Exclusivity in Early Maya Monumentality
Querying Egalitarianism at Ucí, Yucatán
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12368368 |
|---|---|
| Authors | R Hutson (0000-0003-4907-2876, University of Kentucky, corresponding author), Mario Zimmermann (0000-0001-8640-0790, Boise State University), Iliana Ancona Aragon (0000-0002-5989-2096, Centro INAH Yucatán) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1008-1028 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Latin American Antiquity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1045-6635 • E-ISSN: 2325-5080 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/laq.2025.10110 |
| OpenAlex | W4416947328 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 44 |
Datasets from around the world suggest that people completed early monumental construction projects without long-term structures of hierarchy or authority. In the Maya area, some of the first monuments produced by semisedentary societies, such as those at Yaxuna and Ceibal, were built in the absence of substantial social inequality. The focus of these monuments was a relatively inclusive plaza. This article presents evidence of an eighth-century BC monumental construction at Ucí, another site that was probably not fully sedentary. At Ucí, however, the first large architecture is not inclusive. Structure 14sub5 lacks a front stairway, separating people in the plaza from those who could ascend the building from the back. The difference between the inclusivity at Ceibal and Yaxuna and exclusivity at Ucí suggests variation in degrees of inequality. Different societies experimented creatively with social and political organization. This aligns with the inherent complexity of egalitarian societies as well as the possibility that not all complex societies began as egalitarian. Consonant with the idea that people had power to act otherwise, early exclusivity at Ucí developed into inclusive forms of governance in the Late Preclassic
Corporate governance · Egalitarianism · Hierarchy · Maya · Politics · Power (physics · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Latin American history and culture · Architecture
Monumental architecture at Aguada Fénix and the rise of Maya civilization
Pathways to Power
Degrees and Kinds of Inequality
Changing Stages
People and Space in Early Agricultural Villages
Governance, Monumentality, and Urbanism in the Northern Maya Lowlands During the Preclassic and Classic Periods
Chemical residues in lime‐plastered archaeological floors
Selective Memory
Egalitarian Behavior and Reverse Dominance Hierarchy [and Comments and Reply]
The Return of Quetzalcoatl
Astronomy, Ritual, and the Interpretation of Maya “E-Group” Architectural Assemblages
Lightning Sky, Rain, and the Maize God
Material culture after text
The Urban Revolution
Incised Lines
"Regroup On "E-Groups
Early Maya Ceremonial Architecture at Pacbitun, Belize
Monumental architecture
Daily Practice and Social Memory at Çatalhöyük
Egalitarian Societies
Willow Smoke and Dogs' Tails
Ancient Mesoamerican Mortars, Plasters, and Stuccos
Fissioning, Scalar Stress, and Social Evolution in Early Village Societies
The Construction of Public and Domestic Spheres in the Preclassic Maya Lowlands
The Vines of Complexity
A Theory of Structure
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |