A Reversal of Fortune: Problematical Deposit 50, Tikal, Guatemala

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Hattula Moholy-Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Direct Contact ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Interregional Interaction ◽  
Origin Function ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Reversal Of Fortune

The contents, context, and date of Problematical Deposit 50 bear on the origin, function, and meaning of Teotihuacan stylistic traits in the Southern Maya Lowlands. Archaeological data and material culture research appear to support emulation and adaptation by local rulers and elites, while an actual presence of Teotihuacanos is asserted by epigraphy and iconography. PD 50, the partial contents of a probable Early Classic chamber burial, appears to support local emulation, but an extraordinary pottery vessel, nicknamed here the “Arrival Bowl,” implies direct contact. The chronology and archaeological context demonstrate that the appearance of Teotihuacan stylistic traits at Tikal during the later Early Classic period is functionally distinct from the goods distributed over an interregional interaction sphere of much longer duration in which both Central Mexico and the Maya area participated. Furthermore, together with other features at Tikal, PD 50 suggests that adoption of Teotihuacan ideology by Tikal's elite was eventually met with resistance that contributed to the violence at the end of the Early Classic period that is manifested in the archaeological record.

scholarly journals Drought, agricultural adaptation, and sociopolitical collapse in the Maya Lowlands

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (18) ◽  
pp. 5607-5612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. J. Douglas ◽  
Mark Pagani ◽  
Marcello A. Canuto ◽  
Mark Brenner ◽  
David A. Hodell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Isotope ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Agricultural Adaptation ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Paleoclimate Records ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Plant Wax ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

Paleoclimate records indicate a series of severe droughts was associated with societal collapse of the Classic Maya during the Terminal Classic period (∼800–950 C.E.). Evidence for drought largely derives from the drier, less populated northern Maya Lowlands but does not explain more pronounced and earlier societal disruption in the relatively humid southern Maya Lowlands. Here we apply hydrogen and carbon isotope compositions of plant wax lipids in two lake sediment cores to assess changes in water availability and land use in both the northern and southern Maya lowlands. We show that relatively more intense drying occurred in the southern lowlands than in the northern lowlands during the Terminal Classic period, consistent with earlier and more persistent societal decline in the south. Our results also indicate a period of substantial drying in the southern Maya Lowlands from ∼200 C.E. to 500 C.E., during the Terminal Preclassic and Early Classic periods. Plant wax carbon isotope records indicate a decline in C4 plants in both lake catchments during the Early Classic period, interpreted to reflect a shift from extensive agriculture to intensive, water-conservative maize cultivation that was motivated by a drying climate. Our results imply that agricultural adaptations developed in response to earlier droughts were initially successful, but failed under the more severe droughts of the Terminal Classic period.

Linguistic Divergence and the Collapse of Preclassic Civilization in Southern Mesoamerica

1987 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce H. Dahlin ◽  
Robin Quizar ◽  
Andrea Dahlin
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Postclassic Period ◽  
Proximate Cause ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Ultimate Cause ◽  
Early Classic Period

Based on published lexicostatistical dates, two intervals in the prehistory of southern Mesoamerica stand out as fertile periods in terms of the generation of new languages: the Terminal Preclassic/early Early Classic Periods, and the Early Postclassic Period. After comparing archaeological evidence with language distributions within the subregions of southern Mesoamerica during the first of these periods, we conclude that the cultural processes during both periods had the same potential for producing rapid rates of linguistic divergences. Just as rapid proliferation of linguistic divisions was symptomatic of the well-known collapse of Late Classic Maya civilization, so it can be taken as a sign of a collapse of Terminal Preclassic civilization. Both collapses were characterized by severe population reductions, site abandonments, an increasing balkanization in material culture, and disruption of interregional communication networks, conditions that were contributory to the kind of linguistic isolation that allows language divergences. Unlike in the Terminal Classic collapse episode, small refuge zones persisted in the Early Classic Period that served as sources of an evolving classicism; these refuge zones were exceptions, however, not the rule. Although the collapse of each site had its own proximate cause, we suggest that the enormous geographical range covered by these Early Classic Period site failures points to a single ultimate cause affecting the area as a whole, such as the onset of a prolonged and devastating climatic change.

