joyce marcus - burial 1660

7/25/2019 Joyce Marcus - Burial 1660

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Journal o f Archaeological Research Vol. 3 No. L 1995

W h e r e I s L o w l a n d M a y a A r c h a e o l o g y H e a d e d

oyce

M a r c u s 1

This artic le isolates three important trends in Lowland Maya archaeology

during the last decade: (1) increased use of the conjunctive approach, with

renewed appreciation o f context an d provenience; (2) waning use o f the label

unique to describe the Maya; and (3) an e ffort to use the Lo wla nd Ma ya

as a case study in social evolution.

KEY WORDS: Maya archaeology; conjunctive approach; direct historic approach.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

I h a v e b e e n a s k e d t o r e v ie w th e l a s t d e c a d e o f Lo w l a n d M a y a a r -

chaeo lo gy and d i scuss any ma jo r t rends tha t can be d i scerned . Th e t a sk

p re s e n t s n u m e ro u s p ro b l e m s , n o t t h e l e a s t o f w h i c h is t h e f a c t t h a t o n e

has l it t le t ime to de l ibera te on da ta so newly p rodu ced . I a l so do no t wa n t

to run the r i sk o f ex to l l ing cu rren t rese arch a t the expens e o f tha t don e

b y o u r p r e d e c e s s o r s . F in a ll y , t h e v o l u m e o f l i t e r a tu r e o n M a y a a r c h a e o l o g y

h a s b e e n i n c r e a s i n g s o r a p i d l y i n r e c e n t y e a r s t h a t o n e c a n n o t h o p e t o d o

mor e than c i t e a f rac t ion o f i t. I have t r i ed to com pens a te fo r th is by in -

c lud ing a 400-en t ry b ib l iog raphy a t the end o f the rev iew.

A t l e a s t t h r e e m a j o r t r e n d s c a n b e s e e n i n t h e l a s t d e c a d e o f Lo w l a n d

M a y a a r c h a e o l o g y , a n d I o rg an i z e m y p re s e n t a ti o n a ro u n d t h e m . Th e f i rs t

t rend i s a subs tan t ia l increase in the in teg ra t ion o f mul t ip le l ines o f ev i -

d e n c e - i n e f f e c t, w h a t W a l t e r W . Ta y lo r ( t 9 4 8 ) c a l l ed t h e c o n j u n c t iv e a p -

p roa ch (Ca rma ck and Weeks , 1981 ; Fash and Sharer , 1991 , Marc us , 1983;

Sab lo f f , 1990) . Th is e f fo r t ra re ly has reached the po in t where i t cou ld be

c a l le d p ro c e s s u a l a r c h a e o l og y , b e c a u s e th e l a tt e r r e q u i r e s th a t r e s e a r c h

1Museum of Anthropology Room 4009 1109 Geddes Avenue University of Michigan Ann

Arbor Michigan 48109-1079.

I059-0161/95/0300-0003507.50/17 1995 PlenumPublishingCorporation


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The Future of Maya rchaeology

p r o p r i a t e a n a lo g i e s t o t h e Ma y a s t a t e . W e h a v e s e e n t h e Ma y a c o mp a r e d

to A e g e a n c h i e f d o m s o r s e g me n ta r y s o c i et i e s l ik e t h e u n s t r a t if i e d A lu r , a n d

w e h a v e s e e n i n s t i t u t i o n s t y p i c a l o f S ib e r i a n h u n t e r s a n d g a th e r e r s ( s u c h

as shamanism) pro jec ted onto the C lass ic Maya s ta te . Apparent ly , i t i s go-

in g t o t a k e M a y a n i s ts a w h i l e t o g e t t h e h a n g o f th i s c o mp a r a t i v e th in g .

T R E N D I: R E C E N T F I E L D R E S E A R C H , W I T H I T S I N C R E A S I N G L Y

C O N J U N C T I V E A P P R O A C H

O n e o f t h e e n c o u r a g in g s i g n s o f t h e l a s t d e c a d e i s t h a t i t w i tn e s s e d

s igni f ican t progres s on a ll epoch s of May a preh is tory : Pa leo indian , Arc ha ic ,

Preclassic , Classic , and Postc lassic . We look a t these per iods in order .

P a l e o i n d i a n a n d A r c h a i c P e r i o d s 1 0 , 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 0 B . C .? )

D u r in g t h e l a s t 1 0 0 y e a r s o f L o w la n d M a y a a r c h a eo lo g y , P a l e o in d i a n

a n d A r c h a i c s it e s h a d b e e n l a r g ely i g n o r e d . I n 1 9 8 0 , R i c h a r d S . Ma c N e i s h

b e g a n t h e B e l i ze A r c h a i c A r c h a e o lo g i c a l R e c o n n a i s s a n c e t o f o c u s o n t h e s e

n e g l e c t e d p e r io d s . B y c r o s s - d at i n g p r o je c t i le p o in t t y p e s w i th o th e r r e g io n s

o f M e s o a me r i c a , Ma c N e i s h t e n t a t i v e ly d iv id e d t h e p e r i o d 9 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 B .C .

in to s ix A r c h a i c p h a s e s ( M a c N e i s h

e t a l .

1980; Mac Neish , 1981,1982; M ac-

Ne ish and Ne lken-Terne r , 1983; Ze i t l in , 1984) . M ost of the 60-80 s i te s M ac-

N e i s h l o c a t e d w e r e s h a l l o w , n o t p e r mi t t i n g t h e k in d o f s t r a t i g r a p h i c w o r k

he had done ea r l ie r in Tehuac~ in and Tamaut ipas ( see F ig . 1 ) . The a r t i f ac ts

s u g g e s t e d t o h im th a t A r c h a i c p e o p l e s r e l i e d o n mix e d s t r a t e g i e s o f p l a n t

c o l l ec t i n g a n d h u n t i n g a n d t h a t t h e y o c c u p i e d c amp s i n d i f f e r e n t e n v i r o n -

me n ta l z o n e s d u r in g d i f f e r e n t se a s o n s.

T He s te r and H. Sha fe r ' s Co lha Region a l Survey was in i t ia ted in 1979.

I t s p r i n cip a l g o a l w a s t o l o c a t e c h ip p e d s t o n e w o r k s h o p s f o r a l l p e r i o d s i n

n o r th e r n B e l iz e 's c h e r t - b e a r in g z o n e a s d e f i n e d b y A . W r ig h t e t a l . (1959) .

A s a r e s u l t o f t h e C o lh a s u r v e y , s e v e r a l P a l e o in d ia n a n d A r c h a i c d i s c o v e r i e s

w e r e m a d e ( s e e F ig . 2 ). T h e y i n c lu d e t h e o ld e s t a r ti f a c t k n o w n f r o m B e l i z e ,

a Pa leo indian C lovis po in t f rom Ladyvi l le (Hes te r

e t a l .

1981) . This po in t

i s r e g a r d e d a s s imi la r t o t h o s e f o u n d i n P a n a m a b y B i rd a n d C o o k e ( 1 9 7 8,

F ig . 5 A ) . T h e o n ly o th e r C lo v i s p o in t s k n o w n f r o m th e Ma y a r e g io n h a i l

f r o m th e Ma y a Mo u n ta in s o f B e l i z e a n d h ig h l a n d G u a t e ma la ( s e e F ig . 3 ) ;

they a re tho ugh t to da te to ca . 10 ,000 B .C . (Brown, 1980; Du nh am , 1994;

Gruhn and Bryan , 1977) .

A r c h a i c p o in t s h a v e b e e n f o u n d a t L o w e R a n c h , L a d y v it l e, a n d e l s e-

w h e r e i n n o r th e r n 'B e li ze . M a c N e i s h ' s p r o j e c t a n d t h a t o f H e s t e r a n d S h a r e r


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arcus

o

V a l l e y o f M e x i co

.... ~ ~;;::. T la p co y

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Va lley o(~ ;i::i~ i~ i iil;P u e b l a

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V a l l e y o f Te h u a c&

Nochixtl~n-~i~;

S o u th e r n Gu l f

c o a s t

N O R T H E R N

'L OW L A NDS

S a n

J os a , G r i ja l va D e p r e s s i o n ~

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. . . . . . . . L OW L A NDS

T^, ._^n . . . . . . . . . . Va l ley o f G u a t e m a l a Ci ty

p l a i n o c 6 s r e g i o n ~ i i i i i i ~ i: S ou th ea stp e r i p h e r y

G u a t e m a l a n c o a s t ......

F i g 1 . M e s o a m e r i c a ~ s h o w i n g s o m e r e g i o n s d i s c u s s e d i n t h i s a r t i c l e .

u n d e r to o k e x c a v a t i o ns a t L a d y v il le a t d i f f e r e n t t ime s ; t o g e th e r t h e i r w o r k

y i e ld e d 1 3 p r o j e c t i l e p o in t s f r o m th e s u r f a c e a n d 3 f o u n d

n s tu

(Kelly,

1 9 93 ). T w o o f t h e L a t e A r c h a i c p o in t s s e e m to b e a s s o c i a t e d w i th a h e a r th

da t ing to ca . 2000-1900 B .C . Ke l ly ca l ls these a r t i f ac ts Low e poin ts . Two

o th e r p o in t ty p e s , c a l le d S a w h i ll a n d ' ~ J ls p i c e b y K e l ly , ma y b e m o r e

r e c e n t t h a n t h e L o w e p o in t s .

I f we fo l low Ke l ly ' s se r ia t ion of pro jec t i le po in ts ( a s oppo sed to M ac-

Ne ish ' s ) , we a re le f t wi th a gap of 6000-8000 yea r s be tw een the Pa leo in dian

p e r io d a n d t h e L a t e A r c h a i c . I f t h i s g a p i s r e a l , n o r th e r n B e l i z e w o u ld

h a v e b e e n u n in h a b i t e d d u r in g t h e E a r ly A r c h a i c f o r u n e x p l a in e d r e a s o n s .

T h e g a p , h o w e v e r , ma y s imp ly b e a c o n s e q u e n c e o f t o o f e w s t r a ti f i e d A r -

cha ic s i te s having been excava ted in Be l ize .

Ke l ly (1993, p . 225) sugges ts tha t the Archa ic ch ipped-s tone technol -

o g y o f B e li z e is s o d i f f e r e n t f r o m th a t o f l a t e r p e r io d s t h a t t h e m a k e r s o f

t h e A r c h a ic p o i n ts m u s t b e co n s i d e re d n o n - M a y a p e o p l e w h o w e r e l at e r

r e p l a c e d b y M a y a . T h i s h y p o th e s i s o f e t h n i c re p l a c e m e n t , h o w e v e r , as -

s u me s a c lo s e r l i n k b e tw e e n Ma y a s p e a k e r s a n d c h ip p e d - s to n e t e c h n o lo g y

th a n mo s t a n a ly s t s a r e w i l l i n g t o a c c e p t . O th e r r e g io n s o f Me s o a me r i c a

show typologica l d isconform i t ie s of th is k ind ( for examp le , p ro jec t i le po in ts


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T h e F u t u r e o f M a y a A r c h a e o l o g y

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F i g . 2 . N o r t h e r n B e l i z e, s h o w i n g s o m e o f t h e e a r l i e s t s i t e s l o c a t e d n e a r o r o n t h e c h e r t -

b e a r i n g z o n e s h a d e d

a r e a .

v i r t u a l l y d i s a p p e a r i n t h e V a l l e y o f O a x a c a a n d G r i j a l v a D e p r e s s i o n b e -

t w e e n t h e L a t e A r c h a i c a n d t h e E a r ly F o r m a t iv e . T h e c h a n g e s c o u l d s im -

p l y b e t e c h n o l o g i c a l , r e f l e c ti n g t h e s h i ft fr o m h u n t i n g a n d g a t h e r i n g t o t r e e


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Marcus

f e l l ing for agr icu l ture . ( In O axaca and th e Gr i ja lva , we sus pec t a sh i f t f rom

h u n t in g d e e r w i th c h e r t - t i p p e d a t la t l d a r ts t o h u n t i n g i n l a r g e r g r o u p s w i th

n e t s a n d f i r e - h a r d e n e d s p e a r s l ik e t h e C h ia p a n e c . )

N e w w o r k a t C o lh a s u g g e s t s si g n if i ca n t c o n t i n u i t y fr o m A r c h a i c t o

Mid d l e P r e c l a s s i c t ime s . I n t h e Mid d l e P r e c l a s s i c , H e s t e r a n d S h a r e r s e e

n e w to o l t y p e s e me r g in g i n r e s p o n s e t o c h a n g in g a g r i c u l t u r a l s t r a t e g i e s .

