Title

Framing The Maya Collapse: Continuity, Discontinuity, Method, And Practice In The Classic To Postclassic Southern Maya Lowlands

Abstract

Despite substantial new research on both the Classic (ad 250-900) and the Postclassic (ad 900-1542 [1697]) period Maya, views of the Classic Maya collapse and of the changes that took place in the subsequent Postclassic period are very little changed from paradigms established more than thirty years ago. While the Postclassic Maya are no longer viewed as a decadent and declining population, explanations for a regenerated Maya society continue a traditional focus on causal factors such as environmental change or destruction, internal or external warfare, and the rise of mercantilism. We suggest that viewing the Maya from the perspective of "frames"-a methodological approach that is used in other disciplines (see Goffman 1974)-provides a different and potentially more holistic view of the transformation and restructuring of Maya society. Our archaeological research at the sites of Caracol (Belize), Nohmul (Belize), Santa Rita Corozal (Belize), and Tayasal (Guatemala) provides the data for a multiframe analysis. We believe that this perspective not only is more dynamic, but also more clearly indicates the disjunctions of the Terminal Classic (ad 790-900) with bordering time periods and highlights the aspects of Classic period society that are incorporated into the regenerated Postclassic period.

Publication Date

1-1-2010

Publication Title

After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies

Volume

9780816521203

Number of Pages

168-187

Document Type

Article; Book Chapter

Personal Identifier

scopus

Socpus ID

84917506964 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84917506964

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