A Late Classic Chocholá style vessel recently excavated from Ucí, Yucatan, Mexico, contains text ... more A Late Classic Chocholá style vessel recently excavated from Ucí, Yucatan, Mexico, contains text and iconography with several remarkable features. The iconography shows an unusual pairing of the Moon Goddess and God D. The text states the vase was for drinking cacao with a previously unattested reference to chili or some other spicy plant. The owner carried a title similar to one commonly found in the La Corona and Calakmul regions as well as the title uukiy ajaw, “Lord of Ucí”. Since the vase was found in a burial in a relatively modest monumental platform, the Lord of Ucí likely gave this vase away to a lesser noble interred in this platform. Given the continuity in the place name from the Late Classic to the Colonial era to the present, Ucí joins a short list of other locations whose current names derive directly from Classic period inscriptions. This continuity excites many contemporary residents of Ucí, drawing them into a closer relationship with the past and its re-construction in the present.
Through a case study of the Classic period (A.D. 350–900) kingdom of Piedras Negras, this paper a... more Through a case study of the Classic period (A.D. 350–900) kingdom of Piedras Negras, this paper addresses a number of debates in the archaeology of war among the ancient Maya. These findings have broader comparative use in ongoing attempts to understand war in the precolonial Americas, including the frequency of war, its role in processes of polity formation and collapse, the involvement of non-elites in combat, and the cause and effect of captive-taking. This paper provides the first synthesis of a number of datasets pertaining to war and violence in the region of Piedras Negras while presenting new settlement data gleaned from recent lidar survey of the area. Focus is especially on tracing the material, iconographic, and epigraphic evidence for war in diachronic perspective. Material evidence includes the spatial distribution of settlement, presence of fortifications, weaponry, and human skeletal remains demonstrating evidence of traumatic injury. Additional data are drawn from epigraphy and iconography. As with all archaeological contexts, there are crucial gaps in the record. Nevertheless, by combining these datasets it is possible to reconstruct a history of warfare within this precolonial indigenous polity of the first millennium.
We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-... more We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-distance exchange during the Terminal Classic (c. AD 850–1100) period. This is a time often associated with increased international trade relations and the growth of Chichen Itza as a dominant regional power in the northern Maya lowlands. Critical to the increased volume of international trade were the merchants who transported goods along the coast of Yucatan in large trading canoes. By combining a macroscopic assessment of the ceramics with visual, XRF, and INAA analyses of the obsidian artifacts, we gain insight into the various socioeconomic forces at work moving goods around the Peninsula. Given the paucity of Terminal Classic settlement in the interior Yalahau region, Vista Alegre appears to be an isolated site during this period, approximately 40 km from the nearest coastal neighbor. This allows us to focus on coastal exchange as the sole means by which goods arrived at the site. ...
This article documents the transition from the Late Classic to Postclassic periods at Río Amarill... more This article documents the transition from the Late Classic to Postclassic periods at Río Amarillo, a hinterland outpost of the Copan polity, and at an associated residential group, Site 5, in the Río Amarillo East Pocket of the Copan Valley. Late Classic period evidence indicates that the site of Río Amarillo operated as an administrative center for the Copan polity with the likely objective of increased agricultural production for the burgeoning population in the Copan Pocket. In the Terminal Classic period, Río Amarillo shared the fate of Copan, with evidence indicating it was burned and sacked. However, unlike the Copan Pocket, many residential groups remained occupied during the Early Postclassic. Here we focus on Site 5. An unbroken occupation from the Late Classic through to the end of the Early Postclassic period, as this site provides a window into an existence without the requirements of tribute given to their western neighbor. We hypothesize that the smaller settlement si...
Shrines were a regular component of ceremonial architecture in the public plazas of Postclassic M... more Shrines were a regular component of ceremonial architecture in the public plazas of Postclassic Maya centers. Small shrines and natural landmarks such as caves and outcrops at the borders of settlements or in wilderness locations also served, and in some cases continue to serve, as important ritual loci for Maya peoples. These more peripheral locales were not only critical access points to the supernatural, but also served to delineate places. Because these border features, which represent only a given moment in a constantly shifting social and political landscape, are sometimes unmodified or are inconspicuous, they are relatively ephemeral and difficult to identify in the archaeological record. This paper documents a Late Postclassic shrine paired with a natural feature, a small hill, from the site of Tayasal in Petén, Guatemala. We argue that it served as a border shrine. Paired with the small hill, the two embodied a liminal frontier, not only between earthly and spiritual realms...
