Artistic Connections Between the Chichen Itza Toltec and the Classic Maya

1954 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Rands
Keyword(s):  
Classic Maya ◽  
Present Writer ◽  
The South ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Water Lily ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Single Motif ◽  
Maya Area ◽  
Chichen Itza

A recent development of some interest in Maya archaeology has been the appearance of several studies showing rather unexpected connections between the art of the Toltec period at Chichen Itza and that of the late Great period in the Classic centers to the south. Inferentially, this may indicate the approximate contemporaneity of the Chichen Itza Toltec and the late Classic Maya. Such a reconstruction is not only a far cry from the outmoded concept of “Old” and “New Empires” but, as Lothrop (1952, p. 112) points out, challenges the generally favored 11.16 (Goodman-Martinez- Thompson) correlation of the Maya and Christian calendars. Three studies may be cited as of particular importance in emphasizing the affinity of Chichen Toltec and Classic Maya art. Monographs by Proskouriakoff (1950) and Lothrop (1952) deal, respectively, with sculptured monuments from the Maya area as a whole and with metal objects from the sacred cenote at Chichen Itza. A paper by the present writer (Rands, 1953) is concerned with portrayals of a single motif, the water lily, in the Maya area.

Yucatec Influence in Terminal Classic Northern Belize

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

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

An Ancient Maya Measurement System

1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia J. O'Brien ◽  
Hanne D. Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Measurement System ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Measuring System ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Chichen Itza

In this report we attempt to answer the question: which measurement system did the Late Classic Maya use to build their buildings? Measurements were collected from ten buildings at three Puuc style archaeological sites: Uxmal, Kabah and Chichén Itzá, which date about A.D. 750-1000. The tentative results of the study suggest the Maya employed a measurement system involving what we are calling a zapal, which was 147 ± 5 cm long. A zapal was divided into 16 units, kab, of 9 xóot’ each, or 9 units, oc, of 16 xóot’ each. Thus, there were two alternative ways of grouping the 144 xóot’ that made up each zapal. An examination of the linguistic and ethnohistoric data reveals nothing to contradict the notion that such a measuring system was present among the ancient Maya, and that multiples of 3, 4, and 12 are involved.

Lords of the Hills

1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas P. Dunning ◽  
Jeff Karl Kowalski
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Important Relationship ◽  
Late Ninth Century ◽  
The City ◽  
Chichen Itza ◽  
Divine Kingship

AbstractA regional investigation of the ancient Maya settlement patterns of the Puuc suggests that this region was occupied by increasing numbers of people seeking to maximize control over prime agricultural soils during the Late Classic period. During the Late Classic the eastern Puuc region was controlled by numerous autonomous major centers that carried on the Classic Maya tradition of divine kingship. During the late ninth century a.d., the city of Uxmal briefly emerged as the politically dominant center of the region and was involved in an important relationship with the city of Chichen Itza. By a.d. 950, however, Uxmal and the other major centers of the Puuc had ceased all important elite activities.

Stature at Tikal, Guatemala: Implications for Ancient Maya Demography and Social Organization

1967 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Haviland
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Class Division ◽  
Lower Status ◽  
Simple Class ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Maya Site

AbstractThis paper presents an analysis of stature of the prehistoric population from the Maya site of Tikal, Guatemala. From this analysis, based on 55 skeletons from the Tikal burial series, three important conclusions emerge with respect to ancient Maya demography and social organization. (1) Tikal was settled by people of moderate stature, and this remained relatively stable over several centuries. A marked reduction in male stature in Late Classic times may be indicative of a situation of nutritional stress, which may have had something to do with the collapse of Classic Maya civilization. (2) Stature differences between those buried in tombs and others at Tikal suggest that, in the last century B.C., a distinct ruling class developed at Tikal. This simple class division of rulers and commoners may have become more complex in Late Classic times. (3) There was a marked sexual dimorphism in stature between males and females at Tikal. This is probably partially genetic and partially a reflection of relatively lower status for women as opposed to men in Maya society.

2. On the Geological Relations of the Secondary and Primary Rocks of the Chain of Mont Blanc.

1857 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 348-349
Author(s):  
Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Quarterly Journal ◽  
Present Writer ◽  
East Side ◽  
The South ◽  
Geological Society

This paper is intended to meet the objections taken by Mr D. Sharpe, in a paper published in theQuarterly Journal of the Geological Society for February1855, to the views of the present writer, and those of several eminent geologists, on the structure of the chain of Mont Blane.De Saussure first described the singular superposition of gneiss to limestone which occurs on the south-east side of the valley of Chamouni, a testimony the more clear from its obvious opposition to the Wernerian views of the period.

A MAYA CARVED SHELL PLAQUE FROM TULA, HIDALGO, MEXICO

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

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

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

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

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

Understanding Late Classic Maya Mortuary Ritual in Caves:

2018 ◽  
pp. 133-158
Author(s):  
AMY R. MICHAEL ◽  
GABRIEL D. WROBEL ◽  
JACK BIGGS
Keyword(s):  
Classic Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Mortuary Ritual
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document