T h e r e i s a s h i ft a w a y f ro m th e A r c h a i c c o n s tr i c t ed u n i f a c e s a n d c e r t a in

ma c r o b l a d e t o o l s t o Mid d l e P r e c l a s s i c b i r a c i a l c e l t s a n d s h a r p T - s h a p e d

a d z e s/ a x es ( f o r e r u n n e r s o f t h e t r a n c h e t b i t t o o l ). H o w e v e r , c o n t i n u in g u s e

o f ma c r o b l a d e t o o l s b r i d g e s t h e g a p b e tw e e n t h e s e a s s e mb la g e s ( S h a r e r ,

p e r s o n a l c o m mu n ic a t i o n , 1 99 4 ) . B o th t h e A r c h a i c t o o l a s s e mb la g e a n d t h e

pol len ev idence ( J . Jones , 1991) sugges t a pe r iod of fores t c lea rance , whi le

the Middle P rec la ss ic a ssemblage sugges ts o the r agr icu l tura l pur su i t s . In

o th e r w o r d s , o n c e mu c h o f t h e A r c h a i c r a in f o r e s t s u r r o u n d in g C o lh a h a d

b e e n c l e a r e d , r e s id e n t s m a y h a v e d e v e lo p e d a d i f f e r e n t s e t o f t o o l s f o r

f a r min g t h e mo r e o p e n Mid d l e P r e c l a s s i c l a n d s c a p e .

L ik e C o lh a , P u l l t r o u s e r S w a mp h a s y i e ld e d n e w d a t a t h a t s u g g e s t c o n -

t i n u i t y f r o m L a t e A r c h a i c h u n t i n g a n d w o o d w o r k i n g i m p l e m e n t s ( a

s t e m m e d p o in t a n d a c o n s t r i c t e d u n i f a c e ) to P r e c l a ss i c f a r min g t o o l s ( a d z e s

a n d c e l t s ) ( H e s t e r

e t a L

1993; Pohl

e t a L

1 9 9 4 ) . E m p lo y in g a t r u ly c o n -

ju n c t iv e a p p r o a c h t o t h e M a y a A r c h a i c h as b e e n d i ff i cu l t, b e c a u s e c h ip p e d

s tone of ten cons t i tu te s th e only so lid l ine of ev idence . We s t il l l ack sys tem-

a t ic s u r v e y d a t a f r o m l a r g e s e c to r s o f t h e L o w la n d s , c o m b in e d w i th e x t e n -

s ive f lora l and envi ronmenta l da ta ( so i l s , po l len , and phyto t i ths ) , bu t J .

Jones (1991) and Pohl

e t a L

(1994) a re co l lec t ing these sor t s o f da ta for

t h e A r c h a i c .

T h e A r c h a i c P r e c l a s s i c T r a n s i t io n

A d e c a d e a g o I p o in t e d t o a l a c k o f d a t a o n t h e t r a n s i t io n f r o m th e

Archa ic to the P rec la ss ic in the Lowland Maya reg ion , a s we l t a s a puzz l ing

absence of E a r ly P rec la ss ic s ite s (M arcus , 1 983, 1984).

T w o c u r r e n t p r o j e c t s a r e p r o v id in g d a t a o n t h e t r a n s i t i o n f r o m A r -

c h a i c t o P r e c l a s s i c t ime s . E x c a v a t i o n s a t tw o n o r th e r n B e l i z e s w a mp s - -

C o lh a ' s C o b w e b S w a mp ( J . J o n e s , 1 9 9 1 ; H e s t e r , 1 9 9 3 ; H e s t e r

e t a l .

1993;

S h a r e r a n d H e s t e r , p e r s o n a l c o mm u n ic a t i o n , 1 9 94 ) a n d P u l l t r o u s e r S w a mp

(Pohl

e t a l .

1 9 9 4 ) - - a p p e a r t o c o n t a in A r c h a i c t h r o u g h Mid d l e P r e c l a s s i c

ma te r i a l s i n g o o d s t r a t i g r a p h i c c o n t e x t . A t P u l l t r o u s e r S w a mp , P o h l e t a L

h a v e f o u n d a L a t e A r c h a i c c a mp s i t e ( d a t e d t o 2 3 0 0 - 1 3 0 0 B . C . ) t h a t c o n -

t a in s r e to u c h e d c h e r t f l a k es , b la d e s , a n d s c r a p e r s, a s w e l l a s o n e c o m p le t e

L o w e p o in t . ( T h e p o in t w a s a s s o c i at e d w i th a p i e c e o f w o o d r a d io c a r -


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b o n - d a t e d t o 2 3 0 0 B . C ) . P o h l e t a L s u g g e s t t h a t d u r i n g t h e r a i n y s e a s o n ,

i n h a b i t a n t s o c c u p i e d t h i s c a m p s i t e t o c o l l e c t a q u a t i c r e s o u r c e s . F a u n a l r e -

m a i n s i n c l u d e f i s h a n d t u r t le , w i t h t h e t u r t l e c a r a p a c e s S t a u r o t y p u s ) s h o w -

i n g e v i d e n c e o f c u t t i n g a n d b u r n i n g . D u r i n g t h e d r y s e a s o n , w h e n w a t e r

l e v el s w e r e l o w e r , t h e w e t l a n d s m i g h t h a v e b e e n c u l t iv a t e d . P o l l e n r e c o r d s

f r o m P u l l t r o u s e r S w a m p a n d C o b w e b S w a m p r e v e a l a m a j o r i n c r e a s e i n

f r a g m e n t s o f p a r t i c u l a t e c a r b o n a n d c a r b o n i z e d v e g e t a t i o n a t c a . 2 5 0 0 B .C . ,

l e a d in g J o n e s a n d P o h l

e t a l .

t o i n f e r t h a t e x t e n s i v e b u r n i n g f o r f o r e s t c l e a r -

a n c e w a s t a k i n g p l a c e h e r e , a s i t d i d a t C o l h a ( J . J o n e s , 1 9 9 1 ) . M a i z e p o l l e n

h a s b e e n r e c o v e r e d , a s w e l l a s p o l l e n fr o m d i s t u r b a n c e v e g e t a t i o n - -

g r a s se s ( P o a c e a e ) , c o m p o s i t e s ( A s t e ra c e a e ) , C h e n o p o d i u m , a n d A m a r a n t h u s

(J . J o n e s , p e r s o n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n , 1 9 94 ). P h y t o l i t h s o f s q u a s h a n d b o t t l e

g o u r d w e r e a l s o f o u n d ( D . P i p e r n o , p e r s o n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n , 1 9 9 4 ) . J .

J o n e s a n d P o h l e t a l . b e l i e v e t h a t t h e y h a v e e v i d e n c e f o r e x t e n s i v e e x p a n -

s i o n o f m a i z e a g r i c u l t u r e d u r i n g t h i s t i m e .

Ea r ly Pr e c la s s i c c a . 1 2 0 0 -9 0 0 B .C . )

S o f a r , i t i s o n l y a t C o p f i n t h a t w e h a v e c l e a r e v i d e n c e f o r a n E a r l y

P r e c l a s s i c p e r i o d ( F a s h , 1 9 8 2 ; 1 9 9 1 , p p . 6 7 - 6 9 ) . I n G r o u p 9 N - 8 o f t h a t s i t e ,

F a s h e x c a v a t e d s e v e r al b u r i a ls w i t h v es s el s b e a r in g c a r v e d a n d i n c i s e d m o -

t i f s s i m i l a r t o t h o s e f o u n d a t T l a t i l c o , T l a p a c o y a , a n d S a n J o s 6 M o g o t e i n

t h e M e x i c a n h i g h l a n d s b e t w e e n 1 2 0 0 a n d 9 0 0 B .C . ( F l a n n e r y a n d M a r c u s ,

1994 , Chap . 12) .

M iddle Pr e c la ss i c c a . 9 0 0 -4 0 0 B .C . )

A m o r e c o m p r e h e n s i v e c o n j u n c t i v e a p p r o a c h i s p o s s i b l e f o r t h e M i d -

d l e P r e c l a s s i c , b e c a u s e s o m a n y l i n e s o f e v i d e n c e a r e a v a i l a b l e ( s e t t l e m e n t

p a t t e r n d a t a , s u p e r i m p o s e d f l o o r s , c l e a r a r c h i t e c t u r e , b u r i a l s , c a c h e s , f l o r a ,

a n d f a u n a ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , a n u m b e r o f si te s w i t h M i d d l e P r e c la s s ic o c c u -

p a t i o n s h a v e b e e n e x c a v a t e d , s u c h a s C u e l l o ( A n d r e w s a n d H a m m o n d ,

1 9 9 0; H a m m o n d , 1 9 9 1) , E1 P o z i t o [ s i c ] ( H e s t e r e t a l . , 1991; N e ivens , 1976) ,

K ' a x o b ( M c A n a n y , 1 9 9 1 , 1 9 9 2 ) , C o l h a ( H e s t e r a n d S h a f e r , 1 9 8 4 ; P o t t e r ,

1 9 9 1 a , b ; S h a r e r , 1 9 9 1 ; V a l d e z , 1 9 8 7 ) , K i c h p a n h a ( G i b s o n , 1 9 8 9 ) , L a m a n a i

( P e n d e r g a s t , 1 9 8 1 ), P u U t r o u s e r S w a m p ( T u r n e r a n d H a r r i s o n , 1 9 8 3 ), C a h a l

P e c h ( A w e , 1 9 9 2 ) , T i k a l ( C o e , 1 9 9 0 ; L a p o r t e a n d F i a l k o , 1 9 9 0 ) , U a x a c t t i n

( R i c k e t s o n a n d R i c k e t s o n , 1 9 3 7) , N a k b e ( H a n s e n , 1 9 89 , 1 99 1 ), E1 M i r a d o r

( D e m a r e s t , 1 9 84 ; D e m a r e s t a n d F o w l e r , 1 9 84 ; H a n s e n , 1 9 90 ; M a t h e n y ,

1 9 8 0 , 1 9 8 6 ) , S e i b a l ( S a b l o f f , 1 9 7 5 ; W i l l e y , 1 9 7 8 ) , A l t a r d e S a c r i f i c i o s

( A d a m s , 1 9 7 1 ) , C a ' l a k m u l ( F o l a n , 1 9 8 5 ; F o l a n e t a l . , 1 9 9 4 ; P i n c e m i n , 1 9 8 9 ) ,


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10 Marcus

Oxldn tok (R ive ra D . , 1992) , Dz ib i lcha l tt ln (And rews V, 1981; A nd rew s IV

a n d A n d r e w s V , 1 9 8 0 ) , a n d K o m c h e n ( A n d r e w s V, 1 9 8 1 ; R in g l e a n d A n -

drews V, 1988, 1990) .

As la te a s the Middle P rec la ss ic , we s t i l l cannot show tha t the Maya

o f n o r th e r n B e l i z e h a d m o v e d b e y o n d t h e s t a g e o f e g a l i ta r i a n f a r me r s l i v ing

in a u to n o m o u s v il la ge s. V i l la g e rs w e r e b u r i e d b e n e a th o r n e a r t h e i r h o u s e s ,

b u t n o t i n s e g r e g a t e d c e me te r i e s o r s p e c i a l t o mb s . F o r e x a mp le , Mid d l e

P r e c l a s s i c g r a v e s a t C u e l l o w e r e p l a c e d u n d e r h o u s e f l o o r s a n d i n h o u s e

p l a t fo r ms , a n d R o b in a n d H a m m o n d ( 1 9 9 1 , p . 2 2 5) n o t e t h a t t h r o u g h o u t

th a t p e r i o d , ma l e s , f e ma le s , a n d j u v e n i l e s h a v e c o mp a r a b l e g r a v e g o o d s .

