Maya molded-carved ceramics as boundary objects: Terminal classic ceramic production and the forging of political relations in the mopan valley of Guatemala

LeMoine, Jean-Baptiste; Halperin, Christina T.; Salas, Miriam

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2022.101463

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Such horizontal political dispositions became popular throughout the Terminal Classic period (LeMoine et al . 2022; Carter & Lukach 2023) and it was during this time that political leaders in the southern Maya Lowlands began to shift away from ostentatious displays of wealth and that distinctions between elite and non-elite households greatly diminished (Halperin & Garrido 2019; Chase & Chase 2021; LeMoine & Halperin 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Side-by-side seating emphasised horizontal relationships on a seemingly equal footing, which contrasts with the hierarchical positionality of Late Classic imagery in which rulers were often depicted higher and larger than all figures in the scene. Such horizontal political dispositions became popular throughout the Terminal Classic period (LeMoine et al 2022;Carter & Lukach 2023) and it was during this time that political leaders in the southern Maya Lowlands began to shift away from ostentatious displays of wealth and that distinctions between elite and non-elite households greatly diminished (Halperin & Garrido 2019;Chase & Chase 2021;LeMoine & Halperin 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the site of Ucanal, Papmalil appears to have ushered in an era of prosperity. Excavations first by the Proyecto Atlas Arqueológico de Guatemala, directed by Juan Pedro Laporte, and more recently by the Proyecto Arqueológico Ucanal (PAU), directed by Christina Halperin, Jose Luis Garrido (2014-2022 and Carmen Ramos (2023-present) reveal that substantial construction occurred in both the civic-ceremonial core and outer residential zones of the city with a slight increase in residential population between the Late Classic B'aaluum phase (c. AD 700-810) and the Terminal Classic Winik phase (c. 810-950) (Laporte & Mejía 2002;Laporte 2004;Halperin et al , 2021Halperin 2021). Several large phases of civic-ceremonial construction can also be attributed to the early Winik phase, c. 810-850/ 870.…”

Section: New Leadership In the K'anwitznal Kingdommentioning

confidence: 99%

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A pivot point in Maya history: fire-burning event at K'anwitznal (Ucanal) and the making of a new era of political rule

Halperin,

Perea Carrera,

Miller Wolf

et al. 2024

Antiquity

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Key tipping points of history are rarely found directly in the archaeological record, not least because an event's significance often lies in the perception of the participants. This article documents an early-ninth-century ritual fire-burning event at the Maya site of Ucanal in Guatemala and argues that it marked a public dismantling of an old regime. Rather than examine this event as part of a Classic period Maya collapse, the authors propose that it was a revolutionary pivot point around which the K'anwitznal polity reinvented itself, ushering in wider political transitions in the southern Maya Lowlands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: New Leadership In the K'anwitznal Kingdommentioning

confidence: 99%

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A pivot point in Maya history: fire-burning event at K'anwitznal (Ucanal) and the making of a new era of political rule

Halperin,

Perea Carrera,

Miller Wolf

et al. 2024

Antiquity

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Identification of a Terminal Classic Maya Fine Ware Production Center in the Upper Usumacinta River Drainage, Chiapas, Mexico

Schroder,

Jiménez Álvarez,

Macedo Córdova

et al. 2024

Latin Am. antiq.

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The archaeological study of craft production investigates the role of household activities in broader social and political networks. In the Maya area, the production and distribution of ceramics, especially prestige ceramics including polychrome and fine ware pottery, relate to broader transformations in Maya society from the Classic to Terminal Classic periods. However, direct evidence for ceramic production in the form of kilns, workshops, or associated detritus can be elusive. We report the identification, excavation, and preliminary analysis of a large deposit of fine paste ceramics, including sherds representative of the Fine Orange and Fine Gray wares in the type-variety system of Maya ceramics, from a household group at the archaeological site of Benemérito de las Américas Primera Sección, located near the confluence of the Lacantún and Usumacinta Rivers. Discarded ceramics from this context exhibit several signs of overfiring consistent with pottery production. This deposit challenges notions of functional versus symbolic activity, as the members of this household used this deposit to dedicate a group of three burials accompanied by offerings including a figurine ensemble. We discuss the implications for this deposit in the context of economic shifts taking place across the Maya Lowlands during this period.

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Le pourquoi et le comment. Les recherches en causalités dans l’archéologie maya du changement climatique (800-1100 de notre ère)

Arnauld

2024

ideas

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L’effondrement socio-politique et urbain des sociétés mayas classiques (250-1000 de notre ère) a eu ses causes dans l'histoire régionale, qu’il faut connaître par des approches émiques directes (direct insider information, Butzer K. et G. Endfield, 2012 : 3630). La recherche sur les grandes causalités climatiques du collapse de la période classique terminale (800-1000) s’accompagne d’un patient travail de restitution de processus à différentes échelles temporelles. Nous proposons, en outre, de distinguer trois échelles sociétales, celle des dynasties royales avec leurs institutions politiques, celle des villes, et celle de la population générale, échelles auxquelles l’effondrement s’est produit successivement selon des modalités et des causalités différentes. C'est dans ce cadre que nous explorons la chronologie paléo-climatique des sécheresses établies il y a maintenant une décennie, et toujours de mise à ce jour. Comment les sécheresses relativement normales des années 760 auraient-elles joué un rôle dans l'effondrement des dynasties royales au début du IXème siècle ? Quelles données avons-nous sur l'impact de la sécheresse, plus longue (820-870) et profonde, sur la désertion graduelle des villes ? Enfin, comment penser un possible effondrement démographique des sociétés mayas des basses terres durant la très longue sécheresse postclassique du XIème siècle ?

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Maya molded-carved ceramics as boundary objects: Terminal classic ceramic production and the forging of political relations in the mopan valley of Guatemala

Cited by 4 publications

References 52 publications

A pivot point in Maya history: fire-burning event at K'anwitznal (Ucanal) and the making of a new era of political rule

A pivot point in Maya history: fire-burning event at K'anwitznal (Ucanal) and the making of a new era of political rule

Identification of a Terminal Classic Maya Fine Ware Production Center in the Upper Usumacinta River Drainage, Chiapas, Mexico

Le pourquoi et le comment. Les recherches en causalités dans l’archéologie maya du changement climatique (800-1100 de notre ère)

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