Book
Maya Postclassic state formation: segmentary lineage migration in advancing frontiers
Cambridge University Press • Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] • Published In 1987 • Pages: xv, 310
By: Fox, John W..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
During the Postclassic period ruling dynasties extended far and wide across southern Mesoamerica, many enbodied by strong affinity and possible kinship ties with one another. Not only did these various Maya-speaking peoples manifest astonishing commonality in archaeological remains, but also they maintained firm accordance in their written histories pointing to a common ancestry. 'To further distinguish them as a group, their architecture, ceramics, religion and mythology were stoutly cast in a Toltec mold deep within the Maya realm. This study addresses how these Mexican/Mayan peoples acquired their especially hybrid cultural matrix, sudden long-distance migration, intrusion, conquest, and intermarriage with indigenous population, and then how the equally abrupt collapse of apparently mighty state systems occurred: (p. 1). In this work Fox focuses on how three temporally and geographically sequential frontiers came into being, running west to east: '…the original Gulf frontier where the hybrid Mexican/Mayan traditions first evolved (Part I), the western Guatemalan highlands (Part II) where the Queché and acropolis traditions eventually came to constitute a core of the segmentary state, and an eastern frontier (Part III), the edge of Mesoamerica, where the Quiché, Cakchiquel and others had only recently entered by the time of the Spaniah Conquest (pp. 282-283).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- External migration
- History and culture change
- Historical reconstruction
- Ceramic technology
- Structures
- Settlement patterns
- Miscellaneous facilities
- Lineages
- Territorial hierarchy
- Form and rules of government
- Congregations
- Ethnogeography
- Chronologies and culture sequences
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Postclassic 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
- Book
- 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
- John Beierle, Sarah Berry ; 2000
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1100 BP-480 BP (900 A.D.-1520 A.D.)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Mexico, Guatemala
- NotesAdditional notes
- John W. Fox
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 288-304) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 86032689
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Mayas--Antiquities