Interpersonal relationships connect household groups and communities into the social interaction networks that characterize all human societies. Interaction networks structure, and are structured by, relationships created and maintained through time, which may serve a variety of social, economic, and political purposes for those who engage in them. These relationships are important aspects of social organization that must be distilled from the archaeological record when written accounts are unavailable. Such is the case with the Middle Preclassic (c. 900 – 350 B.C.) in the Maya Lowlands, which was pivotal in the development of complex society in the region. Its temporal position between the earliest permanent settlements and the Late Preclassic, when clear evidence for hereditary inequality became widespread, makes the relationships and structures that characterized Middle Preclassic society critical targets for understanding the origins of Maya social complexity. This dissertation explores Middle Preclassic Maya social organization and development through the lenses of materials exchange and consumption, which are used to analyze participation in socioeconomic networks by different social groups. It synthesizes data from six seasons of excavation at Cahal Pech, Belize, where previous research revealed substantial Middle Preclassic occupation and suggested the early development of social ranking. I present analyses of architectural investment and depositional patterns across multiple artifact categories that suggest prevalent models of Middle Preclassic social organization do not adequately explain variability in the data, and I develop a new framework to interpret social relationships in terms of network structures. The network model combines sociological research on small-world networks with anthropological conceptions of household and community interactions. It can be employed to analyze interactions at the local, regional, and interregional scales and is grounded in an understanding of material sources and how goods move across the landscape. Socioeconomic networks are defined by linking the depositional contexts of artifacts with known source areas, and networks can be compared among different groups to discern differences in internal and external exchange connections. My research suggests that dynamic interactions within small-world networks created increasingly complex social relationships throughout the Middle Preclassic, which likely influenced the development of institutionalized hierarchy and later Maya civilization. / 1 / Sherman W Horn III

acase@tulane.edu / 1 / Nina Neivens

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Destruction is one of the key aspects of visual effects. This report describes the work that was done to create a production ready pre-fracture modelling plug-in for Maya. It provides information on what methods that can be used to create a robust plug-in and various techniques for sampling points to create interesting fracture patterns using the Voronoi diagram. It also discusses how this work can be further built on to create an even better plug-in.

Maya artists working in the northern Yucatán Peninsula c. 700-800 CE began creating a new ceramic style. Deeply carved and exhibiting complex iconography and hieroglyphic inscriptions, Chocholá ceramics have long been recognized as among the most beautiful items produced by ancient Maya craftsmen. Indeed, the Chocholá style can be associated with a number of firsts in Maya studies: the first published explorations, the first major art historical investigations of ceramics, the first attempts at ceramic seriation and the first translations of the dedicatory formula all include images of Chocholá pots. Many examples lack provenience, however, due to extensive looting and the corpus has been relegated to a shadowy corner of the Maya world as a result. With the aid of new archaeological information and advances in iconographic and epigraphic studies, I develop an interdisciplinary rubric for classifying Chocholá pieces. Additionally, I analyze vessel imagery and texts, thus deciphering ostensible meanings as well as identifying the kinds of messages elites were trying to project through ownership and exchange. As with other high-status commodities, these ceramics functioned as prestige items and facilitated regional alliances through gifting and feasting. An analysis of temporal setting illuminates the aesthetic innovation and traditionalism Chocholá patrons manipulated in order to legitimize their own standing in such contexts. My work results in a more refined picture of extended northern socio-political interaction and interconnection. I show that one extremely powerful site—Oxkintok, in the hilly Puuc region of Yucatán—produced such vessels and disseminated them south, west and northeast. In dialogue with Oxkintok's expanding sphere of political influence, stylistic variations also developed in these outlying regions. Ultimately, I use the confluence of data to reconstruct a more concrete system of intra-regional connection and interchange. / text

