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Home , Cuello, Komchen, Maya peoples, Nohmul, Norman Hammond

Norman Hammond The Exploration of theMaya World a After nearly century and a half of discovery, continues toprovide ever earlier glimpses of an importantancient civilization

The remains of ancient Maya civili that in spite of numerous incursions This and other, briefer but zation first attracted at widespread the Itz? around Lake Pet?n Itz? sub equally intelligent assessments in tention in the as a result of the mitted in , only 1697, and many of the dicate curiosity but not any system of in explorations John Lloyd Stephens Maya and atic pursuit of knowledge. The an and Frederick Catherwood in Hon either or nominally not at all. In Yu cestors of the contemporary Maya duras, , and southeastern catan, however, Spanish settlement were implicitly accepted as the and two , their popular books proceeded rapidly, and some of the builders of the now-ruined sites, and of Incidents Travel who of (Stephens 1841, clerics arrived there took care to the high quality of the architecture Yet the ruined in the note the of a was 1843). vestiges bygone age. In and the sculpture frequently rain forest tropical which Stephens 1548, when Lorenzo de Bienvenida remarked upon. described so and Cath and other evocatively Franciscans settled at the In the succeeding period, from erwood illustrated with new of out equal felicity capital M?rida, born of 1759 on, Spain was ruled by the an had been known and wondered at the ruins of the Maya of Tihoo, tiquarians Charles III and Charles IV, since the three he Spanish conquest observed that they found them and the deliberate exploration of a centuries and were attributed selves earlier, among buildings "which it few Maya ruins was undertaken. from the to the ancestors seems to us were beginning built before Christ, Almost all the expeditions concen of the who dwelt in on because the trees top of the trated on , in the forest the area in the sixteenth were as as century. buildings high the ones lowlands of , where between What the work of and around them. . . . was no rec Stephens There 1773 and 1807 four separate attempts Catherwood did accomplish was to ord ofwho built them, [and] in all the were made to find out more about the as a launch Maya archaeology serious discoveries in the Indies none so fine mysterious "stone houses" with their field of research, one inwhich both have been found" (Bernai 1977, p. intricate stucco decorations. The last and have exploration discovery 21). two attempts, by Antonio del Rio and continued unabated for 140 years. In this initial period of interest Guillermo Dupaix, were carried out The in Spanish Maya sites, which persisted until under explicit royal instructions, and found a dense or about we can see an in Maya population 1759, admiration their sampling of building mate into in ganized fractious city-states for the vanished builders and an as rials and pottery as well as their both northern Yucatan and the signment of substantial age, but no careful illustration were as respon of Guatemala and to as highlands Chiapas. attempt attribute the ruins to any sible any archaeological projects The vast forest area of Pet?n and known Old World in culture spite of then being carried out in Europe. what is now Belize was less fully their acknowledged quality. This work, and that of such lesser settled and less so easily penetrated, A second and better-known lights as Jean-Fr?d?ric Waldeck, di commentator was an of this period rectly inspired the explorations of other Franciscan, , Stephens and Catherwood, which isAssociate Professor of whose overzealous of In from 1840 on ushered in a new of Archaeology at . He received pursuit age ideals, to the studies. his undergraduate degree in archaeology and quisitorial extending Maya destruction of hiero anthropology from Cambridge University, where many Maya This period, which lasted until he also a in classical led to completed graduate diploma glyphic books, his recall to 1924, ismarked by the contributions and a Ph.D. He has been a a archaeology Visiting Spain for trial. The document he of series of major scholars who laid at the at as Professor University of prepared part of his defense, the the foundations ofMaya and at in the archaeology Berkeley JilinUniversity People's Relation de las cosas de Yucatan, is the as it existed until well after World China, and has been on the Republic of Rutgers best evidence we have of the colonial War II. Their work was concentrated since 1977. A in faculty specialist Maya view of in two Spanish Maya culture. With fields: the study of hiero archaeology, he has conducted in field projects the aid of informants and field notes and the Belize since 1970, and has also worked in glyphic writing exploration on ruins at Tihoo, , and of fresh sites in the forests ofMexico Ecuador, Afghanistan, and North Africa. His Chich?n Itz?, Landa described the and Guatemala. present research is focused on the emergence of architecture and calendar of ; he is the author of Ancient the The first of these scholars was Maya Civilization (1982). Address: Maya, and attempted to explicate Charles Etienne Brasseur de New their in Archaeology Program, Rutgers University, hieroglyphic script terms of Bourbourg, again a priest, who after Brunswick, NJ 08903. the Spanish alphabet. traveling through in

482 American Scientist, Volume 70 the early 1850s and editing two im portant fragments of surviving pre Maya literature, the epic of the and the drama of Rabi nal-Achi, made his most significant discovery in the prosaic surround ings of the Academy of History in Madrid. This was the then unknown Relation de las cosas de Yucatan, and the information on the Maya calen dar and writing that it contained proved vital toworking out a chro nology for this ancient civilization. men Three share the principal credit for this achievement. One was a field archaeologist, Alfred Maud slay, who between 1883 and 1894 made numerous expeditions toMaya sites, bringing back a superb photo graphic record as well as molds of inscriptions and sculptures (Fig. 1). His work, published in the Biologia Centrali-Americana between 1889 and 1902, is still invaluable to ar chaeologists today. The second per son was Ernst F?rstemann, Royal Li brarian of Saxony and custodian of the late pre-Hispanic Maya book known as the , one of only three surviving codices and the to key understanding Maya obser vations of the moon and Venus as well as the place-notation mathe matics used in Maya astronomical calculations. F?rstemann was able to demonstrate the existence of the Long Count, a cumulative calendar proceeding from a base date in the distant past, and in 1894 used 1. One of of civilization Maudslay's data from the site of Figure many vestiges Maya photographed in the 1880s by Alfred the of the Sun at was the of to read dates on seven of the Maudslay, Temple Palenque object archaeological interest as Copan as when the first of four early 1773, Spanish expeditions explored the site. Now known to stelae there. The third be of a of magnificent part complex dynastic temples erected by Chan-Bahlum in the late seventh T. was the name an man, Joseph Goodman, able to century A.D., temple takes its from elaborately carved tablet in an interior link shrine Chan-Bahlum from his the Pacal the floating chronology to the depicting receiving power father, great (see Figs. 9 and between them stands a shield a sun Christian calendar 10); bearing mask of the god in his nocturnal by correlating as The mansard roof and aspect . latticed roof comb of the structure represent a dates for events with variant Maya given regional of the Classic Maya style. dates provided by colonial docu ments. His scheme remains accepted in its essentials thus we rec Research carried out today: massive long II apart from the study of the Post that the monuments of term at ognize great projects Chich?n Itz? in Yu classic capital ofMayapan in Yucatan, Copan, Palenque, , and other catan, at in Pet?n, where which had flourished from about A.D. sites were carved and erected the earliest during known dated Maya stela 1250 to 1450. a Classic Period of A.D. 250-900 had been located, and at numerous The postwar period was domi (Table when civilization other 1), Maya sites, including Copan. Dozens nated by universities, and in partic reached its of new sites were apogee. discovered and ular by the Peabody Museum at After World War I, ar and their Maya mapped, monuments re Harvard and the University Museum entered an "institutional" corded. The immense ma chaeology corpus of of the University of Pennsylvania. from 1924 to terial built period, extending 1970, up by the Carnegie has The former had acquired Gordon R. when the field was dominated a to be of by proved enduring use, and Willey as Bowditch Professor in 1950, few North American establishments even now some of this rich store is and he brought the techniques of led the Institution of still by Carnegie being published for the first settlement archaeology developed in With the stimulus of time. the Washington. During 1940s the Carnegie Peru into the Maya field with an G. and under the was severely criticized for its atheo important project at Barton Ramie in hand of Alfred V. Kidder, retical and it guiding approach, conducted Belize, deliberately avoiding the the Carnegie's Division of Historical little field research after World War massive ceremonial centers that had

