Instructor Contact:

Instructor	Drs. Arlen & Diane Chase
Office	PH 309E or Archaeology Laboratory (Room 217 Research Pavillion)
Office Hours	TBA
Phone	Dept: 407 823-2227 Lab: 249-7178
E-mail	achase@mail.ucf.edu
Homepage	http://www.caracol.org

Class Location	HPH 409M

Class Time	Monday 18:00-20:50

GOALS AND THEMES:

The Maya were one of the most important indigenous civilizations of the New World. The remains of their many cities dot the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of El Salvador and Honduras. This course will cover both the prehistory of the Maya and the major issues and controversies that exist among archaeologists researching this people. It is hoped that the variety of topics explored within this course will expose the student not only to the wealth of information on Maya civilization and its development, but also to wider questions concerning the use of archaeological method and theory in formulating interpretations of prehistory.

ANG6168a is also 1 of 2 courses anchoring the Maya Studies Graduate Certificate and the MA track in Maya Studies that is housed within Anthropology. This course is, therefore, meant to function as an introduction to the Maya and to Maya Studies.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

All students are expected to read the appropriate chapters or pages in the course texts and any other assigned readings by the time that the class has met. In general, the course will follow a lecture/discussion format; discussion is encouraged at any point during the class and all students are encouraged to ask questions and/or answer them.. It should be cautioned that the lectures and readings will not necessarily overlap. Readings for each week are indicated below and should be read by the beginning of each week. Several videos will also be shown during the course.

Each student will be responsible for posting 2 articles per week (for the weeks that readings are assigned) on the web. The potential reading selections for each week may be found on the "schedule" (listed by author and date). Pdfs of each of these potential readings may be found by clicking the "readings" button once the student has entered the web portion of the class. All students should be able to verbally summarize and discuss their readings with the class. All articles must be posted on the web before the Monday class meeting; late postings will loose points at the rate of 1 point per week (there will be 26 total postings and each posting is worth approximately 4 points). Each student must also complete a term paper (typed ca. 20 pages) by the end of class. This paper will deal with one of the sites covered in Martin and Grube (2000; see below) and will examine the extant archaeology for the site in relation to the epigraphic interpretations of that site; a presentation of the paper's main points will be made during 1 of the last 2 classes. The final course grade will be based on the article postings and summaries, on the research presentation, on the research paper, and on classroom participation. Grading may use plus and minus. The withdrawal deadline for this course is Oct. 12. Fall holidays are September 3, November 12, and November 22-24.

Required Texts:

de Landa, Diego de
1978 [1566] Yucatan Before and After the Conquest, translated with notes by William Gates, Dover Publications, Inc., New York.

Demarest, Arthur
2004 Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Martin, Simon and Nikolai Grube
2000 Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya, Thames and Hudson, London.

Sharer, Robert J. and Loa P. Traxler
2006 The Ancient Maya, 6th Edition, Stanford University Press, Stanford.

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