Maya States Research Articles

The Dynamics of Maya State Process: An Integrated Perspective from the San Lucas Neighborhood of Copán, Honduras

ABSTRACTRecognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city of Copán was a major center of Maya culture during the Classic Period (AD 250–900). While archaeologists have been traditionally concerned with the top‐down despotic power of Maya rulers, I show how infrastructural power—the ability of the state to affect the everyday lives of its residents—waxed and waned. As a representative subset of the city at large, the intermediate scale of neighborhoods best reveals effects of and reactions to state power. I focus on politcal dynamics at six households within the San Lucas neighorbood, attending to episodes of landscape engineering, architectural construction, and artifactual trends. I consider these changes together with political events recorded in hieroglyphic inscriptions at Copán Center. This correlation shows whether and how state policies altered the daily lives of residents. Incorporating a bottom‐up perspective from the intermediate scale of neighborhoods enables an integrated assessment of citywide political dynamics. [political dynamics, collective action theory, urbanism, neighborhoods, Maya]

Pedagogy and State: An Archaeological Inquiry into Classic Maya Educational Practice

Education is notoriously difficult to identify archaeologically, but crucial for understanding the inner workings of any society. Strikingly, in Mesoamerican archaeology, more seems to be known about the transmission of crafting skills than about practices of statecraft. Elsewhere in the ancient world, much evidence speaks to various social and institutional contexts in which specialized knowledge of histories, literacies, civics, and sciences was generated and taught as vital to state-making projects. Yet these same contexts among the Classic Period Maya (ad 200–900) remain poorly understood and under-theorized. Pulling from comparative research alongside recent work at the site of Xultun, Guatemala, this article explores how educational systems may have worked in Classic-era Maya polities—assessing evidence for educational loci, the different forms that education might assume, and the varied curricula that likely existed across different cities and particular demographics. Through this discussion, I seek to shed some light on the actors, gendered exclusions and diverse arrangements of pedagogy in Maya society, and grant further insight into how specialized bodies of knowledge (transmitted within formal educational institutions) were built into the very fabric of the Classic Maya states of which they were part.

A King's Apotheosis: Iconography, Text, and Politics from a Classic Maya Temple at Holmul

Excavations at the ancient Maya city of Holmul, Petén, have led to the discovery of a building decorated with an intricately carved and painted plaster frieze. The iconography of the frieze portrays seated lords, mountain spirits, feathered serpents, and gods of the underworld engaged in the apparent rebirth of rulers as sun gods. Large emblems carved on the side of the building identify the structure as a shrine for ancestor veneration. A dedicatory text carved along the bottom of the frieze contains a king list and references to the political and familial ties of the ruler who commissioned the temple. Together, the iconography and text of this structure provide evidence of function and meaning. They also shed new light on a century during Classic Maya history known as the Tikal “Hiatus,” for which a limited number of texts are available. The information derived from this monument also broadens our understanding of the nature of hegemonic relationships among Classic Maya states.

NEITHER DOPES NOR DUPES: MAYA FARMERS AND IDEOLOGY

AbstractDrawing inspiration from the work and legacy of Elizabeth Brumfiel, I develop a case study about the lives and religious practices of Maya farmers at the Chan site in Belize, to demonstrate how farmers were neither the dopes, dupes, nor mystified masses of Maya state level ideologies. I use this case study to rethink anthropological theories that attempt to explain the role of state level ideologies in the production of inequality and power, particularly ideas about ideology and false consciousness that are often bundled together and referred to as the ‘dominant ideology thesis.’

Differential animal use within three Late Classic Maya states: Implications for politics and trade

The nature of Maya political institutions and state-level resource dynamics during the Late Classic period (AD 550–850) has been the subject of much discussion over the past several decades. This study uses zooarchaeology to track the acquisition and distribution of animal resources within and between political states. We assess the faunal remains excavated from three capitals (Piedras Negras, Yaxchilan, and Aguateca) in two ways. First, we compare the types and uses of resources at capital centers with their subordinate communities to understand the extent of resource control within individual polities. Second, by comparing animal remains between households of different social tiers at each capital center, we explore the distribution of resources within each community. Results indicate that capital residents made use of a wider variety of species than those at subordinate centers, particularly more species from mature forests and exotic (marine) environments. Animal species also varied between households of different social tiers, with middle-ranking elites having the greatest diversity of taxa while high-ranking elites focused on a select group of potentially prestigious species. Non-elites mainly acquired river resources. These results suggest a complex system of animal resource acquisition and distribution played an important role in maintaining the Maya political state.

