Archaeological Investigations at Yaxuná, 1986-1996: Results of the Selz Foundation Yaxuna Project

Stanton, Travis W.; Suhler, Charles; Ardren, Traci

doi:10.30861/9781407305455

Cited by 16 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Earflares are symbolic flowers in Maya iconography, and the elaborately carved spindle whorls found at Caracol and El Perú-Waka' include many that display the symmetrical petal patterns of flowers or seedpods. Notably, the depiction of earflare chains is much more common than the reported discovery of earflare concentrations in archaeological contexts, although one such concentration was found, along with large collar beads and diadem jewels, in an Early Classic cache at Yaxuna in Yucatan (Stanton et al 2010). Classic regalia earflare chains, in a conservative interpretation, depict wealth with possible religious connotations of flowers, and we suggest there is a potential to identify an additional layer of meaning as possible counting tokens.…”

Section: Counting Tokensmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…In Early Classic Yaxuna Burial 24 at Yaxuna in Yucatan, archaeologists discovered such a crown in situ near the head of a sacrificed young woman with a greenstone huunal jewel at its centre (Fig. 8a, b), along with three burnt segments of such a shell royal crown at the foot of the central deceased individual in that tomb (Ardren 2002;Stanton et al 2010;. With this secure archaeological context in mind, we can further identify the three long segments of carved conch shell from Proyecto Nacional Tikal Burial 019 as part of a crown in this posited royal tomb (Laporte & Fialko 1995), and also conchshell segments from a Classic burial discovered at San Gervasio, Cozumel Island, with a remarkable Olmecstyle heirloom jade as the huunal jewel (Freidel et al 2002;Rathje 1973).…”

Section: Shells Scribes and Noblesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the significance of this skull representation transcended colour: there was an effigy olive-shell skull carved in red Spondylus in Early Classic Burial 23 (Fig. 8d), another royal tomb at Yaxuna (Stanton et al 2010. ) Yaxuna Burial 23 also contained two concentrations of shell tokens, 37 limpet shells (three painted red on the interior) and 40 small cowrie shells (Fig.…”

Section: Shells Scribes and Noblesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Imagining a Complex Maya Political Economy: Counting Tokens and Currencies in Image, Text and the Archaeological Record

Freidel¹,

Masson²,

Rich³

2016

CAJ

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Exploring the long-term use of accounting practices and currencies by literate and numerate authorities contributes new information regarding the complexity of the political economy of ancient Maya society. Two forms of indirect, yet compelling, lines of evidence for accounting practices and currencies are presented in this article. First, we identify potential accounting devices (counting sticks and tokens) found in the tombs of royal scribes and nobles, based on the contextual associations and depicted uses of similar objects in Maya art such as polychrome vases and murals. Second, we argue that the long-term use and significant standardization of specific shell objects suggests their role as all-purpose monies, in addition to their complementary status as counting devices or numerical symbols. This paper addresses the intricate relationships between symbolism, value and multiple modes of exchange that have long been of interest to cross-cultural studies in anthropology.

show abstract

Section: Counting Tokensmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Shells Scribes and Noblesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Shells Scribes and Noblesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Imagining a Complex Maya Political Economy: Counting Tokens and Currencies in Image, Text and the Archaeological Record

Freidel¹,

Masson²,

Rich³

2016

CAJ

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Rarely are they found in burials, but a few examples do exist. A cached collection in one burial at Tikal, another at Yaxuná (Stanton et al 2005), two burials at Caracol (Chase and Chase 2014), and one at Las Ruinas de Arenal (Taschek and Ball 1999) all date to the Early Classic Period. The Late Classic Period “High Priest's Grave” of Chichen Itza also includes an example (Thompson 1938).…”

Section: Archaeological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Little Helpers, Companions, and Ancestors: Miniature Figures in the Maya Lowland Region During the Late Preclassic and Classic Periods (Ad 15–800)

Johnson¹

2018

Latin Am. antiq.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This report discusses miniature anthropomorphic figures found in ritualized contexts across the Lowland Maya region, dating to AD 15–800. Crafted with minimal detail to indicate humanlike features, anthropomorphic miniatures have been found in offerings placed alongside the dead, within temples and ballcourts, and beneath stone monuments. Their form, often with arms over the chest, is similar to bundled bodies and may reference those that reside in other worlds. This paper considers, through their form, archaeological contexts, and ethnographic comparisons, these anthropomorphic miniatures as active agents in their roles as ritual helpers, small companions, and materialized ancestors.

show abstract

“…to the middle of the Terminal Classic (ca. A.D. 900/1000) (Stanton et al 2010) ( Figure 5). A rough sketch map of the site was produced by O'Neil (1933; see Brainerd 1958) in the first half of the twentieth century.…”

Section: Residential Structures At Yaxunámentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection Thresholds of Archaeological Features in Airborne Lidar Data from Central Yucatán

Magnoni

Stanton

Barth

et al. 2016

Adv. archaeol. pract.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article we evaluate ∼48km2 of airborne lidar data collected at a target density of 15 laser shots/m in central Yucatán, Mexico. This area covers parts of the sites of Chichén Itzá and Yaxuná, a kilometer-wide transect between these two sites, and a transect along the first few kilometers of Sacbé 1 from Yaxuná to Cobá. The results of our ground validation and mapping demonstrate that not all sizable archaeological features can be detected in the lidar images due to: (1) the slightly rolling topography interspersed with 1-6 m-high bedrock hummocks, which morphologically mimic house mounds, further complicated by the presence of low foundations; (2) the complex forest structure in central Yucatán, which has particularly dense near-ground understory resulting in a high number of mixed-signal ground and low vegetation returns which reduces the fidelity and accuracy of the bare-earth digital elevation models; and (3) the predominance of low archaeological features difficult to discern from the textural noise of the near-ground vegetation. In this article we explore different visualization techniques to increase the identification of cultural features, but we conclude that, in this portion of the Maya region, lidar should be used as a complement to traditional on-the-ground survey techniques.

show abstract

Archaeological Investigations at Yaxuná, 1986-1996: Results of the Selz Foundation Yaxuna Project

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Imagining a Complex Maya Political Economy: Counting Tokens and Currencies in Image, Text and the Archaeological Record

Imagining a Complex Maya Political Economy: Counting Tokens and Currencies in Image, Text and the Archaeological Record

Little Helpers, Companions, and Ancestors: Miniature Figures in the Maya Lowland Region During the Late Preclassic and Classic Periods (Ad 15–800)

Detection Thresholds of Archaeological Features in Airborne Lidar Data from Central Yucatán

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About