Excavations at La Sufricaya, a minor ritual group in the outskirts of the Lowland Maya city of Holmul, have documented two mural paintings inside an elite building of Early Classic date (A.D. 300–A.D. 600). One of the paintings is mythological in nature (Mural 9). The second bears an inscription with references to calendrical and historical events. It commemorates a notorious arrival date at Tikal on 11 Eb 15 Mak (January 16, A.D. 378) on its first anniversary. The architecture and artifacts associated with the murals combine Maya and Teotihuacan decorative motifs, and offer several parallels with Tikal assemblages. The iconography, epigraphy, and archaeological associations of these murals are discussed in relation to the function of the palace complex. This important new evidence contributes to an understanding of which role relations with Teotihuacan may have played in regional politics in the Maya Lowlands during the Early Classic period from the point of view of a smaller site. The interpretations presented here focus on the concept of political intervention of Tikal in the affairs of secondary and tertiary sites.

The discovery of Stela 87 in situ in a secondary context, as a reused element of sacralization in a possibly royal residence from the Early Classic, allows us to locate the time of the original function as a stela in the Late Preclassic. It is in the Late Preclassic that the image and the text with 4 glyphic signs allude to the ruler represented there. It is in the early part of the Late Preclassic that stelae at Tak’alik Ab’aj and other early cities represent their rulers, still without a long count date. This was implemented in the second part of the Late Preclassic, of which a good example is Stela 5 (126 ad). For this reason, the iconography and writing of Estela 87 adds another exponent and opportunity, particularly for the Pacific Coast region, to the study of the still small universe of early texts, and more precisely, of the first part of the Late Preclassic (100 BC-50 ad) (Schieber de Lavarreda, 2020a). It is this opportunity that motivated the present collaborative study.

Resumen: Desde el 2009, la universidad de Bonn efectúa trabajos arqueológicos en el sitio de uxul, una ciudad maya del clásico en el extremo sur del estado de campeche. el objetivo del proyecto es investigar la expansión y desintegración de los poderes hegemónicos en el área maya, con un enfoque en la zona central de las Tierras Bajas y específicamente en la estrecha relación de uxul con los gobernantes de la poderosa dinastía Kaan de calakmul. evidencia novedosa confirma las hipótesis de que Uxul estuvo bajo control de Calakmul en el siglo vII y de que su caída se puede relacionar directamente con las derrotas de los gobernantes Yukno'm Yich'aak K'ahk' y Yukno'm took' K'awiil a cargo de tikal en 695 y 736 d. c., respectivamente. cuando las autoridades centrales colapsaron en la segunda mitad del siglo vIII, la población de uxul ni siquiera fue capaz de mantener la infraestructura más importante para sobrevivir: aquella relacionada con el manejo del agua.PalabRas cl ave: uxul, calakmul, palacio real, manejo de agua, colapso. abstRact: since 2009, the university of Bonn is conducting archaeological investigations at uxul, a medium sized classic Maya city in the extreme south of the Mexican state of campeche. the project's research goal is to investigate the expansion and disintegration of hegemonic power in the Maya area, concentrating on the core area of the Maya lowlands and especially on uxul's close relation to the powerful Kaan dynasty at calakmul. New evidence strengthens the hypothesis that uxul was under the control of calakmul since the early 7 th century. also, our data suggest that the downfall and abandonment of uxul were closely related to the fateful defeats of calakmul's rulers Yukno'm Yich'aak K'ahk' and Yukno'm took' K'awiil at the hands of tikal in aD 695 and 736. When the central authority collapsed during the mid-8 th century, the shrinking population of uxul was not able to maintain the social cohesion to protect even the most vitally important of infrastructures: its water management system.

When the Maya city of Uxul, a small kingdom in the rainforest, came under the rule of the powerful Kaan dynasty, it was the beginning of a blossoming that was later followed by their joint downfall. A team of German and Mexican archaeologists are excavating new evidence of this story of political power and the history of a city.

A long-known verbal glyph in Classic Maya inscriptions is reinterpreted as a glyph for dancing (ahk'ot), apparently an important ritual of the ancient Maya. The glyph is found with scenes showing one or several dancers. Glyphs after the verb can be shown to describe the objects and instruments employed in dances. This article analyzes several examples of Maya dances and the ritual and social context in which they occur. These include the dance with a staff with cloth tied down its length, a dance with a “God K” scepter, a dance with a staff with birds attached to it, a dance with a staff with a “God K” figure seated on top of it, a snake dance, dances in warrior outfit, and dances at royal visits. A variety of dances is represented on polychrome ceramics. Many polychrome ceramics can be shown to depict dancing companion spirits, while others show dances associated with historical events. A comparison with colonial and modern Maya dances shows that they share the same emphasis on dance objects, but that the underlying religious and political messages have changed almost completely.

Since at least 600 BC, cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) has occupied a place of cultural importance in Mesoamerica. In many Maya groups its importance as a ritual food plant is second only to maize (Zea mays L.). The Ch'orti' Maya and their culturally non-indigenous Ladino neighbours in Eastern Guatemala continue to use cacao for culinary and ceremonial purposes. Of particular importance are cacao uses in Ch'orti' rain ceremonies, which are strongly connected to local environmental knowledge. The protection of cacao as a sacred tree may help to limit slash-and-burn maize agriculture to sustainable levels.

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The recent discovery of an ancient Late Classic ceramic production facility in a valley floor, east of the current capital of Cobán in Guatemala, reveals a new ceramic form and provides data concerning regional chronology. Among the remains are thin, mold-made fragments identified as ceramic plaques that have epigraphic information providing a Long Count date for the first time in the Alta Verapaz region. These data correlate with the preliminary ceramic sequences and assist with understanding political-economic interactions that occurred at a time of societal collapse within the southern lowland region.