Chronology, Technology, and Social Boundaries in the Maya Highlands: The Classic to Postclassic Transition at Kixpek, Guatemala

Abstract

This dissertation examines the potential migration of Maya groups into the northern highlands of Guatemala during the Classic to Postclassic transition (ninth to eleventh centuries). This was a critical period when ancient Maya communities experienced and reacted in nuanced ways to the lowland Maya collapse (ca. AD 750-1000), the change of trade routes, the introduction of new pan-regional styles, and the abandonment of multiple centers in the southern lowlands. Several researchers have proposed that lowland groups migrated into the highlands in multiple waves following the Usumacinta-Salinas-Chixoy River network. Kixpek, a small highland Maya settlement occupied between AD 750 and 1050, presents an opportunity to evaluate the continuity of the local population or the relocation of Transversal/lowland groups, or both, in the Lower Chixoy drainage.Based on archaeological and ceramic data, I show the persistence of technological choices in the production of the local pottery assemblage from the Late Classic to the Early Postclassic periods. During the Late Classic (Chamá 4 and Chipal 1 complexes, AD 750-900), the ceramic repertoire includes a diversity of local and non-local ceramic types, shape modes, and paste fabrics. I identified that some ceramic attributes were more commonly shared with highland ceramic assemblages such as brown-black, red, and orange slips, handles, and volcanic glass-tempered pastes. Other attributes were shared with Transversal/lowland sites including unslipped crystalline calcite-tempered vessels, bowls with ridges, and concave bases. In the Early Postclassic (Chipal 2, AD 900-1050), a few features were new in Kixpek’s ceramic assemblage including three red-slipped types, plates, a sherd temper paste fabric, and imported Tohil Plumbate vessels. These additions were minor and do not indicate a significant introduction of ceramic modes expected for site-unit intrusions. However, I noticed a decrease in the quality of ceramic vessels and building materials for architecture that could be associated with a decline in the local population and the broader consequences of the Maya collapse. Lastly, my research also highlights how Maya ceramic assemblages from edge communities integrated multiple technological choices due to interregional interaction. Kixpek was a community in the Lower Chixoy edge where the identity of Kixpek residents was constructed and contested due to the greater exposure to practices and styles from cultural cores such as the highlands and the lowlands.