5 - Palace Life

Summary

The major Maya cities of the Classic period all contain one or more palace compounds composed of numerous separate rooms linked by interior patios and courtyards. Difficult to access, they were private spaces for the royal extended family to practice courtly arts and enjoy the company of one another in safety. Excavation of a large palace complex at the powerful site of Calakmul provides artifactual evidence that different activities were conducted in each of the many rooms of the palace.¹ Lower terrace rooms were used for less important tasks, such as cooking and production of utilitarian stone tools, while the rooms on higher terraces were used for making more prestigious goods such as marine shell ornaments and cotton cloth. Artisans seem to have lived at the base of the palace complex and left few material objects, perhaps because they did not have access to goods other than basic provisions. In the largest cities the presence of more than one such palace compound underscores a persistent competition between dynasties that is also evident in hieroglyphic inscriptions commissioned by those elite who succeeded in taking the throne and installing their family in a secure position of power. Mirroring the lives of the majority of Maya people, the palaces had places for the preparation of food, for craft activities, and for sleeping and rest. But in contrast to most Maya families, the lives of the royalty were full of leisure, with their needs attended to by a large court of attendants, servants, and likely enslaved people (although the evidence for slavery is scant). This left them free to spend time in ritual, perfecting their artistic skills, or reading the almanacs or codices that predicted the nature of each day. Many hours were also spent entertaining visiting dignitaries, hosting feasts, and in private discussion with political allies. Most Classic Maya art depicts these activities, indicating how important it was for dynasties to commemorate the skillful participation of their members in such courtly arts. Diplomacy, the reckoning of time, and spiritual mediation were skills not only that elite members of society possessed but that royals needed to proclaim and display in order to reinforce their highly privileged status within society. It is certain that within Classic Maya society the majority of the population believed deeply in the semi-divine nature of their rulers, but it is also apparent that the rulers took great pains to reinforce this idea whenever possible.