Collaborative Research: Geochemical Detection of Ancient Maya Exchange Environments

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The Classic Maya are remarkably absent from comparative study of archaic state economies, despite them being one of the most intensively studied archaic states. The Maya have long been perceived through the lens of an outmoded perspective on pre-capitalist complex economies. There is also generally an insistence that economic exchanges were almost exclusively transacted by exacting taxes and tributes and redistributing them back down the social ladder, as rewards for service etc., primarily in public ceremonies often associated with feasts. The picture is also complicated by the fact that the overwhelming majority of Maya artifacts, including those obtained through trade, were made of perishable materials and are therefore missing in the archaeological record. This research project will address this latter problem by analyzing permanent soil residues left by artifacts and ecofacts after they decomposed. Geochemical analyses of soils have helped delineate activity areas within households, but this limited context cannot tell how artifacts which the soil residues represent were obtained; soil surfaces must be analyzed where artifacts were brought - marketplaces - before they reached their household destinations. Mapping patterns of soil chemical residues in other public spaces will also help identify economic exchanges effected through redistribution and feasting. Pilot studies at a modern market developed geochemical signatures of marketplace activities; almost identical geochemical distribution patterns were then found at three select ancient Maya sites. Geochemical patterns in auspicious ritual loci at these sites were then discriminated and interpreted as redistribution and feasting activities. The current research will extend use of geochemical techniques to three of the largest and most heavily urbanized Maya cities (Calakmul, Chichen Itzá, and Cobá) and one town-sized site (Sayil); if time permits, Caracol and Maax Na in Belize will also be sampled. Emphasis will be placed on phosphorus as it is a component of all living matter, its residues in soils are permanent, and it represents the greatest share of goods that prehistoric populations used and possibly obtained through exchange. Sampling units will be nondestructive as representative chemical traces remain in the uppermost 10 cm. Grid samples will be placed over select plazas and around interesting features such as rock alignments reminiscent of kiosks. Background values of phosphorous and metals will be developed from on- and off-site soil profile pits. Post-depositional factors that might affect soil enrichment, such as ancient and historic land use practices, will be controlled through interviews with local farmers and our on-site collaborators, analyses of soil stratigraphy, and possibly subsequent excavation if the latter seems warranted. Contrary to conventional wisdom, market exchange may have been critical in sustaining Maya populations, stimulating craft specialization, and freeing people from domestic self-sufficiency. Markets also help shape social and political institutions in ways that redistribution could not. Therefore, positive geochemical identification of marketplaces promises an important breakthrough. Poor artifact preservation is not unique to the Maya, and thus the methodology has the potential to contribute to an understanding of economic systems in other archaic states. The project will bring together U.S. and Mexican scientists to collaborate in interdisciplinary research. Students will benefit by gaining important research experience in the field and laboratory.