The Lost Chronicles of the Maya Kings

"Drawing on a wealth of sources - from the accounts of early explorers and archaeologists to the most recent research - David Drew charts the course of Maya discovery and presents answers to many of the mysteries their civilization has posed: the nature of Maya religion, the extent of warfare and human sacrifice in their society, how they were able to support vast populations in the fragile forest environment and why, by the time of the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century, most of the great cities were already lost and forgotten in the jungle. He examines Maya political systems, their achievements in art and architecture and stresses that the Maya are not in fact a lost or dead people. Millions of Maya still live in the region today and, as David Drew shows, their society illuminates that of their ancestors."--BOOK JACKET.