* The Ancient Maya, fifth edition. Robert Sharer. Stanford University Press. 1994. A very in-depth, detailed look at the ancient Maya with excellent illustrations.

Ancient Maya Civilization. Norman Hammond. Rutgers University Press. 1982 A solid text on the subject, but a bit dated.

The Aztecs, Maya and Their Predecessors, third edition. Muriel Porter Weaver. Academic Press, 1993. A detailed text on the ancient cultures of Mesoamerica.

Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube. Thames and Hudson, 2000. A detailed examination of the Maya dynasties.

* The Maya. Michael Coe. Sixth edition. Thames and Hudson, 1999. A detailed look at ancient Maya life. Fully illustrated.

Maya Civilization. T. Patrick Culbert. Smithsonian Institution Press. 1993 An excellent, clearly written overview of ancient Maya civilization with superb color photographs.

The New Archaeology and the Ancient Maya. Jeremy Sabloff. W.H. Freeman & Co. 1990. Comprehensive overview of ancient Maya life and current archaeological research strategies used to understand the Maya.

Time Among the Maya. Ronald Wright. Henry Holt and Company, 1991.

The World of the Ancient Maya, Second edition. John Henderson. Cornell University Press. 1994 An excellent, comprehensive text with great illustrations and figures.

Readings on Archaeology:

"Archaeology". Gordon R. Willey. In The Dictionary of Anthropology, edited by Thomas Barfield, pp. 23-27. Blackwell Publishers, 1997. A detailed definition of the field of archaeology written by a preeminent Maya archaeologist. 

"Complex Society". Timothy K. Earle. In The Dictionary of Anthropology, edited by Thomas Barfield, pp. 79-81. Blackwell Publishers, 1997. A detailed definition of the concept of complex societies and their defining features.

Discovering Our Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology. Wendy Ashmore and Robert J. Sharer. Mayfield Publishing Company, 2000. A current summary introduction of the field of archaeology written by two Maya archaeologists.

Out of the Past: An Introduction to Archaeology. David Webster, Susan Evans, and William Sanders. Mayfield Publishing Company, (purchased by McGraw-Hill), 1993. An outstanding, comprehensive introduction to the field of archaeology witten by three Mesoamerican archaeologists (two Mayanists) using numerous examples taken from archaeological research at the large Maya site of Copan. 


For the history of Belize:

Belize: A New Nation in Central America. Nigel Bolland. Westview Press, 1986.

Colonialism and Resistance in Belize - Essays in Historical Sociology. Nigel Bolland. Cubola Productions, Belize, 1988.

The Formation of a Colonial Society: Belize, from Conquest to Crown Colony. Nigel Bolland. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977.

In Focus: Belize, A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture. Ian Peedle. Interlink Books, 1999.

Maya Resistance to Spanish Rule. Grant D. Jones. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1989.

Books on Belize by Historian Emory King:

Hey Dad, This is Belize

I Spent it All in Belize

The Little World of Danny Vasquez

Belize, 1798 - The Road to Glory

Slavery in Belize - A Family Affair

The Great Story of Belize - Vol. I

The Great Story of Belize - Vol. II

Readings for Natural History and Rainforest Ecology:

Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide. Victoria Schlensinger. University of Texas Press, 2001.

The Bat Wings in the Night Sky. Brock Fenton. Key Porter Books, 1998. 

* Belize & Northern Guatemala: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide: A Volume in the The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guides Series. Les D. Beletsky. Academic Press, 1998.

* A Field Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas: Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Ernest Preston Edwards and Edward Murrell Butler (Illustrator). University of Texas Press, 1998.

* A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America and Southeast Mexico. Fiona Ried. Oxford Press, 1997. 

* A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Steve Howell and Sophie Webb. Oxford Press, 1995.

A Guide to Toads and Frogs of Belize. J. Meyer and C. Foster. Krieger Publishing Company, 1996.

Neotropical Companion. J. Kricher. Princeton University Press, 1989.

Neotropical Rainforest Mammals. L. Emmons. University of Chicago Press,
1997.

Panti Maya Medicine Trail Field Guide. Rosita Arvigo. Ix Chel Tropical Research Foundation Inc., 1992.

The Rainforest. B. Goodman. Michael Freedman Publishing, 1991.

Peterson's Field Guide to Mexican Birds. R. Peterson and E. Chalif. Houghton Mifflin, 1973.

Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Belize, by H. Lee Jones, Illustrated by Dana Gardner.  2001, Published by Lynx Edicions.

Birds of Belize, by H. Lee Jones, Illustrated by Dana Gardner.  2003, Published by University of Texas Press.

Tarantulas of Belize, by Steven B. Reichling.  2003, published by Kreiger Publishing.

Readings related to the archaeology of Belize, but especially Lamanai:

Closs, Michael
1988. The Hieroglyphic Text of Stela 9, Lamanai, Belize. In Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing, 21, pp. 9-15. Center for Maya Research, Washington. D.C.

