This innovative analysis of archaeological settlement patterns as a
guide to ancient political structure focuses on the Maya of Southeastern
Mexico. Working principally with data from the Classic Period in the
Rosario Valley, Dr de Montmollin relates problem orientation and theory
to themes with wide currency in political anthropolgy. For
archaeologists interested in complex societies, the handling of the
settlement evidence and the close attention paid to bridging arguments
provide valuable guidance on analysing a multiscale settlement record
when reconstructing political structure. For Mayanists, the
characterization of settlement and political structure is unprecedented
in its rigour and scope. The Archaeology of Political Structure thus
blends the particular fascination of Maya archaeology with developments
of more general interest in anthropological archaeology to make a
substantial contribution to the practice and theory of settlement
studies within complex societies.