Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T23:43:10.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sociopolitical Implications of a New Emblem Glyph and Place Name in Classic Maya Inscriptions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Joel W. Palka
Joel W. Palka*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60607
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A new emblem glyph and place name, which depicts tied hair, is identified in Classic Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions from the upper Usumacinta River region of Chiapas and Guatemala. Emblem glyphs are used as titles of rulers, whereas place names indicate a person"s place of origin or where events took place. An interesting discovery from glyphic texts with this "Tied-Hair" glyph is that rulers at the large sites of Bonampak and Lacanhá, Chiapas, originated from the Tied-Hair site. Maya sites with emblem glyphs are often viewed as being politically independent polities ruled by a local patrilineage. Evidence discussed here suggests that Maya centers could have been ruled by noble males from other sites and that some polities were made up of several centers. This complex sociopolitical organization may have been created through dynastic alliances, through inheritance, or by military conquest. Classic Maya political integration then may have been similar to that of the Aztec, Mixtec, and Maya of Postclassic Mesoamerica.

Un nuevo glifo emblema y nombre de lugar fueron identificados en los textos jeroglíficos de varios sitios mayas clásicos cerca del Río Usumacinta en Chiapas y Guatemala. Los glifos emblemas mayas son títulos de los gobernantes y los nombres de lugar indican el sitio de origen de los nobles y muestran donde ocurrieron ceremonias, guerras, y visitas. Los nuevos jeroglíficos presentados aquí, los cuales representan "pelo amarrado" similares a los glifos emblemas de Tikal y Dos Pilas en Guatemala, parecen nombrar un sitio arqueológico desconocido cerca de Bonampak, Lacanhá y El Pato/El Chorro debido a que los glifos aparecen en las inscripciones de estos sitios. Las inscripciones con los glifos del llamado sitio Pelo Amarrado son interesantes ya que indican que algunos gobernantes de Bonampak y Lacanhá provinieron de este sitio. Usualmente los sitios mayas que tienen sus propias glifos emblemas son vistos como centros con autonomía política regidos por un linaje real local. A diferencia de esta perspectiva, la evidencia presentada aquí sugiere que algunas entidades políticas mayas incluyeron nobles de varios sitios y que algunos centros mayas no fueron independientes sino integrados a otros centros por medio de alianzas dinásticas o conquistas militares. Entonces, la organización sociopolítica de los mayas clásicos puede ser semejante a la de los aztecas, mixtecas, y mayas del periodo Postclásico de Mesoamérica.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , September 1996 , pp. 211 - 227
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1996

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

Adams, R. E. W. 1977 Prehistoric Mesoamerica. Little, Brown, Boston.Google Scholar
Ball, J. W., and Taschek, J. T. 1991 Late Classic Lowland Maya Political Organization and Central-Place Analysis: New Insights from the Upper Belize Valley. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:149–166.Google Scholar
Barthel, T. 1968 El complejo “emblema.” Estudios de Culture Maya 7:159–193.Google Scholar
Berlin, H. 1958 El glifo “emblema” en las inscripciones mayas. Journal de la Société des Américanistes 47:111–119.Google Scholar
Calnek, E. E. 1982 Patterns of Empire Formation in the Valley of Mexico, Late Postclassic Period, 1200–1521. In The Inca and Aztec States, 1400–1800: Archaeology and History, edited by G. A. Collier, R. I. Rosaldo, and J. D. Wirth, pp. 43–62. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Carmack, R. M. 1981 The Quiché Mayas of Utatlán: The Evolution of a Highland Guatemalan Kingdom. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Carrasco, P. 1984 Royal Marriages in Ancient Mexico. In Explorations in Ethnohistory: Indians of Central Mexico in the Sixteenth Century, edited by H. R. Harvey and H. J. Prem, pp. 41–81. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Coe, M. D. 1965 A Model of Ancient Community Structure in the Maya Lowlands. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 21:97–114.Google Scholar
