Maya Wisdom and the Survival of Our Planet

By (author) Lisa J. Lucero

ISBN13: 9780197765708

Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc

Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Format: Hardback

Published: 05/06/2025

Availability: Not yet available

Description
We now live in the Anthropocene, the first epoch of our own making. We have altered the Earth's atmosphere, landscapes, and bodies of water. The burning of fossil fuels has warmed the planet enough to change weather patterns, melt glaciers, and raise sea levels, a situation made worse by rampant deforestation and resource depletion. Many look to governments to confront these existential challenges. In Maya Wisdom and the Survival of Our Planet, Lisa Lucero looks to the Maya, past and present. Through the lens of the traditional Maya inclusive worldview--one in which humans are part of the world, not separate from it, and where everything is connected--Lucero provides a practical roadmap on how to sustainably address climate change and environmental degradation. She shows how the Maya collaborate with rather than try to subjugate forests, animals, soils, water, and other nonhuman entities. The Maya sustainably farmed for millennia and provided goods, labor, and services to their kings in cities. In return, kings performed vital ceremonies to the Rain God Chahk, other gods, and ancestors to replenish urban reservoirs that lasted throughout the long dry season--a balancing act that worked for over 1,000 years. Lucero shows how approaches to tackle climate change from the bottom-up, beginning with the family or household, are just as important as top-down governmental mitigation, and how learning from traditional knowledge is vital for the survival of us all. She brings to life the tropical jungles of Central America and reveals the valuable solutions its ancient and contemporary inhabitants offer us to save our planet.
Preface Acknowledgments--Thirty-Five Years' Worth Introduction 1. Setting the Stage: Then and Now 2. The Maya 3. Chahk, The Capricious Rain God 4. The Maya Inclusive Worldview 5. Relations with the Three Realms 6. The Maize People 7. House and Cosmos 8. Water Lily Kings 9. Yax Cities 10. The Survival of Our Planet Index
  • Archaeology
  • Environmental archaeology
  • Professional & Vocational
Height:212
Width:149
Spine:27
Weight:395.00
List Price: £16.99