Estudios de Cultura Maya | 2019
El urbanismo de baja densidad en las Tierras Bajas Mayas: El caso de El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala
Abstract
As a key example of indigenous New World urbanism, Classic Maya cities are subjects of great anthropological importance. Despite their comparative significance, for much of the twentieth century Classic Maya centers (ca. 250-950 C.E.) have been viewed by many scholars as “non-cities,” the capitals of complex polities, but lacking the residential density characteristic of fully urban places. Fletcher has proposed that Maya urbanism belongs within a new comparative urban type which he calls “low-density, agrarian-based urbanism.” Like all typological categories, “low-density urbanism” is not without its faults, however. This article presents over ten years of settlement and landscape research at the Classic Maya city of El Peru-Waka’, Guatemala to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Fletcher’s lowdensity urbanism model as applied to the Maya area. Data from Waka’ suggest that while Fletcher’s overall model is widely applicable to the Maya lowlands, several common assumptions about Maya cities require reexamination.