Dissertation by Matthew D Moriarty
Although the largest Classic Maya political capitals are frequently assumed to have served as ke... more Although the largest Classic Maya political capitals are frequently assumed to have served as key nodes in long-distance trade networks, empirical data supporting this contention are surprisingly limited. This study was designed to assess the role of a Late Classic Maya political capital, Motul de San José, in long-distance trade through the examination of its principal secondary center, Trinidad de Nosotros. Located on the north shore of Guatemala's Lake Petén Itzá, 2.6 km south of Motul, and at the natural gateway to the area, Trinidad was well-positioned to serve as a port and intermediary between the inland capital and long-distance trade routes.
Research at Trinidad included survey; household, midden, and stratigraphic excavations; and ceramic and obsidian analyses. These investigations defined Trinidad as a moderate-sized center with an occupation extending from the Middle Preclassic to the Historical period. A complex harbor was identified, as was public plaza space more extensive than required by Trinidad's inhabitants. Midden excavations documented spectacular deposits behind Trinidad's ballcourt, indicating that it was a major locus for feasting and ritual throughout the Late Classic period. Cumulatively, these and other data support the proposition that Trinidad was a port.
This study also highlights continuities at Trinidad during the latter half of the Late Classic period when Motul emerged as a political power and its sustaining area underwent demographic expansion. These developments enhanced Trinidad's port role, as indicated by additions to the harbor and greater access to obsidian. Comparison of obsidian assemblages from Trinidad and other nearby sites also indicates that Trinidad maintained its function as a distribution center for obsidian. Elements of Trinidad's ritual economy also demonstrate continuity; lavish ballgame-related feasting, initiated prior to Motul's local ascendancy, continued under its auspices.
The high level of continuity in Trinidad's port role suggests that Motul's emergent elites may have had, at most, only indirect control over long-distance trade in the Motul area. This may have resulted from the new Motul dynasts choosing to co-opt existing economic structures, rather than establish new ones. Alternatively, it may simply indicate that long-distance trade in the Maya lowlands was less centralized than previously thought.
Publications by Matthew D Moriarty
Motul de San José: Politics, History, and Economy in a Late Classic Maya Polity, 2012
Motul de San José: Politics, History, and Economy in a Late Classic Maya Polity, 2012
Archaeologists have long tended to conflate political evolutionary stages with Polanyi’s (1957) m... more Archaeologists have long tended to conflate political evolutionary stages with Polanyi’s (1957) modes of exchange: bands and tribes with reciprocity, chiefdoms and early states with redistribution, and more developed states with market exchange. According to this scheme, the Classic lowland Maya (Fig. 1) are relegated to chiefdoms or an early state level of political organization with redistribution as the primary, or at least the most ostensible, mode of exchange: control of all or most labor, production, and the dominant mode(s) of exchange were concentrated in a highly centralized authority figure – a paramount chief or king and/or a polyarchy of elite kin groups – who traded exotic goods among themselves. Elites traded with each other while extracting other goods, most importantly agricultural output, from the majority population through taxes and tribute to maintain themselves and a civic/religious infrastructure they symbolized. Those at the top of the hierarchy then redistributed some of these goods down the social ladder in payment for fealty, loyal service, and the like, often at communal rituals and feasts. These Neoevolutionary concepts – bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states, and the various forms of reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange – are heuristic devices, or broadly conceptualized and loosely correlated classificatory forms of social and economic organization, designed to facilitate cross-cultural comparisons and to fill in holes where hard data are lacking. Obviously, they have been highly useful in constructing models. Therefore, the pocket critique of their application to the Maya that follows is not intended to challenge their utility, nor to rewrite Neoevolutionary theory, but rather to emphasize that these concepts have historically tended to narrow our perceptions and made it difficult to identify market exchange as an important facet of Classic Maya economies (see e.g., Yoffee 1977; West 2002; Sharer and Golden 2004; Rice 2008). (Authored by Bruce H. Dahlin, Daniel Bair, Tim Beach, Matthew Moriarty, and Richard Terry).
Mexicon 30(3):59–60, 2008
A small limestone object, carved in the form of a stela, was recovered during recent investigatio... more A small limestone object, carved in the form of a stela, was recovered during recent investigations at the ancient Maya site of Trinidad de Nosotros. Incised graffiti on the front of the object depict a standing male individual in a posture similar to that found on full-scale monuments. Elements of the individual’s dress and adornment suggest that the object, recovered in middens associated with the site’s ballcourt, may date to the very end of the Late Classic period or the first decades of the Terminal Classic. Although the object’s function is enigmatic, the crude quality of carving seems to controvert use as an artist’s scale model, and suggests a more likely ritual function.