We do not have a s man y Middle P rec la ss ic bur ia l s for o t he r s i te s ; how ever ,

w h e n t h e f i n a l r e p o r t s f ro m K a x o b , C a b a l P e c h , a n d o th e r s i te s a r e p u b -

l i shed , we wi l l be in a much be t te r pos i t ion to compare popula t ions a t sev-

eral Maya vil lages.

I n s o m e s i te s in n o r th e r n G u a t e m a la ( i n c o n t ra s t t o n o r th e r n B e l i z e ) ,

r a n k s o c i e t i e s s e e m to b e i n e v id e n c e d u r in g mu c h o f t h e P r e c l a s s i c . B e -

g inning in the second ha l f o f the M iddle P rec la ssic, som e reg ions d isp layed

r e l at i v e ly s imp le c h i e f d o ms w i th a tw o - t i e re d s e t t l e me n t h i e r a r c h y a n d s o m e

evidence for r anking (pr inc ipa l ly in fe r red f rom bur ia ls ) . This two- t ie red h i -

e r a r c h y s e e ms t o c h a r a c t e r i z e c e r t a in s u b r e g io n s o f n o r th e r n G u a t e ma la

a n d n o r th e r n Y u c a tf in , imp ly in g t h a t v il la g e a u to n o m y h a d b e e n l o s t i n

th o s e a r e a s . S it e s s u c h a s N a k b e , E 1 Mi r a d o r , a n d C a l a k mu l m a y h a v e b e e n

rank soc ie t ie s (Dahl in , 1984; Han sen , 1991; Folan

e t a l .

1 9 9 4 ; M a t h e n y

1980), bu t w e lack suf f ic ien t in form a t ion on M iddle P rec la ss ic r eg io na l se t -

t lem ent pa t te rns , po l i t ica l h ie ra rch ies , and d i f f e ren t ia l bur ia l t r e a tm en t to

document th is fu l ly .

L a t e P r e c l a s s ic c a . 4 0 0 B .C . - A . D . 2 5 0 )

B y L a t e P r e c la s s ic t ime s , t h e t h r e e - t i e r e d h i e r a r c h i e s c h a r a c t e r i s ti c o f

mo r e a d v a n c e d c h i e f d o ms h a d a p p e a r e d i n ma n y re g io n s . F o r e x a m p le ,

s i t e s s u c h a s E t Mi r a d o r , C a l a k mu l , T ik a l , N a k b e , a n d K o mc h e n s e e m to

h a v e b e c o me th e p a r a mo u n t c e n t e r s o f r a t h e r f l a mb o y a n t c h i e f d o ms . A l -

thou gh S hare r (1992) sugges ts tha t these m ight be ea r ly s ta te s , we s t i l l lack

th e n e c e s s a r y d a t a o n s e t t l e me n t p a t t e r n s , f o u r - t i e re d a d m in i s tr a t iv e h i e r -

a rch ies , pa laces , and so for th . I f such da ta a re co l lec ted , we might be ab le

to r ec la ss i fy som e o f these L a te P rec la ss ic soc ie t ie s a s s ta te s .

L a t e P r e c l a s s i c t e mp le s w e r e p l a c e d a to p h u g e p y r a mid s a t c e n t e r s

s u c h a s E 1 Mi r a d o r , C a l a k mu l , R f o A z u l , N a k b e , C e r r o s , a n d L a ma n a i

( A d a ms , 1 9 9 0 ; F o l a n

e t a l .

1 9 9 4 ; Ma th e n y , 1 9 8 6 ; R o b e r t s o n a n d F r e id e I ,

1 9 86 ). T h e h u g e . p y r amid a l b a s es o f t e n h a d mo d e l e d , p a in t e d , a n d l ime -


9/51


p las te red faqades tha t dep ic t overs ized superna tu ra l be ings . Fo r example ,

Calakm ul ' s La te Prec lass ic S t ruc tu re I I (55 m h igh and 140 x 140 m a t i t s

b a s e ) a n d E1 M i ra d o r ' s E l T i g r e s t r u c tu r e a r e t w o o f t h e l a rg e st p y ra m i d s

e v e r b u i l t i n t h e M a y a a r e a . Th e a b i l i t y t o c o m m a n d e x t e n s i v e m a n p o w e r

to con s t ruc t py ram ids and causeways is impress ive , bu t s i ze a lone i s in su f-

f i c ie n t t o s h o w th a t s t a t e h o o d h a d b e e n r e a c h e d . M o n k ' s M o u n d a t C a -

h o k i a w a s b u i l t b y a M i s s is s i pp i a n c h i e f d o m , a s w e r e t h e i m p r e s s i v e

pyram ida l s t ruc tu res o f Moundv i l l e .

Th e La t e P re c la s s ic w a s a t im e w h e n c a c h e s b e c a m e v e ry c o m m o n

at p laces such as Uaxac t t in , Tika l , K 'axob , Cuel lo , and Cerros . Many tem-

p l e s h a d d e d i c a t o ry c a c h e s t h a t c o n ta i n e d s t o n e e c c e n t r ic s , s o la b e l e d

because o f the i r unusua l ( r i tua l / symbol ic ) shapes . Al though some were o f

l o c al c h e r t, o t h e r s w e re o f i m p o r t e d c h e r t o r o b s i d ia n . D u r i n g t h e La t e

Prec lass ic there i s ev idence o f fu l l - t ime occupat iona l spec ia l i za t ion wi th in

a r e g i o n a l e c o n o m i c s p h e re , o n e i n w h i c h c h e r t t o o l s m a n u fa c t u r e d a t

Co lh a were wide ly exchanged (D ockal l and Shafer , 1993 ; Mc Anan y , 1989c;

McSwain , 1991 ; Shafer and Hes te r , 1983) . Th is exchange ne twork p robab ly

ref lec t s t rad ing par tners l inked by ti es o f k insh ip a nd f i c t ive k in ; in add i t ion

to the beau t i fu l eccen t r i cs , i t i s poss ib le tha t per i shab le p roduct s were a l so

exchanged . M any C o lha eccen t r i cs found the i r way in to caches and b ur ia l s

a t o ther s i t es , bo th near and d i s tan t .

A n o t h e r La t e P re c l a ss i c t r e n d i n t h e Lo w l a n d M a y a a r e a w a s t h e c o n -

vers ion o f fo rmer ly res iden t ia l a reas in to loca l i t i es fo r pub l ic bu i ld ings (a

t r a n s fo rm a t i o n t h a t c a n b e s e e n e l s e w h e re i n M e s o a m e r i c a , s u c h a s t h e

Val ley o f Oaxac a) . Fo r example , K 'axob in no r thern Bel ize covers 84 ha ,

has 90 v i s ib le s t ruc tu res , wi th the majo r i ty a r ranged around open cour t s ,

and shows a long occupat ion ex tend ing f rom the Midd le Prec lass ic to Ter-

mina l C lass ic . There McAnany (1991 , 1992) has ev idence to sugges t tha t

a Midd le Prec lass ic res iden t ia l a rea was t rans fo rmed in to a La te Prec lass ic

sacred a rea w i th p la t fo rms and sh r ines , poss ib ly fo r ances to r worsh ip . Du r-

ing the Class ic per iod a 4 -m ta ll py ramid tha t cove red the en t i re a rea wa s

buil t .

A n o t h e r e x c it in g d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e l a st d e c a d e h a s b e e n t h e i n -

creas ing recovery o f ev idence fo r La te Prec lass ic ra id ing , cap t ive t ak ing ,

and mass bu r ia l o f sacr i f i ced v ic t ims . Such bur ia l s a re now known f rom

Late Prec lass ic Cuel lo (Gerhard t , 1988 ; Rob in , 1989) , the Sa lam~ Val ley

(Sha rer and Sedat , 1987), and Chalchu apa (Fowler , I984) , as wel l as f rom

Ear ly Class ic Tika l ( see be low) . At Cuel lo , many o f the 103 Late Prec lass ic

bur ia l s were f rom two mass bu r ia l s (Mass Bur ia l I had 32 ind iv idua l s , and

Mass B ur ia l I I had 12 + males ) . In bo th mass bu r ia l s , two p r inc ipa l oc cu-

p a n t s w e re p l a c e d i n e a c h g r a v e fi rs t; t h e n o t h e r s w e re p l a c e d a ro u n d t h e m .

M a n y o f t h e a d d e d b u r ia l s ( n e a rl y a ll m a l e ) a p p e a r t o h a v e b e e n s a c r if i c e d


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2 Marcus

o r e n t e r r e d a s b u n d l e s (R o b i n a n d H a m m o n d , 1 99 1) . S i x c a rv e d b o n e t u b e s

w e re p l a c e d i n M a s s B u r i a l I ( c a . 3 0 0 B .C . ) ; f o u r a r e n o t e w o r t h y b e c a u s e

t h e y d i s p la y t h e m a t m o t i f

pop

s y m b o l) . Th i s m a t m o t i f w a s w i d e s p re a d

t h ro u g h o u t t h e M e s o a m e r i c a n h i gh l an d s, h a v i n g b e e n u s e d a s a s y m b o l o f

ch ief ly au thor i ty as fa r back as 1000 B .C. in the Val ley o f Oaxaca (Marcus ,

1992a , p .304). The mo t i f migh t have had the sam e ch ief ly impl ica t ion a t

Cuel lo a t 300 B .C. In l a te r per iods , a f t e r ac tua l s t a tes had evo lved , the

m a t s y m b o l b e c a m e a n i n s ig n ia o f r o y a lt y a m o n g t h e M a y a , A z t e c , a n d

Mix tec .

Prec lass ic ra id ing , cap t ive t aking , ske le ta l mu t i la t ion , an d ma ss bu r ia l s

h a v e e m e rg e d a s t h e m e s fo r f u t u r e M a y a r e s e a r c h . W e n e e d t o k n o w m u c h

m o re a b o u t t h e c h i e fl y c o m p e t i t i o n a n d c o o p e ra t i o n t h a t s e t t h e p o l i t i ca l

s t a g e fo r t h e t r a n s fo rm a t i o n o f M a y a c h i e fd o m s i n t o s t a t e s . M a y a w a r f a r e

m a y h a v e i n c r e a s e d a n d d e c re a s e d i n d i f fe r e n t p e r i o d s a t d i f f e r e n t s i te s ,

bu t i t was c lear ly no t an innovat ion o f the Class ic o r Pos tc lass ic - -a pos i t ion

o n c e a d v o c a t e d b y M o r l e y (1 9 4 6 ) a n d o t h e r s .

I n d e e d , i t n o w a p p e a r s t h a t w a r f a r e m a y h a v e b e e n a m a j o r f a c t o r

in Becf in ' s r i se du r ing the L ate P rec lass ic (Webs ter , 1976 , 1977) and in Rio

Azurs r i se du r ing the Ear ly Class ic (Adams , 1990) . Such warfare has o f ten

b e e n i n v o k e d i n t h e

demise

of Maya c ivi li za tion , bu t to o ra re ly me n t io ned

as a factor in i ts r ise (Marcus, 1992b).

W a r fa r e ( a s w e l t a s e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i o p o l i t i c a l c o m p e t i t i o n ) m a y

have be en invo lved in the co l lapse o f E1 Mirador , an ea r ly s i t e v ir tua l ly

a b a n d o n e d b y A . D . 1 50 . C e r r o s a ls o ap p e a r s t o h a ve b e e n a b a n d o n e d

a b o u t t h i s t im e , b u t t h e s i t e a c ro s s t h e b a y f ro m i t - -S a n t a R i t a C o ro z a l - -

s e e m s t o h a v e f l o u r i s h e d a f t e r C e r ro s w a s a b a n d o n e d , p e rh a p s e v e n b e -

c a u s e o f t h e l a t t e r ' s a b a n d o n m e n t .

