Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 7, 1991 TAG: 9104110039
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by ANDRE SPIES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A FOREST OF KINGS. By Linda Schele and David Freidel. Morrow. $29.95.
The Incas and the Mayas, who together with the Aztecs made up the three great pre-Columbian civilizations, are the subjects of two exciting new releases.
"A Forest of Kings" is an important breakthrough in the study of the Maya. The authors have made advances in deciphering Maya writing which make it possible to complete the first, preliminary political history of the group. Specialists have been eagerly waiting for this book. However, it is written in language that is accessible to the general reader.
The first two chapters introduce the Maya system of writing, their calendar and cosmology, and their physical environment. The picture of the Maya world view that emerges is complex, exotic and fascinating. In the main part of the book, each chapter focuses on inscriptions from the ruins of a different city, illustrating important political themes.
An early site in Belize reveals how the first kings used architecture to legitimize their rule. Inscriptions from Tikal show how a new style of warfare affected the balance of power among Mayan city states. In Palenque, rulers recorded the names and family relationships of 12 generations of their ancestors.
"A Forest of Kings" has the drawbacks of all purely political history. Topics that don't show up on monuments, such as trade and agriculture and the lives or ordinary people, get little coverage. There are, however, 90 pages of references to other books.
"Monuments of the Incas" takes a different approach. Just released in trade paperback for the first time, it has the format of a coffee-table book, with oversize full-page photographs and large type. But the information in the text is comprehensive and reliable. It makes excellent use of contemporary Spanish and native Indian chronicles of Incan civilization to provide background for the photographs.
The book begins with a general discussion of Incan architecture: types of building, construction techniques, materials and design. Succeeding chapters deal with specific monuments in their social context.
Ruins on the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca are the basis for a description of Incan creation myths. Pictures of the fortress-temple of Ollantaytambo accompany an account of the last great battle between conquistadores and Incan armies.
Photographer Edward Ranney succeeds brilliantly in presenting the architecture in its topographical setting. With thousand-foot sheer cliffs on one side, and contoured agriculture terraces clinging to a 45-degree incline on the other, monuments of the Incas appear in all their spectacular grandeur.
Andre Spies teaches Latin American history at Hollins College.
by CNB