Thames & Hudson

 

 

BREAKING THE MAYA CODE
Michael D. Coe

REVISED EDITION
PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

"One of the great stories of twentieth-century scientific discovery. . . . Rich in personal, even intimate, details, the book reads at times like a novel. It is well calculated to keep aficionados of Maya culture on the edges of their seats."  

 —The New York Times

"A great story told clearly and passionately by a great Mayanist. It's an inspiring example of the ultimate triumph of truth in the knock-down, drag-out world of academic politics." —Science

"Combines impeccable scholarship with an unpretentious spirit—that is a rare feat indeed."   —Library Journal

Michael Coe's classic inside story of one of the major intellectual breakthroughs of our time—the last great decoding of an ancient script—has been updated throughout and now includes an epilogue that brings the reader up to date in the fast-changing field of Maya decipherment. Among the more exciting advances to be described are:

  • the discovery of the specific Maya language and sophisticated grammar used by the ancient scribes on stone monuments and painted vases;

  • archaeological explorations of tombs and buildings of the ancient founders of the great city of Copan, whose very existence had been predicted by epigraphers through glyphic decipherment;

  • the realization that many small city-states were dominated by two rival giants, Tikal and Calakmul, through a potent combination of military conquest, diplomacy, and royal marriages.

Michael D. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Curator Emeritus in the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University.

"A fluent, engaging, and informative account of the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics."  —Publishers Weekly

"As good an introduction to the world of the Maya, and of the Maya scholars, as one is likely to get." —USA Today

ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR:

Angkor and the Khmer Civilization

The Maya

Mexico

Reading the Maya Glyphs

The True History of Chocolate

ISBN 0-500-28133-5 · 61/4" x 9" · 112 illustrations · 304 pages · ARCHAEOLOGY / LINGUISTICS

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