Recent research has shown that the Classic Period Maya script (AD 250-950) represents a single pr... more Recent research has shown that the Classic Period Maya script (AD 250-950) represents a single prestige language, Classic Ch'olti'an. It was used across the Maya Lowlands, yet local languages and dialects «percolated» into Mayan writing within particular areas. Loan words, grammatical elements, and other linguistic markers indicate that specific areas outside of the central Maya Lowlands (Central Petén, Guatemala) may have been inhabited by Yukatec, Chontal, Tzotzil, and possibly Ch'ol Maya speakers. In contrast, linguistic patterns specific to the central lowlands have not been so closely studied. This problem is intimately tied to the question of how and why the Classic script was grammatically homogeneous over such a wide area.
This volume admittedly is an eclectic collection of perspectives, but bringing together multiple ... more This volume admittedly is an eclectic collection of perspectives, but bringing together multiple perspectives, including test cases that put these perspectives into practice, was the primary goal of the original AAA session and the resulting collection of essays. Various pieces explore recent directions in theory and method that are not accessible using extant frameworks. Furthermore, three discussion chapters highlight issues of contention and the need for more dialogue concerning the ways that past production processes can be fruitfully examined through archaeological research. These three chapters set the stage for a conversation about production, and here, in a section modeled loosely on the format of research articles in Current Anthropology, we begin that conversation with some responses by individual authors. The responses are placed in the order in which they were received by the editors.
We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-... more We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-distance exchange during the Terminal Classic (c. AD 850-1100) period. This is a time often associated with increased international trade relations and the growth of Chichen Itza as a dominant regional power in the northern Maya lowlands. Critical to the increased volume of international trade were the merchants who transported goods along the coast of Yucatan in large trading canoes. By combining a macroscopic assessment of the ceramics with visual, XRF, and INAA analyses of the obsidian artifacts, we gain insight into the various socioeconomic forces at work moving goods around the Peninsula. Given the paucity of Terminal Classic settlement in the interior Yalahau region, Vista Alegre appears to be an isolated site during this period, approximately 40 km from the nearest coastal neighbor. This allows us to focus on coastal exchange as the sole means by which goods arrived at the site. Our preliminary data contribute to the growing literature on the role market economies played in the Maya area, and the increased opportunities this afforded coastal peoples as circum-peninsular trade became more common through time. En este trabajo utilizamos información sobre la cerámica y la obsidiana del antiguo puerto Maya de Vista Alegre, Quintana Roo, México, para discutir el intercambio a larga distancia durante el periodo Clásico terminal (ca. 850-1100 dC). Dicho periodo es frecuentemente asociado con el incremento de las relaciones comerciales internacionales y el crecimiento de Chichén Itzá como centro regional dominante en las tierras bajas Mayas del norte. Los comerciantes que transportaban bienes a lo largo de la costa de Yucatán en grandes canoas comerciales fueron fundamentales para el aumento del volumen del comercio internacional. Combinando la examinación macroscópica de la cerámica con el estudio visual, por fluorescencia de rayos X y por análisis instrumental de activación neutrónica (XRF e INAA, respectivamente, por sus siglas en inglés) de los artefactos de obsidiana, se obtuvo información sobre las diversas fuerzas socio-económicas involucradas en el transporte de mercancías alrededor de la península. Dada la escasez de asentamientos del Clásico terminal en el interior de la región de Yalahau, Vista Alegre parece haber sido un sitio aislado durante este periodo, localizado a aproximadamente 40 km del asentamiento costero más cercano. Esto permite enfocarnos en el intercambio costero como el único medio por el cual las mercancías llegaron al sitio. La información preliminar aquí presentada contribuye al creciente conjunto de investigaciones sobre el papel que desempeñaron las economías de mercado en el área Maya y las mayores oportunidades que esto brindó a los pueblos costeros.