A b a n d o n m e n t o f c e n t e r s b e t w e e n A .D . 1 0 0 a n d A .D . 2 5 0 m a y h a v e

b e e n w i d e s p re a d , a s s o m e h a v e s u g g e s t e d (M o r l e y et aL, 1983, p . 81); such

a b a n d o n m e n t i s m o s t e v i d e n t i n t h e G u a t e m a l a n H i g h l a n d s a n d E1 S a l v a -

d o r . Th e re , d a t a f ro m t h e s i te o f C h a l c h u a p a a n d o t h e r s i n t h e Z a p o t i t ~ n

V a l le y h a v e p ro v i d e d o n e e x p l a na t i o n fo r a n a b a n d o n m e n t t h a t e n d u re d

fo r 2 00 y ea r s : w i t h t h e e ru p t i o n o f t h e I l o p o n g o v o lc a n o d u r i n g t h e s u m m e r

of A.D. 175, cen t ra l Sa lvado ran popu la t ions were d i sp laced and t r ade t i es

were b roken (Share r an d Se dat , 1987 ; Shee t s , 1992 ; 1993 , p .22 ) . Whi le th i s

v o l c a n ic e ru p t io n m a y e xp l a in s i te a b a n d o n m e n t s i n t h e s o u t h e a s t e rn M a y a

a re a , i t s e e m s q u i t e i n s u f f i c i e n t t o e x p l a i n a b a n d o n m e n t s i n a r e a s m o re

d i s t a n t f r o m I l o p o n g o , s u c h a s t h e d r a s t i c d e c l i n e i n p o p u l a t i o n a ro u n d

K o m c h e n i n N o r t h w e s t Y u c a tf in b e t w e e n A .D . 1 00 a n d A .D . 6 0 0 . F u r t h e r -

m o re , a n u m b e r o f k e y s i te s su c h a s T i k a l, C a l a k m u l , a n d S a n t a R i t a

C o ro z a l s h o w t h a t m a n y c e n t e r s c o n t i n u e d , a p p a re n t l y w i t h o u t i n t e r ru p t i o n .

Th i s p a t t e rn o f a b a n d o n m e n t o f so m e s i t es a n d r e g io n s a n d n o t o t h e r s


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The Future of Maya rchaeology 3

ant ic ipa te s the cycl ica l dec l ines and r i se s of o th e r s i tes th rou gho ut the C las-

sic per iod.

C l a s s i c A . D . 2 5 0 - 9 0 0 )

T h e C la ss i c p e r i o d i s t r a d i ti o n a l ly d iv id ed i n to tw o h a lv e s - - a n E a r ly

(A.D. 250-600) and La te (A.D. 600-900) . The La te C lass ic has r ece ived

mo r e a t t e n t i o n t h a n a n y o th e r p e r i o d i n t h e M a y a a r c h a e o lo g i c a l s e q u e n c e ,

pr imar i ly becau se i t i s so access ib le and v isible. T he La te C lass ic saw peak s

in both a rch i tec tura l ac t iv i ty (numbers of temples , pa laces , s te lae , ba l l -

c o u r t s ) a n d p o p u l a t i o n ( a s i n f e r r e d f r o m th e t o t a l n u mb e r s o f s i t e s a n d

th e d e n s i t y o f h o u s e mo u n d s a t t h o s e s i t es ). S u c h e x p lo s io n s i n c o n s t r u c t i o n

a c t i v i t y a n d p o p u l a t i o n mu s t h a v e h a d a n t e c e d e n t c a u s e s ; t h u s t h e E a r ly

Class ic cont inues to loom as a c ruc ia l pe r iod for fu ture r e sea rch . The bad

n e w s i s t h a t t h e E a r ly C la s s i c - - t h e p r i n c ip a l p e r i o d o f Ma y a s t a t e f o r ma -

t i o n - i s p o o r ly k n o w n a t mo s t si te s. T h e g o o d n e w s is t h a t t h e c o n ju n c t i v e

a p p r o a c h c a n b e e f f e ct i v ely imp le me n te d i n t h e E a r ly C las s ic b e c a u s e m a n y

l ines of in forma t io n a re ava ilab le, inc luding m any newly d iscovered h ie ro-

glyphic texts.

I n t h e Ma y a a r e a , a s i n ma n y p a r t s o f t h e a n c i e n t w o r ld , b u i l d in g s

th a t a r e c l e a r l y te mp le s a p p e a r b e f o r e b u i ld in g s t h a t a r e c l e a rl y p a l a c e s . I t

h a s b e e n q u i t e e a s y t o f i n d Ma y a t e mp le s a n d t o d o c u m e n t t h e i r e v o lu t i o n ;

they a re ta l l and v is ib le , and the i r pyramida l bases a re of ten immense . In

c o n t r a s t, d o c u me n t in g t h e e v o lu t i o n o f t h e Ma y a p a l a c e h a s b e e n v e r y d if -

f i cu l t [ b u t t h e A - V s e q u e n c e a t U a x a c t f in is o n e n i c e e x a m p le ( s e e S mi th ,

1950) ]. Unl ik e temp les , pa laces were usua l ly broad and low, and ra re ly tow-

e red ove r a M aya c ity . Becau se of Sanders (1974) c ross-cu l tura l s tudy sug-

g e s t i n g t h a t mo s t c h i e f s c a n n o t s u mmo n s u f f i c i e n t ma n p o w e r t o b u i l d a

p a l a ti a l r e s id e n c e fo r t h e i r p r i v a te u s e - - w h i l e k in g s c a n - - d o c u m e n t i n g t h e

in it ia l a p p e a r a n c e o f t h e p a l a c e h a s b e c o m e a n imp o r t a n t m a t t e r f o r d o c u -

me n t in g t h e r i s e o f t h e Ma y a s t a t e .

E v id e n c e f o r t h e f i r s t a p p e a r a n c e o f t h e Ma y a s t a t e c o n t i n u e s t o b e

e lus ive . W e n e e d t o b e a b l e t o d o c u m e n t t h e s h i ft f ro m a t h r e e - t i e r e d s e t -

t l e me n t h i e r a r c h y ( t y p ic a l o f c h i e f d o ms a n d c a c ic a z g o s) t o t h e f o u r - t i e r e d

hie ra rc hy typ ica l o f s ta te s e l sew here in the anc ien t wo r ld (Spen ce r , 1990;

H. W r ight, 1977; Wr ight and Johnso n , 1975). Whi le the re ha ve bee n woe-

fu l ly f ew sys temat ic r eg iona l surveys of the type needed to show th is sh i f t ,

e p ig r a p h i c e v id e n c e s ug g e st s t h a t i t h a d h a p p e n e d b y A . D . 4 0 0 - 5 0 0 ( M a r -

cus , 1976). This i s a lso the cen tury when w e can f i r s t do cu m ent pa laces ,

a s a t T ik a l ( H a r r i s o n , 1 9 7 0 ) . C u r r e n t w o r k b e n e a th t h e C o p g n A c r o p o l i s

s u g g e st s t o S h a r e r ( p e r s o n a l c o m mu n ic a t i o n , 1 99 4 ) t h a t t h e e a r l ie s t p a l a c e


12/51

4

a r cu s

c o m p l e x e s m a y h a v e b e e n c o n s t ru c t e d o f a d o b e a n d t i m b e r . F u t u re s u rv e y s

a n d e x c a v a t i o n s m i g h t t h e re fo re p u s h b o t h t h e fo u r - t i e r e d h i e r a r c h y a n d

the pa lace back to the s ta r t o f the Ear ly Class ic .

On e e n c o u ra g i n g d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e l a s t 1 5 y e a r s i s t h a t i t n o w a p -

p e a r s t h a t t h e M a y a s t a t e i s a m e n a b l e t o t h e s a m e m e t h o d s u s e d t o s t u d y

Ol d W o r l d s t a t e s . I n 1 9 7 3 I p r e d i c t e d t h a t C a l a k m u l wo u l d t u rn o u t t o b e

t h e c a p i t a l o f o n e o f t h e l a rg e s t C l a s s i c s t a t e s . M y p re d i c t i o n wa s b a s e d

o n fo u r l i n e s o f e v i d e n c e , t wo b o r ro we d f ro m t h e O l d W o r l d .

F i r st , C a l a k m u l w a s t h e c i ty m o s t o f t e n m e n t i o n e d b y o t h e r M a y a

cen ters , a su re s ign o f impor ta nce based on Tob ler and W inebe rg ' s (1971)

s t u d y o f C a p p a d o c i a n s it e m e n t io n i ng s . S e c o n d , th e m e n t i o n i n g s o f C a l a k -

m u l we re m o s t o f t e n b y l o we r -o rd e r s it e s (s u c h a s a d i s ta n t s u b o rd i n a t e

l ike Dos P i las , whose ru le r a t t ended a Calakmul lo rd ' s inaugura t ion ) and

less o f ten by equals (such as T ika l ) . Th i rd , Calakmul was one o f the c i t i es

descr ibed as the fou r on h igh by the Copf in ru le r 18 Jog . Fou r th , the

s e c o n d a ry s i t e s b e n e a t h C a t a k m u l fo rm e d a n a l m o s t p e r f e c t h e x a g o n a l l a t -

t i c e a r o u n d i t , m u c h l i k e t h e l a t t i c e s t h a t f o r m e d a r o u n d i m p o r t a n t

M e s o p o t a m i a n c i ti e s l ik e E s h n u n n a ( J o h n s o n , 1 97 2, F ig . 3) a n d W a rk a

(Johnson, 1975, Fig . 31).

W h i l e m a n y M a y a n i s t s d o u b t e d t h a t C a l a k m u l wa s a c a p i t a l i n 1 9 7 3

( i n d e e d , s o m e d e n i e d t h a t t h e e m b l e m g l y p h i n q u e s t i o n e v e n b e l o n g e d t o

Calakmul ) , Wi l l i am J . Fo lan was su ff ic ien tly conv inced to beg in a p ro gram

of mapp ing and excavat ion a t Calakmul . Twen ty years l a te r , the re i s no

l o n g e r a n y d o u b t t h a t C a l a k m u l w a s t h e c a p i ta l o f o n e o f t h e l a rg e s t C l a s si c

Maya s ta tes . The success o f th i s p red ic t ion shou ld te l l u s tha t the Maya

we re n o t u n i q u e ( s e e T re n d I I , b e l o w) a n d th a t m a n y m e t h o d s o f s t u d y i n g

Ol d W o r l d s t a t e s c a n b e a p p l i e d t o M e s o a m e r i c a n s t a t e s .

Early Cla ssic A.D. 250-600)

There a re exc i t ing Ear ly Class ic da ta f rom many s i t es , inc lud ing T ika l ,

Rfo Azu t , C alakmul , Cop~in , and Yaxumi (Fre ide t

e t a l .

1992, 1993), in-

c lud ing new in fo rmat ion on warfare and po l i t i ca l a l l i ance .

Excavat ions a t T ika l have revea led severa l Ear ly Class ic s t ruc tu res in

t h e M u n d o P e rd i d o C o m p l e x a n d i n Gro u p 6 C -XVI . F i n d s i n c l u d e S t e l a

39 , numerous Ear ly Class ic bu r ia l s , a ba l tcour t marker , and a se r ies o f t em-

p les and p la t fo rms ar rang ed in an as t ronomica l com plex s imi la r to those

of G roup E a t Uaxac t f in and the Main P laza a t Calakm ut (F ia lko , 1987 ;

Fo lan e t a L 1 99 4) . T h e M u n d o P e rd i d o C o m p l e x wa s u s e d f ro m t h e M i d d l e

Prec lass ic (700 /600 B.C. ) to the Termina l Class ic (A.D. 900) , undergo ing

con t inuou s a l t e ra t ion th rou ghou t T ika l ' s h is to ry . By ca . 500 B.C. , a py ram id


13/51

T h e

F u t u r e o f M a y a A r c h a e o l o g y

1 5

. . . . . . . ~ : i i i i i : : i : : i: : i : : i : : i : :i : : : : i li i : i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . : : i : i ~ i ~ i ~ : : ~ : ~ : : i : i i ? i i l i ~ i

. . . . .

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::. . . . . . . . i

i i i i i i i : "

.:i:i: ::" .:

a ii

r

. . . . . . . . . . :K . . . . . R A l t u r i H a '

E l M i r a d o r ~ Io

A z u l

r::.:.:.:.:.:-:.:.:-:.'

N a k l) e r~::i i ii i i i i ii i ii i?"

