Title

States And Empires In Ancient Mesoamerica

Abstract

Ancient Mesoamerican polities are an important source of data for considerations of state development, despite internal debate over their size and complexity. We review complex political units, usually referred to as states and empires, in ancient Mesoamerica and reach the following conclusions: these polities tended to be hegemonic, rather than territorial, in composition; they melded ritual and political action; and they utilized the ruler as a symbol of the body politic. We also note the apparently larger size of most Maya polities as compared to other Mesoamerican city-states. Besides reviewing the commonalities among ancient Mesoamerican states, we also highlight the variation among these polities and the need to consider historic and archaeological data contextually in making interpretations of political structure. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010.

Publication Date

12-1-2009

Publication Title

Ancient Mesoamerica

Volume

20

Issue

2

Number of Pages

175-182

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536109990095

Socpus ID

77952330630 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/77952330630

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