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Figure 2. The area lies within while to the south the area contacts as as Maya wholly encompasses far east Panama City and as the tropics, the southern of the of and far west as embracing part rugged highlands Chiapas Central Mexico, the strongest Mexico and all or of four Central where a of active part Guatemala, spine cultural and linguistic links were with the American countries. Its northern the volcanoes forms the continental divide. Gulf part, Coast and the regions of Yucatan is flat and the ancient had external peninsula, low-lying, Although Maya Mexico, just west of the Maya area.

hitherto the attention it is this focus which has monopolized topical led The region immediately to the of next turned to the new view an archaeologists. Willey entirely of the west of theMaya area saw the rise of (1959-68) to a of the cient that we regional study Maya have today. the Olmec culture in the late second basin of the Pasi?n River, centered millennium B.c., and the burgeoning on the sites of Altar de Sacrif icios and of the Zapotec and cultures . Over much of the same period Early occupation from the middle of the firstmillen the most ambitious excavation single There is general agreement that the nium B.C. onward. Still further to the ever undertaken in the Maya lands, territory defined culturally as the northwest, the urban civilizations of a of the site of was study huge Tikal, "Maya area" consists of those parts of Teotihuacan, Tula, and Aztec Teno being carried out by the University Mexico and Central America chtitlan flourished from the time of of under Edwin M. bounded on the west nar Pennsylvania by the Christ until the Spanish conquest, Shook and laterWilliam R. Coe. of the Isthmus of rowing Tehuan sporadically extending their influ From 1970 on, economic on the north the global tepec, by Gulf of ence eastward into the Maya lands. factors with the influence of Mexico and the Caribbean together coastline, In both historic and prehistoric times the "New in North on the south the Archaeology" by Pacific shore, and theMaya had external contacts as far America resulted in smaller on the east projects by the Ulua and Lempa west as central Mexico and as far east focused on explicit problems. One of rivers of and as Panama. the first of these was the Harvard With one all (Fig. 2). exception, cul For more than a century after the of 1972-73, sites and most Project turally Maya living birth ofMaya archaeology, theMaya which to test formal models lie sought Maya speakers within these of the Classic period and their im of trading on the island of Cozumel, boundaries, which mediate were have, however, forebears the only off the coast of Yucatan. Other been both prob penetrated culturally and known pre-Hispanic inhabitants of lem-oriented have dealt with at projects linguistically by non-Maya groups the Yucatan peninsula and the adja a wide of in ar various times in the range topics Maya historic and cent highlands, in spite of a deliber over chaeology the past decade, and pre-Hispanic past. ate search for Paleolithic remains

484 American Scientist, Volume 70 and, toward the middle of the twen widespread, if thin, occupation ex Table 1. Chronology of Maya cultural tieth century, the discovery of early tending from northern Yucatan periods Holocene and late Pleistocene occu south to the Pacific slope, from at pation in many other parts of the Colonial a.D. 1540-1810 least the end of the Pleistocene on. Americas. While the passage of the The major interpretive problem that some Postclassic firstAmericans through part of now presents itself is the relationship area en Late a.D. 1450-1540 the Maya route to South between these early inhabitants and was Middle a.D. 1250-1450 America acknowledged, traces of the later Maya tradition. Direct de their Early a.d. 900-1250 presence proved hard to find. scent is perhaps the most intellect The first indubitably Paleo-Indian Classic ually parsimonious solution, but Los site, Tapiales in western high Terminal a.d. 800-900 stratigraphie continuity has yet to be was land Guatemala, discovered as Late a.d. 700-800 demonstrated, and Maya origins late as Middle a.d. 400-700 1969 (Gruhn and Bryan 1977); seem likely to be a continuing focus it dates from the end of the Pleisto Early a.D. 250-400 of research in the 1980s. cene epoch, and is notable for evi dence that its inhabitants Formative procured Late 400 b.c.-a.d. 250a obsidian from three sources farmers separate Middle 1000-400 b.c. Early to 75 km No earlier than the Classic up away. Early 2000-1000 b.c. period In the late 1970s, however, re was known until about 1930, when newed of the Caves of Archaic 9000-2000 b.c. investigation the Carnegie excavations at Uaxactun Loltun in northern Yucatan uncov a revealed a or Dates before a.d. 250 are based on uncor Preclassic, Formative, ered a sequence This was estimated to long preceramic rected radiocarbon dates, those after this point sequence. go with the remains of extinct to was mega on a correlation of Maya and Christian calen back about 500 B.c., and di fauna in the lowest levels (Velazquez dars. vided into two phases identified by V. corroboration of 1980). Apparent distinctive pottery types: an initial this human early presence has been Mamom phase, from 500 to 300 B.c., co reported by MacNeish and his and a Chicanel phase, from 300 B.c. to workers (1980), who have located 1981). The quantity of aceramic sites A.D. 300, the time of the then earliest numerous aceramic sites in coastal reported from another area, the El known dated stelae. Both phases Belize. Some of these have a chert Quich? highlands (Brown 1980), in were thought to have been charac a macroblade technology unknown in dicates that lack of a broad enough terized by simple village farming Formative and later Maya lithic in survey rather than absence of settle culture similar to thatwhich exists to dustries in the region and appear to ments may have been the principal this day in parts of the Maya low be appropriately early, while others factor in the past failure to detect the lands. Willey's work at Barton Ramie a have an assemblage of artifacts closer earliest human presence in theMaya in 1953-56 indicated slightly earlier to those found around 2000 B.c. (ra area. The current picture is one of period of occupation, tentatively diocarbon years) and later, when is known to 3. sedentary occupation Figure The earliest known Maya pottery, dating to the Early Formative period, has been A have begun. well documented at . shallow bowl of the Swasey complex about 22 cm in diameter (left) is but with a double of vermilion and Correlating their material with simply competently made, slip incised grooves below the rim. of the late similar to that found the sequence from the Pottery Swasey complex stratigraphie at Cuello has also been uncovered at other sites in northern Belize, and more distant links Tehuacan in Mexico, have been traced valley highland elsewhere in the Maya lowlands. With the advent of specialist potting MacNeish and his associates (1980) toward the end of the Late Formative period, exuberant new forms appeared such as the bowl with swollen mammiform have proposed five phases spanning polychrome supports shown at the right. Found at , the vessel measures about 36 cm in diameter and a blend of lowland the period from 9000 to 2000 B.c. Al displays traits; of the individual traits of this innovative have also been initial to confirm however, many pottery though attempts observed throughout the highland zone. (All photos are by the author unless indicated the details of this sequence strati otherwise.) graphically have met with limited success, the discovery of a fluted projectile point dating from perhaps 9000 B.C. near Belize City suggests that its length is plausible (Hester