P a l e n q u e & i E L P E T ~ N U a x ~ ac ~ fi n

:::::::::::::::::::::?

S O U T H E R N L O W L A N D " D ' S ~ T i k a l B E L I Z E (~ ~i~ ~i~ ~i"

L P e t d n ~ A Y a x h ~ "~i::i:: ::i::i::~

. . . . . . Y a x e h i l ~ n ~ ~ T ~ '~ '~ s a . _ .

M , - ^ l ~ , u I ~ n a m p a k ' , , D .o s I A ~ ]iiiiiii~

A l ta r d e S a c d f k ~ s t " ~ s S e i b a l i / ~ i i ; ~ ,

Car ibbean Sea

" ', ~ " A g u a t e c a ~ i i i i : .

f " I L u b a _ ~ t ,u n ' ::i::i::i....... iiii]i iiii:: i::iiiiiii::iiii......................

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G U A T E M A L A /

& N a c o

~ i : : i ~ . , ' O u i ~ u a , . . /

~ i i ~

. /

/

P l a y a d e l o s

' ~ i : . . . . . . . i : . ~ i ~ ,~ U t a tl ~ in E l P o r l b n . .. .. M u e r t o s

" : :~ :~i~ ~ :~ ii :: .. I ,S O U T H |

T ' ~ E R N K a m i n a l j u y 0 i

~ ~ _ ~::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::H I ~ ( . . . . ~. H O N D U R A S

====================== ,,d % ,

: ' : ' : ' : ' : ' : ' : ' : ' : ' : - : - . : . . . . . . . . . . . . .

, 9 ~ ,

r a n ~ / . 1 4 K ~ , . / - - . - ~

n ~ o o 4 , & O u e l e p a

0 5 0 1 0 0

" " ~ ~

- ~ ' ,~J t , . . . .~

I I I k m .. ... . ;~i ::i:: ::i::i::i::i::iiiiiii::iii::ii~ii:: i i~iiii~i~......

F i g . 3 . M a j o r s i t e s i n t h e M a y a L o w l a n d s a n d H i g h l a n d s .

a n d p l a t f o r m h a d b e e n c o n s t r u c t e d a c r o s s f r o m e a c h o t h e r , d e f i n i n g a n

e a r l y p la z a . B y c a . 'A . D . 3 0 0 t h e a r e a h a d a s e r i e s o f t e m p l e s a n d p l a t f o r m s .


14/51

16 Marcus

O n e p l a t f o r m w a s c o n s t r u c t e d t o c o v e r a ma s s g r a v e c o n t a in in g 1 6 o r 1 7

indiv iduals , ev ident ly sac ri f iced to co inc ide wi th the dedic a t ion o f S te la 29

(A.D. 292). T his se t o f sac r if ic ia l v ic t ims i s r em iniscen t of the ea r l ie r m ass

bur ia ls a t Cue l lo and Cha lchuapa .

S o m e t ime b e tw e e n A . D . 3 00 a n d A . D . 3 5 0, a f r i e z e o f f iv e n u d e a n d

p a r t i a ll y mu t i l a t e d c a p t i v e s w a s mo d e l e d o n S t r . 5 D - 8 6 -6 a t T ik a l ( L a p o r t e

and F ia lko , 1990) . S imi la r bound capt ives a re known f rom Rfo Azul a t

A.D . 380 (Ad ams , 1986, 1990) . Such Ear ly C lass ic depic t ion s of bou nd cap-

t i ve s s u p p l e m e n t m u c h e a r l i e r ma s s b u r ia l s; t o g e th e r , t h e y s u g g e s t t h a t r a i d -

i n g a n d s a c ri f ic e c o n t i n u e d t o b e im p o r t a n t f e a tu r e s o f Ma y a s o c i e ty d u r in g

th e l o n g t r a n s i ti o n f r o m c h i e f d o m to s t a t e ( s e e b e lo w ) . B e f o r e A . D . 2 5 0 ,

t h e N o r th A c r o p o i s a t T ik a l h a d b e e n t h e p r i n c ip al l o c a t io n f o r e l i t e b u r ia l s .

B e tw e e n A . D . 2 5 0 a n d A . D . 4 0 0 , e l i t e b u r i a l s w e r e p l a c e d i n t h e Mu n d o

P e r d id o C o mp le x . A f t e r A . D . 4 0 0 , el i te b u r ia l s w e r e a g a in s i t u a t e d i n t h e

N o r th A c r o p o l is . L a p o r t e a n d F i a lk o ( 1 99 0 ) t a k e t h i s c h a n g e i n t h e l o c a t i o n

o f e l i t e b u r i a l s t o r e f l e c t c o mp e t i t i o n b e tw e e n a t l e a s t tw o l i n e a g e s - - o n e

( th e J a g u a r P a w l i n e a g e ) i n t h e Mu n d o P e r d id o C o mp le x a n d t h e o th e r

( t h e Ma ' C u c h l i n e a g e ) i n G r o u p 6 C - X V I . T h e J a g u a r P a w l i n e a g e s e e ms

to h a v e b e e n d o m in a n t u n t i l A . D . 3 7 8 , w h e n a r u l e r o f t h e M a ' C u c h l i n e a g e

n a m e d S mo k in g F r o g w a s i n a u g u r a te d . A l th o u g h t h e r e i s c o n s id e r a b l e d i s -

a g r e e me n t as t o w h e th e r S mo k in g F r o g w a s t h e T ik a l r u l e r , a si b l in g o f

t h e r u l e r, o r a u s u r p e r , S mo k in g F r o g d o e s s e e m to h a v e c o n t r o l l e d U a x -

ac t f in . This po l i t ica l ly vo la t i le pe r iod , wi th i t s ev idence of l inks be tween

th e r u l e r s o f T ik a l a n d U a x a c t fi n , w i ll c o n t i n u e t o b e t h e s u b j e c t o f c o n -

f l i c t i n g i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s b e c a u s e t h e t e x t s a r e f e w in n u mb e r ; t h e y a r e l a -

c o n i c ; a n d t h e r e a r e s e v e r a l w a y s t o r e a d b e tw e e n t h e g ly p h s ( A y a l a E ,

1987; Coggins , 1975; M arcus , 1974, 1992a; Mathew s, 1985; P roskou r iakof f ,

1993; Schele and Freidel , 1990) .

A l th o u g h R . E . W . A d a m s ' R f o A z u l P r o j e c t i s r eg io n a l i n s c o p e ( i n-

volv ing the survey of a la rge zone , and the mapping of 32 s i te s ) , mos t a t -

t e n t i o n s o f a r h a s f o c u s e d o n R io A z u l i ts el f, w h e r e e x c a v a t i o n s r e v e a l t h a t

b o th t h e L a t e P r e c l a s si c an d t h e E a r ly C la ss ic w e r e ma jo r p e r i o d s o f o c -

c u p a t i o n a n d c o n s t r u c ti o n . B y A . D . 1 5 0 , t h e e a s t s id e o f t h e f i v e r w i tn e s s e d

th e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f ma s s iv e p l a t f o rms r u n n in g f r o m A r r o y o N e g r o t o w h a t

b e c a m e t h e c e n t e r o f R f o A z u l , a d i s t a n c e o f a b o u t 5 k m . O n e o f t h e s e

p l a t f o r ms w a s 1 5 m h ig h a n d s u p p o r t e d o n e o r m o r e b u i l d in g s ; s u p e r s t r u c -

t u r e s h e r e a n d e l s e w h e r e w e r e d e s t r o y e d d u r in g t h e E a r ly C la ss i c, d u r in g

th e p e r i o d w h e n T ik a t ( 71 k in t o t h e s o u th ) p l a y e d a b ig r o l e i n R f o A z u l ' s

h i s t o r y . A b o u t A . D . 3 8 5 , a c c o r d in g t o a r a n g e o f d a t a p u l l e d t o g e th e r b y

A d a m s ( 1 99 0 , p . 3 4 ), t h e R f o A z u l z o n e w a s c o n q u e r e d b y T ika l . F o l l o w in g

th a t c o n q u e s t a n d t h e a p p a r e n t e x e c u t i o n o f t h e l o c a l R io A z u l e l i t e ( a n

e v e n t d e p i c t e d o n a l t ar s c a r v e d w i th h i e r o g ly p h i c t e x ts ) , t h e r u l e r o f T ik a l


15/51


7

a p p a re n t l y p l a c e d m e m b e r s o f h i s o w n ru li n g d y n a s t y i n t o p o s i t i o n s o f

p o w e r a t R i o A z u l .

Ea r l y C l a s s i c R i o A z u l h a d a h i g h l y n u c l e a t e d p o p u l a t i o n , e s t i m a t e d

a t 3500 persons , l iv ing in the s i t e cen ter . There i s a t ack o f f i t , however ,

b e t w e e n t h a t r e l a t iv e l y l o w p o p u l a t i o n e s t i m a t e a n d t h e v a s t a m o u n t o f

m o n u m e n t a l a r c h i t e c t u r e b u i l t d u r i n g t h e Ea r l y C l a ss ic . Th a t l a c k o f f i t

l e d A d a m s (1 9 9 0 , p . 2 9 ) t o s u g g e s t t h a t R i o A z u t p e r i o d i c a l l y i m p o r t e d

l a rge n u m b e r s o f l a b o re r s t o u n d e r t a k e m a j o r b u i l d i n g p ro j e c ts . S i g n if i -

c a n tl y , th i s a r r iv a l o f o u t s i d e l a b o re r s w o u l d h a v e o c c u r r e d s h o r t l y a f t e r

R i o A z u l w a s i n c o rp o ra t e d i n t o t h e T i k a l p o l i t y . Th u s , f r o m A .D . 3 9 0 t o

A .D . 5 3 0 , e n o rm o u s t e m p l e s w e re b u i l t a t R i o A z u l ; s o m e o v e r l i e t o m b s

d e c o ra t e d w i t h p a i n t e d m u ra l s, o n e o f w h i ch c o n t a in s t e x t s th a t m a y i n -

d i c a te t h a t t h e t o m b o c c u p a n t w a s a s on o f t h e T i k al r u l e r. R fo A z u l w a s

a p p a re n t l y a b a n d o n e d b e t w e e n A .D . 5 3 0 a nd A .D . 6 0 0. A d a m s (1 9 9 0 , p .

3 7 ) a rg u e s t h a t R i o A z u l w a s a s e c o n d a ry a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c e n t e r , a c o m -

m e rc i a l c e n t e r , a n d a f ro n t i e r si t e l o c a t e d n e a r t h e e d g e o f t h e l a rg e

re g i o na l s t a t e w h o s e c a p i t a l w a s T i ka l . C o n q u e s t b y T i k a l ( f o l l o w e d b y

incorpora t ion in to the Tika l reg iona l s t a te ) was apparen t ly a c ruc ia l e le -

m e n t i n R fo A z u l ' s d e v e l o p m e n t .

N e w E a r l y C l a s si c d a t a h a v e a l s o c o m e f ro m C o p fi n , w h e re a s e -

q u e n c e o f 1 0 s u p e r i m p o s e d p l a t fo rm s , c o n s t ru c t e d b e t w e e n A .D . 4 0 0 a n d

A .D . 5 0 0 , h a s e m e rg e d d e e p i n s i d e t h e La t e C l a s s i c A c ro p o l i s . Ev i d e n c e

o f t h e o ri g in s a n d g ro w t h o f C o p f i n 's te m p l e c o m p l e x a n d a d j a c e n t p a l a c e

c o m p l e x h a v e b e e n e x p o s e d b y a s e r ie s o f t u n n el s b e n e a t h t h e A c ro p o l i s

(S h a re r

e t a l .

1 9 9 4 ) . Th e e a r l i e s t p l a t fo rm (A .D . 4 0 0 -4 5 0 ) , d e s i g n a t e d

M a rg a r i t a , i s t h e o n l y o n e i n t h e s e q u e n c e t h a t h a s a n e l a b o ra t e f a q a d e

(S h a re r

e t a l .

