The Mystery of the Ancient Maya - Hardcover

Carolyn Meyer is the acclaimed author of more than fifty books for young people. Her many award-winning novels include Mary, Bloody Mary—an ABA’s Pick of the Lists, an NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults—and Marie, Dancing, a Book Sense Pick. She is also the author of Cleopatra Confesses and Victoria Rebels. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and you can visit her at ReadCarolyn.com.

Grade 6-9-This revised edition (McElderry, 1985) provides updated interpretations of the Mayan written language and images used in their art, as well as insights into their social structure. In addition to introducing the everyday life of the Mayas, the authors have traced the early explorations and studies of this ancient culture, from the adventures of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood in 1839 to contemporary archaeological expeditions conducted by Mexico and the U.S. A look at advances made in the study of language and mathematics and eventual decodings not only points out a progression of discoveries that led to these conclusions, but also provides insight into misconceptions and political forces that influenced theories over the years. Text varies from entertaining, Indiana Jones-style descriptions of early explorations to succinct, well-written presentations of history and culture. Informative black-and-white photographs, reproductions, maps, charts, and diagrams provide needed breaks in the lengthy text. However, the book's overall appearance is bland. This title offers a more detailed history of the Mayas and recent archaeological studies than Victoria Sherrow's The Maya Indians (Chelsea, 1993) and Pamela Odijk's The Mayas (Silver Burdett, 1990).
Cynthia M. Sturgis, Ledding Library, Milwaukee, OR
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.