essay
New light on the dark age: a summary of major themes
lowland maya postclassic • Austin • Published In 1985 • Pages: 283-309
By: Freidel, David A..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article Freidel presents a thematic summary of the Maya Postclassic period based on a collection of papers appearing in the NY54 Postclassic Maya file as eHRAF documents nos. 7-29 passim. These papers are discussed from the standpoint of three major themes that predominant throughout the collection, namely: (1) the continuity and disjunction between indigenous development on the Yucatan peninsula during the Classic era and the development following the collapse of this period in the south; (2) the role of external groups in the developments on the peninsula during the Postclassic; and (3) the trend toward viewing the peninsula during the Postclassic period as a heterogeneous mosaic of sociocultural organizations rather than as a relatively homogeneous territorial block undergoing sequential cultural expression (p. 285). These three major themes address the essential cultural historical framework of the Maya Postclassic.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Reviews and critiques
- History and culture change
- Cultural participation
- Ceramic technology
- Architecture
- Dwellings
- Settlement patterns
- Visual arts
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Postclassic Maya
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2001
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Maya Area
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 2000
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1100 BP-480 BP (900 A.D.-1520 A.D.)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Yucatan peninsula, Mexico; Guatemala, Belize, Honduras
- NotesAdditional notes
- David A. Freidel
- For bibliographical references see document number 2:Anonymous
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 84013168
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Mayas--Antiquities