1992)- - in th i s case dep ic t ing Ligh tn ing , S to rm, and o ther

supern a tu ra l fo rces . Given Margar i t a ' s ea r ly da te , Sharer (1993b) has sug-

g e s t e d t h a t th e p l a t fo rm m a y b e a s s o c ia t e d w i t h Y a x K ' u k M o ' , t h e fo u n -

d e r o f th e C o p f i n d y n a s ty . A c a rv e d t e x t o n t h e s u m m i t o f M a rg a r i t a

(da t ing to A.D. 437) bea rs th i s ru le r 's nam e and poss ib ly tha t o f h is son ,

l end ing add i t iona l supp or t to the c la ims o f Yax K 'uk M o ' and h i s descen -

d a n t s. R e c e n t e x c a v a t io n s b e l o w M a rg a r i ta h a v e l o c a te d a h u g e t o m b t h a t

migh t con ta in Yax K 'uk Mo ' h imsel f , o r h i s successo r .

O n e o f t h e m o s t d i s c u s s e d n e w f i n d s h a s b e e n a s t o n e m o n u m e n t

f rom Caraco l . Al ta r 21 (a ba l l cour t marker) was carved in A.D. 633 and

bears a damaged h ie rog lyph ic t ex t . One phrase in tha t t ex t has been in -

te rp re ted as Caraco l c la ims i t conquered Tika l on May 1 , A.D. 562 (A.

Chase and D. Chase , 1987 ; Ho us ton , 1987) . How ever , as no ted b y Ha v i lan d

(1991 , p. 2) , the ac tua l mean ing o f the ph rase rem ains ambiguous . A l tho ugh

t h e e v e n t g l yp h m a y i n d e e d m e a n r a i d o r b a t t l e (M a rc u s , 1 9 7 6, p p .

1 3 0 -14 0 ) , t h e r e s t o f t h e p h ra s e d o e s n o t i n c lu d e a n y in fo rm a t i o n a b o u t a


16/51

8 Marcu s

victory, n o r d o w e k n o w w h a t s u c h a b o a s t w o u l d e n ta i l. A l l t h a t c a n b e

sa id i s tha t the ph rase men t ions a ba t t l e wi th Tika l and tha t i t was carved

7 0 y e a r s a f t e r t h e a l l e g e d b a t tl e t o o k p l a c e - - b y w h i c h t i m e f e w p a r t i c i p a n t s

wou ld have been a l ive to con t rad ic t i t .

W e n o w k n o w t h a t s u c h c l ai m s o f b a t t le , o f t e n m a d e l o n g a f t e r t h e

f a c t, w e re t y p i ca l o f f o rm e r s e c o n d a ry c e n t e r s w h o b ro k e a w a y f ro m a m a j o r

cap i ta l fo l lowing a war o f indep ende nce (Marcus , 1992a , pp . 428-430 ) .

In fact , Ha vilan d (1991, p . 9) says that the re is an

absence

o f e v i d e n t C a ra -

co l in f luence a t Tika l p rec i se ly whe n [Caraco l ' s ] Lord W ater i s sup pos ed

t o h a v e ' c o n q u e re d ' t h e c i t y. H a v i l a n d s t r e ss e s t h a t s u c h te x t s m a y b e

boas t s , and tha t we mus t have fo l low-up archaeo log ica l ev idence to eva lua te

the verac i ty o f the c la ims and the impact o f the even ts .

I t i s l ike ly tha t many ba t t l es took p lace th roughou t the Prec lass ic and

Classic, bu t rem arkab ly few were r eco rd ed in t ext s. I su spec t tha t on ly a

s m a l l p e r c e n t a g e o f su c h b a t t l e s ac t u a ll y le d t o t h e d e m i s e o f a r u l e r o r

t h e a b a n d o n m e n t o f a si te , b u t s o m e d i d e n a b l e u s u rp e r s t o t a k e t h e t h ro n e

fo l lo w i n g a g a p i n s u c c e ss i o n o r a l l o w s o m e fo rm e r d e p e n d e n c i e s t o a c h i e v e

independence , a t l eas t fo r a wh i le .

R e c e n t e x c a v a t i o n s a t C a l a k m u l h a v e a l s o a d d e d t o o u r k n o w l e d g e

of the Ear ly Class ic . The newly d i scovered S te la 114 i s the f i r s t Cycle 8

m o n u m e n t k n o w n f ro m C a l a k m u l ; i t e x t e n d s t h e d y n a s t i c s e q u e n c e b a c k

to A.D. 431 (Marcus , n .d . ; Marcus and Fo lan , 1994a ,b ) . Fo rmer ly , Calak -

m u l ' s d y n a s t i c s e q u e n c e b e g a n i n A .D . 5 1 4 , a n d t h e s i t e o f B a l a k b a l w a s

the mos t no r ther ly s i t e wi th a Cycle 8 s te la .

A m a j o r f o u r t h - c e n t u ry A .D . t o m b h a s b e e n e x c a v a t e d b e l o w R o o m

6 o f S t ru c tu r e I I I a t C a l a k m u I, a n i m p o s i n g 1 2 - ro o m p a l a c e w i t h t h r e e ro o f

c o m b s a n d l a rg e s t u c c o f a c a d e m a s k s (F o l a n et al., 1994) . The tomb con-

t a i n e d a m a l e a t l e a st 3 0 y e a r s o f a g e , ly i ng o n a w o v e n m a t s u p p o r t e d b y

f ive d i shes se rv ing as a bed . The m os t spec tacu lar o f fe r ings we re th ree

j a d e m o s a i c m a s k s - -o n e fo r t h e m a n ' s f a c e (1 70 p i e c e s o f j a d e ) , a n o t h e r

on h i s ches t ( I25 p ieces ) , and the th i rd fo r h i s be l t (92 p ieces ) . S imi la r

m o s a i c m a s k s a r e k n o w n f ro m o t h e r c i t i e s - - fo r e x a m p l e , in a Te rm i n a l P r e -

c lass ic cache a t E1 Por t6n and in Tika l ' s Bur ia l 160 (ca . A.D. 527) . Also

fo u n d w i t h t h e C a l a k m u t b u r ia l w e re t h r e e p a i r s o f j a d e e a rp l u gs , a j a d e

r ing , 32 j ad e be ads (p la in and carved) , 8252 she l l beads ; sev era l Spondy lus

a n d Oliva she l ls , a s t ing ray sp ine ; and a b lock o f red p igm en t . S usp end ed

a s a g ro u p f ro m t h e m a s k o n t h e d e c e a s e d ' s c h e s t w e re t h r e e j a d e p l a q u e s

inc i sed wi th g lyphs , s imi la r to the t r io o f p laque s worn by the ru le r on

Calakm ul ' s S te la 43 (At .D. 514) . S imi la r t r io s o f p laqu es a re sho wn sus -

p e n d e d f ro m b e l t m a s k s o n T i k a l ' s S t e l a 3 1 (A .D . 4 4 5 ) a n d o n t h e Le y d e n

P l a q u e (A .D . 3 2 0 ). Th is C a l a k m u l t o m b m a y c o n ta i n t h e r e m a i n s o f o n e


17/51

The Future of Maya Archaeology 9

o f t h e e a r l i e s t r u l e r s t o a c c e d e t o o f f i c e a f t e r t h e s i t e b e c a me th e c a p i t a l

of a s ta te (Marcus , n .d . ) .

Late Class ic A .D. 600 -800)

T h e L a t e C la ss i c w a s c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y r e c u r r e n t c y c l e s o f c o n s o l i d a -

t i o n ( t h e p u l l i n g t o g e th e r o f s it e s u n d e r t h e c o n t r o l o f la r g e c a p i t a l s ) a n d

d i s s o lu t io n ( t h e l o s s o f s o me o r a l l t h o s e s i te s t h r o u g h w a r s o f i n d e -

p e n d e n c e ) ( Ma r c u s , 1 9 7 6 , 1 9 92 b ). D u r in g t h e p e a k p e r io d s w h e n c a p i t a l s

c o n t r o l l e d mu l t i p l e c e n t e r s , t h e y p a r t i c i p a t e d i n e x t e n s iv e n e tw o r k s a n d

fa r - f lung a l l iances tha t se rved many ends- -mi l i ta ry , soc ia l , po l i t ica l , eco-

n o mic , a n d r i t u a l . D u r in g t h e L a t e C la ss ic , T ik a l a n d C a l a k mu l w e r e c a p i -

t a ls o f t h e tw o mo s t p o w e r f u l s t a t e s in t h e g r e a t e r P e t6 n ; t h e i r n a m e s

( e mb le m g ly p h s ) a p p e a r m o r e f r e q u e n t l y in t h e t e x ts o f o th e r s i t es t h a n

d o a n y o th e r s ( Ma r c u s , 1 9 7 4 , 1 9 87 ). T h e r e i s g o o d e v id e n c e f o r T ik a l ' s

a n d C a l a k mu l ' s c o n t r o l o f s u b o r d in a t e s , a s w e l l a s t h e i r me d d l in g i n t h e

a f fa i rs o f t h o s e s u b o r d in a t e s ( Ma r c u s , 1 9 7 6 , 1 9 8 8 , 1 9 9 3 , n . d .) . F l a n k in g

th e C a l a k mu l a n d T ik a l s t a t e s w e r e t h e r e g io n a l p o l i t i e s o f P a l e n q u e a n d

Y a x c h i l~ n ( t o t h e w e s t ) a n d C o p ~ in ( t o t h e s o u th e a s t ) . T h o s e f iv e c i t ie s

a d min i s t e r e d p o l i t i e s t h a t v a r i e d i n a r e a l e x t e n t a n d p r o v in c i a l ma k e u p

o v e r t ime ( Ma r c u s , 1 9 9 3 ) . N e w e v id e n c e s h o w s t h a t t h e p o l i t i c a l , e c o -

n o mic , a n d r e l i g io u s h i e r a r c h i e s b e lo w th e s e ma jo r c e n t e r s w e r e r a r e ly

i s o mo r p h i c ( B a ll , 1 9 9 3 ; H e s t e r a n d S h a f e r , 1 9 8 4; Ma r c u s , 1 9 8 3 ; Mc A n a n y ,

1 9 8 9 a -c ; P o t t e r , 1 9 9 3 ; S a b lo f f a n d H e n d e r s o n , 1 9 9 3 ; S h a r e r a n d H e s t e r ,

1983).

E v e n t h o u g h t h e L a t e C la s s i c Ma y a s t a t e h a d a f o u r - t i e r e d h i e r a r c h y

( th e u p p e r t h r e e l e v e ls o f w h ic h a p p e a r t o h a v e h a d a d min i s t r a ti v e i n s ti -

tu t ions) , i t i s on ly the top two leve ls tha t have rece ived s ign i f ican t r e sea rch

a t t e n t io n . T o o l it t le w o r k h a s b e e n d o n e a t t h i r d - a n d f o u r th - o r d e r s it e s ,

a n d t o o f e w e x c a v a t i o n s h a v e b e e n c o n d u c t e d o n t h e r e s id e n c e s o f c o m-

mo n e r s ( e x c e p t i o n s i n c lu d e B la k e , t 9 8 5 ; C a r me a n , 1 9 9 0 ; F a u v e t - B e r th e lo t ,

1986; Gonl in , 1993; Hi l t , 1982; We bste r and G onl in , 1988; Wilk an d A sh-

mo r e [ ed s.] 1 9 8 8 ) . G iv e n t h a t c o m mo n e r s ' h o u s e s - - r e p r e s e n t e d b y t h o u -

s a nd s o f h o u s e m o u n d s - - c o n s t i t u t e t h e m a j o ri ty o f t h e r e s i d e n ce s a t m o s t

s it es , t h e y h a v e ce r t a in ly n o t b e e n u n c o v e r e d in n u m b e r s c o m m e n s u r a t e

w i th t h e i r a b u n d a n c e . U n t i l t h is h a p p e n s , o u r r e c o n s t r u c t i o n s o f M a y a l i fe

wi ll r em a in b ia sed and imp over ishe d (Sabloff , 1983, 1990) .

