Water, Cacao, and the Early Maya of Chocolá describes for the first time the archaeology of a site that has been poorly known since Robert Burkitt's work there in the 1920s. Investigations at the site in 2003–2006 directed by Kaplan provide data for discussions about the broader issues of sociopolitical developments and the economy in the Late Preclassic period (ca. 350 BC–AD 150). The site is situated in the upper piedmont of the Pacific slopes of Guatemala, in the modern town of Chocolá, and despite the project's efforts to reach out to the community, investigations were halted in the fourth year when townspeople began to construct buildings and churches on top of prehistoric structures.

Chocolá is famous for Monument 1, a carved fragment that aligns with other Late Preclassic sculptures from cities such as Izapa, Tak'alik Ab'aj, and Kaminaljuyu. The highlights of this site are an estimated 100 mounds, including 12 m tall structures, an extensive hydraulic system, and the probability of prehistoric cacao cultivation. The centerpiece of the book is Chapter 7 with its descriptions of extensive water management features and the indications of cacao production, materialist factors that the authors discuss as integral components of elite social organization, ideology, and institutions.

The book has eight chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the book and includes a lengthy discussion of the characteristics of Southern Maya Preclassic elite culture, including its stela-altar complex, king-like rulership, scripts, and calendars. The authors claim that the “stela-altar cult” began as early as the Middle Preclassic in this area, dating to around 500 BC, and has a temporal priority in this part of the Maya world. Early in the chapter Kaplan and Paredes Umaña suggest that the polyglot context of the Southern Maya contributed to its unique development and its distinction from lowland Maya prehistoric cultures. The chapter continues with a long and detailed history of scholarship on the area. Chapter 2 reviews the physical environment and cultural ecology of Chocolá, and Chapter 3 covers its history and ethnohistory. Both chapters contain excellent maps locating Chocolá in southern Guatemala with respect to rivers, annual rainfall, agricultural regions, and modern towns. Chapter 2 also contains tables of the forest plants and fauna of Chocolá.

The core archaeological work is laid out in Chapters 4–6. Chapter 4 reviews detailed excavations that were carried out at five mounds to test for the functions of structures in the northern elite area, a central administrative area, and a southern agricultural commoners’ area. Structures had earthen and stone construction techniques, cobble walls, and other features. The project uncovered a stone-lined drainage system made of conduits, with redistribution boxes designed to bring freshwater to elites in the north and to drain excess water from buildings; an extension was found outside the site, making its total length 1.5 km. The gravity-flow system at Chocolá was hypothesized to move water to fields of cacao trees on the southern side of the site.

Chapter 5 presents the ceramics of Chocolá. The authors accept the revised Preclassic chronology recently published by Inomata and colleagues (Latin American Antiquity 25:377–408) that moves the Preclassic period forward by 300 years, making elite developments in the Pacific side of the Maya world coeval with those in the Maya lowlands of the Peten Guatemala. This chapter documents some Early Preclassic sherds and pottery of the Middle Preclassic Ixtacapa phase (900–350 BC). The descriptions of ceramic types and the illustrations are strong for the Nimá phase (350–100 BC) and Lolemí phase (100 BC–150 AD) and valuable for comparisons to other centers in the Southern Maya area. There are excellent drawings of whole cache vessels. The presentation lacks a complete analysis, which is planned for a later time.

Chapter 6 is a catalog of 31 carved monuments from Chocolá and the surrounding area. Chocolá Monument 1 and the “Shook Altar” are discussed in detail. The sculptures are varied and include potbellies, altars, heads, pedestal monuments, full-round sculptures, and cupule monuments. There are numerous references to sculptures from at least eight sites located 10 to 35 km from Chocolá. Some comparisons are made to contemporary El Salvadoran sculptures, which are well known to Paredes Umaña. The authors conclude from this review that the sculptures come from Chocolá’s large interaction network that is estimated to extend 500 km².

Chapter 7 explores the materialist factors of water control and cacao, both considered elite features of the culture at Chocolá. The water system, theoretically important for its linkages to sociopolitical development according to Wittfogel's theories, underlies structures at Chocolá and was built by people knowledgeable about canal size and shape, velocity of flow, scouring, and silting, just as are present-day irrigation engineers. The authors admire the drainage system that is capable of holding back flood and stream waters during the rainy season and assert that managers must have been involved in its construction. Caches at change points in the direction and flow of water in the system might have been deposited by cooperative work groups. A helpful review of diverse water conduit systems in Mesoamerica provides a background for comparing the shared features of the Chocolá system to those of Tak'alik Ab'aj and Kaminaljuyu. The physical evidence of cacao consumption found on several vessels recovered from the site is an important finding. Kaplan and Paredes Umaña stress its symbolic importance to Mesoamericans, as indicated by written and visual sources such as the Popol Vuh and representations of cacao on painted Maya lowland ceramics. Chapter 8 presents a concise summary of the key points of the book. The appendixes document archaeobotanical remains, survey data, obsidian sourcing, radiocarbon dates, and theobromine analysis.

This volume on Chocolá has been released at an exciting time for archaeological research in the Southern Maya area. Investigators are using the new chronology and the results of projects at Izapa, Tak'alik Ab'aj, Kaminaljuyu, and Cotzumalguapa, as well as other less well-known sites in the neighboring highlands around Lake Atitlan and in the Kaqchikel area, are being produced by rising and senior scholars. This book has strong theoretical summaries and is suited to a sophisticated lay or academic readership.