Negotiating Household Quality of Life and Social Cohesion at Ucanha, Yucatan, Mexico, During the Late Preclassic to Early Classic Transition
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology Anthropology 2019 NEGOTIATING HOUSEHOLD QUALITY OF LIFE AND SOCIAL COHESION AT UCANHA, YUCATAN, MEXICO, DURING THE LATE PRECLASSIC TO EARLY CLASSIC TRANSITION Barry Kidder University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6695-3339 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.249 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Kidder, Barry, "NEGOTIATING HOUSEHOLD QUALITY OF LIFE AND SOCIAL COHESION AT UCANHA, YUCATAN, MEXICO, DURING THE LATE PRECLASSIC TO EARLY CLASSIC TRANSITION" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology. 42. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_etds/42 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Barry Kidder, Student Dr. Scott R. Hutson, Major Professor Dr. Sarah Lyon, Director of Graduate Studies NEGOTIATING HOUSEHOLD QUALITY OF LIFE AND SOCIAL COHESION AT UCANHA, YUCATAN, MEXICO, DURING THE LATE PRECLASSIC TO EARLY CLASSIC TRANSITION ___________________________________ DISSERTATION ___________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Barry Bruno Kidder Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Scott R. Hutson, Professor of Anthropology Lexington, Kentucky Copyright © Barry Bruno Kidder 2019 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION NEGOTIATING HOUSEHOLD QUALITY OF LIFE AND SOCIAL COHESION AT UCANHA, YUCATAN, MEXICO, DURING THE LATE PRECLASSIC TO EARLY CLASSIC TRANSITION The main focus of this project is to chronicle whether or not social inequality increased among households and community-level interactions in Ucanha, Yucatan, Mexico, at the time it was physically integrated with a larger regional polity headed by Ucí around the Terminal Preclassic/Early Classic (50 BCE – CE 400) transition. My research seeks to identify how social distinctions emerged during the early moments of social inequality and how these distinctions did or did not become a threat to social cohesion, as seen in the Early Classic “collapse” in some areas. Using a relational theoretical perspective, I argue that political authority and economic practices are embedded in moral expectations of a household quality of life that is negotiated by all actors. Trenching and broad-scale horizontal excavations document five variables of social distinction—architectural energetics, feasting, diversity of household assemblage, caching/burial practices, and the use of space—at three dwellings. Gini scores that calculate the distribution of fancy ceramics and labor investments in architecture also contribute to measuring household wellbeing at Ucanha. Results highlight differential, yet relatively high, quality of life during the Late Preclassic and then greater inequality and an overall decreased quality of life by the middle of the Early Classic (CE 400/450 – 600). Excavations from contexts associated with monumental architecture indicate vast labor inputs into Ucanha’s built landscape around the time of broader regional integration. Excavations and multi- elemental chemical analyses from the Central Plaza suggest this large public space was built during the Late Preclassic and was used for a variety of rituals that incorporated the populace through processions and performances. By the first few centuries into the Early Classic, however, the Central Plaza was walled off and access became limited and more tightly controlled. Thus, it appears emergent leaders at Ucanha, as evidenced by the presence of iconography related to centralized decision-making and possibly kingship, were successful in providing a high quality of life for their citizenry in exchange for labor and devoted followers during regional integration. Yet, during the Early Classic, household quality of life diminished, access to fancy ceramics became highly curtailed, and many residential platforms were abandoned likely as a result of leaders failing to meet the expectations of their followers. KEYWORDS: Prehistoric Economy, Households, Quality of Life, Maya Archaeology, Social Differentiation Barry Bruno Kidder May 3, 2019 NEGOTIATING HOUSEHOLD QUALITY OF LIFE AND SOCIAL COHESION AT UCANHA, YUCATAN, MEXICO, DURING THE LATE PRECLASSIC TO EARLY CLASSIC TRANSITION By Barry Bruno Kidder Dr. Scott R. Hutson Director of Dissertation Dr. Sarah Lyon Director of Graduate Studies May 3, 2019 Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My intellectual journey and this research product would not have been possible without the dedication and guidance of various scholars. First and foremost, Scott Hutson, my committee chair and mentor, expanded my theoretical breadth, provided mindful feedback and support, and forced me to think about the intersection of quantitative and qualitative research. I am also grateful to my committee members—Chris Pool, Dick Jeffries, and Daehyun Kim—for generously giving their time and bringing together such a wide array of knowledge sets that invaluably benefitted this dissertation. I would also like to thank my archaeological kin, F. Kent Reilly III and George Bey, for instilling in me a love for Mesoamerican archaeology. None of this would be possible without standing on the shoulders of these giants. I would also like to thank various funding sources without which I would have had to sell my possessions to carry out my research. The National Science Foundation graciously awarded me a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (#1638536), which allowed me to expand household excavations, to analyze plaster samples, and to have room and board. The Lambda Alpha Honor Society provided a Lambda Alpha Graduate Research Grant that afforded me help with analyzing ceramics. The Department of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky also provided funding for earlier stage research thanks to generous donations from the Robert M. O’Dear Award and the Susan Abbott-Jamieson Pre-Dissertation Research Award Fund. The Department of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies at the University of Kentucky supplied travel funding. Finally, the Association of Emeriti Faculty Endowed Fellowship, funded by dues iii from emeriti faculty at the University of Kentucky, reinvigorated my understandings of presenting research in ways that expand pedagogical skillsets. El Proyecto Arqueológico Sacbé de Ucí/Cansahcab directed by Scott Hutson gave me the opportunity to work with some of the most fastidious and skilled archaeologists in the Maya world. My fellow PASUCeños—Jacob Welch, Daniel Vallejo-Cáliz, and Céline Lamb—were indispensable sources of knowledge, friendship, and sanity that helped assuage innumerable bug bites, longing for home, and bouts of hopelessness. Jacob, my fellow Ucanha excavator, without your masterful drawings, cooking adventures, car rental gambles, and support I would still probably be pulling my hair out somewhere in the monte. Daniel, my research questions were elucidated through our promo-fueled discussions about the Protoclassic and your help with excavations. Céline, your work in the hinterlands and ceramic knowledge forced me to think more holistically about the lived experience of integration across settlements. This dissertation research would also have been impossible without the help of volunteers Joseph Stephenson, Kirsty Escalante, Isabelle Martínez- Muñiz, and Aurora Muriente Pastrana. Faunal analysis by Virginia Marisol Ley Lara, geochemical analysis of soils by Mario Zimmerman (both associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán), and geochemical analysis of plaster samples by E. Christian Wells (University of South Florida) also contributed greatly to this project. Finally, I would have been