The Postclassic to Spanish-Era Transition in Mesoamerica: Archaeological Perspectives. Susan Kepecs and Rani T. Alexander, eds., Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005. 260 pp. Stone Houses and Earth Lords: Maya Religion in the Cave Context. Keith M. Prufer and James E. Brady, eds., Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2005. 392 pp. Quintana Roo Archaeology. Justine M. Shaw and Jennifer P. Matthews, eds., Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2005. 308 pp. Christian Isendahl Uppsala University, Sweden Over the last decade or so investigations of the ancient Maya have diversified and grown almost exponentially. As the vol- umes under review demonstrate, mount- ing research does not necessarily indicate that old questions are being answered, but rather that new questions are raised. Two of the volumes make significant landmark statements on important research issues that until recently have been insufficiently addressed. The third volume attempts to counter significant geographical lacunae in archaeological research, a reminder that the ground work of documentation in the field continues to represent an enormous challenge. The Postclassic to Spanish-Era Transi- tion in Mesoamerica: Archaeological Per- spectives is a significant contribution to a historical archaeology of the modern world. Susan Kepecs and Rani Alexander have edited a concise collection of 11 re- search papers. Juxtaposing ethnohistorical with archaeological data to provide sup- plementary time perspectives on culture change, 13 authors explore complexity and variation in processes of culture change in Mesoamerica following European contact. Emphasizing the necessity of a long-term perspective in order to trace cultural dy- namics and changes, the temporal focus extends over several centuries of the Post- classic and Colonial Periods. Case studies are drawn from the Basin of Mexico, Michoacán, the U.S. Southwest, and the Maya area, with an emphasis on the latter, providing a good comparative sample. The editors began by establishing the intellectual challenge that consists of inves- tigating how processes of complex multi- directional culture contact among Mesoamericans and Europeans reworked systems of meaning and identity, religion and ideology, political and economic strategies, and human ecology, emphasiz- ing variation and multi-vocality. Although agency-theory is not explicitly discussed, it certainly underpins the intellectual plat- form of several contributions. Kepecs and Alexander discuss world systems theory as a conceptual tool for global/local linkages, outlining long-term cycles of pre- Columbian Mesoamerican world systems. The world system framework is explicitly picked up by several contributors, but all chapters are afforded an additional dimen- sion by the introduction. World systems theory is starting to prove a useful frame- work for understanding cross-cultural 510 J ournal of L atin A merican A nthropology Review Essays New Perspectives in Maya Archaeology