Download or read book Settlement and Politics in Three Classic Maya Polities written by Olivier De Montmollin and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Original survey research in the Greater Rosario Valley provides the background to this comparative study of three Maya polities (Rosario, Ojo de Agua and Los Encuentros). Comparison of these three adjoining states is made with reference to multiple features including; civic hierarchies, territorial divisions, political boundaries, capitals, civic plaza layouts, residential compositions, population distributions, civic distributions and government sizes. Because these three polities are outside the most heavily urbanised areas of Maya settlement, the role of peripheries is a central theme in this book, which makes advances in the understanding of political centralization, pyramidal vs.hierarchical regimes and the integration of diverse populations divided by status and ethnicity.
Download or read book Classic Maya Polities of the Southern Lowlands written by Damien B. Marken and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2015-11-21 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classic Maya Polities of the Southern Lowlands investigates Maya political and social structure in the southern lowlands, assessing, comparing, and interpreting the wide variation in Classic period Maya polity and city composition, development, and integration. Traditionally, discussions of Classic Maya political organization have been dominated by the debate over whether Maya polities were centralized or decentralized. With new, largely unpublished data from several recent archaeological projects, this book examines the premises, strengths, and weaknesses of these two perspectives before moving beyond this long-standing debate and into different territory. The volume examines the articulations of the various social and spatial components of Maya polity—the relationships, strategies, and practices that bound households, communities, institutions, and dynasties into enduring (or short-lived) political entities. By emphasizing the internal negotiation of polity, the contributions provide an important foundation for a more holistic understanding of how political organization functioned in the Classic period. Contributors include Francisco Estrada Belli, James L. Fitzsimmons, Sarah E. Jackson, Caleb Kestle, Brigitte Kovacevich, Allan Maca, Damien B. Marken, James Meierhoff, Timothy Murtha, Cynthia Robin, Alexandre Tokovinine, and Andrew Wyatt.
Download or read book The Archaeology of Political Structure written by Olivier de Montmollin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-01-22 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This innovative analysis of archaeological settlement patterns as a guide to ancient political structure focuses on the Maya of Southeastern Mexico. Working principally with data from the Classic Period in the Rosario Valley, Dr de Montmollin relates problem orientation and theory to themes with wide currency in political anthropolgy. For archaeologists interested in complex societies, the handling of the settlement evidence and the close attention paid to bridging arguments provide valuable guidance on analysing a multiscale settlement record when reconstructing political structure. For Mayanists, the characterization of settlement and political structure is unprecedented in its rigour and scope. The Archaeology of Political Structure thus blends the particular fascination of Maya archaeology with developments of more general interest in anthropological archaeology to make a substantial contribution to the practice and theory of settlement studies within complex societies.
Download or read book Ancient Maya Political Dynamics written by Antonia E. Foias and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2013-07-02 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foias argues that there is no single Maya political history, but multiple histories, no single Maya state, but multiple polities that need to be understood at the level of the lived experience of individuals. She explores the ways in which the dynamics of political power shaped the lives and landscape of the Maya and how this information can be used to look at other complex societies.
Download or read book Ancient Maya Politics written by Simon Martin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-18 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With new readings of ancient texts, Ancient Maya Politics unlocks the long-enigmatic political system of the Classic Maya.
Download or read book Motul de San Jos written by Antonia E Foias and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2012-09-23 with total page 553 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars have long debated the nature of Maya political organization during the Classic period (AD 250-950). Complex questions regarding political centralization, economic change, and the role of politics and economics in the rise and collapse of the civilization have been examined and reexamined from a variety of perspectives. Antonia Foias and Kitty Emery have assembled a broad collection of essays all focused on a single polity, that of Motul de San José. By presenting a coherent interdisciplinary body of archaeological and environmental data, the volume offers an intensely deep, focused investigation of the various models of the ancient Maya political and economic systems. Research conducted over six seasons of fieldwork reveals a more centralized political system than expected and uncovers the workings of the ancient economic structure. The contributors offer new details concerning how involved royals and nonroyal elites were in the politics of nearby states, as well as an extensive tribute system.
Download or read book Heterarchy Political Economy and the Ancient Maya written by Vernon L. Scarborough and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In recent years the Three Rivers region of Belize and Guatemala has been the site of some of the most intensive archaeological research in the Maya Lowlands, providing a wealth of regional data. This volume brings together articles reporting on findings and interpretations of the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project that range over a 10- to 12-year period and that shed new light on how ecology, economy, and political order developed in the ancient past.".
