Cultural Dimensions of Warfare in the Maya World

Abstract

Archaeological studies worldwide have revealed a wide range of cultural contexts within which practices of violence and warfare have occurred. In Mesoamerica, ongoing studies have enriched our understanding of social contexts of violence and warfare in Maya societies. This expanding body of field data allows deeper exploration of the ways violence was intricately linked to different aspects of cultural life for many Maya communities. In this article, we contemplate the culturally embedded nature of violence and warfare with a specific focus on the Classic period and questions related to political strategy, ritual practices, and total warfare. We provide empirical frameworks for the study of war to address issues of ritual warfare and societal impact, and we emphasize a regional scale of analysis.

Unleashing Maya Warfare: Inquiry Into the Practical Aspects of War-Making

“…Although the question of non-elite participation in war remains open for debate, much of the Killer King Complex is no longer tenable. Maya warfare had ritual elements, and it was deadly serious with potential ramifications for people across the social spectrum (Kim et al 2023).…”

“…Bracken pairs geospatial analysis to understand how martial architecture is shaped by martial concerns and how these constructions in turn shape how people move within a community. Expanding on this line of reasoning, Kim and colleagues (2023) emphasize a regional approach to the study of war during the Classic period. In their formulation, fortifications and landscape provide a means to contextualize various lines of evidence for understanding, at multiple scales, the impacts of war-making.…”

“…In this article, we are not trying to create a universally applicable definition of war. In a similar vein, we do not address the related theme of violence, though a discussion of this issue can be found in the article by Kim et al (2023) within this Special Section. Defining war and violence is akin to outlining a definition of culture.…”

Lithics in the Maya Region: Exploring Gendered Trends in Research in the Last Decade

“…Weapons research has focused on identifying makers, users, and technological changes over time (Kim et al 2023). Concentrations of weapons in elite residences suggest that elites were important producers and users of these tools (Aoyama and Graham 2015).…”

Preclassic Maya Fortification at Muralla De León, Peten: Deducing Assets, Military Strategies, and Specific Threats Through Analysis of Defensive Systems

“…Examples from the Maya world indicate that both external and internal conflict occurred throughout the long history of the area. The controlled, “ritualized” context (see Kim et al [2023] for a discussion of the category of “ritual warfare”) for conflict among Late Classic polities as depicted and described on carved stelae suggests an internal warfare limited to elites and circumscribed by a bevy of formal constraints, with killing limited to the later sacrifice of captured warriors and leaders (Freidel 1986). While such practice undoubtedly occurred, it is unclear how prevalent it was relative to other modes of conflict, and the degree to which we should rely on these depictions as historical fact (see Earley 2023).…”