Over the last half-century, Maya archaeologists have variously identified “minor centers” as small-scale ceremonial or administrative centers, elite residential compounds, dower houses, manor houses, astronomical stations or markers, and boundary markers. Arguments for these identifications have ranged from simple assertions to elaborate analyses. What has emerged most clearly is that, as with any form of monolithic type, the “minor center” category—based in this case on relative size—represents something of a functionally mixed hodgepodge. Such architectural complexes in fact served and represented a multiplicity of as yet incompletely appreciated sociocultural functions and roles. We examine one such center, Nohoch Ek, and its likely role within the Late to Terminal Classic social landscape of the upper Belize Valley, based on investigations carried out by the authors in 1985, and by Michael Coe and William Coe in 1949. The study combines in-depth artifactual, depositional, and contextual analyses of an extensive body of data that was recovered using strategically placed purposive stripping and sampling trenches. We conclude that Classic period Nohoch Ek looked and functioned very much like a medieval European agricultural manor.

Recientes estudios en la cordillera andina de Chile Central nos han permitido identificar la coexistencia de dos modos de vida distintos en el mismo territorio durante el período Alfarero Temprano (350 a.C. a 900 d.C). Estos dos modos de vida corresponden, por un lado, a poblaciones de cazadores recolectores continuadores de la tradición Arcaica, especialmente en los aspectos económicos y en la tecnología lítica orientada curatorialmente, pero poseedores de algunas vasijas de cerámica adquiridas desde otros grupos propiamente alfareros y, por otro lado, a poblaciones semi-sedentarias con una economía hortícola, una desarrollada industria alfarera y una tecnología lítica principalmente expeditiva. Ambas poblaciones coexistieron e interactuaron en este territorio hasta fechas cercanas al 900 d.C.

The ceremonial architecture of Late Postclassic Mayapán (A.D. 1268–1441) in Yucatán, Mexico, included repetitive arrangements of buildings known as temple assemblages. Archaeological investigations conducted by the Proyecto Maya Colonial in Petén, Guatemala, revealed a pocket of temple assemblages in a zone occupied by the seventeenth century Kowoj Maya. The Kowoj claimed to have migrated from Mayapán sometime after the city’s collapse in A.D. 1441. Indigenous documents also describe Kowoj in Mayapán and linguistic data indicate migrations between Yucatán and Petén as well. A specific variant of temple assemblage defines the location of the Kowoj in both Mayapán and Petén. I argue that these assemblages were the exemplary centers or microcosms of the Kowoj social and physical universe and they were transplanted as the Kowoj re-centered themselves in new or, perhaps, reclaimed lands. The temple assemblages also communicated a prestigious connection with Mayapán and differentiated the Kowoj from their neighbors in Petén.

During the Middle Horizon (A.D. 540–900) the Wari of the central highlands Ayacucho region expanded their control into many parts of the Andes. While different motives have been cited for Wari state expansion, we suggest that a severe and prolonged drought during the sixth century may have played a significant role. We posit that the Wari responded to this environmental crisis not only by seeking practical solutions, such as securing productive land outside the heartland, but also by implementing religious practices intended to cosmologically restore fertility to drought-stricken areas and validate acquisition of arable land in foreign territories. Using a model of Inka ideology developed by Peter Gose, we propose that a strong religious complex involving ancestor worship, huacas, and the cosmological control of water led the Wari to seek out and control locations where water could be drawn from supernatural sources. The presence of large bodies of water near major Wari administrative sites as well as other natural phenomena, particularly certain mountains, rock formations, and large stones, and site offerings of Spondylus, copper, and stone figurines support this model. A sacred Wari landscape is thus seen as complementary to the established political landscape and providing a supernatural justification.

Excavation of a small Maya ceremonial structure at the site of Piedras Negras, Guatemala, has revealed a Late Classic period (ca. A.D. 600–900) vaulted tomb containing the remains of a young member of the royal family whom we identify as “Night-time Turtle.” The artifact assemblage from the burial included a modest quantity of carved jade jewelry (38 pieces), an incised vessel dating to the early Yaxché (ca. A.D. 630–680) ceramic phase, and a ceremonial “bundle” of bloodletting implements. Although the sex of this adolescent was not determined during osteological examination, hieroglyphic evidence from a recovered stingray spine suggests that this was a prince, probably the son of Ruler 2 or 3. Placed at an entrance to the royal precinct atop its monumental staircase, his funerary structure was an integral part of the sacred landscape, accessed by visitors to the precinct or to the palace beyond. Following a description of the site, tomb, osteology, and artifacts, we discuss the nature of this landscape and the role in it played by this “guardian” of the Acropolis.

This study examines variability in size, staple crop production, and wealth among households in the community of K'axob, Belize, from the ninth century B.C. until the ninth century A.D. Staple crop consumption and production are reconstructed from stable bone isotopes of 25 adults from 21 households. The formation of larger corporate households is documented from the spatial layout of 62 residences. Wealth differentiation is reconstructed by comparing architectural and ritual elements from 69 households. The formation of larger corporate households, the diversification of staple crop production, and the emergence of interhousehold wealth differentiation beginning in the fourth century B.C. coincided with the emergence of regional elites. However, changes in household size and staple crop production should be understood in terms of the high degree of continuity in the local agrarian economy. These findings suggest that elite political strategies had repercussions for the ways farming households managed staple crop production but that elites did not directly control production. The study also expands on current models of complex society that question the degree to which political elites directly managed the agrarian economy.