Maya: Postclassic (Other Keyword)
51-75 (174 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Subterranean" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the Terminal Classic and Postclassic periods, Chichen Itza became an important pilgrimage center. People from all over Mesoamerica came to the Maya Lowlands to make special offerings to Chichen Itza's sacred well. Paleoclimate studies indicate that a severe drought occurred during that period of time. This may have lasted a decade...
From Chichen Itza to Tulum: The Late Postclassic Maya Feathered Serpent of the Northern Maya Lowlands (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Tales of the Feathered Serpent: Refining Our Understanding of an Enigmatic Mesoamerican Being" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Most representations of the feathered serpent at Chichen Itza depict a plumed rattlesnake, a being of wind and carrier of rain, with Central Mexican origins dating back to Early Classic Teotihuacan. In Classic Maya art, feathered serpents are not rattlesnakes and lack plumage aside from a...
From the Coast to the Jungle: Inventory and Record of Archaeological Sites in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The municipality of Puerto Morelos is located in northern Quintana Roo, Mexico. Beginning in the past century, and continuing through present day, researches have reported numerous archaeological sites in this region. However, many of them do not have a precise location, and we do not know about their conservation status. As a result of this issue and the...
The Funerary or Nonfunerary Human Assemblages from the Initial Series Group at Chichen Itza (2021)
This is an abstract from the "New Perspectives on Ritual Violence and Related Human Body Treatments in Ancient Mesoamerica" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Human skeletal assemblages from Chichen Itza and its surrounding regions are complex, which makes Chichen Itza a prime location to study mortuary practices. The complexity stems most likely from Chichen Itza’s multicultural relationships with other groups not only within the Yucatán Peninsula...
“Grandmother of Light, Mistress of Shaping”: Midwife Deities in Highland Maya Ritual (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Role of Women in Mesoamerican Ritual" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. According to the Popol Vuh, the first truly successful human beings were created from maize by the goddess Xmucane: “The yellow ears of maize and the white ears of maize were then ground fine with nine grindings by Xmucane. Food entered their flesh, along with water to give them strength. . . . The yellowness of humanity came to be when they were...
The Grolier Codex and the early 1960s (2023)
This is an abstract from the "A Celebration and Critical Assessment of "The Maya Scribe and His World" on its Fiftieth Anniversary" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Grolier Codex was reportedly found with other objects, including the Kislak box, the Dumbarton Oaks turquoise mask, and other objects in the United States and abroad. In this brief talk, these objects and their context will be addressed, as well as the likelihood of their having been...
Heads, Skulls, and Sacred Scaffolds: New Studies on Ritual Body Processing and Display among the Ancient Maya of Yucatán (2021)
This is an abstract from the "New Perspectives on Ritual Violence and Related Human Body Treatments in Ancient Mesoamerica" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Among late Maya religious complexes, Chichen Itza stands as a monumental landmark. Among the enigmatic aspects of Chichen’s ceremonial innovations count skull racks, where the heads of sacrificed victims were exhibited in rows. It was the first Mesoamerican city to erect a permanent, decorated...
High-Resolution Landscape-Level Mapping in the Western Lagoon of Belize (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Archaeology and the History of Human-Environment Interaction in the Lower Belize River Watershed" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the summer of 2016, large-scale unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mapping was conducted in the Western Lagoon near Crooked Tree, the largest inland perennial wetland in all of Belize. Our aim was to record a series of linear features in the wetlands that may represent ancient Maya canals...
The Historical Ecology of the Postclassic Itza Maya in Lake Petén Itzá (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Research in the Petén Lakes Region, Petén, Guatemala" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Petén lakes region, Guatemala, has a rich and diverse ecology and abundant locally available resources including terrestrial, amphibious, and aquatic animals. The Postclassic (1100–1525 CE) sites in this region are mainly located on the lakeshore, suggesting that the Postclassic people were attracted to the lakeshore...
Human Plunder: The Role of Maya Slavery in Postclassic and Early Conquest Era Yucatán, 1450-1550 (2018)
Upon initial contact with the lowland Yucatec Maya, the Europeans discovered that a significant number of Maya slaves existed within the Maya communities that they encountered. War captives, orphans, and forced and enslaved sexual servants from the lower classes, Maya slaves and their possession became by the late Postclassic and early colonial period the major source of wealth and power of the traditional Maya Nobility. Divorced from control over specified traditional patrimonial landholdings...
Human Sacrifice and Body Processing in Late Eastern Mesoamerica: New Evidence from Toniná, Lagartero, and Champotón (2021)
This is an abstract from the "New Perspectives on Ritual Violence and Related Human Body Treatments in Ancient Mesoamerica" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A number of non-reverential, highly processed human assemblages containing mutilated sternal bones have been documented in different parts of Postclassic period Mesoamerica and beyond after being described by Carmen Pijoan in a massive ritual deposit from Tlatelolco, in the Aztec capital. In...
An Iconographic Study of Pottery Stamps from a Postclassic Village in Las Margaritas, Chiapas, Mexico (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The abundance of pottery stamps, variety of designs and quality of its craftsmanship during the Postclassic period, contrasts with the scarce studies regarding these special artifacts whose analysis can contribute to the knowledge of significant aspects of ancient Maya culture. These stamps were used to imprint decorative motifs on the human body, fabrics,...
