Politics and power among the Maya - Sarah E. Jackson. Politics of the Maya court: hierarchy and change in the Late Classic period. xviii+173 pages, 50 b&w illustrations, 8 tables. 2013. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press; 978-0-8061-4341-5 hardback $29.95. - Antonia E. Foias. Ancient Maya political dynamics. xiv+290 pages, 15 b&w illustrations, 3 tables. 2013. Gainesville: University Press of Florida; 978-0-8130-4422-4 hardback $79.95. - Kenneth Treister. Maya architecture: temples in the sky. x+228 pages, numerous colour and b&w illustrations. 2013. Gainesville: University Press of Florida; 978-0-8130-4246-6 hardback $34.95. - Michael D. Coe with photographs by Barry Brukoff. Royal cities of the ancient Maya. 236 pages, 141 illustrations. 2012. London: Thames & Hudson; 9778-0-500-97040-9 hardback £ 29.95.

Antiquity ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (339) ◽  
pp. 308-311
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Graham
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
University Of Oklahoma ◽  
Maya Architecture

Sak Tz’i’, a Classic Maya Center: A Locational Model Based on GIS and Epigraphy

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Anaya Hernández ◽  
Stanley P. Guenter ◽  
Marc U. Zender
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Information Systems ◽  
Analytical Tool ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Maya Lowlands

AbstractThe ancient Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions of the upper Usumacinta region record an intensive interaction that took place among its regional capitals. The precise geographic locations of some of these sites are presently unknown. Through the application of the Gravity Model within the framework of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we present the probable locations and possible territorial extents of a few of these: Sak Tz’i’, Hix-Witz, and the “Knot-Site.” On this occasion, however, we concentrate our discussion on the role that the kingdom of Sak Tz’i’ played in the geopolitical scenario of the region. It is our belief that this case study constitutes a good example of how, through a conjunctive approach that integrates the archaeological with the epigraphic data, GIS can represent an excellent analytical tool to approach archaeological issues such as the political organization of the Maya Lowlands during the Late Classic period.

Understanding Late Classic Maya Mortuary Ritual in Caves

2018 ◽  
pp. 133-158
Author(s):  
Amy R. Michael ◽  
Gabriel D. Wrobel ◽  
Jack Biggs
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Dental Health ◽  
Health Data ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Mortuary Practice ◽  
Mortuary Ritual ◽  
Analytical Approaches

Bioarchaeology frequently investigates dental health in burial populations to make inferences about mortuary variability within and between ancient groups. In this chapter, micro- and macroscopic dental defects were examined in a series of ancient Maya mortuary cave and rockshelter burials in Central Belize. The nature of mortuary cave ritual use and funerary performance in the Late Classic is widely debated in the literature. This study utilizes two analytical approaches, mortuary practice and paleopathology, to better understand mortuary variability between two site types that may be distinguished by social status in life. Ethnohistoric accounts focused on mortuary activities in the Late Classic period have described sacrificial victims as individuals originating outside of the elite population. To test these accounts, this study compares the dental health data of individuals from non-elite (rockshelter) populations to elite (cave) burial contexts.

An Ancient Maya Reservoir and Dam at Tamarindito, El Peten, Guatemala

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Beach ◽  
Nicholas Dunning
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Small Reservoir ◽  
Main Site ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
El Peten ◽  
Residential Water

We report a Prehispanic dam and remnants of a small reservoir at the ancient Maya site of Tamarindito in the Río de la Pasión region of Guatemala's Petén district. The remnants of the dam are on the Petexbatún escarpment, to the east of the main site in the midst of an area of residential groups and numerous and varied agricultural terracing. The dam was about 60 m long and would have held a reservoir of about 2,000 m3. This volume of water was sufficient to irrigate nearby terraced fields. The dam and reservoir probably date to the Late Classic period (A.D. 550-800), a period during which Tamarindito was involved in regional warfare. In addition to producing irrigation water, we hypothesize that the system was built to provide a supplemental, more defensible, residential water supply and to protect a spring located below the dam.