F o r s o me t ime , t h e s c a l e a n d h i e r a rc h i c a l c o mp le x i t y o f L a t e C la s s ic

p o l it i es h a v e b e e n h o t t o p ic s . P r i o r t o 1 9 7 3 , ma n y s c h o la r s c o n s id e r e d T ik a l

t o b e t h e s o l e c a p i ta l o f t h e M a y a L o w la n d s . T o d a y e v e r y o n e a g r e e s t h a t

t h e r e g io n h a d m o r e t h a n o n e c a p i t a l, b u t e s t ima t e s v a r y f r o m f e w e r t h a n


18/51

2 M a r c u s

10 to ove r 100 F ie ld a rchaeologis t s (Adam s, 1990; Ad am s and Jone s , 1981;

Bove , 1 981; Culb e r t e t a l . 1990; Folan e t a L 199 4; M arcus , 1973, 1983,

1993) see ev iden ce for la rge r eg iona l sta te s; a couple o f ep igrap hers (Ho us-

ton , 1993; Mathew s, 1985); see eve ry s ing le s i te wi th an em ble m glyph as

a u to n o mo u s . I s e e n o e v id e n c e t h a t a n y a n c i e n t s t a t e h a d t h e l a t t e r s t r u c -

t u r e , b u t I d o t h in k t h a t t h e r e w e r e p e ri o d s w h e n s e c o n d a r y c e n t e r s a n d

n o n c o n t ig u o u s p r o v in ce s b r o k e a w a y fr o m c a p it a ls a n d e s t a b l is h e d t h e i r i n -

dep end enc e (Marcus , 1976, 1992a , b , 1993) .

S i m i l a r d i s a g r e e m e n t s c h a r a c t e r i z e a n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a . T h e r e ,

f i e l d a r c h a e o lo g i s t s t e n d t o s e e l a r g e r p o l i t i e s t h a n d o s o me e p ig r a p h e r s

( H e n r y W r ig h t , p e r s o n a l c o mm u n ic a t i o n , 19 9 2) . O n e r e a s o n i s th a t a c i ty ' s

e c o n o m i c t e x t s r a r e l y e m p h a s i z e i t s s u b o r d i n a t i o n t o a n o t h e r c e n t e r ,

w h e r e a s t h e s e t t l e me n t p a t t e r n d a t a , t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f a d min i s t r a t i v e a r -

t i fa c t s, a n d t h e c e r a mic s ty l e z o n e s o f t e n s u g g e s t t h a t s u c h s u b o r d in a t i o n

exis ts . Pos tga te (1992, p . 44) has r ecent ly presen ted a sc hem e for cyc l ic

c o n s o l i d a t i o n a n d d i s s o lu t i o n i n a n c i e n t Me s o p o t a mia t h a t p a r a l l e l s my

o w n v i e w o f t h e b u i l d u p a n d b r e a k d o w n o f Ma y a s t a t e s ( Ma r c u s , 1 9 8 8 ,

1992b).

T h e r e w e r e a t l e a s t tw o w a y s a s e c o n d a r y o r t e r t i a r y c e n t e r c o u ld

b r e a k a w a y f r o m a r e g io n a l c a p i t a l : t h r o u g h a "w a r o f i n d e p e n d e n c e " o r

by a l ly ing i t se l f wi th a power fu l enemy of i t s cap i ta l . For example , Dos

P i la s seem s to have a l l ied i t se lf wi th Ca lakm ul , an e nem y of T ika l 's , to

g a in i n d e p e n d e n c e f r o m th e l a t t e r ( F o l an e t a L 1 9 9 4 ; M a r c u s a n d F o l a n

1 9 94 b ). I n M a y a s t a te s , w a r f a r e w a s b o th a m e c h a n i s m b y w h ic h p o w e r f u l

r u l e r s c o u ld i n c o r p o r a t e s m a l l e r a n d w e a k e r p o l i ti e s i n to i n c r e a s in g ly l a r g e r

r e a lms a n d a me c h a n i s m b y w h ic h r e b e l l i o u s p r o v in c e s c o u ld b r e a k a w a y

and es tab l ish th e i r inde pen den ce (Marcus , 1 988, 1992a, b , 1993).

In s ta te s , a s Webste r (1993) has no ted , war fa re i s se r ious bus iness .

W e s e e t h i s i n mu r a l s f r o m M u l - C h ic , C h i c h 6 n It zf i, a n d B o n a m p a k , w h e r e

mi l i t ar y ca mp a ig n s l e d t o t h e c a p tu r e o f p r i s o n er s . E v e n l a r g e mu r a l s c e n e s

s h o w in g s c o r es o f c o mb a ta n t s , s u c h a s t h o s e i n t h e T e mp le o f t h e J a g u a r s

a n d T e mp le o f t h e W a r rio rs a t C h i c h 6 n I tz ~, p r o b a b ly c a n n o t d o j u s t i c e t o

th e h u n d r e d s o r e v e n t h o u s a n d s k i ll e d , r e s e t tl e d , o r b r o u g h t b a c k a s s la ve s.

Moa ts , wa l l s , o r mass ive ea r thworks a t s i te s l ike Bec~n, T ika l , Dos P i la s ,

a n d P u n t a d e C h imin o h in t a t t h e s c a l e o f C l a s s i c w a r f a r e a n d t h e l a r g e

n u m b e r s o f p e o p l e i nv o lv ed . T h e s e n e w d a t a s u g g e s t t h a t w e m u s t r e a s s e s s

th e r o t e o f w a r f a r e i n o u r m o d e l s o f Ma y a s t a t e f o r ma t io n , s t a te m a in t e -

n a n c e , a n d s i t e a b a n d o n me n t ( D e m a r e s t , 1 9 9 2 ; W e b s t e r , 1 9 93 ). A l th o u g h

w a r a n d mi l i t ar y a ll i an c e w e r e p r e s e n t i n E a r ly C la s si c t ime s , t h e y b e c a m e

in c r ea s in g ly f r e q u e n t ( o r a t l e a s t, w e r e r e c o r d e d m o r e f r e q u e n t l y i n t e x t s

and a r t ) dur ing , the La te C lass ic .


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The Future of Maya Archaeology

2

T o a ss e s s t h e l o n g - t e r m imp a c t o f L a t e C la s s ic w a r f a r e w e n e e d mo r e

reg iona l surveys , such a s th ose be ing do ne in the C op~in Va l ley , Rfo A zul -

L a Mi lp a a r e a , C a l a k mu l z o n e , a n d P e t e x b a t f n r e g io n . W i th o u t t h e r e -

g io n a l p e r s p e c t iv e t h a t c o m e s f r o m s y s te ma t i c al l y s u r v e y in g h u n d r e d s o f

t h o u s a n d s o f s q u a r e k i l o me te r s , w e w i l l c o n t i n u e t h e u n w i s e p r a c t i c e o f

e x t r a p o l a t in g f r o m o n e s i te t o a n e n t i r e r e g io n .

O n g o in g s u r v e y s a n d e x c a v a t i o n s a t s i t e s l o c a t e d t o t h e e a s t o f t h e

Copf in Va l ley a re r evea l ing

n s tu

d e v e lo p me n t s i n e l i t e a r c h i t e c tu r e , a d -

min i s t r at i v e h i e ra r c h i e s , a n d c r a f t p r o d u c t i o n . A l th o u g h t h is a r e a i s c a l le d

th e S o u th e a s t P e r ip h e r y o r Ma y a F r o n t i e r , n e w w o r k i s f o r c in g u s t o

r e th in k t h o s e l a b el s , a n d t o c o n s id e r th e s e r e g io n s a s h av in g t h e i r o w n p a r -

a l le l evo lu t ion a ry h is tory (He nde rson , 198 7, 1992a ,b ; Jo yce , 1986, 1991;

L a n g e , 1 9 9 2 ; S c h o r tma n , 1 9 8 6 , 1 9 8 9 ; S c h o r tma n a n d N a k a m u r a , 1 9 9 2 ; U r -

ban and Schor tman, 1986) .

Terminal Class ic to Early Postcla ss ic A.D. 800 -10 00)

I n t h e 1 9 4 0 s , Ma y a s c h o l a r s b e l i e v e d i n a t h r e e - p a r t t e mp o r a l s e -

q u e n c e : f i rs t ( 1 ) a p e a c e f u l , t h e o c r a t i c g o ld e n a g e ( A . D . 6 0 0 - 8 0 0 ) , t h e n

( 2 ) a my s t e r i o u s c o l l a p s e a t A . D . 8 5 0, i n d i c a t e d i n t h e s o u th e r n L o w -

l a n d s b y t h e c e s s a t i o n o f h i e r o g ly p h i c t e x ts o n s t e l a e , a n d f i n a l ly ( 3 ) a

p o s t - A . D . 8 5 0 s e c u l a r a n d mi l i t a r i s t i c r e s u r g e n c e i n Y u c a t f i n . T h i s s c e -

n a r io w a s b a s e d o n t h r e e f a l s e a s s u mp t io n s : ( 1 ) t h a t t h e r e w e r e a u n i -

form , s ta t ic C lass ic soc ie ty and a un i fo rm, s ta t ic Pos tc la ss ic soc ie ty ,

t o o d i f f e r e n t t o b e c o m p a r e d ; ( 2 ) th a t t h e n o r t h e r n a n d s o u t h e r n L o w -

l a n d s w e r e o c c u p i e d s e q u e n t i a ll y , w i th n o t e mp o r a l o v e r l a p ; a n d ( 3 ) t h a t

t h e C la s s i c Ma y a w e r e p e a c e f u l , w h i l e t h e P o s t c l a s s i c Ma y a w e r e b e l l i -

cose .

S o m e o f t h e s e v i e w s r e s u l t e d f r o m t h e m y o p i c p e r s p e c t i v e m e n -

t i o n e d a b o v e , w h e r e b y s c h o la r s e x t r a p o l a t e d f r o m o n e s i te t o t h e e n t i r e

s o u t h e r n L o w l a n d s . F r o m r e c e n t s e t t le m e n t p a t t e r n s u rv e y s, d ir t a r c h a e -

o l o gy , a n d e t h n o h i s t o r y , w e h a v e l e a r n e d t h a t t h e r e w a s n o u n i f o r m L o w -

land co l lap se (Pend ergas t , 1985, 1986; D. R ice , 1986; P . R ice , 1986,

1 9 87 ; R R ic e a n d D . R i c e , 1 9 8 5 ; S a b lo ff , 1 9 9 2 ; S a b lo f f a n d A n d r e w s ,

1986; Sha re r , 1982; Webste r and Fre te r , 1990a , b ) . Wi th Gi le s Hea tey ' s

1 9 46 d i s c o v e ry o f b a t t l e s c e n e s i n t h e B o n a m p a k mu r a l s , t h e p e a c e f u l

Ma y a w e r e s h o w n n o t t o b e s o p e a c e f u l ; a n d l a t e r , P r o s k o u r i a k o f f ' s s t u d -

ie s (1963, 1964) of the Yaxchi lf in tex ts r evea led tha t b a t t le s an d w ar fa re

w e r e p r o min e n t f e a tu r e s o f L a t e C la s s i c s o c i e ty .

M o s t s c h o l a r s n o w r e j e c t t h e o ld s t a t ic m o d e l s , in s t e a d e m p h a s i z in g

the vola t i le , dyn am ic na tu re of the C lass ic and Pos tc la ssic. Th ey no te tha t


20/51

2 2 M a r c u s

w h e n D o s P i l a s ' po l i ti c a l f o r tu n e s w a n e d , A g u a t e c a ' s r o s e . W h e n

Ag u a t e c a ' s f o r t u n e s wa n e d , S e i b a l ' s r o s e , a n d s o d i d t h o s e o f S a y i l a n d

o t h e r P u u c s i t e s i n t h e n o r t h . W h e n A l t u n Ha wa s a b a n d o n e d , L a m a n a i

f l o u ri s h e d . W h e n s o m e P u u c s i t e s we re a b a n d o n e d , C h i c h rn I tz f i h a d a

rena i s sance . Af te r Ch ich rn I tz f i ' s fa l l , Mayapf in reached i t s peak . F ina l ly ,

a f te r Mayapf in fe l l , San ta Ri ta Coroza l , T ipu , Topox t r , Macanchr , Cozumel ,

Tu lum, Tancah , and Naco con t inued .

