Overview

Neighbors of the better-known Itza in the central Peten lakes region of Guatemala, the Kowoj Maya have been studied for little more than a decade. The Kowoj: Identity, Migration, and Geopolitics in Late Postclassic Peten, Guatemala summarizes the results of recent research into this ethno-political group conducted by Prudence Rice, Don Rice, and their colleagues. Chapters in The Kowoj address the question ""Who are the Kowoj?"" from varied viewpoints: archaeological, archival, linguistic, ethnographic, and bioarchaeological. Using data drawn primarily from the peninsular site of Zacpeten, the authors illuminate Kowoj history, ritual components of their self-expressed identity, and their archaeological identification. These data support the Kowoj claim of migration from Mayapan in Yucatan, where they were probably affiliated with the Xiw, in opposition to the Itza. These enmities extended into Peten, culminating in civil warfare by the time of final Spanish conquest in 1697. The first volume to consider Postclassic Peten from broadly integrative anthropological, archaeological, and historical perspectives, The Kowoj is an important addition to the literature on late Maya culture and history in the southern lowlands. It will be of particular interest to archaeologists, historians, ethnohistorians, art historians, and epigraphers.

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9781607321361

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Substantially enhances our understanding of Pet n, its peoples, and its history. This book should attract a broad readership for its nuanced examination of material reflections of identity in a complex and shifting sociopolitical landscape. -- American Anthropologist

. . . . Substantially enhances our understanding of Pet n, its peoples, and its history. This book should attract a broad readership for its nuanced examination of material reflections of identity in a complex and shifting sociopolitical landscape. - John S. Henderson, American Anthropologist

Author Information

Prudence M. Rice and Don S. Rice have co-directed research into the Maya occupation of the Peten lakes region of Guatemala for more than thirty-five years. The Kowoj is based on their archaeological and historical investigations, begun in 1994, of the sixteenth- to eighteenth-century political geography of the region. They are co-editors, with Arthur Demarest, of The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands (UPC).

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