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485 1982 September-October dated as back to 600 b.c., more became stretching developed region the Tehuacan valley of highland and his work at the sites Mexico. a subsequent widely accepted. is highland plant by of and Seibal Excavations 1975 to at from 1980 origin, and is known to have been or earlier the site of in northern produced equally early Cuello, Belize, tended in the highland valleys since material with radiocarbon demonstrated the existence of a acceptable pre the early Holocene; its abundant dates in the seventh and Mamom to eighth phase, assigned the Early presence at Cuello shows that this centuries b.c. Formative on the basis of a period crop had been successfully adapted other areas of of radiocarbon dates Meanwhile, long sequence to the humid tropical lowland cli which had the entire second millen supported spanning mate by the start of the second mil societies, such as the nium B.c. The is associated B.c. complex Oaxaca, phase lennium Numerous other plants, Gulf and the sur with of the Coast, valley pottery Swasey complex especially trees and their fruits, are Mexico which was ancestral to rounding present-day City, (Fig. 3), clearly known have been exploited by the all to have had ante to that of Mamom et al. proved long (Hammond early Maya at Cuello (Hammond and cedent of settlement ex The of the periods 1979). priority Swasey Miksicek 1981), and the pattern of back into the second mil has been confirmed exca tending phase by mixed dependence on forest and lennium b.c. The arrival of vations at Colha, 27 km southeast of supposed farm characteristic of the Maya in was the Maya by comparison very Cuello, and Swasey pottery has been historic times would seem to have late, and their rise to civilization then recognized at several other sites in been established for over two thou so that some of out northern Belize and at in sand rapid injection years before the beginning of side influence from more complex . the Classic period. cultures seemed certain. Thus the The at excavations Cuello Pre-Mamom occupations are as a model of the Maya "secondary showed that the architectural tech known from a number of other sites, state" on a formed the margins of niques characteristic of later Maya and the Mamom horizon itself, culture?the use of stone-filled which recent radiocarbon dates in faced with lime and platforms plaster dicate probably began by 800 B.c., is a thatched so bearing timber-framed, widespread throughout theMaya into existence area as to superstructure?came suggest that further early there between about 1800 and 1600 settlements remain to be discovered. B.C. in radiocarbon The years (Fig. 4). uniformity of Mamom pottery further demonstrated that They style leaves little doubt that Maya of useful long-distance procurement society was culturally consolidated minerals had the same begun by by themiddle of the firstmillennium time, and that of both acquisition jade B.c., and that the roots ofMaya civi and obsidian from the zone highland lization must be sought at this period some 400 km to the south was ini rather than later. A Maya sphere of tiated before 1000 B.C. The presence interaction with accepted cultural of blue jade suggests contact with the norms and extensive internal com Olmec 600 km to burgeoning society munication had come into being to the west around 1100 to 900 B.C. the east of the existing, and by now Flotation of material from oc disintegrating, Olmec sphere. In so and midden at Cuello cupation layers cial terms, the growth and fissioning numerous has yielded fragments of of tribal groups that has been envi carbonized maize cobs and kernels, sioned by Ball (1977) as an explana which have been classified into a tion for the expansion yet continued succession of in types exhibiting unity ofMaya culture would consti creased size time through (Miksicek tute a partial explanation of this et al. and thus delib 1981) perhaps phenomenon. erate selection by the Maya to in crease The earliest yield. type, civilization Swasey-1, is comparable in size to the Emergent maize found MacNeish in early by While formany years itwas thought that the appearance of monuments with 4. A view from above of the inscriptions, polychrome pot Figure and vaulted stone architecture excavated platform of an Early Formative tery, m marked the birth of building located about 3 below ground together spe level at site (top) the of Cuello shows the cialized craft production linked to the frame postholes surrounding original concentrated economic power and of the house, which is similar in form to a thus the inception of civilization in modern Maya dwelling (center). The the lowlands, it is now of this structure into stone by Maya recog the Classic Maya is apparent in a ninth nized that these innovations were century A.D. sculpture at (bottom). cosmetic rather than fundamental These structures and the Temple of the and came into within the con at 10) show the being Inscriptions Palenque (Fig. text of an range of from private to already complex society. the earliest dated stela in public, from the Early Formative to the Although height of the Classic period. theMaya lowlands is still Tikal Stela

