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Home , Ake, Becan, Cerros, Chichen Itza, El Mirador, Guatemalan highlands

NEW LIGHT ON THE MOST ANCIENT *

NORMAN HAMMOND RutgersUniversity

Recentdiscoveries have greatly extended the known period of occupation of the Maya Areain , and also indicate greater social complexity atan earlier date than hitherto envisaged.Human presence from the early Holocene at least, and sedentary village farming from the secondmillennium bc, formthe base on whichthe initial stages of Maya civilisation developedin thefirst millennium bc. Longdistance exchange networks, including contact with theOlmec of the Gulf Coast and with the highlands of , developed during the first half ofthat millennium: trace element analysis of , andother materials has allowed precise sourcingand routenetworks to be suggested.After 500 bc thereis evidenceof risingpopu- lationsize, density and nucleation, with monumental architecture at sites such as , ,, and indicating an organised society with strong central control. Intensiveagriculture utilising drained wetlands probably began at this period, and towards its end in theearly centuries A.D. a coherenticonography and hieroglyphicwriting appear, to be adoptedas vehiclesfor dynastic propaganda by theruling elites of theMaya realms.Present evidencesuggests that the Classic Period of Maya civilisation (A. D. 250-900) isthe second, rather thanthe initial phase of a trulycomplex society.

In I979 Gordon R. Willeygave a distinguishedHuxley Memorial Lecturein whichhe adumbratedan 'holistic'view of Classic Maya civilisationin Central Americain the firstmillennium A.D. (WilleyI980). He took fourthemes, of subsistence,settlement patterns, socio-political organisation and ideology, whichhe saw as systemicallyinterlinked, and showedhow perceivedimbalance in therelationship between these subsystems in thefunctioning of ancientMaya societyled to successiveemphases in researchin the four fields.Willey also showed how enhancedunderstanding of Maya ideologycould in turnfeed back into an appreciationof the role of the symbolic in somethingas basic as subsistenceproduction. Taking Willey'sholism as axiomatic,I am going to examinethe evidence for an earlierdevelopment of complexsociety in theMaya area thanwas apparent until very recently,for the appearanceof the sinews of civilisationin the Preclassicperiod which ended in thethird century A.D. In so doing I followthe formalchronological scheme for New Worldprehistory laid out by Willeyand Phillips(I958), in whichthe Classic periodof A.D. 250-900 (definedas thetime duringwhich the Maya erectedstone monuments bearing precise calendar dates in the InitialSeries format[Thompson I950]) was followed by a Postclassic lastinguntil the Spanishconquest in the sixteenthcentury, and precededwith

*The CurlLecture, 1985.

Man (N.S.) 21, 399-413 400 equal logic by a Preclassic or Formative period beginningwith the first sedentarysettlements. This was placedformally at I 500 B. C.: sinceradiocarbon datinghad barelybegun to make an impact,and therelationship between raw and calibratedcarbon dates had notyet been perceived as a problem(Suess I 967) thiswas essentiallyan educatedguess. The concept of the Preclassicwas of a period of village-farmingcultures precedingthe rise (seen at thetime as a fairlyrapid emergence) of'civilisation' in not only the Maya Area of the Yucatan Peninsula and adjacent Guatemala, , and westernHonduras and , but also to the west in the highlandsof centralMexico. This unilinealmodel was modifiedfairly soon by the demonstrationthat the Olmec cultureof the GulfCoast regionof had flourishedin the firsthalf of the firstmillennium bc at centressuch as La Ventaand San Lorenzo (Coe, M. D. I970; Coe, M. D. & Diehl I980).1 Whether the Olmec had developeda societycomplex enough to meritthe sobriquetof 'civilisation',as arguedby Michael Coe (I968), or not, theirsubstantial earth- works and long-distancetransport of largeboulders, which were workedinto technicallysuperb and artisticallyand iconographicallyaccomplished , areevidence of advances far beyond those embodied in the'Formative' concept. Indicationsof advanced Preclassicdevelopments came fromother parts of centralMexico, fromthe Monte Alban II phasein by 200 B. C. and from Teotihuacanin theValley of Mexico by thefirst century A. D. In theMaya Area monumentalsculpture was known to exist in the Late Preclassic(450 B.C.- A.D. 250) towardsits end at ,and some architecturalelaborations previouslyconsidered characteristic of the Classic period were foundat Tikal fromthe first century B.C. onwards(Coe, W. R. I965), butthe overall concept of the'village Formative' remained remarkably obdurate well intothe I970'S. Over the past few yearsthere has been a dramaticchange in this attitude, stimulatedby a numberof developments:we now know theMaya, and people who were arguablytheir lineal ancestors, to have been in thetropical lowlands formillennia longer than we had thought;we know thata distinctivelyMaya culturaltradition had come into being by thelate second millenniumbc at the latest,and can thereforesay clearlythat the Maya were not thepoor cousinsof the Olmec and the highlandpeoples, but the authorsof theirown cultural history,creators rather than merely borrowers. This expanded temporal frameworkfor the developmentof Maya culturehas in turnmade it easierto acceptan earlierdevelopment of complexsociety in thetropical lowlands than had hithertobeen envisaged. Untilless than a decadeago theearliest known human occupation of the Maya Lowlands (the arid, scrub-coveredYucatan Peninsulaand the tropicalforest zone of , ,northern , Petenand Belize) lay no earlier than the firsthalf of the firstmillennium bc (Berger et al. I974): hence an origin for both Maya cultureand its human bearersin the highlandsor the Olmec areato thewest was plausible(Adams I977; Hammond I977: 60-3). The initialradiocarbon dates for the sitein Belize pushedthe minimum date for settlementback a millenniumand more (Hammond et al. I976; I977), demonstratingthat -farming villagers with competent and other accoutrementsof Formativelife had been establishedin Belize for centuries NORMAN HAMMOND 40I

