article
Kingship in the Late Preclassic Maya lowlands: the instruments and places of ritual power
American anthropologist • 90 • Published In 1988 • Pages: 547-567
By: Freidel, David A., Schele, Linda.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, Freidal and Schele explore the Preclassic origins of Mayan kingship, the institution of AHAW. They argue that the institution developed in the first century B.C. to accommodate contradictions between an egalitarian ethos and emerging elite. This change happened prior to the collapse of Preclassic society and manifested itself in the sudden surge of construction that occurred in the Late Preclassic lowland centers. Freidal and Schele surmise that Late Preclassic society collapsed because it failed to develop principles and a system for succession. The authors also read into the Late Preclassic iconography the Classic symbols associated with AHAW, such as the QUINCUNX glyph, a symbol for ruling office, and the Jester God, a semantic determinative of AHAW.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Visual arts
- Chief executive
- Cosmology
- Spirits and gods
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Preclassic Maya
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2001
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Maya Area
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 2000
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 2350-1900 BP
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico
- NotesAdditional notes
- David A. Freidel and Linda Schele
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 564-567)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 17015424
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Mayas--Antiquities