486 American Scientist, Volume 70 29 (A.D. 292), at least one earlier plain dence of indigenous development in Dwarfing all of these sites is stela of about A.D. 100 is known at the lowlands. Mirador, in northern Pet?n, where Cuello (Hammond 1982). A number Elaboration in architecture the enormous Tigre, Monos, and of earlier carved and dated monu during the Late Formative period Danta groups are all apparently of ments have been found at sites in the goes far beyond the achievement of Late Formative date. While excava highland zone; at Abaj Takalik, for the stone corbel vault, an innovation tions have only just begun in earnest, instance, Stela 5 was erected in A.D. which led to the replacement of it seems likely that the bulk ofMira 126 and Stela 2 probably at least two perishable roofs with permanent dor, one of the largest known Maya centuries earlier (Graham 1979). The stone superstructures on many public ceremonial centers, will prove to be sites of El Baul and Chiapa de Corzo buildings. While corbel vaults of this of the Formative period. each have a stela of the early first period exist at Tikal and probably at Thus several large precincts in century A.D., and the style of these , recent exploration has the southern lowlands, to which highland examples is reflected in shown that colossal temple pyramids must be added near M?rida several lowland monuments of un were also being built. At , in (Andrews, V., et al., in press), have certain, but apparently Late Forma northern Belize, Structure N10-43 yielded evidence of monumental tive, date: Mirador Stela 2, Tintai was already more than 33 m high by architecture indicating a dense and Stela 1, and Polol Altar 1 (I. Graham 100 B.c. (Pendergast 1981), and was well-organized society with an es P. a and Mathews, pers. comm.; G. only one of number of huge build tablished iconography and craft P?hl, pers. comm.). ings of Late Formative date at the site. specialists. Surveys at Nohmul, Tikal, The existence of a numerical Further north, on the coast, the small Seibal, Komchen, and elsewhere system and record-keeping in the site of , which includes both show that large population nuclei lowlands throughout the Late For large pyramids and a smaller one were developing throughout the mative period is suggested by scat decorated with polychrome stucco Late Formative period, and that in tered pieces of evidence. A stamp masks ofMaya deities, has proved to some cases these were at least as large seal of about A.D. 100 from Cuello has be entirely Late Formative in con as the succeeding settlements of the the bar-and-dot coefficient for "9/' struction (Freidel 1979). The masks Classic period. Where regional sur and the roof comb of the Temple of are similar to those on the most fa veys have been carried out the same the Inscriptions at Tikal bears a pre mous example of Late Formative ar picture emerges of large and dense cise and possibly historical date of chitecture, Structure E-VII-Sub at populations occupying almost all 6.14.16.9.16,11 Cib 4 Zac in the Long Uaxactun (Fig. 5), as well as tomasks favorable locations in the land Count, falling in 456 B.C.,when Tikal recently uncovered at Lamanai. Both scape. was already a center of substantial Cerros and Colha have Late Forma The existence of specialist craft size. If not imaginary, this precision tive ball courts, the earliest so far groups within this preindustrial of dating suggests well-maintained known from the Maya lowlands, urban society is indicated by portable archives, presumably consisting of which served as arenas for the sacred art as well as by architecture. Pottery or bark deerskin books that have game pok-ta-pok. becomes more adventurous in its long since vanished. Stone beaters used for making such writing sur faces are known from Late Formative archaeological contexts. Polychrome pottery (Fig. 3) ap pears during the Late Formative pe riod?the dedicatory cache of Cuello Stela 1 contained an early exam ple?as a direct development from dichrome wares in northern Belize and perhaps in other parts of the lowlands. Although some of the characteristics of the first elaborate polychromes in the Floral Park ce ramic complex at Barton Ramie, Holmul, and Nohmul derive from the highlands, from a zone stretching west from El Salvador toOaxaca, the particular combinations of form and decoration are peculiar to the low land Maya. The invasion hypothesis 5. The first Late Formative to be completely excavated, Structure E-VII of Gifford and his associates (Sharer Figure building Sub at Uaxactun provided important evidence about the evolution of Maya architecture and Gifford Sheets was 1970; 1976), and iconography. The timber-framed temple at the top of the platform approached a which proposes northward migra by flights of steps flanked by gigantic masks of the gods molded in white lime stucco. Like masks of same these are ancestral to more tion by Salvadoreans displaced by other the period, portraits sophisticated structure depictions of the deities in the Classic period. Although the scale of the is t,he catastrophic eruption of Ilopango ? substantial the stone stela standing in front of the stairs in this early photograph of the in about A.D. 260 and their settlement ? excavated site is as high as a man much larger buildings of this period have been found at such as Barton does places Ramie, in recent years at Mirador, Tikal, and Lamanai. (Photo by the Carnegie Institution of Harvard not accord with more recent evi Washington; reproduced by permission of the Peabody Museum, University.)

1982 September-October 487 forms in the Late Formative extensive period, chert workshops have been nearby precluded a broad outer band between 100 B.c. A.D. particularly and discovered. Colha had two periods of of mil])as. 250, when a distinct suite of one in the Late Forma funerary florescence, How had these people been fed? ceramics appears comprised of vessel tive and a second in the Late Classic, An initial reaction was to attribute forms if ever, found in do its at the rarely, although occupation began greater productivity to the milpa re mestic trash. The of is end of the Formative and con carving jade Early gime by increasing the presumed now a art with sets tinued into the developed form, Postclassic?a span of importance of such crops as sweet of heads the more god supplementing than two millennia. Among the potato and manioc (Bronson 1966), beads. One of the finest of of the Late ubiquitous products Formative peri and to suggest a greater reliance on all a ear were Maya jades, giant flare from od stemmed triangular blades tree crops such as ram?n, or breadnut Pomona in central Belize (Fig. 7), made by the hundred using a highly (Puleston 1968 diss.). This was fol comes from a burial from the skilled in which a an dating technique blade lowed by appreciation that more end of the Late Formative the was struck off a core in such a period; way intensive methods of production incised on its surface offer that ithad a thus glyphs needle-sharp point; could have been used, and by the some of the earliest evidence for lit the stem needed to be only chipped detection of artificially constructed in the lowlands. The into Blades from Colha have eracy Maya shape. facilities for such intensive farming. iconography of these jades reflects been found at other sites across While raised, or drained, fields in that of the stucco fronts of the temple northern Belize, and the discovery of wetlands had been known in South a distinct set of di numbers of such America some period, depicting large objects? for time, they were vine personages. from another site in probably factory noticed the Maya lowlands only Jade was an further south?at the was imported material, offshore trad after it recognized that our pic the nearest known source in island ofMoho being ing Cay suggests that ture ofMaya civilization "seemed to the of the River in were canoe tomore valley Motagua they exported by defy the principles of ecological southern Guatemala, and was distant as well. prob regions possibility" (Culbert 1974, p. 37). ably received in raw form. Another What kind of subsistence econ The first areas of raised fields to from the same import direction, but omy supported this superstructure of be located were those in the Cande from sources 100 km more distant on craft and ur production incipient laria basin in Campeche (Siemens the continental was divide, obsidian. banism? Contemporary Maya grow and Puleston 1972), but more fields The first source of obsidian to be ex and root maize, beans, squash, crops were swiftly noticed in the Rio Bee was San Martin a or ploited Jilotepeque, in tnilpa, field, which is cut an region (Turner 1974), in northern northwest of , which nually or biennially from the forest, Belize (Hammond 1973; Puleston Cuello, Seibal, Barton allowed to burned the supplied dry, during 1977), and in northeastern Pet?n (Fig. and other sites Ramie, during the dry season that extends from January 6). Most of these areas were discov Middle Formative the to period. During May, and then planted at the be ered by direct aerial observation or Late Formative this source of the rains. This swidden use period ginning by the of aerial photography. was another at El eclipsed by Chayal, ing regime is extensive, each family Zones of canals and fields now cov northeast of Guatemala and a a reserve six to ten times ered were City, requiring by forest subsequently third source, at near the size area major Ixtepeque of the annual planted to detected by Adams and his associates the El Salvador to allow the forest to be frontier, began regenerate (1981) through the use of synthetic obsidian north into the low tween For the export cuttings. many years aperture sidelooking airborne radar. lands. were to pre-Hispanic Maya thought Ground checks in five separate areas The of a presence network of have employed a similar technique, of Belize and Pet?n established that routes from El radiating Chayal and and the known density of settle some 20 to 25% of the linear and re and between ments did not contradict this idea. ticulate Ixtepeque competition patterns detected by radar the two sources for the Late The was believed to have were of proposed population probable pre-Hispanic ori Classic well have been lived on may already scattered farmsteads, gath gin, others being modern or natural in the operative Late Formative pe ering at intervals in the local cere features, and that as much as 1,285 riod. the Certainly distribution of monial center to venerate the gods km2 of canalized and drained land some of and the use of and to tribute to the theo could types jades bring have existed in theMaya low offshore islands as trading stations cratic rulers. Such a pattern was lands?about ten times the area of the Caribbean coast are con added the along given plausibilityby itsliving functionally similar Aztec chi sonant with the existence of a canoe the of in presence among nampa system the valley around route eastern along the side of the Chiapas. Tenochtitlan. Yucatan Even if these The first to this arca a peninsula. challenge While substantial proportion routes were not in the dian view came precise yet use, with the detailed of these fields may have been con and distribution of of Tikal in the late quantity high mapping 1950s, structed and used during the Late land minerals the low which revealed the a throughout presence of Classic period, when population was lands show that efficient communi very large and fairly dense settle at itsmaximum, some fields, such as cations linked all of the ment around the massive ceremonial at are parts Maya those Cerros, undoubtedly of area. precinct, with a population estimated Late Formative date, and others are Craft at an in Haviland to be in the re specialization by (1970) probably this early?for example, dustrial level in the Late Formative of There was no room at gion 40,000. those , on the has been demonstrated for between the clusters eastern period by swiddening margin of the large Late Hester and his (1979) associates at of dwellings, and the existence of Formative settlement of Nohmul in northern Colha, Belize, where other large sites such as Uaxactun (Turner and Harrison 1981). There

