Contextualizing Maya History and Archaeology Part II: Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of Forest of Kings

The publication of Forest of Kings by Linda Schele and David Freidel in 1990 was a landmark in Maya archaeology. It was the first book to synthesize the explosion of epigraphic and iconographic studies that began in conjunction with the first Palenque Mesa Redonda meetings and fuse it with archaeological research. Using data from a series of important sites as well as vignettes, Schele and Freidel created a broad narrative of ancient Maya society that had a wide ranging impact on the field for its innovative and sometimes controversial interpretations. Further, Forest of Kings was published in a format that was not only accessible to the scientific community, but to the general public, which had a tremendous influence on how the ancient Maya as an idea was consumed by the lay community. This session is a reflection on the impact the book had on the field and how far we have come since its publication. The participants are a mix of scholars who were participants in the debates and/or worked at some of the sites discussed in the book, students of Schele and Freidel, and younger generation scholars who are working with some of the same questions.