Identifying Lakam-Tun: A Sixteenth-Century Maya Fortified Site in Lake Miramar, Chiapas, Mexico (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Research on the Postclassic period at Lake Miramar in the southern Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas permits identifying the fortified island of Lakam-Tun. The site was destroyed in 1586 by Juan de Morales Villavicencio in his attempt to conquer the Cholti'-Lacandon, who then sheltered deeper in the jungle until 1695. Earlier research failed to locate important...
In the Path of the Snake: Connecting Myth and Material Culture in the Late Prehistory of Champotón, Campeche (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Tales of the Feathered Serpent: Refining Our Understanding of an Enigmatic Mesoamerican Being" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The personage and deity of Kukulkan/Quetzalcoatl plays a central role in indigenous historical accounts regarding the prehispanic city of Chakanputun (Champotón). However, extensive disturbances resulting from continuous occupation of Champotón from the Preclassic period into modern times has...
In the Wake of Collapse: Eastern Mesoamerican Body Modifications and Identities during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries CE (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Movement of People and Ideas in Eastern Mesoamerica during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries CE: A Multidisciplinary Approach Part II" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Most Eastern Mesoamerican populations are known for their remarkable diversity and sophistication in dental works and head shaping procedures during the Classic period. Here, these permanently inscribed body modifications have come to light in thousands...
Initial Experimental Analysis of Soft Hammer Techniques in the Maya Lowlands (2018)
Lowland Maya lithic studies have traditionally focused on the rise of specialization at large urban centers. While many of these studies have focused on form and function of the tools produced, few focused on the technological means of tool production. Maya lithic studies have been assumed a priori to have been created using traditional means of hard-hammer and billet reduction. This paper reviews current evidence for the use of hardwoods in the production of stone tools, as well as provide an...
The Inside/Outside Connection: A Spatial Analysis of Faunal Remains from Contact Period Maya Elite Structures at Lamanai, Belize (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Celebrating 20 Years of Support: Current Work by Recipients of the Dienje Kenyon Memorial Fellowship for Zooarchaeologists" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the colonial period, the Maya living in frontier zones retained much of their community-level sociocultural and hierarchical systems. At Lamanai, Belize, recent excavations of three elite residences provide an opportunity to examine the relationship between...
An Integrated Heavy-Lift Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Remote Sensing Platform (2018)
We describe an integrated heavy-lift unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and remote sensing platform used to map archaeological features under the forest canopy in the northern Yucatán. We collaborated with Mobile Recon Systems Inc. to construct a UAV-based aerial mapping system that can be used to create high-resolution maps and 3D models of archaeological ruins, excavations, caves, and cenotes for small to medium-sized areas of the forested environment. The system integrates Light Detection and...
An Introduction to Chan Xaan Cave, Cuzamá, Yucatan, Mexico (2021)
This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The "ejidatarios" of Cuzama in Yucatán have developed a community tourist complex on the lands of the ancient hacienda of the same name, where they opened three cenotes. This work presents the first results of a survey carried out in a recently discovered cave and cenote known as Xaan Chan, where there are notable paintings...
Isotopic and Paleogenomic Evidence of Maya Persistence at Late Postclassic and Early Colonial Chactemal (Santa Rita Corozal), Belize. (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Santa Rita Corozal, hereafter known as Chactemal, is a Maya site located in what is now northern Belize on the coast of Chetumal Bay. Chactemal was home to some of the earliest known Maya peoples in northern Belize during the Middle Preclassic (~800-300 BCE), was continuously occupied throughout all subsequent phases of Maya chronology, grew to become an...
The K’ab’awil, or Protective Deities, of the Maya Highlands: Symbols of Identity and Political Integration (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Regimes of the Ancient Maya" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the Late Postclassic period (AD 1250–1524), the deities called k’ab’awil had an important role in the formation of collective identities in the Maya highlands, together with the language and the territory. In the political field, the k’ab’awil were vital in integrating the peoples that fell under K’iche’ rule and with whom they maintained dependency...
Landa’s Auto de Fe and the Destruction of the “Idols” of Mani: Petrographic and Chemical Analysis from Mani, Mexico (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 2015, an archaeological rescue program was carried out in Mani, Yucatán, related to improvements in the main square with the aim of designating Mani as a “magical town.” The excavations produced 568 fragments of the “idols” destroyed during the so-called auto de fe organized by Diego de Landa in Mani (1562), punishing the Maya population for...
Landscape Modification Seen from Above: Remote Sensing Analysis at Postclassic Mayapan (2018)
This paper examines shifting environmental paradigms in the Maya realm. Using Mayapán as a case study, a site long-considered to be located in a "marginal" environment for agricultural productivity, I will evaluate site resilience, sustainability, and self-sufficiency and use these concepts to create a more nuanced perspective of human-environment interactions. Data from Mayapán will be cross-referenced to other similar sites across the Maya region. I will show that assumptions about the...
Landscapes of Inequality in Ebtun, Yucatán, 1800–1890 (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Place-Making in Indigenous Mesoamerican Communities Past and Present" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this paper, I examine the postcolonial social transformations of Yucatec-speaking communities located southwest of Valladolid, Yucatán, occasioned by the Caste War (1847–1901), a violent rebellion and revitalization movement intricately related to processes of decolonization following Independence. How did Native...
Las reinas de la selva (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Adventures in Beekeeping: Recent Studies in Ecology, Archaeology, History, and Ethnography in Yucatán" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. El códice maya de Madrid, muestra aspectos de la vida cotidiana de los mayas, uno de ellos la meliponicultura, producción de las abejas sin aguijón. En el Puuc, la meliponicultura es una práctica desarrollada de manera secundaria después de la milpa maya, complementando el ingreso...