The flood of archaeological work in Maya lands has revolutionized our
understanding of gender in ancient Maya society. The dozen contributors
to this volume use a wide range of methodological
strategies-archaeology, bioarchaeology, iconography, ethnohistory,
epigraphy, ethnography-to tease out the details of the lives, actions,
and identities of women of Mesoamerica. The chapters, most based upon
recent fieldwork in Central America, examine the role of women in Maya
society, their place in the political hierarchy and lineage structures,
the gendered division of labor, and the discrepancy between idealized
Mayan womanhood and the daily reality, among other topics. In each case,
the complexities and nuances of gender relations is highlighted and the
limitations of our knowledge acknowledged. These pieces represent an
important advance in the understanding of Maya socioeconomic, political,
and cultural life-and the archaeology of gender-and will be of great
interest to scholars and students.