Maya figurines: intersections between state and household

Preface Introduction Chapter 1. State and Household: Articulating Relations Chapter 2. Materiality and Mimesis Chapter 3. State Pomp and Ceremony Writ Small Chapter 4. From Oral Narrative to Festival and Back: Tricksters, Spirit Companions, Ritual Clowns, and Deities Chapter 5. Figurine Political Economies Chapter 6. Figurative Performances Chapter 7. Comments on Maya State and Household Appendices Notes References Index

Applying new approaches to modeling diet and status: isotopic evidence for commoner resiliency and elite variability in the Classic Maya lowlands

Classic Maya states were characterized by a high degree of socioeconomic stratification. This paper investigates the degree to which status, as defined by grave goods and tomb construction, influenced dietary patterns of elites and commoners throughout the Classic Period (200–900/1000 AD) of the southern lowlands. We compile a database (N = 102) of previously-published stable isotope ratios (δ13C collagen, δ13C apatite, and δ15N collagen) from Maya bone mineral and collagen, and interrogate these data through two new isotopic modeling techniques: a simple carbon isotope model (Kellner and Schoeninger, 2007; Froehle et al., 2010) and a multivariate isotope model (Froehle et al., 2012). We find that Maya elite diet varied significantly through time in terms of maize consumption and trophic level, while commoner diet remained remarkably stable. These findings provide new information relevant to studies of ancient Maya class structure and to studies of subsistence strategies of the pre-Columbian Americas.

Beyond Belief: Religious Experience, Ritual, and Cultural Neuro-phenomenology in the Interpretation of Past Religious Systems

While there is growing agreement within anthropology and archaeology that notions of ‘experience’ can contribute to our interpretations of the past, this article suggests that there is a need to incorporate insight gathered from the fields of cultural phenomenology and cultural neuro-phenomenology into general anthropological understandings of cross-cultural religious experience. Specifically, this article explores the insight offered by cultural neuro-phenomenology into the relationships between religious symbolism, ritual, power, religious belief, and individual religious experience. In assessing the role that belief, as instantiated through ritually-induced religious experience, plays in the maintenance or alteration of state-level religious systems, this article will outline the ways in which this insight may both help us better to understand past religious experience as well as to interpret the maintenance and alteration of past religious systems. To demonstrate the potential of this approach, this article will conclude with a brief discussion of the fall of the Classic Maya state religious system.

THE NORTHERN MAYA COLLAPSE AND ITS AFTERMATH

Recent adjustments to the chronology of the northern Maya Lowlands have brought about a closer alignment of the decline of Terminal Classic/Early Postclassic Yucatecan polities with the collapse of the southern Maya states. The collapse of the entire Classic-period societal structure throughout the lowlands can now be compressed into a 200- or 250-year period and seen as a progressive chain of events that began in the south and culminated with the fall of Chichen Itza in the eleventh century. This new reconstruction has led us to propose eliminating the Early Postclassic period, the existence of which was based largely on a purportedly late occupation of Chichen Itza. We assign this final occupation of the Itza capital to the Terminal Classic period, which ended sometime in the eleventh century in the northern Maya Lowlands.

