The spread of plaza-pyramid complexes across southern Mesoamerica during the early Middle Preclassic period (1000 to 700 BCE) provides critical information regarding the origins of lowland Maya civilization and the role of the Gulf Coast Olmec. Recent excavations at the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala, documented the growth of a formal ceremonial space into a plaza-pyramid complex that predated comparable buildings at other lowland Maya sites and major occupations at the Olmec center of La Venta. The development of lowland Maya civilization did not result from one-directional influence from La Venta, but from interregional interactions, involving groups in the southwestern Maya lowlands, Chiapas, the Pacific Coast, and the southern Gulf Coast.
Excavations in large platforms in the center of Ceibal revealed extensive early Middle Preclassic constructions. They consisted of extensive clay platforms that supported low basal structural platforms. Although the function of the earliest platform, Sulul, during the Real-Xe 1 and 2 phases (950–775 b.c.) is not clear, the one built during the Real-Xe 3 phase (775–700 b.c.) likely supported multiple residential buildings. The emphasis on elevating this domestic space above the natural land surface and the communal labor involved in these constructions indicate that they were most likely inhabited by an emergent elite. These places were continuously remodeled and used until the end of the Middle Preclassic. This new data from Ceibal contributes significantly to our understanding of the processes involved in the transition to a sedentary lifestyle and the development of social and political differentiation in the Maya lowlands.
Recent excavations at the highland site of Chiantla Viejo (Huehuetenango De- partment, Guatemala) were conducted to refine the site stratigraphy and understand population movements during the late Postclassic and early Contact era (AD 1250-1550). Excavations re- covered animal remains from these transitional contexts. This analysis represents one of the first zooarchaeological studies of a faunal assemblage in the Guatemalan highlands at the end of the pre-Hispanic period and into Spanish contact. The results highlight the changes and also the continuities experienced by the residents of this region during the early Colonial period: the persistence of long-distance exchange networks, the continuation of wild game hunting, and the early introduction of Eurasian domesticates.
Colonised societies often continue traditional practices in private contexts whilst adopting new forms of ritual in public. Excavations at the Mam centre of Chiantla Viejo in highland Guatemala, however, reveal a more complex picture. Combining archaeological evidence with early colonial documents, the author identifies a revival of Indigenous Maya religion following the Spanish conquest (AD 1525–1550). Despite appearing in colonial records as Christian converts, the Maya directed a sequence of destruction, reconstruction and remodelling of the monumental core of Chiantla Viejo to evoke the landscape of their ancestral settlement of Zaculeu. The results emphasise the importance of public spaces for the persistence of Indigenous religion in early colonial settings.
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