Recent research concerning the Postclassic (A.D. 1000-1524) period in central Petén has focused o... more Recent research concerning the Postclassic (A.D. 1000-1524) period in central Petén has focused on defining changes in architectural features and pottery manufacturing techniques. Obsidian is frequently excavated from these structures and occurs as offerings in cache vessels. Field-portable XRF can be used to identify obsidian sources based on artifacts excavated from Trinidad de Nosotros. These data will be compared to previous analyses from other archaeological sites in the Petén lakes region. In addition to identifying obsidian sources, obsidian trade in the Petén lakes region will be better understood because of the samples analyzed from the trading port (Trinidad de Nosotros) on the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá. (Authored by Leslie G. Cecil, Matthew D. Moriarty, and Michael D. Glascock).
Investigations of soil resources in the department of El Petén, Guatemala can provide important i... more Investigations of soil resources in the department of El Petén, Guatemala can provide important insight into the agricultural and land use strategies of the ancient Maya. The site of Motul de San José, located 3 km north of Guatemala’s Lago Petén Itzá, is situated in the core zone of Classic Maya civilization and in an area currently inhabited by the modern Itzá Maya. This area was occupied and farmed from the Middle Preclassic period (~600 B.C.) to the Early Postclassic (~A.D. 1000). During the Late Classic period (~A.D. 600–830), Motul de San José was one of many centers of intense population growth. The authors focused on examining soil resources in the Motul de San José area. Soil studies included chemical and physical evaluations of soils and an investigation of the traditional soil classification system used by modern Itzá Maya farmers in the community of San José. The results of these investigations, along with a subsequent carbon isotopic study of ancient vegetative signatures by Webb et al. (this issue, 291–312) provide a framework for assessment of ancient Maya land-use strategies in the Motul de San José area. (Authored by Christopher T. Jensen, Matthew D. Moriarty, Richard E. Terry, Kitty F. Emery, and Sheldon D. Nelson).
Soil profiles collected from a 2.5-km transect radiating from the Maya center of Motul de San Jos... more Soil profiles collected from a 2.5-km transect radiating from the Maya center of Motul de San José were analyzed for the stable carbon-isotope composition of their soil organic matter. The residues of maize (Zea mays), the only C4 plant known to have been cultivated in this area by the ancient Maya, impart a carbon-isotope signature to the underlying soil organic matter reservoir that is distinct from that produced by the native C3 forest vegetation. The varying turnover rates of the humic acid and humin fractions of the soil organic matter allowed us to distinguish between the presence of modern and ancient maize residues in these soils, and to delineate the lateral extent of maize cultivation at this ancient Maya site. The strongest isotopic evidence of maize residues is preserved in the soils surrounding the peripheral settlement of Chäkokot and at one locality within the urban center of Motul de San José. (Authored by Elizabeth A. Webb, Henry P. Schwarcz, Christopher T. Jensen, Richard E. Terry, Matthew D. Moriarty, and Kitty F. Emery)
XX Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2006, 2007
Recent investigations into the ancient Maya ballgame have demonstrated that ballcourts served as ... more Recent investigations into the ancient Maya ballgame have demonstrated that ballcourts served as areas for complex activities with social and political meaning. Ritual feasts appear to have assumed a central and integral role in these activities. In a small but growing number of sites, the physical evidence for these events has been revealed through middens associated with ballcourts. During recent investigations at Trinidad de Nosotros, a small ancient Maya port on the north shore of Lake Petén Itza, more than 50,000 artifacts were recovered in a series of high-density middens from behind the Late Classic ballcourt. The nature and quantity of these materials provide clear evidence for feasting in relation to the ballgame at La Trinidad. This paper presents the preliminary results of ceramic analysis from the middens and discusses the potential importance of this find within the context of the Motul de San José subregion.
XVIII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2004, 2005
Mayab 17:21-44, 2004
Ongoing archaeological investigations at the ancient Maya center of Motul de San José are focusin... more Ongoing archaeological investigations at the ancient Maya center of Motul de San José are focusing on delineating patterns of Late Classic Maya political and economic integration. Field investigations by the Motul de San José Archaeological Project between 1998 and 2003 included extensive reconnaissance, mapping, and test excavations at Motul de San José, Akte, Trinidad de Nosotros, and several other nearby centers. These investigations permit a provisional description of settlement and chronology in the Motul de San José area and constitute the first step towards the project’s larger research goals. Motul de San José is situated within a dense network of secondary and tertiary centers and the preliminary results of studies at four of these centers have highlighted some potentially important patterns in regional settlement strategies. These studies also provide an early indication of the complexity of examining patterns in regional political and economic interaction in the Motul de San José area.
