This important volume examines the changing nature of pre-Columbian Maya political economies in different regions and time periods and at different scales...This book is a significant contribution to the archaeological literature. I believe that it should be a "must-read" volume for scholars of the ancient Maya and would be stimulating reading for any archaeologist interested in early political economies.

Jeremy A. Sabloff, University of Pennsylvania, Journal of Anthropological Research

These papers, originally presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in 2000, offer a unique overview of current research on the prehispanic Maya's political economy, defined by the editors as the "ways in which economic production and exchange are manipulated to support the power of a society's leaders." ... The reintroduction of economic issues is a welcome complement to recent studies of Maya political organization based primarily on texts and images. The contributions include important overviews of the organization of production and exchange of salt,ceramics, shell, cacao, and obsidian, including discussion of the development of currencies and markets. They span all periods from the preclassic through the early colonial and cover the Maya lowlands... several contributors (West, Foias, Dahlin and Ardren, and Hanson) offer highly readable papers that make important arguments sure to sustain debate for some time.

R. A. Joyce, University of California, Berkeley, Choice Reviews