Annales History and the Ancient Maya State: Some Observations on the "Dynamic Model"

Joyce Marcus has recently proposed a "dynamic model" for the ancient Maya state. In doing so she has emphasized the importance of spatiotemporal fluctuations between centralization and decentralization. Although this idea has obtained wide‐ranging support, there has been little consideration of why these oscillations occurred. This article proposes that one of the key factors was the fundamental tension between the institutions of kinship and kingship. Viewed through the lens of Annales, or "French Structural" history, this appears to constitute a classic example of the contradictions between a long‐term structure (kinship) and medium‐term (longship) cycle. [Key words: Maya, sociopolitics, integration, cycling, Annales]

Classic Maya State, Urbanism, and Exchange: Chipped Stone Evidence of the Copán Valley and Its Hinterland

In this article I use quantitative data from 91,916 pieces of chipped stone artifacts from the Copán Valley and its hinterland in Honduras to understand better the nature and role of exchange in the development of a Classic Maya state‐level society. The results of this study suggest that intraregional exchange was more crucial for state development than was longdistance exchange. The management of procurement and exchange of utilitarian commodities, such as Ixtepeque obsidian blade cores, along with other factors, played a significant role in the development of the Copán state. In contrast to other major Maya lowland states, the Copán state directly obtained obsidian blade cores from nearby sources, distributed them to local leaders at Copán, and exported them to local rulers in neighboring regions. In this sense, the Classic Copán state maintained a centralized and integrated political and economic organization based on far more than kinship, ideology, and ritual, [exchange, complex society, urbanism, Classic Maya state]

EARLY CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE BENEATH THE COPAN ACROPOLIS

Excavations beneath the Copan Acropolis provide the most complete record known for the origins and development of an Early Classic Maya royal complex (ca. a.d. 420–650). Beginning at the time of the historically identified dynastic founder, the earliest levels include the first royal compound, centered on a small talud-tablero platform, a vaulted tomb that may be that of the founder, and an adjacent tomb that may be that of the founder's wife and dynastic matriarch. The timing and development of architecture provide evidence of the founding and growth of Copan as the capital of a Classic-period polity during the reigns of the first seven kings (a.d. 426–544). By the reigns of Rulers 8–11 (a.d. 544–628), the Early Classic Acropolis covered about the same area as its final version in the Late Classic. Documentation of specific Acropolis buildings provides evidence of the external connections that reinforced the authority of Copan's Early Classic kings. Building sequences reflect the perpetuation of political power by using important locations as symbolic links to the sacred past. The Early Classic Acropolis also provides new evidence for the beginnings of palace architecture that have important implications for the origins of Maya state-level organizations. Overall, the findings from the Early Classic Copan Acropolis promise to significantly advance our understanding of the origins and development of Maya state systems.

On the Maya State

Previous articleNext article No AccessDiscussion and CriticismOn the Maya StateWilliam A. HavilandWilliam A. HavilandAnthropology Department, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. 05405–0168, U.S.A. 12 XII 96 Search for more articles by this author Anthropology Department, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. 05405–0168, U.S.A. 12 XII 96PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 38, Number 3June 1997 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/204627 Views: 27Total views on this site Citations: 5Citations are reported from Crossref PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Matthew S. Longstaffe, Gyles Iannone Integration and disintegration at Minanha, a petty Maya kingdom in the North Vaca Plateau, Belize, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 68 (Dec 2022): 101453.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2022.101453Lori E. Wright Immigration to Tikal, Guatemala: Evidence from stable strontium and oxygen isotopes, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31, no.33 (Sep 2012): 334–352.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2012.02.001Yukio KASUGA, Hisanori WATARI, Takuo NAGAMACHI Development in Roll-Forming Technologies, Journal of the Japan Society for Technology of Plasticity 52, no.600600 (Jan 2011): 20–23.https://doi.org/10.9773/sosei.52.20Monica L. Smith The Archaeology of South Asian Cities, Journal of Archaeological Research 14, no.22 (Jun 2006): 97–142.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-006-9002-7Gyles Iannone Annales History and the Ancient Maya State: Some Observations on the "Dynamic Model", American Anthropologist 104, no.11 (Mar 2002): 68–78.https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2002.104.1.68

Exchange and Ancient Maya State Formation : a case study of the chipped stone Artifacts from the southeast Maya lowlands

Exchange and Ancient Maya State Formation : a case study of the chipped stone Artifacts from the southeast Maya lowlands

