Arroyo de Piedra: Sociopolitical Dynamics of a Secondary Center in the Petexbatun Region

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héctor L. Escobedo
Keyword(s):  
Royal Family ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Secondary Center ◽  
Strategic Position ◽  
Vanderbilt University

AbstractArroyo de Piedra occupies a strategic position between the sites of Dos Pilas and Tamarindito, the dominant polities in the Petexbatun region. Temples, palaces, sculptured monuments, quarries, and a defensive wall reflect the importance of this small site. Archaeological and epigraphic investigations conducted by Vanderbilt University from 1990 to 1994 demonstrate that Arroyo de Piedra was founded and ruled by members of the royal family of Tamarindito during the Early Classic. In the Late Classic, Arroyo de Piedra was absorbed by the expansionistic Dos Pilas dynasty through a matrimonial alliance. The marriage was apparently imposed by means of coercion as suggested by evidence of intentional destruction of local sculpture. The center was abandoned during the Terminal Classic, after the fall of Dos Pilas.

Changing Patterns of Ritual Activity in an Unlooted Cave in Central Guatemala

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent K.S. Woodfill ◽  
Stanley Guenter ◽  
Mirza Monterroso
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Interregional Trade ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Ritual Activity ◽  
Trade Route ◽  
Northern Highlands

AbstractThe Cave of Hun Nal Ye, located in central Guatemala, was discovered unlooted by a local landowner in 2005 and was immediately subject to investigation by the authors. The cave contained ritual remains dating to between the Terminal Pre-classic and Terminal Classic. In addition to allowing a detailed reconstruction of ritual activity in the northern highlands, its presence along the Great Western Trade Route allows archaeologists to examine hypotheses about interregional trade during the Classic period. In particular, changes in the ritual assemblage between the Early and Late Classic indicate that the cave was an important trade shrine for merchants and travelers passing between the highlands and lowlands until ca. A.D. 550, at which point it became a local shrine used to reinforce elite power. These changes are then linked to larger patterns occurring in other parts of the trade route, especially to Tikal and the kingdoms along the Pasión and Usumacinta rivers.

A MAYA CARVED SHELL PLAQUE FROM TULA, HIDALGO, MEXICO

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald McVicker ◽  
Joel W. Palka
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Central Mexico ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Field Museum ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Chichen Itza ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

In the early 1880s, a finely carved Maya shell picture plaque was found at the Toltec capital of Tula, central Mexico, and was subsequently acquired by The Field Museum in Chicago. The shell was probably re-carved in the Terminal Classic period and depicts a seated lord with associated Maya hieroglyphs on the front and back. Here the iconography and glyphic text of this unique artifact are examined, the species and habitat of the shell are described, and its archaeological and social context are interpreted. The Tula plaque is then compared with Maya carved jade picture plaques of similar size and design that were widely distributed throughout Mesoamerica, but were later concentrated in the sacred cenote at Chichen Itza. It is concluded that during the Late Classic period, these plaques played an important role in establishing contact between Maya lords and their counterparts representing peripheral and non-Maya domains. The picture plaques may have been elite Maya gifts establishing royal alliances with non-local polities and may have become prestige objects used in caches and termination rituals.

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.

THE LATE AND TERMINAL CLASSIC CERAMIC SEQUENCE AT LA MILPA, BELIZE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ITS OCCUPATION HISTORY

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry Lynn Sagebiel
Keyword(s):  
Exponential Growth ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Percentage Frequency ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Attribute Analysis ◽  
La Milpa ◽  
History Of ◽  
Archaeological Project ◽  
Ritual Architecture

AbstractPrevious interpretations of the occupation history of La Milpa, Belize, which were based on preliminary ceramic data, suggested that occupation of the site fluctuated dramatically from the Late Preclassic to the Terminal Classic (400 b.c.–a.d. 850). It was determined that the modest Late Preclassic village became a large Early Classic city with regal-ritual architecture and carved monuments. In Late Classic I, it appeared the site was nearly abandoned. Its reoccupation and exponential growth in Late Classic II was followed by rapid abandonment before the end of the Late Classic III/Terminal Classic. New ceramic analyses utilizing attribute analysis with an emphasis on formal modes has clarified the sequence and, in turn, softened the occupation curves. This article provides descriptions of the Late Classic I, II, and III ceramics, along with revised percentage frequency graphs of La Milpa's occupation history based primarily on the work of the La Milpa Archaeological Project (1992–2002).

Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from a Classic Maya Residential Group at Nohmul, Belize

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Hammond ◽  
Mary D. Neivens ◽  
Garman Harbottle
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Activation Analysis ◽  
Trace Element Analysis ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Residential Group ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Before And After

Forty-nine obsidian artifacts from a Classic period residential group at Nohmul, northern Belize, have been analyzed by neutron activation analysis. The majority of the samples originated from Ixtepeque, and the remainder from El Chayal. Increasing prominence of the Ixtepeque source from the Late Classic into the Terminal Classic (i.e., before and after ca. A.D. 800) suggests greater use of a coastal distribution route known to have originated in the Formative and to have remained in use through the colonial period.

Yucatec Influence in Terminal Classic Northern Belize

1982 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 596-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Z. Chase ◽  
Arlen F. Chase
Keyword(s):  
Single Unit ◽  
San Jose ◽  
The South ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Maya Collapse ◽  
Chichen Itza

Excavations undertaken during 1978 and 1979 at Nohmul, Belize are believed to cast new light on the demise of the Maya. Investigations revealed Terminal Classic-San Jose V material intermixed with Late Classic to Early Postclassic Yucatec material in a single-unit refuse deposit. More importantly, striking architectural similarities exist between structures at Nohmul and Chichen-Itza; Structure 20 at Nohmul proved to be of the “patio-quad” type known previously only from Chichen-Itza, and Structure 9 of Nohmul may be put forth as a “Caracol” (Chichen-Itza Structure 3C15) counterpart. On the basis of excavations at Nohmul, it is implied that there is an association between Toltec Chichen-Itza (Sotuta) and the Terminal Classic periods to the south (San Jose V-Tepeu 3), in that the two are overlapping, if not coeval. Should this be the case, new alternatives relating to the Maya collapse must be considered.

Guardian of the Acropolis: The Sacred Space of a Royal Burial at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Fitzsimmons ◽  
Andrew Scherer ◽  
Stephen D. Houston ◽  
Héctor L. Escobedo
Keyword(s):  
Sacred Space ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Royal Family ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Sacred Landscape ◽  
Ceramic Phase ◽  
Piedras Negras ◽  
Young Member

Excavation of a small Maya ceremonial structure at the site of Piedras Negras, Guatemala, has revealed a Late Classic period (ca. A.D. 600–900) vaulted tomb containing the remains of a young member of the royal family whom we identify as “Night-time Turtle.” The artifact assemblage from the burial included a modest quantity of carved jade jewelry (38 pieces), an incised vessel dating to the early Yaxché (ca. A.D. 630–680) ceramic phase, and a ceremonial “bundle” of bloodletting implements. Although the sex of this adolescent was not determined during osteological examination, hieroglyphic evidence from a recovered stingray spine suggests that this was a prince, probably the son of Ruler 2 or 3. Placed at an entrance to the royal precinct atop its monumental staircase, his funerary structure was an integral part of the sacred landscape, accessed by visitors to the precinct or to the palace beyond. Following a description of the site, tomb, osteology, and artifacts, we discuss the nature of this landscape and the role in it played by this “guardian” of the Acropolis.

scholarly journals A New Radiocarbon Sequence from Lamanai, Belize: Two Bayesian Models from One of Mesoamerica’s Most Enduring Sites

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan A Hanna ◽  
Elizabeth Graham ◽  
David M Pendergast ◽  
Julie A Hoggarth ◽  
David L Lentz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bayesian Models ◽  
Distribution Model ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Long Tail ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Spanish Conquest ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Complete Set

