Households, Growth, Contraction, and Mobility at the Classic Maya Center of Naachtun

Summary

At Naachtun, extensive excavation programs carried out in monumental Group B, a compact set of three large elite clusters of residential compounds located in the site epicenter, and intensive test-pitting programs applied to the residential zones which surround the monumental core, have enabled us to understand the site occupation development during the Classic phases. We identify contraction, dispersal and expansion where and when most households units were occupied. We compare these space-time dynamics in epicentral Group B and surrounding urban residential zones, explore their articulation, and discuss possible intra-site population mobility. Although some of the dynamics resulted from royal-court elite attraction and urban planning, the permanence of a dense, post-dynastic occupation, and new housing practices in Group B indicate that people did not need rulers’ coercion to organize and modify their settlement in accordance with what they perceived to be their socioeconomic interests.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20863