Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T16:30:59.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE CHRONOLOGY OF MAYAPAN : New Radiocarbon Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2007

Carlos Peraza Lope ,
Marilyn A. Masson ,
Timothy S. Hare  and
Pedro Candelario Delgado Kú
Carlos Peraza Lope
Affiliation:
Centro Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Yucatan, Km 65 Carretera Progreso, Merida, Yucatan, 97000, Mexico
Marilyn A. Masson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, AS 237, The University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA
Timothy S. Hare
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY 40351, USA
Pedro Candelario Delgado Kú
Affiliation:
Centro Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Yucatan, Km 65 Carretera Progreso, Merida, Yucatan, 97000, Mexico
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Thirty-eight radiocarbon dates from Mayapan provide new information about the Postclassic chronology of this city. We analyze ceramic frequencies associated with our radiocarbon samples and discuss temporally diagnostic types in the Mayapan sequence. Radiocarbon samples from early construction contexts suggest that the Postclassic center was founded by at least the twelfth century, or possibly the eleventh century a.d. on a modest scale. Additional dates help to assign much of the city's later architecture to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries a.d., and provide hints of violence, conflict, and abandonment events prior to the final collapse. Our results imply that Mayapan may have begun as a small center while Chichen Itza waned from its dominant political position on the peninsula, and that the establishment of Mayapan as a major regional capital may have been a process that took a century or longer to complete.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , July 2006 , pp. 153 - 175
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adams, Robert M., Jr. 1953 Some Small Ceremonial Structures at Mayapan. Current Reports 9:144–179. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Aitken, M.J. 1990 Science-Based Dating in Archaeology. Longman, New York.
Andrews, Anthony P., E. Wyllys Andrews V, and Fernando Robles Castellanos 2003 The Northern Maya Collapse and its Aftermath. Ancient Mesoamerica 14:1–6.Google Scholar
Barrera Vasquez, Alfredo, and Sylvanus G. Morley 1949 The Maya Chronicles. Carnegie Institute of Washington Publication 585, Contribution 48. Washington, DC.
Bey, George J. III, Tara M. Bond, William M. Ringle, Craig A. Hanson, Charles W. Houck, and Carlos Peraza Lope 1998 The Ceramic Chronology of Ek Balam, Yucatan, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 9:101–120.Google Scholar
Chowning, Ann 1956 A Round Temple and Its Shrine at Mayapan. Current Reports 34:443–462. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Chowning, Ann, and Donald E. Thompson 1956 A Dwelling and Shrine at Mayapan. Current Reports No. 33:425–442. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Delgado Kú, Pedro Candelario 2004 Estudio de la arquitectura pública del núcleo principal de Mayapán, Yucatán. Tesis Profesional, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico.
Freidel, David A., and Charles Suhler 1995 The Sack of Chichen Itza: Reinterpreting the Early Stratigraphic Excavations. Paper presented at the 1995 Maya Meetings, Austin, Texas.
Landa, Diego de 1941 Relaciones de las cosas de Yucatan. Translated by Alfred Tozzer. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 18. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Masson, Marilyn A. 2000 In the Realm of Nachan Kan: Postclassic Maya Archaeology at Laguna de On, Belize. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
Masson, Marilyn A., and Carlos Peraza Lope 2005 Nuevas investigaciones en tres unidades residenciales fuera del area monumental de Mayapan. In Investigadores de La Cultura Maya, Tomo II, pp. 411–424. Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Campeche, México.
Masson, Marilyn A., and Shirley Boteler Mock 2004 Ceramics and Settlement Patterns at Terminal Classic Period Lagoon Sites in Northeastern Belize. In The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation, edited by Arthur A. Demarest, Prudence M. Rice, and Don S. Rice, pp. 367–401. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.
Masson, Marilyn A., and Robert M. Rosenswig 2005 Production Characteristics of Postclassic Maya Pottery from Caye Coco, Northern Belize. Latin American Antiquity 16:355–384.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan, and Carlos Peraza Lope 2003 Revisiting Mayapan: Mexico's Last Maya Capital. Ancient Mesoamerica 14:1–46.Google Scholar
Peraza Lope, Carlos 1993 Estudio y secuencia del material ceramico de San Gevasio, Cozumel. Tésis profesional. Universidad Autonoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico.
