Maya Superstates

Author(s): Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube

Source: Archaeology , November/December 1995, Vol. 48, No. 6 (November/December
1995), pp. 41-46
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41771163

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Archaeological Institute of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and

extend access to Archaeology

This content downloaded from

52.43.93.60 on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:52:10 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Maya Superstates
How a few powerful kingdoms vied
for control of the Maya Lowlands during the
Classic period (A.D. 300-900)

3
s

I
a

s
ì
D
O
o

P
2,
O

Haya warriors parade a captive for sacrifice on this Late Classic period polychrome vase from the Petén region of Guatemala.

hair, while those from Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico,

esplendent in jaguar pelts, quetzal plumes,
■ m and helmets fashioned in the form of fan- were based on a highly stylized bone. Berlin proposed
tastic beasts, Maya warriors set out for
that the main signs identified individual cities, their rul-
I battle on a day often ordained byingthe
dynasties, or the territories they controlled. Among
^k^position of Venus in the predawn sky.Berlin's
Led more interesting discoveries were four emblem
by rulers dressed as gods, they sought to capture and - those of Copán, Tikal, Palenque, and an
glyphs
sacrifice their enemies in a reenactment of sacred unknown city represented by a snake's head - grouped
myths. According to many scholars, such religious together in an inscription on Stela A at Copán in west-
beliefs motivated all Maya warfare. Our epigraphic ern Honduras. Following Berlin, both Thomas Barthel
of the University of Tübingen and Joyce Marcus of the
research suggests that far too little attention has been
paid to more pragmatic goals, that wars were also University of Michigan proposed that these cities were
fought to conquer and control rival kingdoms. the capitals of four large and powerful states, each
aligned with one of the cardinal directions. In search of
The first clue to understanding Classic period politi-
cal organization came in 1958 when Mayanist Heinrich archaeological data bearing on this interpretation,
Berlin identified what he called emblem glyphs. Found Richard E.W. Adams of the University of Texas, San
in inscriptions throughout the southern Maya Lowlands, Antonio, examined the relative size of cities throughout
the Maya region. Although many of the smaller cities
these glyphs consist of a main sign, usually placed in the
lower right, attached to two smaller elements. Berlin had their own emblem glyphs, both Marcus and Adams
noticed that while the smaller elements remained rela- concluded that they were not independent political enti-
tively constant, the main sign changed from site to site.ties but constituent provinces of larger regional states.
Emblem glyphs from Tikal in the Petén region of north- More recent archaeological research has failed to
ern Guatemala had a main sign representing a knot turn of up compelling evidence to support this view. More-

By Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube

November/December 1995 41

This content downloaded from

52.43.93.60 on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:52:10 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 ties ruled by kings who were ritually
important but politically feeble. This view
is compatible with the interpretation of
Maya warfare as a small-scale, predomi-
nantly ritual activity. Surviving inscrip-
tions appear to support this notion since
they rarely if ever record conquests in
which one state absorbs another - more
evidence, it would seem, that Maya king-
doms were too weak to engage in territor-
ial expansion.
Yet such reconstructions have always
failed to explain why some cities are
vasdy larger than others. Were such dis-
parate units really equals? The idea that
central authority within larger kingdoms
was ineffectual is undermined by the scale
I of their public works - massive pyramids,
defensive earthworks miles in length, and
great networks of internal roadways -
which would have required centralized
planning and the control of substantial
manpower. But perhaps the most com-
pelling evidence for a higher level of polit-
ical organization comes from new
information we have uncovered within a
body of glyphic data that has often been
overlooked.
Political relationships between subordi-
nates and their superiors within individual
kingdoms were expressed by the use of
possessive terms. Thus sahal , a rank or
office held by key lieutenants of a king,
could be transformed into the possessive
form u-sahal , "the sahal of." The glyphs
also tell us that the same dominant-subor-
I dinant relationship existed between kings
Pyramid, top , dominates the main plaza of Calakmul, the largest known Classic of different states, where the highest rank
Maya city. A lintel within Tikal Temple I, above, records that city's victory over of ahaw , "lord or ruler," comes into play.
rival Calakmul on August 5, A.D. 695. By adding the prefix y, ahaw becomes y-
ahaw , "the lord of," in effect "his vassal."
over, breakthroughs in the decipherment of hieroglyphs Further evidence for hierarchy between states is
during the past decade have greatly expanded our found in passages recording the accession of kings.
understanding of the Maya political world, suggesting Some of these statements contain a secondary phrase
quite a different interpretation. We now know that giving the name and emblem glyph of a foreign ruler.
emblem glyphs are titles of Maya kings describing each This phrase is introduced by a verb clause that epigra-
as the k'ul ahaw or "divine lord" of a kingdom whose phers have long glossed as "under the auspices of,"
name appears as the main sign of the glyph. By chart- though we now believe that it should be translated as u-
ing the distribution of emblem glyphs, Peter Mathews of kahiy , literally "it was done by him."
the University of Calgary has created a map of the If we combine the appearance of the y-ahaw and u-
Lowlands during the Classic period, revealing some 40 kahiy phrases with Classic period texts documenting
separate kingdoms. other forms of diplomatic exchange such as royal visits,
Taken by themselves, emblem glyphs demonstrate gift-giving, joint ritual activity, and marriage, we find
that all Maya rulers laid claim to an identical political that hierarchical contacts are part of relationships span-
rank, regardless of the size or population of their cities. ning several generations. Some kingdoms are consis-
This decentralized picture has led many scholars to tently more dominant than others and seem to be
believe that Maya kingdoms, even major ones such as manipulating the affairs of weaker ones. This analysis is
Tikal and Palenque, were fundamentally unstable enti- supported by inscriptions describing conflicts. Wars are

