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A Reversal of Fortune: Problematical Deposit 50, Tikal, Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2021

Hattula Moholy-Nagy Open the ORCID record for Hattula Moholy-Nagy [Opens in a new window]
Hattula Moholy-Nagy*
Affiliation:
American Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South Str., Philadelphia, PA19104, USA
*
(hattula@sprynet.com, corresponding author)
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Abstract

The contents, context, and date of Problematical Deposit 50 bear on the origin, function, and meaning of Teotihuacan stylistic traits in the Southern Maya Lowlands. Archaeological data and material culture research appear to support emulation and adaptation by local rulers and elites, while an actual presence of Teotihuacanos is asserted by epigraphy and iconography. PD 50, the partial contents of a probable Early Classic chamber burial, appears to support local emulation, but an extraordinary pottery vessel, nicknamed here the “Arrival Bowl,” implies direct contact. The chronology and archaeological context demonstrate that the appearance of Teotihuacan stylistic traits at Tikal during the later Early Classic period is functionally distinct from the goods distributed over an interregional interaction sphere of much longer duration in which both Central Mexico and the Maya area participated. Furthermore, together with other features at Tikal, PD 50 suggests that adoption of Teotihuacan ideology by Tikal's elite was eventually met with resistance that contributed to the violence at the end of the Early Classic period that is manifested in the archaeological record.

El contenido, contexto, y la fecha del Depósito Problemático 50 tienen relación con el origen, la función y el significado de los rasgos estilísticos teotihuacanos en el área de las tierras bajas mayas. Los datos arqueológicos y los estudios de la cultura material parecen apoyar la emulación y la adaptación de los gobernantes y las élites locales, mientras que la epigrafía y la iconografía afirman la presencia real de teotihuacanos. PD 50, el contenido parcial de un probable entierro de cámara en el Clásico Temprano, parece apoyar los desarrollos locales, pero un extraordinario recipiente de cerámica, apodado aquí el Cuenco de Llegada, sugiere contactos directos. La cronología y el contexto arqueológico en Tikal indican que la aparición de rasgos estilísticos teotihuacanos durante el período Clásico Temprano posterior es funcionalmente distinta de los materiales distribuidos en una esfera de interacción mesoamericana de mayor duración en la que participaron tanto el centro de México como el área maya. Además, junto con otras características en Tikal, PD 50 sugiere que la adopción de la ideología teotihuacana por parte de la élite de Tikal se encontró con una resistencia que contribuyó al final violento del período Clásico Temprano evidente en el registro arqueológico.

Keywords

MayaTeotihuacanTikalEarly Classicproblematical depositsMayaTeotihuacanTikalClásico Tempranodepósitos problemáticos
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 486 - 502
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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