El Jovero: Investigating Political Frontiers on the Usumacinta River

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.

The borders and frontiers of ancient communities provide a rich opportunity to examine the effects of social and political change. These interstitial spaces are often conceptualized as part of a polity body but may be better understood as spaces of continual change and reorganization, positioning these communities as active rather than passive elements in regional political dynamics. I deploy this perspective to examine polities in the Maya lowlands, where an array of competing political structures vied for control over the landscape. Investigating the interstices of Lacanja Tzeltal, Piedras Negras, and Yaxchilan along the Usumacinta River provides a unique opportunity to contrast the effects of political machinations among ancient Maya royal courts on the countryside, borders, and frontiers of their territories. Presented here are analysis and interpretation of two seasons of fieldwork, supported by lidar-based GIS analysis, focused on the archaeological site of El Jovero, Chiapas Mexico. This research aims to better understand how the ebb and flow of control projecting from major regional centers affects communities in their interstices. I examine the occupational trajectory of El Jovero as a community inhabiting a landscape affected by power struggles and conflict between ancient Maya royal courts.

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): 40157.0