Abandonment and Post-Abandonment Behavior at a Rural Central American House-Site

1972 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick W. Lange ◽  
Charles R. Rydberg
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Central American ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Archaeological Investigation ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
House Site ◽  
American House

AbstractExamination of a recently abandoned modern rural house-site in northern Costa Rica was undertaken in an attempt to gain insights into the absence of comparable sites from the Precolumbian archaeological record. The site was thoroughly described, a number of hypotheses based on artifactual evidence were advanced, and the former occupants were then interviewed. Abandonment and post-abandonment behavior by the occupants and others stongly influenced the material culture remains and potential archaeological data. The site had been subjected to a number of alterations and artifacts found were of the lowest retentive priority. A number of problems relevant to archaeological investigation at such sites were elucidated.

Classic-to-Contact-Period Continuities in Maya Governance in Central Petén, Guatemala

Ethnohistory ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prudence M. Rice ◽  
Don S. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Power Sharing ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Contact Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
Per Se

Abstract This article integrates ethnohistorical and archaeological data in examining political continuities or structural equivalencies in the lakes region of central Petén (southern Maya lowlands) between the Late and Terminal Classic periods and the Postclassic and Spanish Contact periods. The equivalencies are of three kinds: “deep structures” (quadripartition), common political expediencies and functions (power-sharing and council houses), and temporal continuities per se (dual rulership). The article concludes that the rupture (“collapse”) between Classic and Postclassic political forms was only partial, and numerous structures and practices of late Petén Itza Maya geopolitical organization can be seen in earlier Classic-period phenomena. These underscore long-term continuities in governance strategies.

Formation of a Complex Polity on the Eastern Periphery of the Maya Lowlands

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith M. Prufer ◽  
Holley Moyes ◽  
Brendan J. Culleton ◽  
Andrew Kindon ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Farming Community ◽  
Central Tenet ◽  
Group A ◽  
Eastern Periphery ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Site Chronology ◽  
A Site

AbstractThis paper pursues the application of a central tenet of the dual-processual framework, the corporate/network continuum, to the development of Uxbenká, a small monument-bearing polity in the southern Maya Lowlands. During its growth, Uxbenká underwent a transformation from a small farming community to a complex polity with many of the trappings of elite authority that characterizes Classic Maya centers. It was one of the earliest complex polities to develop on the southeastern periphery of the Maya lowlands during the Early Classic period (A.D. 300—600). The polity was founded upon earlier agricultural communities that are now known to extend back to at least A.D. 100. Starting after A.D. 200 the location of the original agricultural village (Group A) was leveled and reorganized to form a public monument garden and the center of political authority throughout much of the Classic period (A.D. 400—800). In this article we present radiocarbon ages from well-defined stratigraphic contexts to establish a site chronology. Based on these data we suggest that by A.D. 450 Uxbenká was the center of a regional political system connected to some of the larger polities in the Maya world (e.g., Tikal). We argue that at this time Uxbenká underwent a significant change from a polity organized by a corporate inclusionary form of ruler-ship to a more networked one marked by exclusionary authority vested in elites who privileged their ancestral relations and network interactions across the geopolitical landscape.

E Groups and the Rise of Complexity in the Southeastern Maya Lowlands

Maya E Groups ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlen F. Chase ◽  
Diane Z. Chase
Keyword(s):  
Political Organization ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
The West ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The North ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Size And Structure

How the ancient Maya used E Groups needs to be derived from the archaeological record. Research undertaken in the southeast Petén of Guatemala has revealed a concentration of over 150 E Groups in the area defined by Ceibal on the west, Caracol on the east, Esquipulas on the south, and the Central Petén lakes on the north. Excavated E Groups from Cenote, Uaxactún, Caracol, and Ixtonton can be used to help organize and understand these archaeological data and to show that the E Group structural assemblage is generally early within this region, dating primarily to the Late Preclassic Period (350 BCE-0 CE) and constituting the founding architecture for an unusual number of small communities in the southeast Petén. The size and structure of the eastern platform in these E Groups also appears to serve as a proxy for broader socio-political organization. Data from Caracol also suggests the importance of these architectural assemblages for temporal ritual associated with the 8th and 9th baktun cycles. Tenth cycle ritual use of these assemblages can also be seen at sites such as Ucanal, Seibal, and possibly Yaxha. Thus, E Groups can be linked to both the rise and denouement of Maya civilization.

