Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T12:33:27.020Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Barricade and Abandonment of Chunchucmil: Implications for Northern Maya Warfare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Bruce H. Dahlin
Bruce H. Dahlin*
Affiliation:
Sociology/Anthropology Department, Howard University, Washington, D.C. 20059
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A long low mound of rubble incompletely surrounds part of the central zone at the Classic Period site of Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico. This wall was hastily built from stone robbed from nearby buildings and roadbeds and it clearly served as a defensive barricade. All indications are that the barricade represents a one-time event whereupon the site was attacked, overrun, and abandoned. Re-analysis of other known fortified sites across Yucatan"s northern plains show some fundamental similarities. I suggest that all sites with barricades still standing suffered wars of annihilation rather than wars of conquest and subjugation by the victors. I suggest that the Chunchucmil distribution node was annihilated because its proximity to consumption centers in nuclear Mesoamerica reduced the competitiveness of other Yucatecan coastal trade sites that were located further away along the Gulf Coast maritime trade route.

Resumen

Resumen

Parte de la zona central de Chunchucmil, Yucatán, México, un sitio del periodo Clásico, está parcialmente rodeada por un montículo alargado bajo de escombros. Este muro se construyó apresuradamente con piedras que fueron robadas de los edificios y sacbeob cercanos, y es claro que sirvió como una barricada defensiva. Todo indica que esta barricada representa un evento momentáneo, cuando el sitio sufrió un ataque, fue invadido, y quedó abandonado. Al reanalizar otros sitios conocidos fortificados de las planicies del norte de Yucatán, se aprecian algunas similitudes fundamentales. Mi hipótesis es que todos los sitios con barricadas que aún se mantienen en pie sufrieron guerras de aniquilación y no guerras de conquista y subyugación por parte de los vencedores. La hipótesis más plausible acerca de la aniquilación de Chunchucmil es que la cercanía de este nodo de distribución a los centros de consumo de la parte nuclear de Mesoamérica, redujo la competitividad de otros sitios costeros de intercambio en Yucatán, que se localizaban más alejados de la ruta comercial marina de la costa del Golfo de México.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , September 2000 , pp. 283 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 by the Society for American Archaeology

