Life and Politics at the Royal Court of Aguateca: Artifacts, Analytical Data, and Synthesis

371 Pages·2014·19.75 MB·English

by  Takeshi Inomata

EDITED BY
TAKESHI INOMATA
AND DANIELA TRIADAN
LIFE AND POLITICS AT THE ROYAL COURT OF
AGUATECA:
Artifacts, Analytical Data, and Synthesis
3
e
m
Monographs of the Aguateca Archaeological Project First Phase
u
Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan, General Editors
l
o
v
Life and Politics at the Royal Court of Aguateca:
Artifacts, Analytical Data, and Synthesis

Life and Politics at the Royal Court of Aguateca:
Artifacts, Analytical Data,
and Synthesis
Edited by
TAkEshi inomATA And dAniELA TRiAdAn
monographs of the Aguateca Archaeological Project First Phase
Takeshi inomata and daniela Triadan, General Editors
Volume 3
The University of Utah Press
Salt Lake City
Copyright © 2014 by The University of Utah Press. All rights reserved.
The Defiance House Man colophon is a registered trademark of the
University of Utah Press. It is based on a four-foot-tall Ancient Puebloan
pictograph (late PIII) near Glen Canyon, Utah.
18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Life and politics at the royal court of Aguateca : artifacts, analytical data, and synthesis /
edited by Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan.
pages cm. — (Monographs of the Aguateca Archaeological Project first phase ; v. 3)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-1-60781-318-7 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 978-1-60781-319-4 (ebook)
1. Aguateca Site (Guatemala) 2. Mayas — Guatemala — Antiquities. 3. Excavations
(Archaeology) — Guatemala — Aguateca Site. I. Inomata, Takeshi, 1961– editor of
compilation, author. II. Triadan, Daniela, 1964– editor of compilation, author.
F1435.1.A37L54 2014
972.81'2 — dc23
2013042715
Printed and bound by Sheridan Books, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Contents
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Takeshi Inomata
Part A: Artifacts, Ecological Studies, and Conservation
2. Figurines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Daniela Triadan
3. Worked Sherds and Other Ceramic Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Takeshi Inomata
4. Spindle Whorls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Takeshi Inomata
5. Grinding Stones and Related Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Takeshi Inomata
6. Stone Ornaments and Other Stone Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Takeshi Inomata and Markus Eberl
7. Ceramic Laminates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Harriet F. Beaubien
8. Bone and Shell Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Takeshi Inomata and Kitty Emery
9. Aguateca Animal Remains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Kitty Emery
v
vi Cxoxxntents
10. Food, Farming, and Forest Management at Aguateca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
David L. Lentz, Brian Lane, and Kim Thompson
11. Artifact Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Harriet F. Beaubien
Part B: Monuments and Hieroglyphic Texts
12. Monuments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Stephen D. Houston
13. Miscellaneous Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Stephen D. Houston
Part C: Synthesis and Conclusions
14. Synthesis of Data from the Rapidly Abandoned Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Takeshi Inomata
15. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Takeshi Inomata
Appendix: Radiocarbon Dates from Aguateca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Takeshi Inomata
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Figures
1.1. Map of Aguateca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3.6. Worked ceramic sherds from the northern
1.2. Map of the Palace Group and the Causeway . 3 part of Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
1.3. Map of the Main Plaza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3.7. Worked ceramic sherds from the southern
1.4. Map of the Barranca Escondida . . . . . . . . 5 part of Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.1. Figurine molds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3.8. Clay caked on worked sherds . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.2. Solid figurines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.9. Ceramic beads and rings . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.3. Whistles, warriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.10. Other ceramic artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.4. Whistles, warriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.11. Unfired clay from Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . 48
2.5. Whistles, warriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4.1. Spindle whorls from Structures M7-22 and
2.6. Whistle, noble with feathered headdress . . . 21 M7-32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.7. Whistles, males with elaborate attire . . . . . 23 4.2. Spindle whorls from Structure M8-4 . . . . . 51
2.8. Whistles, males with simple attire . . . . . . . 24 4.3. Spindle whorls from Structure M8-8 . . . . . 52
2.9. Whistles, ball players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 4.4. Spindle whorls from Structure M8-13 . . . . . 52
2.10. Whistles, females with elaborate attire . . . . 26 4.5. Spindle whorls from Structures M8-2
2.11. Whistles, females with simple attire . . . . . . 27 and M8-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.12. Whistles, animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4.6. Spindle whorls from Structure M7-21 . . . . . 53
2.13. Whistles, animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 4.7. Spindle whorls from Structure M7-21 . . . . . 53
2.14. Whistles, supernaturals and grotesques . . . . 29 4.8. Doughnut-shaped spindle whorls from Struc-
2.15. Whistles with multiple resonators . . . . . . . 30 tures M8-2 and M8-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.16. Whistles with multiple resonators . . . . . . . 31 5.1. Flat igneous rock metate from Structure
