One need not be an archaeologist or anthropologist to be familiar with the Maya Riviera, the resort-laden area of the Yucatan Peninsula where tourists (and scholars) go to experience the intersection of archaeological ruins, turquoise seas, indigenous cultures, and packaged tourist excursions. Some encounter disjuncture between opposing worlds; others muse upon the fluidity with which locals and non-locals navigate the apparent contradictions of a region strategically constructed for consumption. Cameron Jean Walker does a bit of both in her interpretation of archaeological sites and cultural resources. As an applied archaeologist, she addresses her topic from various perspectives, including tourist studies, archaeology, political economy, and ethnography, while always considering the application of her research in practice and policy. This book is clearly a contribution to the archaeological scholarship of the Yucatan, providing a contemporary social context of archaeological discourse that is still too rare in the discipline, and it also complements existent literature in tourism studies. Where she falters, however, is in her attempt to contextualize archaeological discourse in broader cultural and ethnographic perspectives. With due respect, this fault may be a simple result of her identity as an archaeologist that she has difficulty shaking. For example, I sincerely applaud her inclusion of narratives with Yucatec Maya women, but I regret when she numbers them (i.e., Maya Woman #1, Maya Woman #2, etc.) in such a way that we are left with distant, somewhat generic, narratives rather than an intimate peek into the lives of women. She also proceeds through the compelling narratives of these women and others without analyzing their voices or connecting their stories with her thesis and analytical framework. This unfortunately is not the only time when descriptions and details are left without analysis or synthesis, as she often drops curious details of ethnographic richness and social symbolism without fully acknowledging their significance in her research.
I also must admit that I was a bit bewildered when the author provided her reader with a history of Quintana Roo near the end of her book. Though I support non-linearity, the traditional history seemed quite out of place. I wondered if she was trying to de-emphasize the architectural heritage in place of the contemporary social context in which it is lived and signified. In this case, I agree with the placement. Yet, as I wish Walker would have shared more analysis and voices of the Maya of the Yucatan (rather than generic representations of lawyers, activists, women), I also would ask the author to provide more of her own voice. We do hear it on occasion, but the subjective presence of various voices would have provided more ethnographic richness and analytical complexity. Like the multivocality she advocates for in museums, she too might consider removing the distancing objectivity that still slips into her work. Even her photographs are that of an archaeologist: structures and infrastructures and a few nameless people.
This book would be an extremely useful text for classes in Yucatan and Mesoamerican archaeology and can also guide scholars and students interested in the construction of heritage, authenticity, tourism, and policy and politics in Mexico. And, though Walker remains a bit too true to her archaeological training, it is this identity that ultimately provides the greatest contribution of this work. After all is said and done, Walker does dig through a variety of social, economic, ecological, and political contexts to display a structure on which archeology rests in the Yucatan. As a proper archaeologist, she accomplishes a successful excavation of the complexity of the Maya Riviera, cleaning off the politics, histories, individuals, and social symbolism of archaeological meaning and manufacture. Though there are other merits, this alone marks this as an important contribution by an archaeologist who conceptualizes deeply, through the layers of social significance, political economy, and cultural consumption of archaeology.
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[Review length: 632 words • Review posted on October 6, 2010]