Situated at the intersection of cultural heritage and local community, this book enlarges our understanding of the Indigenous peoples of southern Mexico and northern Central America who became detached from the ancient Maya through colonialism, government actions, and early twentieth-century anthropological and archaeological research. Through grass-roots heritage programs, local communities are reconnecting with a much valorized but distant past. Maya Cultural Heritage explores how community programs conceived and implemented in a collaborative style are changing the relationship among contemporary ethno-linguistic Mayan communities, archaeological practice, and the objects of archaeological study. Rather than simply describing Maya sites, McAnany concentrates on the dialogue nurtured by these participatory heritage programs, the new heritage-scapes they foster, and how diverse Maya communities of today relate to those of the past."