Polity and Ecology in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca

Archaeologists have traditionally relied upon relative ceramic chronologies to understand the occupational histories of large and socially complex polities in the Maya lowlands. High-resolution accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating can provide independent chronological control for more discrete events that reflect cultural change through time. This article reports results of AMS 14 C dating of stratified sequences at the residential group Tzutziiy K'in, associated with the major Maya polity of Cahal Pech in the Belize Valley. Cahal Pech is one of the earliest permanently settled sites in the Maya lowlands (1200 cal BC), and was continuously occupied until the Terminal Classic Maya "collapse" (~cal AD 800). We use Bayesian modeling to build a chronology for the settlement, growth, and terminal occupation of Tzutziiy K'in, and compare our results to chronological data from the monumental site core at Cahal Pech. The analyses indicate that Tzutziiy K'in was first settled by the Late Preclassic period (350-100 cal BC), concurrent with the establishment of several other large house groups and the growth of the Cahal Pech site core. Terminal occupation by high-status residents at this house group occurred between cal AD 850 and 900. This study provides a framework for interpreting patterns of spatial, demographic, and sociopolitical change between households and the Cahal Pech site core.

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Political Transformations and the Everyday in Postclassic Oaxaca

Joyce

Levine

King

et al. 2014

Ancient Mesoam

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We use excavations of low-status houses to explore Postclassic political and economic transformations in the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca. Following the collapse of Classic period political institutions, commoners experienced greater economic and political autonomy. Residential excavations at Río Viejo indicate that commoners took advantage of the absence of regional authority to gain greater control over surplus craft products, especially cotton thread, as well as access to social valuables and long distance trade. By the Late Postclassic period, the region was once again dominated by powerful rulers. Yet household excavations at Tututepec show that Late Postclassic commoners continued to control some surplus craft production and had access to social valuables like copper and polychrome pottery via market exchange. We argue that Late Postclassic political relations were a product of negotiations among elites and commoners that in part reflect the greater economic autonomy and political power that Early Postclassic people had acquired.

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Polity and Ecology in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca

Cited by 9 publications

References 35 publications

Differences in the classic period mortuary treatment of adults and children in the Valley of Oaxaca

Differences in the classic period mortuary treatment of adults and children in the Valley of Oaxaca

AMS¹⁴C Dating of Preclassic to Classic Period Household Construction in the Ancient Maya Community of Cahal Pech, Belize

Political Transformations and the Everyday in Postclassic Oaxaca

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Polity and Ecology in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca

Cited by 9 publications

References 35 publications

Differences in the classic period mortuary treatment of adults and children in the Valley of Oaxaca

Differences in the classic period mortuary treatment of adults and children in the Valley of Oaxaca

AMS14C Dating of Preclassic to Classic Period Household Construction in the Ancient Maya Community of Cahal Pech, Belize

Political Transformations and the Everyday in Postclassic Oaxaca

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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AMS¹⁴C Dating of Preclassic to Classic Period Household Construction in the Ancient Maya Community of Cahal Pech, Belize