Investigating the Development of Social Inequality through Preclassic-Period Maya Household Ritual

Summary

In this paper we will discuss how ritual activities in both emergent elite and commoner Maya households contributed to the development of social complexity and hierarchy during the Preclassic period at the site of Holtun, Guatemala. Our working hypothesis at the site is that while certain households successfully manipulated traditional ritual practices and symbols related to political and religious authority, all households would have contributed to the cultural milieu in which the dominant households were able to develop in the Middle and Late Preclassic periods. Through time, non-dominant households may have been excluded from using primary symbols of power, or may have actively sought out new symbols to counteract emergent power. We identify this process through comparison of contexts of ritual activity, and artifacts found within them, in households identified by sub-surface and tunneling excavations. We hope to show that ritual contexts indicate household innovation, support, and active engagement with emergent symbols of power during the Middle Preclassic period. However, ritual activity may diverge during the Late Preclassic, indicating avoidance/independence or possibly even resistance in a movement from solidarity to autonomy among households at the site.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Household Rituals in the Ancient Americas – from Patio Groups to Pueblos

Keywords

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