Scale and Political Integration of Ancient Maya Polities: Ideology, Frame Analysis, and Caracol, Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Regimes of the Ancient Maya" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Interpretations of ancient Maya society may be cast in different ways based on the bodies of data that are used and on the frame of analysis considered. New data and syntheses are changing what sometimes have been polarized perspectives. Excavation, survey, and particularly lidar data show both scalar relationships and regional variability on all levels, ranging from household to polity organization. Epigraphic data suggest that Maya royal power was deeply rooted in ideological beliefs, and when combined with archaeological data, it is evident that this power did not always penetrate the more pragmatic day-to-day organization of polities. Long-term archaeological research at Caracol, Belize, has permitted us to gain insight into polity integration. The archaeological work has generated a series of intersecting data classes that can be used to examine the spatial and material correlates for the organization, administration, and governance of this ancient city. These archaeological data demonstrate that different management strategies were in operation at Caracol over time. Evaluating these data using a frame perspective provides a more holistic perspective on the dynamic nature of Caracol’s social, political, economic, and ritual organization.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Regimes of the Ancient Maya   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36173.0