Internal Variations among the Elite Classic Maya at El Zotz

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper discusses the internal structure of the elite Classic Maya at the site of El Zotz, in the Petén region of Guatemala. By examining the behavior of elites living in different parts of El Zotz at the end of the Late Classic, I will consider whether the aristocracy of the Pa’ka’n court acted as a cohesive unit with shared behaviors, or if they were segmented with significant variation in practices between groups. The extent to which nobility differed at the same site, and in what ways they differed, can shed light on the internal organization and relations of the Maya elite at a small royal center. This paper uses material evidence, with an emphasis on ceramics, to ask questions about a variety of behaviors, such as domestic, ritual, and external trade practices.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33134