Visualizing Artifact and Structural Distributions across Mayapan’s Urban Core

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

We examine the architectural and artifactual patterns distributed across the Postclassic city of Mayapan (A.D. 1150-1450), located in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, by analyzing artifacts recovered from middens throughout the city. We synthesize data collected by the Carnegie Institute, which conducted extensive mapping and excavation at Mayapan during the 1950s and 1960s. We compile the classified data for analysis. By displaying the distribution of several artifact classes, we explore variations in their distributions across the city to reveal key patterns in urban organization, settlement history, social stratification, and economic activity. We focus on the variations in the distribution of tools, craft items, foreign products, and pottery to highlight key areas of craft production and consumption. Furthermore, by identifying where foreign products are most densely located and where those objects were produced, we enhance our understanding of trade and regional interconnectivity in the Postclassic period. The study’s findings aid in understanding the nature of production activities and social structure throughout the city and how they reflect broader regional and interregional interactions. By connecting material culture and spatial data, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of Mayapan’s place in the economic ecosystem of Postclassic Mesoamerica.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52965