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Prehistoric Political Change on the Southeast Mesoamerican Periphery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2010

Boyd Dixon
Boyd Dixon
Affiliation:
Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI 96817-0916, USA
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Abstract

Recent archaeological settlement pattern research in the 550 sq km Comayagua Valley in central Honduras has documented considerable variation in the political structure of one ranked society over a 2,500-year period of prehistory. Data presented suggest that this Lenca and proto-Lenca culture group underwent at least five major political restructurings during this time as a response to the local, regional, and interregional political climate on the southeast Mesoamerican periphery. Such variability calls into question traditional models postulating a lack of complexity or adaptive flexibility for indigenous cultures of lower Central America.

Resumen

Este estudio reciente de patrones de asentamiento arqueológicos del valle de Comayagua en el centra de Honduras ha documentado cambios en la estractura política de una sociedad de rango durante 2,500 años de prehistoria. Los datos presentados sugieren que este grupo cultural lenca y proto-lenca ha pasado por cinco épocas distintas responiendo al clima político local, regional, e interregional en la frontera sureste de Mesoamérica.

Empezando en el período preclásico medio (ca. 1000–400 a.C.) y terminando al fin del preclásico tardío (ca. 250 d.C.) apareció la primera sociedad de rango en el valle de Comayagua, un cacicazgo centralizado con su capital en el sitio de Yarumela. La ubicación de este pueblo formativo en medio de un valle que sufra grandes cambios de clima, tanto anual como por siclos de más de una década, se piensa ser la clave de su desarollo en una sociedad agrícola. Después de la eruptión del volcán Ilopango en El Salvador durante el tercer siglo d.C, muchas poblaciones en la frontera sureste de Mesoamérica abandonaron sus centros politicos.

En el valle de Comayagua, se entró en una época política nocentralizada con varios pueblos más pequeños distribuidos por todo el valle en el período clásico (ca. 250–900 d.C). Relaciones establecidas con la costa norte y el mundo maya durante estos seis siglos terminaron en el período clásico terminal (ca. 900–1100 d.C.) con fuertes influencias militares de culturas nahuas en las sierras de El Salvador. Durante esta época política regionalizada, se fortalizaron varios pueblos en los alrededores altos del valle de Comayagua incluyendo el sitio arqueológico de Tenampua. Pero estos lugares fueron abandonados durante el siguiente período postclásico temprano (ca. 1100–1300 d.C.) cuando relaciones con la culture pipil al oeste se normalizaron, dejando una segunda sociedad centralizada en el sitio de Las Vegas. Al caer el imperio tolteca en el postclásico tardío (ca. 1300–1539 d.C), el valle de Comayagua volvió a su segunda época no-centralizada, cuando se abandonó el centro de Las Vegas en favor de lugares más dispersos hasta la Ilegada de los españoles.

Viendo esta secuencia de estracturas políticas desde varias perspectivas, de adentro tanto como de afuera, se puede apreciar la imaginación y la flexibilidad de la élite tratando de preservar la soberanía de su valle durante más de dos milenios. Esta variabilidad se pone en duda modelos tradicionales de Centro América como una zona de poca adaptabilidad entre civilizaciones más complejas.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , Spring 1992 , pp. 11 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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