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Interregional Relationships in Mesoamerica: Interpreting Maya Ceramics at Teotihuacan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sarah C. Clayton
Sarah C. Clayton*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
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Abstract

Interaction between distant, culturally distinct, complex societies can significantly impact the sociopolitical development of the societies involved. In Classic period Mesoamerica, the urban center of Teotihuacan was a dominant force in the Valley of Mexico, and there is compelling evidence that its influence extended well beyond this region. The role of Teotihuacan in the political development of Maya cities has been debated for decades, though interaction may have also included exchange and the presence of Maya individuals at Teotihuacan. In this study I investigate interaction between Teotihuacan and several Maya polities through typological, spatial, and compositional analyses of Maya ceramics found at Teotihuacan. Data from instrumental neutron activation analysis are used to identify probable subregions from which Maya ceramics were imported to Teotihuacan. Results indicate that diverse Maya polities interacted with Teotihuacan over the course of five centuries, and that relationships involving polities in the central Petén region were particularly long-lived. This research has important implications for understanding the sociopolitical histories of Mesoamerican complex societies specifically, and interaction among complex societies in general.

La interacción entre las sociedades complejas alejadas y culturalmente distintas puede afectar el desarrollo sociopolítico de las sociedades involucradas. En el período clásico de Mesoamérica, el centro urbano de Teotihuacan era una fuerza dominante en el Valle de México, y hay evidencias convincentes de que su influencia se extendió más allá de esta región. Los arqueólogos han discutido por décadas el papel de Teotihuacan en el desarrollo político de las ciudades mayas, pero han puesto menos atención al intercambio y a la presencia de los inmigrantes mayas en Teotihuacan. En este estudio investigo las relaciones entre Teotihuacan algunos centros políticos mayas por medio de análisis tipológicos, espaciales, y de composición de la cerámica de una muestra de tiestos mayas encontrados en Teotihuacan. Utilizo los resultados de un análisis de activación neutrónica para identificar las probables subregiones de las cuales provinieron las cerámicas mayas que fueron importadas a Teotihuacan. Los resultados indican que diversos centros políticos mayas interactuaron con Teotihuacan durante cinco siglos. Las relaciones con los centros políticos de la zona central del Petén fueron particularmente duraderas. Esta investigación tiene implicaciones importantes para entender específicamente las historias sociopolíticas de las sociedades complejas de Mesoamérica, y en general, la interacción entre las sociedades complejas.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , December 2005 , pp. 427 - 448
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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