How the Maya Built Their World: Energetics and Ancient Architecture

How the Maya Built Their World: Energetics and Ancient Architecture - Paperback

$35.91
Sale price  $35.91 Regular price 
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How the Maya Built Their World: Energetics and Ancient Architecture

How the Maya Built Their World: Energetics and Ancient Architecture - Paperback

by Elliot M. Abrams
$35.91
Sale price  $35.91 Regular price 

Book Overview

by Elliot M. Abrams (Author)

Maya architecture is often described as "massive" and "monumental," but experiments at Copan, Honduras, convinced Elliot Abrams that 300 people could have built one of the large palaces there in only 100 days.

In this groundbreaking work, Abrams explicates his theory of architectural energetics, which involves translating structures into volumes of raw and manufactured materials that are then multiplied by the time required for their production and assembly to determine the labor costs of past construction efforts. Applying this method to residential structures of the Late Classic period (A.D. 700-900) at Copan leads Abrams to posit a six-tiered hierarchic social structure of political decision making, ranging from a stratified elite to low-ranking commoners. By comparing the labor costs of construction and other economic activities, he also prompts a reconsideration of the effects of royal construction demands on commoners.

How the Maya Built Their World will interest a wide audience in New and Old World anthropology, archaeology, architecture, and engineering.

Author Biography

Elliot M. Abrams is an associate professor of anthropology at Ohio University.

Number of Pages: 192
Dimensions: 0.59 x 9.02 x 6.04 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: September 01, 1994
ISBN9780292704626
Author Elliot M. Abrams
PublisherUniversity of Texas Press
GenreEducation, Business, Design, and History
FormatPaperback
PublishedSeptember 1994
LanguageENG- English
Pages192
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

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About Elliot M. Abrams

Elliot M. Abrams, a professor of anthropology at Ohio University, has conducted field research for more than two decades in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize, as well as in the Ohio River Valley. He is the author of How the Maya Built Their World.AnnCorinne Freter is a professor of anthropology at Ohio University and has conducted archaeological research since 1982 in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Ohio River Valley. She is the coauthor of Copán: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Mayan Kingdom.

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