Defining the Style of Holmul Polychromes at the Early-Late Classic Transition

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Investigations in Maya Archaeology, Epigraphy, Bioarchaeology, and Zooarchaeology by the Holmul Archaeological Project in Northeastern Peten, Guatemala" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The distinct styles of fine polychrome vessels produced by 'workshops' of elite artists have been considered one of the defining traits of the Ancient Maya culture during the Late Classic period (550-850 CE). Yet the sociocultural and political contexts driving the emergence of regional polychrome ceramic styles and the rise of a few Maya polities as focal points of certain regional traditions remain poorly understood. One significant challenge has been that most studies of regional styles dealt with looted vessels attributed based on the dedicatory inscriptions and artists' signatures. The present study addresses this challenge by examining a large sample of Saxche Orange polychrome vessels and vessel fragments excavated in the Holmul region. For the first time, the data set enables a substantive discussion of the emergence of a regional polychrome style associated with the royal court of Naranjo-Sa'aal and its Holmul variants during the Early-Late Classic transition. The findings enable a critical evaluation of prior research on the Naranjo polychrome tradition that was based near-exclusively on looted vessels.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Investigations in Maya Archaeology, Epigraphy, Bioarchaeology, and Zooarchaeology by the Holmul Archaeological Project in Northeastern Peten, Guatemala   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52189