Peraza Lope, Carlos 2005 Ceramic Analyses and Sequence from San Gervasio, Cozumel. In Quintana Roo Archaeology, edited by Justine M. Shaw and Jennifer P. Mathews, pp. 77–86. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Peraza Lope, Carlos, Pedro Delgado Kú, and Bárbara Escamilla Ojeda 2002 Trabajos de mantenimiento y conservación arquitectónica en Mayapan, Yucatan: Informe de la tercera temporada 1998. Informe de Actividades al Consejo de Arqueología del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Centro INAH–Yucatan, Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Peraza Lope, Carlos, Pedro Delgado Kú, and Bárbara Escamilla Ojeda 2003 Trabajos de mantenimiento y conservación arquitectónica en Mayapan, Yucatan: Informe de la cuarta temporada: 1999–2000. Centro INAH Yucatan, Mérida, Yucatan, México.
Peraza Lope, Carlos, Pedro Delgado Kú, Bárbara Escamilla Ojeda, and Mario Garrido Euán 1999 Trabajos de mantenimiento y conservación arquitectónica en Mayapan, Yucatan: Informe de la temporada 1998. Informe de Actividades al Consejo de Arqueología del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Centro INAH–Yucatan, Mérida.
Pollock, Harry E.D. 1956a The Southern Terminus of the Principal Sacbe at Mayapan–Group Z-50. Current Reports 37:529–550. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Pollock, Harry E.D. 1956b General. Department of Archaeology. Carnegie Institute of Washington Year Book 1955–1956:335–338.Google Scholar
Pollock, Harry E.D. 1957 General. Carnegie Institute of Washington Year Book 56:407–410.Google Scholar
Pollock, Harry E.D. 1962 Introduction. In Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico, edited by Harry E.D. Pollock, Ralph L. Roys, Tatiana Proskouriakoff, and A.L. Smith, pp. 1–24. Carnegie Institute of Washington Publication No. 619. Washington, DC.
Proskouriakoff, Tatiana 1962a Civic and Religious Structures of Mayapan. In Mayapan Yucatan Mexico, edited by Harry E. D. Pollock, Ralph Roys, Tatiana Proskouriakoff, and A. Ledyard Smith, pp. 87–164. Carnegie Institute of Washington Publication No. 619. Washington, DC.
Proskouriakoff, Tatiana 1962b Mayapan: Plan of the Main Group of Ruins. In Mayapan Yucatan Mexico, edited by Harry E. D. Pollock, Ralph Roys, Tatiana Proskouriakoff, and A. Ledyard Smith, rear inset. Carnegie Institute of Washington Publication No. 619. Washington, DC.
Proskouriakoff, Tatiana, and Charles R. Temple 1955 A Residential Quadrangle—Structures R-85 to R-90. Current Reports 29:289–362. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Ramsey, Christopher Bronk 1995 Radiocarbon Calibration and Analysis of Stratigraphy: The OxCal Program Radiocarbon 37:425–430.Google Scholar
Ramsey, Christopher Bronk 2001 Development of the Radiocarbon Program OxCal. Radiocarbon 43:355–363.Google Scholar
Ramsey, Christopher Bronk 2003 OxCal Program v 3.9. Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Oxford.
Reimer, P.J., M.G.L. Baillie, E. Bard, A. Bayliss, J.W. Beck, C. Bertrand, P.G. Blackwell, C.E. Buck, G. Burr, K.B. Cutler, P.E. Damon, R.L. Edwards, R.G. Fairbanks, M. Friedrich, T.P. Guilderson, K.A. Hughen, B. Kromer, F.G. McCormac, S. Manning, C. Bronk Ramsey, R.W. Reimer, S. Remmele, J.R. Southon, M. Stuiver, S. Talamo, F.W. Taylor, J. van der Plicht, and C.E. Weyhenmeyer 2004 IntCal04 Terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 26–0 ka BP. Radiocarbon 46:1029–1058.Google Scholar
Rice, Prudence M., and Donald W. Forsyth 2004 Terminal Classic-Period Lowland Ceramics. In The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation, edited by Arthur A. Demarest, Prudence M. Rice, and Don S. Rice, pp. 28–59. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
Ringle, William M., Tomas Gallareta Negron, and George J. Bey III 1998 The Return of Quetzalcoatl: Evidence for the spread of a world religion during the Epiclassic period. Ancient Mesoamerica 9:183–232.Google Scholar
Robles Castellanos, Fernando 1986 Cronología cerámica de El Meco. In Excavaciones arqueológicas en El Meco, Quintana Roo, 1977, pp. 77–130. Colección Científica, Serie Arqueología. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico, D.F.
