Economic Foundations of Mayapán Project: Results of the 2001 Season
Vea este informe en Español.
Printable version

Research Year:  2001
Culture:  Maya
Chronology:  Post Classic
Location:  México
Site:  Mayapán

Table of Contents

Abstract
Surface Survey
Artifact Analysis
Faunal Analysis
Survey Outside the City Walls
Summary
Tables
List of Figures
Sources Cited

Abstract

The Economic Foundations of Mayapán project was initiated in the summer of 2001 with the objective of beginning our research into the economic organization of the city of Mayapán, the capital of the most centralized state of the Late Postclassic Maya realm (Masson and Peraza 2002a, 2002b, Hare et al. 2002, Masson and Russell 2002, Peraza and Cruz 2002, Masson et al. 2002). Documentary sources suggest that this city was the nucleus of a thriving world of Postclassic Maya trade in which everyday items and luxury goods moved across the northern and southern lowlands, into the Guatemalan highlands, and into central México, yet the economy of this core center has not been investigated in detail using the archaeological record. Our research goals are to reconstruct the local, regional, and distant spheres of production and exchange in which the elites and commoners of Mayapán participated. The summer 2001 season, supported by FAMSI, launched this project. Three subsequent years of work (2002, 2003, 2004) will further pursue these goals, with the support of the National Science Foundation.

Although we only worked for six weeks during 2001, an immense amount of data has already been collected that can address our research questions. These data are of three different varieties, including mapped surface features (structures, walls, and concentrations), reconnaissance outside of the city walls, and artifact analysis. This report provides a brief summary of these three categories of data that reflect preliminary patterns of Mayapán’s economy.

Submitted 06/24/2002 by:
Marilyn A. Masson
mdelaguna@hotmail.com

Next Page

Return to top of page