Interregional Interaction in Terminal Classic Yucatan: Recent Obsidian and Ceramic Data From Vista Alegre, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Abstract

We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-distance exchange during the Terminal Classic (c. AD 850–1100) period. This is a time often associated with increased international trade relations and the growth of Chichen Itza as a dominant regional power in the northern Maya lowlands. Critical to the increased volume of international trade were the merchants who transported goods along the coast of Yucatan in large trading canoes. By combining a macroscopic assessment of the ceramics with visual, XRF, and INAA analyses of the obsidian artifacts, we gain insight into the various socioeconomic forces at work moving goods around the Peninsula. Given the paucity of Terminal Classic settlement in the interior Yalahau region, Vista Alegre appears to be an isolated site during this period, approximately 40 km from the nearest coastal neighbor. This allows us to focus on coastal exchange as the sole means by which goods arrived at the site. Our preliminary data contribute to the growing literature on the role market economies played in the Maya area, and the increased opportunities this afforded coastal peoples as circum-peninsular trade became more common through time.

Chichen Itza and Its Economy at the End of the Classic Period: Tribute, Centralized Redistribution, and Maritime Stations

“…Hirth (2020:177) recognized that tribute could be obtained as voluntary gifts; when individuals were made slaves; by the confiscation and redistribution of land; by the occupation of territories by new settlers; by the "expropriation of cottage industries"; by the creation of new fines, licences, and fees; and by the payment of new taxes on trade, property, and land. Any of these different ways of obtaining tribute always had a particular purpose, which was to finance Data obtained from the following sources: Isla Cerritos (Andrews et al 1989;Braswell and Glascock 2002), Jaina (Ball 1978;Benavides et al 2003Benavides et al , 2005, Uaymil (Braswell and Glascock 2007;Maury Tello 2017), Xcopté (Ball 1978;Robles Castellanos and Andrews 2003;Robles Castellanos and Ceballos Gallareta 2003), Vista Alegre (Glover et al 2018), El Meco (Robles Castellanos 1986, San Gervasio (Braswell and Glascock 2007;Peraza Lope 1993, 2005, Xcaret (Novelo Osorno 2005;Ochoa Rodríguez 2004), Chac Mool (Núñez Enríquez 2004, Ambergris Caye (Graham 1989;Guderjan 1995bGuderjan , 1995cGuderjan and Garber 1995;…”

Coastal reconstruction of Vista Alegre, an ancient maritime Maya settlement

“…Vista Alegre was first occupied at 2700 yr B.P. by some of the earliest people who can be culturally identified as Maya in the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula (Glover et al, 2011b). Following this early occupation, the site was a bustling coastal town between 2000 and 1600 yr B.P.…”

“…Population appeared to decline in the following centuries followed by an almost century-long hiatus between 1350 and 1250 yr B.P. After this apparent abandonment, non-local artifact materials found at the site serve as evidence for maritime trade and interaction, and the coastal site of Vista Alegre flourished again as a trading port during the later Terminal Classic period (1100-850 yr B.P; Glover et al, 2011b). Circumpeninsular networks were established and maintained as Maya seafaring merchants moved both commodities and prestige goods between emerging coastal centers.…”

“…B.P., and the first evidence for human activity begins around 2750/2650 yr B.P. (Glover et al, 2011b). The people who were there would have found a peninsula with open access to Holbox Lagoon, and most likely well-vegetated terrain.…”

“…B.P. ), the site was flourishing and trading with settlements both in the nearby inland region and farther away (Glover et al, 2011b).…”