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Article: Prudence M. Rice. Maya Political Science: Time, Astronomy and the Cosmos.(Book review)
- Article from:
- Antiquity
- Article date:
- March 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Antiquity Publications, Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PRUDENCE M. RICE. Maya political science: time, astronomy and the cosmos. xxii+352 pages, 82 illustrations, 16 tables. 2000. Austin: University of Texas Press; hardback 0-292-70261-2 $60 & paperback 0-292 70569-7 $24.95.
In this book, Prudence Rice hypothesises that Classic Maya (c. AD 250-950) 'geopolitico-religious organization was structured by Maya calendrical science' especially the may cycle (p. xv), where seats of power ('capitals') changed hands every 256 years. Other than works by Munro Edmonson and a 1940s publication by Sylvanus Morley (when scholars thought that inscriptions only concerned astronomy and time), there is no mention of the may cycle in ...