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Loading... The Civilization of the Mayas (1927)by J. Eric S. Thompson
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"This is still the best account of allegory we have. It is a remarkable fusion of theoretical speculation and brilliant literary analysis. If I were teaching a course on allegory, this would be the major book I would assign."--Stanley Fish, author of How Milton Works "An enormously valuable tool for understanding complex literary texts like Spenser's Faerie Queene."--Stephen Greenblatt, author of Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)972.01History and Geography North America Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Bermuda Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Bermuda Ancient civilization (-1516)LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Thompson does his best to give us a full picture of this peaceful, religious, artistic urban civilization, which probably declined due to the militarism induced by aggressive Mexican invasions.
L'ascesa e il declino di una civiltà nell'affascinante ricostruzione del piú autorevole studioso dei Maya.
Mentre l'Europa, nei secoli che vanno dal 300 al 900 d.C., era dilaniata da guerre sanguinose, nel Nuovo Mondo si stava sviluppando in tutto il suo splendore l'antica civiltà dei Maya. Furono i secoli dei grandi monumenti, della crescità delle civiltà, e della costruzione di piramidi e di templi, molti dei quali sono ancora oggi conservati. In questo libro, il maggiore studioso di quel mondo ricostruisce l'ascesa e il declino dei Maya, sulla scorta di anni di studio e di ricerche sul campo: le strutture politiche e sociali, le arti plastiche e la scrittura, le conoscenze astronomiche, gli usi e i modi della vita di ogni giorno, i culti religiosi... Thompson riesce a comunicare al lettore tutto il fascino di un popolo pacifico che fu tragicamente annientato dall'invasione spagnola nel corso del XVII secolo e il cui sistema di vita rappresentò, con quello degli Aztechi e degli Incas, una delle forme più sviluppate della civiltà precolombiana.
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Sir John Eric Sidney Thompson (31 December, 1898 – 9 September, 1975) was an English archeologist and epigrapher, perhaps the most eminent student of pre-Columbian Maya civilization of the mid 20th century. He was generally known as J. Eric S.Thompson in print and Eric Thompson to his colleagues.
Thompson was born in London and studied anthropology at the University of Cambridge. In 1925 he began working under Dr. Sylvanus Morley of the Carnegie Institution on the archeological project at Chichen Itza.He took his new bride honeymooning through the jungle by mule to make one of the first explorations of Coba.
Thompson was, as he himself noted, of the last generation of "generalist" archeologists in the field, engaging in activities from finding and mapping new sites, excavation, study of Maya ceramics, art and iconography, hieroglyphics, some ethnology on the side, and writing books for both technical and lay audiences.
Thompson conducted a number of excavations at sites in British Honduras He was one of the first in the field to investigate and excavate smaller sites and areas away from the elite ceremonial centers, to learn more about the lives of common Maya people.
Thompson had an eriudite but inviting writing style,often showing a dry wit, He wrote an autobiography covering his early career in the field,
Thompson was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Thompson died in Cambridge. ( )