Examining the Ramifications of the Formation of a Late Classic Maya Polity on Local Exchange Systems at Lower Dover, Belize

Summary

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

Traditionally scholars envisaged Classic Maya economic centralization and commercialization as being poorly developed. However, the discovery of markets at several Maya political centers has begun to shift these perspectives. One important question which remains was how much did centralized markets affect the redistribution of items within hinterland households? The Late Classic (AD 600-900) Maya polity of Lower Dover, Belize arose in a densely populated landscape dominated by autonomous communities with long-established local elite leaders. The recent discovery of market facilities at the civic-ceremonial center indicate the possibility that the rise of the political center was accompanied by centralized marketing of certain commodities. This paper provides a settlement-based perspective grounded in the distributional approach to test the hypothesis that differences existed between the exchange items among high and low status commoner and intermediate elite residences in the hinterlands of the polity. Our investigation applies ANOVA (analysis of variance) to the proportions of imported ceramics and obsidian diachronically before and after the emergence of Lower Dover. Based on preliminary data we hypothesize an increase in commercialization following the rise of Lower Dover, most probably associated with the centralized markets.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25706