Nuancing the Maya Feast: A Reexamination of the Function of Ceramic Feasting Assemblages

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Feasting is a commonly cited interpretation across the Maya area for middens which include large quantities of ceramics and animal bones. This poster takes a closer look at previously published Maya feasting contexts by further examining the functional make up of their ceramic assemblages. By moving beyond the standard open/closed or serving/storage functional terms, it is possible to attain a finer grained interpretation of the activities that lead to the composition of each feasting assemblage. Comparison with recently excavated feasting middens and elite household middens from the site of La Corona, Petén, Guatemala provides greater nuance to the current understanding of Maya feasts and facilitates breaking the broad heading of ‘feast’ into smaller more socially meaningful categories.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25664