NOTE TO USERS The original manuscript received by UMI contains pages with indistinct andlor slanted print. Pages were microfilmed as received. This reproduction is the best copy available CLASSIC PERIOD ROYAL MAYA WOMEN: A FEMINIST ANALYSlS A Thesis Subrnitted to the Cornmittee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada c Copyright by Diane D. Maxwell 1998 Anthropology M.A. Program May 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale )+m of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K 1A ON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada Your fib Vorre reférence Our file Notre reldrence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seil reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfonn, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/filrn, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT CLASSIC PERIOD ROYAL MAYA WOMEN: A FEMINIST ANALYSIS Diane D. Maxwell Several lines of evidence of royal women in Classic Maya society are in terpreted as constituting these ancient women as icons of power and subjects of discourse. Feminist thought applied to the anthropological study of the official archaeological, osteological, burial, and textual evidence in conjunction with the visual representations of royal women. provides a framework for critique, analysis, and reinterpretation. The utilization of ferninist analysis and critiques results in the freedom to make new interpretations by exercising freedom from old assumptions and methods. This thesis applies feminist theory to contribute to the dismantling of repressive interpretations of royal Maya wornen in the an thropological canon and to rein terpret by acknowledging the role of culnirai representation in the social construction of gender and power relations in both the present and the past. It is argued here that feminist theory serves as a productive explanatory mode1 applicable in the in terpre tation of canonical represen tations of women not only in the present, but also in the past. Through a critique of past and present representations of royal Maya women, it becomes clear that by interpreting and narrating some (male),but not al1 (fernale),fragments of the past some Mayanists use, perhaps unconsciously, their point of view to appropriate royal Maya women's power in the past and to control women scholars in the present. These distortions in the evidence result in the marginalization of women in the past and in the present. In a re-vision of the representations of royal Maya women, it is clear that the arc haeological, osteological, burial, writ ten, and visual evidence of Classic period royal Maya women articulates an equality between women and men of royal status. In addition, descent during the Classic period appears to be ambilineal. The evidence communicates that royal women,like royal men, formed political and military alliances, captured prisoners, waged war, bloodlet , and ruled. Royal women depicted in the ceremonial jade-net costume were originators of new dynasties as the First Mother in the guise of the Moon Goddess. These royal women performed the sharnanic ritual of the vision quest to communicate with divine ancestors, spirits and goddesses/gods. In death. these Classic penod royal Maya women were revered as divine ancestors. ACKNOWDGMENTS This work could not have been written without the help and support of many people. First and foremost, 1 rnust give special thanks to my thesis supervisor. Dr. Paul F. Healy. He has at al1 times made himself available for advice and guidance, as well as support through difficult personal times. Equally important, he was the impetus for my enrollment as a full-time undergraduate, for my minor in Women's Studies, and my enrollmen t in the An thropology M.A. Program at Trent University. Finally, Dr. Healy has kept me centered and focussed on proving my arguments with hard archaeological evidence by making me understand just what is necessary to critique old interpretations. Secondly, 1 wish to thank the members of my supervisory committee, Dr. Joan Vastokas and Dr. Margaret Hobbs for their continueci support and encouragement. A special thanks goes to Dr. Hobbs for demonstrating the practicai uses of ferninist theories. 