MAYA FLASKS: THE “HOME” OF TOBACCO AND GODLY SUBSTANCES

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Loughmiller-Cardinal ◽  
Dmitri Zagorevski
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Residue Analysis ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Basic Construction ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Social Mediation

AbstractAmong the specialized types of Late Classic Maya vessels (a.d. 550–900) are small bottle-shaped containers known as “flasks.” Current interpretations of their uses, for example as poison bottles or medicine bottles, are speculative. In some cases, such interpretations rely on analogical comparisons with other Native American containers based on their formal similarities of shape or construction. This paper presents research on basic construction methods of flasks, a set of correlations between the various social mediation roles in which such flasks are depicted in Classic-period artwork, their material correlates (the vessels themselves), and a report of their specific contents. We also provide evidence of the first discovery of nicotine in an ancient Maya vessel, which is the first empirically demonstrated proof for the presence of tobacco contained in a clay vessel from this cultural tradition. The codex-style flask yielding this evidence bears a text that appears to read yo-'OTOT-ti 'u-MAY-ya, spelling y-otoot 'u-mahy “the home of his/her tobacco.” This is only the second case in which residue analysis has shown a Maya vessel to hold the same content as is indicated by a hieroglyphic text on the same vessel.

The Ancient Maya Economic Landscape of Caracol, Belize

2020 ◽  
pp. 132-148
Author(s):  
Diane Z. Chase ◽  
Arlen F. Chase
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Local Elites ◽  
Administrative Services ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Trade And Exchange ◽  
Economic Landscape ◽  
The City

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.

Ancient Maya Queenship

2020 ◽  
pp. 196-217
Author(s):  
Olivia C. Navarro-Farr ◽  
Keith Eppich ◽  
David A. Freidel ◽  
Griselda Pérez Robles
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Political Network ◽  
Monumental Sculpture ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
The City

Olivia Navarro-Farr and colleagues explore another example of how the Snake Kings manipulated the political landscape of the Classic period with a fascinating case study in ancient Maya queenship at Waka’ in Chapter 10. Waka’ was first embroiled by the geopolitics of the lowlands during the Teotihuacan entrada of AD 378, after which the kingdom was apparently incorporated into the New Order’s political network based at Tikal. Kaanul subsequently brought Waka’ into its hegemony near the end of the Early Classic period with the marriage of the first of at least three royal Kaanul women to kings of Waka’. Beyond simply telling this story, Chapter 10 explores monumentality in two ways. First, Waka’ is presented as a contested node on the vast political and economic network of the Classic period, its importance evident in its role in the entrada, the deliberate and long-term strategy to integrate it into the Kaanul hegemony through royal marriage, and Tikal’s Late Classic star war conquest of Waka’ in AD 743. Second, Navarro-Farr and colleagues examine how, through reverential manipulation of monumental sculpture and architecture, the occupants of Waka’ continued to honor the great Kaanul queens for over a century following the failure of institutional kingship at the city.

The Ancient Maya Ballcourt at Pacbitun, Belize

1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Healy
Keyword(s):  
Special Class ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractExcavations of a ceremonial ballcourt, undertaken at the Lowland Maya center of Pacbitun in western Belize, have provided details about ancient construction techniques and major diachronic structural changes to this special class of Precolumbian architecture. Some of the identified building alterations may have necessitated changes in the manner of playing the sacred Maya game at Pacbitun. A brief description of the excavations and construction history is provided. Analysis of artifactual remains from the ballcourt indicate it was built during the Late Preclassic period (100 b.c.-a.d. 300), but substantially altered in form during the Late Classic period (a.d. 550–900). The importance of the ballgame in the southern Lowlands is noted, and the particular significance of the Pacbitun court is discussed.

Ancient Maya Political Dynamics by Antonia E. Foias

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 446-447
Author(s):  
Elizabeth H. Paris
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Political Dynamics
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