Late Postclassic lowland Maya archaeology

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony P. Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Late Postclassic ◽  
Lowland Maya

The Lowland Maya “Protoclassic”

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Brady ◽  
Joseph W. Ball ◽  
Ronald L. Bishop ◽  
Duncan C. Pring ◽  
Norman Hammond ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Actual Existence ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractThe term “Protoclassic,” employed regularly but inexplicitly in the literature of lowland Maya archaeology, has become increasingly nebulous and ambiguous in both meaning and usage. This paper reviews the history and use of the term and presents a formal redefinition of the Protoclassic as a ceramic stage based explicitly and exclusively on ceramic criteria. Some suggestions regarding future use of the term also are offered. The paper further addresses and resolves a number of persisting questions regarding Protoclassic orange wares, including problems concerning the actual existence of the “Aguacate ceramic group.” and the relationships of Aguacate-group pottery to other emergent orange wares of the terminal Late Preclassic and initial Early Classic periods. The nature and significance of the “Holmul I Style,” the “Floral Park Ceramic Sphere.” and the relationships of the two to each other and the larger, redefined “protoclassic” ceramic stage also are examined. A spatial distribution for protoclassic ceramics considerably expanded over what has ever been reported previously is described, and Chronometric data are presented to support a revised chronology for the protoclassic ceramic stage. Finally, ceramic data are offered that suggest a real subdivision of the protoclassic ceramic stage into an early, emergent facet originating entirely within Late Preclassic lowland traditions, and a later, fully “Classic” facet corresponding to the early Tzakol (Tzakol 1) ceramic horizon.

AGENCY, ALTERITY, APPROPRIATION: POSTCLASSIC LOWLAND MAYA USES AND MODIFICATIONS OF THE “MIXTECA-PUEBLA” OR “INTERNATIONAL” STYLE

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-428
Author(s):  
Keith Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Previous History ◽  
Central Mexico ◽  
Local Elites ◽  
Prestige Goods ◽  
International Style ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Late Postclassic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Manuscript Painting ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractMaya participation in the Postclassic Mixteca-Puebla or International Style has long been recognized in murals and manuscript painting. Recent explanations for Maya adoptions/modifications of this central Mexican style have shifted from invasion or “influence” to emphasize the active and selective participation of the Maya. I examine two examples, the solar murals of Mayapan and Flores Stela 4, to elucidate how they reflect Maya uses of the Mexican Other in service of local political and religious power. I argue that these works represent a Late Postclassic continuation of a long Maya tradition of using central Mexican forms and iconography as exotic ideological “prestige goods” reinforcing the legitimacy of local elites. They cannot be understood apart from the previous history of interactions between the Maya and central Mexico, particularly in the Early Postclassic, and some of the “Mexican” elements in these examples may derive from Maya-Mexican interactions during this earlier time.For Eloise Quiñones Keber, and in memory of H.B. Nicholson

Relationships between Early Preclassic and Early Middle Preclassic Phases in Northern Belize: A Comment on “Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads”

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 628-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Potter ◽  
Thomas R. Hester ◽  
Stephen L. Black ◽  
Fred Valdez
Keyword(s):  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Lowland Maya

In a recent paper, Marcus (1983) provides a timely synthesis of the rapidly accumulating body of data from various projects in the Maya Lowlands. One of the specific problems discussed by Marcus is that of temporal and cultural definition of the Swasey phase at the sites of Cuello and Colha, and its relationship to other early components. Our comment presents new data from Colha that were not available to Marcus. These data have significantly expanded our understanding of the earliest occupations at the site and have important implications for intersite comparisons.

A Correction to Marcus's “Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads”

1983 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-835
Author(s):  
Richard E. W. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Lowland Maya

scholarly journals THE SIZE OF PLAZAS IN MESOAMERICAN CITIES AND TOWNS: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alanna Ossa ◽  
Michael E. Smith ◽  
José Lobo
Keyword(s):  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Settlement Systems ◽  
South Central ◽  
Passive Viewing ◽  
Late Postclassic ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Regional Settlement ◽  
Size Scales

We present quantitative data on population size and plaza area in three groups of ancient Mesoamerican settlements: a sample of 30 Late Postclassic cities and towns from throughout Mesoamerica and two regional settlement systems from the Classic period, including south-central Veracruz (the Mixtequilla) and the Palenque region. Plaza size scales with population in a sublinear relationship in all three groups, meaning that larger settlements had considerably less plaza area per capita than smaller settlements. These results suggest that the currently popular interpretation drawn from Classic Maya archaeology that plazas were places designed to hold the entire urban population for passive viewing of spectacles may be incomplete. We argue that the observed quantitative relationships between population and plaza area support the notion that plazas were designed to be used for a variety of purposes—including several types of ceremonies and marketplaces—held at different times following a regular schedule.

PITS AND BONES: Identifying Maya ritual behavior in the archaeological record

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie L. Kunen ◽  
Mary Jo Galindo ◽  
Erin Chase
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Approach ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Ritual Behavior ◽  
Votive Offerings ◽  
Lowland Maya

In this article, we examine the traditional classificatory terms of cache and burial as they are used in Lowland Maya archaeology and argue that, rather than forming mutually exclusive categories, these ritual deposits are members of a continuum. After discussing the intertwined concepts of dedication and termination and the cosmology of caches, we summarize burgeoning evidence that not all deposits classified as caches are votive offerings. We also discuss the role played by household refuse in ritual contexts. We then describe the investigation of a pit excavated into bedrock beneath a residential structure at the Maya site of La Caldera, in northwestern Belize. Our interpretation of the ritual importance of the pit is based on a series of behaviors that activated, terminated, and then reactivated the ritual pathway defined by the feature. We suggest that this behavioral approach to special deposits is more compelling than attempts to classify the material traces of ritual actions according to narrowly defined terms.

Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads

1983 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 454-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce Marcus
Keyword(s):  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Lowland Maya

The Lowland Maya region has seen an enormous increase of new data over the last decade, but our progress is hampered by a tendency for cyclic return to previous theoretical positions. This results from several factors: too short a view of the discipline's history; a lack of familiarity with the rest of Mesoamerica; a lack of collaboration among archaeologists, ethnohistorians, and epigraphers; and a tendency to view alternative methodologies as competing rather than complementary. This paper synthesizes some of the major new discoveries and suggests where progress might be made if differing approaches were used in concert rather than in isolation.

A Unique Maya Shrine Site on the Mountain Pine Ridge of British Honduras

1963 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Bullard
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Pine Ridge ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
British Honduras ◽  
Granite Outcrop ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractA small ruin of presumed ancient Maya origin is described. This ruin is the only certain prehistoric structure discovered on the Mountain Pine Ridge of British Honduras, and it is associated with a natural granite outcrop of monumental appearance in such a way as to suggest that the two formed a shrine of a type not previously reported in Lowland Maya archaeology.

Two Roads Diverged: A Brief Comment on “Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads”

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 821-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Hammond
Keyword(s):  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Lowland Maya

Some points raised by Joyce Marcus's survey of lowland Maya archaeology require further discussion.

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