The Rise and Apogee of the Classic Maya Kaanu’l Hegemonic State at Dzibanche

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "The Rise and Apogee of the Classic Maya Kaanu’l Hegemonic State at Dzibanche" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In recent years the notion that a hegemonic state known as the Kaanu’l dynasty dominated the Classic Maya Lowlands has become more widely accepted supplanting previous views of Maya states as inherently fragmented and volatile. This has occurred thanks to a series of epigraphic and archaeological discoveries throughout the Maya world. Since the early 2000s, it has been known that in the Early Classic period, the dynasty was situated at Dzibanche in southern Quintana Roo, before its long-known seat at Calakmul, Campeche. However, many aspects of this regime remain the subject of debate. First among them is the time and place of origin, its internal governing organization, the nature of its expansionism, and the political control of kingdoms within its sphere of influence. In this session, we attempt to bring clarity to these issues by presenting new archaeological and epigraphic data from the most recent research projects at Dzibanche and other sites with political ties to the Kaanu’l dynasty. The resulting new perspectives on this regime from a variety of sources and contexts will support a more informed understanding of the nature of Classic Maya political organization.