Download or read book MAYA POLITICAL ORGANIZATION DURING THE TERMINAL CLASSIC PERIOD IN THE COCHUAH REGION QUINTANA ROO MEXICO FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A SECONDARY SITE written by Tatiana Zelenetskaya Young and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dissertation examines the political organization of the ancient Maya during the Terminal Classic Period in the Cochuah Region of Quintana Roo. It evaluates the architecture and site layout of the secondary sites of Sacalaca and San Felipe, and tertiary and quaternary sites surrounding them in order to test political models. Our understanding of the ancient Maya political organization largely comes from Classic Period hieroglyphic texts recorded by Maya kings on public monuments. This reliance on only these kinds of data creates a limitation on the interpretation of political organization, and does not address the local scale of political institution within Maya polities. It also creates the illusion of a centralization of political organization and biases towards primary sites where hieroglyphic monuments are located. The alternative data available for the evaluation of political organization are the regional settlement pattern, individual site layouts and site architecture. Certain types of architecture such as acropoli, mortuary temples, formal plazas and ballcourts, are representative of the institutions of rulership permitting to determine the type of political organization. The distribution of this architecture within the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sites will correlate to respective political models. Three models were chosen to be tested after reviewing the various models proposed for the political organization of the ancient Maya. These models are Dynastic Kingship, Mul Tepal, and the Segmentary State. The archaeological correlates of these models are identified and compared with the evidence provided by twenty sites in the Cochuah Region for both the early Terminal Classic Period -the Florescent Phase and the late Terminal Classic Period -the Post Florescent Phase. The conclusion is made that during the Florescent Phase the political organization in the Cochuah Region was a Segmentary State. In the Segmentary State the institution of rulership is found in sites occupying different levels in the settlement hierarchy. Sacalaca and San Felipe and their satellites exhibit a duplication of the institutions of rulership on a smaller scale. During the Post Florescent Phase data indicate the absence of authorities capable of providing order or enforcing laws and perhaps the absence of rulers during this time in the region. This case study demonstrates that some types of political organizations would be only visible through examination of secondary sites and their satellites. Also, this approach addresses the problem of relying on hieroglyphic texts and helps to overcome a bias of centralized political organization created by investigation limited to the primary centers.
Download or read book Classic Maya Provincial Politics written by Lisa J. LeCount and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2010-09-15 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most treatments of large Classic Maya sites such as Caracol and Tikal regard Maya political organization as highly centralized. Because investigations have focused on civic buildings and elite palaces, however, a critical part of the picture of Classic Maya political organization has been missing. The contributors to this volume chart the rise and fall of the Classic Maya center of Xunantunich, paying special attention to its changing relationships with the communities that comprised its hinterlands. They examine how the changing relationships between Xunantunich and the larger kingdom of Naranjo affected the local population, the location of their farms and houses, and the range of economic and subsistence activities in which both elites and commoners engaged. They also examine the ways common people seized opportunities and met challenges offered by a changing political landscape. The rich archaeological data in this book show that incorporating subject communities and people—and keeping them incorporated—was an on-going challenge to ancient Maya rulers. Until now, archaeologists have lacked integrated regional data and a fine-grained chronology in which to document short-term shifts in site occupations, subsistence strategies, and other important practices of the daily life of the Maya. This book provides a revised picture of Maya politics—one of different ways of governing and alliance formation among dominant centers, provincial polities, and hinterland communities.
Download or read book Classic Maya Polities of the Southern Lowlands written by Damien B. Marken and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2015-11-02 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Classic Maya Polities of the Southern Lowlands investigates Maya political and social structure in the southern lowlands, assessing, comparing, and interpreting the wide variation in Classic period Maya polity and city composition, development, and integration. Traditionally, discussions of Classic Maya political organization have been dominated by the debate over whether Maya polities were centralized or decentralized. With new, largely unpublished data from several recent archaeological projects, this book examines the premises, strengths, and weaknesses of these two perspectives before moving beyond this long-standing debate and into different territory.The volume examines the articulations of the various social and spatial components of Maya polity—the relationships, strategies, and practices that bound households, communities, institutions, and dynasties into enduring (or short-lived) political entities. By emphasizing the internal negotiation of polity, the contributions provide an important foundation for a more holistic understanding of how political organization functioned in the Classic period."
Download or read book The Ancient Maya 6th Edition written by Robert J. Sharer and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 986 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rich findings of recent exploration and research are incorporated in this completely revised and greatly expanded sixth edition of this standard work on the Maya people. New field discoveries, new technical advances, new successes in the decipherment of Maya writing, and new theoretical perspectives on the Maya past have made this new edition necessary.
Download or read book Yula Yucatan Mexico written by Patricia K. Anderson and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 750 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Perspectives on Ancient Maya Rural Complexity written by Samuel V. Connell and published by Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. This book was released on 2003-12-01 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Settlement archaeology in the Maya area has focused much of its attention on the polar extremes of the settlement continuum. As a result of this urban/rural bias, a whole range of complex rural settlements remain under-explored. The chapters in this volume highlight the variable quality of these "middle level settlements".
