After study of the murals recently discovered at Cacaxtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico, I conclude: (1) that the role played by the Late Classic Maya in the central Mexican highlands during the period A.D. 700—900 was much greater than previously assumed; (2) that a post-Teotihuacán art style and mythology was carried into the central Mexican highlands by conquering people from the Gulf Coast lowlands; and (3) that the term “Mexicanized Maya” can be reasonably rendered “Mayanized Mexican,” particularly in the context of later Toltec developments.
E. Z. Vogt has proposed a reconstruction of ancient lowland Maya social organization based on the settlement pattern and organization of modern central Chiapas highland Indian municipios. The occurrence and persistence of Vogt's "typical" Maya pattern is examined. Archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnological data from central Chiapas are used to demonstrate the presence of at least two patterns of settlement in the region at the time of Spanish conquest. These are discussed as imprints of two systems: (1) internally exploitive and (2) externally exploitive. The first represents primary adaptation to natural features of the landscape. The second represents an expansive adaptation to changing social environments. It is suggested that both these systems were in operation at various times in the southern Maya lowlands as well as in the central Chiapas highlands.
In the early 1880s, a finely carved Maya shell picture plaque was found at the Toltec capital of Tula, central Mexico, and was subsequently acquired by The Field Museum in Chicago. The shell was probably re-carved in the Terminal Classic period and depicts a seated lord with associated Maya hieroglyphs on the front and back. Here the iconography and glyphic text of this unique artifact are examined, the species and habitat of the shell are described, and its archaeological and social context are interpreted. The Tula plaque is then compared with Maya carved jade picture plaques of similar size and design that were widely distributed throughout Mesoamerica, but were later concentrated in the sacred cenote at Chichen Itza. It is concluded that during the Late Classic period, these plaques played an important role in establishing contact between Maya lords and their counterparts representing peripheral and non-Maya domains. The picture plaques may have been elite Maya gifts establishing royal alliances with non-local polities and may have become prestige objects used in caches and termination rituals.
Despite the recognition by many scholars of the high esthetic value of Jaina-style figurines, they present a number of analytic problems. Their functions remain obscure, and their role in Late Classic period Maya society has not been adequately examined. Throughout southeastern Mesoamerica, with few exceptions, all figurines and fragments are found in domestic contexts, mostly trash heaps; on Jaina, most examples come from graves. This article addresses the question of Jaina exceptionalism. It places its unique features in the broader context of Terminal Classic political and economic developments that were sweeping across the northern Maya Lowlands. Here I argue that the use of figurines in domestic rituals determined their appropriateness for placement in a particular grave, rather than the age, sex, or occupation of the deceased.
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