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Activity Space in a Terminal Classic Maya Household Xuenkal, Yucatan, Mexico

Coakley, Corrine
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1406544634

Abstract Details

2014, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography.
COAKLEY, CORRINE, M.A. AUGUST 2014 GEOGRAPHY ACTIVITY SPACE IN A TERMINAL CLASSIC MAYA HOUSEHOLD, XEUNKAL, YUCATAN, MEXICO (222 pp) Director of Thesis: Mandy Munro-Stasiuk The Terminal Classic Maya period in the Northern Yucatan was a time of political upheaval, when long established cities such as Uxmal collapsed and Chichen Itza began to rise to power. Xuenkal, a site about 40 km north of Chichen Itza, was located directly on trade routes that would have supplied the city of Chichen Itza with imported goods and prestige items during this transition. Xuenkal itself shows several occupational phases, from a monumental phase during the Classic period, to abandonment, to a third phase in which population expanded during the Terminal Classic and new structures were built upon the former monumental, ritual spaces from the Classic period. These new structures include the subject of this research, Structure 9L-31, a walled complex of three buildings built on the platform of Xuenkal’s most impressive structure, Structure 10M-62, the site’s Classic period temple. Focusing on the social construction of place and scale, this thesis uses concepts from feminist geography and time geography to determine activity spaces across Structure 9L-31. Household scale analysis includes type variety analysis of the ceramics found at Structure 9L-31 and source and production stage analysis on the lithic artifacts. Through the use of artifact patterns as social behavior proxies, residents’ space use and behavioral patterns are explored. Methods used include the use of descriptive statistics, Getis Ord Gi* analysis, and geostatistical prediction surfaces. Specifically, gendered use of space, production and domestic uses of space, and household vs. prestige artifact patterns are examined. Traditional archaeological ceramic analysis is compared to geostatistical techniques to inform upon both practices and answer the question of how the residents of Structure 9L-31 used their space. Results show an increase in population, status, and wealth at Xeunkal during the Terminal Classic. Three smaller structures are identified with significant pottery indicating cooking and serving behavior, as well as significant surplus storage, suggesting possible ritual feasting. A stone blade production area is delineated, showing segregation between men’s and women’s spaces. Artifacts from Structure 9l-31 during the Terminal Classic period show a strong link between Xeunkal and Chichen Itza.
Mandy Munro-Stasiuk, Ph.D. (Advisor)
T. Kam Manahan, Ph.D (Advisor)
Jacqueline Curtis, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
222 p.
Archaeology; Geographic Information Science; Geography
Terminal Classic Maya; spatial pattern analysis; geostatistical prediction surfaces; household scale; type-variety; structuration; gendered spaces; artifact distribution patterns; Getis Ord; Ripleys K; artifact density; Sotuta; Chichen Itza; GIS

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Coakley, C. (2014). Activity Space in a Terminal Classic Maya Household Xuenkal, Yucatan, Mexico [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1406544634

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Coakley, Corrine. Activity Space in a Terminal Classic Maya Household Xuenkal, Yucatan, Mexico. 2014. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1406544634.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Coakley, Corrine. "Activity Space in a Terminal Classic Maya Household Xuenkal, Yucatan, Mexico." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1406544634

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1406544634
637
© 2014, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Activity Space in a Terminal Classic Maya Household Xuenkal, Yucatan, Mexico by Corrine Coakley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.