Shrines were a regular component of ceremonial architecture in the public plazas of Postclassic M... more Shrines were a regular component of ceremonial architecture in the public plazas of Postclassic Maya centers. Small shrines and natural landmarks such as caves and outcrops at the borders of settlements or in wilderness locations also served, and in some cases continue to serve, as important ritual loci for Maya peoples. These more peripheral locales were not only critical access points to the supernatural, but also served to delineate places. Because these border features, which represent only a given moment in a constantly shifting social and political landscape, are sometimes unmodified or are inconspicuous, they are relatively ephemeral and difficult to identify in the archaeological record. This paper documents a Late Postclassic shrine paired with a natural feature, a small hill, from the site of Tayasal in Petén, Guatemala. We argue that it served as a border shrine. Paired with the small hill, the two embodied a liminal frontier, not only between earthly and spiritual realms but also between settled and unsettled space. Los santuarios eran un componente regular de la arquitectura ceremonial en las plazas públicas de los centros mayas del Posclásico. Sin embargo, los santuarios pequeños y ciertos rasgos naturales del paisaje, como cuevas y afloramientos en las orillas de los asentamientos o en lugares alejados de los mismos, también sirvieron y, en algunos casos, siguen sirviendo como importantes sitios rituales para los Mayas. Estos espacios periféricos no solo eran puntos de acceso a lo sobrenatural, sino que también servían para demarcar lugares. Debido a que estos rasgos fronterizos representan solo un momento en un paisaje social y político en cambio constante, a veces no están modificados, o son discretos, efímeros y, en consecuencia, difí-ciles de identificar arqueológicamente. Este artículo documenta un santuario del Posclásico tardío asociado a un rasgo natural , un pequeño cerro, del sitio de Tayasal en Petén, Guatemala. Argumentamos que funcionó como un santuario fronterizo y que, junto con el pequeño cerro, revelaba una frontera liminal no solo entre los espacios terrenales y espirituales, sino también entre espacios poblados y no poblados. Palabras clave: fronteras de los asentamientos; santuarios; Posclásico Maya; procesiones rituales; fuego S ettlement boundaries are notoriously difficult to identify in the archaeological record. In the Maya area, few cities, communities , or polities were physically delineated with boundary walls or features. Marked exceptions include the Classic period Tikal earthworks , the wall encircling the Postclassic city of Mayapan, and the Classic period defensive border walls between Yaxchilan-affiliated and Piedras Negras-affiliated sites (Golden et al. 2008; Golden and Scherer 2013; Masson et al. 2006; Puleston and Callender 1967; Webster et al. 2007). Even when physically marked, settlement boundaries were fluid zones, shifting in meaning and belonging as people moved about the landscape and reformulated their relations with each other. Such fluidity and ambiguity between settlements are compounded by the characteristic nature of Maya settlement patterns as extensive and dispersed rather than highly nucleated. Many scholars, in fact, have argued that the ancient Maya did not have a strong conception of territorial boundaries because organizational structures were based
A Late Classic Chocholá style vessel recently excavated from Ucí, Yucatan, Mexico, contains text ... more A Late Classic Chocholá style vessel recently excavated from Ucí, Yucatan, Mexico, contains text and iconography with several remarkable features. The iconography shows an unusual pairing of the Moon Goddess and God D. The text states the vase was for drinking cacao with a previously unattested reference to chili or some other spicy plant. The owner carried a title similar to one commonly found in the La Corona and Calakmul regions as well as the title uukiy ajaw, “Lord of Ucí”. Since the vase was found in a burial in a relatively modest monumental platform, the Lord of Ucí likely gave this vase away to a lesser noble interred in this platform. Given the continuity in the place name from the Late Classic to the Colonial era to the present, Ucí joins a short list of other locations whose current names derive directly from Classic period inscriptions. This continuity excites many contemporary residents of Ucí, drawing them into a closer relationship with the past and its re-construction in the present.
Through a case study of the Classic period (A.D. 350–900) kingdom of Piedras Negras, this paper a... more Through a case study of the Classic period (A.D. 350–900) kingdom of Piedras Negras, this paper addresses a number of debates in the archaeology of war among the ancient Maya. These findings have broader comparative use in ongoing attempts to understand war in the precolonial Americas, including the frequency of war, its role in processes of polity formation and collapse, the involvement of non-elites in combat, and the cause and effect of captive-taking. This paper provides the first synthesis of a number of datasets pertaining to war and violence in the region of Piedras Negras while presenting new settlement data gleaned from recent lidar survey of the area. Focus is especially on tracing the material, iconographic, and epigraphic evidence for war in diachronic perspective. Material evidence includes the spatial distribution of settlement, presence of fortifications, weaponry, and human skeletal remains demonstrating evidence of traumatic injury. Additional data are drawn from epigraphy and iconography. As with all archaeological contexts, there are crucial gaps in the record. Nevertheless, by combining these datasets it is possible to reconstruct a history of warfare within this precolonial indigenous polity of the first millennium.
We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-... more We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-distance exchange during the Terminal Classic (c. AD 850–1100) period. This is a time often associated with increased international trade relations and the growth of Chichen Itza as a dominant regional power in the northern Maya lowlands. Critical to the increased volume of international trade were the merchants who transported goods along the coast of Yucatan in large trading canoes. By combining a macroscopic assessment of the ceramics with visual, XRF, and INAA analyses of the obsidian artifacts, we gain insight into the various socioeconomic forces at work moving goods around the Peninsula. Given the paucity of Terminal Classic settlement in the interior Yalahau region, Vista Alegre appears to be an isolated site during this period, approximately 40 km from the nearest coastal neighbor. This allows us to focus on coastal exchange as the sole means by which goods arrived at the site. ...
This article documents the transition from the Late Classic to Postclassic periods at Río Amarill... more This article documents the transition from the Late Classic to Postclassic periods at Río Amarillo, a hinterland outpost of the Copan polity, and at an associated residential group, Site 5, in the Río Amarillo East Pocket of the Copan Valley. Late Classic period evidence indicates that the site of Río Amarillo operated as an administrative center for the Copan polity with the likely objective of increased agricultural production for the burgeoning population in the Copan Pocket. In the Terminal Classic period, Río Amarillo shared the fate of Copan, with evidence indicating it was burned and sacked. However, unlike the Copan Pocket, many residential groups remained occupied during the Early Postclassic. Here we focus on Site 5. An unbroken occupation from the Late Classic through to the end of the Early Postclassic period, as this site provides a window into an existence without the requirements of tribute given to their western neighbor. We hypothesize that the smaller settlement si...
Shrines were a regular component of ceremonial architecture in the public plazas of Postclassic M... more Shrines were a regular component of ceremonial architecture in the public plazas of Postclassic Maya centers. Small shrines and natural landmarks such as caves and outcrops at the borders of settlements or in wilderness locations also served, and in some cases continue to serve, as important ritual loci for Maya peoples. These more peripheral locales were not only critical access points to the supernatural, but also served to delineate places. Because these border features, which represent only a given moment in a constantly shifting social and political landscape, are sometimes unmodified or are inconspicuous, they are relatively ephemeral and difficult to identify in the archaeological record. This paper documents a Late Postclassic shrine paired with a natural feature, a small hill, from the site of Tayasal in Petén, Guatemala. We argue that it served as a border shrine. Paired with the small hill, the two embodied a liminal frontier, not only between earthly and spiritual realms...
Recent research has shown that the Classic Period Maya script (AD 250-950) represents a single pr... more Recent research has shown that the Classic Period Maya script (AD 250-950) represents a single prestige language, Classic Ch'olti'an. It was used across the Maya Lowlands, yet local languages and dialects «percolated» into Mayan writing within particular areas. Loan words, grammatical elements, and other linguistic markers indicate that specific areas outside of the central Maya Lowlands (Central Petén, Guatemala) may have been inhabited by Yukatec, Chontal, Tzotzil, and possibly Ch'ol Maya speakers. In contrast, linguistic patterns specific to the central lowlands have not been so closely studied. This problem is intimately tied to the question of how and why the Classic script was grammatically homogeneous over such a wide area.
This volume admittedly is an eclectic collection of perspectives, but bringing together multiple ... more This volume admittedly is an eclectic collection of perspectives, but bringing together multiple perspectives, including test cases that put these perspectives into practice, was the primary goal of the original AAA session and the resulting collection of essays. Various pieces explore recent directions in theory and method that are not accessible using extant frameworks. Furthermore, three discussion chapters highlight issues of contention and the need for more dialogue concerning the ways that past production processes can be fruitfully examined through archaeological research. These three chapters set the stage for a conversation about production, and here, in a section modeled loosely on the format of research articles in Current Anthropology, we begin that conversation with some responses by individual authors. The responses are placed in the order in which they were received by the editors.
We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-... more We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-distance exchange during the Terminal Classic (c. AD 850-1100) period. This is a time often associated with increased international trade relations and the growth of Chichen Itza as a dominant regional power in the northern Maya lowlands. Critical to the increased volume of international trade were the merchants who transported goods along the coast of Yucatan in large trading canoes. By combining a macroscopic assessment of the ceramics with visual, XRF, and INAA analyses of the obsidian artifacts, we gain insight into the various socioeconomic forces at work moving goods around the Peninsula. Given the paucity of Terminal Classic settlement in the interior Yalahau region, Vista Alegre appears to be an isolated site during this period, approximately 40 km from the nearest coastal neighbor. This allows us to focus on coastal exchange as the sole means by which goods arrived at the site. Our preliminary data contribute to the growing literature on the role market economies played in the Maya area, and the increased opportunities this afforded coastal peoples as circum-peninsular trade became more common through time. En este trabajo utilizamos información sobre la cerámica y la obsidiana del antiguo puerto Maya de Vista Alegre, Quintana Roo, México, para discutir el intercambio a larga distancia durante el periodo Clásico terminal (ca. 850-1100 dC). Dicho periodo es frecuentemente asociado con el incremento de las relaciones comerciales internacionales y el crecimiento de Chichén Itzá como centro regional dominante en las tierras bajas Mayas del norte. Los comerciantes que transportaban bienes a lo largo de la costa de Yucatán en grandes canoas comerciales fueron fundamentales para el aumento del volumen del comercio internacional. Combinando la examinación macroscópica de la cerámica con el estudio visual, por fluorescencia de rayos X y por análisis instrumental de activación neutrónica (XRF e INAA, respectivamente, por sus siglas en inglés) de los artefactos de obsidiana, se obtuvo información sobre las diversas fuerzas socio-económicas involucradas en el transporte de mercancías alrededor de la península. Dada la escasez de asentamientos del Clásico terminal en el interior de la región de Yalahau, Vista Alegre parece haber sido un sitio aislado durante este periodo, localizado a aproximadamente 40 km del asentamiento costero más cercano. Esto permite enfocarnos en el intercambio costero como el único medio por el cual las mercancías llegaron al sitio. La información preliminar aquí presentada contribuye al creciente conjunto de investigaciones sobre el papel que desempeñaron las economías de mercado en el área Maya y las mayores oportunidades que esto brindó a los pueblos costeros.
