Royal bundle ceremonies at Yaxchilan / Rikke Marie Søegaard. Where kings once ruled? Considerations on palaces and rulership at Teotihuacan / Jesper Nielsen ; Identifying the provenance and dating of Maya influences at the Cacaxtla court / Christophe Helmke & Jesper Nielsen ; Rekindling the past: Mexica-Toltec relations as a source of power and prestige / Helle Hovmand-Rasmussen ; The center of power: tasks and strategies of the Mexica court / Casper Jacobsen ; Courtly etiquette and eloquent speech in ancient mesoamerica / Rosa-Maria Worm Danbo & Christophe Helmke ; How the other half lives: the role and function of body paint at Maya courts / Julie Nehammer Knub ; The late classic Maya court of Namaan (La Florida, Guatemala) / Mads Skytte Jørgensen & Guido Krempel ; Royal bundle ceremonies at Yaxchilan / Rikke Marie Søegaard.
Summary:
Mesoamerica is one of the cradles of early civilizations in the ancient world, featuring a wide diversity of cultures exhibiting a high degree of social inequality and stratification. At the pinnacle of the society was the ruler, the court and the high elite. This social segment was responsible for the creation and consumption of the hallmarks of civilizations, including monumental architecture, great monolithic monuments and a wide array of highly decorated, exotic and exceptional material culture. As such royal courts defined the very tastes and styles that characterise entire civilizations. This volume collects eight recent and innovative studies on the subject rulership, palatial compounds and courtly culture. Together these studies span the breadth of Mesoamerica, from the Early Classic metropolis of Teotihuacan (ad 200-550), to Tenochtitlan, the Late Postclassic capital of the Aztec (ad 1300-1521), and from the arid central Mexican highlands in the west to the humid Maya lowlands in the east.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.