With NSF support, Drs. Antonia Foias and Kitty Emery together with an international team from the USA, Canada, and Guatemala will carry out two field seasons of archaeological excavations and environmental studies in the periphery of Motul de San José, the capital of a small Classic Maya state in northern Guatemala. The project brings together specialists in archaeology, soil studies, chemistry, ecology, zooarchaeology, and archaeobotany to explore the causes of the political dynamism of Maya states during the Late Classic period (A.D.600-830). The recent consensus that Maya political organization was highly dynamic with different states having variable sizes, scales, and developmental trajectories has been well received, but this recent scholarship has not been able to explain the causes of this dynamism. The traditional focus on major centers has also not shed sufficient light on how subsidiary settlements engaged with political power. But this dialectic between the rulers and the ruled lies at the heart of political dynamics in all complex societies. Furthermore, political decision-making occurs within an environmental landscape that offers both context and resources directly relevant to politics, economics, and ritual.

The goal of this project is to investigate the factors governing political dynamics by tracking how Motul de San José (MSJ) controlled and/or interacted with its periphery, specifically with two of its satellite centers (Chachaklu'um and K'ante'tuul). The MSJ polity provides an ideal situation for the proposed research because it is small enough to allow one to understand political relationships at low costs and because it is located in a highly heterogeneous environmental zone that offers a diversity of resources to different sites within the polity. Furthermore, a decade of archaeological work at Motul by the Co-PIs has provided a broad overview of its cultural history and environmental context.

Investigations at each site will include: (1) complete mapping; (2) environmental surveys; (3) horizontally extensive excavations in 3 households of different socioeconomic status; (4) stratigraphic test pitting and excavations of refuse deposits at an additional 8 households and the largest public plaza; and (5) analysis of all ancient remains. Finally, all these datasets will be integrated into a single GIS database to understand the changing relationships between all components through time. These studies will chart changing household construction and activities as well as the extent and nature of the exploitation of environmental resources (e.g., soils, water, animals, chert, clay) through the Late Classic to understand if Motul ruled its peripheries through alliances with local groups, or through conquest and territorial annexation.

This research will contribute to our understanding of the political structure of Classic Maya polities from the perspective of small communities which negotiate, resist or support political domination. Ultimately how political agency is combined with environmental exploitation at multiple levels within a polity determines the stability and longevity of that particular state, or its collapse, offering us lessons for the present time. The project will enhance opportunities for work, education, research and cooperation for local communities, archaeology students and professionals in Guatemala, Canada and USA. The project will also promote sustainable stewardship and ecotourism in this important area of northern Guatemala.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
Type
Standard Grant (Standard)
Application #
1250035
Program Officer
John E. Yellen
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2013-06-01
Budget End
2017-05-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$286,188
Indirect Cost
Name
Williams College
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Williamstown
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
01267