Reports by Matthew D Moriarty
Report submitted to IDAEH, Guatemala.
Report submitted to IDAEH, Guatemala.
Report submitted to IDAEH, Guatemala.
Papers by Matthew D Moriarty
The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2015
Acs Symposium Series, Aug 16, 2007
Recent research concerning the Postclassic (AD 1000-1524) period in central Petén has focused on ... more Recent research concerning the Postclassic (AD 1000-1524) period in central Petén has focused on defining changes in architectural features and pottery manufacturing techniques. Obsidian is frequently excavated from these structures and occurs as offerings in cache vessels. ...
Geoarchaeology-an International Journal, 2007
Page 1. Stable Carbon Isotope Signature of Ancient Maize Agriculture in the Soils of Motul De San... more Page 1. Stable Carbon Isotope Signature of Ancient Maize Agriculture in the Soils of Motul De San José, Guatemala Elizabeth A. Webb,1,* Henry P. Schwarcz,2 Christopher T. Jensen,3 Richard E. Terry,3 Matthew D. Moriarty,4 and Kitty F. Emery5 ...
Springer eBooks, Sep 30, 2009
Archaeologists have long tended to conflate political evolutionary stages with Polanyi’s (1957) m... more Archaeologists have long tended to conflate political evolutionary stages with Polanyi’s (1957) modes of exchange: bands and tribes with reciprocity, chiefdoms and early states with redistribution, and more developed states with market exchange. According to this scheme, the Classic lowland Maya (Fig. 1) are relegated to chiefdoms or an early state level of political organization with redistribution as the primary,
The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2017
The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2018
Uploads
Dissertation by Matthew D Moriarty
Research at Trinidad included survey; household, midden, and stratigraphic excavations; and ceramic and obsidian analyses. These investigations defined Trinidad as a moderate-sized center with an occupation extending from the Middle Preclassic to the Historical period. A complex harbor was identified, as was public plaza space more extensive than required by Trinidad's inhabitants. Midden excavations documented spectacular deposits behind Trinidad's ballcourt, indicating that it was a major locus for feasting and ritual throughout the Late Classic period. Cumulatively, these and other data support the proposition that Trinidad was a port.
This study also highlights continuities at Trinidad during the latter half of the Late Classic period when Motul emerged as a political power and its sustaining area underwent demographic expansion. These developments enhanced Trinidad's port role, as indicated by additions to the harbor and greater access to obsidian. Comparison of obsidian assemblages from Trinidad and other nearby sites also indicates that Trinidad maintained its function as a distribution center for obsidian. Elements of Trinidad's ritual economy also demonstrate continuity; lavish ballgame-related feasting, initiated prior to Motul's local ascendancy, continued under its auspices.
The high level of continuity in Trinidad's port role suggests that Motul's emergent elites may have had, at most, only indirect control over long-distance trade in the Motul area. This may have resulted from the new Motul dynasts choosing to co-opt existing economic structures, rather than establish new ones. Alternatively, it may simply indicate that long-distance trade in the Maya lowlands was less centralized than previously thought.
Publications by Matthew D Moriarty
Reports by Matthew D Moriarty
Papers by Matthew D Moriarty
Research at Trinidad included survey; household, midden, and stratigraphic excavations; and ceramic and obsidian analyses. These investigations defined Trinidad as a moderate-sized center with an occupation extending from the Middle Preclassic to the Historical period. A complex harbor was identified, as was public plaza space more extensive than required by Trinidad's inhabitants. Midden excavations documented spectacular deposits behind Trinidad's ballcourt, indicating that it was a major locus for feasting and ritual throughout the Late Classic period. Cumulatively, these and other data support the proposition that Trinidad was a port.
This study also highlights continuities at Trinidad during the latter half of the Late Classic period when Motul emerged as a political power and its sustaining area underwent demographic expansion. These developments enhanced Trinidad's port role, as indicated by additions to the harbor and greater access to obsidian. Comparison of obsidian assemblages from Trinidad and other nearby sites also indicates that Trinidad maintained its function as a distribution center for obsidian. Elements of Trinidad's ritual economy also demonstrate continuity; lavish ballgame-related feasting, initiated prior to Motul's local ascendancy, continued under its auspices.
The high level of continuity in Trinidad's port role suggests that Motul's emergent elites may have had, at most, only indirect control over long-distance trade in the Motul area. This may have resulted from the new Motul dynasts choosing to co-opt existing economic structures, rather than establish new ones. Alternatively, it may simply indicate that long-distance trade in the Maya lowlands was less centralized than previously thought.