Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T11:47:23.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Demografia en la zona puuc: El recurso del metodo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Pierre Becquelin
Affiliation:
U.P.R. 312 du C.N.R.S., Musée de l'Homme, 17 place du Trocadéro, 75116 Paris, France
Dominique Michelet
Affiliation:
U.P.R. 312 du C.N.R.S., Musée de l'Homme, 17 place du Trocadéro, 75116 Paris, France

Resumen

Datos sobre asentamiento nuevamente obtenidos en el sitio puuc de Xculoc y sus cercanías (Campeche, México), nos permiten calcular el tamaño de la población de este sector en el momento de su auge (900-1000 D.C.). Los datos incluyen dimensiones de los pisos internos de toda residencia potencial, así como las capacidades de las cisternas subterráneas (chultunes) que constituían las únicas fuentes de agua durante la temporada seca de seis meses (noviembre-mayo). La división de las superficies y capacidades totales por coeficientes basados en datos etnoarqueológicos produce cifras de población menores que las que se habrían obtenido por medio de la aplicación de las proporciones utilizadas en el sitio cercano de Sayil (McAnany 1990; Tourtellot et al. 1990). Los resultados sugieren que es necesario re-examinar los cálculos de la población maya del horizonte Clásico producidos durante los pasados 20 años. La reducción de 30 a 50 por ciento que proponemos tendría implicaciones sustanciales en cuanto a nuestra concepción de la organización económica, política, y social de la sociedad clásica maya.

Abstract

Abstract

Settlement data obtained recently from the Puuc site of Xculoc, Campeche, and its environs enabled us to estimate the peak population levels of ca. A. D. 900-1000. The data include measurements of internal floor space of all potential residences as well as estimates of the capacities of associated subterranean cisterns (chultuns), the only water supply available during the six-month dry season (November-May). When the total available floor area and the chultun capacities are divided by new ethnoarchaeologically derived coefficients of space utilization and water consumption, the resulting population estimates are considerably less than those that would be obtained if the ratios recently used in the nearby site of Sayil were applied (McAnany 1990; Tourtellot et al. 1990). The results suggest that most estimates of Maya population made during the past 20 years need to be reexamined The 30 to 50 percent reduction in such figures we hypothesize would have substantial implications regarding our conception of Classic Maya economic, political, and social organization.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1994