Bulldozed, effaced, and paved over by the buildings and winding streets of Guatemala City, the vast majority of the archaeological remains of Kaminaljuyú are now lost to us. This early site, which reached its peak during the Late Preclassic period (ca. 300BC-250AD), was once the largest and most influential site of the Maya highlands and one of the most important sites of early Mesoamerica. This dissertation, begun as an art historical salvage project, is at once documentary and analytical. It not only focuses on recording and preserving the Late Preclassic bas-relief stone sculptures of Kaminaljuyú through accurate technical drawings, but also provides cautious and detailed analyses regarding what this iconography can tell us about this ancient site. In essence, the following chapters approach, flesh out, and describe the bodies of Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyú---the stone bodies, the divine bodies, and the human bodies that interacted with them across the built landscape. They discuss topics like human sacrifice, the Principal Bird Deity, and the myriad supernatural forms related to water and wind at Kaminaljuyú. They consider the noisiness of performance, the sensory impact of costumed rulers, and the ways in which these kings utilized the mythical, supernatural, and divine to sustain their rule. In addition to untangling the complex iconography of these early sculptures, these chapters give voice to the significance of these stones beyond their carved surfaces. They contemplate the materiality of stone and the ways in which the kingly body and sculpted monuments were inscribed, made meaningful, and performed to establish and maintain ideological, socio-political, and economic structures. In essence, then, these chapters deal with the interwoven themes of stone and bone and flesh and blood; with the structuring of human, sculpted, and divine bodies; and with the performative role these bodies shared as transformative spaces where extraordinary things could happen. In other words, this dissertation not only addresses stone carvings as crucial points of access into the belief structures and political strategies of Kaminaljuyú, but as active participants in the social, economic, and ideological processes that shaped human history at this ancient site. / text

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This dissertation explores the fundamental characteristics of a system of geometry and proportion currently used by Maya house builders and shamans to design vernacular architecture in indigenous Maya communities. An extensive examination of Pre-Columbian Maya art and architecture demonstrates how this system of geometry and proportion was also used by the Maya of the Classic and Post-Classic periods. The dissertation concludes with a brief discussion of how Maya geometry was, and is, an expression of Maya cosmology and religion. / text

The migration of thousands of Guatemalan-Maya due to political violence and poverty since the 1970s led to the establishment of various diasporic communities throughout the United States. A frequent destination for the Maya is Los Angeles, California, where they are confronted with pressure to adapt within an environment that is predominately Latino/Hispanic. Maya identity expressed through the use of traje (Maya clothing), language, literature and spirituality is challenged by Euro-American culture such as western style of dress and the practice of English which discriminates against these customs. These conditions are more severe for Maya children who face the difficulties in preserving their heritage as a result of institutions such as public education which socializes them into US culture and history. Despite the presence of many indigenous communities in Los Angeles, such as the Maya, Mixtecos and Zapotecs, indigenous identity is almost non-existent in many public spaces and institutions. Discrimination against the Maya by their compatriots and other Latinos coupled with high rates of undocumented immigration statuses have contributed to this invisibility. Some Maya parents view the lack of a strong indigenous identity among their children as problematic and the source of negative cultural qualities such as disrespect towards elders, violence, individualism and misbehavior. In this study, I seek to examine Maya identity and culture in Los Angeles. What does it mean to identify as Maya in Los Angeles? What are the consequences of doing so? How do Maya immigrants respond to discrimination and what implications does discrimination have for the ethnic identity formation of their children? Why has Maya identity survived in some children of Maya and not in others? I found that while some Maya immigrants have assimilated into the Latino community in response to racism and fear of deportation, others have adopted strategies such as the use of marimba to preserve Maya identity which also serve to deal with a life of displacement and exile. Maya identity among children is highly influenced by factors such as the educational system, class and their parent’s willingness and ability to transmit Maya culture. Thus, while some children of Maya have been able to preserve and express their identity through various channels such as music and language, others may be unaware of, ashamed by or apathetic toward their indigenous roots and history. / text

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