Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Maya Luxury Goods at Contact: Transformation of Value in a Hybrid Economy

Cuny Queens College, Flushing NY

Investigators

Abstract

Under the supervision of Dr. Timothy W. Pugh, Yuko Shiratori will investigate distributions of pre-Contact luxury items in order to examine changes in indigenous trade and traditional values during the Contact period (A.D. 1525-1697) at several sites in the Petén lakes region of Guatemala. Shiratori will examine artifacts recovered by Proyecto Arqueológico Tayasal, directed by Timothy Pugh, at Tayasal, a site on the eastern edge of a peninsula in Lake Petén Itzá, and from recently excavated Flores, which rests on an island in the lake. Flores was once the capital of the Itza Maya, but the Postclassic through Contact period occupation of the site has been largely disturbed by the modern city. Tayasal contains the most substantial extant in situ remains of a core Itza settlement from the Postclassic through the Colonial period. Combining historical and archaeological evidence will illuminate the processes of culture change that affected the inland Maya societies. This research focuses on the transformation of values of objects under different social, political, and economic demands, providing a significant opportunity to examine the intersection between culture change and world economy at culture contact on a long-term basis. Recent theoretical debates on the consequences of the culture change at contact emphasize the processes involved in the disruption of value systems. This project will contribute to the general understanding of culture change around the world, especially the processes of transformation, resistance, and colonization within the framework of both historical documents and archaeological data. This research will shed light on indigenous materials that were prestigious until the introduction of European ceramics, metal, and glass. The values of traditional luxury objects were changed by the social, economic, and political demand from the Postclassic through the Contact period. Employing a diachronic approach in measuring values of luxury goods, this study will reveal details about the construction and deconstruction of value in situations of contact. Moreover, this research will contribute to the recent theoretical discussions on world-system economy during the contact period by contextualizing cultural change with material objects. By reconstructing the distribution of luxury goods in ceremonial and residential areas, this project will examine the degree of frequencies that luxury goods occurred in social, political, and domestic contexts; thereby, illuminating their degree of restrictiveness. The proposed project will benefit Guatemalan archaeology students at the local university of Centro Universitario de El Petén (CUDEP). It will provide an opportunity for these students to be trained in laboratory methods in archaeology and to learn about their culture history. At the broader level, this project will provide data available to the public through a web-based public database. The availability of these data will have a broad impact on a wider audience, particularly scholars who study culture contact around the globe.