Shankari Patel, an anthropology graduate student at the University of California–Riverside, is causing quite a stir amongst her fellow Mayanists. In a recent, provocative paper, Patel claims to show that ancient Mayan women held multifaceted and important roles within Mayan civilization. Women, Patel contends, were not only wives and domestic workers, but also warriors and queens in their own right. Scholars like Cynthia Robin, a professor of anthropology at Northwestern University, agree with Patel’s findings and encourages further study. Please click here to read to this compelling article from Medill Reports Chicago: A Publication of the Medill School of Northwestern University.