US anthropologists present the results of original new archaeological, epigraphic, and art historical research in the Mexican states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo--the subtropical scrub forest where the Maya built some of their most spectacular cities. The arrangement is by conventional chronology: preclassic, early and late classic, terminal classic and early postclassic, and late postclassic to historical. Among the topics are a new perspective from the region on the origins of the Mesoamerican ballgame, the political and economic organization of late classic states in the peninsular gulf coast, excavations of the great platform of Chichen Itza, rain and fertility rituals in postclassic Yucatan featuring Chaak and Chak Chel, and lessons from the Spanish conquest and the caste war of Yucatan. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)