Classic Maya Elite Households: Extensive Excavations of Rapidly Abandoned Structures at Aguateca, Guatemala

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With National Science Foundation support Dr. Takeshi Inomata will conduct three seasons of archaeological research at the Mayan site of Aguateca which is located in the Petexbatun region of Guatemala. The large multiroom site includes an extensive and complex system of defensive walls. Its epicenter contains a main plaza, causeway and a `palace group` which was the possible residence of a royal family. Surrounding this are elite residential areas. Previous work at the site by Inomata suggested that this elite area was burned during an attack by enemies during the Late Classic period ca. 800 A.D. The residents fled leaving most of their belongings behind. Preliminary excavations of the abandoned structures revealed the richest floor assemblages ever found at a lowland Classic Maya center. More extensive excavations of the artifact-rich buildings planned for the next three years will provide an extraordinary opportunity to study Maya households. This site offers a unique opportunity since at most sites room materials which archaeologists recover represent worn-out and abandoned artifacts which provide only the most limited and biased insights into prehistoric lives. Substantial areas will be exposed and excavators will point plot artifacts using a total station system and handheld computers. The analysis of paleobotanical samples, soil chemical signatures and small discarded objects will contribute to the understanding of lifeways and use of space in and around houses. Laboratory work will include residue analysis on ceramics, the composition study of ceramic pastes, use-wear analysis of lithics and the examination of human and faunal osteological remains. Both archaeologists and cultural anthropologists have come, in recent years, to realize that in traditional societies households are the basic units of subsistence and production and to understand how groups such as the Maya functioned it is necessary to reconstruct activities on a household level. It is through comparison of individual well documented household groups that insight into social hierarchies and economic and political organization can best be understood. This project is directed at this goal and poses three immediate questions: how were Classic period Maya households organized?; What kind of activities did their members conduct in and around their dwellings?; and how were households articulated with higher-level political, economic and social organizations. In this first three year phase of the research, Dr. Inomata will focus on `elite` households and in following seasons he will expand the scope to include a range of socioeconomic groups. This research is important for several reasons. Because of the extraordinary nature of the site, it will provide a unique insight into Maya life and produce data of interest to many archaeologists. It should also shed new light on how with a relatively simple technology and in harsh environmental conditions the Mayan civilization arose and was maintained.