Book contents
- Ancient Southeast Mesoamerica
- Case Studies in Early Societies
- Ancient Southeast Mesoamerica
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Ways of Understanding Southeast Mesoamerica
- 2 Power, Hierarchy, and Social Differentiation
- 3 Early Arrivals, Domestication, and Emerging Sociopolitical Complexity in Southeast Mesoamerica (10,000 (?)–400 BCE)
- 4 Reformulating Social Networks through the Novel Uses of Things (400 BCE–CE 200)
- 5 The Arrival of Divine Lords
- 6 The Copán Realm, Its Colonies and Allies (CE 600–800)
- 7 The End of Days
- 8 Concentrating Power and Building Hierarchy beyond the Copán-Centered Network (CE 600–800)
- 9 Concentrating Power in the Terminal Classic beyond Copán (CE 800–1000)
- 10 Power and Political Economy in the Late Classic Naco and Middle Chamelecón Valleys (CE 600–800)
- 11 Hierarchy to Heterarchy in the Terminal Classic Naco and Middle Chamelecón Valleys (CE 800–1000)
- 12 Contrasting Forms of Complexity
- 13 Contesting for Power, Challenging Hierarchy, Making History
- References
- Index
7 - The End of Days
Political Decentralization and Its Aftermath among Members of the Copán-Centered Network (CE 820–1000)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 April 2024
- Ancient Southeast Mesoamerica
- Case Studies in Early Societies
- Ancient Southeast Mesoamerica
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Ways of Understanding Southeast Mesoamerica
- 2 Power, Hierarchy, and Social Differentiation
- 3 Early Arrivals, Domestication, and Emerging Sociopolitical Complexity in Southeast Mesoamerica (10,000 (?)–400 BCE)
- 4 Reformulating Social Networks through the Novel Uses of Things (400 BCE–CE 200)
- 5 The Arrival of Divine Lords
- 6 The Copán Realm, Its Colonies and Allies (CE 600–800)
- 7 The End of Days
- 8 Concentrating Power and Building Hierarchy beyond the Copán-Centered Network (CE 600–800)
- 9 Concentrating Power in the Terminal Classic beyond Copán (CE 800–1000)
- 10 Power and Political Economy in the Late Classic Naco and Middle Chamelecón Valleys (CE 600–800)
- 11 Hierarchy to Heterarchy in the Terminal Classic Naco and Middle Chamelecón Valleys (CE 800–1000)
- 12 Contrasting Forms of Complexity
- 13 Contesting for Power, Challenging Hierarchy, Making History
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter traces the consequences of Copán’s dynastic collapse for the realms that had been colonies or allies of the lowland Maya capital. All of these domains underwent demographic declines and political fragmentation. The nature of the changes, however, differed depending in part on what relations an area’s inhabitants had enjoyed with Copán’s agents. A crucial event in this process was the secession of Quirigua from the colonial network in CE 738. This dramatic development precipitated changes in governance at Copán even as it offered novel opportunities for former allies to advance claims to power that had not been available to them when Copán’s rulers enjoyed greater regional predominance. Ultimately, however, processes of political centralization and hierarchy building were curtailed among all participants in this network by CE 1000.
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- Ancient Southeast MesoamericaPolitical Economies without the State, pp. 158 - 177Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024