The flood of archaeological work in Maya lands have 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.

Author Biography: Traci Ardren is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Miami. She codirects the Pakbeh Regional Economy Project centered at the ancient Maya trading city of Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico. Her research has focused on gender, iconography, architecture and other forms of symbolic representation in the archaeological record.