An Early Classic Center in the Puuc Region

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Smyth ◽  
José Ligorred Perramon ◽  
David Ortegón Zapata ◽  
Pat Farrell
Keyword(s):  
Surface Soil ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
New Information ◽  
Site Survey ◽  
Important Center ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Rare Opportunity ◽  
Activity Areas

AbstractA comprehensive site survey and excavation program took place in 1995 and 1996 at the Maya center of Chac II (Chac) located within the Puuc hills region of Yucatan, Mexico. This work presents a body of evidence in support of the idea that Chac was an important center beginning in the Early Classic period (a.d. 300–600) that experienced significant foreign contacts. In addition, multifaceted data from surface, soil, architectural, and excavated contexts are addressing major questions pertaining to architectural and ceramic chronologies, the founding of the Puuc stoneworking tradition, site activity areas, and patterns of land use. Furthermore, dating indicates that Chac predated Sayil and that the two sites have a close geographical relationship. Also, terrace agriculture appears to have been widespread at Chac, contrasting greatly with Sayil where intensive gardening was widely practiced. In light of the new information from Chac, we argue that the traditional models of Puuc origins are inadequate. Investigations at a major Early Classic site in the heart of the Puuc region suggests that the region's rise was indigenous coupled with external ties to foreign groups reaching to central Mexico. The site of Chac is thus taking on strategic importance for understanding the origins of Puuc civilization, providing a rare opportunity to study a Maya center that was on the brink of urbanism in one of the most urban ancient Maya areas. These new data are helping to elucidate the nature of Maya urbanism in the Puuc region and establish the kinds of cultural links that existed between the northern Maya Lowlands and the rest of Mesoamerica during the Classic period.

Social structural consequences of population growth

1981 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-122
Author(s):  
R. E. W. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
City Size ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Rate Of Development ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Structural ◽  
Political Units ◽  
Early Classic Period

SummaryEstimates from archaeological data of the numbers in the elite classes, non-elite occupational specialists, density of population, city size, and size of political units in the ancient Maya civilization suggest that there was a quantum shift in rate of development in the Early Classic period, associated with intensification of agriculture, and that the social structure approximated to a generalized feudal pattern.

scholarly journals TERMINAL LONG COUNT DATES AND THE DISINTEGRATION OF CLASSIC PERIOD MAYA POLITIES

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire E. Ebert ◽  
Keith M. Prufer ◽  
Martha J. Macri ◽  
Bruce Winterhalder ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Information Systems ◽  
Spatial Statistics ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
The West ◽  
Stone Monuments ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Core Areas

AbstractAnalyses of terminal long count dates from stone monuments in the Maya lowlands have played a central role in characterizing the rise and “collapse” of polities during the Late and Terminal Classic periods (a.d.730–910). Previous studies propose a directional abandonment of large political centers from west-to-east. We retest the west-to-east hypothesis, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial statistics to analyze an updated dataset of 89 terminal dates from the Maya Hieroglyphic Database (MHD). Our results do not support a directional collapse, but instead suggest a contraction of Terminal Classic polities around seven core areas in the Maya lowlands. Three regions demonstrate distinct subregional abandonments of monument carving over a period of 24 to 127 years, consistent with independent archaeological data for each region. Advances in GIS, spatial statistics, and related methods applied to an increasingly detailed and comprehensive epigraphic and archaeological database provide a foundation for examining long-term sociopolitical dynamics in the Maya lowlands.

ONSET OF THE EARLY CLASSIC PERIOD IN THE SOUTHERN MAYA LOWLANDS: NEW EVIDENCE FROM PUNTA DE CHIMINO, GUATEMALA

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce R. Bachand
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
New Evidence

AbstractDesecration of Punta de Chimino's ceremonial precinct around a.d. 430 was associated with the appearance of green Pachuca obsidian, pyrite mirror fragments, dart points, a Tikal-style vessel cache, and a peculiar grave with Mexican semblances. A structurally housed Protoclassic stela was removed in an apparent fire ritual and monumental masks adorning the E-Group range building were effaced in a termination rite involving large quantities of refuse. Disuse of the E-Group range building and unfinished refurbishment of the observatory pyramid suggest the site was promptly deserted. The forsaking of this time-honored ceremonial place coincided with reduced settlement in the Petexbatun region and abandonment of the nearby Pasión centers of Ceibal, Itzan, and Chaak Ak'al. Punta de Chimino's findings shed further light on these abandonments, suggesting that they were triggered by amplified central lowland involvement in Pasión River affairs by the end of the fourth century a.d.

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