Political engagement in household ritual among the Maya of Yucatan

Hutson, Scott R.; Lamb, Céline; Arona, David Medina

doi:10.4324/9781315694856-8

Cited by 4 publications

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“…This appears to have been the case of Santa Teresa (Figure 1), a small settlement about three kilometers northeast of Chunhuayum, where a ball court was built during the Late Classic (Hutson et al 2015). Collective rituals were not novel N148, which was the likely locale of inter-household events during the Preclassic, nor were domestic rituals, found among households of different levels of political authority (Hutson et al 2018). Yet hosting village-wide events in a rural residential compound (as opposed to public plaza in a town center) that minimized social distinctions, particularly after the heightened material social distinctions of the early Early Classic, does represent a local innovation in ritual practice and material discourse.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Ucí-Cansahcab Regional Integration Project (UCRIP) was initiated in 2008 to investigate the processes of integration, materialized by the construction of the causeway system, that took place in this microregion at the end of the Late Preclassic. The project has conducted extensive survey, mapping, and excavation at various centers and smaller settlements both on and along the Uci-Cansahcab causeway (Hutson 2012a, 2021; Hutson and Davies 2015; Hutson and Welch 2014; 2021; Hutson et al 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020; Kidder 2019; Vallejo-Caliz et al 2018).…”

Section: Chunhuayum and The Uci Microregionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wealth refers to the amount of labor and physical resources that a person or group accumulates or disposes of (Hutson 2016a;McAnany 1993). The term occupation is used here to denote individuals' particular economic, but also political and/or spiritual role within their communities, since the Maya conceived of religious and political responsibilities as work (Astor-Aguilera 2010;Hutson et al 2018;Monaghan 2000;Taube 2003:464). Finally, by social connectivity I mean the extent to which households are connected with external networks and institutions (Smith 1994(Smith :144, 2019.…”

Section: Dimensions Of Household Social Differentiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rural Social Differentiation in Early Classic Chunhuayum, Yucatan, Mexico

Lamb

2022

Ancient Mesoam

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This article examines rural social differentiation in Chunhuayum, Yucatan, a rural village continuously occupied from approximately 800 b.c.–a.d. 1000. Focusing on the late Early Classic (a.d. 400/500–600/630), a time when other settlements of the Uci polity experienced political and population disruptions, I examine how households shaped and expressed local social differentiation, particularly wealth, occupation, and social connectivity. Residential architecture provides the most salient marker of wealth differences at Chunhuayum, while ceramic, shell, and obsidian assemblages indicate that households also varied in terms of their occupations and external social networks. Within this predominantly agrarian village, two households attempted to improve their economic and immaterial well-being through locally innovative strategies—shell crafting and group-oriented ritual orchestration. Such strategies ultimately had different outcomes both for the household and community. These points underscore the heterogeneity of the rural ancient rural Maya, and that social differentiation was actively constructed by rural people rather than a trickling-down of the normative hierarchical social order. Through habituated practice and innovative action, Chunhuayum's Early Classic residents continued participating in external networks while shaping locally meaningful relations of differences.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Chunhuayum and The Uci Microregionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dimensions Of Household Social Differentiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rural Social Differentiation in Early Classic Chunhuayum, Yucatan, Mexico

Lamb

2022

Ancient Mesoam

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“…We must also emphasize, that whether concerned with hinterland or rural, these small settlements are likely as diverse as urban settings, simply at a smaller scale, but not at less complexity. Other discussions about settlement and what constitutes settlements have been presented with varying opinion in earlier works (e.g., Hutson et al 2018; Levi et al 2019; Yaeger and Canuto 2000).…”

Section: Hinterland Study Strategies: Methods Definitions and Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

Complexity, Function, and Rurality: Prehistoric Maya Communities of Northwest Belize

2022

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The northwest region of Belize, known as the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area (RBCMA), is a research set-aside of interest for investigating hinterland communities of the prehistoric Maya. The hinterland or rural communities of the RBCMA are as diverse and complex as any across the Maya lowlands. The Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP), of northwest Belize, provides various data for identifying and interpreting ancient Maya interactions in the region. With more than 25 seasons of Maya archaeological research in the region, PfBAP researchers are well placed to present aspects of nonurban life that helped make Maya civilization possible. The PfBAP utilizes survey and mapping strategies, material culture analyses, Light Detection and Ranging, and theoretical interests for evaluating ancient Maya life in the region's rural areas. There are four essential components herein contained for the PfBAP investigations of ancient Maya rural settlements in northwest Belize: (1) hinterland study strategies, (2) rural settlements, (3) rural diversity, and (4) nonurban life and rural elites. Sociopolitical systems (and/or interactions) are also posited for the prehistoric rural Maya. Where possible, suggested relationships between communities of varying size and complexity are discussed. The manifestations of production, identity, and equality are also defined as appropriate and integrated into the discussion of function(s) associated with rurality.

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“…They organized themselves in diverse intermediate scale social groups, including social entities similar to urban neighborhoods, socially constituted and imagined communities, lineages, and Houses (Canuto and Fash 2004; Canuto and Yaeger 2000; Eberl 2007; Fash 1983; Freter 2004; Hageman 2004; McAnany 1995; Robin 2012; see also Lemonnier and Arnauld 2022). Rural people were innovative ritual practitioners who strategically deployed sacred knowledge and performances also used by city dwellers, including those on top of the social pyramid (Gonlin and Lohse 2007; Hutson et al 2018; Robin 2002; Zaro and Lohse 2005; see also Ingalls and Yaeger 2022; Lamb 2022; Valdez et al 2022). And they were agents of social reproduction and change, integral to processes of social inequality, identity and social memory, urbanization, polity formation, and disintegration, as well as the longevity and transformations of rural places (Eberl 2007; Hutson et al 2015; Lohse 2013; Mixter 2017; Robin 2012, 2013; Schwarz 2013; Yaeger 2000; see also Ingalls and Yaeger 2022; Lamb 2022; Lemonnier and Arnauld 2022; Tiesler and López Pérez 2022; Valdez et al 2022).…”

Section: Developments In Ancient Maya Rural Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking the Rural in Ancient Maya Studies

Lamb

2022

Ancient Mesoam

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This Special Section provides a glimpse into the vitality of rural investigations in the Maya area by presenting recent archaeological research and interpretive perspectives on the ancient rural Maya. This introduction serves to contextualize the articles of this Special Section within and outside of academic discourse and practice. I start by reviewing the common ways in which rural people and places are essentialized, to underscore that these now unpopular ideas continue to implicitly pervade research priorities, definitions, and interpretations. I then provide a brief historical summary of rural research in the Maya area and some of its significant contributions to our current understandings of ancient rural Maya peoples. Finally, drawing from rural studies, I argue for greater theorization of rurality—including how it was constituted, experienced, perhaps even perceived in the past, and its relationship to periurban, conurban, and urban life, and the continued existence and transformation of rural spaces and lifeways within increasingly urbanized societies. This introduction aims to invigorate further theoretical elaboration with regard to ancient Maya rurality and elicit archaeologists to place themselves and their work within the broader historical and cultural trends of how the rural is perceived and addressed.

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Political engagement in household ritual among the Maya of Yucatan

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Rural Social Differentiation in Early Classic Chunhuayum, Yucatan, Mexico

Rural Social Differentiation in Early Classic Chunhuayum, Yucatan, Mexico

Complexity, Function, and Rurality: Prehistoric Maya Communities of Northwest Belize

Rethinking the Rural in Ancient Maya Studies

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