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University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 A Xerox Education Company 72-20,977 KURJACK, Edward Bam a, 1938- PREHISTORIC LOWLAND MAYA COWLJNITY AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION: A CASE STUDY AT DZIBILCHALTUN, YUCATAN, MEXICO. The Ohio State University,Ph.D., 1972 Anthropology University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan © 1972 Edward Barna Kurjack ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. PREHISTORIC LOWLAND MAYA COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION: A CASE STUDY AT DZIBILCHALTUN, YUCATAN, MEXICO DISSERTATION Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Edward Barna Kurjack, B.S., M.A. * * * * * * The Ohio State University 1971 Approved by Department of Anthropology PLEASE MOTE: Some pages may have i nd i st inct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The fieldwork chat resulted In this dissertation was supported by the Middle American Research In stitu te of Tulane University aided by grants from the National Science Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and the National Geographic Society. During my stay in Mexico I was part of the sta ff of the Middle American Research In s titu te 's Dzlbllrhaltun Project. I was in Yucatan collecting data presented here from October of 1962 to September of 1963, December of 1963 to September of 1964, and June through August of 1965. My fieldwork was done under the auspice of the Middle American Research In stitu te under contract with the Mexican federal government. This dissertation draws on the work of other members of the sta ff of the Middle American Research In s titu te 's Dzlbilchaltun Project as well as my own. Much of the data used here is presented on the map of Dzlbilchaltun. This map was surveyed by four people: George Stuart, John Scheffler, John Cottier, and myself. I rely on Cottier's field notes for the dating of unvaulted structures; he accomplished all of the test excavations mentioned here. Where notes or illu stra tio n s compiled by anyone other than myself are used in this d isserta tio n , that fact is acknowledged in the text. i i I have often relied on advice and encouragement from E. Wyllya Andrews IV, director of the Dzlbilchaltun Project- His vast experience benefited all of us on the project's staff. I am indebted to him for introducing me to the study of Maya prehistory. Neither Andrews nor the other members of the Dzlbilchaltun projects' staff, however, are responsible for any faulty use of the material they helped to compile. The interpretation of the literature, account of the fieldwork, reservations about the data, architectural descriptions, analyses of the field observations, con clusions, and opinions contained in this dissertation are my own and I accept full responsibility for them. My dissertation adviser, Dr. Thomas Rhys Williams, deserves my appreciation and esteem for his advice and patience. My thanks go to the readers of my dissertation at Ohio State University: Dr. Raymond Baby, Dr. Erika Bourguignon, Dr. S. Earl Brown, Dr. Edwin Hall, Dr. John Messenger, and Dr. Eugene P oirier. Comments and suggestions were received from Dr. E. Wyllys Andrews, Dr. Asael T. Hansen, Dr. Robert Wauchope, Dr. Richard Krause, and Professor Alfredo Barrera VAsquez; I deeply appreciate their help. I would also like to express my thanks to the personnel at the Miami University Computer Center for the cheerful attention they paid to my sometimes obviously novice attempts to handle their facilities. ii i VITA July 29, 1938 ........................ Born - Brooklyn, New York 1960............................................... B.S., Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 1960-1962 ................................. Research Assistant, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Alabama, University, Alabama 1962-1964 ................................. Research A ssistant, Middle American Research Institute Dzlbilchaltun Project, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico 1964 .......................................... M.A., University of Alabama, University, Alabama 1964-1967 ................................. Instructor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 1968-1969 ................................. Teaching Assistant, Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1969-1971 ................................. Instructor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio lv 1971 Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois PUBLICATIONS "Clayplpes at the Chlldersburg Site." Florida Anthropologist, Vol. XIV, pp. 21-22, March-June, 1961 FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Prehistory Studies In Field Methods. Professor Thomas Rhys Williams. Studies In Cultural Ecology. Professor Robert K. Dentan. Studies In Palynology. Professor Paul A. Collnvous. Studies In North American Prehistory. Professors Edwin S. Hall and Richard A. Krause. Minor Field: Ethnology Studies in Psychological Anthropology. Professor ErikaiBourgulgnon. Studies In Linguistics. Professor Erika Bouraulgnon. Studies in the History of Ethnological Theory. Professor Richard A. Krause. Studies In Melanesian Ethnology. Professor Richard A. Krause TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 11 VITA iv LIST OF TABLES x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS x ll INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter I. DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM 9 Outline of Maya Prehistory Problems in the Social Interpretation of the Maya Sites Urbanism and Social S tratificatio n in Classic Maya Society Settlement and Community Pattern Research in the Maya Lowlands Relationship between Social Complexity and Housing II. APPROACHES TO MAYA PREHISTORY............................................................. 26 Scholarly Emphasis In the Context of Maya Studies Two Outlooks in the Interpretation of Pre h isto ric Lowland Maya Society Four Problems In the Social Interpretation of Maya Ruins III. SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURY SPANISH WORKS .................... 31 Las Casas and the Decline of New World Populations The Relaclones De Yucatan The Sixteenth Century Population Decline in Yucatan Civil Congregation and Related Problems vl Sixteenth Century Maya Housing and Settlement Patterns Interpretations of Sixteenth and Early Seven teenth Century Spanish Documents IV. MORGAN* BANDELIER, AND THOMPSON: PIONEER STUDENTS OF MAVA DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE............................................................. 53 Morgan's Point of View Concerning Indians Morgan's Analysis of Maya Architecture Thompson's Test of Morgan's Interpretations V. STUDENTS OF THE MAYA GREAT TRADITION............................................ 63 D iffusionlst Thought in Mesoamerican Studies Decipherment of the Maya Calendar VI. CULTURAL ECOLOGY AND THE CLASSIC MAYA COLLAPSE ....................... 66 Early Studies of Swidden Farming Environmental Potential of Tropical Rainforests Economic and Social Consequences of Swidden Farming The Wittfogel Hypothesis and Related Ideas Palynological Evidence for Ecological Change in the Maya Lowlands Summary VII. SETTLEMENT AND COMMUNITY PATTERN RESEARCH IN THE MAYA LOWLANDS......................................................................................... 88 Sylvanus Morley's View of Maya Settlement Patterns Thompson1 s Settlement Pattern Survey in B ritish Honduras The Ricketson Study at Uaxactun Thompson's Linguistic Evidence Contemporary Studies Sunuary VIII. STUDIES OF MAYA HOUSES..................................................................................102 Wauchope's Description