Building a High-Resolution Chronology: A Case from the Maya Archaeological Site of El Palmar, Mexico

Summary

This paper aims to refine the Maya chronology during the Classic period (A.D. 250-950) through the development of Bayesian models. In so doing, we combined radiocarbon dates with stratigraphic information, ceramic data, burials, and calendric dates from stone monuments. At the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry of Yamagata University, we ran 78 radiocarbon samples recovered from the Guzmán Group, an outlying group located 1.3km north of El Palmar in southeastern Campeche, Mexico. To establish the ceramic sequence of the Guzmán Group, we used the type:variety-mode system that enables us to detect subtle changes in their forms and technologies. Furthermore, we reinforced the ceramic analyses through petrographic microscope. While the results of radiocarbon samples date from the Preclassic to the Terminal Classic period, this paper focuses on the second half of the Classic period (A.D. 600-950), a time of political turbulence in which the inhabitants of the Guzmán Group became involved.

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): 21157