488 American Scientist, Volume 70 some as has been debate towhether modem Mexico City brought urban states embroiled in conflict (Webster mass was organized labor needed to civilization to the highlands of 1977), Teotihuacan dominated the construct net Mexico. and maintain these basin inwhich modern Mexico City works of drained fields. Although Teotihuacan grew rapidly from lies and the surrounding plateau cannot the question be resolved di insignificant beginnings from 100 with few rivals, except possibly the circumstantial of B.C. rectly, evidence on, with the population reach Cholula. At some point in the Early the massive public architecture at ing 70,000 to 100,000 during the pe Classic period, Teotihuacan and the Lamanai and Mirador shows that riod from A.D. 1 to 150. Whereas the Maya came into contact with each Late was or Formative Late Formative Maya polity was split other. The impact of Teotihuacan was in such a that construc numerous ganized way into entities that appear especially strong at , in tion of fields could have been col from the evidence of the Becan for the highlands, where Teotihuacanos lective and directed. to centrally tifications have been regional with a high political, diplomatic, or A second artificial means of im proving agricultural output was hillside terracing. Terraces had been noted in the 1920s in the Maya . -, .. .. \ ^ Mountains of southern Belize, but ^J??'-^h^^f^ were seen as irrelevant to the as- I sumed milpa mode of agricultural 1 production. Surveys of the central lowlands of the Rio Bee zone in the ; late 1960s and early 1970s revealed ; large areas of terracing intersected by I field walls (Turner 1974). An impor tant characteristic was the shallow ness of many of the slopes. The walls were not strictly necessary to counter erosion or to trap silt, as in theMaya Mountains, but were used to form permanent divisions of the terrain. Small farmsteads were included in the field pattern, which appears to be farmore organized than a milpa cycle would justify: continuous cropping under some kind of rotation system with short fallow periods seems much more plausible. The Rio Bee fields date mainly from the Late ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ii^^i Classic period, but Healy and his co- j workers (1980) have suggested that ! an earlier use of terracing occurred i on the western side of the Maya Mountains from the Late Formative to the end of the Classic period, peaking in the Early Classic period. Here again, construction need not have been centrally controlled, but the level of social organization throughout the entire period would be consonant with such a solution to economic problems. Thus a number of lines of evi dence?settlement patterns and population concentration, the use of artificial econiches to enhance agri cultural output, the level and sdale of craft production, the extent of pro curement and themassive networks, 6. The in Figure discovery the early 1970s of traces of intensively cultivated raised fields investment in at a in areas in was public buildings swampy the Maya lowlands followed by further exploration and the number of sites?all to identification of numerous some as as converge fields, constructed early the Formative period. Those shown in this suggest that Late Formative Maya aerial photograph of Nohmul may date from one of two florescences of the site, which underwent in both the Late Formative and the Late Classic society crossed the threshold of civ expansion periods. The raised fields formed an artificial environment in which drained fertile fields ilization before the time of Christ, intersected by open canals replaced swamp. The canals may have been used to breed fish, and before the and all arguably emergence turtles, aquatic snails, esteemed items of the Maya diet in the region, as we know from of the Teotihuacan culture near faunal remains recovered by flotation techniques.

1982 September-October 489 commercial status seem to have oc on these important Maya centers. Formative size or even larger; new was as were cupied part of the site (Sanders and Whether this influence exclu centers such Michels 1977); in the lowlands their sively a direct one or whether itwas founded on previously unoccupied influence was much more dispersed, mediated through Teotihuacan sites (Hammond 1975); places such as as or no occurring in only a few centers. "colonies" such Kaminaljuyu Palenque that had been of previ The earliest example of such in Matacapan is uncertain. The role of ous importance suddenly came into fluence has been found at , Matacapan in particular is worth prominence; and Tikal grew even in central Belize. There a burial site further investigation, because of the larger. More numerous and larger, has yielded a cache of green obsidi later existence of entrepots interme more closely packed centers existed ans of Teotihuacan manufacture as diate between theMaya and Mexican in Pet?n and Belize than at any pre cores same a well as locally made pottery vessels territorial in this Gulf vious period, indicating dense in Teotihuacan style; the presence of Coast region. mosaic of petty states thrust into close a ritually knowledgeable Teotihua proximity with one another. That cano seems from the this was a situation of stress is likely disposi Classic civilization sug tion of the goods in the burial. Pen Maya gested by numerous depictions of dergast (1971) suggests that the con The withdrawal of Teotihuacan rulers dominating captives and of tact occurred at the end of the Late stimuli may have occurred as early as scenes of battles such as the one Formative period, but a date at the A.D. 530, and may be connected with shown in the murals, as a start of the Early Classic period seems curious hiatus in the erection of well as by skeletal evidence of a de in to accord better with E. C. Rattray's stelae that lasted for sixty years crease in the physical well-being of most cities reworking of the Teotihuacan ce central (Willey 1974). the common people at both the large ramic sequence (pers. comm.), which Certainly thiswithdrawal took place site of Tikal and the much smaller would place the vessels at about A.D. no later than the destruction of Teo one of Altar de Sacrificios (Haviland 300-350. Even so, this is earlier than tihuacan and its political and com 1967; Saul 1972). the contacts at Becan and Tikal, mercial eclipse in about A.D. 650. This The elite, on the other hand, which began after A.D. 378 and per period, however, saw the beginning were glorified as never before. The sisted for about a century. of the most flamboyant period of practice of erecting stelae reached its At Tikal and , Teotihuacan Classic Maya civilization. Surveys of peak in A.D. 790, and recent deci influence appears inmonuments and settlements show populations at their pherment of inscriptions on these in architecture as well as in portable maxima at almost all sites. Some monuments has told us something art (Coggins 1979) (see Fig. 8). Teoti centers that had been small villages about Maya dynastic politics and as In huacan had more than simply a during the Early Classic period, such about individuals. commercial or a diplomatic impact as Seibal, grew back to their Late 1960 Proskouriakoff demonstrated what Stephens and other early trav elers had assumed, that the history of the Maya "was graven on their monuments," showing that the dates on the stelae of Piedras Negras were consonant with the life-spans of human rulers. Kelley (1962) found a corroborative pattern on the monu ments of Quirigua, identifying five rulers, while Proskouriakoff turned her attention to Piedras Negras's upstream neighbor and elucidated the official biographies of two of its most prominent rulers, Shield-Jaguar and Bird-Jaguar. At about the same time, Berlin (1958) showed that the central sign of a hi eroglyphic form which he dubbed the "emblem glyph" varied from lo cation to location, suggesting that it referred to the name of a place or people. A number of sites in Pet?n and in the Usumacinta River basin, including Tikal, Seibai, Piedras Ne Yaxchilan, and were 7. ceremonial in function rather than intended for adornment gras, Palenque, Figure Possibly personal shown to have emblems with a local (see the large flare in the left ear of the Maya ruler Stormy Sky in Figure 8), this giant ear in case has been flare from Pomona measuring 15 cm in diameter is one of the finest known pieces of Late variant, which each Formative lapidary work. Although the raw material comes from the highlands to the found in the centers and the ? mainly south perhaps from the valley of the Motagua River, at present the only known source Some distant of in this ? the actual is to have been done in the lowlands. The surrounding regions. jade period carving likely occurrences have also been noted, four heads shown in profile are those of Maya deities, and scholars have recently however?for Tikal and demonstrated that the inscribed on the piece is Yucatecan, a tongue spoken in example, the northern part of the lowlands. Palenque emblems have appeared at

490 American Scientist, Volume 70 Copan, implying diplomatic or mar monumental art there; she seems to The twin-pyramid groups seem to tial alliance. have transmitted to her husband the have been cosmic diagrams repre The studies initiated by Pros throne of Tikal. senting the passage of the sun, in kouriakoff and Berlin have recently The dynasty appears to have which the ruler's image on a stela borne rich fruit in the long dynastic been deposed, but was restored in could be equated with the glory of sequences adduced for Tikal and A.D. 682 with the accession of a the sun god. The stela stood in an Palenque. The first named ruler of powerful man we know only as enclosure on the north side of the Tikal, Jaguar Paw, died in A.D. 376 "Ruler A," who engendered a cul group, representing the zenith; and is thought to be portrayed on the tural renaissance at Tikal that may stepped pyramids lay on the east and early jade known as the Ley den Plate, have been part of a more general west sides and a nine-doored build which bears a date of A.D. 320. moral revitalization of the commu ing on the south recalled the nine Coggins (1979) has argued that Jag nity. Choosing as the formal date of gods of the night and thus the sun's uar Paw's daughter married Curl his accession a day precisely 13 nocturnal journey below the earth. Nose, who appears on Tikal Stelae 4 katunob (260 years) after his great Ruler A was over 60 years old and 18 (on the former in a frontal, predecessor Stormy Sky assumed the when he died, and under his son and highland Mexican, pose) as a ruler in throne, and thus invoking a time of grandson, Rulers B and C, the impe his own right, and on the famous past prosperity (Coggins 1979; Jones tus that he had given to the devel Tikal Stela 31 (Fig. 8) as a deified an 1977), Ruler A began a colossal opment of Tikal continued until the cestor in the sky above his son, building program that included the settlement became the largest Classic Stormy Sky. Stormy Sky's grand first of a series of twin-pyramid center in the Maya world. Ruler B m daughter, the nameless "woman of groups as well as Temple I, his own built Temple IV, at 65 the tallest Tikal," is the first female to appear in funerary temple on the main plaza. Maya building known, as his burial place on the western edge of the great precinct, and linked it to the Figure 8. Erected in A.D. 440, Tikal Stela 31 (right) is one of the most complex and finely center broad causeways. He executed pieces of Classic Maya relief sculpture known. The front face of the squared by paved died before A.D. and was suc limestone shaft, about the height of a man, depicts Stormy Sky, ruler of Tikal in the first 768, half of the fifth century A.D. The incised design, seen in more detail at the left, shows ceeded by Ruler C, the last Tikal ruler Stormy Sky wearing a headdress incorporating the hieroglyphic for "sky" riven to allow of whom we know and the builder of a ? god with a smoking ax in his forehead, representing storm or thunder, to emerge the two largest twin-pyramid hence the nickname "Stormy Sky," given to him by archaeologists. Stormy Sky's elaborate costume, while typical of that of a Maya ruler, incorporates Teotihuacan groups. as on emblems such the quail on his left wrist and the skull his helmet. The two figures carved on the sides of the stela are dressed in emphatically Teotihuacan costumes; an image of the highland rain god Tlaloc adorns the square shield whose face is visible, and they carry atlatl spearthrowers. Above the head of Stormy Sky his predecessor Curl Nose as a looks down godhead, validating the dynastic succession. (Drawing courtesy of William R. Coe.)

