Economic strategies in the Puuc Hills of Yucatan

Summary

Some theorists of the ancient Maya economy argue that the movement of goods served to materialize and aid in the performance of what were essentially political relations of power. Such a perspective emphasizes the rigidity and extreme hierarchy of exchange networks, and their essential focus on the ruler's body and his court. Proponents of market exchange, in contrast, see exchange as serving more quotidien processes of supply and demand, and only tangentially political forces. The Puuc Hills of Yucatan provide an interesting test of these positions, as on the one hand many small sites built extensive palaces suggestive of an elaborate court life. On the other, Puuc society had an extremely broad base of wealthy individuals but relatively little investment in ritual architecture. Imports seem to have been modest. This paper suggests that the particular demands of the karstic landscape fostered the active participation of sub-royal elites in the Puuc domestic economy in ways distinct from the extremes of market and ritual exchange.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Nuts and Bolts of the Real "Business" of Ancient Maya Exchange (Part 1)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage