The Archaeology of the Late Postclassic Maya Highlands

Abstract

This article reviews archaeological evidence of the Late Postclassic period in the Maya highlands. The Maya highlands contain a diverse and complex geography, a diversity that is represented in the material record. While archaeological and ethnohistoric evidence from the central Guatemalan highlands has long dominated discussion of the Late Postclassic period, research has shown that developments outside of this subregion were extremely variable and localized. A focus on the Quiché and Kaqchikel states has resulted in an important and rich body of evidence that has undeniable importance to Maya and Mesoamerica studies, as well as modern Maya peoples.

Economic Integration and Obsidian Consumption in the Late Postclassic Period K'iche’ Region

“…Although the origins of the K'iche’ are still debated (e.g., Akkeren 2000; Babcock 2012; Borgstede and Robinson 2012; Braswell 2001b; Carmack 1981; Cojti Ren 2020; Fox 1987, 1989; Wauchope 1947), scholars generally agree that Q'umarkaj was founded as the Late Postclassic period K'iche’ capital around AD 1200 (Borgstede and Robinson 2012; Macario Calgua 2012). K'iche’ political organization is known from ethnohistoric documents that discuss elite lords as centralized political leaders based at Q'umarkaj.…”

“…Outside Q'umarkaj, the K'iche’ elite managed a large multiethnic territory, much of which was acquired through conquest. The centralization of territorial management has long been a subject of debate, including identifying archaeological correlates for K'iche’ influence, the degree of territorial control over the region, and the role of the K'iche’ in settlement shifts from the Classic to the Postclassic periods (Arnauld 1993; Borgstede and Robinson 2012; Braswell 2003a; Carmack 1981; Ichon 1993). In other words, scholars disagree whether K'iche’ elites directly managed outlying areas or had indirect control over the region (see Hill 1996).…”

“…The Late Postclassic period (AD 1200–1524; Borgstede and Robinson 2012) in the Maya Highlands has been the source of much discussion about the role of elite actors in political organization, particularly as models of political organization for the Classic period Maya (Fox 1987; Fox and Cook 1996; but see Braswell 2001a, 2001b, 2003a). Much of the information for these models stems from ethnohistoric documents (Carmack and Weeks 1981; Fox 1978, 1989, 1996; Hill and Monaghan 1987; Wallace and Carmack 1977) because the Highlands, particularly the K'iche’ region, are the source of many well-known ethnohistoric and precontact Indigenous documents (Akkeren 2000; Carmack and Weeks 1981; Matsumoto 2017; Wallace and Carmack 1977).…”