Examining the Institutionalization and Transformation of Maya Kingship at Actuncan, Belize using Collective Action Theory

Summary

Here, I summarize the major research questions and results from the Actuncan Archaeological Project, which has been on-going since 2001. The project was initially designed to examine the ways Preclassic Maya leaders institutionalized political authority from the perspective of household archaeology, but has expanded to include excavation of civic architecture and remote sensing in open spaces. My research is informed by collective action theory, and the degree to which leaders engaged in exclusionary and inclusive practices over the site’s 2000 years of occupation. Findings have not supported my original exclusive power hypothesis in which early rulers circumvented kin-based authority by out-competing and fragmenting established households. Instead, the small number of founding elite and commoner houses enjoyed socio-economic prosperity during the Terminal Preclassic period when kingship was institutionalized. The rise to regional authority was rapid at Actuncan, which was built by burying an earlier settlement and greatly expanding civic structures. This expansion was achieved through inclusive practices that mobilized hinterland populations’ labor and loyalties. Later, Classic-period elites experienced boom-and-bust cycles of growth and abandonment, which I argue is the result of elite competition for exclusive power. Evidence supporting these ideas is presented by contributors to this symposium.

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): 18777