Excavating the House: Residential Architecture in the Maya Area

This session adds to the growing body of work on ancient Maya residential structures from the Preclassic through the Postclassic period. The archaeological analysis of Maya residences (including their refuse, offerings, architecture, and location) whether elite or commoner, is fundamental to understanding the basic structure of Maya societies. From houses we can learn about the sociopolitical and socioeconomic strategies of individual communities, and possibly even individuals, through documenting evidence of settlement structure, general consumption, trade, and ritual. In addition, the analysis of residential complexes is requisite to understanding the daily life of their users, and the manner in which they organized the surrounding landscape and exploited their environment. Defining differences between households within one polity at one place in time, or over periods of time can provide crucial information on what supported the success of a given polity or contributed to its failure.