Selective Memory: Monumental Politics of the Yaxuná E Group in the First Millennium B.C.

Abstract

In seeking continuities and disjuncture from the precedents of past authorities, the Mesoamerican emergent ruling class during the Formative period were active agents in directing changes to monumental space, suggesting that memory played a vital role in developing an early shared character of Maya lifeways (1000 b.c. to a.d. 250). The trend is most visible in the civic ceremonial complexes known as E Groups, which tend to show significant patterns of continuity (remembering) and disjuncture (forgetting). This article uses the northern lowland site of Yaxuná in Yucatan, Mexico, to demonstrate the use of early selective strategies to direct collective memory. While there are E Groups in the northern Maya lowlands, few Formative period examples are known, making Yaxuná a critical case study for comparative assessment with the southern lowlands. One implication of the Yaxuná data is that the broader pattern of Middle Formative E Groups resulted from sustained social, religious, political, and economic interaction between diverse peer groups across eastern Mesoamerica. With the emergence of institutionalized rulership in the Maya lowlands during the Late Formative, local authorities played a significant role in directing transformations of E Groups, selectively influencing their meanings and increasingly independent trajectories through continuity and disjuncture.

Incised Lines: Planning and Design in the Late Formative E Group at Yaxuná, Yucatán, Mexico

“…Some incised features on Floor 6 could date earlier, but most features coincide with Floor 5's construction. Therefore, radiocarbon dates from samples under Floor 5 suggest a range for incised line production between about 400 and 200 BC (Collins 2021:9), coinciding with Yaxuná's Late Formative expansion and the transition between the Hok'ol phase (650–300 BC) and Ka'nal phase (300–50 BC) ceramics.…”

“…On Floor 6, investigators documented a 2 m diameter incised circle along the plaza's central axis (Figure 5). Collins (2021:7) argues that its purpose relates to the memory of features present in earlier phases of floor construction. For example, directly under the incised circle on Floor 7, investigators noted concentrated burning with a cache containing polished iron pyrite.…”

“…For example, directly under the incised circle on Floor 7, investigators noted concentrated burning with a cache containing polished iron pyrite. Furthermore, investigators detected a circular stone foundation with a 2 m diameter on Floor 8 (Collins 2021:10). Although the 2 m incised circle on Floor 6 does not rest directly over the 2 m circular stone foundation on Floor 8, the two features certainly overlap.…”

“…The earthen platform bounding this hollow might have functioned as a temporary stage early in the construction of Floor 5. According to Soledad O. Ruiz (personal communication 2021), the open platform visually appears to be a Maya lime kiln used to produce sascab floors (Seligson et al 2019). However, chemical analysis is needed to confirm that the well-like structure is a kiln, a feature that would support the overall civic planning functions of the incised line features.…”