beforethe emergenceof the Olmec, and thus providingfor the firsttime evidencefor autochthonous development of theMaya culturaltradition. While some conservativecritics of theCuello chronologywould see its originsin the last ratherthan the firstquarter of the second millenniumbc (e.g. Marcus I984: 830), theindependence of Maya cultureis not therebychallenged. Discoveriesreported in thelate I970's and earlyI980's made even theCuello dates,so provocativein mid-decade,look modest:preceramic occupation was found in threewidely separatedareas of the Maya lands, rangingfrom the volcanichighlands of southernGuatemala to thenorthern Yucatan Peninsula. The Los Tapiales site in El Quiche, datingto the earlyHolocene (Gruhn & Bryan I977), was complementedby a largenumber of Archaicsites found by surfacesurvey in thatprovince (Brown I980). At LoltunCave in thePuuc Hills of Yucatan a deep preceramicand ceramic sequence (with the transition occurringaround i8oo bc) was reported(Velazquez V. I980), and in coastal Belize the Ladyvillefluted-base point of genericClovis (or perhapsTurrialba) type(Hester et al. I98I) indicatedan approximatelyearly Holocene occupation. Numerous aceramicsites from Belize foundby MacNeish have been seriated intoa postulatedsix-phase preceramic sequence spanning the period 9000-2000 bc (MacNeish et al. I980; Zeitlin I984), but thisis not as yetwidely accepted. The transitionfrom food-collecting to food-producingeconomies in theMaya Lowlands remainsan importanttopic for further field research. Whilelate preceramiccommunities may have been farmersto some extent, the earliestcertain evidence for the cultivationrather than collection of plants comes fromthe Early PreclassicSwasey phase at Cuello: the seed-grinding equipmentreported from sites that MacNeish and his colleaguesseriate as far back as 6ooo bc is not accompaniedby any evidenceof the species or wild/ cultivatedstatus of the foods processed, although the manos and metates allottedto thefinal Progreso phase (3000-2000 bc) of theproposed preceramic sequenceare indistinguishablefrom those of thesucceeding Swasey. At Cuello the remainsof maize, both cob and kernelfragments, have been recoveredby flotationfrom all levels, includingthe basal buried palaeosol (Miksiceket al. I98I). The earliestcobs were smallin size, perhapscomparable with those fromthe precedingmillennia in the Tehuacan Valley of highland centralMexico, but measurementof cupulefragments shows a secularincrease in cob diameter(and inferentiallyin cob length,kernel size and overallproduc- tivity)through the Cuello sequencewhich suggests deliberate manipulation by the Maya of theiragricultural resource base (Hammond i982a: fig. 4.9). That maize was cultivatedand not gatheredfrom wild stands is clear from the introducednature of the species,which is of highlandorigin, and which must have undergonethe process of adaptation to thehumid tropical lowland climate during the early second and, probably, thirdmillennia bc beforeits more robuststrains became the foundation of theMaya subsistenceeconomy. Maize-processingequipment is presentat Cuello from period II of the stratigraphicsequence onwards; (it should here be noted thatwhile periods 0-IIIA wereoriginally correlated with the Swasey phase as definedceramically, in the period 2000-I000 bc, the revisionof the ceramicsequence by Kosa- kowsky [I983] has restrictedSwasey sensunovo to stratigraphicperiods 0-IT, 402 NORMAN HAMMOND with III-IIIA being correlatedwith the Bladen ceramic complex in the Xe sphere. For furtherconsideration of the relationshipbetween these ceramic complexes,the Cuello stratigraphyand theradiocarbon chronology see Ham- mond (I980: i88; I984: 822-4). The earliestfinds, fragments of a metateand mano reused in constructionfill, are of a roseate sandstonefrom the Maya Mountainssome I5o km to thesouth, and indicatethat the early inhabitants of Cuello had a resource-procurementsystem extending well beyond the local area.

