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Bridging the Chasm Between Religion and Politics: Archaeological Investigations of the Grietas at the Late Classic Maya Site of Aguateca, Peten, Guatemala

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Bridging the Chasm Between Religion and Politics: Archaeological Investigations of the Grietas at the Late Classic Maya Site of Aguateca, Peten, Guatemala UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Bridging the Chasm Between Religion and Politics: Archaeological Investigations of the Grietas at the Late Classic Maya Site of Aguateca, Peten, Guatemala A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Reiko Ishihara June 2007 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Karl A. Taube, Chairperson Dr. Wendy Ashmore Dr. James E. Brady Dr. Scott Fedick Dr. Takeshi Inomata Copyright by Reiko Ishihara 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am obliged to the Instituto de Antropología e Historia (IDAEH) of Guatemala and Mr. Hugo Barrera for their permission and support to conduct archaeological investigation in the grietas at Aguateca. I am gracious to Dr. Takeshi Inomata for inviting me to join his project to study the Grieta Principal at Aguateca. I thank the Aguateca Archaeological Project directors Dr. Daniela Triadan and Lic. Erick Ponciano as well as Lic. Otto Román and Sra. Estela Pinto for their guidance and tolerance. I appreciate Dr. Kazuo Aoyama, Dr. Kitty Emery, and Dr. Lori Wright for their expertise of various archaeological materials they have offered to the grieta project. The project was financially supported by the following grants: National Science Foundation (NSF) Dissertation Improvement Grant (SBE-0431332), NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, National Speleological Society Ralph W. Stone Graduate Fellowship in Cave and Karst Studies, and the University of California, Riverside, Dissertation Grant. My project also benefited from Dr. Takeshi Inomata’s NSF grant (SBE-0414167). I would like to express my gratitude to my dissertation committee members who have provided me with valuable knowledge and guidance throughout my graduate career: Dr. Karl Taube, Dr. Jim Brady, Dr. Wendy Ashmore, Dr. Scott Fedick, and Dr. Takeshi Inomata. I appreciate Dr. Tom Patterson and Dr. Michael Kearney for attending my defense on short notice. The project would not have been possible without the help and excellent work of the members of my crew. Cavers Beverly Shade, Nicholas Johnson, and Philip Rykwalder in addition to Douglas Weinberg explored, surveyed, and mapped the cave, and Mike Mirro coordinated with them to try to create a three-dimensional image using GIS. Jenny Guerra and Juan Manuel Palomo helped supervise investigations, and María de los Angeles Corado, Ana Cristina Morales, Matthew “Viejito” Young, and Marco Antonio Monroy persevered the depths of the grieta. Andre iv Detry volunteered for a week in 2004 to explore the grieta walls, and my sister Yuko Ishihara spent a week to explore Maya cave archaeology. Certainly, if it were not for the relentless work of the following people I would be stuck on the escarpment with the generator on my back!: Gregorio Bagi, Jose Cacao, Sebastian Choc, Roberto Cucul, Mateo Cuitz, Fidelino Mendez Perez, Leonel Och, Jesus Pascual, Eduardo Popcoc, Sergio Rivera, Juan Tux Ical, Jose Xe, Victoriano Xe, Pedro Xi, and Juan Xo. As caretaker of the site and guide during our recon trip, Edgar Castañeda’s keen interest in and familiarity with the grieta definitely provided a positive first impression of my dissertation topic to-be. In addition to the fieldwork, lab analysis was accomplished by the work of innumerable hands: Jenny “Duendita” Guerra’s long hours with piles of sherds, Marielos “es mi mochila!” Corado’s patient work with the ceramics, Yuko Shiratori for her myriads of sherd and ground stone illustrations, Juan Manuel “Juan Man” Palomo for his dedicated work with the human remains, Karla Hurtarte for her volunteered time in the lab, Hiro Iwamoto for illustrating many ceramics from the 2004 season, Alfredo Román for his illustrations of many figurines and worked bone from the 2005 season, Marco Antonio Monroy for our countless exchanges about typological identification of the sherds, and Christina Halperin for her help on the identification of many of the figurines. I thank Dr. Stephen Houston for his comments on some glyphic materials. I thank Dr. Jeff Dorale for taking in speleothem samples for analysis, and Christopher Morehart for agreeing to analyze the macrobotanical remains. Comprising an important part of project life was the camaraderie I enjoyed with my colleagues in the field and in the lab: Jeff “Madame” Buechler, Dr. Markus “Pa pa pa-” Eberl, Jenny “Duen” Guerra, Juan Man Palomo, Otto Román, and everyone on the “lista negra.” I am indebted to the Guerra family for taking me in as their “hija chinita” while I lived in Guatemala v City. In particular, I owe many thanks to Duendita ,“mi hermana chapina,” for always being there with me