1982 September-October 491 The rise of Palenque was later years seems highly likely: there is and more modest than that of Tikal, little evidence for an initial stage of but because its rulers chose to in theocratic organization, as was once were in the ser scribe their dynastic texts on large thought. The gods panels rather than narrow stelae, vice of the Maya rulers rather than they have left us the longest contin vice versa. uous records of any Maya site. The length of the texts has been of enor The of mous help in working out their collapse Maya meaning, a task accomplished over society the past eight years by Lounsbury, During the eighth and ninth centu Scheie, and Mathews (Lounsbury ries, however, the Classic Maya 1974; Mathews and Scheie 1974). The world crumbled. The erection of most celebrated ruler of Palenque monuments ceased, population was named Pacal?"shield" in slumped, and the great ceremonial his tomb was discovered were Maya?and precincts permanently aban in 9. The death 1952 under the Temple of the In Figure jade mask of Pacal, doned to the The reason for ruler of for most of the jungle. scriptions the Mexican ar Palenque seventh this by was dramatic collapse has been one century A.D., found in place when the chaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier of the most debated in sarcophagus within the Temple of the widely topics 10). Pacal in a stone was (Fig. lay great Inscriptions (Fig. 10) opened in 1952. Maya archaeology for the better part whose The life-size mosaic mask with its of sarcophagus elaborately eyes of a century, and there are still as inlaid shell and iron oxide is an carved lid shows him falling into the example of as there are scholars the and art commissioned many opinions jaws of death; and public private to voice images inscrip the rulers of which made it them. When the present, on by Palenque, tions the lid and around the tomb one of the most aesthetically innovative of problem-oriented phase of Maya chamber attested to his real and Maya capitals. studies began in 1970, the collapse which included a was mythical ancestry, the first complex process to be number of The was gods. body studied (Culbert 1973). A wide range smothered in same jade jewelry, including dynastic ancestry depicted in of theories has been advanced, in a mosaic mask that covered the rul his father's tomb and his portrayed voking the malign operation of both er's face A stucco head of from (Fig. 9). reception power his father. natural and human agents. One to be a of Pacal was Pacal's name can be thought portrait represented ei cluster of ideas suggested environ also found in the tomb. ther a a by pictograph of shield or by mental deterioration as the result of A has been in three vigorous dispute signs spelling out "pa-ca overcultivation. According to these over progress the past few years la"?an important corroboration of theories, the exhausted soil was re the actual of Pacal at the view that concerning age Maya hieroglyphic moved by erosion, filling in the death. The Lounsbury group claims writing has a major phonetic com shallow lakes, which were thus and Scheie that the (Mathews 1974) ponent. Further corroboration comes transformed from a vital water sup make it clear that he was one inscriptions from of his titles, "ma-kin-a" ply into useless swamps and sources born on 24 March A.D. 603; acceded to ("lord")/ which uses two elements: of disease. A variant held that the the throne of on 27 the Palenque July known sign for kin ("sun") and a competition between food crops and at the of and died on to 615, age twelve; sign which one of Bishop Landa's weeds became too intense for the 29 at the of in August 683, ripe age 80; informants the sixteenth century Maya to counter with their neolithic and to the advanced had they point ages assigned the value "ma." The technology. An extension of these reached Rulers A and B of texts by Tikal, Palenque have thus simulta "ecological" theories was the idea Cauac of and Sky Quirigua (over 80), neously provided us with an ex that the tropical rain-forest envi of Yaxchilan Shield-Jaguar (between traordinarily detailed portrait of a ronment was basically unsuitable for 92 and Ruz on the other of the seventh an 96). (1977), Maya dynasty and advanced society, so that failure hand, stresses the identifi centuries?we physical eighth know of at was predestined as population out cation of the skeleton as that of a man least seven rulers ran following Pacal? resources and disease swept of about and claims that the in and vital clues 40, for the elucidation of across the Maya lowlands. on the lid the scription sarcophagus . A second group of theories fo Pacal's as 39 and 9 Similar on gives age years dynastic successions cused social rather than ecological months. While the death of Ruz has have been documented in less detail factors, suggesting thatweakness in ended the it is fair to for argument, say Quirigua, Copan, , Bo the framework ofMaya society led to that the view of the Lounsbury group nampak, and other sites, mainly for internal dissolution or made invasion has found thus the Late Classic we greater acceptance period, and have fromwithout tempting. In either case far. to a of the begun get picture and the collapse of the ruling Pacal was succeeded his son, world as an uneven by patchwork of elite would have resulted. Thompson who built the beauti of Chan-Bahlum, kingdoms varying size and pros (1966) propounded a "peasant revolt" ful of the Cross not temples Group just perity, unlike medieval Italy or model in which the lower classes east of the of the the Roman or even Temple Inscriptions. lioly Empire the became disaffected by mounting on four Here, superb relief tablets in states of highland Mexico in the six exactions of tribute for an increas the of the Sun Temples (see Fig. 1), teenth century. The persistence of ingly esoteric and irrelevant pan Cross, and Foliated Cross and this Temple pattern from Late Formative theon of incorporeal gods. A gap Chan-Bahlum times on XIV, celebrated the for perhaps a thousand opened between rulers and ruled

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10. The of the the to a Figure Temple Inscriptions pyramid burial vault that was dug the stairs are decorated with at polychrome Palenque, named for the of in the bedrock before the structure was stucco long panels figures of Maya rulers, recently dynastic texts that line its walls, was the built. A massive door slab triangular damaged by volcanic ash. The structure, funerary pyramid of Pacal. Slabs in the onto the which was almost opened vault, with its permanent stone superstructure, floor of the upper cover a filled Pacal's building completely by sarcophagus. is representative of Classic Maya architec stairway the heart of The outer walls of the at the of ture descending through temple top at the height of its development.

which led to a the internal bloody revolution, collapse rather than being its Detailed examination of the destruction of the elite and their cause. Seibal is a site in proximate key collapse of Maya society convinced a cities, and return to a less organized this argument, because in A.D. 851 researchers that none of these ex level of model there was society. Thompson's constructed in the center of planations was sufficient in itself, thus links economic stress to moral itsmain a in an plaza building Yucate and overarching model combin and he subse can dismemberment, style surrounded by four tall ing many of the elements was ad the effects of two of which quently incorporated stelae, display impres vanced (Willey and Shimkin 1973). malnutrition and disease to account sive in personages Maya dress but To juggle a number of variables si for the massive of the with faces. At both Seibal depopulation non-Maya multaneously, Hosier and her col forest zone that the and Altar de further accompanied Sacrificios, leagues (1977) devised a computer of the social order. Concrete downstream, new simulation collapse pottery types ap linking resource exploi evidence for this was adduced made of fine theory peared, temperless paste tation, trade, external pressure, and from the of and or smashing stelae?por bright orange dull gray in certain prestigious activities of the traits of hated rulers. The model has color. Although analysis has shown elite within an overall context of recently been reiterated in a that these "fine wares were slightly paste" rising population level and density. modified form Hamblin and made by locally, both the technique They concluded that the of Pitcher growth (1980). used and the taste for this new an urban artisan class in the dense intrusion from the Gulf come from the Gulf Coast Military product settlements around the major cere Coast of Yucatan has also been around the sug region lower reaches of monial centers may have led to ex gested as a prominent factor in the the Usumacinta River. Thus the for cessive stress on the networks by collapse Sabloff and elements at Seibal (e.g., Willey eign may well which food was produced and dis 1967), of this have been or to although proponents Putun, Chontal, Maya, tributed the rapidly growing view admit that such an intrusion the canoe-borne traders and warriors cities. could have taken whom simply advantage Thompson called "the Phoe A systems approach has been of a vacuum an power resulting from nicians of the New World." adopted byCulbert (1977)and Sharer