It is not my purpose here to examine again the archaeologicalrecord for the earliestsedentary communities in theMaya lowlandsin detail,but onlyto note thatmany aspects of the Maya culturaltradition had become establishedat an early date. To maize agriculturewe can add a ceramictechnology and style ancestralto those of the Xe, Mamom and Chicanel spheres of the Later Preclassicperiod, the use of plaster-surfacedplatform architecture with timber- framedand daub-walledthatched superstructures, and theorganisation of such buildingsaround a centralplaza or patio. Such characteristicsare Mesoamerican as well as Maya, and show thatin thesecond halfof thesecond millenniumbc the Maya lowlands were as culturallyadvanced as manyparts of thehighland zone. By the early firstmillennium bc, if not slightlyearlier, the archaeological recordshows thatlong-distance exchange networks linked the Maya lowlands with the highlandsof Guatemala and perhaps still furtherafield: the first obsidian appears in Bladen phase contextsat Cuello, fromthe San Martin Jilotepequesource near Chimaltenangowhich supplied most of the Middle Preclassicobsidian so faranalysed from the lowlands. This sourceis some 450 km fromCuello as thecrow flies(as are thelater-utilised sources of El Chayal and Ixtepeque); a spangle-shapedblue jade pendantfrom a late Bladen phase burial(F2 I5) has itsclosest parallels in formand materialat ,the major Olmec site some 550 km to the west, and is a furtherindication of Olmec interactionwith the more distant parts of theMaya area. Those interactionsare of three kinds, of decreasing direct Olmec involvement as one progresseseastwards: the most intensive Olmec presenceis at siteswhere monumentalsculpture in themetropolitan Olmec traditionis found,along with potteryin Olmec style.Such sitesare foundalong thePacific slope of southern Guatemalaand El Salvador,at Tzutzuculi, , Abaj Takalikand Las Victorias (Chalchuapa),and in northernChiapas at Tenosique and Xoc. The second area of contact,overlapping and extendingbeyond the first,has portableOlmec objects found in contextsthat suggest depositionby persons familiarwith Olmec ritualbehaviour: the object and its meaningare stilllinked. Examples include the cache fromGroup A at (Cache 7: Smith i982: 243), the offeringsin theMiddle Preclassiccemetery at Copan (Fash i982), and possibly the cache at Chacsinkin,Yucatan (Andrewsin press). The thirdarea is one in which isolated objects of Olmec origin appear in Maya culturalcontexts detachedfrom their original meanings: their presence was presumablythe result NORMAN HAMMOND 403

of prestationor down-the-lineexchange. The Cuello pendant,together with severalother blue of possible Olmec originfrom the site,falls into this category,as do severaldisparate pieces: a piece of string-sawnblue jade from Moho Cay, offBelize City; perhapsthe jade clam-shelleffigy from Kendal in the Stann Creek Districtof Belize (in which case the clearlyLate Preclassic hieroglyphicinscription is an additionseveral centuries later); and just possibly thefine blue jade Olmec head fromCozumel, whichalthough it was foundin a Late Classic tombcould have arrivedon theisland centuries earlier. These ripplesof Olmec contactare complementedby Maya culturalmove- mentin theopposite direction, westwards through Chiapas and theIsthmus of Tehuantepec(Demarest I976) in the middle of the firstmillennium bc. The period from about 700 to 400 bc, the latterpart of the Middle Preclassic, is however stillobscure, although from what we now know of the Early and Late Preclassicit was in these centuriesthat the culturaldevelopment of the Maya began to accelerate.Archaeological deposits of thisperiod are in most cases that we know buried beneaththe constructionsof the Late Preclassic, with or withouta furtherincrement of Classic period activity,and will be difficultto investigateon any reasonablescale. Nevertheless,what happened in the late Middle Preclassic,and why, is one of the most crucialresearch topics in Maya archaeologytoday: here lies the key to the genesisof Maya ciVilisation.

By the beginningof the Late Preclassicaround 450 B.C. we now see, as the resultof recentresearch, a totallydifferent Maya societyfrom that envisaged in thevillage-formative model. At thesmall site of Cuello (whicheven at itsperiod of greatestpopulation and prosperitywas nevermore than a largevillage) there was a radical reorganisationof the ceremonialcore of the community:the enclosedpatio bordered by thatched(and in one case stone-walled)buildings on raised platformsa metrehigh underwenta ceremoniousdeconsecration in which the superstructureswere burnt,their platforms were slightedand the courtyardwas filledwith rubble (Hammond I980). The terminationritual includedthe scattering ofjade beads in thescar left by thechopping away of the facade of one building,and the blockingof the doorway of anotherby large blockstorn from its platform, even whileaccess to thebuilding over therubble was maintainedby a pavementof limestoneslabs laid over the courtyardfill. The major event in the ritual, however, was a mass sacrificein which a depressionleft in thecentre of the fill was filledwith the butchered remains of at least twenty-fourpeople, all, or almostall of them,young men. A numberof potteryvessels confirma date of around 450 B.C., and the remainswere accompanied also by half a dozen carved tubes of deer bone with complex designsin low reliefwith manyoverlapping planes (Hammond I980: fig. 5). Two of these,one a vortexof swirlingvolutes, the other a serpentiform,show theelaboration of an establishedart style; the others depict an interwovenmotif (Hammond I980: fig. 5c) whichis clearlythat of thepop woven mat of Classic 404 NORMAN HAMMOND

