Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I don't know whether Professor Sharer wrote this book to be a college textbook. It certainly can be used as one for an overall basic survey of Mayan civilization for the undergraduate. In case you were wondering, it is most definitely not of the "Daily Life in Ancient Rome" type of book that was so popular when I was a kid. This is adult stuff.
Not that the book is slow; on the contrary, it is generally good reading all the way through. It covers just about everything at least a little bit, and the bibliography leads you on to more detailed reference when you need it. It not only covers the sum total of the latest in Mayan archeology, but includes most of the anthropological data that Mayanists have found useful in their construction of Classic Mayan culture, as well as a brief but satisfactory review of Mayan writing.
The one thing I found unsatisfactory was Professor Sharer's need to grandstand on ecological issues whenever the topic could be conveniently inserted into the discussion at hand. While I generally agree with the ecological movement, I felt that it was out of place in this book. If that doesn't bother you, have at it - this book is the state of the art on what we know about the Maya. Of course, that will change in a couple of years, but by then a revised edition will be in order!
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