Download or read book Settlement Archaeology at Quirigua Guatemala written by Wendy Ashmore and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-01-09 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph reports the results of the Quiriguá Project Site Periphery Program, five seasons (1975-1979) of archaeological survey and excavation in the 96 km2 immediately adjoining the classic Maya site of Quiriguá. Ashmore identifies and helps us understand where and how the people of Quiriguá lived. She presents detailed material evidence in two data catalogues, for the floodplain settlement adjoining Quiriguá and for sites in the wider periphery. The work situates Quiriguá settlement firmly in a regional context, benefiting from the extraordinary abundance of information amassed in southeastern Mesoamerica since 1979. It sheds new light on the political, economic, and social dynamics of the region including the sometimes-fractious interactions between Quiriguá, its overlords at Copan, and people elsewhere in the Lower Motagua Valley and beyond. Quiriguá Reports, IV
Download or read book The Origins of Maya States written by Loa P. Traxler and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2016-10-28 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Pre-Columbian Maya were organized into a series of independent kingdoms or polities rather than unified into a single state. The vast majority of studies of Maya states focus on the apogee of their development in the classic period, ca. 250-850 C.E. As a result, Maya states are defined according to the specific political structures that characterized classic period lowland Maya society. The Origins of Maya States is the first study in over 30 years to examine the origins and development of these states specifically during the preceding preclassic period, ca. 1000 B.C.E. to 250 C.E. Attempts to understand the origins of Maya states cannot escape the limitations of archaeological data, and this is complicated by both the variability of Maya states in time and space and the interplay between internal development and external impacts. To mitigate these factors, editors Loa P. Traxler and Robert J. Sharer assemble a collection of essays that combines an examination of topical issues with regional perspectives from both the Maya area and neighboring Mesoamerican regions to highlight the role of interregional interaction in the evolution of Maya states. Topics covered include material signatures for the development of Maya states, evaluations of extant models for the emergence of Maya states, and advancement of new models based on recent archaeological data. Contributors address the development of complexity during the preclassic era within the Maya regions of the Pacific coast, highlands, and lowlands and explore preclassic economic, social, political, and ideological systems that provide a developmental context for the origins of Maya states. Contributors: Marcello A. Canuto, John E. Clark, Ann Cyphers, Francisco Estrada-Belli, David C. Grove, Norman Hammond, Richard D. Hansen, Eleanor King, Michael Love, Simon Martin, Astrid Runggaldier, Robert Sharer, Loa Traxler.
Download or read book Ancient Maya Commoners written by Jon C. Lohse and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much of what we currently know about the ancient Maya concerns the activities of the elites who ruled the societies and left records of their deeds carved on the monumental buildings and sculptures that remain as silent testimony to their power and status. But what do we know of the common folk who labored to build the temple complexes and palaces and grew the food that fed all of Maya society? This pathfinding book marshals a wide array of archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic evidence to offer the fullest understanding to date of the lifeways of ancient Maya commoners. Senior and emerging scholars contribute case studies that examine such aspects of commoner life as settlement patterns, household organization, and subsistence practices. Their reports cover most of the Maya area and the entire time span from Preclassic to Postclassic. This broad range of data helps resolve Maya commoners from a faceless mass into individual actors who successfully adapted to their social environment and who also held primary responsibility for producing the food and many other goods on which the whole Maya society depended.
Download or read book White Roads of the Yucat n written by Justine M. Shaw and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maya sacbeob, or raised Òwhite roads,Ó are often considered a single class of features, with a sole purpose. In this first systematic examination of their functions, meanings, arrangements, and construction styles, Justine Shaw reveals that these causeways served a variety of cultural and natural functions. In White Roads of the Yucat‡n, author Justine Shaw presents original field data collected with the Cochuah Regional Archaeological Survey at two ancient Maya sites, Ichmul and YoÕokop. Both centers chose to invest enormous resources in the construction of monumental roadways during a time of social and political turmoil in the Terminal Classic period. Shaw carefully examines why it was at this pointÑand no otherÑthat the settlements made such a decision. She argues that both settlements used the sacbeob as a method of socially integrating the largest, most diverse and dispersed population in the Cochuah region. She further demonstrates that their use of the sacbeob, in concert with other innovative strategies, allowed Ichmul and YoÕokop to outlast many of the sites that they may have sought to emulate and to flourish during a time of tremendous sociopolitical and economic change. In addition to her detailed discussion of these two sites, Shaw provides an exhaustive review of the literature of Maya sacbeob archaeology, describing various interpretations of construction, features, and variability. This synthetic and interpretive treatment will aid researchers working on a variety of complex civilizations with road systems, as well as those interested in core-periphery relationships, cultural collapse, and social integration.
