Architecture as an Expression of Maya Political Organization in the Cochuah Region, Quintana Roo during the Early Terminal Classic: The Perspective from Non-primary Sites

Summary

Political leaders among the ancient Maya were actors performing for an audience with the intent to receive the people’s support to govern. These actors often used specific architecture as stages for their performances; therefore, this architecture serves as a source of information on various aspects of political organization. Architecture embodies political symbolism and has the potential to communicate type of political institution. This paper examines the distribution of architecture that embodies the apparatus of rulership in twenty sites in the Cochuah Region occupied during the Early Terminal Classic or Florescence Phase (A.D.750-900). The data are compared to the different expectations derived from three political models that vary in the degree of centralization of rulership present. I argue that some types of political organizations would be only visible through the examination of secondary sites and their satellites.

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): 18786