{"product_id":"before-kukulkn-vera-tiesler-9780816555383","title":"Before Kukulk?n: Bioarchaeology of Maya Life, Death, and Identity at Classic Period Yaxun?","description":"This volume illuminates human lifeways in the northern Maya lowlands prior to the rise of Chich?n Itz?. This period and area have been poorly understood on their own terms, obscured by scholarly focus on the central lowland Maya kingdoms. \u003ci\u003eBefore Kukulk?n \u003c\/i\u003eis anchored in three decades of interdisciplinary research at the Classic Maya capital of Yaxun?, located at a contentious crossroads of the northern Maya lowlands. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Using bioarchaeology, mortuary archaeology, and culturally sensitive mainstream archaeology, the authors create an in-depth regional understanding while also laying out broader ways of learning about the Maya past. Part 1 examines ancient lifeways among the Maya at Yaxun?, while part 2 explores different meanings of dying and cycling at the settlement and beyond: ancestral practices, royal entombment and desecration, and human sacrifice. The authors close with a discussion of the last years of occupation at Yaxun? and the role of Chich?n Itz? in the abandonment of this urban center. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eBefore Kukulk?n \u003c\/i\u003eprovides a cohesive synthesis of the evolving roles and collective identities of locals and foreigners at the settlement and their involvement in the region's trajectory. Theoretically informed and contextualized discussions offer unique glimpses of everyday life and death in the socially fluid Maya city. These findings, in conjunction with other documented series of skeletal remains from this region, provide a nuanced picture of the social and biocultural dynamics that operated successfully for centuries before the arrival of the Itz?. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Vera Tiesler, Andrea Cucina, Travis W. Stanton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0816555389\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780816555383\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Arizona Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/25\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 344\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Vera Tiesler","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46825932751103,"sku":"9780816555383","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_c7b0463d-6f28-4469-9113-e149a30ea669.jpg?v=1746074066","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/before-kukulkn-vera-tiesler-9780816555383","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}