2.17. Flute with pizote appliqué . . . . . . . . . . . 32 M7-22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.18. Flutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 5.2. Shallow basin limestone metate from
2.19. Ceramic bells, felines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Structure M7-32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.20. Ceramic bells, unidentified zoomorphic . . . 35 5.3. Limestone metates from Structures M7-22
2.21. Hollow-heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 and M7-32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.22. Vessel-shaped figurine, a pendant, and a zoomor- 5.4. Shallow basin limestone metate from
phic figurine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.23. Figurine assemblages found in situ . . . . . . 38 5.5. Flat igneous rock metate from Structure
2.24. Part of the figurine assemblage from M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Structure M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 5.6. Metates from Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . . . 57
3.1. Medium-sized round worked ceramic disks . 40 5.7. Shallow basin limestone metate from
3.2. Medium-sized round worked ceramic disks . 41 Structure M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.3. Notched ceramic sherds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 5.8. Shallow basin limestone metate from
3.4. Worked ceramic sherds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Structure M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.5. Worked ceramic sherds from Structures 5.9. Deep basin limestone metate from
M8-13 and M7-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Structure M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
vii
viii Figures
5.10. Deep basin limestone metate from Structure 5.39. Limestone doughnut stones . . . . . . . . . . 78
M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 5.40. Limestone flat stone with fine incisions . . . . 79
5.11. Deep basin limestone metate from Structure 5.41. Limestone flat stone with fine incisions . . . . 80
M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 5.42. Limestone flat stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.12. Deep basin limestone metate from Structure 5.43. Limestone flat stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 5.44. Limestone artifacts of unknown function . . 83
5.13. Deep basin quartzite metate from Structure 6.1. Stone beads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 6.2. Greenstone ornaments from Structure M8-8 86
5.14. Metates from Structure M8-8 . . . . . . . . . 59 6.3. Tubular greenstone beads . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
5.15. Metates and matching manos from Structure 6.4. Button-shaped greenstone ornaments . . . . 86
M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 6.5. Stone ornaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.16. Flat sandstone metate and matching mano 6.6. Greenstone ornaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
from Structure M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 6.7. Stone ornaments from termination ritual depos-
5.17. Shallow basin limestone metate from its of Structures M7-22 and M7-32 . . . . . . 88
Structure M8-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 6.8. Greenstone ornaments associated with eastern-
5.18. Deep basin limestone metate from Structure most room of Structure M7-22 . . . . . . . . . 89
M8-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 6.9. Stone ornaments found in and around
5.19. Limestone metates with matching manos Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
from Structure M8-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 6.10. Stone ornaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.20. Shallow basin limestone metate from 6.11. Stone ornaments found in the Barranca Escon-
Structure M8-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 dida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.21. Limestone metate from Structure M8-2 and 6.12. Jester God diadem made of alabaster . . . . . 92
matching manos from Structure M8-4 . . . . 64 6.13. Jester God diadem made of alabaster . . . . . 93
5.22. Flat limestone metate from Structure M7-34 64 6.14. Rectangular plaques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.23. Shallow basin limestone metate from 6.15. Distribution of fragments of a jade pendant . 95
Structure M7-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 6.16. Pyrite ornaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
5.24. Deep basin limestone metate from Structure 6.17. Pyrite ornaments and nodules . . . . . . . . . 98
M7-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 6.18. Pyrite mosaic mirror pieces and recycled
5.25. Deep basin limestone metate from Structure artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
M7-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 6.19. Pyrite mirror pieces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.26. Metates and matching manos from Structure 6.20. Reworking process of mosaic mirror pieces . 101
M7-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 6.21. Mirror backs from Structure M7-22 . . . . . . 102
5.27. Quartzite metate from Structure M7-91 and 6.22. Mirror backs from Structure M7-22 . . . . . . 102
matching mano from Structure M8-4 . . . . . 65 6.23. Mirror backs from Structure M7-22 . . . . . . 103
5.28. Limestone manos from Structure M8-4 . . . 66 6.24. Mirror backs from Structures M7-22 and
5.29. Limestone manos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 M7-32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5.30. Limestone manos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 6.25. Sandstone mirror back from Structure M8-4 106
5.31. Manos from Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . 67 6.26. Sandstone mirror back from Structure M8-4 107
5.32. Manos from Structure M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . 68 6.27. Mirror backs from Structures M8-4 and
5.33. Manos from Structure M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . 68 M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.34. Limestone manos from Structure M8-13 . . . 68 6.28. Mirror backs from Structure M8-4 . . . . . . 109
5.35. Manos from Structures M8-2 and M8-3 . . . 69 6.29. Alabaster vessel fragments from Structures
5.36. Manos from Structure M7-34 . . . . . . . . . 69 M7-22 and M7-32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.37. Approximate locations of matching metates 6.30. Alabaster vessel fragments from Structures
and manos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 M8-4 and M8-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.38. Limestone doughnut stones from Structures 6.31. Alabaster vessel fragments from Structures
M8-4 and M8-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 M7-22 and M7-32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Figures ix
6.32. Alabaster vessel fragments from Structures 10.2. Paleobotanical remains . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
M8-4 and M8-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 11.1. Storage supports and containers fabricated
6.33. Pumice stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 for artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
6.34. Possible pigments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 11.2. Conservation of a ceramic vessel . . . . . . . . 222
6.35. Phallic object from Structure M8-8 . . . . . . 116 11.3. Conservation of a ceramic vessel . . . . . . . . 223
6.36. Petrified wood from the Barranca Escondida 116 11.4. Conservation of a ceramic vessel . . . . . . . . 224
6.37. Other stone artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 11.5. Conservation of a ceramic laminate artifact . 225
7.1. Ceramic laminate deposits from Structure 11.6. Conservation of a stone dish . . . . . . . . . . 226
M7-22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 11.7. Conservation of a pyrite mirror . . . . . . . . 227
7.2a. Drawings of reconstructed ceramic 11.8. Conservation of a bone artifact . . . . . . . . 228
laminate mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 11.9. Conservation of a carved shell . . . . . . . . . 228
7.2b. Photographs of reconstructed ceramic 12.1. Closeup photograph of Stela 6 . . . . . . . . . 235
laminate mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 12.2. Name glyph of Tahn Te’ K’inich . . . . . . . . 235
7.3. Ceramic laminate headdress . . . . . . . . . . 122 12.3. Glyphs of “GI” K’awiil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
7.4. Selected fragments of the headdress . . . . . . 122 12.4. Stela 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
7.5. Microscopic views of mask fragments . . . . . 123 12.5. Stela 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
7.6. Ceramic laminate fabrication process . . . . . 124 12.6. Stela 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
8.1. Elongated, pointed bone artifacts . . . . . . . 129 12.7. Stela 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
8.2. Probable bone awls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 12.8. Stela 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
8.3. Bone spatulas and other objects . . . . . . . . 131 12.9. Glyph blocks of Stela 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
8.4. Tubular bone objects, small ornaments, 12.10. Stela 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
and disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 12.11. Stela 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
8.5. Elaborately carved bone objects . . . . . . . . 134 12.12. Monuments similar to Stela 16 . . . . . . . . . 252
8.6. Bone debitage and preforms . . . . . . . . . . 135 12.13. Stela 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
8.7. Bone artifacts from Structures M7-22 12.14. Stela 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
and M7-32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 13.1. Polychrome ceramic vase painted with
8.8. Bone artifacts from Structure M8-4 . . . . . . 137 glyphic texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
8.9. Bone artifacts from Structures M8-4 13.2. Glyphic texts carved on alabaster vessels . . . 260
and M8-8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 13.3. Glyphs on polished stone fragments . . . . . 261
8.10. Bone artifacts from Structure M8-8 . . . . . . 139 13.4. Carved bone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
8.11. Bone artifacts from Structures M8-13, 13.5. Carved bone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
M8-2, M8-3, and M7-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 13.6. Carved bone fragments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
8.12. Shell tinklers, beads, rings, and ornaments . . 143 13.7. Carved helmet shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
8.13. Shell artifacts and ear ornaments . . . . . . . . 144 13.8. Carved shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
8.14. Possible spearthrower finger-loops and orna- 14.1. Distribution of ceramic vessels in Structure
ments with unknown use . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
8.15. Shell artifacts from Structure M7-22 . . . . . 146 14.2. Distribution of grinding stone artifacts in Struc-
8.16. Shell tinklers, beads, and rings . . . . . . . . . 147 ture M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
8.17. Shell artifacts from Structures M7-32 14.3. Distribution of obsidian artifacts in
and M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
8.18. Shell artifacts from Structure M8-4 . . . . . . 150 14.4. Distribution of chipped stone tools in
8.19. Shell artifacts from Structure M8-4 . . . . . . 151 Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
8.20. Shell artifacts from Structure M8-8 . . . . . . 152 14.5. Distribution of polished axes, polishing
8.21. Shell artifacts from Structures M8-13, M8-2, stones, pigments, unfired clay, and reworked
and M8-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 sherds in Structure M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
8.22. Shell artifacts from Structure M7-34 . . . . . 154 14.6. Distribution of pyrite artifacts in Structure
10.1. Electron micrographs of charcoal . . . . . . . 207 M8-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281