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

Abrams, E. M. 1987 Economic Specialization and Construction Personnel in Classic Period Copan, Honduras. American Antiquity 52:485499.Google Scholar
Andrews, E. W. IV, y Andrews V, E. W. 1980 Excavations at Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan, Mexico. Publication No. 48. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Andrews, G. F. 1984 Xkichmook Revisited: Puuc vs. Chenes Architecture. Cuadernos de Arquitectura Mesoamericana 1: 4863. Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Andrews, G. F. 1986 Los estilos arquitectónicos del puuc: Una nueva apreciación. Colección Científica No. 150. Institute Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico, D.F. Google Scholar
Arnauld, M-C. 1989 Résidences dans les sites maya de Xcochkax et de Toniná: Analyse comparative. En Enquêtes sur I'Amérique Moyenne: Mélanges offerts à Guy Stresser-Péan, D. Michelet coordinateur, pp. 3346. Collection Etudes Mésoamericaines XIV. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, y Centre d'Etudes Mexicaines et Centraméricaines, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Arnauld, M-C., Becquelin, P., y Michelet, D. 1989 ¿Fiabilidad de las observaciones de superficie en un sector del puuc occidental? En Memorias del Segundo Coloquio lnternacional de Mayistas, 17–20 de agosto de 1987, tomo 1, pp. 377389. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Avila Villegas, R. 1989 Reseña sobre los chultunes de Xcochkax, Campeche. Trace 16:121125. CEMCA, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Barrera Rubio, A. 1981 Patrón de asentamiento en el área de Uxmal, Yucatán, México. En Memorias del Congreso Interno 1979, pp. 7182. Centre Regional del Sureste del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Becquelin, P. 1969 Archéologie de la région de Nébaj (Guatemala). Mémoires de l'lnstitut d'Ethnologie II. Institut d'Ethnologie, Musée de l'Homme, Paris.Google Scholar
Becquelin, P. 1973 Ethnologie et archéologie dans l'aire maya: Analogies et évolution culturelle. Journal de la Société des Américanistes LXII:4355.Google Scholar
Becquelin, P. 1990 La civilizatión puuc vista desde la región de Xculoc. Ponencia presentada en el Simposio Maler, Bonn.Google Scholar
Becquelin, P. 1991 Ancient Maya Settlement Patterns in the Xculoc Region, Campeche, Mexico. Ponencia presentada en el 47th International Congress of Americanists, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Becquelin, P. 1993 Analogía etnográfica y arqueología maya: Dos ejemplos y algunas reflexiones. En Perspectivas antropológicas en el mundo maya, editado por M. J. Iglesias Ponce de León y F. Ligorred Perramon, pp. 355362. Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas y Instituto de Cooperatión Iberoamericana, Madrid. Google Scholar
Becquelin, P., y Michelet, D. 1987 En busca del contexto del florecimiento de la región puuc. Cuadernos de Arquitectura Mesoamericana 10:1415. Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Becquelin, P., y Michelet, D. 1992 El proyecto “Xcalumkín en su trayectoría cronológica” la temporada (1992). Mexicon XIV:113118.Google Scholar
Becquelin, P., Michelet, D., Arnauld, M-C., y Taladoire, E. 1994 El proyecto “Xcalumkín en su trayectoría cronológica” segunda temporada (enero-marzo de 1993). Mexicon XVI:9399.Google Scholar
Brainerd, G. W. 1958 The Archaeological Ceramics of Yucatan. Anthropological Papers Vol. 19. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Breton, A. 1979 Les tzeltal de Bachajon: Habitat et organisation sociale. Recherches américaines 3. Laboratoire d'Ethnologie, Nanterre (traductión española: Bachajón. Organizatión socioterritorial de una comunidad tzeltal. Serie de Antropología Social No. 68. Instituto Nacional Indigenista, México, D.F., 1984).Google Scholar
Breton, A. 1990 Habitat et démographie dans la région de Tonina: Repères contemporains. En Tonina, une cité maya du Chiapas (Mexique), vol. IV, editado por P. Becquelin et E. Taladoire, pp. 1625 — 1637. Collection Etudes Mésoaméricaines I-6–4. Centre d'Etudes Mexicaines et Centraméricaines, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Breuil-Martínez, V. 1992 L'archéologie des grottes de la région de Xculoc (Campeche, Mexique). Manuscrito en el archivo, Centre d'Etudes Mexicaines et Centraméricaines, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Bullard, W. R. Jr. 1970 Topoxte, a Postclassic Maya Site in Peten, Guatemala. En Monographs and Papers in Maya Archaeology, editado por W. R. Bullard, Jr., pp. 245307. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 61. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Google Scholar
Carrasco, R., y Boucher, S. 1990 El Palacio de Sayil (estructura 2B1): Un estudio cronológico. En Mesoamérica y Norte de México, siglo IX-XII, coordinado por F. Sodi M., pp. 5985. Museo Nacional de Antropología, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Casselberry, S. E. 1974 Further Refinement of Formulae for Determining Population from Floor Area. World Archaeology 6: 117122.Google Scholar
de Pierrebourg, F. 1989 El espacio doméstico maya: Una mirada arqueológica sobre el presente. Propositión de un método. Trace 16:3142. CEMCA, México, D.F.Google Scholar
de Valenzuela, N. 1979 Conquista del Lacandón y conquista del Chol. Editado y con comentarios por G. F. von Houwald. 2 tomos. Bibliotheca Ibero-American. Colloquium Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
de Villagutierre, y Soto-Mayor, J. 1933 Historia de la conquista de la provincia de Itza, reducción y progresos de la de el Lacandón. Biblioteca Goathemala tomo 9. Sociedad de Geografia e Historia, Guatemala.Google Scholar
