Archaeology at El Perú-Waka’: Ancient Maya Performances of Ritual, Memory, and Power

289 Pages·2014·7.1 MB·English

by  Olivia C. Navarro-Farr

Archaeology at El Perú- Waka’
Native Peoples of the Americas
Laurie Weinstein, Series Editor
Archaeology
at El Perú- Waka’
Ancient Maya Performances of
Ritual, Memory, and Power
Edited by
Olivia C. Navarro- Farr and
Michelle Rich
tucson
We dedicate this book to David Freidel.
The University of Arizona Press
www.uapress.arizona.edu
© The Arizona Board of Regents
All rights reserved. Published 2014
Printed in the United States of America
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Jacket designed by Miriam Warren
Jacket photo: Stela 9, © Patrick Aventurier
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data are available from
the Library of Congress.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Foreword vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction. Ritual, Memory, and Power Among the Maya
and at Classic Period El Perú- Waka’ 3
Michelle Rich and Olivia C. Navarro- Farr
1 Stelae, Buildings, and People: Reflections on Ritual
in the Archaeological Record at El Perú- Waka’ 18
David A. Freidel and Héctor L. Escobedo
2 A Palimpsest Effect: The Multi- Layered Meanings of
Late- to- Terminal Classic Era, Above- Floor Deposits
at Structure M13- 1 34
Olivia C. Navarro- Farr and Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera
3 Royal Alliances, Ritual Behavior, and the Abandonment
of the Royal Couple Building at El Perú- Waka’ 53
Mary Jane Acuña
4 The Power of the Past: Crafting Meaning at a Royal
Funerary Pyramid 66
Michelle Rich and Varinia Matute
5 Ritual and Remembrance at the Northwest Palace Complex,
El Perú- Waka’ 85
David F. Lee and Jennifer C. Piehl
6 The Ballcourt Complex at El Perú 102
Juan Carlos Meléndez
7 Ritual Narratives from El Perú- Waka’: Ceremonial Deposits
in Non- Royal, Elite Contexts 112
Keith Eppich
8 Sansamal Performance: Variability in Ritual Contexts
at El Perú- Waka’ 134
Damien B. Marken
9 The Epigraphy of El Perú- Waka’ 147
Stanley P. Guenter
vi Contents
10 Flint for the Dead: Ritual Deposition of Production Debitage
from El Perú- Waka’, Burial 39 167
Zachary Hruby and Michelle Rich
11 The Noblewomen of Waka’: Mortuary and Osteological Insights
into the Construction of Gender, Identity, and Power 184
Jennifer C. Piehl, David F. Lee, and Michelle Rich
12 Surveying Landscapes of Power and Ritual at Waka’ 203
Evangelia Tsesmeli
13 Action, Thought, and Negotiation in Ritual: A Commentary 220
Takeshi Inomata
Epilogue 228
David A. Freidel and Héctor L. Escobedo
References 231
Contributors 263
Index 268
Foreword
Native Peoples of the Americas is a multi-v olume series that covers North,
Middle, and South America. Each volume takes unique methodological ap-
proaches—archaeological, ethnographic, ecological, and/or ethnohistorical—
to culture areas and regions and to themes that link areas across time and space.
The series has been published by the University of Arizona Press since 2003
and includes: Native Peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico by Alan Sandstrom
and Hugo Garcia Valencia (2005); Lifeways in the Northern Mayan Lowlands:
New Approaches to Archaeology in the Yucatan Peninsula by Jennifer Mathews
and Bethany Morrison (2006); and Anthropologies of Guyana: Cultural Spaces
in Northeastern Amazonia by Neil Whitehead and Stephanie Aleman (2009).
Archaeology at El Perú-W aka’: Ancient Maya Performances of Ritual, Memory,
and Power, edited by Olivia C. Navarro- Farr and Michelle Rich, is a much-
anticipated volume with cutting- edge research on a Classic Maya site in Petén,
Guatemala. The research, ongoing since 2003, is continually in the international
news featuring the latest discoveries of ceremonial art and the royal interments
of the rulers of this ancient city. David A. Freidel and Héctor L. Escobedo, the
project’s codirectors from 2003 to 2006, provide a good introduction to the
spectacular ruins:
Called El Perú on existing maps, the site’s ancient name is Waka’. Covering
approximately 1 km2, Waka’ is a dense ruined city center of approximately 900
pyramids, palaces, plazas and elite households. More than 40 carved stone stelae
(slabs of stone or wood with inscriptions) and altars at Waka’, tell of kings and
queens who ruled the site for four centuries. The kings and queens of Waka’
were allies and vassals to some of the most important capitals of ancient Meso-
america, including Teotihuacan, Tikal and Calakmul, and commanded a key
trade route along the San Pedro River linking the Petén Maya to distant markets
in Mexico. Their wealth and power is demonstrated by the artifacts found in
beautifully appointed tombs. (Waka’ Research Foundation. http://archaeology
waka.org/archaeology.html accessed March 7, 2014)
This volume examines the critical role ritual and memory play in the ar-
chaeological record, and the way memory was used to portray the aspirations
of the royal elite. But as the contributors aptly demonstrate, ritual was also a
daily event that consumed non-e lites, helping to provide order and “guidance”
through “tumultuous times” (Navarro-F arr and Arroyave Prera, this volume).
Ritual and memory are tied to maintaining and validating the social order,
which are then “concretized” onto the “physical landscape” (Eppich, this vol-
ume) with monumental architecture that reified the past.
viii Foreword
Osteological analysis provides insights into gender and status of El Perú-
Waka’ society and demonstrates that male elite fared better than all the other
categories of people in terms of health and longevity. Ceremonial artifacts from
burials, in the form of lithics, pots, exotic stones, and other materials also speak
to the power of the elite and their command of ritual and precious resources.
El Perú- Waka’ played a pivotal role in the ancient Maya struggle for su-
premacy in the lowlands. This struggle was manifest in the increased ritual and
monumental building activities, the burials, and in ritual destruction of arti-
facts. Ballcourt and other ceremonial structure analyses also help show El Perú-
Waka’s relationship to other Maya polities and ceremonial centers.
All the contributors to this phenomenal book are to be commended, and
especially the editors, Drs. Navarro- Farr and Rich, who were able to assemble
such a multifaceted and in- depth interpretation of ceremony and ritual by link-
ing a variety of analyses (e.g., archaeology, bioarchaeology, ceramics, and eth-
nography). Many scholars in this volume are well known and highly respected,
while others are beginning promising careers. THIS is a great book and will be
for years to come.
Laurie Weinstein, PhD
Series Editor, Native Peoples of the Americas
Danbury, Connecticut, 2014
Acknowledgments
This El Perú- Waka’ volume represents ongoing collaboration among numerous
individuals, organizations, and institutions. We hope this work honors those
collaborators and their many efforts. In particular, we would like to thank the
Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes–the branch of the government that over-
sees cultural heritage in Guatemala, the Instituto de Antropología e Historia
de Guatemala, the Departamento de Monumentos Prehispánicos y Coloniales,
and the Museo de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala for granting the El
Perú- Waka’ Regional Archaeological Project (EPWRAP) permission to conduct
research at Waka’, as well as for past and present technical support and supervi-
sion. Indeed, this edited volume represents the culmination of years of field and
laboratory work, which would have been impossible without this consent and
support.
We thank all members and staff of the EPWRAP from the communities
of Paso Caballos, Buen Samaritano, Cruce Perdido, Dolores, and El Jobo, as
well as the various individuals and organizations that have generously provided
funding over the years, either to the project or to individuals who are part of
the Waka’ team. Additionally, the Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas and
the Wildlife Conservation Society deserve recognition for their continued sup-
port for our work in the Laguna del Tigre National Park. The University of
Arizona Press also warrants our gratitude for their assistance throughout this
process. Specifically, we wish to thank Allyson Carter, Laurie Weinstein, and
Amanda Krause for their guidance and patience. We also wish to acknowl-
edge the invaluable contribution of the discussants for the Society for Ameri-
can Archaeology session upon which this book is based, Stephen Houston and
Takeshi Inomata; Sarah Van Oss, Navarro- Farr’s undergraduate research assis-
tant at the College of Wooster for her aid with the draft manuscript; copy editor
J. L. Moreno and indexer Ina Gravitz for their attention to detail; and two
anonymous reviewers for their insightful feedback. Finally, for financial support
related to indexing fees, we thank the College of Wooster and the dean for fac-
ulty development, Heather Fitz Gibbon; Far Western Anthropological Research
Group, Inc., and the company’s principals; and David Freidel and Washington
University in St. Louis.