42 Archaeology

This content downloaded from

52.43.93.60 on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:52:10 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
g
0

1
lhap of the Maya Lowlands during the Classic period ( ca . A.D. 300-900) shows principal kingdoms and their identifying glyphs.

November/December 1995 43

This content downloaded from

52.43.93.60 on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:52:10 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 u
o

3
S
z

E pigraphic evidence of political influence comes from a key phrase u-kahiy, literally "it was done by him." The phrase
is found in inscriptions recording the accession of local rulers. This passage tells us that a Cancuén king " was seated
into rulership" by the doing of a king of Calakmul.

only rarely recorded between states that usually closely

share tied to Tikal, while persistent relations with Uax-
political ties, and politically allied kingdoms tend to suggest that this kingdom was also associated with
actún
share the same adversaries. Together such patterns Tikal.
sug- Evidence that Tikal's Early Classic influence
gest that there were groupings of states during the extended
Late well beyond the Petén comes from inscriptions
on Stela
Classic period (ca. A.D. 600-900). As the y-ahaw and u- 6 and Altar 21 at Caracol in Belize, which
kahiy phrases indicate, kingdoms within such groupsrecord
did the accession of the Caracol king Y-ahawte 3 Iiinich
in 553 under the patronage of a Tikal ruler. Within a
not share power equally, tending rather to fall under the
influence of a few especially powerful states. Whofew years, however, the relationship between these two
were
these superstates? kingdoms had disintegrated. Altar 21 records conflict
Because of their size and the richness of their archi- between the two, possibly an attack on Caracol in 556,
tecture, cities such as Palenque, Copán, and the High- and a defeat of Tikal at the hands of another kingdom,
land site of Toniná have long been seen as dominant whose name is now illegible, in 562.
forces in their regions. Along the banks of the Usumac- No dated monuments were erected at Tikal during
inta River, which separates Mexico and Guatemala, the the next 130 years, but inscriptions from other sites in
political situation appears to have been more compli-the region tell us that Tikal was diplomatically isolated
cated. There, the iconographie and hieroglyphic record and at war with every one of its major neighbors - with-
suggests that Piedras Negras held a number of otherout exception, all either allies or vassals of the kingdom
states in somewhat unruly submission, including for of a Calakmul.
time its upstream neighbor, Yaxchilán. Inscriptions Discovered in 1931 deep in the rainforest of southern
throughout the area, however, contain references toCampeche, Mexico, Calakmul has been one of the most
larger cities in the Petén, where the most populous and remote and least visited of all Maya sites. Excavations
influential kingdoms were located. by William J. Folan, of the Universidad Autonoma de
Tikal emerged as a great center during the Early Campeche, and more recently by Ramón Carrasco, of
Classic period (ca. A.D. 300-600). Inscriptions from this the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, have
time, however, concentrate on chronological andrevealed a great metropolis. With more than 6,000
genealogical information, and tell us little about political structures it is the largest Classic Maya city yet
affairs. T-ahaw relationships with Bejucal and later
recorded. Impressive even in Preclassic times, its core is
dominated by the largest concentration of palace-type
Motul de San José indicate that nearby kingdoms were

44 " Archaeology

This content downloaded from

52.43.93.60 on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:52:10 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
0
I
1

Calakmul's dominance of the Maya Lowlands during the Classic period was deduced from inscriptions recording forms of diplomat-
ic exchange between the site and nearby kingdoms. In this diagram black lines indicate a role in the accession of local kings ; blue ,
royal visits and other forms of diplomatic exchange; green , marital alliances and other ties; and red , references to armed conflict.
Dashed lines represent less certain relationships.

