Household Ritual and the Development of Complex Societies in Formative Mesoamerica: Comparing the Maya Lowlands and Central Mexico

Summary

Recognizing that households contribute to – rather than simply reflect – broad social changes, scholars working in the Maya lowlands and Central Mexico argue that domestic ritual played a role in the emergence of complex societies in Formative (or Preclassic) Mesoamerica (c. 1000 BC - AD 300). Certain aspects of household-level, ritualized activities are shared across Mesoamerican cultures. However, major differences within and between the two regions show that a variety of social organizations were constructed and transformed over the course of the Formative period. The site of Ceibal, in Guatemala, provides key data for understanding the social processes that took place in the Maya area. Along with public rituals, early domestic practices influenced the development of very different kinds of city-states that would characterize the Maya lowlands and Central Mexico during the subsequent Classic period.

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): 20597