A Rural Travel Stopover at the Late Postclassic Maya Site of Mensabak, Chiapas, Mexico: Overland Trade, Cross-Cultural Interaction, and Social Cohesion in the Chiapas Frontier

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Dynamic Frontiers in the Archaeology of Chiapas" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A small rural stopover site in the frontier along overland Late Postclassic (ca. 1300–1500 CE) Maya and Aztec trade and travel routes was identified at Mensabak, Chiapas, Mexico. This site is similar in function to rural Old World and Andean caravan stop overs, such as caravanserai and way stations, where travelers and traders obtained supplies, trading partners, safety, travel information, and solidarity through ritual. These sites are functionally similar to trading ports and pilgrimage centers, but they are smaller, located in the distant countryside, are not managed by regional states, and have scaled-down economic exchange with less diverse exotic trade items. They often include landscape and rock art shrines, like the mountain and cliff sanctuaries at Mensabak, for collective ritual among travelers and locals. This presentation discusses the archaeological research on, in addition to cross-cultural social, economic, and ritual implications of, small frontier stopover sites that united people on the road.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Dynamic Frontiers in the Archaeology of Chiapas   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36365.0