Maya kings who failed to ensure the prosperity of their kingdoms were subject to various forms of termination, including the ritual defacing and destruction of monuments and even violent death. This is the first comprehensive volume to focus on the varied responses to the failure of Classic period dynasties in the southern lowlands. The contributors offer new insights into the Maya "collapse," evaluating the trope of the scapegoat king and the demise of the traditional institution of kingship in the early ninth century AD--a time of intense environmental, economic, social, political, and even ideological change. Contributors: Palma J. Buttles Arthur A. Demarest Hector Escobedo David Freidel Charles Golden Thomas H. Guderjan C. Colleen Hanratty Eleanor Harrison-Buck Brett A. Houk Stephen D. Houston Gyles Iannone Takeshi Inomata Melanie Kingsley Olivia C. Navarro-Farr Claudia Quintanilla Andrew K. Scherer Sonja A. Schwake José Samuel Suasnavar Christopher Taylor Fred Valdez Jr. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase