“The Watchers Belonging to the Warriors”: Military Surveillance among the Maya

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeologies of Surveillance: Seeing and Power in the Material World" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ethnohistoric accounts from highland Guatemala allude to surveillance systems and their personnel forming part of the integrated defense of Maya political territories during the Late Postclassic period, prior to the Spanish arrival in 1524. Recent lidar-driven archaeological research in the Maya Lowlands suggests that ancestral forms of landscape surveillance date back as early as the fifth century CE. This paper presents evidence from the Buenavista Valley of northern Guatemala, indicating that the rulers of the Tikal dynasty used a network of fortresses and watchtowers to observe movement and other activities throughout their kingdom. Excavations of defensive works from the fortified El Diablo hilltop at El Zotz, as well as from the La Cuernavilla fortress, show the scale and sophistication of the defense system; recovered artifacts leave no doubt as to the martial function of these features. Viewshed analysis reveals the extent of the system’s zone of control, highlighting the dual role that surveillance played in integrating and defending Tikal’s political holdings. Although the Buenavista Valley system appears unique in its extent and complexity among Classic Maya polities, it is likely that future lidar analysis will reveal similar types of surveillance networks for the largest ancient kingdoms.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeologies of Surveillance: Seeing and Power in the Material World   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39492.0