Robles, Fernando Castellanos, and Anthony P. Andrews 1986 A review and synthesis of recent Postclassic archaeology in northern Yucatan. In The Late Lowland Maya Civilization: Classic to Postclassic, edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff and E. Wyllys Andrews V, pp. 53–98. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
Roys, Ralph L. 1962 A Review of Historic Sources for Mayapán. In Mayapán, Yucatan, Mexico, edited by H.E.D. Pollock, R.L. Roys, T. Proskouriakoff, and A.L. Smith, Carnegie Institute of Washington Publication 619, Washington, DC.
Ruppert, Karl, and A. L. Smith 1952 Excavation in House Mounds at Mayapan. Current Reports 4:45–66. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Rushforth, Scott, and Steadman Upham 1992 A Hopi Social History. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Russell, Bradley W. 2004 Excavaciones de prueba en transectos y en milpas fuera del muro de la ciudad de Mazapán, temporada de campo 2003. In Los Fundamentos de Poder Economico de Mayapán 2003, Tomo I, edited by Marilyn A. Masson and Carlos Peraza Lope, pp. 261–318. Report submitted to the Consejo de Arqueología, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Department of Anthropology, State University of New York-Albany.
Russell, Bradley W., and Bruce H. Dahlin 2006 Practical Alchemy: A Study of Traditional Burnt-Lime Production Techniques at Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico. Manuscript submitted to the Journal of Field Archaeology.
Shook, Edwin M. 1953 The X-Coton Temples at Mayapan. Current Reports 11:207–221. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Shook, Edwin M. 1954a The Temple of Kukulcan at Mayapan. Current Reports 20:89–108. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Shook, Edwin M. 1954b Three Temples and Their Associated Structures at Mayapan. Current Reports 14:254–291. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Shook, Edwin M. 1954c A Round Temple at Mayapan, Yucatan. Current Reports 16:15–26. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Shook, Edwin M. 1955 Another Round Temple at Mayapan. Current Reports 27:267–280. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Shook, Edwin M., and William N. Irving 1955 Colonnaded Buildings at Mayapan. Current Reports 22:127–224. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Smith, A.L. 1962 Residential and Associated Structures at Mayapán. In Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico, edited by Harry E.D. Pollock, Ralph L. Roys, Tatiana Proskouriakoff, and A.L. Smith, pp. 165–320. Carnegie Institute of Washington Publication No. 619. Washington, DC.
Smith, Philip E. 1955 Excavations in Three Ceremonial Structures at Mayapan. Current Reports 21:109–126. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E. 1953 Cenote X-Coton at Mayapan. Current Reports 5:67–81. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E. 1971 The Pottery of Mayapán. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 66. Harvard University, Cambridge.
Stromsvik, Gustav 1953 A Portal Vault and Temple at Mayapan. Current Reports 8:136–143. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stromsvik, Gustav, Harry E.D. Pollock, and Heinrich Berlin 1954 Exploration in Quintana Roo. Carnegie Institute of Washington Year Book 53:289–292.Google Scholar
Struiver, Minze, and Renee S. Kra (editors) 1986 Calibration Issue: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Radiocarbon Conference-Tronheim, Norway. Radiocarbon 28(2B).Google Scholar
Struiver, Minze, Austin Long, and Renee S. Kra (editors) 1993 Calibration Issue. Radiocarbon 35(1).Google Scholar
Tourtellot, Gair III, Jeremy A. Sabloff, and Kelli Carmean 1992 “Will the Real Elites Please Stand Up?” An Archaeological Assessment of Maya Elite Behaviour in the Terminal Classic Period. In Mesoamerican Elites: An Archaeological Assessment, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase, pp. 80–98. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Tozzer, Alfred 1941 Footnotes to Landa's Relaciones de las Cosas de Yucatan. Translated by Alfred Tozzer. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 18. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Winters, Howard D. 1955 Excavation of a Colonnaded Hall at Mayapan. Current Reports 31:381–396. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Department of Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar