The Ch'orti' Maya Area: Past and Present

363 Pages·2009·2.746 MB·English

by  Brent E. Metz (editor), Cameron L. McNeil (editor), Kerry M. Hull (editor)

the ch′orti′ maya area
university press of florida
Florida A & M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola

′ ′
The Chorti
Maya Area
Past and Present
Brent E. Metz
Cameron L. McNeil
and Kerry M. Hull
university press of florida
Gainesville/Tallahassee/Tampa/Boca Raton/Pensacola/
Orlando/Miami/Jacksonville/Ft. Myers/Sarasota
Copyright 2009 by Brent E. Metz, Cameron L. McNeil, and Kerry M. Hull
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, recycled paper
All rights reserved
14 13 12 11 10 09 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Metz, Brent E.
The Ch′orti′ Maya area: past and present/Brent E. Metz, Cameron L. McNeil,
and Kerry M. Hull.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8130-3331-0 (alk. paper); ISBN 978-0-8130-3952-7 (e-book);
1. Chorti Indians—History. 2. Chorti Indians—Ethnic identity. 3. Chorti Indians—Social
conditions. 4. Guatemala—Ethnic relations. 5. Honduras—Ethnic relations. 6. El Salvador—
Ethnic relations. I. McNeil, Cameron L. II. Hull, Kerry M. III. Title.
F1465.2.C5M478 2009
972.8004′974289-dc22 2008052236
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University
System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida
Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, New College
of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida,
University of South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611–2079
http://www.upf.com
Dedicated to Kathryn Josserand, 1942–2006

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xv
1. The “Ch′orti′ Area” 1
Brent E. Metz
part i
The Ch(cid:2)orti(cid:2) Language and Its Relationship to Ancient Mayan
2. The Linguistic Affi liation of Classic Lowland Mayan Writing and
the Historical Sociolinguistic Geography of the Mayan Lowlands 15
David Mora-Marín, Nicholas Hopkins, and Kathryn Josserand
3. Most Maya Glyphs Are Written in Ch′olti′an 29
Danny Law, John Robertson, Stephen Houston, and Robbie Haertel
part ii
The Pre-Columbian History of the Ch(cid:2)orti(cid:2) Area
4. The Environmental Record of Human Population and Migration
in the Copan Valley, Honduras 47
Cameron L. McNeil
5. Who Were Those Classic Period Immigrants into the Zapotitán
Valley, El Salvador? 61
Payson Sheets
6. Archaeological Investigations in the Camotán Valley, Guatemala 78
Carson N. Murdy
7. Ethnographic Analogy and the Archaeological Construction of
Maya Identity at Copan, Honduras 90
Allan L. Maca
8. Lightning Is Born: Using Ch′orti′ Ritual to Interpret Ancient
Maya Art 108
Matthew Looper
9. The Ch′orti′ Past: An Archaeological Perspective 124
Robert J. Sharer
part iii
The Southeastern Maya Periphery during the Colonial Period
10. The Ch′orti′ Maya of Eastern Guatemala under Imperial Spain 137
Stewart Brewer
11. Some Data and Refl ections on the Demographic Dynamism and
Continuity of the Colonial Ch′orti′ Population: The Many Copans
and San Juan Ermita 148
Lawrence H. Feldman
part iv
The Ch(cid:2)orti(cid:2) Today
12. Searching for Ch′orti′ Maya Indigenousness in Cont emporary
Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador 161
Brent E. Metz
13. A Chorti Tale, Coyote and Rabbit: Told by Lorenza Martínez 173
John G. Fought and Isidro González
14. Dualism and Worldview among the Ch′orti′ Maya 187
Kerry M. Hull
15. Ajk′opot Gente: The Unrecognized Keepers of Maya Plant Lore 198
Johanna Kufer
16. Ethnic Diversity in Reproductive Health Behavior: A Case Study
of the Ch′orti′ Area 214
Sofi e De Broe
17. From Indigenous Movement to Indigenous Managem ent: Confl ict
and Accommodation in Ch′orti′ Maya Ethnopolitics 230
William M. Loker
18. Copan Past and Present: Maya Archaeological Tourism and the
Ch′orti′ in Honduras 246
Lena Mortensen
19. Representational and Enacted Violence against Guatemalan Ch′orti′s
in the Famine of 2001 258
Julián López García
part v
Putting Ch(cid:2)orti(cid:2) Research in Longitudinal Context
20. The Mystery of Charles Wisdom: Producing Ch′orti′ Ethnography
during the Great Depression, 1930–1940 275
Charles Lincoln Vaughan
Bibliography 289
Contributors 335
Index 339
Illustrations
Figure 1.1. The Ch′orti′ area 4
Figure I. Mario, a Guatemalan Ch′orti′ scholar-activist, at the
Copan ruins 12
Figure 2.1. Classifi cation of Mayan languages 17
Figure 2.2. Model for proposed history of key morphemes in
Classic Ch′olti′an proposal 20
Figure 3.1. The Common Ch′olan-Tzeltalan forms of the functions
intransitive positional and passive 30
Figure 3.2. The Tzeltalan branch forms of intransitive positional
and passive 32
Figure 3.3. Ch′ol and Chontal intransitive positional and passive
innovations 34
Figure 3.4. Pre-Classical and Classical Ch′olti′ forms of intransitive
positional and passive 35
Figure 3.5. A problematic reading, Tikal Stela 10, especially E8 37
Figure 3.6. Ch′olti′ and Ch′orti′ forms of intransitive positional,
passive, and intransitive 38
Figure II. Ethnographer Charles Wisdom and Ladinos at Copan ruins 44
Figure 4.1. The East Court of the Copan Acropolis 48
Figure 4.2. The Copan Valley, Honduras 50
Figure 4.3. The fertile fl oor of the Copan Valley, bordered by steep hills 51
Figure 4.4. Graph of pollen found in sediment core samples from the
Petapilla pond 53
Figure 4.5. The Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) tephra layer 55
Figure 5.1. The Mirafl ores cultural sphere in southeastern Mesoamerica 63
Figure 5.2. Volcanic ash from the cataclysmic Ilopango eruption, at the
Ciudad Credisa site 65
Figure 5.3. Campana San Andrés, the largest elite center in the
Zapotitán Valley 66
Figure 5.4. Structure 10 at Ceren, a building for community ritual
and feasting 68
ix