AbstractThe ancient Maya community of Lamanai, Belize, is well known for its span of occupation from the Early Preclassic (before 1630 BC) to the present. Although most centers in the central and southern Maya Lowlands were abandoned during the Terminal Classic period (AD 750–1000), ceramic and stratigraphic evidence at Lamanai has shown continuous occupation from the start of the Early Preclassic to the Spanish Conquest. In this paper, we present the first complete set of radiocarbon dates from this important site, including 19 new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)14C dates. We use these dates to build Bayesian models for a Terminal Classic structure and an Early Postclassic structure in the site center. This method assists in the refinement of older, conventional dates and provides key chronological information about the site during this volatile time. Adjustments to the standard, uniform distribution model are made using exponential, long-tail, and trapezoidal distributions to incorporate outlier samples and more accurately portray ceramic phases. Because of changes in construction behavior in the Terminal Classic, it is difficult to acquire primary samples from this period, but there remains enough overlap between dates and ceramic phases to deduce persistent occupation at Lamanai during the transition from Late Classic to Postclassic times.

MORTUARY RITUALS AND CRANIAL MODIFICATIONS AT CEIBAL: FROM THE EARLY MIDDLE PRECLASSIC TO THE TERMINAL CLASSIC PERIOD

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 305-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Manuel Palomo ◽  
Takeshi Inomata ◽  
Daniela Triadan
Keyword(s):  
Public Spaces ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

AbstractSkeletal remains excavated from the lowland Maya site of Ceibal, representing approximately 117 individuals, provide significant data for the study of changes in bodily treatments and mortuary practices from 1000b.c.toa.d.900. The early Middle Preclassic residents of Ceibal apparently did not bury their dead inside residential structures, which represents a burial practice different from those found at contemporaneous Belizean sites. During this time, tabular erect cranial deformations were found among possible local residents. Sacrificial burials were present by the end of this period, but skeletal remains of violent rituals deposited in public spaces increased from the Middle Preclassic to the Late Preclassic. During the Late Preclassic, tabular erect cranial deformations coexisted with tabular oblique shapes. The Classic period witnessed a prevalence of tabular oblique forms, which were probably tied to local residents. The common placement of the dead under house floors and the preference of ceramic vessels as burial goods also indicate Ceibal's strong affinities with other parts of the Maya lowlands during the Late Classic period. During the Terminal Classic period, there was a resurgence in the placement of sacrificial burials in public spaces and tabular erect cranial deformations were found in possible non-local individuals.

Classic to Postclassic at Ek Balam, Yucatan: Architectural and Ceramic Evidence for Defining the Transition

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Bey ◽  
Craig A. Hanson ◽  
William M. Ringle
Keyword(s):  
Yucatan Peninsula ◽  
Complex Societies ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
General Study ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Yucatán Peninsula ◽  
Ek Balam

The Classic-to-Postclassic transition in the Maya Lowlands is a focus of contemporary debate. At the site of Ek Balam, Yucatán, excavation of Structure GS-12 provided an architectural stratigraphy that spans this period. GS-12-sub was a Late Classic (Pure Florescent) building razed during the construction of GS-12-1, a C-shaped structure of a form generally identified with Postclassic occupations on the Yucatán Peninsula. At Ek Balam the building is associated with Cehpech-sphere ceramics and dated to the Terminal Classic. These data are in general agreement with the dating of such structures at other lowland sites including Uxmal. We contend that C-shaped structures, when found associated with Cehpech-sphere ceramics, are a horizon marker for the Terminal Classic-to-Postclassic transition on the Yucatán Peninsula, and that they illustrate the culture changes that occurred at this still poorly understood boundary. They may be the remains of administrative buildings used by the Maya following the cessation of monumental construction at major centers. Besides contributing to our understanding of the ancient Maya, the implications of this article extend to the general study of collapse and abandonment of complex societies.

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