Coe, M. D., and Benson, E. P. 1966 Three Maya Relief Panels at Dumbarton Oaks. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology 2. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Conrad, G. W., and Demarest, A. A. 1984 Religion and Empire: The Dynamics of Aztec and Inca Expansionism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Culbert, T. P. 1988 Political History and the Decipherment of Maya Glyphs. Antiquity 62(234):135–152.Google Scholar
Culbert, T. P. 1991a Polities in the Northeast Peten, Guatemala. In Classic Maya Political History: Hieroglyphic and Archaeological Evidence, edited by T. P. Culbert, pp. 128–146. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Culbert, T. P. (editor) 1991b Classic Maya Political History: Hieroglyphic and Archaeological Evidence. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Demarest, A. A. 1992 Ideology in Ancient Maya Cultural Evolution: The Dynamics of Galactic Polities. In Ideology and Pre-Columbian Civilizations, edited by A. A. Demarest and G. W. Conrad, pp. 135–157. School of American Research, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
de Montmollin, O. 1989 The Archaeology of Political Structure: Settlement Analysis in a Classic Maya Polity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Fash, B., Fash, W., Lane, S., Larios, R., Scheie, L., Stomper, J., and Stuart, D. 1992 Investigations of a Classic Maya Council House at Copán, Honduras. Journal of Field Archaeology 19:419–442.Google Scholar
Fash, W. L., and Stuart, D. S. 1991 Dynastic History and Cultural Evolution at Copan, Honduras. In Classic Maya Political History: Hieroglyphic and Archaeological Evidence, edited by T. P. Culbert, pp. 147–179. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Fox, J. A., and Justeson, J. S. 1986 Classic Maya Dynastic Alliance and Succession. In Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 4, Ethnohistory, edited by V. R. Bricker and R. Spores, pp. 7–34. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1991 Inside the Black Box: Defining Maya Polity. In Classic Maya Political History, edited by T. P. Culbert, pp. 253–284, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hassig, R. 1992 Aztec and Spanish Conquest in Mesoamerica. In War in the Tribal Zone: Expanding States and Indigenous Warfare, edited by R. B. Ferguson and N. L. Whitehead, pp. 83–102, School of American Research Press, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Houston, S. D. 1986 Problematic Emblem Glyphs: Examples from Altar de Sacrificios, El Chorro, Rio Azul, and Xultun. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing 3. Center for Maya Research, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Houston, S. D. 1987 The Inscriptions and Monumental Art of Dos Pilas, Guatemala: A Study of Classic Maya History and Politics. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Houston, S. D. 1992a Classic Maya History and Politics at Dos Pilas, Guatemala. In Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5, Epigraphy, edited by V. R. Bricker, pp. 110–127. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Houston, S. D. 1992b Classic Maya Politics. In New Theories on the Ancient Maya, edited by E. C. Danien and R. J. Sharer, pp. 65–89. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Houston, S. D. 1993 Hieroglyphs and History at Dos Pilas. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Houston, S. D., and Mathews, P. 1985 The Dynastic Sequence of Dos Pilas, Guatemala. Monograph I. Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Kelley, D. H. 1976 Deciphering the Maya Script. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Kerr, J. 1990 The Maya Vase Book, vol. 2. Kerr Associates, New York.Google Scholar
Lounsbury, F. G. 1973 On the Derivation and Reading of the “Ben-Ich” Prefix. In Mesoamerican Writing Systems, edited by E. P. Benson, pp. 99–143. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Marcus, J. 1976 Emblem and State in the Classic Maya Lowlands: An Epigraphic Approach to Territorial Organization. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Marcus, J. 1992 Mesoamerican Writing Systems: Propaganda, Myth, and History in Four Ancient Civilizations. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Marcus, J. 1993 Ancient Maya Political Organization. In Lowland Maya Civilization in the Eighth Century A.D., edited by J. A. Sabloff and J. S. Henderson, pp. 111–183. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Mathews, P. 1980 Notes on the Dynastic Sequence of Bonampak, Pt. I. In Third Palenque Round Table, 1978, Pt. 2, edited by M. G. Robertson, pp. 60–73. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Mathews, P. 1985 Maya Early Classic Monuments and Inscriptions. In A Consideration of the Early Classic Period in the Maya Lowlands, edited by G. R. Willey and P. Mathews. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies Publication 10. State University of New York, Albany.Google Scholar
