Esteemed colleagues in Maya archaeology, we are delighted to announce a landmark publication that embodies a century of dedication to the study and spatial understanding of the ancient Maya civilization: the Atlas of the Ancient Maya World.

As the Middle American Research Institute (M.A.R.I.) commemorates its 100th anniversary, this long-awaited work stands as a testament to our enduring commitment to advancing knowledge of this remarkable culture. This Atlas represents a major contribution to Maya studies, providing an unprecedented geospatial database of over 10,000 documented Maya archaeological sites.

A Legacy of Spatial Inquiry: MARI and the Cartography of the Maya

For a century, M.A.R.I. has been at the forefront of Maya archaeology, fostering research that seeks to unravel the complexities of this ancient society. A fundamental aspect of this endeavor has been the work of mapping the vast Maya region, a crucial step in understanding settlement patterns, demography, political structure, inter-site relationships, and the interplay between culture and environment. The Atlas of the Ancient Maya World is not merely a new addition to this legacy; it is a direct continuation and significant evolution of MARI’s foundational efforts in this domain.

We dedicate this volume to M.A.R.I. and its five directors, recognizing the profound impact of Frans Blom, Robert Wauchope, E. Wyllys Andrews V, and Marcello A. Canuto. Notably, Frans Blom’s pioneering efforts in mapping Maya sites into the M.A.R.I. map of 1940 served as a direct inspiration and provided invaluable data for the current Atlas. The 1940 edition of the Middle American Research Institute’s map of “Archaeological Sites in the Maya Area” was itself a revised and enlarged version of Frans Blom and Oliver Ricketson’s 1924 “Ruins in the Maya Area”. This earlier map laid critical groundwork for subsequent regional cartographic endeavors. The current Atlas, therefore, stands on the shoulders of these giants, carrying this rich scholarly tradition into the 21st century. As the authors compellingly state, 

“Regardless of your specific interests in Maya archaeology, you should want to know, where are the sites? There is no more basic question in archaeology because, in essence, it is asking where is the evidence?”

This Atlas provides the most comprehensive answer to this fundamental question to date.

The Convergence of Technology and Scholarship: A New Era in Maya Cartography

While deeply rooted in the tradition of spatial inquiry championed by M.A.R.I., the Atlas of the Ancient Maya World also marks a significant leap forward, propelled by the transformative power of new technologies and scholarly advances. By comparison with earlier mapping efforts, this Atlas benefits immensely from tools and knowledge unavailable to previous generations of researchers.

• a) The Precision of GPS Systems: Unlike the painstaking but low-accuracy methods used to locate and map sites in the past, such as orienteering, dead reckoning, and celestial observations, the current Atlas leverages the accuracy of Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The vast majority of Atlas data comes from scholarly research reports that employed GPS or was contributed by their colleagues as GPS data files. This technology allows for a level of locational precision that significantly surpasses earlier methods, enhancing the reliability of the geospatial database.
• b) Unveiling the Landscape with LiDAR: Perhaps the most revolutionary technological advancement impacting Maya archaeology in recent decades has been Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). This airborne remote sensing technique has proven particularly invaluable in regions densely covered by jungle, such as the Maya lowlands. By shooting lasers at the ground from an aircraft or drone and measuring the return time, LiDAR can create highly accurate three-dimensional models of the ground surface, effectively “seeing through” the dense vegetation canopy that previously obscured archaeological remains. In 2009, the earliest large-scale application of LiDAR in Mesoamerica was carried out by archaeologists mapping the ancient Maya city of Caracol. The technology revealed extensive urban centers, causeways, and agricultural terraces, providing insights into the city’s complexity and scale. Arlen Chase of the University of Houston said, “We learned more from a four-day LiDAR survey than from 20 years surveying on the ground in the jungle.” The Atlas explicitly outlines areas across the Maya lowlands that have been subjected to LiDAR surveys, providing a valuable visual guide to regions with high-resolution topographic and archaeological data and facilitating further targeted research and analysis. This technology has revealed an astonishing size, extent, variability, and monumentality of archaeological landscapes that exceeded even optimistic estimates based on traditional ground surveys.
• c) The Power of Modern GIS: The sheer volume of spatial data compiled for this Atlas necessitates the use of sophisticated organizational tools. The Electronic Atlas of Ancient Maya Sites (EAAMS), a dynamic Geographic Information System (GIS) maintained by the authors, serves as the foundation for this work. A GIS is a computer application specifically designed to store, query, and analyze spatial data, managing the complexities of geographic coordinates, projections, and different data formats. The printed Atlas is a static version of this more extensive dynamic electronic resource, making this wealth of information widely available in an accessible format. For years, the authors have used their GIS to create and analyze datasets for colleagues to use in their own research, fostering collaboration and the advancement of knowledge.
• d) Elucidating Polities through Hieroglyphic Advances: Over the past fifty to sixty years, major advances in the decipherment of the Maya hieroglyphic script have provided unprecedented insights into the dynastic histories, political alliances, and conflicts of the ancient Maya. The Atlas reflects these scholarly advancements by meticulously indicating sites bearing emblem glyphs and other inscriptions on its maps. Sites that are referred to by Emblem Glyphs, either locally or at another site, are highlighted with an “X” behind the triangular symbol for the site itself, while sites with monumental inscriptions are highlighted by surrounding their site symbol with a circle. This visual encoding allows scholars to readily identify and analyze the spatial distribution of polities and their interactions, contributing to a deeper understanding of the ancient Maya political landscape. The discovery of monuments such as the circular altar at Altar de los Reyes bearing thirteen emblem glyphs further underscores the connection between geographical space and Maya political conceptions.

This Atlas is by far—by an order of magnitude—the most complete, extensive, and accurate mapping of Maya sites that has ever existed. It fills an urgent scientific need for comprehensive macro- or supra-regional data sets that have been harmonized across modern countries, units of measure, and research projects, which typically do not exist due to the localized focus of individual projects.

The scientific significance of the Atlas lies in its role as hypothesis-generating research. Like the Human Genome Project, it is not intended to test a single set of hypotheses but rather to permit and inspire the testing of myriad hypotheses and models related to ancient Maya demography, political structure, economic systems, social organization, response and adaptation to the physical environment, long-distance trade, and large-scale political structure. 

The Atlas allows researchers to visualize the spatial relationships among sites, features, and the natural landscape, crucial for understanding these broad interregional patterns. The authors have already shared data from the EAAMS with colleagues, leading to significant research in areas such as network analyses of ancient obsidian exchange, repurposing of environmental lidar for archaeology, and predictive modeling of archaeological site locations.

By making this comprehensive geospatial data widely available in an aesthetic and easy-to-consult format, the Atlas of the Ancient Maya World aims to broaden access to this invaluable resource for generating and testing new ideas, fostering further collaborations, and ultimately advancing our understanding of the magnificent ancient Maya civilization.

We encourage you to explore this significant new resource, now available in eBook format at Brill.com, with the hardback edition to be released on April 19, 2025, through Amazon.com and Brill.com. See these sites, as well as books.google.com for sample pages. Encourage your campus librarian to acquire this essential volume.

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