The Decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing

The Decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing. Stephen Houston. Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos. and David Stuart. eds. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. 576 pp.     

Annales History and the Ancient Maya State: Some Observations on the Dynamic Model

Joyce Marcus has recently proposed a dynamic model for the ancient Maya state. In doing so she has emphasized the importance of spatiotemporal fluctuations between centralization and decentralization. Although this idea has obtained wide-ranging support, there has been little consideration of why these oscillations occurred. This article proposes that one of the key factors was the fundamental tension between the institutions of kinship and kingship. Viewed through the lens of Annales, or French Structural history, this appears to constitute a classic example of the contradictions between a long-term structure (kinship) and medium-term (longship) cycle. [Key words: Maya, sociopolitics, integration, cycling, Annales]     

Porotic Hyperostosis and Paleoepidemiology: A Forensic Perspective on Anemia among the Ancient Maya

Porotic lesions caused by childhood anemia are commonly found on ancient Maya crania and have been cited as evidence for extremely poor nutrition during the Classic Period. We reconsider this characterization in the light of recent data on childhood anemia in rural Guatemala and the prevalence of porotic hyperostosis in crania of forensic skeletal remains of rural highland Maya from Plan de Sanchez, Baja Verapaz, which date to 1982. The abundance of porotic hyperostosis in adults from Plan de Sanchez fits well with the number of modern rural children suffering from anemia, but the lesions are very rare compared to archaeological series. Although some minor change in diet and infection may contribute to differences in porotic hyperostosis, it is likely that higher mortality leads to fewer anemic lesions in modern adult crania. We hypothesize that more anemic children survived to adulthood in the past than do today, [iron-deficiency anemia, porotic hyperostosis, Maya, nutrition, forensic anthropology, osteological paradox]     

Consuming the Maya

(T)he problem is a failure to be conscious of essentialism, whether it springs from the assumptions with which we approach our subjects or the goals that motivate our writing.     

Rethinking Ancient Maya Social Organization: Replacing "Lineage" with "House"

Long-standing disagreements concerning prehispanic Maya kinship and social organization have focused on the nature of their corporate groups, generally presumed to have been lineages. Specific debates center on whether the lineages were patrilineal or incorporated some kind of double-descent reckoning, how descent was combined with locality to define a group, and the status of lineage-outsiders within a group. It is argued here that Maya social organization is better approached within the contemporary critique of kinship, replacing "lineage" with Lévi-Strauss's model of the "house"—a corporate group maintaining an estate perpetuated by the recruitment of members whose relationships are expressed "in the language" of kinship and affinity and affirmed by purposeful actions. In this perspective, the operation of corporate groups is the primary concern, and relationships construed in terms of consanguinity and affinity are seen as strategies pursued to enhance and perpetuate the group, [ancestor veneration, house society, kinship, Maya, social organization]     

The Machete and the Cross: Campesino Rebellion in Yucatan: The Conquest of the Last Maya Kingdom: Río Azul: An Ancient Maya City

The Machete and the Cross: Campesino Rebellion in Yucatan. Don E. Dumond. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.571pp.
The Conquest of the Last Maya Kingdom. Grant D. Jones. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998.568 pp.
Río Azul: An Ancient Maya City. Richard E. W. Adams. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999. 238 pp.     

Lead (Pb) Isotope Baselines for Studies of Ancient Human Migration and Trade in the Maya Region

We examined the potential use of lead (Pb) isotopes to source archaeological materials from the Maya region of Mesoamerica. The main objectives were to determine if: 1) geologic terrains throughout the Maya area exhibit distinct lead isotope ratios (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb), and 2) a combination of lead and strontium ratios can enhance sourcing procedures in the Mesoamerica region. We analyzed 60 rock samples for lead isotope ratios and a representative subset of samples for lead, uranium, and thorium concentrations across the Maya region, including the Northern Lowlands of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, the Southern Lowlands of Guatemala and Belize, the Volcanic Highlands, the Belizean Maya Mountains, and the Metamorphic Province/Motagua Valley. Although there is some overlap within certain sub-regions, particularly the geologically diverse Metamorphic Province, lead isotopes can be used to distinguish between the Northern Lowlands, the Southern Lowlands, and the Volcanic Highlands. The distinct lead isotope ratios in the sub-regions are related to the geology of the Maya area, exhibiting a general trend in the lowlands of geologically younger rocks in the north to older rocks in the south, and Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the southern highlands. Combined with other sourcing techniques such as strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O), a regional baseline for lead isotope ratios can contribute to the development of lead isoscapes in the Maya area, and may help to distinguish among geographic sub-regions at a finer scale than has been previously possible. These isotope baselines will provide archaeologists with an additional tool to track the origin and movement of ancient humans and artifacts across this important region.