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The Classic Maya Collapse: Testing Class Conflict Hypotheses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert L. Hamblin and
Brian L. Pitcher
Robert L. Hamblin
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
Brian L. Pitcher
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322
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Abstract

Several lines of archaeological evidence are presented in this paper to suggest the existence of class warfare among the Classic Maya and of issues that historically have been associated with class conflict. This evidence indicates that class warfare may have halted the rule of the monument-producing, or Classic, elites and precipitated the depopulation of the lowland area. The theory is evaluated quantitatively by testing for time-related mathematical patterns that have been found to characterize large-scale conflicts in historical societies. The information used in the evaluation involves the time series data on the duration of rule by Classic elites as inferred from the production of monuments with Long Count dates at a sample of 82 ceremonial centers. The analyses confirm that the Maya data do exhibit the temporal and geographical patterns predicted from the class conflict explanation of the Classic Maya collapse. Alternative predictions from the other theories are considered but generally not found to be supported by these data.

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American Antiquity , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , April 1980, pp. 246 - 267
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1980

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