Making Change: Currency Use and Social Transformation among the Classic Maya

Summary

At the time of Spanish contact, the Mesoamerican commercial economy was highly elaborated, with an interconnected system of marketplaces, a large variety of goods bought and sold as commodities, and the widespread use of currency in the form of cacao and woven textiles. While much of what we know of this economic system is provided by written records, the presence of large-scale marketplaces and currency can be traced into earlier periods using archaeological evidence. This evidence suggests that, in the Maya lowlands, both of these features began in the 7th century, as the rival kingdoms of Tikal and Calakmul attempted to consolidate and centralize their regional economies. These economic strategies increased the demand for currency commodities, reconfiguring economic relationships far beyond these two kingdoms. This paper will address the archaeological evidence for rapid changes along the San Pedro River in Northwestern Guatemala, an important trade route for cacao importation. Focusing on the site of La Florida, it will discuss the rapid rise of this kingdom, its establishment of economic and political relationships with distant partners, and its strategic control of the San Pedro trade route.

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): 18747