Jeffrey B. Glover

THE YALAHAU REGION: A STUDY OF ANCIENT MAYA SOCIOPOLITICAL ORGANIZATION

Abstract The Yalahau Regional Settlement Pattern Survey (YRSPS) addresses the complex negotiations that constituted ancient Maya society through an investigation of the distribution of settlement across the Yalahau region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico. This paper begins with a brief culture-historical background of the Yalahau region where occupation ranges from the Middle Preclassic period (700–200 b.c.) to the Postclassic period (a.d. 1100–1521). The region had its peak occupation during the Terminal Preclassic period (75 b.c./a.d. 100–a.d. 400), and this paper explores how monumental architecture, through its size and the rituals conducted in and around it, materialized an enduring sense of community identity during this time period. In so doing, this paper examines the tensions within and between communities as sociopolitical strategies are negotiated and contested in the continually messy process of constituting society.

The Hidden World of the Maritime Maya: Lost Landscapes Along the North Coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico

While the Postclassic period is most often associated with Maya seafaring, in fact, the strengthening of maritime economies and the establishment of circum-peninsular trade routes occurred during the preceding Terminal Classic period (ad 850–1100). It was during this time when the major city of Chichen Itza demonstrated an increased reliance on maritime commerce to maintain and extend its control over much of the Yucatan Peninsula. Coastal settlements, however, have a deeper history in the Maya area, with occupations dating back to at least the Middle Preclassic period (800–400 bc), and the Costa Escondida Project, a long-term, interdisciplinary research effort, is focusing on the dynamic relationship between the Maya and their coastal landscape over the past 3,000 years.

EL PROYECTO COSTA ESCONDIDA: ARQUEOLOGÍA Y COMPROMISO COMUNITARIO A LO LARGO DE LA COSTA NORTE DE QUINTANA ROO, MÉXICO

El Proyecto Costa Escondida iniciado en 2006 se diseno para investigar las culturas maritimas previas y posteriores al contacto espanol, asi como para estudiar el paisaje del norte de Quintana Roo, Peninsula de Yucatan, Mexico. Este proyecto no promueve una agenda de desarrollo “tradicional”, sino que se inserta en la critica del desarrollo para ampliar los limites del compromiso comunitario a traves del aprendizaje social. Al encontrarse lejos de los principales sitios turisticos de la costa del Caribe, el area cuenta con una industria de turismo en expansion asociada a la isla Holbox. En este articulo se discuten las experiencias de este proyecto arqueologico que integra a varios actores de la region y, mas importante aun, traza una estrategia de investigacion trans-parente que involucra activamente a estos individuos a medida que el proyecto avance.