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Interpreting Ancient Maya Civic Plans: Reply to Smith

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Wendy Ashmore and
Jeremy A. Sabloff
Wendy Ashmore
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0418 (wendy.ashmore@ucr.edu)
Jeremy A. Sabloff
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania Museum, 33rd & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6324 (jsabloff@ccat.sas.upenn.edu)
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Abstract

In response to Smith’s critique, we situate our work within the scientific method. We review how our hypotheses arose, how and by whom they have been tested, and with what results. Like Smith, we focus on whether Maya civic centers include emphatic expression of a north-south axis, and on the inference of a partially cosmological basis of Maya axial orders. We indicate sources of our inferences and review explicitly the criteria that Smith faults us for having omitted. We reaffirm that these ideas merit further testing, and welcome renewed and expanded collaboration as to the best methods for doing so. In the spirit of collaboration, we offer specific programmatic suggestions for how this inquiry might proceed.

Por responder a la crítica de Smith, situamos nuestras ideas dentro del método científico. Damos cuenta de los principios de nuestras hipótesis, las pruebas de las mismas, y los resultados de estas pruebas. Igual con Smith, examinamos la propuesta expresión enfática de un eje norte-sur, y la inferencia de una fundación cosmológica de los ordenes axiales mayas. Notamos las fuentes de ilación e indicamos los criterios que nos tacha Smith por haber omitido antes. Reafirmamos que vale hacer mas la prueba, y invitamos a colaborar en efectuarla. A este fin, sugremos unos medios iniciales.

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Latin American Antiquity , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 2003, pp. 229 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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