STATE INTERVENTIONISM IN THE LATE CLASSIC MAYA PALENQUE POLITY: HOUSEHOLD AND COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGY AT EL LACANDÓN by Roberto López Bravo Licenciado en Arqueología, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 1995 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH KENNETH P. DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Roberto Lopez Bravo It was defended on April 18, 2013 and approved by Katheryn M. Linduff Robert D. Drennan Marc Bermann Olivier de Montmollin Dissertation Advisor ii Copyright © by Roberto López Bravo 2013 iii STATE INTERVENTIONISM IN THE LATE CLASSIC MAYA PALENQUE POLITY: HOUSEHOLD AND COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGY AT EL LACANDÓN Roberto López Bravo, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2013 Archaeological materials from seven excavated households (three commoner, three elite and a super-elite) from El Lacandón, a rural settlement of the Ancient Maya Palenque polity in Chiapas, Mexico; are analyzed to examine how households and communities were articulated and later affected by incorporation into larger sociopolitical entities. The study spans El Lacandón’s foundation in the Late Preclassic period (300 B.C. -A.D. 150), its abandonment as part of its assimilation into the Palenque polity at the beginning of the Classic period (ca. A.D. 150), and its re-foundation as a 2nd level community in the political hierarchy of the Palenque polity at the end of the Late Classic (A.D. 750-850). Economic analyses consider patterns of production and consumption. Obsidian blade manufacturing was organized as a household-level production in both periods, and it was not attached to elite interests during the Late Preclassic, with households of both statuses engaged in paper production, woodworking and paper/cloth imprintings. The pattern changes during the Late Classic, with manufacturing activities restricted to elite households. In terms of consumption, obsidian was available in similar quantities to all households during the Late Preclassic, and became more abundant in elite households during the Late Classic. Ideological patterns of the Late Classic period show that the super-elite household was clearly linked to Palenque’s great tradition expressed in burial practices, according to body position and head orientation. Local elite burials practices were more diverse, which was possibly related to a local little tradition. El Lacandón’s abandonment at the end of the Late Preclassic coincides with the growth of Palenque as a political capital, a pattern frequently iv observed in cases where rural population moved to growing political capitals. Sociopolitical patterns during the Late Classic were examined by a comparison of civic precinct planning and the differential distribution of elite and commoner households in the districts of the Palenque polity. The analysis concluded that provincial elites exercised less power than the elite of the capital, but were able to negotiate a local identity expressed in Palenque-related elements and also elements of other polities. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... IX LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... XI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................... XV 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 ANCIENT MAYA POLITICAL SYSTEMS ............................................................ 3 1.2 CAPITAL-HINTERLAND (SUBSIDIARY COMMUNITIES) RELATIONS ..... 4 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS......................................................................................... 5 1.4 PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH ................................................... 8 1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THIS DISSERTATION..................................................... 10 1.6 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 10 2.0 EL LACANDÓN AND THE PALENQUE POLITY: REGIONAL LANDSCAPE, CULTURE HISTORY, AND COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION ............................................. 12 2.1 REGIONAL LANDSCAPE ...................................................................................... 12 2.2 CULTURE HISTORY OF THE NORTHWESTERN ZONE .............................. 14 2.3 EL LACANDÓN’S LATE PRECLASSIC AND LATE CLASSIC COMMUNITIES ................................................................................................................ 23 2.3.1 Chronological evaluation ........................................................................... 26 2.3.2 Late Classic House Group architectural status and excavation areas ... 27 2.3.3 Community sectors at Late Classic El Lacandón .................................... 29 2.4 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 34 3.0 THE LATE PRECLASSIC COMMUNITY ................................................................... 35 3.1 DEFINING HOUSE GROUP STATUS AND HOUSE GROUP EXCAVATIONS ............................................................................................................... 36 vi 3.2 HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY ..................................................................................... 43 3.2.1 Stone tools production ................................................................................ 44 3.2.2 Other production activities ........................................................................ 47 3.2.3 Stone tools raw material acquisition ......................................................... 48 3.2.4 Obsidian Consumption ............................................................................... 51 3.3 FEASTING ................................................................................................................. 53 3.4 HOUSEHOLD IDEOLOGY .................................................................................... 58 3.4.1 Domestic ritual ............................................................................................ 58 3.4.2 Burial practices and furniture ................................................................... 60 3.5 SOCIOPOLITICAL PATTERNS AND THE EARLY CLASSIC TRANSITION .................................................................................................................... 66 3.6 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 70 4.0 THE LATE CLASSIC COMMUNITY ........................................................................... 72 4.1 HOUSE GROUP ARCHITECTURAL STATUS................................................... 74 4.1.1 Late Classic House Group excavations ..................................................... 74 4.2 HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY ..................................................................................... 82 4.2.1 Stone tools production ................................................................................ 83 4.2.2 Figurine production .................................................................................... 89 4.2.3 Wood carving .............................................................................................. 91 4.2.4 Stone tools raw material acquisition ......................................................... 91 4.2.5 Obsidian consumption ................................................................................ 94 4.3 FEASTING ................................................................................................................. 96 4.3.1 El Lacandón Late Classic serving vessels distribution ............................ 97 4.3.2 Palenque Late Classic serving vessels distribution ................................ 102 4.3.3 El Lacandón and Palenque feasting comparisons ................................. 105 4.4 HOUSEHOLD IDEOLOGY .................................................................................. 106 4.4.1 Domestic ritual .......................................................................................... 106 4.4.2 Burial practices and furniture ................................................................. 110 4.5 SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. 114 5.0 LATE CLASSIC SOCIOPOLITICAL PATTERNS .................................................... 116 5.1 EL LACANDÓN AND THE LATE CLASSIC PALENQUE POLITY ............. 116 vii 5.1.1 Late Classic population distribution among districts and capitals ...... 121 5.2 EXCAVATIONS AT EL LACANDÓN’S CIVIC PRECINCT .......................... 126 5.3 CIVIC PRECINCT PLANNING ........................................................................... 132 5.3.1 Civic precinct templates at subordinate centers .................................... 138 5.3.2 Civic precinct’s architecture .................................................................... 140 5.4 SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. 144 6.0 CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................