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Placing the Centre, Centring the Place: the Influence of Formative Sacbeob in Classic Site Design at Yaxuná, Yucatán

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2005

Travis W Stanton
Affiliation:
Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, Sta. Catarina Mártir, Cholula, C.P. 72820, Puebla, México; travis.william@udlap.mx.
David A Freidel
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Box 750336, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275-0336, USA; dfreidel@mail.smu.edu.

Abstract

A series of Formative Period causeways (sacbeob) at the Maya site of Yaxuná, Yucatán, Mexico, constituted elements of an early geomantic plan that was renegotiated by the inhabitants of this centre for 1500–2000 years. This plan embodied a series of sacred metaphors including the World Tree and Milky Way. After its initial construction, this widely recognized sacred landscape was reinterpreted using the language of causeways and buildings by people with competing interests. A consideration of how the geomantic plan was differentially modified sheds light on important social transitions throughout the history of the site, as well as the role of landscape and shared memory among the ancient Yucatec Maya of Yaxuná.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2005 The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

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