TY - JOUR
T1 - Modeling variability in Classic Maya intermediate elite political strategies through multivariate analysis of settlement patterns
AU - Walden, John P.
AU - Ebert, Claire E.
AU - Hoggarth, Julie A.
AU - Montgomery, Shane M.
AU - Awe, Jaime J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Research at Cahal Pech, Baking Pot, and Lower Dover (Belize) was conducted under the auspices of the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance (BVAR) Project, directed by Drs. Jaime Awe and Julie Hoggarth. We thank Dr. John Morris, the Belize Institute of Archaeology and the National Institute of Culture and History for their support and permitting of BVAR Project fieldwork. We would also like to acknowledge James Garber, Gyles Iannone, Jason Yaeger, Michael Biggie, Tia Watkins, G. Van Kollias, and Leann du Menil for providing access to lots of useful information on the Belize Valley sites analyzed in this study. Special thanks also goes to Marc Bermann, Liz Arkush, Dick Drennan, Dušan Borić, Igor Chechushkov, Patrick Mullins, Ryan Smith, Peiyu Chen, Sarah Kennedy, Deb Neidich, and Nicole Wei Mei for providing helpful comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript. We are very grateful for the insightful and thorough feedback provided by Damien Marken and an anonymous peer reviewer. The West-Central Belize Lidar Survey (co-PI, J. Awe) provided access to lidar data, through funding by the Alphawood Foundation. Financial support for survey at Lower Dover was provided by the BVAR Project field school and grants from the University of Pittsburgh International Studies Fund and Center for Latin American Studies (J. Walden). Financial support for survey at Cahal Pech was provided by the National Science Foundation under a Graduate Research Fellowship (Grant No. DGE1255832, C. Ebert) and a Dissertation Improvement Grant (BCS-1460369, C. Ebert), and by the Penn State Department of Anthropology Hill Fellowship for graduate student research (C. Ebert). The 2007–2010 pedestrian survey around Baking Pot (and between Cahal Pech and Lower Dover) was funded by the BVAR Project field school and grants from the University of Pittsburgh Department of Anthropology and Center for Latin American Studies (J. Hoggarth). Additional funding support for the BVAR Project was provided by the Tilden Family Foundation (San Francisco, California), the Social Science Research Council of Canada, and the Gordon Childe Fund of the University of London (J. Awe). The data set will be available online through the University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology database.
Funding Information:
Research at Cahal Pech, Baking Pot, and Lower Dover (Belize) was conducted under the auspices of the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance (BVAR) Project, directed by Drs. Jaime Awe and Julie Hoggarth. We thank Dr. John Morris, the Belize Institute of Archaeology and the National Institute of Culture and History for their support and permitting of BVAR Project fieldwork. We would also like to acknowledge James Garber, Gyles Iannone, Jason Yaeger, Michael Biggie, Tia Watkins, G. Van Kollias, and Leann du Menil for providing access to lots of useful information on the Belize Valley sites analyzed in this study. Special thanks also goes to Marc Bermann, Liz Arkush, Dick Drennan, Dušan Borić, Igor Chechushkov, Patrick Mullins, Ryan Smith, Peiyu Chen, Sarah Kennedy, Deb Neidich, and Nicole Wei Mei for providing helpful comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript. We are very grateful for the insightful and thorough feedback provided by Damien Marken and an anonymous peer reviewer. The West-Central Belize Lidar Survey (co-PI, J. Awe) provided access to lidar data, through funding by the Alphawood Foundation. Financial support for survey at Lower Dover was provided by the BVAR Project field school and grants from the University of Pittsburgh International Studies Fund and Center for Latin American Studies (J. Walden). Financial support for survey at Cahal Pech was provided by the National Science Foundation under a Graduate Research Fellowship (Grant No. DGE1255832 , C. Ebert) and a Dissertation Improvement Grant (BCS-1460369, C. Ebert), and by the Penn State Department of Anthropology Hill Fellowship for graduate student research (C. Ebert). The 2007–2010 pedestrian survey around Baking Pot (and between Cahal Pech and Lower Dover) was funded by the BVAR Project field school and grants from the University of Pittsburgh Department of Anthropology and Center for Latin American Studies (J. Hoggarth). Additional funding support for the BVAR Project was provided by the Tilden Family Foundation (San Francisco, California), the Social Science Research Council of Canada, and the Gordon Childe Fund of the University of London (J. Awe). The data set will be available online through the University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology database.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2019/9
Y1 - 2019/9
N2 - Intermediate elites played pivotal roles in the political dynamics of ancient complex societies across the world. In the Classic period (CE 250–900/1000) Maya lowlands, intermediate elites acted as mediators between apical rulers and lower status commoners. These individuals and the political strategies they employed, however, have rarely taken center stage in reconstructions of Classic Maya politics. In this paper, we evaluate the role of intermediate elites who occupied the middle level of the settlement hierarchy of the Belize River Valley of west-central Belize. Multivariate statistical analyses of architectural variables (n = 24) across 35 sites identified five hierarchically arranged groups of settlement types. Groups 2 and 3 are associated with intermediate elites, with Group 2 being large specialized centers with ballcourts, causeways, terminus groups and multiple plazas. In contrast, Group 3 were smaller residential and ceremonial centers focused around a single plaza. Investigation of patterned variability in the middle tier of the settlement hierarchy provides evidence for five political strategies which intermediate elites used to gain and maintain power and authority: (1) ancestor veneration, (2) ceremonial integration of commoners, (3) acting as neighborhood heads, (4) apical elite emulation, and (5) pursuing a ‘frontier’ role. Elucidating the variability in intermediate elite decision-making provides a new avenue for understanding the dynamics of integration and autonomy across the Classic Maya political landscape.
AB - Intermediate elites played pivotal roles in the political dynamics of ancient complex societies across the world. In the Classic period (CE 250–900/1000) Maya lowlands, intermediate elites acted as mediators between apical rulers and lower status commoners. These individuals and the political strategies they employed, however, have rarely taken center stage in reconstructions of Classic Maya politics. In this paper, we evaluate the role of intermediate elites who occupied the middle level of the settlement hierarchy of the Belize River Valley of west-central Belize. Multivariate statistical analyses of architectural variables (n = 24) across 35 sites identified five hierarchically arranged groups of settlement types. Groups 2 and 3 are associated with intermediate elites, with Group 2 being large specialized centers with ballcourts, causeways, terminus groups and multiple plazas. In contrast, Group 3 were smaller residential and ceremonial centers focused around a single plaza. Investigation of patterned variability in the middle tier of the settlement hierarchy provides evidence for five political strategies which intermediate elites used to gain and maintain power and authority: (1) ancestor veneration, (2) ceremonial integration of commoners, (3) acting as neighborhood heads, (4) apical elite emulation, and (5) pursuing a ‘frontier’ role. Elucidating the variability in intermediate elite decision-making provides a new avenue for understanding the dynamics of integration and autonomy across the Classic Maya political landscape.
KW - Classic Period Maya
KW - Hierarchical cluster analysis
KW - Intermediate elites
KW - Multidimensional scaling
KW - Political strategies
KW - Settlement hierarchies
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jaa.2019.101074
DO - 10.1016/j.jaa.2019.101074
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85067811430
SN - 0278-4165
VL - 55
JO - Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
JF - Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
M1 - 101074
ER -