A Tale of Two Cities: A Comparison between Preclassic and Classic Formation of Two Maya Cities

Summary

Research on ancient Maya cities is generally modeled after large sites with massive architecture, dynastic burials, and written records documenting the activities of divine rulers. However, the development of these cities is the exception, rather than the norm, since the majority of Maya sites did not reach such enormous proportions, yet many of them likely qualified as cities from a functional standpoint. Hence, a research on non-massive cities, "from the bottom up," is crucial to understand the development of ancient Maya urbanism. Investigations at the archaeological sites of Chan Chich, in northwestern Belize, and Kiuic, in the Puuc zone of the Yucatán Peninsula, have recovered evidence of emerging and established monumental precincts during the early Middle Preclassic and Late Classic period, respectively. The different social and political developments of these sites are in tandem with the construction of architectonic complexes defined as royal courts, the heart of ancient cities. In this paper, using stratigraphic, architectural, and artifactual evidence, we examine the role of non-dynastic cities in the urbanization of the Maya lowlands. Research at these two sites illustrates distinct social processes, at different times and places, both of which resulted in local traditions of cities and court authority.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21270