The Archaeoacoustics of Tenam Puente, Chiapas, Mexico: Auditory Monitoring of an Ancient Monumental Zone

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Archaeological Investigations in Chiapas, Mexico" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Current research on ancient Maya cities is radically revising our knowledge of their economies. Scholars are beginning to identify the archaeological remains of marketplaces, currencies, and other elements of extensive commercial exchange. However, the surveillance of ancient economic spaces and institutions is rarely investigated in archaeological research, including the ways that built environments were used to organize economic institutions such as ancient marketplaces, and to facilitate oversight and interventions by political authorities. Were these marketplaces controlled by the invisible hand of the market, or by the all-too-visible hand of political rulers? This study examines elite surveillance of an ancient marketplace at the Maya city of Tenam Puente, one of the most important political capitals on the western Maya frontier during the Late Classic (600–900 CE) and Early Postclassic (900–1250 CE) periods. This presentation investigates the acoustic characteristics of the monumental zone that facilitated the monitoring and policing of various urban locations by the city’s rulers and administrators.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Archaeological Investigations in Chiapas, Mexico   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38707.0