On Classic Maya political economies

Late Classic Maya Pottery Production: Review and Synthesis

“…This latter point forces rejection of two of the three models of economic specialization proposed by Brumfiel and Earle (1987), commercial and adaptationist, leaving the political model-politico-economic control-to explain any specialization that might have existed among the lowland Maya. But if there is little elite control of production-indeed, if Classic Maya political economies are knowledgebased, decentralized, and cosmo-ritually chartered, as I have proposed (Rice 2009a)-then structural constructs such as craft specialization need to be rethought, if retained at all. For example, instead of being a socio-economic organizational characterization (mode of production), "specialization" among the Classic lowland Maya might be more narrowly reconceived as strictly product-based: skilled-labor-and knowledgeintensive creation of elite wealth items, often from exotic raw materials, in a ritual mode of production within a ritual economy.…”

“…I have argued elsewhere (Rice 2009a) that Classic Maya "cosmo-political" economies are relatively decentralized, with esoteric (especially astro-calendrical) knowledge and associated ritual, rather than material goods, constituting the ultimate basis of elite power and legitimation. They are characterized by a ritual mode of production, palace economy, elite feasting, and periodic markets embedded in a network of rotating geopolitical capitals based on k'atun (20-year) and may (256-year) cycling.…”

“…I also investigated how a time-knowledge-based may model of geopolitical organization might have structured Classic lowland Maya political economies (Rice 2009a). Key institutions of production, consumption, and distribution in these decentralized cosmo-political economies included a ritual mode of production (Rappaport 1984), a palace economy, lavish elite feasting, and periodic markets, all within a spatio-temporal network of geopolitical capitals rotating through k'atun and may cycles.…”

“…Unfortunately, most of these studies have been carried out in a theoretical vacuum without anthropologically informed theories or models of political or domestic economies to guide data collection, hypothesis testing, or interpretation. Here, I review available data on Late Classic (A.D. 600-830) southern lowland Maya polychrome pottery to evaluate its "fit" in my recently proposed (Rice 2004(Rice , 2009a, calendrically based may model of geopolitical organization. In doing so, I explore two issues: (1) the circumstances under which this pottery was produced, and (2) the methodological and theoretical challenges attendant to investigating those circumstances.…”

Ritual Use of Obsidian from Maya Caves in Belize: A Functional and Symbolic Analysis

“…This project shares a kinship with recent efforts that seek to complement materialist approaches to political economy with more complete considerations of how indigenous worldview and religion, often articulated through ritual, also shape the organization and execution of economic pursuits (e.g., Agbe-Davies and Bauer 2010;McAnany 2010;McAnany and Wells 2008;Rice 2009;Schortman and Urban 2004;Spielmann 2002;Wells 2006;Wells and Davis-Salazar 2007). For instance, E. Christian Wells (2006:284) identifies "ritual economy" approaches as those concerned with "the materialization of socially negotiated values and beliefs through acquisition and consumption aimed at managing meaning and shaping interpretation."…”