The Space Between Cooperation and Despotism: The Archaeology of Maya Architecture and Raised Field Agriculture in the Petén Lakes Region, Guatemala during the Classic to Postclassic Transition

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The space between cooperative society and despotism is vast, and understanding how ancient societies worked with archaeology can be challenging. But, in the current era, with democracy and authoritarianism contending, it is important to study such phenomena, particularly in periods of transition. The Collapse of Classic Maya states (AD 750-AD 900) is one such transition in which the emphasis of much scholarship has been the failure of divine kingship and decline of hierarchical society. Utilizing a data set from the Lowland Maya and focusing on the Petén Lakes Region of Guatemala, recent investigations indicate the following Postclassic period was one of transformation in which dual rulership came to the fore, and a multepal (councillor) form of rulership was visible in certain circumstances. The presentation engages with the material record of architecture and evidence of canal construction and raised field agriculture, to explore the re-emergence of a cooperative and less centralized and hierarchical society in the Postclassic and Early Historic periods (AD 900-AD 1525 and AD 1525-AD 1697).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50894