Loten, H.S. and David M. Pendergast
1984. A Lexicon for Maya Architecture. Archaeology Monograph 8. Royal Ontario Musuem.

Pendergast, David M. 
1993. Worlds in Collision: The Maya/Spanish Encounter in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Belize. In The Meetings of Two Worlds: Europe and the Americas, 1492-1650, ed. by Warwick Bray, pp. 105-143. Proceedings of The British Academy No. 81. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

1993. The Center and the Edge: Archaeology in Belize, 1809-1992. Journal of World Prehistory 7:1-33.

1991. The Southern Maya Lowlands Contact Experience: The View from Lamanai, Belize. In Columbian Consequences Volume 3: The Spanish Borderlands in Pan-American Perspective, ed. by D.H. Thomas, pp. 336-354. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

1990. Excavations at Altun Ha, Belize, 1964-1970, Volume 3. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

1988. Lamanai Stela 9: The Archaeological Context. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing 20. Center for Maya Research, Washington, D.C.

1986. Stability Through Change: Lamanai, Belize, from the Ninth to the Seventeenth Century. In Late Lowland Maya Civilization: Classic to Postclassic, ed. by J.A. Sabloff and E. W. Andrews V, pp. 223-249. U. of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

1985. Lamanai, Belize: An Updated View. In The Lowland Maya Postclassic, ed. by A. F. Chase 

* 1981. Lamanai, Belize: Summary of Excavation Results, 1974-1980. Journal of Field Archaeology 8:29-53.

1979. Excavations at Altun Ha, Belize, 1965-1970, Volume 1. R.O.M.
Pendergast, David M., Grant D. Jones and E. Graham

1993. Locating Spanish Colonial Towns in the Maya Lowlands: Belize as a Case Study. Latin American Antiquity 4:59-73.

White, C.D., L.E. Wright and David M. Pendergast 
1993. Biological Disruption in the Early Colonial Period at Lamanai. In In the Wake of Contact: Biological Responses to Conquest, edited by Clark S. Larsen and George R. Milner, pp. 135-145. Wiley-Liss, New York.

Other readings on the Late Postclassic and Spanish Colonial period in Belize:

Graham, Elizabeth
1987. Terminal Classic to Historic-Period Vessel Forms from Belize. In Maya Ceramics: Papers from the 1985 Maya Ceramic Conference, ed. by P.M. Rice and R.J. Sharer. BAR International Series 345(i):73-98.

1991. Archaeological Insights into Colonial Period Maya Life at Tipu, Belize. In Columbian Consequences, Volume 3: The Spanish Borderlands in Pan-American Perspective, ed. by D.H. Thomas, pp. 319-335. Smithsonian Institution Press.

1998. Mission Archaeology. Annual Review of Anthropology 27:25-62.
Graham, Elizabeth and Sharon Bennett

1989. The 1986-1987 Excavations at Negroman-Tipu, Belize. Mexicon 11(6):114-117.

Graham, Elizabeth, Grant D. Jones and Robert R. Kautz
1985. Archaeology and Ethnohistory on a Spanish Colonial Frontier: The Macal-Tipu Project in Western Belize. In The Lowland Maya Postclassic, edited by A.F. Chase and P.M. Rice, pp. 206-214. University of Texas Press, Austin.

Graham, Elizabeth, David M. Pendergast and Grant D. Jones
1989. On the Fringes of Conquest: Maya-Spanish Contact in Early Belize. Science 2 46:1254-1259.

Jones, Grant D
1998 The Conquest of the Last Maya Kingdom. Stanford University Press, Stanford.

Willey, Gordon R.
1986. The Postclassic of the Maya Lowlands: A Prelimanary Overview. In Late Lowland Maya Civilization: Classic to Postclassic, edited by J. A. Sabloff and E. W. Andrews V, pp. 17-51. University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque.

Readings on sites the program visits:

Chase, Diane and Arlen Chase
1987 Investigations at the Classic Maya City of Caracol, Belize: 1985 87, Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute Monograph 3, San Francisco (with A.F. Chase).

1994 Studies in the Archaeology of Caracol, Belize, Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute Monograph 7, San Francisco (edited with A.F. Chase).

1989 "The Investigation of Classic Period Maya Warfare at Caracol, Belize," Mayab 5: 5-18 (with A.F. Chase).

Coe, Michael
1988 Tikal: A Handbook of Ancient Maya Ruins, Second Edition. Asociacion Tikal, Centro Impresor Piedra Santa, Guatemala.

Harrison, Peter
1999 The Lords of Tikal: Rulers of an Ancient Maya City. Thames and Hudson, New York.

LeCount, Lisa, Jason Yaeger, Richard M. Leventhal, and Wendy Ashmore 
n.d. Dating the Rise and Fall of Xunantunich, Belize: A Late and Terminal Classic Lowland Maya Secondary Center. Ancient Mesoamerica.