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The Chronology of Yaxuna

Evidence from excavation and ceramics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Charles Suhler ,
Traci Ardren  and
David Johnstone
Charles Suhler
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
Traci Ardren
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32301, USA
David Johnstone
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
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Abstract

Research at the ancient Maya city of Yaxuna, located in the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula, has provided sufficient data to suggest a preliminary chronological framework for the cultural development of this large polity. Primary ceramic and stratigraphie data are presented to support a five-phase scheme of cultural history, encompassing the Middle Formative through Postclassic periods (500 b.c.–a.d. 1250). In addition to chronological significance, the political ramifications of a pan-lowland ceramic trade are addressed. Yaxuna experienced an early florescence in the Late Formative–Early Classic periods, when it was the largest urban center in the central peninsula. A second renaissance in the Terminal Classic period was the result of Yaxuna's role in an alliance between the Puuc and Coba, in opposition to growing Itza militancy. This paper proposes a chronological framework for the cultural development of one northern Maya region in order to facilitate an understanding of this area as part of the overall history of polity interaction and competition in the Maya lowlands.

Type
Special Section: Recent Chronological Research in Northern Yucatan
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , Spring 1998 , pp. 167 - 182
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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