The Sociopolitical Economy of an Ancient Maya Village: Cerén and its Sacbe

Abstract

The intellectual, artistic, and architectural accomplishments of Maya elites during the Classic period were extraordinary, and evidence of elite activities has preserved well in the archaeological record. A centuries-long research focus on elites has understandably fostered the view that they controlled the economy, politics, and religion of Maya civilization. While there has been significant progress in household archaeology, unfortunately the activities, decisions, and interactions of commoners generally preserve poorly in the archaeological record. Therefore, it has been challenging to understand the sociopolitical economy of commoners, and how it related—or did not relate—to elite authority. The exceptional volcanic preservation of the site of Cerén, El Salvador, provides a unique opportunity to explore the degree to which elites controlled or influenced commoner life. Was society organized in a top-down hierarchy in which elites controlled everything? Or did commoners have autonomy, and thus the authority to decide quotidian, seasonal, and annual issues within the village? Or was there a mixture of different loci of authority within the village and the region? Research at Cerén is beginning to shed some light on the sociopolitical economy within the community and in relation to elites in the Zapotitan valley. A domain in which there was considerable commoner-elite interaction in the Cerén area was the marketplace. Elites and their attached specialists provided products, and commoners decided which marketplace they would attend to exchange their items. Evidence from Cerén also suggests that there were numerous other domains of authority within the community that had no detectable control or influence from outside. For instance, people in the village decided what crafts or specialized agricultural products to produce as surplus to be exchanged within the community for different products from other households. Cerén community members acted independently as individuals, as households, or in other domains within the community. Understanding the multiple layers of authority at Cerén sheds light on the sociopolitical organization in one non-elite Classic period Maya community.

Human responses to the Ilopango Tierra Blanca Joven eruption: excavations at San Andrés, El Salvador

“…Thus, the use of TBJ tephra in the monumental buildings at San Andrés may have been an important symbol of shared religious veneration. Additionally, modern civil engineers recognise the excellent compaction properties of TBJ tephra (Sheets et al 2015: 354). Ancient builders were also probably familiar with these properties, and it may have been an important factor in their decision to use the material in the monumental building at San Andrés.…”

Salt and marine products in the Classic Maya economy from use-wear study of stone tools

“…Surplus household production of commodities for marketplace trade was an important means for the distribution of goods and resources in the Maya area from the Late Classic period ( 4 – 6 , 8 ) through the Postclassic ( 27 ). Marketplaces made nonlocal goods and resources, including highly crafted goods, widely available to Classic Maya householders ( 4 ).…”

“…Excavations inside the salt kitchens indicated 90–98% of the artifacts were briquetage, underscoring the focus on making salt—a basic biological necessity that was transported inland to Classic Maya cities ( 3 ). Salt making likely was carried out as surplus household production, which was the fundamental economic unit for production of goods and resources by elites and commoners by the Late Classic period (AD 600–800) ( 4 – 8 ). Surplus household products were taken to marketplaces within large cities such as Caracol and Tikal and to marketplaces at other communities ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ).…”

“…Salt making likely was carried out as surplus household production, which was the fundamental economic unit for production of goods and resources by elites and commoners by the Late Classic period (AD 600–800) ( 4 – 8 ). Surplus household products were taken to marketplaces within large cities such as Caracol and Tikal and to marketplaces at other communities ( 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 ). Marketplaces have been identified by the presence of market stalls, soil chemistry, and artifact patterns ( 5 ).…”

Walking Rural in Tzacauil, Yucatan, Mexico

“…In Classic and earlier Formative Maya centers, raised limestone causeways—called “sacbes” by archaeologists after the Yucatec Mayan term for “white road”—connected and channeled walking within and between nodes of settlement. Extensive sacbe networks have been documented at large urban centers throughout the Maya area, including Caracol (Chase and Chase 2014), Calakmul (Folan et al 2001), El Mirador (Sharer 1992), and Tikal (Haviland 1970), as well as in village settings as at Ceren (Sheets et al 2015). In the northern Maya lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula, where Tzacauil is located, Maya people built sacbes of varying length—ranging from less than one kilometer to 100 km (Shaw 2008)—across their landscapes, spanning within and between urban and urbanizing settlements (Anderson 2011; Hutson and Welch 2014; Hutson et al 2012; Stanton and Freidel 2005).…”