Agency and Pilgrimage in a Living Landscape: Contemporary Lacandon Maya Visits to Ancient Ruins

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Vibrancy of Ruins: Ruination Studies in Ancient Mesoamerica" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In this presentation, we analyze Lacandon Maya communication with nonhuman forces through pilgrimages to ritual landscapes, particularly ancient Maya ruins in the lowlands of Chiapas, Mexico, and Petén, Guatemala. Through archaeological and ethnographic evidence we examine these spaces where Lacandon Maya have undertaken religious pilgrimages. Ancient Maya sites present material evidence, including graffiti, rock art, and ceramic incense burners that allow us to examine Lacandon pilgrimage destinations through GIS. Hence, we can reconstruct Lacandon pilgrimage behavior through their travel routes and directions within and between ancient Maya ruins. Through this analysis, we can understand how contemporary Lacandon Maya maintain ties with spiritual forces attached to archaeological sites in the region, such as caves with burials, cliffs with rock art, and ancient Maya monumental architecture. Lacandon have configured these sites as a living landscape unseeable to human eyes, but necessary for their social life and community prosperity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Vibrancy of Ruins: Ruination Studies in Ancient Mesoamerica   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36417.0