Mathews, P. 1991 Classic Maya Emblem Glyphs. In Classic Maya Political History: Hieroglyphic and Archaeological Evidence, edited by T. P. Culbert, pp. 19–29. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Mathews, P., and Justeson, J. S. 1984 Patterns of Sign Substitution in Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: “The Affix Cluster.” In Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing, edited by J. S. Justeson and L. Campbell, pp. 185–231. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies Publication 9. State University of New York, Albany.Google Scholar
Mathews, P., and Scheie, L. 1974 Lords of Palenque—The Glyphic Evidence. In Primera mesa redonda de Palenque, Pt. I, edited by M. G. Robertson, pp. 63–75. Robert Louis Stevenson School, Pebble Beach, California.Google Scholar
Miller, M. E. 1986 The Murals of Bonampak. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Palka, J. 1993 Organizatión sociopolítica de los mayas antiguos. In Historia general de Guatemala, edited by J. Luján Muñoz. Fundación para la Cultura y el Desarrollo, Guatemala City, in press.Google Scholar
Proskouriakoff, T. 1960 Historical Implications of a Pattern of Dates at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. American Antiquity 25:454–475.Google Scholar
Proskouriakoff, T. 1964 Historical Data in the Inscriptions of Yaxchilan, Pt. II. Estudios de Cultura Maya 4:177–201.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. 1986 Introduction: Peer Polity Interaction and Sociopolitical Change. In Peer Polity Interaction and Sociopolitical Change, edited by C. Renfrew and J. E Cherry, pp. 1–18. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Ringle, W. M. 1988 Of Mice and Monkeys: The Value and Meaning of T10I6, the God C Hieroglyph. Research Report on Ancient Maya Writing 18. Center for Maya Research, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Roys, R. L. 1957 The Political Geography of the Yucatan Maya. Publication 613. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Sabloff, J. A. 1986 Interaction Among Classic Maya Polities: A Preliminary Examination. In Peer Polity Interaction and Socio-Political Change, edited by C. Renfrew and J. F. Cherry, pp. 109–116. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Scheie, L. 1991 An Epigraphic History of the Western Maya Region. In Classic Maya Political History: Hieroglyphic and Archaeological Evidence, edited by T. P. Culbert, pp. 72–101. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Scheie, L., and Freidel, D. A. 1990 A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. William Morrow, New York.Google Scholar
Scheie, L., and Mathews, P. 1991 Royal Visits and Other Intersite Relationships Among the Classic Maya. In Classic Maya Political History: Hieroglyphic and Archaeological Evidence, edited by T. P. Culbert, pp. 226–252. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Scheie, L., and Miller, M. E. 1986 The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and George Braziller, New York.Google Scholar
Spores, R. 1974 Marital Alliance in the Political Integration of Mixtec Kingdoms. American Anthropologist 76:297–311.Google Scholar
Stone, A., Reents, D., and Coffman, R. 1985 Genealogical Documentation of the Middle Classic Dynasty of Caracol, El Cayo, Belize. In Fourth Palenque Round Table, 1980, edited by E. P. Benson, pp. 267–275. Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Stuart, D. 1984 Epigraphic Evidence of Political Organization in the Western Maya Lowlands. Manuscript on file, Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Stuart, D. 1985 The Yaxha Emblem Glyph as Yaxha. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing I. Center for Maya Research, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Stuart, D. 1990 The Decipherment of “Directional Count Glyphs” in Maya Inscriptions. Ancient Mesoamerica 1(2):215–226.Google Scholar
Stuart, D., and Houston, S. D. 1994 Classic Maya Place Names. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology Publication 33. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1962 A Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Vogt, E. Z., and Leventhal, R. M. (editors) 1983 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar