Coba: New Findings and Future Directions of Research

Summary

This paper presents new spatial and cultural data on the Maya archaeological site of Coba. As part of the Political Interaction Project of Central Yucatán, we have piloted a new investigation on the political, social, and economic relationship between the two Maya cities Yaxuna and Coba. These two cities are connected by the longest sacbe in the Maya region, Sacbe 1, stretching 100 km across the peninsula. Understanding the relationship between these two cities will require a multi year and multi site investigation and this paper presents our preliminary findings at one end of the causeway. Topics that will be addressed include new chronological data that sheds light on Coba's greatest period of urban and political development, spatial data on Maya household organization, and artifactual data on domestic economies at Coba. Additionally, methodological issues encountered and proposed resolutions will briefly be addressed. As a conclusion, this paper brings together our findings on Coba to propose ideas on how Classic period Maya state development can be better understood through investigation of household integration.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage