Changing Perspectives on Maya Civilization

Abstract

The Maya world stands on a threshold between past and future scholarship, and more importantly, between an indigenous people hailed widely as the most advanced in the New World and other cultural traditions not necessarily inter­ ested in the survival or prosperity of Maya civilization. In this age of informa­ tion explosion, electronic wizardry, and the sound bite, it is becoming harder for the complexities of the ancient and diverse Maya cultural tradition to be fathomed by the scholars who attempt to describe and understand it, let alone by the millions of people who set forth on pilgrimages to its holy sites, or who see it represented with varying degrees of inaccuracy on their television screens each day. Although the popularization of Maya civilization has made household words of Tikal, Lord Pacal, and sting-ray spines, it also has made for a great deal of misinformation in the mass media, undue politicization and occasional distortions of scholarship, and the commercialization of Maya cul­ ture and its homeland to an at times frightening degree. This review attempts to strike a balance between the often polarized views of Maya civilization held by various researchers in the past and present, and to highlight the need for scholars to think more carefully about the implications of their research and writings for living Maya peoples and the remarkable land they inhabit.