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 Cited

Andrews, A. P. 1977 Reconocimiento arqueológico de la costa norte del Estado de Campeche. Boletín de la Escuela de Ciencias Antropologicas de la Universidad de Yucatan 4(24):64–77.Google Scholar
Andrews, A. P. 1983 Maya Salt Production and Trade. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Andrews, A. P. 1990a The Fall of Chichén Itzá: A Preliminary Hypothesis. Latin American Antiquity 1:258–267.Google Scholar
Andrews, A. P. 1990b The Role of Trading Ports in Maya Civilization. In Vision and Revision in Maya Studies, edited by F. S. Clancy and P. D. Harrison, pp. 159–168. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Andrews, A. P., Gallareta N., T., Robles C, R., Cobos P., R., and Cervera R., P. 1988 Isla Cerritos: An Itza Trading Port on the North Coast of Yucatan, Mexico. National Geographic Research 4:196–207.Google Scholar
Andrews, A. P., Andrews V, E. W., and Robles C., F. 2000 The Northern Maya Collapse and Its Aftermath. Paper to be presented at the 65th Annual Meetings of the Society for American Archaeology, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Andrews, G. F. 1982 Puuc Architectural Styles: A Reassessment. Paper presented at the Symposium on Northern Maya Lowlands: New Data, Synthesis, and Problems. U.N .A.M., Mexico City.Google Scholar
Ardren, T. 1997 The Politics of Place: Architecture and Cultural Change at the Xkanha Group, Yaxuna, Yucatan, Mexico. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Yale University.Google Scholar
Beach, T. 1998 Soil Constraints on Northwest Yucatan: Pedoarchaeology and Maya Subsistence at Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico. Geoarchaeology 13:759–791.Google Scholar
Bey III, G. J., Bond, T. M., Ringle, W. M., Hanson, C. A., Houck, C. W., and Peraza L., C. 1998 The Ceramic Chronology of Ek Balam, Yucatan, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 9:101–120.Google Scholar
Bey III, G. J., Hanson, C. A., and Ringle, W. M 1997 Classic to Postclassic at Ek Balam, Yucatan: Architectural and Ceramic Evidence for Defining the Transition. American Antiquity 8:237–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bezanilla, C. I. 1995 Making in Celestun, Yucatan (Mexico): Contemporary Evidence and Archaeological Problems. Unpublished B.A. Thesis, Institute of Archaeology, University College London.Google Scholar
Carneiro, R. 1990 Chiefdom-Level Warfare as Exemplified in Fiji and the Cauca Valley. In The Anthropology of War, edited by J. Haas, pp. 190–211. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Coggins, C, and Shane, O. C. III 1984 Cenote of Sacrifice: Maya Treasures from the Sacred Well at Chichén Itzá. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Curtis, J. H., Hodell, D. A., and Brenner, M. 1996 Climate Variability on the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) during the Past 3500 Years, and Implications for Maya Cultural Evolution. Quaternary Research 46:37–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahlin, B. H. 1984 A Colossus in Guatemala: The Preclassic City of El Mirador. Archaeology 37(5):18–25.Google Scholar
Dahlin, B. H. 1987 Reconstructing Ancient Maya Adaptive Patterns on the Northern Plains of Yucatan, Mexico: 1986 Interim Report. Sociology/Anthropology Department, Howard University.Google Scholar
Dahlin, B. H., Andrews, A. P., Beach, T., Bezanilla, C., Farrell, P., Luzzadder-Beach, S., and McCormick, V. 1998 Punta Canbalam in Context: A Peripatetic Coastal Site in Northwest Campeche, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 9:1–16.Google Scholar
Demarest, A. 1993 The Violent Saga of a Maya Kingdom. National Geographic Magazine 183(2):94–111.Google Scholar
Demarest, A., Mansky, M., Wolley, C., Van Tuerenhout, D., Inomata, T., Palka, J., and Escobedo, J. 1997 Classic Maya Defensive Systems and Warfare in the Petexbatun Region: Archaeological Evidence and interpretations. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:229–254.Google Scholar
Dunning, N. 1992 Lords of the Hills: Ancient Maya Settlement in the Puuc Region Yucatan, Mexico. Prehistory Press, Monograph in World Archaeology 15, Madison, WI.Google Scholar
Ember, C. R., and Ember, M. 1992 Warfare, Aggression, and Resource Problems: Cross-Cultural Codes. Behavioral Science Research 26:169–226.Google Scholar
Ember, M., and Ember, C. R. 1994 Cross-Cultural Studies of War and Peace: Recent Achievements and Future Possibilities. In Studying War: Anthropological Perspectives, edited by S. P. Reyna and R. E. Downs, pp. 185–208. Gordon and Breach, Langhorne, PA.Google Scholar
Ferguson, R. 1984 Introduction: Studying War. In Warfare, Culture, and Environment, edited by R. Ferguson, pp. 1–82. Academic Press, Orlando.Google Scholar
