The Ancient Maya Economic Landscape of Caracol, Belize

Abstract

The economies of the ancient Maya did not exist in vacuums; rather they were interconnected to each other. This chapter details the way in which one of these economies functioned during the Late Classic Period (A.D. 550–900). Archaeological research at Caracol, Belize, has been able to reconstruct how ancient Maya production and exchange systems were functioning within a large metropolitan area that serviced over 100,000 people. The population of Caracol maintained agricultural self-sufficiency on the residential level and produced a wide variety of crafts in their households for trade and exchange. Many quotidian goods were imported into the city for distribution, as were items of higher value. Specific exchange areas, in the form of formal plazas, were established to administer the distribution and exchange of goods. These plaza areas were also likely the locations for other administrative services. These physical locales were managed by local elites who in turn had central oversight. The transactions that occurred in these plazas not only served local inhabitants but also presumably resulted in the collection of taxes on the goods and services being traded, thereby bolstering the local and site center’s elite.