I MAYA POLITICAL ORGANIZATION DURING THE
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MAYA POLITICAL ORGANIZATION DURING THE TERMINAL CLASSIC PERIOD IN THE COCHUAH REGION, QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A SECONDARY SITE A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Tatiana Zelenetskaya Young July 2016 Examining Committee Members: Anthony Ranere, Advisory Chair, TU Department of Anthropology Michael Stewart, TU Department of Anthropology Patricia Hansell, TU Department of Anthropology Dave Johnstone, co-director of Cochuah Region Archeological Survey Lisa Lucero, External Member, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign i © Copyright 2016 by TatianaZelenetskayaYoung ii ABSTRACT The dissertation examines the political organization of the ancient Maya during the Terminal Classic Period in the Cochuah Region of Quintana Roo. It evaluates the architecture and site layout of the secondary sites of Sacalaca and San Felipe, and tertiary and quaternary sites surrounding them in order to test political models. Our understanding of the ancient Maya political organization largely comes from Classic Period hieroglyphic texts recorded by Maya kings on public monuments. This reliance on only these kinds of data creates a limitation on the interpretation of political organization, and does not address the local scale of political institution within Maya polities. It also creates the illusion of a centralization of political organization and biases towards primary sites where hieroglyphic monuments are located. The alternative data available for the evaluation of political organization are the regional settlement pattern, individual site layouts and site architecture. Certain types of architecture such as acropoli, mortuary temples, formal plazas and ballcourts, are representative of the institutions of rulership permitting to determine the type of political organization. The distribution of this architecture within the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sites will correlate to respective political models. Three models were chosen to be tested after reviewing the various models proposed for the political organization of the ancient Maya. These models are Dynastic Kingship, Mul Tepal, and the Segmentary State. The archaeological correlates of these models are identified and compared with the evidence provided by twenty sites in the Cochuah Region for both the early Terminal Classic Period (the Florescent Phase) and iii the late Terminal Classic Period (the Post-Florescent Phase). The conclusion is made that during the Florescent Phase the political organization in the Cochuah Region was a Segmentary State. In the Segmentary State the institution of rulership is found in sites occupying different levels in the settlement hierarchy. Sacalaca and San Felipe and their satellites exhibit a duplication of the institutions of rulership on a smaller scale. During the Post-Florescent Phase data indicate the absence of authorities capable of providing order or enforcing laws and perhaps the absence of rulers during this time in the region. This case study demonstrates that some types of political organizations would be only visible through examination of secondary sites and their satellites. Also, this approach addresses the problem of relying on hieroglyphic texts and helps to overcome a bias of centralized political organization created by investigation limited to the primary centers. iv To my father, Alexander Zelenetskii, who started me on my Journey v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without CRAS director Dr. Justine M. Shaw and co-director Dr. Dave Johnstone who welcomed me to the project. I am grateful for all their support during the field seasons. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Justine Shaw without whom it would not have been possible to conduct this research and who always was willing to help. I am indebted to Dave Johnstone, who challenged my ideas and helped me to shape and clarify them; who gave his knowledge and time so generously, and who was patient, supportive, and encouraging throughout the process. I have been fortunate to have my advisor Dr. Anthony Ranere and my committee member Dr. Michael Stewart. I would like to thank them for the help and guidance they have given me. I would like to offer my special thanks to Dr. Lisa Lucero for her useful and constructive recommendations on my dissertation. Finally, most of all, I would like to thank my son Sebastian Alexander Young for his support and understanding while I was working towards my goal. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 Background........................................................................................................... 4 Political Organization ........................................................................................ 4 Time Period ...................................................................................................... 6 Organization of Chapters ................................................................................... 8 2. MAYA POLITICAL ORGANIZATION ................................................................. 15 Maya Political Units : Hyroglyphic Accounts ...................................................... 17 The Scale of Maya Polities .................................................................................. 19 Super State .................................................................................................... 21 Regional State ............................................................................................... 23 City-States .................................................................................................... 23 Maya Political Organization: Spanish Colonial Documents ................................ 25 Maya Political Organization: Enthnohistoric Documents ..................................... 28 A Mul Tepal Model ........................................................................................ 29 Maya Political Organization: Comparative Approach .......................................... 31 vii Segmentary State Model................................................................................. 31 Theater State/Galactic Polity Model ............................................................... 32 3. ARCHITECTURE AS AN EXPRESSION OF POLITICAL ORGANIZATION ................................................................................................... 38 Types of Architecture in the Region ................................................................... 38 Foundation Braces ....................................................................................... 39 Circular Foundation Braces ......................................................................... 39 Platforms ..................................................................................................... 39 Acropoli ...................................................................................................... 39 Range Structures ......................................................................................... 41 Palaces ........................................................................................................ 41 Unexcavated Mounds .................................................................................. 42 Popol Nah ................................................................................................... 44 Open-Fronted Architecture .......................................................................... 44 Stela-Altar Complexes................................................................................. 44 Plazas .......................................................................................................... 45 Alignments .................................................................................................. 46 Ballcourts .................................................................................................... 47 Sacbeob ....................................................................................................... 48 Site Ranking ........................................................................................................ 50 Archeological Expectations .................................................................................. 51 A Dynastic Kingship ......................................................................................... 52 A Mul Tepal ...................................................................................................... 53 viii A Segmentary State ........................................................................................... 54 4. THE COCHUAH REGION IN CONTEXT ............................................................