Brett A. Houk and Ashley Booher
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813066226
- eISBN:
- 9780813058375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813066226.003.0008
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
Approaching monumentality and politics at an epicentral-scale, Houk and Ashley Booher use a site-planning approach in chapter 8 to argue that the Late Classic rulers of Chan Chich, Belize designed ...
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Approaching monumentality and politics at an epicentral-scale, Houk and Ashley Booher use a site-planning approach in chapter 8 to argue that the Late Classic rulers of Chan Chich, Belize designed major architectural components of the site to function as the theater for public spectacles and processions. The authors are able to demonstrate evidence for rituals’ having taken place along the two causeways and at their termini structures, as well as an apparent functional relationship between one causeway and an associated courtyard. Ritual, in this case, was actually the means to a political end. As Houk and Booher show, converting the monumental landscape of Chan Chich into a vast stage for public spectacle and ritual processions required considerable planning, labor, and resources. The Late Classic rulers at Chan Chich and other sites spent vast resources on the architecture of political theater as an exercise in community building and regional competition for labor, loyalty, and prestige.Less
Approaching monumentality and politics at an epicentral-scale, Houk and Ashley Booher use a site-planning approach in chapter 8 to argue that the Late Classic rulers of Chan Chich, Belize designed major architectural components of the site to function as the theater for public spectacles and processions. The authors are able to demonstrate evidence for rituals’ having taken place along the two causeways and at their termini structures, as well as an apparent functional relationship between one causeway and an associated courtyard. Ritual, in this case, was actually the means to a political end. As Houk and Booher show, converting the monumental landscape of Chan Chich into a vast stage for public spectacle and ritual processions required considerable planning, labor, and resources. The Late Classic rulers at Chan Chich and other sites spent vast resources on the architecture of political theater as an exercise in community building and regional competition for labor, loyalty, and prestige.
Suzanna C. Yorgey and Matthew D. Moriarty
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780813041902
- eISBN:
- 9780813043425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813041902.003.0009
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Excavations and mapping of the small site of Akte, located 7.2 km northwest of Motul de San José, near the confluence of the Rio Akte and the Rio K'ante't'u'ul, documented an extensive occupational ...
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Excavations and mapping of the small site of Akte, located 7.2 km northwest of Motul de San José, near the confluence of the Rio Akte and the Rio K'ante't'u'ul, documented an extensive occupational history, seven stela monuments, and several features suggesting that the site played a complex role in regional sociopolitical interactions. This chapter by Suzanna C. Yorgey and Matthew D. Moriarty summarizes the results of the research, pointing to both site planning and ceramic differences and similarities between Akte and Motul, in order to contextualize the nature of the role of minor sites in the Motul de San José polity and on the larger Central Peten geopolitical scene.Less
Excavations and mapping of the small site of Akte, located 7.2 km northwest of Motul de San José, near the confluence of the Rio Akte and the Rio K'ante't'u'ul, documented an extensive occupational history, seven stela monuments, and several features suggesting that the site played a complex role in regional sociopolitical interactions. This chapter by Suzanna C. Yorgey and Matthew D. Moriarty summarizes the results of the research, pointing to both site planning and ceramic differences and similarities between Akte and Motul, in order to contextualize the nature of the role of minor sites in the Motul de San José polity and on the larger Central Peten geopolitical scene.
