972/0902
• Soggetti: Mayas - Kings and rulers - Death and burial; Mayas - Funeral customs and rites; Mayan languages - Writing; Tombs - Mexico; Human remains (Archaeology) - Mexico; Mexico Antiquities
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-259) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- A Note on Orthography -- Acknowledgments -- One. Celebrations for the Dead -- Two. Death and the Afterlife in the Lowlands -- Three. Royal Funerals -- Four. Death and Landscape -- Five. Entering the Tombs of the Classic Maya Kings -- Six. The Dead King and the Body Politic -- Guide to Appendixes -- Appendix 1. Burial Structures and Contexts -- Appendix 2. Body Preparations and Funerary Activities -- Appendix 3. Grave Goods -- Notes -- References -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Like their regal counterparts in societies around the globe, ancient Maya rulers departed this world with elaborate burial ceremonies and lavish grave goods, which often included ceramics, red pigments, earflares, stingray spines, jades, pearls, obsidian blades, and mosaics. Archaeological investigation of these burials, as well as the decipherment of inscriptions that record Maya rulers' funerary rites, have opened a fascinating window on how the ancient Maya envisaged the ruler's passage from the world of the living to the realm of the ancestors. Focusing on the Classic Period (AD 250-900), James Fitzsimmons examines and compares textual and archaeological evidence for rites of death and burial in the Maya lowlands, from which ; he creates models of royal Maya funerary behavior. Exploring ancient Maya attitudes toward death expressed at well-known sites such as Tikal, Guatemala, and Copan, Honduras, as well as less-explored archaeological locations, Fitzsimmons reconstructs royal mortuary rites and expands our understanding of key Maya concepts including the afterlife and ancestor veneration.