Shrines were a regular component of ceremonial architecture in the public plazas of Postclassic M... more Shrines were a regular component of ceremonial architecture in the public plazas of Postclassic Maya centers. Small shrines and natural landmarks such as caves and outcrops at the borders of settlements or in wilderness locations also served, and in some cases continue to serve, as important ritual loci for Maya peoples. These more peripheral locales were not only critical access points to the supernatural, but also served to delineate places. Because these border features, which represent only a given moment in a constantly shifting social and political landscape, are sometimes unmodified or are inconspicuous, they are relatively ephemeral and difficult to identify in the archaeological record. This paper documents a Late Postclassic shrine paired with a natural feature, a small hill, from the site of Tayasal in Petén, Guatemala. We argue that it served as a border shrine. Paired with the small hill, the two embodied a liminal frontier, not only between earthly and spiritual realms but also between settled and unsettled space. Los santuarios eran un componente regular de la arquitectura ceremonial en las plazas públicas de los centros mayas del Posclásico. Sin embargo, los santuarios pequeños y ciertos rasgos naturales del paisaje, como cuevas y afloramientos en las orillas de los asentamientos o en lugares alejados de los mismos, también sirvieron y, en algunos casos, siguen sirviendo como importantes sitios rituales para los Mayas. Estos espacios periféricos no solo eran puntos de acceso a lo sobrenatural, sino que también servían para demarcar lugares. Debido a que estos rasgos fronterizos representan solo un momento en un paisaje social y político en cambio constante, a veces no están modificados, o son discretos, efímeros y, en consecuencia, difí-ciles de identificar arqueológicamente. Este artículo documenta un santuario del Posclásico tardío asociado a un rasgo natural , un pequeño cerro, del sitio de Tayasal en Petén, Guatemala. Argumentamos que funcionó como un santuario fronterizo y que, junto con el pequeño cerro, revelaba una frontera liminal no solo entre los espacios terrenales y espirituales, sino también entre espacios poblados y no poblados. Palabras clave: fronteras de los asentamientos; santuarios; Posclásico Maya; procesiones rituales; fuego S ettlement boundaries are notoriously difficult to identify in the archaeological record. In the Maya area, few cities, communities , or polities were physically delineated with boundary walls or features. Marked exceptions include the Classic period Tikal earthworks , the wall encircling the Postclassic city of Mayapan, and the Classic period defensive border walls between Yaxchilan-affiliated and Piedras Negras-affiliated sites (Golden et al. 2008; Golden and Scherer 2013; Masson et al. 2006; Puleston and Callender 1967; Webster et al. 2007). Even when physically marked, settlement boundaries were fluid zones, shifting in meaning and belonging as people moved about the landscape and reformulated their relations with each other. Such fluidity and ambiguity between settlements are compounded by the characteristic nature of Maya settlement patterns as extensive and dispersed rather than highly nucleated. Many scholars, in fact, have argued that the ancient Maya did not have a strong conception of territorial boundaries because organizational structures were based
"The ancient Maya shaped their world with stone tools. Lithic artifacts helped create the citysca... more "The ancient Maya shaped their world with stone tools. Lithic artifacts helped create the cityscape and were central to warfare and hunting, craft activities, cooking, and ritual performance. The Technology of Maya Civilization examines Maya lithic artefacts made of chert, obsidian, silicified limestone, and jade to explore the relationship between ancient civilizations and natural resources. The volume presents case studies of archaeological sites in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. The analysis draws on innovative anthropological theory to argue that stone artefacts were not merely cultural products but tools that reproduced, modified, and created the fabric of society.
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