Commoner-Elite Interactions: Evidence Subroyal Elite Housemound Excavations at Uxul, Campeche, Mexico

Summary

Interactions between commoners and elites is a poorly addressed area of study in the Maya region. Various excavations of ancient Maya palace structures and royal tombs, epigraphic studies of Maya hieroglyphs, and iconographic analyses of ancient Maya art have revealed a copious amount of information about ancient Maya elite. Similarly, excavations of ancient Maya commoner households and burials have revealed a great deal of information about ancient Maya commoners. However, there are relatively few research programs directly addressing the interaction between elite and commoners. This talk presents data from the excavation of an ancient Maya elite household at Uxul, Campeche, Mexico. The excavatory data is used to reveal social stratification within the Maya elite and demonstrate the lower strata of Maya elite, termed here subroyal elite, were responsible, for amongst other things, interactions with commoners. These interactions change over time and display evidence of greater rigidity and stratigication as the socio-political structure changed during the Late Classic (AD 600-750) when Uxul was incorporated into the Calakmul regional state.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ellos fueron lo que hicieron: Actividades de la elite y grupos no elitarios en las tierras bajas mayas   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage