This book discusses courts at specific centers and areas, presenting data from major research projects. It examines the beginning of the Copan dynasty and the possibility of its foreign origin. The book addresses the functions and meanings of thrones, referring to archaeological data from Uaxactun.

Preface -- The Architecture of Early Kingship: Comparative Perspectives on the Origins of the Maya Royal Court -- The Royal Court of Early Classic Copan -- Thrones and Throne Structures in the Central Acropolis of Tikal as an Expression of the Royal Court -- The Royal Court of Caracol, Belize: Its Palaces and People -- Palaces and Thrones Tied to the Destiny of the Royal Courts in the Maya Lowlands -- The Buenavista-Cahal Pech Royal Court: Multi-palace Court Mobility and Usage in a Petty Lowland Maya Kingdom -- Life at Court: The View from Bonampak -- Triadic Temples, Central Plazas, and Dynastic Palaces: A Diachronic Analysis of the Royal Court Complex, Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico -- Post-Classic and Terminal Classic Courts of the Northern Maya Lowlands -- Post-Classic Maya Courts of the Guatemalan Highlands: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Approaches -- The People of the Patio: Ethnohistorical Evidence of Yucatec Maya Royal Courts