both underground and above. Thanks go to the following, for their friendship, scholarly discussions, and psychological support through graduate school and life: Dr. Miguel Aguilera, Shuji Araki, Dr. Jaime Awe, Chelsea Blackmore, Juan Luis Bonor, Kata Faust, Ben Fierro, Carrie “Shaz” Furman, Cameron “Bob” Griffith, Christophe Helmke, Zachary Hruby, Taisuke Inoue, Sakurako Kaminokado, Dr. Lisa Lucero, Michael Mathiowetz, Dr. Patricia McAnany, Ryan Mongelluzzo, Akiko Nomura, Gina Núñez, Ryoko Osawa, Lorena “L Vos” Paiz, Carlos Perez-Brito, Hirokazu Sasabu, Scott Smith, Myka “Bitz” Schwanke, Lauren Schwartz, Kathy Sorensen, Kenichiro Tsukamoto, Brian Weinberg, Dr. Harold Weinberg, and Darcy Wiewall. I am gracious to Arturo Diaz de Leon, who has stood by me through some hard times and has brought smiles and laughs back to my life. Finally, I am incredibly thankful to my family, Papa, Mama, Takeki, Yuko and Sachiko for their love and endless support through the past decade and beyond, allowing me to spread my wings to pursue a childhood dream in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. vi This dissertation research was completed in memory of Doug Weinberg, who I loved very much and who supported me enthusiastically and wholeheartedly through all my endeavors, including the 2003 reconnaissance trip and the 2004 field season. vii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Bridging the Chasm Between Religion and Politics: Archaeological Investigations of the Grietas at the Late Classic Maya Site of Aguateca, Peten, Guatemala by Reiko Ishihara Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Anthropology University of California, Riverside, June 2007 Dr. Karl A. Taube, Chairperson Archaeological investigations were conducted in the Grieta Principal, a large chasm that runs through the middle of the Late Classic Maya center of Aguateca, Peten, Guatemala. The central location of the grieta in addition to the incorporation of the grieta feature in the place name glyph suggested its religious importance to the Aguateca people. Alternatively, the unique morphology of the geological feature, such as exposed light spaces, seemed conducive to other activities or functions, including waste disposal from the residential buildings bordering the grieta and a mass graveyard of fallen bodies and weapons from the battles that presumably ensued at the end of Aguateca’s history. The objectives of the study consisted of examining the nature of grieta use, spatial and temporal transformations in grieta use, and how practices in the grieta correlated with the historical processes of the dynasty and the Aguateca inhabitants. Grieta Rincón, a smaller chasm at the site, was also subject to investigation. Aguateca, along with Dos Pilas, was one of the twin capitals of the dynasty that ruled the Petexbatun area, and its relatively well-understood brief political history provided a temporal framework with which to contextualize the activities in the grietas. The systematic program of inquiry was based on a viii three-phase data collection followed by laboratory analysis of the cultural materials: exploration, survey, and mapping; surface collections; and excavations. The grieta map were tied into the surface site map so as to correlate spatial use in the Grieta Principal with structures on the surface site. This research archaeologically expands the current field’s understanding of the definition of a “cave” in Maya religion. The data point to a principal use as a place where ritual practices were performed inside the grieta. It is plausible that the grieta served a focal position in establishing the “sacred landscape” that agreed with a cosmologically significant spatial configuration. More importantly, however, this study focused on elucidating social negotiations revolving around the dynamic production of landscape. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………………… .xvii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………...….. .xx CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………….. ….1 Objectives of the Dissertation……………………………………………………………….. 1 Theoretical Background…………………………………………………………….. ……….3 Practice and History………………………………..……………………….….……….3 Ideology in Practice…………………………………………………………… ……….6 Space and Landscapes…………………………………………….……….….……. ...10 Research Approach………………………………………………………………… ……….17 Overview of Dissertation Chapters………………………………………………………... 18 CHAPTER 2: CAVES IN MESOAMERICAN COSMOLOGY………………………… ...23 Development of Mesoamerican Cave Archaeology……………………………………….. 23 Significance of “Cave”…………………………………………………………….. ……….27 Caves in Place Names……………………………………………………………… ………28 Caves in Maya Religion……………………………………………………….…………… 29 Ethnohistoric and Ethnographic Records of Cave Use…………………………………….. 30 Archaeological Evidence of Cave Use…………………………………………… ………...33 CHAPTER 3: SITE SETTING………………………………………………………... …….37 Past Investigations at Aguateca…………………………………………………….. ………37 Political History of Aguateca………………………………………………….……………
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