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CONSIDERING THE TIES THAT BIND: Kinship, marriage, household, and territory among the Maya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2004

Ellen R. Kintz
Ellen R. Kintz
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Geneseo, Geneseo, NY 14454, USA
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Abstract

The meaning of ancient Maya social organization continues to engender heated debate. Hierarchy and heterarchy are suggested as organizational principles that reflect the variability characteristic of the Maya households past and present. The presence or absence of lineage in the core area or hinterland reflects the social dimension of Maya social organization and small and larger households are tied to the larger political structure. Detailed archaeological data have documented extreme economic variability in Maya household patterns and relationships associated with these. Scholars argue that structures contain rich symbolic statements and reflect Maya ideological structure. Discussion of Maya household patterns moves beyond a monolithic understanding of social organization in the past and the present, including extreme variation in kinship and marriage patterns, associated economic structure, power, and symbolic representations that bind the society and tie individuals to higher structural levels.

Type
SPECIAL SECTION: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON ANCIENT LOWLAND MAYA SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 149 - 158
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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