WHAT WERE ANCIENT MAYA LANDSCAPES REALLY LIKE?

摘要

Landscapes are undeniably among the liveliest, most enduring, and well-grounded topics in studies of the ancient Maya. This article explores how geographers, anthropologists, archaeologists, epigraphers, artists, art historians, and other outside observers, together with indigenous Maya, have shaped our thinking about landscapes. In what follows, I discuss ecological, economic, political, social, and ideational aspects of ancient Maya landscapes, and how new research is altering ideas on significant and enduring questions about Maya lives. Consideration is structured by three components earth, water, and sky that defined and still define the Maya world. The narrative highlights changes in Western conceptions, in which analysts have grown not only more sophisticated in methods and techniques, but also significantly more focused on indigenous views toward study of ancient people's roles and experiences.