De Vos, J. 1980 La paz de Dios y del rey: La conquista de la selva lacandona. Colección Ceiba. Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas, México.Google Scholar
Dunning, N. P. 1989 Archaeological Investigations at Sayil, Yucatan, Mexico: Intersite Reconnaissance and Soil Studies Duringthe 1987 Field Season. Publications in Anthropology No. 2. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Dunning, N. P. 1992 Lords of the Hills: Ancient Maya Settlement in the Puuc region, Yucatán, Mexico. Monographs in World Archaeology No. 15. Prehistory Press, Madison.Google Scholar
Erasmus, C. 1965 Monument Building: Some Field Experiments. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 21:277301.Google Scholar
Folan, W. J. 1977 Coba Archaeological Mapping Project, Interim Report No. 2. Boletín de la Escuela de Ciencias Antropológicas de la Universidad de Yucatán Nos. 22–23:5271.Google Scholar
Folan, W. J., Kintz, E. R., y Flechter, L. A. 1983 Coba: A Classic Maya Metropolis. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Folan, W. J., Gunn, J., Eaton, J. D., y Patch, R. W. 1983 Paleoclimatological Patterning in Southern Mesoamerica. Journal of Field Archaeology 10:453468.Google Scholar
Freidel, D. A., y Sabloff, J. A. 1984 Cozumel: Late Maya Settlement Patterns. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Garza T. de González, S., y Kurjack, E. B. 1980 Atlas arqueológico del estado de Yucatán. 2 tomos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Gendrop, P. 1983 Los estilos Río Bee, chenes y puuc. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Gougeon, O. 1987 Rapport sur les activités réalisées en mars 1987 à Xculoc (Campeche). Manuscrito en el archivo del Proyecto Xculoc, Centre d'Etudes Mexicaines et Centraméricaines, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Hassan, F. 1978 Demographic Archaeology. En Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 1, editado por M. Schiffer, pp. 49103. Academic Press, San Diego. Google Scholar
Hassan, F. 1979 Demography and Archaeology. Annual Review of Anthropology 8:137160.Google Scholar
Haviland, W. 1972 Family Size, Prehistoric Population Estimates and the Ancient Maya. American Antiquity 37:135139.Google Scholar
Hellmuth, N. 1972 Progreso y notas sobre la investigatión etnohistórica de las tierras bajas mayas de los siglos XVI a XIX. América Indígena XXXII(1): 179244.Google Scholar
Hellmuth, N. 1977 Cholti-Lacandon (Chiapas) and Petén-Ytzá Agriculture, Settlement Pattern and Population. En Social Process in Maya Prehistory: Studies in Honour of Sir Eric Thompson, editado por N. Hammond, pp. 421428. Academic Press, New York. Google Scholar
Johnson, J. K. 1985 Postclassic Maya Site Structure at Topoxte, El Peten, Guatemala. En The Lowland Maya Postclassic, editado por A. F. Chase y P. M. Rice, pp. 151165. University of Texas Press, Austin. Google Scholar
Jones, G. D. 1979 Southern Lowland Maya Political Organization: A Model of Change from Protohistoric Through Colonial Times. Actes du XLIIe Congrès International des Américanistes Paris 1976, vol. 8, pp. 8394. Société des Américanistes, Paris. Google Scholar
Kolb, C. C. 1985 Demographic Estimates in Archaeology: Contributions from Ethnoarchaeology on Mesoamerican Peasants. Current Anthropology 26:581599.Google Scholar
Kurjack, E. B. 1965 Census and Settlement Pattern Studies at Modern Chablekal. En Progress Report on the 1960–1964 Field Seasons National Geographic Society-Tulane University Dzibilchaltun Program, directed by E. W. Andrews IV, pp. 3839. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans. Google Scholar
LeBlanc, S. 1971 An Addition to Naroll's Suggested Floor Area and Settlement Population Relationship. American Antiquity 36:210211.Google Scholar
Lincoln, C. E. 1987 Primera temporada del Proyecto Arqueológico Chichen Itzá. Boletín de la Escuela de Ciencias Antropológicas de la Universidad de Yucatán 86:343.Google Scholar
McAnany, P. A. 1990 Water Storage in the Puuc Region of the Northern Maya Lowlands: A Key to Population Estimates and Architectural Variability. En Precolumbian Population History in the Maya Lowlands, editado por T. P. Culbert and D. S. Rice, pp. 263284. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. Google Scholar
Maler, T. 1902 Yukatekische Forschungen. Globus 82(13–14):197230.Google Scholar
Matheny, R. T. 1978 Northern Maya Lowlands Water Control Systems. En Prehispanic Maya Agriculture, editado por P. D. Harrison and B. L. Turner II, pp. 185210. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. Google Scholar
Messenger, L. C. Jr. 1990 Ancient Winds of Change. Climatic Settings and Prehistoric Social Complexity in Mesoamerica. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:2140.Google Scholar
Naroll, R. 1962 Floor Area and Settlement Population. American Antiquity 27:587589.Google Scholar
Naroll, R., y Sipes, R. G. 1973 A Standard Ethnographic Sample: Second Edition. Current Anthropology 14:111142.Google Scholar
Petersen, W. 1975 A Demographer's View of Prehistoric Demography. Current Anthropology 16:227245.Google Scholar
Pollock, H. E. D. 1980 The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan and Northern Campeche, Mexico. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 19. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Puleston, D. E. 1971 An Experimental Approach to the Function of Classic Maya Chultuns. American Antiquity 36:322335.Google Scholar
Redfield, R., y Villa Rojas, A. 1934 Chan Kom: A Maya Village. Publication No. 448. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Rice, D. S. 1986 The Peten Postclassic: A Settlement Perspective. En Late Lowland Maya Civilization, Classic to Post-classic, editado por J. A. Sabloffy E. W. Andrews V, pp. 301344. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. Google Scholar