1 also thank Dr. Susan Jamieson who was a member of my supervisory committee when other members were on sabbatical leave. She was a great inspiration. In a similar vein, 1 should like to thank Dr. Herman Helmuth for his insights on osteological representations, Dr. Theresa Topic for her suggesteâ readings on prehistoric South American cultures, and Dr. Stephen Guy-Bray and Sharon Rosenberg for encouraging me to become a writer, Thirdly, 1 should like to thank The Royal Ontario Museum for the Moffat-Kinoshita Fellowship which enabled me to study the museum collections of art depicting ancient women and present an associated paper at the Third Archaeology and Gender Conference at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina in September of 1994. A special thanks to Pita Daniels, Technician of New World Archaeology who assisted me with the museum collections. Also 1 wish to thank Dr. David Pendergast and Dr. Elizabeth Graham for their invaluable insigh ts related to Maya archaeology. Fourthly, 1 should like to thank Trent University for the awards, bursaries, and scholarships and the On tario Government for scholarships that made it possible for me to complete this thesis. In particular, 1 would like to thank Pat Strode. Paulette Nichols, Sandi Cam, Pam Conley, and Joyce Sutton. Finally, but in no way least, 1 thank my children Evan, Ian, and Vanessa and my parents Robert and Dolorosa, to whom this work is dedicated. Despite the many years that have passed since I began as an undergraduate, my children have given me constant moral support. To my parents, the children and I thank you for helping financially and practically by caring for your grandchildren when my research took me away from home. 1 would never have completed this work without them. TABLE OF CONTENTS CMERONE CONTEXTUALIZING INTERPRETATION Introduction The Objective Defined A Review of Past Interpretations Thesis Data. Procedures. and Overview Summary CWERTMIO FEMINISMS. ARCHAEOLOGY. AND CULTURAL REPRESENTATION .... 13 An Historical Look at Feminisms and Archaeology ...............13 Why the Late Impact in Archaeology ............... 16 The Position of Women in Arc haeology ............... 18 The Position of Women in Mesoamerican Archaeology ............... 20 Feminist Critiques ............... 23 Feminist Critiques in Archaeology ...............27 Cultural Representation ...............32 Surnmary ............... 34 CHAPTER THREE LINES OF EVIDENCE THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD Introduction Female Burials at Tikal The Late Preclassic (250 B.C.-A.D. 250) The Early Classic (AD. 250-550) The Late Classic (A.D. 550-889) A General Overview FernaleNale Burial Patterns Aîtar de Sacrificios Caraco1 Uaxactun Holmul Piedras Negras Barton Ramie Palenque Pacbitun Seibal Dzibilchlatun Altun Ha Tonina Santa Rita Corozal Summary THE WRITTEN RECORD H ieroglyphic Inscriptions Tikal Naranjo Altar de Sacrificios Piedras Negras Yaxc hilan Bonampak Palenque Calakmul El Peru GENEALOGICAUDESCENT Parentage or Lineage Statements Summary THE VISUAL RECORD Introduction The Officia1 Public Art C hronology Costume and Regalia The Hui~il The Sarong The Jade.Net Costume The Moon Goddess and the Jade.Net Costume The First Mother and the Jade.Net Costume Headdresses and the Jade-Net Costume The Ceremonial Huipil and Headdress Badges Sumrnary CHAPTER FOUR RE-VISION Introduction Arc haeological Re-Vision A Re-Vision of the Written and Visual Evidence A Letter from Lady Six Sky Critique Summary CHAPTER FWE CONCLUSIONS Introduction Women Marginalized Gender Equality Descen t The Roles of Royal Maya Women Status as First Mother and Divine Ancestor Summary LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1 Late Preclassic Burials at Tikal TABLE 2 Early Classic Burials at Tikal TABLE3 LateClassicBurialsatTikal TABLE 4 Comparably Furnished and Constructed Burials TABLE 5 Selected Female Graves and their Attributes TABLE 6 Selected Burials of Elite Maya Women and Their Conte.xt, Type and Construction TABLE 7 The Jade.Net Costume and the Flrst Mother: A Preliminary List: Date and Place Distribution APPENDIX LIST APPENDK 1 The Communication Process in Writing Archaeology CHAPTER ONE CONTMTUALIZING INTERPRETATION Introduction Archaeology, like al1 academic disciplines, is embedded within a larger social and political context. The teological naturalization of gender in archaeological theory, method, and interpretation is problematlc ( Maxwell 19942 1). Anthropologists Sylvia Yanagisako and Jane F. Collier ( 1987) argue that this formulation of gender as 'given' and 'natural'