Sacbe Construction, Agricultural Production, and Community Organization in the Classic Maya Community of Cerén, El Salvador

Summary

The exceptional preservation of the Classic Maya community of Cerén, El Salvador has afforded the opportunity to examine how one group of people constructed their built environment. The remarkably well- preserved site (public and domestic structures, earthen sacbe (road), agricultural fields, plant casts, and artifacts) greatly aids in our understanding of small-scale socio-political organization. This paper draws on data collected during the 2013 field season as well as earlier research. The presence of an earthen sacbe at the site raises significant questions about labor organization, power distribution, and the relationship of Cerén to other communities in the Zapotitán Valley. Additional understanding of cooperation and autonomy is gleaned from stylistic features of the agricultural fields, the synchronized harvesting, and the physical manifestation of other decisions that farmers made. Examining these multiple features helps to illuminate small-scale socio-political organization within one ancient Maya community.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Construction of a Community: Recent Findings from Ceren, El Salvador   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage