Ancient Maya Defensive Barricades, Warfare, and Site Abandonment

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel W. Palka
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
American Antiquity ◽  
Site Abandonment ◽  
Lowland Maya

In a recent report (Latin American Antiquity 11:283-299), Bruce Dahlin presents evidence from Chunchucmil, Yucatan, and other ancient lowland Maya centers, which indicates that low stone and earth barricade walls may have been important defensive constructions. He also postulates that population annihilation occurred during Maya warfare, particularly at Chunchucmil. In this commentary I explore alternative explanations regarding Maya defensive works and warfare derived from recent archaeological research and historic sources from the Maya lowlands. The existence of palisades or thorny bush on barricade walls, and more gradual abandonment of Maya sites during episodes of conflict, warrant further consideration and testing along with Dahlin"s intriguing hypotheses.

Wood of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Pine (Pinus spp.) by the Ancient Lowland Maya

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Morehart ◽  
David L. Lentz ◽  
Keith M. Prufer
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Basic Element ◽  
Wood Charcoal ◽  
Regular Component ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Surface Sites ◽  
Dominant Taxon ◽  
Pinus Spp ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractThe recovery of pine (Pinus spp.) charcoal remains from ceremonial contexts at sites in the Maya Lowlands suggests that pine had a significant role in ancient Maya ritual activities. Data collected by the authors reveal that pine remains are a regular component of archaeobotanical assemblages from caves, sites that were used almost exclusively for ritual purposes, and that pine is often the dominant taxon of wood charcoal recovered. Comparisons with archaeobotanical data from surface sites likewise reveals that pine is common in ceremonial deposits. The authors propose that the appearance of pine remains in ceremonial contexts indicates pine was a valued element of Maya ritual paraphernalia. By basing interpretations with analogous information from ethnography, ethnohistory, iconography, and epigraphy, the use of pine during rituals is argued to be have been linked with a symbolic complex of ritual burning and offering “food” sacrifices to deities. The possibility is raised that burning pine, perhaps as torches, during some ancient rituals was similar to the modern use of candles. The diversity of ceremonial contexts yielding pine suggests that burning pine may have been a basic element of ritual activities that was essential to establish the legitimacy of ritual performances.

THE VALUES OF CLASSIC MAYA JADE: A REANALYSIS OF CANCUEN'S JADE WORKSHOP

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloé Andrieu ◽  
Edna Rodas ◽  
Luis Luin
Keyword(s):  
Classic Maya ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
Production Area ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractMost ancient Maya jade workshops have been discovered in the Motagua Valley, the region where the majority of known Mesoamerican jade sources are located; whereas in the Maya lowlands, evidence of jade production has primarily been in the form of finished objects or, in a few cases, of jade debitage in construction fill and cache contexts. At Cancuen, however, a large jade preform production area was discovered in the heart of a major lowland Maya site. In this paper we present the technological reanalysis of this material and show that the quality and color of the raw material corresponds to very different production processes, values, and distribution within the site. We suggest that most of Cancuen's jade production was exported to recipient sites as preforms and discuss the importance of this organization for understanding the nature of wealth goods production and exchange in the ancient Maya world.

The Chronology of Yaxuna

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Suhler ◽  
Traci Ardren ◽  
David Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Urban Center ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Middle Formative

AbstractResearch at the ancient Maya city of Yaxuna, located in the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula, has provided sufficient data to suggest a preliminary chronological framework for the cultural development of this large polity. Primary ceramic and stratigraphie data are presented to support a five-phase scheme of cultural history, encompassing the Middle Formative through Postclassic periods (500 b.c.–a.d. 1250). In addition to chronological significance, the political ramifications of a pan-lowland ceramic trade are addressed. Yaxuna experienced an early florescence in the Late Formative–Early Classic periods, when it was the largest urban center in the central peninsula. A second renaissance in the Terminal Classic period was the result of Yaxuna's role in an alliance between the Puuc and Coba, in opposition to growing Itza militancy. This paper proposes a chronological framework for the cultural development of one northern Maya region in order to facilitate an understanding of this area as part of the overall history of polity interaction and competition in the Maya lowlands.

INTRODUCTION

2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-62
Author(s):  
William R. Fowler ◽  
Jon B. Hageman
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Settlement Studies

This issue's Special Section presents recent archaeological research and interpretive perspectives on ancient Maya social organization. This topic has received increasing archaeological attention in recent years, with inferences drawn primarily from settlement studies, excavation data from households, and mortuary patterns complemented by evidence from ethnohistoric sources and ethnographic data and interpretations (Fash 1994:187–188, 190–192).

Swamps, canals, and the locations of ancient Maya cities

Antiquity ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 54 (212) ◽  
pp. 206-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. W. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Radar Data ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Intensive Agriculture ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Rank Ordering ◽  
Topographic Information ◽  
Maya Civilization ◽  
Mapping Discovery

The recent radar mapping discovery of widely distributed patterns of intensive agriculture in the southern Maya lowlands provides new perspectives on classic Maya civilization. Swamps seem to have been drained, modified, and intensively cultivated in a large number of zones. The largest sites of Maya civilization are located on the edges of swamps. By combining radar data with topographic information, it is possible to suggest the reasons for the choice of urban locations. With the addition of patterns elicited from rank-ordering of Maya cities, it is also possible to suggest more accurate means of defining Classic period Maya polities.

Caves and Ancient Maya Ritual Use ofJute

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina T. Halperin ◽  
Sergio Garza ◽  
Keith M. Prufer ◽  
James E. Bradya
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Freshwater Gastropods ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Surface Sites ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Mother Earth ◽  
Ceremonial Architecture

AbstractA number of previous authors have suggested, based on limited data, thatPachychilusspp., freshwater gastropods often calledjute, may have played a role in ancient Maya ritual. Data collected by the authors demonstrate thatjuteshells consistently appear as part of faunal assemblages in ceremonial caves across the southern Maya Lowlands. At surface sites, jute are often associated with ceremonial architecture, particularly ballcourts. Previous ethnographic accounts are reviewed for clues to ancient Maya jute use. New ethnographic data suggest a role not previously considered by archaeologists. A Q‘eqchi’ Maya informant states that shells are gathered up after meals and deposited in caves as an offering in thanks to “Mother Earth” (Madre Tierra) who provided the mollusks. This practice suggests that the ancient shells may represent a secondary deposition rather than reflecting consumption occurring in the cave. The presence of jute shells may document ancient religious beliefs and ritual activities surrounding an important subsistence resource.

scholarly journals Lidar survey of ancient Maya settlement in the Puuc region of Yucatan, Mexico

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249314
Author(s):  
William M. Ringle ◽  
Tomás Gallareta Negrón ◽  
Rossana May Ciau ◽  
Kenneth E. Seligson ◽  
Juan C. Fernandez-Diaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Archaeology ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Civic Architecture ◽  
Sensing Technology ◽  
Cultivable Land ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Storage Technologies

The application of lidar remote-sensing technology has revolutionized the practice of settlement and landscape archaeology, perhaps nowhere more so than in the Maya lowlands. This contribution presents a substantial lidar dataset from the Puuc region of Yucatan, Mexico, a cultural subregion of the ancient Maya and a distinct physiographic zone within the Yucatan peninsula. Despite the high density of known sites, no large site has been fully surveyed, and little is known about intersite demography. Lidar technology allows determination of settlement distribution for the first time, showing that population was elevated but nucleated, although without any evidence of defensive features. Population estimates suggest a region among the most densely settled within the Maya lowlands, though hinterland levels are modest. Lacking natural bodies of surface water, the ancient Puuc inhabitants relied upon various storage technologies, primarily chultuns (cisterns) and aguadas (natural or modified reservoirs for potable water). Both are visible in the lidar imagery, allowing calculation of aguada capacities by means of GIS software. The imagery also demonstrates an intensive and widespread stone working industry. Ovens visible in the imagery were probably used for the production of lime, used for construction purposes and perhaps also as a softening agent for maize. Quarries can also be discerned, including in some cases substantial portions of entire hills. With respect to agriculture, terrain classification permits identification of patches of prime cultivable land and calculation of their extents. Lidar imagery also provides the first unequivocal evidence for terracing in the Puuc, indeed in all northern Yucatan. Finally, several types of civic architecture and architectural complexes are visible, including four large acropolises probably dating to the Middle Formative period (700–450 B.C.). Later instances of civic architecture include numerous Early Puuc Civic Complexes, suggesting a common form of civic organization at the beginning of the Late Classic demographic surge, (A.D. 600–750).

scholarly journals INTRODUCTION

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-259
Author(s):  
William R. Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Architectural Features ◽  
The Status ◽  
Road Systems

This issue's special section presents a series of papers focusing on recent research on ancient Maya causeways, or sacbeob (“white roads”—a reference to their gleaming, plastered surfaces). Often relegated to the status of “minor architectural features,” even a casual perusal of the literature quickly convinces one that sacbeob were a major feature of the ancient Maya landscape. Throughout the Maya lowlands from at least the Late Preclassic onward, these elevated roads facilitated internal and external transportation within and between Maya centers for a combination of economic, political, social, and ritual purposes. Constructed as an organic element of the built environment, road systems grew in size and expanded in complexity as the Maya centers themselves did (Andrews 1975:89, 323, 428).

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