buildings in the Maya area, and is surrounded by a sub- ning in 693. They had ties with Caracol and Dos Pilas
stantial system of artificial reservoirs. Though its monu- and formed marital alliances with El Perú, Yaxchilán,
ments are badly eroded, it has 115 stelae, more than and Naachtún. They were also involved in rituals asso-
any other Maya site. Because of the poor preservation ciated with the designation of heirs at Dos Pilas - rela-
of so many monuments it has been extremely difficult to tives of the Tikal royal family - and probably Yaxchilán.
identify Calakmul's emblem glyph. Inscriptions uncov- There are signs that even the regional power Piedras
ered in the past two years, however, seem to confirm its Negras was not beyond Calakmul's influence, and one
association with the enigmatic snake-head glyph, a pro- especially difficult phrase dated 514 may describe anjy-
posal first put forward by Joyce Marcus in the early ahaw relationship between these states.
1970s. By the latter part of the seventh century, Calakmul
Calakmul first comes to prominence in the glyphic was the most powerful kingdom in the Maya Lowlands
record at the close of the Early Classic period, when in and the hub of an extensive network of affiliated and
A.D. 546 a ruler of Naranjo acceded to the throne "by vassal states. Despite its preeminence it was unable to
the doing of' a Calakmul king. This relationship, how- subdue its great rival Tikal, whose new king, Hasaw
ever, had clearly fallen apart by 631, when Caracol Ka'an ICawil , was soon to strike a crucial blow. Accord-
joined Calakmul to defeat Naranjo. Calakmul also ing to an inscription on a lintel in Tikal Temple I, Tikal
attacked Palenque twice, once in 599 and again in defeated Calakmul on August 5, 695, and probably cap-
611 - campaign treks of some 150 miles. Much of tured and killed its king, the great Jaguar Paw. Tikal
Calakmul's political maneuvering seems to have been went on to wage successful wars against two of Calak-
directed against Tikal, which it attacked in 657. Its mul's closest associates, El Perú in 743 and Naranjo the
influence over the Lowlands is further attested by its following year. As if in celebration of these triumphs,
involvement in the accession of two rulers from the dis- Tikal embarked on a century-long building program,
tant kingdom of Cancuén in 656 and 677 and two kingsproducing most of the major architecture seen at the
at El Perú (dates unknown). From y-ahaw expressions,site today.
we know that Calakmul rulers were overlords to Malah Despite Tikal's rejuvenation, the days of superstates
Ka'an ICawil , Ruler 1 of Dos Pilas, around 648, and and to large political groupings were numbered. Diplo-
his grandson Smoking Squirrel, king of Naranjo, begin- matic exchange between the largest centers all but dis-

November/December 1995 45

This content downloaded from

52.43.93.60 on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:52:10 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 l

í
appears from the writ en record by the mid-eighth cen-
tury. Significantly, the decline of these networks marked
the first sign of a wider political breakdown, as previ-
ously silent cities began to claim their own royal dynas-
ties and warfare intensified. Within a century or so
political disintegration and mounting environmental
stres - overpopulation, diminishing resources, and possi-
bly drought - had triggered the col apse of Clas ic Maya
civilization in the southern Lowlands.
The picture that is emerging is neither one of a cen-
tralized administration of regional states nor one of a
political vacuum populated by weak ones. Instead it
would appear that a few powerful kingdoms held lesser
ones in their sway, a system not unlike others seen
throughout ancient Mesoamerica. Maya kingdoms never
0 achieved the degree of centralization of the fifteenth-
1 0
century Aztec Empire, but their structure and political
strategies offer some interesting parallels. The Aztec
Empire was a loose confederation of subjugated king-
1
3
doms and smaller empires. Its conquests were not con-
solidated by military occupation or administered from
ã the capital Tenochtitlán; defeated local lords were usu-
0 ally restored to their offices and allowed to rule their
(d states without further hindrance. Their successors were
S
often sanctioned by the Aztec emperor in ceremonies
s

that invite comparison with the u-kahiy events of the

1 Classic Maya. The major consequences of Aztec con-
0 quest were economic, in the form of tribute payments,

í
and political, in the transformation of local leaders into
vassals of the emperor. Once their military prowess had
been proved, the Aztecs were often able to intimidate
other states into acquiescence without further use of
o
1 force. We suspect that the Classic Maya conformed to a
o

similar pattern - a complex environment of overlords

T he victorious Tikal ruler Hasaw Ka' an K'awil is enthroned and vassals, kinship ties and obligations, where the
on a litter with a giant jaguar effigy in this depiction on a strong came to dominate the weak. ■
wooden lintel found in Tikal Temple I. The highlighted pas-
sage records armed conflict with Calakmul on August 5, A.D. Simon Martin is epigrapher for the Proyecto Arqueológico de
695, and the "bringing down " ofthat city's king Jaguar Paw. la Biosfera de Calakmul , INAH, Mexico , and, an honorary
research fellow of the Institute of Archaeology, University College ,
London. Nikolai Grube is an anthropologist at the University
of Bonn and epigrapher for the Caracol Project , Belize , and
Proyecto Taxhá , IDEAH, Guatemala.

46 Archaeology

This content downloaded from

52.43.93.60 on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:52:10 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms