"[An] excellent edited volume...[<i>Her Cup for Sweet Cacao</i>] should be on the shelf of any archaeologist interested in the social archaeology of food or in the archaeology of the Maya world. The book contains an unusually dense and rich collection of studies, and readers comfortable with archaeological methods and terms will greatly appreciate the thoughtfulness and depth that characterize the works, as well as the data that many authors provide...Her Cup for Sweet Cacao is an unusually good edited volume."

American Anthropologist

This compelling collection of essays reveals the key role that food played in all dimensions of Maya society, including economics, politics, and religion...Ardren and the collection’s contributors painstakingly advance a unique, compelling, and thorough analysis of the social uses of food and foodways in Classic Maya culture, grounded  in rich evidence analyzed from a diverse range of approaches. This volume sets the groundwork for further studies to explore other periods and regions in order to gain a broader understanding of this phenomenon in Maya culture.

Hispanic American Historical Review

The chapters in <i>Her Cup for Sweet Cacao</i> present multiple approaches to investigating the social importance of food in ancient Maya society, all of which push the conversation beyond viewing food as simply subsistence...The debates this volume will surely spark can help archaeologists refine the ways we conceptualize food in the ancient past.

Anthropos