Everything Old Is New Again

The Maya and Teotihuacan: Reinterpreting Early Classic Interaction. Edited by Geoffrey E. Braswell. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003. xvi + 423 pp., foreword, introduction, bibliography, index, maps. $40.00 cloth.)

Maya Palaces and Elite Residences: an Interdisciplinary Approach. Edited by Jessica Joyce Christie. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003. x + 340 pp., introduction, bibliography, index, maps. $50.00 cloth.)

The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Edited by Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2003. xiv + 382 pp., preface, bibliography, index, maps. $75.00 cloth.)

In some ways it is comforting that Mesoamerican archaeologists, especially Mayanists, return time and again to the same topics of investigation. Perhaps it is the embarrassment of riches we steward, the complex architecture and breathtaking art of Classic urban centers. Perhaps we are too overwhelmed with the task of cataloging this amazing inventory of material culture to venture far from the central questions of research that have characterized our discipline from its inception. As our archaeological colleagues in North America or Europe strive to squeeze data from a less urbane material record, they are forced to create bridging theories and explore new areas of inquiry, slippery topics for the archaeologist such as identity or colonialism.

Not Mayanists (or most Mesoamericanists), though. Perfectly content to continue digging the astounding urban capitals and outlying settlements of the long and complex Classic period, we astound even ourselves with each passing field season. Fortunately, when we do return to the central questions of our region, we often do so with significantly enhanced data, and this is true of the three edited volumes under consideration in this review. All three are twenty-first-century examinations of central questions in Mesoamerican archaeology: What was the nature of contact and interaction throughout prehistoric Mesoamerica, and what does monumental architecture tell us about a culture? In neither case are the questions new, but all three volumes are substantial new additions to the literature that contribute method, data, and even some theory to these intellectual quests of some historic importance.

The Maya and Teotihuacan aggressively assails its paternal heritage by stating in the Introduction that theories of the 1970s and 1980s that posited Teotihuacan as the prime mover behind southern Mesoamerica (especially Maya) state development are plain wrong. Geoffrey Braswell uses his Introduction very effectively to review the history of studies of both the ancient central Mexican capital and the appearance of so-called Teotihuacanoid features at Maya centers. In the twenty-first century, the Early Classic Maya are active participants in an information exchange that is multidirectional and regionally specific. Braswell and some of the other contributors characterize the field of Mayanist archeology as split in two. "Externalists" are those who see Teotihuacan as the dominant force throughout Mesoamerica in the Early Classic and interpret the material evidence associated with the urban giant as indication of invasion or colonization. Those who focus on the magnetic force of Teotihuacan's trading economy fall into this camp. Then there are the "internalists," made famous by the late Linda Schele, who saw the process from a Maya-centric perspective and emphasized the appropriation of select central Mexican elements into a strong Maya cultural tradition. Braswell is correct in his observation that the internalist perspective is dominant in the field now, although the pendulum is sure to swing back toward Teotihuacan imperialism. Some authors attempt to move beyond this dichotomy to a more nuanced model that accounts for regional specifics, historical particulars, and the other major forces in Early Classic Mesoamerica, such as the early states of Oaxaca and the less well known Gulf coast region. If there is anything missing in The Maya and Teotihuacan, it is more attention to these other players, although this lacuna is noted by the editor.

There is important new data presented in The Maya and Teotihuacan, which is sure to make this volume indispensable for anyone working on the Early Classic period...