Royal Courts of the Ancient Maya, Volume Two: Data and Case Studies EDITED BY Takeshi Inomata University of Arizona AND Stephen D. Houston Brigham Young University ~estview P. I I I A l\1ember of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, in cluding photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright© 2001 by Westview Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group Published in 2001 in the United States of America by Westview Press, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder, Colorado 80301-2877, and in the United Kingdom by Westview Press, 12 Hid's Copse Road, Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9JJ Find us on the World Wide Web at www.westviewpress.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Royal courts of the ancient Maya/ edited by Takes hi Inomata and Stephen D. Houston. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: v. 2. Data and case studies ISBN 0-8133-3880-8 (pbk) 1. Mayas-Kings and rulers. 2. Maya architecture. 3. Mayas-Antiquities. 4. Inscriptions, Mayan. 5. Royal houses-Mexico. 6. Royal houses-Central America. 7. Mexico-Antiquities. 8. Central America-Antiquities. I. Inomata, Takeshi, Ph. D. II. Houston, Stephen D. F1435.3.K55 R69 2000 972.81 '016-dc21 00-063306 The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Stan dard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials 239.48-1984. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 To the memory of Floyd Lounsbury Contents List of Tables and Illustrations ix Preface xix 1 The Architecture of Early Kingship: Comparative Perspectives on the Origins of the Maya Royal Court, John E. Clark and Richard D. Hansen 1 2 The Royal Court of Early Classic Copan, Loa P. Traxler 46 3 Thrones and Throne Structures in the Central Acropolis of Tikal as an Expression of the Royal Court, Peter D. Harrison 74 4 The Royal Court of Caracol, Belize: Its Palaces and People, Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase 102 5 Palaces and Thrones Tied to the Destiny of the Royal Courts in the Maya Lowlands, Juml A11tonio Valdes 138 6 The Buenavista-Cahal Pech Royal Court: Multi-Palace Court Mobility and Usage in a Petty Lowland Maya Kingdom, Joseph W. Ball and Jennifer T. Taschek 165 7 Life at Court: The View from Bonampak, Mary Miller 201 8 Triadic Temples, Central Plazas and Dynastic Palaces: A Diachronic Analysis of the Royal Court Complex, Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico, William J. Folan, Joel D. Gwm, Maria del Rosario Dominguez Carrasco 223 vii l'iii Ctmtc11ts 9 Post-Classic and Terminal Classic Courts of the Northern Maya Lowlands, William M. Riltgle and George f. Bey III 266 10 Post-Classic Maya Courts of the Guatemalan Highlands: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Approaches, Geoffrey E. Braswell 308 11 The People of the Patio: Ethnohistorical Evidence of Yucatec Maya Royal Courts, Matthew Restall 335 List of Contributors 391 Index 395 Tables and Illustrations Tables 5.1 Dimensions of Palace H-Sub 2 of Uaxactun (in meters) 5.2 Dimensions of Palace H-Sub 5 of Uaxactun (in meters) 8.1 Chronological Sequence of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico 11.1 Courtly Meetings in Conquest Times: Some Examples of Maya Summits, circa 1530-1600 11.2 Yucatan's Ruling Dynasties at the Time of the Spanish Conquest, circa 1520-1570 11.3 The Officers of the Court: Political Offices in Yucatan, circa 1400-1800 11.4 Some Examples of Maya Courtly Retinues, circa 1440-1700 11.5 The Yaxakumche Branch of the Xiu Lineage 11.6 Maya Origin Myth References in the Ethnohistorical Sources Figures 1.1 Map of Middle Pre-Classic centers showing the locations of sites mentioned in the text (circles) and those built on the MFC pattern (squares). 1.2 Site plan of early La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico (adapted from Gonzalez Lauck 1996:Figure 1). 1.3 Site plan of early Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico. 1.4 Site plan of Mirador, Chiapas. 1.5 Site plan of La Libertad, Chiapas. 1.6 Site plan of early Nakbe, Peten, Guatemala. 1.7 Group 18 at Nakbe, a possible royal compound (redrawn from Martinez and Hansen 1993:Figure 8). 1.8 Early E-Group at Tikal (redrawn from Fialko 1988: Figure 3). 1.9 Plaza Eat Uaxactun during the Pre-Classic (redrawn from Rosal et al. 1993:Figure 34). 1.10 Site plan of the ceremonial center of Protoclassic Chiapa de Corzo. ix x Tables a11d Il/ustratio11s 1.11 Plan of the Mound 5, A.D. 100 palace at Chiapa de Corzo (redrawn from Lowe 1962:Figure 46). 1.12 Reconstruction of the Mound 5 palace at Chiapa de Corzo (by Ayax Moreno). 1.13 Pottery assemblage from Cache 17-1, Mound 17, Chiapa de Corzo, which has the same vessel forms and proportions as those from Mound 5, chamber B (from Lowe 1962:Figure 34). 2.1 Motmot Marker (drawing by Barbara Fash). 2.2 Detail from carved peccary skull found in Tomb 1 (drawing by Barbara Fash). 2.3 Plan of Main Group at the site of Copan, Honduras (based on Fash 1991:Figure 1). 2.4 ECAP preliminary plan of Yune Platform and early structures of the royal compound (Traxler). 2.5 ECAP preliminary plan of Witik Platform and structures of the royal compound during the reign of Ruler 2 (Traxler). 2.6 ECAP preliminary plan of royal compound late in the reign of · Ruler 2 showing initial masonry palace structures that replaced adobe predecessors (Traxler). 2.7 ECAP preliminary plan of royal compound with masonry palace groups (Traxler). 3.1 Map of Central Tikal. The Central Acropolis is located at the center of the city, adjacent to Temples I and II. 3.2 Detail of the ceremonial center of the city with the religious temples to the north and the more secular palaces of the Central Acropolis in close proximity to the south. 3.3 Painted scene on a burial vessel from Tikal showing presentation of a jaguar skin (Kerr, File No. 2697). Note also the livery of the tribute-givers and the fringed cover of the throne (courtesy of Kerr Associates). 3.4 This simple reception scene from Burial116 (Hasaw Chan K'awil) illustrates a throne type that has not been found at Tikal, unless the decoration is assumed painted (from Tikal Report No. 25, Part A, Culbert, Figure 69A; courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum). 3.5 Drawing of a segment of the Carved Lintel2 of Temple III showing Nu Bak Chak II in front of his portable throne. Details from the right end of the throne are clear (after Tikal Report No. 33, Part A, Jones and Satterthwaite, Figure 72; courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum). 3.6 Artist's conception of a reconstruction of the portable throne shown on three lintels at Tikal (drawn by T.W. Rutledge; scale figure based on Lintel 2 of Temple III).