Abstract

Most people understand the term “commerce” to include both large-scale trade between regions or countries and market exchange. There was a long delay, however, before archaeologists recognized the existence of markets in pre-modern, pre-capitalist societies. Nowhere was this truer than in the Maya area, where other factors, such as erroneous ideas about the rainforest and Maya settlement, further delayed recognition. “Maya Commerce” explores the reasons behind this delay as well as the explosion of new research on Maya economies now that market exchange has assumed its rightful place alongside large-scale trade in archaeological ideas of commerce.