Browsing by Subject "Maya archaeology"
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Item Bodies politic, bodies in stone : imagery of the human and the divine in the sculpture of Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyú, Guatemala(2013-05) Henderson, Lucia; Guernsey, Julia, 1964-; Stuart, David, 1965-Bulldozed, effaced, and paved over by the buildings and winding streets of Guatemala City, the vast majority of the archaeological remains of Kaminaljuyú are now lost to us. This early site, which reached its peak during the Late Preclassic period (ca. 300BC-250AD), was once the largest and most influential site of the Maya highlands and one of the most important sites of early Mesoamerica. This dissertation, begun as an art historical salvage project, is at once documentary and analytical. It not only focuses on recording and preserving the Late Preclassic bas-relief stone sculptures of Kaminaljuyú through accurate technical drawings, but also provides cautious and detailed analyses regarding what this iconography can tell us about this ancient site. In essence, the following chapters approach, flesh out, and describe the bodies of Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyú---the stone bodies, the divine bodies, and the human bodies that interacted with them across the built landscape. They discuss topics like human sacrifice, the Principal Bird Deity, and the myriad supernatural forms related to water and wind at Kaminaljuyú. They consider the noisiness of performance, the sensory impact of costumed rulers, and the ways in which these kings utilized the mythical, supernatural, and divine to sustain their rule. In addition to untangling the complex iconography of these early sculptures, these chapters give voice to the significance of these stones beyond their carved surfaces. They contemplate the materiality of stone and the ways in which the kingly body and sculpted monuments were inscribed, made meaningful, and performed to establish and maintain ideological, socio-political, and economic structures. In essence, then, these chapters deal with the interwoven themes of stone and bone and flesh and blood; with the structuring of human, sculpted, and divine bodies; and with the performative role these bodies shared as transformative spaces where extraordinary things could happen. In other words, this dissertation not only addresses stone carvings as crucial points of access into the belief structures and political strategies of Kaminaljuyú, but as active participants in the social, economic, and ideological processes that shaped human history at this ancient site.Item Variable use of a monumental space at the ancient Maya site of La Milpa, Belize(2016-05) Trein, Debora Cristina; Valdez, Fred, Jr., 1953-; Luzzadder-Beach, Sheryl; Morris, John; Rodriguez, Enrique; Wilson, SamuelThis dissertation examines the variability in the ways a monumental space was accessed and used by its community at the site of La Milpa, northwest Belize, between Late Preclassic (ca. 400 BCE – 250 CE) and Terminal Classic periods (ca. 780/850 – 900 CE). An analysis of the literature concerning the study of ancient Maya public monumental spaces shows that these spaces are often perceived as the material extensions of a privileged social class. This paradigm has also fostered an interpretive framework that largely disregards the presence and agency of the non-elite majority of the ancient Maya population, who likely interacted with these same spaces in their own distinct, nuanced ways. Using practice and agency theories, landscape anthropology, and the study of commoners in ancient Maya society, I analyze the material culture present in and around Structure 3, a large pyramidal temple at the largest plaza at La Milpa, to examine how groups of people from various socioeconomic contexts used, accessed, and impacted this space over the course of the occupation of this site. In order to study patterns of access and use of Structure 3, I focused on the identification of activity areas. I employed excavations, artifact analysis, volumetric analysis, geochemical analysis through ICP-MS, and sediment micromorphology to recover as wide a dataset as possible for the examination of activity areas. The data collected from the research area shows that the space framed by Structure 3 was accessed and used by the La Milpa community in very distinct ways over its life-history. From a relatively narrow range of activities in the Late Preclassic to Early Classic periods (ca. 400 BCE – 600 CE), the level and variability of activities occurring in and around Structure 3 greatly increases in the second half of the Late Classic to the Terminal Classic periods (ca. 650/700 – 900 CE). The transformation in how Structure 3 was accessed and used in the second half of the Late Classic to the Terminal Classic periods was likely a product of the changing needs of a dynamic community undergoing dramatic demographic and political transformations in this period.