1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910968552403321

Titolo

The Kowoj : identity, migration, and geopolitics in late postclassic Peten, Guatemala / / edited by Prudence M. Rice and Don S. Rice

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Boulder, : University Press of Colorado, c2009

ISBN

9780870819872

0870819879

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (481 p.)

Collana

Mesoamerican worlds : from the Olmecs to the Danzantes

Altri autori (Persone)

RicePrudence M

RiceDon S (Don Stephen)

Disciplina

972.81/201

Soggetti

Kowoj Indians - Guatemala - Peten (Dept.) - History

Kowoj Indians - Ethnic identity

Kowoj Indians - Antiquities

Indian pottery - Guatemala - Zacpeten Site

Excavations (Archaeology) - Guatemala - Zacpeten Site

Ethnology - Guatemala - Peten (Dept.)

Zacpetén Site (Guatemala)

Peten (Guatemala : Dept.) Antiquities

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 396-438) and index.

Nota di contenuto

; Pt. I. Introduction to the postclassic- and contact-period Kowoj -- ; Pt. II. Who were the Kowoj? -- ; Pt. III. The archaeology of the Kowoj: settlement and architecture at Zacpeten -- ; Pt. IV. The archaeology of the Kowoj: pottery and identity -- ; Pt. V. Additional perspectives on the Kowoj -- ; Pt. VI. Conclusions.

Sommario/riassunto

Neighbors of the better-known Itza in the central Petén lakes region of Guatemala, the Kowoj Maya have been studied for little more than a decade. The Kowoj: Identity, Migration, and Geopolitics in Late Postclassic Petén, Guatemala summarizes the results of recent research into this ethno-political group conducted by Prudence Rice, Don Rice, and their colleagues.   Chapters in The Kowoj address the question "Who are the Kowoj?" from varied viewpoints: archaeological, archival, linguistic, ethnographic, and bioarchaeological. Using data drawn



primarily from the peninsular site of Zacpetén, the authors illuminate Kowoj history, ritual components of their self-expressed identity, and their archaeological identification. These data support the Kowoj claim of migration from Mayapán in Yucatán, where they were probably affiliated with the Xiw, in opposition to the Itza. These enmities extended into Petén, culminating in civil warfare by the time of final Spanish conquest in 1697.   The first volume to consider Postclassic Petén from broadly integrative anthropological, archaeological, and historical perspectives, The Kowoj is an important addition to the literature on late Maya culture and history in the southern lowlands. It will be of particular interest to archaeologists, historians, ethnohistorians, art historians, and epigraphers.