Mesoamerican Writing Systems: Propaganda, Myth, and History in Four Ancient Civilizations

is an anthropological study of the role of hieroglyphic writing in the prehispanic Aztec, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Maya states. First, Joyce Marcus compares the four systems with regard to eight major themes: calendrics, the naming of nobles, the naming of places, royal marriages, accession to the throne, divine ancestors, warfare, and the rewriting of history. Then she establishes a new theoretical framework within which to conduct further analysis. Her basic contention is that ancient Mesoamerican writing was a tool used by an elite minority in their competition for positions of leadership, prestige, territory, tribute, and advantageous marriages. Marcus convincingly demonstrates that while it may have been based on actual persons and events, this body of prehistoric writing is a deliberately created tangle of what we could call propaganda, myth, and fact, written for political purposes, and not (as many contemporary scholars have come to believe) reliable history in a modern sense. This is a major contribution. The scholarship is first-rate!--Jeremy A. Sabloff, University of Pittsburgh A brilliant work, carefully reasoned and effectively argued, but balanced and not overstated. The scholarship is truly outstanding. Joyce Marcus is one of the great Mesoamericanists of our generation.--E. Wyllys Andrews V, Tulane University A masterful piece of work. We are in the presence of a tour de force.--Robert L. Carneiro, American Museum of Natural History

Mesoamerican writing systems: propaganda, myth, and history in four ancient civilizations

This is an anthropological study of the role of hieroglyphic writing in the pre-hispanic Aztec, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Maya states. First, Joyce Marcus compares the four systems with regard to eight major themes: calendrics, the naming of nobles, the naming of places, royal marriages, accession to the throne, divine ancestors, warfare, and the rewriting of history. Then she establishes a new theoretical framework within which to conduct further analysis. Her basic contention is that ancient Mesoamerican writing was a tool used by an elite minority in their competition for positions of leadership, prestige, territory, tribute, and advantageous marriages. She convincingly demonstrates that while it may have been based on actual persons and events, this body of prehistoric writing is a deliberately created tangle of what we could call propaganda, myth, and fact, written for political purposes, and not (as many contemporary scholars have come to believe) reliable history in a modern sense.

Practice and Political Centralisation: A New Approach to Political Evolution [and Comments and Reply

L'A. s'attache a demontrer la valeur d'une theorie de la pratique dans l'etude ethnologique de l'evolution politique et notamment de la centralisation politique, c'est-a-dire de la concentration du pouvoir. L'A. demontre qu'une approche basee sur la pratique des acteurs est plus plausible que les modeles materialiste, fonctionnel ou evolutioniste. Une etude de cas des populations des iles Niue et Tongatapu a permis de tester cette theorie.

Prehispanic Saltmaking in Belize: A Reply to Valdez and Mock and to Marcus

In response to the comments on our 1989 paper “Prehispanic Saltmaking in Belize: New Evidence,” we agree with Valdez and Mock that it is possible that some Prehispanic saltmaking sites in Belize may have been oriented toward the preservation of animal-protein resources, but caution against extending the interpretation of their NRL site to the status of generalization. While we may have misinterpreted Marcus, we wish to clarify that we never implied that salt production was a causal factor in Maya state formation.

Another Pinch of Salt: A Comment on Mackinnon and Kepecs

This comment corrects statements attributed to me by MacKinnon and Kepecs (1989). What I said was that the rise of the Maya state could not be explained by a massive need for salt imported from great distances, not because salt was archaeologically invisible, but because I was skeptical about any monocausal explanation; furthermore, I did not see that such a massive salt need even existed during the period of state formation.

The causes and consequences of deforestation among the prehistoric Maya

The collapse of the Classic Maya state is investigated from an ecological perspective. Settlement and palynological data from the Maya center of Copan, Honduras, are presented which indicate that substantial clearing of the upland pine forest had occurred prior to and during the abandonment of that urban center. A comparative use- rate analysis suggests that the increased clearing of pine was primarily caused by demands for domestic fuel wood by an expanding urban population. This forest mismanagement is directly linked to accelerated erosion rates which are considered primary elements in the collapse of the Maya state.