Exemplary Centers as Quintessential Places: Migrants and Architectural Quotations in Late Postclassic Petén, Guatemala

Summary

Exemplary centers are physically schematized archetypes which represent and communicate social realities and political orders. Such exemplary centers are quintessential places, as they represent identity and memory. Migrating populations frequently reconstruct exemplary centers that replicate homelands through materials and images demonstrating their identity. Such "architectural quotations" help the migrants to legitimate social and political positions in the new locations. Members of groups perform commemorative ceremonies to demonstrate social memories at the exemplary centers. In so doing, a sense of collective identity is reinforced through the past.

The Late Postclassic (A.D. 1250-1525) Maya groups in Petén, Guatemala, claimed origins in Yucatan, Mexico, and constructed exemplary centers representing the great city of Mayapán, in Yucatan. This paper investigates exemplary centers in Petén through the examination of ceremonial architecture and associated materials and images. We argue that the Late Postclassic exemplary centers were constructed to legitimate social identities in Petén.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Quintessential Places: Analyzing the Character of Precolumbian Sites   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14985