Pathways to Complexity
Pathways to Complexity
A View from the Maya Lowlands
Pathways to Complexity synthesizes a wealth of new archaeological data to illuminate the origins of Maya civilization and the rise of Classic Maya culture. In this volume, prominent Maya scholars argue that the development of social, religious, and economic complexity began during the Middle Preclassic period (1000–300 B.C.), hundreds of years earlier than previously thought.
Contributors reveal that villages were present in parts of the lowlands by 1000 B.C., challenging the prevailing models estimating when civilization took root in the area. Combining recent discoveries from the northern lowlands—an area often neglected in other volumes—and the southern lowlands, the collection then traces the emergence of sociopolitical inequality and complexity in all parts of the Yucatan peninsula over the course of the Middle Preclassic period. They show that communities evolved in different ways due to influences such as geographical location, ceramic exchange, shell ornament production, agricultural strategy, religious ritual, ideology, and social rankings. These varied pathways to complexity developed over half a millennium and culminated in the institution of kingship by the Late Preclassic period.
Presenting exciting work on a dynamic and poorly understood time period, Pathways to Complexity demonstrates the importance of a broad, comparative approach to understanding Preclassic Maya civilization and will serve as a foundation for future research and interpretation.
A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase
Contributors: M. Kathryn Brown | George Bey III | Tara Bond-Freeman | Fernando Robles Castellanos | Tomas Gallareta Negron | E. Wyllys Andrews V | Anthony Andrews | David S. Anderson | Lauren Sullivan | Jaime J. Awe | James F. Garber | Mary Jane Acuña | William Saturno | Bobbi Hohmann | Terry Powis | Paul Healy | Richard Hansen | Donald W. Forsyth | David Freidel | Barbara Arroyo | Richard E. W. Adams
Richly detailed. . . . Bring[s] together recent advancements in studies of the development of Maya civilization.’—Antiquity‘An impressive conspectus of expertise spanning Maya fieldwork from the Valley of Guatemala to northern Yucatan.’—Latin American Antiquity
‘Packed with data, presented in relatively concise chapters and coming from a wide geographical range, including not just the Southern, Central, and Northern Lowlands, but also a case from the Guatemalan Highlands.’—Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
A treasure trove of new information and fresh ideas about the origins of Maya civilization. Pathways to Complexity will help set the agenda for investigation of ancient Maya origins for many years to come.’—Christopher A. Pool, author of Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica‘An exciting volume with new discoveries, surprising evidence, bold interpretations, and much internal debate. These chapters will pull any serious archaeologist into the controversies concerning the rise of early Maya civilization.’—Arthur A. Demarest, Ingram Chair in Anthropology, Vanderbilt University
M. Kathryn Brown, Lutcher Brown Endowed Professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, is coeditor of Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare and A Forest of History: The Maya after the Emergence of Divine Kingship. George J. Bey III, Chisholm Foundation Chair in Arts and Sciences at Millsaps College, is coeditor of Pottery Economics in Mesoamerica.
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Foreword
Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase
1. Introduction
M. Kathryn Bey and George J. Bey III
2. The Paleo-American and Archaic Periods in Yucatan
Anthony P. Andrews and Fernando Robles Castellanos
3. The Cunil Complex: Early Villages in Belize
Lauren Sullivan, Jaime Awe, and M. Kathryn Brown
4. The Earliest Ceramics of the Northern Maya Lowlands
E. Wyllys Andrews V, George J. Bey III, Christopher Gunn
5. The Role of Ideology, Religion, and Ritual in the Foundation of Social Complexity in the Belize River Valley
M. Kathryn Brown, Jaime J. Awe, and James F. Garber
6. Middle Preclassic Maya Shell Ornament Production: Implications for the Development of Complexity at Pacbitun, Belize
Bobbi Hohmann, Terry Powis and Paul Healy
7. Developmental Dynamics, Energetics, and Complex Economic Interactions of the Early Maya of the Mirador-Calakmul Basin, Guatemala and Campeche, Mexico
Richard D. Hansen, Donald W. Forsyth, James C. Woods, Thomas Schreiner, and Gene L. Titmus
8. The Preclassic Settlement of Northwest Yucatan: Recharting the Pathway to Complexity
David S. Anderson, Fernando Robles Castellanos, and Anthony P. Andrews
9. The Genesis of Maya Complexity in the Northwestern Region of the Yucatan Penisula
Fernando Robles Castellanos and Teresa Ceballos Gallareta
10. The Preclassic Period: A View of Complexity in the Residential Settlement of Ek Balam
Tara Bond-Freeman
11. At the Foot of the Hills: Early Monumentality at Xocnaceh, Yucatan, Mexico
Tomás Gallareta Negrón
12. El Achiotal: An Interior Frontier Center in the Northwestern Petén, Guatemala
Mary Jane Acuña
13. Changing Stages: Royal Legitimacy and the Architectural Development of the Pinturas Complex at San Bartolo, Guatemala
William Saturno, Franco Rossi, and Boris Beltrán
14. Naranjo, Guatemala, A Middle Preclassic Site in the Central Highlands of Guatemala
Barbara Arroyo
15. Maya and the Idea of Empire
David Freidel
16. Conclusion: Charting the Pathways to Complexity in the Maya Lowlands
M. Kathryn Brown and George J. Bey III
References
List of Contributors
Index
