Intensive Surface Collection of Residential Clusters at Terminal Classic Sayil, Yucatan, Mexico

Abstract

Information from intensive surface collections at the urban center of Sayil in the hill country of SW Yucatan, Mexico, has begun to elucidate the complex interaction of settlement, environment, and demography in a dry and demanding tropical lowland setting. Fine-grained surface collection techniques outlined in this report have produced a detailed picture of the distribution of artifacts within one portion of the site and provide the foundation for an in-depth study of the use of residential space at this Terminal Classic urban center. The article outlines previous settlement pattern studies in the Puuc hill country and the importance of the Puuc in Maya prehistory. In our analysis of Sayil we focus specifically on the minimal unit of settlement, linking the structure of debris-laden and debris-free space to variability in activity areas on and surrounding household residential platforms. Site structural analysis suggests how the domestic use of space could have been integrated with agricultural production at this densely populated “garden city” of the ancient Maya.