Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-fvjsw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-14T11:37:08.265Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Spatial Patterns and Regional Growth among Classic Maya Cities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

R. E. W. Adams and
Richard C. Jones
R. E. W. Adams
Affiliation:
Division of Social Sciences, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78285
Richard C. Jones
Affiliation:
Division of Social Sciences, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78285
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An objective methodology, based upon the rank-ordering and spatial patterning of Maya centers of the central Peten and central Yucatan zones, is used to infer developmental sequencing in the Maya Lowlands. If courtyard counts are employed as the basic measure of center importance, the Tikal and Calakmul regions each exhibit a size continuum of centers, consistent with the rank-size rule. The Rio Bec and Chenes regions exhibit a size distribution characterized by the existence of several large centers of nearly the same size, i.e., a situation of pluralism. These findings suggest that at the end of the Classic period, Tikal and Calakmul were dominant centers in economically mature regions, with a balance between external and internal growth forces. On the other hand, the later Rio Bec and Chenes centers appear to be in a state of growth redistribution or decline, their external ties truncated by the collapse to the south. Spatial patterning is less conclusive and suggests a relatively dispersed pattern of centers in all regions. The overall conclusion, especially from the frequency distributions of centers by size, is that the "periphery" (exemplified by Rio Bec-Chenes) developed first, reached a period of stasis, and developed further only on the collapse of the "core" centers (Tikal-Calakmul).

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , April 1981, pp. 301 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Adams, R. E. W. 1969 Maya archaeology 1958-1968, a review. Latin American Research Review 4:3–45.Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W. 1973 The collapse of Maya civilization: a review of previous theories. In The Classic Maya collapse, edited by Culbert, T. Patrick, pp. 21–34. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W. 1977 Rio Bee archaeology and the rise of Maya civilization. In The origins of Maya civilization, edited by Adams, R. E. W., pp. 77–99. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W. 1978 Routes of communication in Mesoamerica: the northern Guatemala Highlands and the Peten. In Mesoamerican communication routes and cultural contacts, edited by Lee, Thomas A. Jr., and Navarrete, Carlos. New World Archaeological Foundation Paper 40:27–35. Provo.Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W. 1981 Settlement patterns of the central Yucatan and southern Campeche regions. In Maya Lowland settlement patterns, edited by Ashmore, Wendy. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, in press.Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W. and Patrick Gilbert, T. 1977 The origins of civilization in the Maya Lowlands. In The origins of Maya civilization, edited by Adams, R. E. W., pp. 3–24. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W., and Smith, Woodruff D. 1981 Feudal models for Classic Maya society. In Settlement patterns in the Maya Lowlands, edited by Ashmore, Wendy. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, in press.Google Scholar
Ball, J. W. 1977 The archaeological ceramics of Becan, Campeche, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute Publications 43. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Berry, B. J. L. 1961 City-size distributions and economic development. Economic Development and Cultural Change 9:573–588.Google Scholar
Blanton, R. E. 1976 The role of symbiosis in adaptation and sociocultural change in the Valley of Mexico. In The Valley of Mexico, edited by Wolf, Eric R., pp. 181–201. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Blanton, R. E. 1978 Urban systems: a regional and diachronic approach. In Anthropology for the future, edited by Shimkin, Demitri B., Tax, Sol, and Morrison, John W.. University of Illinois Department of Anthropology Research Report Number 4:111–114.Google Scholar
Carr, R. F. and Hazard, J. E. 1961 Map of the ruins of Tikal, El Peten, Guatemala. TikaJ Report Number 11. Museum Monographs, The University Museum, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Christaller, W. 1966 Central places in southern Germany, translated by Baskin, Carlisle W.. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.Google Scholar
Gilbert, T. P. 1974 The lost civilization: the story of the Classic Maya. Harper & Row, New York.Google Scholar
Gilbert, T. P. (editor) 1973 The Classic Maya collapse. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Flannery, K. V. 1972 The cultural evolution of civilizations. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 3:399–426.Google Scholar
Freidel, D. A. 1977 A late Preclassic monumental Mayan mask at Cerros, northern Belize. Journal of Field Archaeology 4:488–491.Google Scholar
Freidel, D. A. 1979 Culture areas and interaction spheres: contrasting approaches to the emergence of civilization in the Maya Lowlands. American Antiquity 44:36–54.Google Scholar
Graham, I. 1967 Archaeological explorations in El Peten, Guatemala. Middle American Research Institute Publication 33. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Graham, I. 1978 Corpus of Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions, Volume 2, Part 2: Naranjo, Chunhuitz, Xunantunich. Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Graham, I., and Euw, Eric von 1975 Corpus of Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions, Volume 2, Part 1: Naranjo. Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1974 The distribution of Late Classic Maya major ceremonial centers in the central area. In Mesoamerican archaeology, new approaches, edited by Hammond, Norman, pp. 313–334. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1975 Maya settlement hierarchy in northern Belize. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility Number 27. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1977 The earliest Maya. Scientific American 236(3):116–133.Google Scholar
Haviland, W. A. 1967 Stature at Tikal, Guatemala: implications for Classic Maya demography and social organization. American Antiquity 32:316–325.Google Scholar
Haviland, W. A. 1968 Ancient Lowland Maya social organization. Middle American Research Institute Publication 26: 93–117.Google Scholar
Haviland, W. A. 1970 Tikal, Guatemala, and mesoamerican urbanism. World Archaeology 2:186–197.Google Scholar
Haviland, W. A. 1972 A new look at Classic Maya social organization at Tikal. Cerdmica de Cultura Maya 8:1–16.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R. (editor) 1979 First preliminary report on the Colha Project, Belize. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio. Jones, ChristopherGoogle Scholar
Hester, T. R. (editor) 1977 Inauguration dates of three Late Classic rulers of Tikal, Guatemala. American Antiquity 42:28–60.Google Scholar
King, L. J. 1962 A quantitative expression of the pattern of urban settlements in selected areas of the United States. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 53:1–7.Google Scholar
Kurjack, E. B. 1974 Prehistoric Lowland Maya community and social organization: a case study at Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute, Publication 31.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1973 Territorial organization of the Lowland Maya. Science 180:911–916.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1976 Emblem and state in the Classic Maya Lowlands. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Mehta, S. K. 1964 Some demographic and economic correlates of primate cities: a case for reevaluation. Demography 1:136–147.Google Scholar
Morley, S. G., and Brainerd, George W. 1956 The ancient Maya (second ed.). Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, California.Google Scholar
Pollock, H. E. D. 1965 Architecture in the Maya Lowlands. In Handbook of Middle American Indians (Vol. 3), edited by Wauchope, Robert, pp. 378–440. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Potter, D. F. 1977 Maya architecture of the central Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute, Publication 44.Google Scholar
Rathje, W. L. 1971 The origin and development of Lowland Classic Maya civilization. American Antiquity 36:275–285.Google Scholar
Rathje, W. L. 1977 The Tikal connection. In The origins of Maya civilization, edited by Adams, R. E. W., pp. 373–382. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Rathje, W. L., Gregory, David A., and Wiseman, Frederick M. 1978 Trade models and archaeological problems: Classic Maya examples. In Mesoamerican communication routes and cultural contacts, edited by Lee, Thomas A. Jr., and Navarrete, Carlos, pp. 147–175. New World Archaeological Foundation Paper Number 40.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T. 1977 Environmental heterogeneity and the evolution of Lowland Maya civilization. In The origins of Maya civilization, edited by Adams, R. E. W., pp. 287–297. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T., and Price, Barbara J. 1968 Mesoamerica: the evolution of a civilization. Random House, New York.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. J. 1977 Quantitative methods in geography: an introduction to spatial analysis. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.Google Scholar
Tolstoy, P. 1969 Review of Sanders and Price 1968. American Anthropologist 71:554–558.Google Scholar
Tozzer, A. M. 1911 Preliminary study of the ruins of Tikal, Guatemala. Memoirs, Peabody Museum, Harvard University 5(2).Google Scholar
Turner, E. S., Turner, Norman I., and Adams, R. E. W. 1981 Volumetric assessment, rank ordering, and Maya civic centers. In Settlement patterns in the Maya Lowlands, edited by Ashmore, Wendy. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, in press.Google Scholar
Vapnarsky, C. A. 1969 On rank size distributions of cities: an ecological approach. Economic Development and Cultural Change 17:584–595.Google Scholar
Webster, D. L. 1977 Warfare and the evolution of Maya civilization. In The origins of Maya civilization, edited by Adams, R. E. W., pp. 335–372. A School of American Research book. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Willey, G. R. 1977 The rise of Maya civilization: a summary view. In The origins of Maya civilization, edited by Adams, R. E. W., pp. 383–423. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Willey, G. R., Smith, A. L., Tourtellot, Gair, III, and Graham, Ian 1975 Excavations at Seibal: introduction. The site and its setting. Memoirs, Peabody Museum, Harvard University 13(1).Google Scholar