Ferguson, R. 1990 Explaining War. In The Anthropology of War, edited by J. Haas, pp. 26–55. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Fletcher, L. 1983 Linear Features in Zone 1: Description and Classification. In Coba: A Classic Maya Metropolis, edited by W. J. Folan, E. R. Kintz, and L. A. Fletcher, pp. 89–102. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garza Terazona de Gonzalez, S., and Kurjack, E. B. 1980 Atlas arqueológico del estado de Yucatan. Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico D.F. Google Scholar
Hassig, R. 1988 Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Hirth, K. G. 1978 Interregional Trade and the Formation of Prehistoric Gateway Communities. American Antiquity 3:35–45.Google Scholar
Hodell, D. A., Curtis, J. H., and Brenner, M. 1995 Possible Role of Climate in the Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization. Nature 375:391–394.Google Scholar
Keeley, L. H. 1996 Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kurjack, E. B., and Andrews V, E. W. 1976 Early Boundary Maintenance in Northwest Yucatan, Mexico. American Antiquity 41:318–325.Google Scholar
Leyden, B., Brenner, M., and Dahlin, B. H. 1998 A Record of Long and Short-Term Climatic Variation from Northwest Yucatan: Cenote San Jose Chulchaca. In The Managed Mosaic, edited by S. Fedick, pp. 30–50. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Magnoni, A. 1995 Albarradas at Chunchucmil and in the Northern Maya Area. Unpublished B.A. Thesis, Institute of Archaeology, University College London.Google Scholar
Manahan, K., Ambrosino, J. N., and Ardren, T. 1997 The Last Stand: Defensive Constructions at Yaxuna, Yucatan. A paper presented at the 62nd Annual Meetings of the Society for American Archaeology, Nashville.Google Scholar
Miller, A. G. 1977 Captains of the Itza: Unpublished Mural Evidence from Chichén Itzá. In Social Process in Maya Prehistory, edited by N. Hammond, pp. 197–225. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Millet C., L. 1984 Logwood and Archaeology in Campeche. Journal of Anthropological Research 40:324–328.Google Scholar
Pollock, H. E. D., and Stromsvik, G. 1953 Chacchob, Yucatan. Current Reports 6:82–101. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Puleston, D. E., and Callendar, D. W. 1967 Defensive Earthworks at Tikal. Expedition 9:40–48.Google Scholar
Reyna, S. P. 1994 A Mode of Domination Approach to Organized Violence. In Studying War: Anthropological Perspectives, edited by S. P. Reyna and R. E. Downs, pp. 29–68. Gordon and Breach, Langhorne PA.Google Scholar
Ringle, W. A., Gallareta N., T., and Bey, G. J. 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, C. E, and A. P., Andrews 1986 A Review and Synthesis of Recent Postclassic Archaeology in Northern Yucatan. In Late Lowland Maya Civilization: Classic to Postclassic, edited by J. A. Sabloff, and E. W. Andrews V, pp. 53–98. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Roys, R. L. 1957 Political Geography of the Yucatan Maya. Publication 6133, Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Shook, E. 1952 The Great Wall of Mayapan. Current Reports 2, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Suhler, C, Ardren, T., and Johnstone, D. 1998 The Chronology of Yaxuna: Evidence from Excavations and Ceramics. Ancient Mesoamerica 9:167–182.Google Scholar
Turney-High, H. H. 1949 Primitive War: Its Practice and Concepts. University of Carolina Press, Columbia.Google Scholar
Vlcek, D. T. 1978 Muros de delimitacion residencial en Chunchucmil. Boletin ECAUDY 5(28):55–64.Google Scholar
Vleck, D. T, Garza T, S., and Kurjack, E. B. 1978 Contemporary Maya Farming and Ancient Maya Settlements: Some Disconcerting Evidence. In Pre-Hispanic Maya Agriculture, edited by P. Harrison, and B. L. Turner II, pp. 211–223. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
von Clausewitz, C. 1968 [1832] On War. Edited by A. Rapoport. Penguin Books, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Webster, D. 1976 The Fortifications of Becan, Campeche, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute Publication # 41. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Webster, D. 1978 Three Walled Sites of the Northern Maya Lowlands. Journal of Field Archaeology 5:375–390.Google Scholar
Webster, D. 1979 Cuca, Chacchob, Dzonot Ake: Three Walled Northern Maya Centers. Occasional Papers in Anthropology 11. Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Webster's, 1979 Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged, 2nd Edition. Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Wheatley, P. 1967 The City as Symbol. Inaugural Lecture delivered at University College, London, 20 November 1967.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T. J., Brenner, M., Curtis, J. H., Dahlin, B. H., and Leyden, B. W. 1996 Holocene Climatic and Human Influences on Lakes of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: Interdisciplinary, Palaeoliminological Approach. The Holocene 6:273–287.Google Scholar