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Formation of a Complex Polity on the Eastern Periphery of the Maya Lowlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Keith M. Prufer ,
Holley Moyes ,
Brendan J. Culleton ,
Andrew Kindon  and
Douglas J. Kennett
Keith M. Prufer
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM 87131
Holley Moyes
Affiliation:
Anthropology Program, University of California Merced, 200 North Lake Rd., Merced, CA
Brendan J. Culleton
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97401
Andrew Kindon
Affiliation:
Social Sciences Division, West Valley College, 4000 Fruitvale Avenue Saratoga, California 95070
Douglas J. Kennett
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97401
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Abstract

This paper pursues the application of a central tenet of the dual-processual framework, the corporate/network continuum, to the development of Uxbenká, a small monument-bearing polity in the southern Maya Lowlands. During its growth, Uxbenká underwent a transformation from a small farming community to a complex polity with many of the trappings of elite authority that characterizes Classic Maya centers. It was one of the earliest complex polities to develop on the southeastern periphery of the Maya lowlands during the Early Classic period (A.D. 300—600). The polity was founded upon earlier agricultural communities that are now known to extend back to at least A.D. 100. Starting after A.D. 200 the location of the original agricultural village (Group A) was leveled and reorganized to form a public monument garden and the center of political authority throughout much of the Classic period (A.D. 400—800). In this article we present radiocarbon ages from well-defined stratigraphic contexts to establish a site chronology. Based on these data we suggest that by A.D. 450 Uxbenká was the center of a regional political system connected to some of the larger polities in the Maya world (e.g., Tikal). We argue that at this time Uxbenká underwent a significant change from a polity organized by a corporate inclusionary form of ruler-ship to a more networked one marked by exclusionary authority vested in elites who privileged their ancestral relations and network interactions across the geopolitical landscape.

Resumen

Resumen

En este artículo se pretende aplicar un principio central de la teoría del doble-procescualismo, el continuo entre un colectivo y una red, al desarrollo de Uxbenká, una pequeña comunidad antigua en las tierras bajas del sur en el área maya. A través de su desarrollo Uxbenká se sometió a una transformación de una pequeña comunidad agrícola a un centro urbano más complejo con muchos de los símbolos de la autoridad élite que caracterizan a los centros del periodo Clásico. Uxbenká fue una de las primeras comunidades en la periferia sureste de las tierras bajas en desarrollar y convertirse en una sociedad con una organización política más compleja durante el período Clásico Temprano (300—600 d.C.). El centro urbano de Uxbenká fue establecido a base de comunidades agrícolas anteriores que fueron ocupadas desde al menos 100 d.C. A partir de 200 d.C. el área de la aldea agrícola original (Grupo A) fue nivelada y reorganizada, formando un espacio público en donde se estableció un jardín de monumentos y el centro de la autoridad política por la mayor parte del período Clásico (400—800 d.C.). Las fechas de radiocarbono de contextos estratigráficos bien definidos que se presentan aquí establecen una cronología del sitio. Estos datos indican que en 450 d.C. Uxbenká fue el centro de un sistema político regional conectado a algunas de las entidades políticas más grandes en el mundo maya (incluyendo por ejemplo a Tikal). Sostenemos que en este periodo, la organización política de Uxbenká cambió apreciablemente, de una soberanía que funcionaba como un colectivo inclusivo a una más conectada marcada por la autoridad exclusiva basada en las élites quienes privilegiaron sus relaciones ancestrales y sus interacciones con la misma red política a través del paisaje geopolítico.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , June 2011 , pp. 199 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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