The Classic Maya City: Reconsidering the “Mesoamerican Urban Tradition”

Chase, Diane Z.; Chase, Arlen F.; Haviland, William A.

doi:10.1525/aa.1990.92.2.02a00210

Cited by 119 publications

(38 citation statements)

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“…Initially, tropical environments were believed to be unsuitable for the development or maintenance of urbanism (Meggers 1954; but see Coe 1957). Several factors contributed to a general view that the Maya were less complex than their northern neighbors in central Mexico and were not truly urban (e.g., Sanders and Webster 1988; but see D. Chase et al 1990;Smith 1989): an incomplete understanding of the scale and variability of Maya sites (A. combined with the early investigation of sites with smaller populations in the southern lowlands (e.g., Piedras Negras [Weeks et al 2005] and Copan [Andrews and Fash 2005]), a lack of recognition of the variation in naturally available resources within the Maya Lowlands (Sanders 1973) and of their economic system (subsequently corrected by Dahlin et al 2007;Feinman and Garraty 2010;Garraty and Stark 2010), and to some degree expectations that urban forms should fit Western models (see discussion by Smith 2007).…”

Section: Maya Urbanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Caracol data have been particularly influential in shaping much of this debate, contributing to our understanding of city planning and to the complexities of local populations and politics. At a time when some Mesoamericanists were arguing that Maya sites were ''regal-ritual'' centers (Sanders and Webster 1988), implying a less than urban status, the archaeological data from both Caracol and Tikal, Guatemala, were used to demonstrate a much more complex social situation that was consistent with urbanism (D. Chase et al 1990;Haviland 1970). M. Smith (2007Smith ( , 2010aSmith ( , b, 2011 has since undertaken substantial research on ancient urbanism and demonstrated the diversity that existed in cities and urban planning in antiquity.…”

Section: Maya Urbanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Caracol, Belize, and Changing Perceptions of Ancient Maya Society

Chase

2016

J Archaeol Res

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Archaeological research at Caracol, an ancient Maya site that was rediscovered in 1937, has become a major resource in the interpretation and understanding of the ancient Maya. Caracol, in west-central Belize, is situated in a subtropical region once characterized as being unsuitable for the development or maintenance of complex societies, yet it is one of the largest, if not the largest Classic period Maya site in the southern Maya Lowlands, home to over 100,000 people at its height between AD 600 and 700. The investigations at Caracol underscore the utility of long-term archaeological projects incorporating large-scale settlement study that combine excavation with varied research designs and the use of a contextual approach. By employing Maya epigraphic history, traditional archaeology, and modern technology like LiDAR, research at Caracol details the rise, maintenance, and fall of an ancient Maya city, affording a large window into ancient Maya lifeways. Archaeological work provides evidence of sustainable agriculture, a market economy, city planning that included a road system, the impact of warfare on the site's inhabitants, the sociopolitical status of women, the role that archaeology can play in refining written history, and the significance of commemorating the cyclical passage of time to the ancient Maya. This article

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Section: Maya Urbanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Maya Urbanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Caracol, Belize, and Changing Perceptions of Ancient Maya Society

Chase

2016

J Archaeol Res

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“…The nature of ancient Maya cities and whether or not they were truly urban has been a topic of some contention (Becker, 1979;Chase et al, 1990;Graham, 1999;Marcus Fig. 10.…”

Section: Population Size Of Caracolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airborne LiDAR, archaeology, and the ancient Maya landscape at Caracol, Belize

Chase

Weishampel

et al. 2011

Journal of Archaeological Science

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412

257

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“…Because the spatial parameter was not fully controlled, a multitude of sociopolitical models proliferated. Long-standing questions about Maya urbanism (35,36), their ancient population sizes (37), and the structure of their states (38) remained unanswered, with some researchers insisting that the Maya were not especially developed (39,40) and others arguing for a range of complex systems (41). Similar issues, largely driven by ethnohistory and not epigraphy, existed in the highlands of Mesoamerica, especially in regard to the extent and role of Tula in central Mexican developments (42).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Geospatial revolution and remote sensing LiDAR in Mesoamerican archaeology

Chase¹,

Chase²,

Fisher

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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263

139

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The application of light detection and ranging (LiDAR), a laserbased remote-sensing technology that is capable of penetrating overlying vegetation and forest canopies, is generating a fundamental shift in Mesoamerican archaeology and has the potential to transform research in forested areas world-wide. Much as radiocarbon dating that half a century ago moved archaeology forward by grounding archaeological remains in time, LiDAR is proving to be a catalyst for an improved spatial understanding of the past. With LiDAR, ancient societies can be contextualized within a fully defined landscape. Interpretations about the scale and organization of densely forested sites no longer are constrained by sample size, as they were when mapping required laborious on-ground survey. The ability to articulate ancient landscapes fully permits a better understanding of the complexity of ancient Mesoamerican urbanism and also aids in modern conservation efforts. The importance of this geospatial innovation is demonstrated with newly acquired LiDAR data from the archaeological sites of Caracol, Cayo, Belize and Angamuco, Michoacán, Mexico. These data illustrate the potential of technology to act as a catalytic enabler of rapid transformational change in archaeological research and interpretation and also underscore the value of on-the-ground archaeological investigation in validating and contextualizing results.T ransformational changes are rare in archaeology and often are best recognized in hindsight (1). However, there are times when advances in technology are so far reaching that they serve as catalysts in transforming our understanding of both the past and the practice of archaeological research, thus triggering a scientific revolution as conceptualized by Thomas Kuhn (2). We believe that advances in the remote geospatial imaging of cultural landscapes, including ancient communities and their anthropogenic hinterlands, constitute such an archeological paradigm shift. Here we present newly acquired data from two recent archaeological projects in different parts of Mesoamerica showcasing the application of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology to ancient urban settlements. In both cases, the nearly 3D data are changing commonly held interpretations of societal development profoundly. The phenomenon described is not limited to archaeology; technical innovations have been noted as spawning advances in other areas of research, such as astrophysics (3). However, the magnitude of change enabled by the use of LiDAR technology is particularly apparent in the archaeology of Mesoamerica.Archaeological research revolves around temporal and spatial data; thus, advances in either parameter can be transformative. Histories of archaeology (1, 4) have noted the change in the discipline from an ancient antiquarian focus on objects to the current scientific enterprise. Great enablers of archaeological research have included various technological enhancements to spatial, temporal, and functional interpretations. Although many technical imp...

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The Classic Maya City: Reconsidering the “Mesoamerican Urban Tradition”

Cited by 119 publications

References 12 publications

Caracol, Belize, and Changing Perceptions of Ancient Maya Society

Caracol, Belize, and Changing Perceptions of Ancient Maya Society

Airborne LiDAR, archaeology, and the ancient Maya landscape at Caracol, Belize

Geospatial revolution and remote sensing LiDAR in Mesoamerican archaeology

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