Statecraft (Other Keyword)
1-6 (6 Records)
The excavation of the Templo Mayor yielded a plethora of objects that testify to the supreme ideological importance this edifice held for the Mexica confederacy. While the offerings unearthed within the foundations of this structure comprised a variety of portable objects placed in intimate settings, larger sculptures seem to have articulated more public iconographic programs. My analysis of both portable and monumental sculptures shows these works emphasized the bricolage of incorporated and...
The Obsidian Order at Copan: A Discussion of Science, Education, and Institutions in Late Classic Statecraft (2017)
This paper investigates an order of ranked specialists marked by title Taaj ("obsidian"), as they occur at Late Classic Copan. This "obsidian order" was first identified on a mural at the site of Xultun, Guatemala, where archaeological evidence revealed that its members held expertise in indigenous Maya sciences, ritual practice and codex book production. Since then, the Taaj have been identified at several Classic Maya centers besides Xultun—with the texts of Copan providing the most detailed...
Piecing Together the Life History of K’ahk’ Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil (2017)
Copan's longest-lived ruler dramatically expanded his realm, reach, and resources. The valley population nearly doubled, and the historical record indicates he was active in the ritual and political lives of other centers both near to home and farther afield. Ruler 12 contextualized his defensive perimeter within the sacred geography of the valley by erecting six stelae in 652 C.E. His successor enshrined that achievement and his memory in the most elaborately decorated temple outside the royal...
Queens and Statecraft: Royal Women as Agents of Kaanul at El Perú-Waka’ (2016)
Recent research has shed tremendous light on the impact of two generations of royal women of Kaanul on the classic Maya city of El Peru-Waka’. Lady Ikoom and Lady K’abel facilitated royal bonds through marriages to Waka’ rulers, and reigned there during the Early Late and Mid-Late Classic periods, respectively. In this paper, we address the wide ranging sources of evidence from Waka’ that speak to these linkages, including monuments with preserved texts, and royal burials from three of the...
The Rise of Authority and the Decline of Warfare in the Virú Valley (2016)
The Salinar Period (400 - 200 B.C.) has long been considered a time of extensive warfare on the north coast of Peru. In the Virú Valley, fortifications and defensible settlements were common during this period, and warfare is thought to decline in the subsequent Virú Period (200 BC - AD 600). While Virú Period settlements were commonly built in open and undefensible locations, a new type of monumental fortification, the Castillo, first appeared during this time. These structures clearly served a...
The Snake Queens of Waka’: Harnessing Sorcery and Divinatory Power in Service to Kaan (2024)
This is an abstract from the "The Rise and Apogee of the Classic Maya Kaanu’l Hegemonic State at Dzibanche" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Our paper demonstrates the key role played by royal Kaan women in fortifying and consolidating Kaan’s hegemony in the seventh–eighth centuries CE. We draw on archaeological, visual, and textual evidence from Waka’, including a preliminary analysis of recently discovered Stela 51, and elsewhere across the realm....