Learning Together: A Specialized Residence for Acolytes at Group C, Xunantunich

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Scholars have sought to identify ancient Maya spaces where specialized knowledge was transferred and acquired. Several historic accounts, including that of Bishop de Landa’s in Yucatan, mention specialized residences for youths while they were being schooled. Analogous to boarding schools, housing exclusively for acolytes creates a focused environment for learning and for creating sodalities. Archaeologists have identified complexes that likely included living spaces for youths in training at several sites including Tikal, Copan, and Xunantunich. In this paper, we present findings from Xunantunich’s Group C that support this interpretation. Our investigations have targeted two range structures that face each other across a courtyard. These vaulted structures, C-2 and C-3, had rooms with high benches, each with an incised patolli board. The doorways were broad and faced outward across the courtyard. They lack the interior doorways and division of space typical of residential buildings. Additionally, they are associated with a relatively large sweat bath likely built to hold a larger group, as well as a modest patio group that we believe housed servants and attendants. Finally, the buildings are associated with large open spaces that are formally demarcated, which we suggest were used for drills, perhaps including rituals, processions, and combat training.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40329.0