Rice, D. S., y Culbert, T. P. 1990 Historical Contexts for Population Reconstruction in the Maya Lowlands. En Precolumbian Population History in the Maya Lowlands, editado por T. P. Culbert y D. S. Rice, pp. 136. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. Google Scholar
Ricketson, O., y Ricketson, E. B. 1937 Uaxactun, Guatemala, Group E. 1926–1931. Publication No. 477. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Roys, R. L., Scholes, F. V., y Adams, E. B. 1940 Report and Census of the Indians of Cozumel, 1570. Contributions to American Anthropology and History No. 30. Publication No. 523. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Roys, R. L., Scholes, F. V., y Adams, E. B. 1959 Census and Inspection of the Town of Pencuyut, Yucatan, in 1538 by Diego García de Palacio, Oidor of the Audiencia of Guatemala. Ethnohistory 6:195225.Google Scholar
Ruppert, K. 1952 Chichen Itza: Architectural Notes and Plans. Publication No. 595. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Ruppert, K., y Smith, A. L. 1957 House Types in the Environs of Mayapan and at Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, Chichen Itza, and Chacchob. Current Reports No. 39. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Sabloff, J. A., y Tourtellot, G. III 1991 The Ancient Maya City of Sayil: The Mapping of a Puuc Regional Center. Publication No. 60. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Sabloff, J. A., Tourtellot, G. III, Beyer, B. F., McAnany, P. A., Christianson, D., Boucher, S., y Killion, T. R. 1985 Settlement and Community Patterns at Sayil, Yucatan, Mexico: The 1984 Season. Research Paper No. 17. Latin American Institute, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Schacht, R. M. 1981 Estimating Past Population Trends. Annual Review of Anthropology 10:119140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, A. L. 1962 Residential and Associated Structures at Mayapan. En Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico, pp. 165–320. Publication No. 619. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Stephens, J. L. 1961 [1843] Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. 2 tomos. 1961 Reimpresión de la edición de 1843. Dover Publications, New York.Google Scholar
Thompson, E. H. 1897 The Chultunes ofLabna, Yucatan. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 1, No. 3. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1951 The Itza of Tayasal, Peten. En Homenaje at Doctor Alfonso Caso, organizado por J. Comas, E. Davalos Hurtado, M. Maldonado-Koerdell, y I. Marquina, pp. 389400. Imprenta Nuevo Mundo, Mexico, D.F. Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1970 Maya History and Religion. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Tourtellot, G. III 1988 Excavations at Seibal, Department of Peten, Guatemala. Peripheral Survey and Excavation. Settlement and Community Patterns. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 16. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Tourtellot, G. III, y Sabloff, J. A. 1993 Community Structure at Sayil: A Case Study of Puuc Settlement. En Hidden Among Hills: Maya Archaeology of the Northwestern Yucatan Peninsula. Contributions of the International Maler Symposium. Acta Mesoamericana, tomo 5, editado por J. H. Prem, pp. 7192. Verlag von Flemrriing, Möckmühl. Google Scholar
Tourtellot, G. III, Sabloff, J. A., y Carmean, K. 1992 “Will the Real Elites Please Stand Up?”: An Archaeological Assessment of Maya Elite Behavior in the Terminal Classic Period. En Mesoamerican Elites: An Archaeological Assessment, editado por D. Z. Chase y A. F. Chase, pp. 8098. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Google Scholar
Tourtellot, G. III, Sabloff, J. A., y Smyth, M. P. 1990 Room Counts and Population Estimation for Terminal Classic Sayil in the Puuc Region, Yucatan, Mexico. En Precolumbian Population History in the Maya Lowlands, editado por T. P. Culbert y D. S. Rice, pp. 245261. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. Google Scholar
Tozzer, A. M. 1913 A Spanish Manuscript Letter on the Lacandones in the Archives of the Indies in Seville. Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Americanists, London 1912, pp. 497509. London.Google Scholar
Villa Rojas, A. 1945 The Maya of East Central Quintana Roo. Publication No. 559. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Vogt, E. Z. 1982 The Genetic Model Revisited: On the Origins and Development of the Maya. Anales de Antropología XIX(2):7393.Google Scholar
Wauchope, R. 1938 Modern Maya Houses: A Study of Their Archaeological Significance. Publication No. 502. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Webster, D. 1985 Surplus, Labor and Stress in Late Classic Maya Society. Journal of Anthropological Research 41:375399.Google Scholar
Weeks, J. M. 1988 Residential and Local Group Organization in the Maya Lowlands of Southwestern Campeche, Mexico: The Early Seventeenth Century. En Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past, editado por R. R. Wilk y W. Ashmore, pp. 7396. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. Google Scholar
Wilk, R. R. 1983 Little House in the Jungle: The Causes of Variation in House Size Among Modern Maya. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 2:99116.Google Scholar
Ximénez, F. 1929–1931 Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala de la Orden de Predicadores. Biblioteca Goathemala Vol. 1–3. Sociedad de Geografia e Historia, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Zapata Peraza, R. L. 1989 Los chultunes: Sistemas de captación y almacenamiento de agua pluvial. Colección Cientifíca No. 182. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F. Google Scholar