Palaces at La Joya, Classic Period Central Veracruz: Architectural and Ideological Evidence

Summary

La Joya was the capital of a very small state during the 1st millennium AD in South Central Veracruz. This region is rarely associated with major political power, though obviously it was of high prestige in the Mesoamerican world in terms of the distribution of the paraphernalia associated with the ballgame ritual. Two contemporary monumental platforms at the site can be interpreted as palaces, with administrative, residential, ritual, and service areas, one possibly housing a political and the other a religious ruler. Besides architectural layout, evidence rests on the urban setting, the monumentality and quality of construction, the presence of a sumptuary burial in a commemorative pyramid, the recurrence of sacrificial deposits for building consecration, and a large termination sacrifice that may be interpreted as a lineage extermination act.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Seats of Power: Functional Sectors in Mesoamerican Palaces

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 12142