Maya iconography.The matis commonlyused in vase-paintingand sculpture as a symbolof royal power, reflecting the fact that a rulertook hisofficial seat on one so thatthe mat had thesame metaphoricalmeaning as 'throne'does forus. Thus we have at about 450 B.C., in thissacrificial context where power has demonstrablybeen exercised,the icon of regalpotency: it is temptingto argue thatby theend of theMiddle Preclassicthe Maya were ruledby men who had establishedboth the reality of power and it symbolicexpression. During theLate Preclassicthat power was used to controllarger and denser populations,dwelling in morenumerous, denser and morecomplex communi- tiesthan had previouslyexisted. Sites such as Tikal and El Miradormay already have had populationsin the tensof thousandsby the firstcentury B.C., and many othersmust have emulatedSeibal, , Lamanai, , Cerros and Nohmul by reachingseveral thousand inhabitantsin size. In a well- surveyedregion such as northernBelize we know thatall sitesof laterimport- ancewere already settled by theLate Preclassic,and thatthere were four as many Late as Middle Preclassicsettlements, most of them largerthan their precursors.Even thoughthe longer span of theLate Preclassicand themasking effectof its depositsmay exaggeratethe contrast,there seems littledoubt that substantialpopulation growth occurred in theMaya lowlandsin thesecond half of thefirst millennium B.C. How were thesepeople fed?Willey (I980: 25I-3) has summarisedthe recent developmentsin thestudy of Maya subsistence,and thediscovery that the milpa cultivationof annually-clearedfields by extensive swiddening was sup- plementedin the Classic period by the constructionof hillsideterraces and wetlanddrained fields. While terracingseems to have begun eitherat the very end ofthe Late Preclassicor thebeginning of the Early Classic, in approximately thethird or fourthcentury A.D., drained-fieldconstruction is certainlypresent in theLate Preclassicand may beginrather earlier. The earlydate of I I IO ? 230 bc (I-7877A: Puleston I977: 452) fromSan Antonio, Albion Island, on the Rio Hondo in northernBelize for canal constructionis now discounted,but even so a possibleorigin in theMiddle Preclassicis allowed (Bloom etal. i983). At Cerrosthe small patch of drainedfields is an integralpart of thecanal system at thesite, dated by Scarborough(i983) to 200-50 B.C., and radiocarbondates forthe extensivefields at PulltrouserSwamp, to the east of Nohmul, suggest constructioncoeval with that site's florescencein the early centuriesA.D. (Turner& Harrisoni983: 256). There is thusadequate, while not overwhelm- ing, evidencefor a degreeof agriculturalintensification in the Late Preclassic involvingthe creation of artificialeconiches, which must have in turninvolved some superordinateorganisation of labour. Organisation of subsistenceproduction can be tied to a contemporary organisationof craftproduction in themanufacture of the tools needed for canal and field construction.The evidence for this comes mainly from the chert factorysite of Colha, lyingamid swampsin thecoastal plain of northern Belize, along a streamwhich has exposed a massivebed of chertnodules. The site,first investigatedby theBritish Museum-Cambridge University Corozal Projectin I973 (Hammond I974), has since I979 been intensivelysurveyed and excavated by theColha Project(Hester i985, and referencestherein). Within the 6 km2of NORMAN HAMMOND 405

settlementsome 9 per cent.of thethousand structures so faridentified are chert workshops,of which at least thirty-twowere operatingin the Late Preclassic period. Debitage deposits up to I.5 metres thick attest to the intensity of production, and the limited and standardised range of Late Preclassic tool forms indicates a production-line economy. The commonest tool type was a large oval axe or hoe-a general purpose hacking and chopping tool-and almost as common was a distinctive adze with the cutting edge formed by a final tranchet blow. The waste flake removed by this, nicknamed an 'orange peel' because of its resemblance to a segment of discarded rind, is the most striking item of debitage found at Colha. Hester (I985: I97) regards the 2. I million tranchet adzes, whichthe Colha Project'ssampling suggests were producedduring the Late Preclassic,as 'undoubtedlya conservativeestimate'. Other distinctive Colha productsincluded a triangular-bladed'dagger' or 'stemmedmacroblade', and the combinationof thetool formsand the characteristicstriped or - coloured chert make Colha exports easily recognisableat other sites. The workshopsseem to have been the main suppliersfor othersites in northern Belize, aroundPulltrouser Swamp, at Cuello, Nohmul and Cerros,and to have tradedtools perhapsas farwest as and El Miradorin northernPeten: theirrate of productionwas gearedto a regional,not a local economy.

An economicallyorganised Late PreclassicMaya society is most strikingly visible in the major public buildingsat the largersites (many of which were initiallyassumed to be of Classic date fromtheir sheer size). At Komchen, the precursorof in northernYucatan, a denselynucleated community coveringsome 2 km2had grownfrom Middle Preclassicorigins by thefourth centuryB.C. At its centrelay a plaza I5o by 8o metres,enclosed by fivelarge platformswith a total of more than6o,ooo cubic metresof constructionfill. Three are broad,covering 3000-3900 squaremetres and stillstanding up to 7.5 metreshigh, while theother two arelong, narrow,high structures approached by two stairwayseach. Two of thelarger structures are linkedby a raisedsacbe, theearliest such causewayknown at a Maya site.The populationof Komchen, around3000 strong,is estimatedto have requireda sustainingarea of farmland up to 20 km in diameter,unless presently undetected methods of agricultural intensificationwere practised(Andrews et al. I98 I). Komchenis notableat thisearly date in theLate Preclassicfor its high density of construction,but impressivethough its centralstructures are, they are dwarfedby thoseat Late Preclassicsites further south, in therainforest zone of Peten and Belize, which developed from the thirdcentury B.C. onwards. Among the smallerand laterof thesedevelopments is Nohmul, lyingon the ridge east of the Rio Hondo and west of PulltrouserSwamp: excavationssince I982 have shown that the East Group of the ceremonial precinctwas constructedat theend of theLate Preclassic,as a largeplaza on top of a ground-levellingplatform, bordered by an 'acropolis' on thenorth and by smallerstructures on the east and west. The plaza itselfcovered an area I30 406 NORMAN HAMMOND

metresacross and at leastas long, and the'acropolis', a massiveplatform with a basal areaof 6, ooo squaremetres and i o metreshigh, was builtin one continuous operationof limestoneblocks quarried nearby. It containedas muchmaterial as the entireKomchen plaza group, and togetherwith the fillfor the flanking mounds and the great plaza itself,the amount of limestoneand sascabmarl quarriedand laid in thecentre of Nohmul approachesioo,ooo cubic metres. On top ofthe 'acropolis' were found the post holes of a largetimber hall, three aisles (7 metres)wide and at leastseven bays (20 metres)long. It had been built coevallywith the completion of the 'acropolis', and was laterdismantled and the post holes filledin when a -pyramidwas raisedon thesouth edge of the platformoverlooking the great plaza. The hallwas not of templeplan, and was too large to be a house: we interpretit as the perishableprecursor of the stone-built'palaces' or 'range-typestructures' that are a commonconstituent of Maya ceremonialprecincts in theClassic period,and whichare thoughtto have housed the rulersand theiradministrative apparatus (Hammond et al. I985: I92-I96). The centreof Nohmul is a 'twin-group'precinct, a layoutfound at othersites in centraland northernBelize; I have previously(Hammond I98I: i65, i85) claimedthat this is a Late Classic siteplan, but the recent work at Nohmul makes me suspectthat it may be of Late Preclassicorigin. Examination of the linkingthe east and west groupsat Nohmul, and of thesingle large in thewest groupduring the I986 season will testthis hypothesis. Large pyramidsof Late Preclassicdate existat othersites in theRio Hondo- Rio Nuevo drainagesof northernBelize: at Cerros the entireceremonial pre- cinctis of thisdate, while at Lamanai, 55 km south of Nohmul, Str. NIO-43 has been shown to be contemporary,and to stand some 30 metreshigh (PendergastI98 I). Both Lamanaiand Cerrosshare with El Mirador, and othersites in Petenthe cluster of three small on top ofa largepyramid, a layoutapparently characteristic of the Late Preclassicand perhapsderiving from thesmall platform-bordered courtyard precincts of earlier sites such as Cuello). In thePeten, Str. 5C-54 at Tikal, themajor structure in the'Mundo Perdido' group in the southwestof the site core, has long been known to be of Late Preclassicdate and largesize, again measuringmore than33 metresin height. Recentexcavations have shownit to haveinset stairs flanked by some halfdozen massive terraces,and the surroundingbuildings exhibit a concentrationof architecturalinfluence indicating that the impact of thatdistant metropolison Maya cultureat Tikal was even greaterthan had hithertobeen demonstrated.Whether this impact is as earlyas theend of theLate Preclassic, or whetherit falls in the fifthcentury A.D. with the already-documented Teotihuacaninfluence on royalburials and monumentsin the GreatPlaza area will no doubtbecome clearwhen the recent work is published.What does seem highlylikely is thatTikal was a majorcity in Late Preclassictimes, with its centre around the Mundo Perdido group, and thatthe focus of ceremonialactivity shiftednortheast to the dynasticcult centreof the GreatPlaza duringthe first partof theEarly Classic periodafter A.D. 250. A similarlylarge communityexisted at Seibal, where the excavationsof Willeyand Smithin I964-I968 have recentlybeen publishedin a form(Smith NORMAN HAMMOND 407

1982) whichenables us to see thatthe spectacular Terminal Classic occupationof thesite centre (particularly in GroupA, and to some extentin GroupD) was but a veneerof refurbishmentof a substantialpre-existing ceremonial precinct of Late Preclassicdate. Even thoughseveral of the main buildings (e. g. A-3, A-I4) are late, the plazas and theirsurrounding substructures including the largest pyramidat the site (A-24, which with its flankingminor buildings A-23 and A-25 is a varianton thetrinal plan notedat Lamanai,Cerros and El Mirador)are firmlydated by thepottery to theCantutse Chicanel phase. Severalsites have major earthworksfor defence or watercontrol that have been dated to the Late Preclassic:the I200-metrelong main canal at Cerros (ScarboroughI983) is one example, Looping in fromthe coast to isolate the ceremonialprecinct and an additionalarea of site core with a total area of 37 hectares,the Cerros canal could have combinedthe functionsof demarcation, drainage,defence and accessby canoes to thesettlement. Enclosinga similararea and some I900 metresin circumference,the rampart and ditch enclosingthe core of , Campeche (Webster I976) probably neverhad wateras partof the defensive system. The drymoat would have taken a forceof io,ooo menonly some fortydays to excavate,and to raisethe spoil into a ramparton theinner lip whichcould in turnhave supporteda palisade. Even withoutthe latter, Webster estimates the total height of thedefences from ditch bottomto ramparttop as i i.6 metres. By farthe largest Maya entrenchmentsknown, though, are those reported by Mathenyet al. (I983) fromEdzna, Campeche. The site lies on the boundary betweenthe zone of surfacedrainage, with the headwaters of theRio Champo- ton risingat thesouthern end of itslong narrowvalley, and thekarst plateau of Yucatan. A canal I2.55 km long linksEdzna to the Pik, a seasonally-flooded savannawhich may in earliertimes have drainedoverland (rather than under- ground,as now) into theriver. Whether the canal servedonly to drainthe flat valleysoils foragriculture, or whetherit also carriedcanoe trafficeventually to the Gulfof Mexico, is not known, but the otherwaterworks in the centreof Edzna are certainlyconsonant with the use of canoesfor local transport.On the northside seven canals, the longestI438 metresby up to 76 metreswide and with a capacityof some io8,ooo cubic metres,fan out into thesettlement zone and feedreservoirs at theirinward ends. There were twenty-ninecanals in all, witha cumulativelength of 22 km and a capacityof I .48 millioncubic metres of water;when thetwenty-seven reservoirs of up to 38,ooo cubic metrescapacity each and the fifty-eightshallow aguadasare added, the total water-storage capacitygenerated by the Late Preclassicinhabitants of Edzna is about 2.23 million cubic metres,the productof an estimatedI.68 million man-daysof labour. Within the canal system the most impressivesingle constructionis the 'fortress'which lies at thehead of the long canalto thePik on thesouth side of the citycentre. An area some 500 by 400 metresis surroundedby a moat up to io0 metreswide, apartfrom a causeway only two metreswide foraccess on the north.Spoil fromthe moat was used, 253,000 cubic metresof it, to constructa numberof moundswithin the 'fortress'. Matheny et al. (I983) considerthat the area could have been a sacred as well as defensiveprecinct, citing the use of 408 NORMAN HAMMOND reflectingponds in Hopewell societyin NorthAmerica to repelevil spirits;even so, themoats would certainlyhave discouragedmore corporeal attackers. Late Preclassic constructionon an even more colossal scale has been documentedby thework of Matheny(ig80) and othersat El Mirador,a large site lying in the heart of the Maya lowlands close to the Peten-Campeche frontierbetween Guatemala and Mexico. Firstexplored by I. Graham (I967), who proposedan earlydate based on thearchitecture, El Miradorhas provedto be a collocationof superlatives. The centralprecinct, from the El Tigrepyramid on the west to the Danta complex on the east, is some 2 km long; the central portionof thesite is a denselybuilt-up area i km by 8oo metres,bounded by a swamp on thewest and by a long rampartwith an outerditch and a fewnarrow gatewayson theother sides. Withinit, the El Tigre pyramidrises 5 5 metresand containsabout 428,000 cubic metresof constructionfill, needing some five millionman-days of labour. A shortdistance southeast the Monos pyramidis of slightlysmaller size, and like El Tigre dates to about I5o B.C. The Danta complexis thoughtto be of similardate, but much greater dimensions; some of theconstruction is, however,of Late Classic date. El Tigre supportson its top a trinityof temples,like thoseon Str. NIO-43 at Lamanai; two large pyramidsflanking the base of El Tigre make the same patternon a largerscale. That on thesouth, Str. 34, has beenthe locus ofdetailed investigationby Matheny'sproject, which has revealedcomplex polychrome stucco sculptureon a grandiosescale, includinghuman masks some 2 metres high and paws of equal size. The paletteis restricted,with a cream ground, a dominantblack, and red used for such detailsas claws and teeth. Similarcolouring is reportedby Freidel(I985) forthe elaboratemasks which adorntwo tiersof thesouth facade of Str. 5C-2nd at Cerros,where there is also minoruse of pink,orange and . Freidelalso notesa shiftfrom this early paletteto a broaderone includingmany more yellow, green,and fleshtones, pastelsand grey.At Cerrosred is used forthe ground, cream for the modelled elementsof themasks and theiraccompanying 'polymorphs', and redagain for highlighting.The derivationof architecturalcolouring in the Late Preclassic fromceramic , and theexperimenting which led in thesame period to the emergenceof a polychromepottery tradition, is not a topic which can be even adequatelytouched on in thisarticle: but an iconographicresponse to what must have been seen as alchemicalchanges in materials(such as the red-black-redtransformation of pottery under alternate oxidising and reducing conditions)is neithersurprising in general,nor anythingbut what one would expectfrom a societyof thiscomplexity. We have,in fact,widespread evidence for the intellectual, as well as economic and social, organisationof Late PreclassicMaya society: the adornmentof religiousbuildings with monumental architectural sculpture includes the exam- ples citedfrom El Mirador and Cerros, and also structuresat Lamanai, Tikal, and Uaxactun (thenoted Str. E-VII-Sub, excavatedhalf a centuryago and the firstmajor evidencefor Preclassic cultural complexity). On the minorscale of portablesculpture and jewellerythere are the matchedsets ofjade 'bib-head' pendantsfrom Nohmul (Hammond I974: fig.7) and Cerros (FreidelI979: fig. 9) each portrayingthree identical iconographic personalities (one duplicatedin NORMAN HAMMOND 409

each set of four),and set in architecturalconitexts as foundationor valedictory caches. The Cerros set, less disturbedby crushingthan those fromNohmul, seem to have been laid at thefour cardinal directions (Freidel I979: fig. 5), and mayjoin theimagery of the Str. 5C-2nd masksin celebratingthe diurnal path of the fromrising through zenith to settingand passage throughthe Under- world-a vertical-circlemodel turnedflat on theground, as arguedby Coggins (ig80) with referenceto the 'twin-pyramidgroups' at Tikal and otherphe- nomenaof theClassic period. The deitieson theNohmul and Cerrosjades are also likelyto be, in my opinion,those portrayed on the Pomona jade flare,of similar Late Preclassic date. Such 'bib-head' pendants are found through peninsularYucatan: in the SacredCenote at ChichenItza' (e.g. Proskouriakoff I974: fig.96-7) a totaloften have been found, while others come frommuch later contextsthan their Preclassic origin, at (D. Thompson I955: fig.2g) and Tancah (Miller i982: 23-4), and fromundocumented locations including , Yucatan and SantaRita, Belize, representedin earlymuseum collections. While the evidence is not as firmas one would like, thereis a reasonable possibilitythat the set of beliefs that produced these objects was accepted throughoutthe northern portion of theMaya Lowlands at leastduring the latter part of the Late Preclassic, a regional iconographyoverlapping with that indicatedby architecturalsculpture. The implicationsof thisfor the emergence of regionalpolities remain to be explored. By the end of the Preclassicthe rulerswho controlledthe Maya realmsare emergingfrom anonymity: the presentlyearliest known InitialSeries monu- ment,Tikal Stela29 ofA. D. 292 (8. I 2. I 4.8. I I 3 Men [3 Zip]), portraysa ruler, probably 'JaguarPaw', and has on the back a hieroglyphicinscription with bar-and-dotnumerals for the coefficients in thedate. The imageryof theruler portraitis well-developed,including a downward-lookinghead of a probable deifiedancestor, a bicephalicceremonial bar, and severalgod-heads (including at leastone explicitSun God, KinichAhau) in thecostume and accessories.This collocationof the stela format,the rulerportrait, an hieroglyphicinscription, bar-and-dotnumerals and explicitdeity images is the culminationrather than the beginning of a process in which political power was advertisedand reinforced:its elements can be seen appearingone by one in Late Preclassicsites acrossthe Maya lowlands. Tikal itselfmay have earlierstelae (e.g. M.S. 69:Jones& Satterthwaitei982: I26), and Stela 2 at El Miradorhas a rulerportrait and otherdetails in a style which indicatesa Late Preclassicdate (Ian Grahamand PeterMathews, pers. comm.) thesame can be said ofthe San Diego carving,with a long (butundated) inscriptionflanking an elaborately-dressedruler (,pers. comm.), and thereis increasingacceptance of the genuineness and earlydate of the looted 'Hauberg' stelanow in Seattle(Peter Mathews, pers. comm.) There is so far, though,only one Preclassicmonument from the Maya lowlandsfound in situ, in a contextwhich demonstratesits date beyond cavil: this is Cuello Stela i (Hammond i982b), a smallplain monument set in a subrectangularpit cutinto Platform34 at thatsite, and subsequentlysealed by fiveplaster floors of Late Preclassicdate, of which the latestruns under the finalLate Preclassiccon- struction(Str. 350) of the small pyramidat the west end of the platform. 4IO NORMAN HAMMOND

I have estimatedthe date of Cuello Stela i to be A.D. IOO on stratigraphic grounds. Evidence for the use of bar-and-dotnumbers around this comes also fromCuello: an earlierphase of thepyramid (Str. 353: GerhardtI984) had in its upper surfacethe burial of a beheaded adolescent,accompanied by pottery vessels and severalstamp seals of firedclay, withcarved designs and loops on theirbacks forsuspension. One of thesebears a bar and fourdots, the Maya coefficientfor 'nine'. The stratigraphicposition of the burialagain suggestsa date aroundA.D. ioo. One monumentwhich may demonstrateall of the featuresfound on Tikal Stela 29, at a date anythingfrom I50 to 300 yearsearlier, is the curiousAltar i from Polol in the Peten (ProskouriakoffI950: fig. 36d). Although Pros- kouriakoffassigns an Early Classic date to thesmall fragment (which could be from a tapering-sidedstela as easily as from an altar), its design of two elaborately-accoutredfigures facing across a centralcolumn of glyphsis closely matchedby Stelae2 and 5 at Abaj Takalikon thePacific coast (J. GrahamI977). The glyphcolumn has a discernibleInitial Series Introducing of simple form,andJohn Graham (pers. conmm.) deciphers the coefficient as a '7': if correct,this would give a datefor Polol Altari ofA. D. 4I or earlier.Even ifthe baktunis an '8', however, the similarityto the Abaj Takalik monuments indicatesa dateno laterthan the early second century A. D., close in timeto the archaeologicalevidence for stela erection and numeracyat Cuello. A finaland most persuasivepiece of evidencefor the intellectual complexity of Late PreclassicMaya societyis the greatjade ear-flarefrom Pomona, in the StannCreek Valley of centralBelize. Found duringdemolition of a mound in I949, theflare was partof a tomb assemblagedemonstrably of Preclassicdate (Kidder & Ekholm I95 I;Justesonet al. in press)from the pottery vessels. The assemblagealso includedfour small full-figurejades with the heads of 'bib-head' pendantssuch as thosefrom Nohmul and Cerros,and thelayout of thejades in the Pomona tomb may matchthat at Cerros, with the flaretaking the central positionof the large fifth head at Cerros.The flareis offinejade. Engraved on its surfaceare fourprofile heads, facingleft and orientedwith theirbases towards the centralperforation. Two are accompanied by blocks of hiero- glyphicwriting set above them, the other two by a long cartoucheand a number,set below. Justesonet al. (in press)have shown thatthe reading order is clockwise,that the dialect is Yucatec,that the subject-matter of the inscription is concernedwith accession, possibly of an earlyruler of , and thatthe fourheads portraythe Sun God (twice),the Maize God and a long-lippedgod. Both sun gods are identifiedby thekin glyph in thecheek, and one has also the number'four', of which he is patron;the maize god has a clefthead and his patronalnumber of 'eight'shown by a bar and threedots. The long-lippedgod has the glyphakbal, 'darkness', in his cheek and has been identifiedby (pers. comm.) as a head variantof the akbalglyph. We have a sophisti- cated combinationof literacy,numeracy and imagerywhich suggeststhat Maya hieroglyphicwriting has some antecedenthistory in the Preclassicfor whichwe presentlylack documentation. One can also speculatethat the designof the ornamenton the Pomona flare NORMAN HAMMOND 4II

shows thata Classic period cosmogram,well-known from the 'twin-pyramid groups' at Tikal (JonesI969; Coggins I980), may have already formed partof Preclassic iconography and world view by A.D. I00: I suggest that the sun-god head and the long-lippedgod oppositehim markthe risingand settingof the sun, the beginningof lightand the beginningof darknessin each day. This east-westsolar trajectoryformed the main axis of the Maya world, together withthe noon zenithand thenightly nadir when Kinich Ahau passed through the underworldto the gates of dawn. My further,and rathermore tentative, suggestionis thatthe second sun-godhead withits patronal number represents thezenith, and thatthe maize god below marksthe surface of theearth and its depthsin whichthe life-giving crop grows. This interpretationwould suggesta Preclassicorigin for the vertical-circle model advancedby Coggins (I980). An alternativeinterpretation of theimages, and one witha respectablebacking in Maya thought,would see binaryoppositions of light: darkness for the first pair of heads, and heat:cool /scorching dryness: moist life for the second (maize, with its greencolour, being used as a synonymfor 'water', 'jade', 'life', and 'precious',as thelate SirEric Thompson showed manyyears ago). Whichever, if either,of theseinterpretations of the Pomona flareis correct,the syntactic structureof the quadripartiteimagery is complex, and combined with the aspectsof literacy and numeracypreviously touched upon reinforcesthe notion of intellectualcomplexity in Late Preclassicsociety. On thebasis of such evidence, and theother characteristics of social complex- itythat I have outlined,we can now suggestthat the Classic Periodis thesecond phase of Maya civilisation,not the first,differing from the previouscenturies perhapsunder the influenceof Teotihuacancontact in particular,and a wider rangeof externalinfluence in general.To speakof 'PreclassicMaya civilisation' is no longer,as it forso long seemed,a contradictionin terms(Hammond I980: I89).

1 Maya chronologyprior to thehistoric Classic period (post-A.D. 250) is based on radiocarbon dates (althougha few inscriptionsfor the firstthree centuries A.D. are now known); since the divergencebetween radiocarbon and solar (calendaryear) chronologies is onlyabout half a century at 400 bc (= 450 B.C.), I have given all dates back to thispoint in calendaryears B.C./A.D. For earlierdates I have used the'bc' conventionto denotean uncalibratedradiocarbon-based chronolo- gy: thelack of a discrepanthistorical chronology in theNew Worldhas resultedin thecommon use of this,rather than a calibratedchronology in solaryears, by Americanarchaeologists.

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