1982 September-October 493 monster (1977). Culbert presents Maya culture model which allows formigration or the scaly back of the saurian death on a substantial scale?al which in art and as a growth system, with craft pro Maya myth supports duction and exchange the mecha though neither of these possible the living world. causes This "holistic" nism by which deviation was am of depopulation has yet approach (Willey in the ar is not to our plified, resulting in increased spe shown up convincingly 1980) likely only enlarge a the ancient cialization of producers and of the chaeological record. Such record of understanding of Maya but to new evi settlements inwhich they lived. The overpopulation followed by appar civilization yield ent a dence on more of rate of growth of these settlements rapid decline suggests fatal general problems exceeded the rate of increase in sub strain on the subsistence system, ei human cultural development, and in on sistence production, causing the ther in production or in the distri particular those transitions, or which system to collapse. Sharer suggests bution system that had developed to gradual catastrophic, result serve an so in the and dissolution of that the Maya were aware of this increasingly urbanized emergence com societies. problem, but his stress /response ciety. Systems modeling and complex a model holds that they took the puter simulation both have future us wrong turn by investing effort in in helping analyze these still im as appeals to the supernatural through ponderable factors they become References massive more defined. temple-building programs clearly Adams, R. E. W., W. Brown, and T. P. Culbert. while has simultaneously destablizing Maya archaeology become, 1981. Radar mapping, archaeology, and use. their environment. This process of in fact, a prime candidate for the kind ancient Maya land Science 213:1457 63. weakening in the internal system is of cooperation among varied disci Andrews, E. W., V, W. M. III, P. J. exacerbated by changes in the exter plines that is taking place in Chinese Ringle Barnes, A. Barrera R., and T. Gallareta N. In nal system: the rise of externally studies (Chang 1981). Advances in press. Komchen: An early Maya community oriented maritime trade routes in both on deciphering inscriptions in northwestern Yucatan. In Investigaciones creased the internal stress and en monuments and short ritual texts recientes en el area maya. Sociedad Mexicana on de hanced susceptibility to outside in such as those funeral vases, and Antropologia. rise the northern tervention. the elucidation of the complex ico Ball, J.W. 1977. The of Maya chiefdoms: A In (1979) that en of these same monuments socioprocessual analysis. Cowgill argues nography The Civilization, ed. R. E. W. demic warfare was a desta and vases, show us how Origins ofMaya major inextricably Adams, pp. 101-32. Univ. of blizing factor in the collapse, with the Maya interwove life and death, Press. the for and en struggle supremacy among mystery imagination (Coe 1973). Berlin, H. 1958. El glifo "emblema" las in the Maya states diverting resources The stylistic development of this art scripciones mayas. /. de la Soci?t? des Am?ri canistes 47:111-19. and energy into an unproductive can be discerned, and its roots Bernai, I. 1977. In Social path that at the same time increased sought, in the earlier styles of the Maya antiquaries. Process inMaya Prehistory: Studies inHonour overall stress within the and Pacific piedmont system. highlands Sir Eric ed. N. Hammond, pp. was actual of Thompson, A highly original view ad (Graham 1979), while the 19-43. Academic Press. vanced Puleston who centers that and dissemi In by (1979), produced Bishop, R. L., R. L. Rands, and G. R. Holley. nated artifacts such as vases can be noted that intervals of 13 katunob press. Ceramic compositional analysis in in occur between the Classic hiatus in established by elemental analysis, archaeological perspective. In Advances the erection of stelae and the col neutron activation, and Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 5, ed. including M. B. Schiffer. Academic Press. between the collapse and the by x-ray fluorescence techniques lapse, Bronson, B. 1966. Roots and the subsistence of abandonment of Chich?n (Bishop et al., in press). The study of reputed the ancient Maya. Southwestern ]. of Anthrop. can Itz?, and between that event and the provenance and trade patterns be 22:251-79. As the to have an im fall of Mayapan. unlucky expected increasing Brown, K. D. 1980. A brief report on Paleoin on as new in the Katun 11 Ahau repeated itself, Pul pact Maya studies data dian-Archaic occupation Quiche saw as a basin, Guatemala. Am. Antiq. 45:313-24. eston argued, the Maya it emerge from fundamental studies K. C. 1981. In search of China's be of disaster such as that of the huge chert-tool Chang, self-fulfilling prophecy New on an old civilization. and thus the factories at Colha. ginnings: light fatalistically accepted Am. Sei. 69:148-60. of the Classic world. Pul The economic infrastructure of crumbling Coe, M. D. 1973. The Scribe and His World. civilization?an infrastructure Maya eston's thesis looks into the Maya Maya Grolier Club. mind for an of the col based on new and role explanation agricultural production Coggins, C. C. 1979. A order the at last lapse, but all theories must also take supporting craft industries?is of the calendar: Some characteristics of the at Tikal. In Ar into account the observed physical beginning to be understood. The Middle Classic period Maya and ed. N. Hammond the of flotation techniques chaeology Ethnohistory, phenomena: high population application and G. R. 38-50. Univ. of Texas levels and recorded sur has led to the of valuable Willey, pp. density by recovery Press. data on the establishment of veys and the increasing social dis early internal Cowgill, G. L. 1979. Teotihuacan, tance rulers and ruled doc maize and thewide of between farming range militaristic competition, and the fall of the resources used the Classic In and Eth umented by monumental tombs, rich forest by Maya Maya. Maya Archaeology and Miksicek Mi ed. N. Hammond and G. R. Willey, grave goods, and differences in the (Hammond 1981; nohistory, et economic pp. 51-62. Univ. of Texas Press. comparative health of the two ksicek al. 1981). Such Culbert, T. P., ed. 1973. The Classic Col classes. comes full circle to il Maya archaeology Press. lapse. Univ. of New Mexico the abandon luminate the intellectual super Finally, gradual T. P. 1974. The Lost Civilization: The structure culture in thework Culbert, ment of the erection of monuments ofMaya and Row. Story of the Classic Maya. Harper and the desertion of the of Puleston (1977), where the pattern_ subsequent 1977. Maya development and collapse: have to be of drained fields used for intensive in great ceremonial precincts An economic perspective. In Social Process is seen as Studies inHonour Sir Eric explained through a demographic cultivation exemplifying Maya Prehistory: of

494 American Scientist, Volume 70 ed. N. Hammond, 509-30. R. S. K. and A. _ Thompson, pp. MacNeish, S., J. Wilkerson, 1843. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. Academic Press. Nelken-Terner. 1980. First Annual Report of Harper. the Belize Archaic Freidel, D. A. 1979. Culture areas and interac Archaeological Reconnais E. Thompson, J. S. 1966. The Rise and Fall of tion to the sance. Andover, MA: Robert S. spheres: Contrasting approaches Peabody Maya Civilization. 2nd ed. Univ. of Oklaho Foundation for emergence of civilization in the Maya low Archaeology. ma Press. lands. Am. 44:36-54. Antiq. Mathews, P., and L. Scheie. 1974. Lords of Turner, B. L., II. 1974. Prehistoric intensive Graham, A. 1979. Olmecs and The evidence. In Primera J. Maya, Izapans Palenque: glyphic agriculture in the Mayan lowlands. Science at Mesa Redonda de Abaj Takalik. In Actes du XLII Congr?s In Palenque, Part I, ed. M. 185:118-24. ternational des Americanist es, Paris 1976, vol. Greene Robertson, 63-76. 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