Ancient Maya politics : a political anthropology of the classic period, 150-900 CE

The Classic Maya have long presented scholars with vexing problems. One of the longest running and most contested of these, and the source of deeply polarized interpretations, has been their political organization. Using recently deciphered inscriptions and fresh archaeological finds, Simon Martin argues that this particular debate can be laid to rest. He offers a comprehensive re-analysis of the issue in an effort to answer a simple question: how did a multitude of small kingdoms survive for some six hundred years without being subsumed within larger states or empires? Using previously unexploited comparative and theoretical approaches, Martin suggests mechanisms that maintained a 'dynamic equilibrium' within a system best understood not as an array of individual polities but an interactive whole. With its rebirth as text-backed historical archaeology, Maya studies has entered a new phase, one capable of building a political anthropology as robust as any other we have for the ancient world. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title page 5 Copyright information 6 Dedication 7 Contents 9 List of Illustrations 11 List of Maps 17 List of Tables 17 List of Case studies 19 Preface 21 One Introduction: The Questions 25 Structure of the Book 33 Part I Agendas in Classic Maya Politics 37 Two Modelling the Maya 39 Conquerors and Clerics, 1502–1820 39 Pioneers, Savants, and Scholars, 1820–1930 42 A Tropical Arcadia, 1930–1950 44 The Pragmatists, 1950–1970 47 Of Maps and Models, 1970–1990 50 Into the Black Box, 1990–Present 53 Three On Archaeopolitics 60 Abandoning the State 61 The Recursive Turn 64 A Complex World 68 Four Worlds in Words 72 Two Ways of Knowing 73 Who Made This Text and Why? 75 The Nature of Maya Texts 78 The Relevance and Veracity of Maya Texts 79 Maya Texts as Patrimonial Rhetoric 83 Theorising the Event 84 Part II Epigraphic Data on Classic Maya Politics 89 Five Identity 91 Royal Titles 93 Ajaw 93 Kaloomte' 101 Baahkab 108 Noble Titles 109 Sajal 110 Ajk'uhuun 113 Ti'huun/Ti'sakhuun 115 Yajawk'ahk' 117 Lakam 117 Baahtz'am 118 ''Banded Bird'' 119 Case Study 1: Bones in the West 119 Case Study 2: The Rise of a Sajal at Bonampak/Lacanha 121 Case Study 3: Ranking the Nobility 123 Six Constitution 126 The Royal Cycle 127 Heirs and Eligibility 127 Interregna 131 Succession 133 Foundations 142 Hul, ''To Arrive'' 145 Pat, ''To Form'' 152 Kaj, ''To Settle'' 153 Case Study 4: Fraternal Succession at Palenque 156 Case Study 5: Erasing the Past in the Yaxchilan ''Interregnum'' 158 Case Study 6: On the Trail of the Serpent Kings 160 Seven Transcendence 167 Divinity and Kingship 168 Divine Things 169 Engaging the Gods 170 Lords of Time 171 Ancestors Above and Below 173 Patron Gods and Patron Ancestors 174 Royal Prototypes 174 Effigies and Embodiments 176 Gods' Houses 178 Patrons of War 181 Shifting and Adding Patrons 185 Case Study 7: Patron Maize Dancers 188 Case Study 8: Giant Effigies at Tikal 190 Eight Matrimony 197 Identifying Marriage 198 Genealogies 199 ''His/Her Spouse'' 200 Here Comes the Bride 200 Nuptial Ceremonies 201 Marital Iconography 203 Polygyny and Its Effects 204 Strategic Dimensions of Marriage 207 Exogamous Marriages 207 Endogamous Marriages 209 Case Study 9: Snake Ladies at La Corona 209 Case Study 10: Marriage Strategies at Yaxchilan 214 Nine Conflict 220 Warfare in Classic Maya Studies 221 Maya Warfare in the Material Record 224 Words of War 228 Chuk, ''To Seize, Tie-up'' 228 Star war ''?'' 232 Ch'ak, ''To Damage, Attack'' 233 Jub, ''To Take/Knock Down'' 235 Pul, ''To Burn'' 235 Other War Verbs 237 Statistical Analysis of Maya Warfare 239 Previous Statistical Work 239 Variation over the Classic Period 241 Conceptual Factors 244 Practical Factors 246 Interpreting Classic Maya Warfare 252 Scale and Frequency 252 Aims and Outcomes 255 Case Study 11: War and Exile on the Stairways of Dos Pilas 257 Ten Hierarchy 261 Relationships of Rank 262 Supervision 262 Oversight 263 Witnessing 264 Possession 264 Hierarchy and Historical Process 265 Hierarchy in the Early Classic Period, 300-600 CE 265 Hierarchy in the Late Classic Period, 600-900 CE 272 Case Study 12: The Contest For Eastern Tabasco, 659-692 CE 286 Case Study 13: Tonina's Campaigns in the Lacandon, 692-702 CE 293 Case Study 14: Naranjo's Patronage Over Defeated Polities, 698-713 CE 297 Eleven Coda 301 Climate and the Collapse 302 A Chronology of Crisis 303 A Northern Renaissance 307 Turbulence and Transformation in the Heartlands 308 Reading the Ninth Century 314 The Challenge of Interpretation 318 Part III A Political Anthropology for the Classic Maya 325 Twelve Classic Maya Networks 327 Ways and Means 328 Mapping the System 331 Networks in a Complex World 337 Hubs and Small Worlds 338 Cascades and Traumas 341 Thirteen Defining Classic Maya Political Culture 344 King and Cohort 344 Dynasty and Landscape 350 Engagements 358 Asymmetries of Power 368 Fourteen Hegemony in Practice and Theory 380 Hegemony from a Global Perspective 380 Fiji, 1750-1874 CE 380 Ireland, 400-1169 CE 382 India, 750-1250 CE 385 Greece, 750-338 BCE 387 The Logics of Political Division 389 The Nature of Multi-Polity Systems 390 Sovereignty, Autonomy, and Hegemony 395 A Balance of Power 398 Hegemonic Theory and the Classic Maya 403 Fifteen Summary and Conclusions: A Society of Kings 407 Synchrony 410 Diachrony 413 Final Thoughts 417 Appendix An Inventory of Emblem Glyphs 419 Notes 423 2 Modelling the Maya 423 3 On Archaeopolitics 425 4 Worlds in Words 425 5 Identity 426 6 Constitution 430 7 Transcendence 435 8 Matrimony 436 9 Conflict 438 10 Hierarchy 440 11 Coda 444 12 Classic Maya Networks 447 13 Defining Classic Maya Political Culture 447 14 Hegemony in Practice and Theory 450 References 451 Index 513 "The Classic Maya have long presented scholars with vexing problems. One of the longest running and most contested of these, and the source of deeply polarized interpretations, has been their political organization. Using recently deciphered inscriptions and fresh archaeological finds, Simon Martin argues that this particular debate can be laid to rest. He offers a comprehensive re-analysis of the issue in an effort to answer a simple question: how did a multitude of small kingdoms survive for some six hundred years without being subsumed within larger states or empires? Using previously unexploited comparative and theoretical approaches, Martin suggests mechanisms that maintained a "dynamic equilibrium" within a system best understood not as array of individual polities but an interactive whole. With its rebirth as text-backed historical archaeology, Maya studies has entered a new phase, one capable of building a political anthropology as robust as any other we have for the ancient world"-- Provided by publisher