Thu s there was no s ing le , mono l i th ic Ma ya co l lapse . Ins tead , there

we re m a n y p e a k s a n d m a n y t ro u g h s b e t we e n A .D . 1 a n d A .D . 1 50 0, o s c i l-

l a t io n s t h a t f o l l o we d o n e a n o t h e r c o n t i nu o u s l y t h ro u g h o u t t h e L a t e P re -

c lass ic and in to the Class ic and Pos tc lass ic (Marcus , 1993) . We wou ld no t

have d e tec ted such cycl ic p rocesses i f we had m ain ta ined our o ld no t ions

tha t th e C lass ic and Pos tc lass ic soc ie t i es we re com ple te ly d i f fe ren t f rom

e a c h o t h e r a n d t h a t t h e n o r t h e rn a n d s o u t h e rn L o w l a n d s we re t o o d i f f e r e n t

t o b e c o m p a re d .

Today a new ques t ion i s be ing asked :

W a s

t h e r e o r

w a s n ' t

t h e r e a

co l lapse? The qu ickes t answer i s, I t depe nds on the s i t e . As a resu l t o f

rece n t f i e ldwork , we have a t l eas t th ree poss ib le scenar ios fo r the M aya

c o l l a p s e , e a c h b a s e d o n d a t a f ro m a d i f f e r e n t r e g i o n . T h e t h r e e s c e n a r i o s

a re t h a t ( 1 ) t h e re wa s n o w i d e s p re a d c o l l a p s e - - t h a t i s , s e t t l e m e n t c o n t i n u e d

a t s o m e s i t e s , wh i l e o t h e r s we re a b a n d o n e d ; (2 ) t h e re wa s a w i d e s p re a d

co l lapse , bu t i t was g radual ; and (3 ) there was a widesp read co l lapse , and

i t was ab rup t and v io len t .

Da t a s u p p o r t i n g t h e f i r s t s c e n a r i o c o m e f ro m s e v e ra l s i t e s . A t L a -

ma nai in Bel ize , Pend ergas t (1981 , 1985) has ev idence o f con t inuo us oc -

cupat ion f rom M idd le Prec lass ic t imes to A.D. 1675 . Pend ergas t (1986 , p .

226) a rgues tha t

L amana i cou ld sca r ce ly have r emained a v i ab l e communi ty i n a vacuum cr ea t ed by

col lapse of pol i t ical and social organiza t ion at neighbor ing Low land centers wi th

the accompanying dissolut ion of intersi te networks; i t i s therefore l ikely that the

pat tern of events at the si te was repeated at least in i t s main aspects elsew here

in t he a r ea .

Other Bel ize s i t es show a Termina l Class ic and Ear ly Pos tc lass ic oc-

c u p a t i o n , f o r e x a m p l e , No h m u l (H a m m o n d , 1 98 5; P y b u rn , 1 9 8 7, 1 9 89 ,

1990) and La Mi lpa (Tour te l lo t

e t aL ,

1993) . Add i t iona l ev idence fo r Clas -

s ic -Pos tc lass ic con t inu i ty is ava i lab le f rom T opox t r , Maca nch6 Is land , and

oth er s i tes (B uUard, 1 970, 1973; D. R ice and P. Rice , 1981; P. Ric e, 1987).

Da t a t h a t m a y s u p p o r t t h e s c e n a r i o o f a gr a d u a l c o l la p s e c o m e f ro m

the Copf in Val ley , where an a rgumen t fo r Class ic -Pos tc lass ic con t inu i ty has

b e e n m a d e b y so m e ( W e b s te r

et aL,

1993 ; Webs ter and Fre te r , 1990a ,b ) ;

o t h e r s , h o we v e r , a rg u e fo r a m o re a b ru p t c o l l a p s e a n d n o t e t h e a b s e n c e

of Pos tc lass ic po t te r y (Braswel l , 1992 ; Fash and Sharer , 1991). W ebs t er

e t


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23

al.

(1992 , pp . 192-193) a rgue fo r a p ro t rac ted d i s in teg ra t ion o f the Cop~in

po l i ty (A.D. 800-1250) , owing la rge ly to env i ronmen ta l deg rada t ion and

at tend an t econ om ic and po l it i ca l d i s rup tions , bu t wi th 29% of the popu la-

t ion s t i l l present at A.D. 1050.

Although environmental degradation and p oo r nutrition and he alth, along with

attendan t political problems, are th e ob viouskeys o the decline of the C opan polity,

such fundamentally ecological problems cannot explain the ver y low levels of

population after abou t A.D . 1050. The re was en ough fertile alluvial bottomland to

feed a stable population of some thousands of people. Population loss probably

was cau sed not only by high m ortality and low fertility, but by emigration as well,

as peop le left Copan for mor e attractive regions.

In c o n t r a s t t o t h e n o t i o n o f a g r a d u a l c o l l a p s e d u e t o e n v i ro n m e n t a l

d e g ra d a t i o n , t h e s t a f f o f t h e P e t e x b a tt i n p ro j e c t f a v o r a n a b ru p t c o l l a p s e

t r i g g e re d b y w a r f a r e . D e m a re s t a n d h i s c o ll e a g u e s s u g g e s t t h a t a l a rg e

p o l it y , h e a d e d b y th e s i t e o f D o s P i la s , e x p a n d e d i ts t e r r i t o ry b y i n c o r -

p o ra t i n g s u b o rd i n a t e s i te s t h ro u g h m i l i ta ry c o n q u e s t a n d m a r r i a g e a l li -

a n c e (D e m a re s t , 1 9 9 2 ) . I n A .D . 7 6 1 , a c c o rd i n g t o t h e i r i n t e rp r e t a t i o n o f

t h e h i e ro g l y p h i c t e x t s , t h e r e w a s a m a j o r b a t t l e t h a t l e d t o t h e D o s P i l a s

ru l e r b e i n g d e p o s e d . I n h a b i t a n t s s t a y e d o n fo r a w h i l e , h a s t i l y r e m o v i n g

s t o n e s f ro m t e m p l e s a n d p a l a c e s to b u i l d a s i e g e v i l la g e o f d e n s e l y

p a c k e d , l o w h o u s e p l a t fo rm s i n s i d e c o n c e n t r i c w a l ls in w h a t h a d b e e n

the s i t e ' s main p laza . Other s i t es in the v ic in i ty bu i l t wal l s , pa l i sades , t e r -

r a c e s , a n d m o a t s - - f o r e x a m p l e , a t th e i sl a n d f o r tr e s s o f P u n t a d e

C h i m i n o a n d t h e b l u f f t o p s t ro n g h o l d o f A g u a t e c a , w h e re m a n y k i l o m e t e r s

o f d e f e n s i v e w a l ls w e re c o n s t ru c t e d . W h e n D o s P i l a s ' c o n t ro l o f i ts p o l i t y

e n d e d , i n t e r s i t e w a r f a r e e s c a l a t e d e n o rm o u s l y (D e m a re s t , p e r s o n a l c o m -

m u n i c a t i o n , 1 9 9 4) . T h e e n t i r e r e g i o n , h o w e v e r , w a s n o t a b a n d o n e d ;

n e a rb y S e i b a l b e c a m e a r e g i o n a l c a p i t a l d u r i n g t h e Te rm i n a l C l a s s i c a n d

Ea r l y P o s t c la s s i c p e r i o d s . S e i b a l e n j o y e d a r e n a i s s a n c e (p o s s i b ly u n d e r

t h e f o r e ig n h e g e m o n y o f C h o n t a l o r P u t tl n M a y a ) , a n d t h e n e w S e i b a l

ru l e r c o m m i s s i o n e d t h e c o n s t ru c t i o n o f p u b l i c b u i l d in g s a n d s t e l a e . A l -

t h o u g h w a r f a r e h a s b e e n i m p l i c a t e d i n t h e c o l l a p se o f D o s P i ta s , w a r f a r e

a t S e i b a t ( f o l l o w e d b y fo r e i g n c o n t ro l ) h a s b e e n c o n s i d e re d a f a c t o r i n

S e i b a l ' s f l o r e s c e n c e (S a b l o f f , 1 9 7 5; S a b t o f f a n d W i l l ey , 1 9 67 ; S m i t h ,

1982).

Whi le Se iba l f lou r i shed in the sou th be tween A.D. 850 and A.D. 950 ,

Ch ichdn I tz f i ev iden t ly em erged as the cap i ta l o f a l a rge s ta te in the no r th .

What i s no t c lear i s the s ize o f the Ch ichdn I t z f i s t a te , i t s du ra t ion , o r i t s

re la t ionsh ip to s i t es such as Uxmal , Cob~ a n d Ek B a l a m . S o m e s c h o l a r s

argue tha t Ch ichdn I t zf i, Uxm al , and Cob~ were c oeva l cap ita l s fo r a t ime

(Dunn ing and Kowalsk i , 1994 ; Rob les and Andrews , 1986) , wh i le o thers

argue tha t U xrna l may have bee n a sec onda ry cen te r o f Ch ich4n I t z~i 's and


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23/51

T h e F u t u r e o f M a y a r c h a eo l og y

25

l as ted Maya p~n af te r the l a t t e r 's aba ndon me nt in A.D. 1450 and , ev iden t ly ,

bec am e the cap i ta l o f the Che tuma l po l i ty , wh ich cov ered ca . 6000 km 2.

O n e o f th e m a j o r c o n t r i b u t io n s o f t h e S a n t a R i t a P ro j e c t h a s b e e n i ts e f -

f e c ti v e u s e o f t h e D i r e c t H i s t o r ic A p p ro a c h . D i a n e C h a s e (1 9 85 ) h a s a rg u e d

fo r con t inu i ty in some re l ig ious p rac t i ces and be l ie fs f rom Class ic to Pos t -

c las s ic to His to r ic t imes (see be low) .

T R E N D II . T H E D E M I S E O F M A Y A U N I Q U E N E S S

Gene ra l i s t s l ike Ki rchhoff (1943), Swad esh (1967) , and o thers o f the i r

g e n e ra t i o n u n h e s i ta t in g l y i n c lu d e d t h e M a y a a s p a r t o f M e s o a m e r i c a . D e -

sp i te th i s , over the years many Mayan is t s have pers i s ted in t rea t ing the

Ma ya as un ique . Years ago Wi l l iam Dunca n S t rong (1947, p . 645) c r i ti -

c ized th i s approach in h i s rev iew o f S . G. Morley ' s 1946 book

The Ancient

Maya

Th e ' G l o ry th a t w a s M a y a ' i s w e l l p o r t r a y e d . . . . b u t t h e m a h o g a n y

fram e which i so la tes i t f rom th e res t o f na t ive New World c iv i l iza t ion see ms

unnatu ra l ly b lack and so l id .

R e c e n t l y t h e r e h a v e b e e n e n c o u ra g in g s i gn s t h a t w e m a y b e m o v i n g

a w a y f ro m t h e n o t i o n t h a t t h e M a y a w e re u n i q u e . N o w w e m u s t t a k e

care to avo id the o ther ex t reme, tha t o f as ser t ing tha t the Ma ya we re iden -

t i cal to the res t o f Me soam er ica . We need to es tab li sh exac t ly wh at the

M a y a s h a re d , a n d w h a t t h e y d i d n o t s h a r e, w i th t h e r e s t o f M e s o a m e r i c a .

F o r e x a m p l e , w e s h o u l d b e s k e p ti c a l o f t h o s e w h o i m p o s e A z t e c ( a n d o t h e r

n o n -M a y a ) m o d e l s o n t h e M a y a . A n d w i t h i n t h e M a y a a r e a , w e s h o u l d b e

skep t ica l o f those who impose Pos tc lass ic High land be l ie fs on the Class ic

Lo w l a n d M a y a .

Al thou gh w e know tha t the re was s ign i fi can t d ivers i ty wi th in the M aya

H i g h l a n d s b e fo re t h e S p a n i a rd s a r r i v e d , m a n y s c h o l a r s s e e m c o m fo r t a b l e

i n u si n g a si n gl e b o o k , t h e P o p o l V u h - -p ro d u c e d b y t h e Q u i c h 6 a f t e r A .D .

1 56 0 a t U t a t l ~ n - - t o r e c o n s t ru c t

joyce marcus - burial 1660

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