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BUILDING AN EARLY MAYA COMMUNITY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT CAOBAL, GUATEMALA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2017

Jessica Munson  and
Flory Pinzón
Jessica Munson*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology-Anthropology, Lycoming College, 700 College Place, Williamsport, Pennsylvania 17701
Flory Pinzón
Affiliation:
Ceibal-Petexbatun Archaeological Project, 01005 Guatemala City, Guatemala
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
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Abstract

Archaeological investigations at the minor center of Caobal provide clues about local traditions of civic-ceremonial architecture as well as the relationship between these buildings and broader social and political transformations during the Preclassic period. The remains of pre-Hispanic Maya architecture represent a series of actions, decisions, and repeated practices, which contribute to long sequences of construction observed in the archaeological record. In particular, these data shed light on two major building campaigns that took place within Caobal's central precinct from about 850 b.c.–a.d. 250. By examining the materiality and temporality of minor temple architecture beyond primary centers of power, we examine how these buildings were constructed and, in turn, how these structures may have transformed the daily practices, identity politics, and religious values of pre-Hispanic Maya communities. Repeated construction of buildings in the temple precinct of Caobal provides a long and detailed archaeological record that allows us to reconstruct the history of material and social practices that shaped this local community beyond the Ceibal center.

Type
Special Section: After 40 Years—Revisiting Ceibal to Investigate the Origins of Lowland Maya Civilization
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , Spring 2017 , pp. 265 - 278
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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References

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